First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids has chosen Rev. R. Miersma to receive the call to be missionary on the island of Jamaica. 

Rev. den Hartog traveled to Kuala Trengganu, Malaysia. Part of the June 27, 1983 letter printed in the August issue of Across the Aisle, the newsletter of First Protestant Reformed Church, reads, “There are a group of young Christians there who are keen on the Reformed Faith. They are few in number but very zealous and devoted. One young couple Kiah Siang and his wife Suat Tian are very much the leaders in the small Baptist Church there. They are very much desirous of bringing the Reformed faith to this young church. . . . We do not know if some day the Lord will open the door for us to do some work there. It is however rather doubtful that a Western missionary could stay in Malaysia for any length of time because of the governmental policies. 

“We were quite encouraged by the attendance at the Toa Payoh Mission last week. We saw a number of visitors who came because of the tracting done in the area. So we can see that the Lord is blessing the work there. We may be in danger however of losing the use of the premises there because the government has just drastically increased the rents of such places. . . .” 

The August 28, 1983 bulletin of First Church read in part, “At the General Consistory meeting held Monday evening, it was decided that henceforth the following designations will be used: 1. the body of Deacons will be called “The Board of Deacons’; 2. the body of Elders will be called the ‘Consistory’; 3. the body of Deacons and Elders sitting together will be called the ‘Council.'” 

The building committee of First Church “has come to the conclusion that it will be better to wait until Spring to start construction” on the new sanctuary. They also decided to “provide our own coordinator” who would “take bids on all the subcontractors and equipment. This would permit us to use our own people as much as possible.” “An organ committee has also been appointed…to investigate both pipe and electronic organs.” 

The Annual Meeting of the Reformed Free Publishing Association was held September 22, at Southwest Church. Rev. C. Hanko spoke on the subject “Contending for the Faith.” 

Randolph Protestant Reformed Church had this information in their August 14, 1983 bulletin: “There is a newsletter in the bulletin rack from the Randolph Protestant Reformed Christian School Society. The school board intends to print monthly newsletters in which the need for a Protestant Reformed Christian School is spelled out.” I hope someone on the board will also send me a copy of these newsletters. 

The Classis East has given permission for the organization of the church in Byron Center. Further information will be provided in the report from Classis East. Classis West met on September 7 in Edgerton, Minnesota. 

The Reformed Witness Hour will no longer be heard over WJBL, as of the end of September. In addition, WJBL is no longer a religious broadcasting station. The religious broadcasting of the RWH has been moved to another station, WWJQ, until the end of September. The reasons for this change are dual coverage, lack of response, and the need to cut costs. The RWH can be heard over WFUR-AM at 4 p.m. Sunday. 

Last time I reported that Mr. Mahtanis showed slides at Loveland Protestant Reformed Church. In August, Mr. Mahtanis also showed slides for the congregation of Covenant Protestant Reformed Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey. His efforts are greatly appreciated.

I leave you with this quote from “Profitable Diversity,” by Rev. Meindert Joostens, “As the carefree days of Summer rapidly draw to a close, we find ourselves caught up in various congregational and school activities. . . . 

“Our spiritual gifts are God-given for the benefit of the whole body of Christ. Each of us has gifts and with them the responsibility to exercise them. Then we shall grow together and increase!” 

—DH