Imogen Chen

Full time study at PTC is indeed a great privilege to me.  I enjoy the friendship and my studies and feel confident in my theological pursuits, whether a formal lecture, a chapel sermon, a conference address or a library search for an assignment.  I thank God for placing me in this truth-seeking environment, where I know God’s word is valued and upheld as the utmost authority in all our endeavours.  

Although I have only completed one and a half semesters of study, the NT survey and the OT survey are solid enough to transform my fragmental biblical knowledge into a complete whole.  The Hebrew language is challenging but enjoyable.  Church History helps to improve my understanding on historical background and greatly enriches the content of my teaching in my church in the related areas.

As I come from a Chinese-speaking church, I had concerns about my age and my English language. Although I sometimes experience problems in understanding some terminology and locating some passages in an English Bible, with God’s abundant grace, these concerns turn out irrelevant.

Joel Mestry

I was born in 1980 on a small island called Mauritius located in the Indian Ocean. If 5 years ago someone had told me that I would be studying theology, I would probably have smiled, thinking; ’that’s never gonna happen!' That it would be in Australia (when Mauritius is predominantly French speaking together with the native language ‘creole’) would have really made me laugh. But God had a different agenda for me. I came to Australia in January 2007, started at the college in February and I am doing a Bachelor of Theology. God willing in 3 years I will go back to Mauritius and serve the Lord. A new country, a new tongue and a different culture. I was definitely expecting some challenges ahead, but God has been leading the way for me. Life at college is so gratifying, the studies are captivating, the lecturers are friendly, knowledgeable, experienced and above all accessible. From the very beginning I felt welcomed, both by the staff in general and the students in particular. During the month of June 2007, under the umbrella of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, a group of 13 (11 students from PTC including myself) participated in a short term mission trip to Malawi and Zambia. The experience was rewarding on many levels. The African cultural way of worshipping and doing ministry will forever be written on my heart. At college we learn about God, we learn about the Scriptures and the Gospel message and how to apply it in our own life and to the world around us. I believe that PTC is faithful to Scripture and I highly encourage everyone to join in. May God keep on blessing the work done at college over the years ahead in teaching, training and equipping people for Gospel ministry.

Michelle Dean 

Studying part time at PTC for the past few years has been a fantastic experience. I’ve learnt so much about being a Christian, made some great friends, and played a lot of table tennis!

I’ve grown up in a church that holds strongly to the Bible as the inspired and authoritative Word of God and I’m convinced that this is an essential view of Scripture. When considering where to study, one of my main aims was to find a College that upheld and submitted to the authority of the Bible. PTC hasn’t disappointed! Throughout my studies, I’ve been constantly challenged by both lecturers and fellow students to defend my beliefs from the Bible, and to obey its commands.

One of the things I’ve most appreciated from my time at College has been the way the lecturers apply the truths of Scripture to ministry and to ‘life’ in general. As well as learning Biblical principles from exegeting passages, the lecturers welcome the practical questions of how to apply what we learn. There’s so much more to Bible College than just reading a textbook or two…although there’s plenty of that as well!