1983-1985 / BCNZ Diploma, Bachelor of Theology (ACT) (Henderson Campus)
Marian and I spent the first of three years at BCNZ living in a house-bus off-campus with our three young children. We were then able to be accommodated on-campus in one of the units, with our fourth child born while there. Our time at College was made memorable through bonding with our fellow students, a number of whom we have developed life-long friendships with. I was always so impressed with the depth of understanding and range of personalities that comprised the teaching staff, all with one enduring characteristic – their commitment to God and his service. Their differing styles of delivery, filtered by their unique life experiences, left an indelible mark.
I had already had the opportunity to serve God as a missionary for close to seven years prior to coming to Bible College, which gave me an extraordinary backdrop to pursuing three years of full-time study. Those three years gave me a very useful framework for building into me what God required for the next stage of my life. For me, the time at Bible College was not so much formative, but rather it provided a platform of in-depth study of God's Word that would launch me on a life path, one which prior to going to College I could not have imagined.
While at Bible College God shaped me and lead me into pursuing service with Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT). So, two weeks after concluding our three years of study, we headed off to begin our journey with WBT by completing their six week orientation course. After another year training to serve as Bible Translators in Melbourne, we commenced work in 1988 as Bible translators in Central Australia with an Aboriginal language group, the Arrernte people. I worked primarily as the translator and my wife Marian, who had also completed all the linguistic training, took responsibility for home-schooling our four children. We lived in a remote Aboriginal community for close to seven years before moving to Alice Springs so our kids could attend high school. I spent a number of years during my service with SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics - the sister organisation of WBT and the field organisation undertaking linguistic and translation work) in administration, including a number of years as Director of SIL Australia.
Photo (Top Left): Arrernte bibles
Photo (Top Right): Mini bible dedication and co-translators
Photo (Bottom Right): Dedication painting
In 2017, the Eastern and Central Arrernte Shorter Bible was published, a volume that included all of the New Testament, all of Genesis and Ruth, with selections from Exodus. In 2019, we were able to complete the audio recording of the entire volume in Arrernte. After completing the Shorter Arrernte Bible, I resigned from SIL and worked in the field of Community Corrections for four and half years in Probation and Parole work, spending one of those years based in the Alice Springs Correctional Centre working with prisoners prior to their release.
I am now retired, but most recently completed the six month orientation to work with the State Emergency Services in Queensland. We now have twelve grandchildren!
We are grateful to God for the crucial part Bible College played in training and preparing us for a life of service to our Lord.
Photo: Broad family
