Recently, while rummaging through old files, we discovered an original ABTS Newsletter from 1999! The first page alone is full of history, memories, and a physical reminder of the growth and development of our seminary over the years thanks to God’s guidance. Then-president Dr. Ghassan Khalaf still teaches two to three classes a year at our seminary, and most recently spoke at our 2015 graduation ceremony. Click here to watch his speech (in Arabic) on YouTube! We were delighted to see the “current news” covering the appointment of new ABTS faculty member Dr. Daniel Chetti (who remains one of our core faculty today) as well as a visit from Rev. Dr. Victor Hashweh who continues to serve as a guest lecturer at ABTS in addition to leading his church. Dr. Tony Maalouf, who the newsletter noted taught an intensive course as a guest lecturer in 1999, still returns to ABTS every other year as a guest lecturer – 16 years later! Dr. Naji is still a member of our ABTS community and a strong supporter of our mission. Rev. Stan Scroggins, a guest lecturer for our seminary in 1999, now serves as the Chairman of the Board at the Middle East Bible Outreach. MEBO is a 501(c)(3) corporation based in Atlanta, Georgia, that coordinates efforts among our US friends and partners to generate awareness and much needed financial gifts and prayers to support the work of ABTS. Even our library has grown through the decades of care and service, from 5,000 English-language books when this newsletter was written to 15,500 English-language titles today (plus 10,000 Arabic-language books!). This newsletter is a beautiful reminder of the dedicated people who have been serving God and the Arab Church through our seminary over the years.

Click here to download a scan of the May 1999 Newsletter!