September 2015 Student Newsletter

Words from the Director

Russell Haffner

School Director: Russell Haffner

Proverbs 18:15 tells us, "An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge." You have shown from your heart that you have a desire to learn. Your wisdom is shown because your ears are open to listen to instruction. I commend you for the decision you have made and promise that we will always seek to give you the most accurate, comprehensive and in-depth Bible study possible.

To those who are new students allow me to say I am delighted to welcome you to the WVBS Online Bible School. I am happy to report each week we average approximately 100 new students enrolling in the school. Everyone here is happy that you have chosen to study God's word using the resources of the school. We wish you much success as you fulfill your goals as a student to learn more from God's word and your place in His world.

You are now part of an internationally rich and diverse student body of over 6,000 students representing more than 100 different countries. We are so pleased that you are here, and on behalf of the WVBS Online Bible School I wish you the very best as you study in the school. We look forward to working with you.

Recommended Videos

You may have noticed we have been adding extra features to the school's website. For instance, under the "About" option on the blue menu bar we have added links to Recommended Videos. The Recommended Videos button will take you to a page which will be continually updated with information concerning free videos available for online viewing which may be of interest to you.

The first recommended video was "Passage 1 | Jerusalem: An Unforgettable City" (www.biblelandpassages.org). We received many positive responses from students concerning the quality and content of this video.

We are pleased to announce that the second video in the series is now available to freely view online. It is entitled "Passage 2 | The Ministry of Jesus in Northern Israel." Like the first this is a short lesson, less than thirty minutes long, but it contains a wealth of information.

Have you ever wished to visit the Bible lands? If you are not able to make the journey yourself the next best thing could be watching these programs. These instructional video presentations, shot on location, let you explore many of the religious and historical sites in Israel, Jordan and Palestine. They are produced by WVBS and are completely free to view online.

How Long?

I am often asked, "How long will it take for me to complete the school?" That is a very difficult question to answer. The curriculum has 45 courses with over 960 video lessons which are each approximately 38 minutes long. This would require around 560 hours just to view all the lessons. The Formal and Informal students would also need to consider the time required to read each book of the Bible as well as the assigned course books. To this they would add the time needed to study and prepare to take the tests and write the term papers and other class assignments.

As you can see there is no way to determine how long it will take to finish all the courses because the courses are studied at-your-own-pace and do not have any official start time, end time or duration. It will depend on how much time you have each day to devote to your studies.

There is a wealth of information offered in the school. The courses provide you 45 opportunities to deepen your Bible knowledge. It may seem overwhelming but like a marathon runner if you continue with perseverance you will be able to finish the race and complete all 45 courses.