A 50 year Reunion of the 1965 and 1966 BI Students was held at the Bible Institute on Saturday 22 October 2016.
It started with ‘Morning Tea ‘ at 10 am and concluded with an ‘Afternoon tea’ at 3 pm. A hearty lunch was also served. After a general welcome by Hedley Stead, the Principal Dr Daniel Simango, addressed the gathering and then greetings were read from those who were not able to join us because for distance or other circumstances. After that photos were taken and then we assembled in the new lecture wing of Roxton, called the Williams Hall where many stories of our student days were recalled.
The layout of the new Past Students Fellowship web page was explained to those gathered. This web page gives an opportunity for all Past Students to relate how God has led them and blessed them since their BI days. All past Students are kindly invited to write their story of how God has dealt with them since they studied at BI. Once submitted, the account of God’s gracious dealings with them will be up-loaded onto the web page for all to read and rejoice in God’s goodness.
The lunch that was served in the dining room, was prepared by the Past Student Anne MacDonald. Thank you Anne for the lovely meal.
The day was brought to a fitting closure with a Chapel Service that was lead by Rob Corder and where the devotional message was brought by Nico Bougas. It was an occasion of prayer and praise to our Heavenly Father.
Here is a photo of the people who gathered for the Reunion:
From left to right they are; Those whose names are in bold print are BI graduates.
Back row standing: Wesley Gavin, Edgar and Ruth Craill (behind), Errol Wesson, Stan Want, Christine Philip, Bee and Nico Bougas, with Neville Holmes behind Bee and Nico, and then Terry and Jean Philip, with Werna and Charles Haupt either side of Hedley Stead.
Standing in a middle row: Chris Venter and his wife Brenda, Claudia Wesson in front of Errol, Mary Birch, Charlotte Keen, Mientjie Uys, Chris and Daphne Hershensohn to the right of Nico, Rau and Sonja Joubert, Rob Corder and his wife Shieley Corder (in front of Charles), then Colin Sylvester and his wife Pat, with Tiny Jones and his wife Pat on the end.
Seated; Wendy van Rensburg, Sheylah du Plessis, Gladys Ford, Val Gavin, Mrs Gordon, Noreen Holmes, Bill Goble.
Sitting in front on the ground are Derek van Rensburg and Neil du Plessis.
Sandy Stead is not in the picture.
Joe Bell and Frank Retief joined us for morning tea but left again before the photo session.
Brian Gardner was also present but does not appear in the photo. In all we were 30 Past Students with 12 spouses. Our guest of honour was Mrs Gordon and then was also the BI Staff Members.
There were a number of folks who wanted to join us but could not do so because of circumstances beyond their control. They were, Pat and June Stevenson, Charles Paine and his wife Wendy, Luella Campbell, Fiona Watson (nee Stewart) and Mary Batteson.
Rev Clive Tyler and his wife, Lillian, wanted to join with us for the Reunion but were not able to do so because of Lillian suffering a stroke in China just a few weeks before. Read Clive Tyler’s letter about this experience by following this link here. Clive Tyler’s Letter.
We were very grateful to the Staff and Students of the BI for all the encouragement and the help that they gave us on that day. Thank you. Special thanks is extended to Kathy Noland.
After the Reunion we were able to give a donation of R11,350-00 to the Bible Institute for their general expenses to use as they felt led. A big ‘thank you’ to all who contributed to make this gift possible.
To view the original invitation to the Reunion follow the link below.
View the ‘Invitation to the Reunion’ here.