Well, I really enjoy studying and doing research on different topics associated with the Bible. I find it so encouraging. I share this with you because of my excitement in learning things about the Bible. I was recently looking at an old IELTs writing test chart showing reasons why people study. Interestingly forty percent of people study because of an interest in the subject. My interests also include people and cultures of the Bible such as those of the Middle East, and I also enjoy studying about ancient ruins and languages and especially that which is concerned with Biblical Archaeology, and in addition, I like fiction writing and writing in general. So, I share this with you about my education not to show you all the certificates I have but to encourage you to study the Bible. I want you to see some of the interesting things that I've come across.  Studying the Bible can be such a joy. It has all been a lot of work and most of it has taken place in the evenings after working a full day. This has been ongoing especially for the last twenty-five years.

 

Of course I graduated from high school many years ago. After the Navy I lived in Norfolk, Virginia and attended a year of evening classes at Old Dominion University. I have already mentioned a year in the Navy of Radio Electronics School and of course I went to two years at a Bible College in Nashville and even in Egypt, I studied for several years at the American University in Cairo. I mostly studied Arabic but I also did a year's course in bookkeeping. Later I found an Educational organization that would accept all of these credits and with a few addition courses, I finally got my BA, having done six years of full time study. In addition, I have studied about ten years of Arabic part time, about six months of Afghan Dari and about five years of Chinese. I've done courses in Hebrew, Aramaic and ancient Babylonian. These courses were incredibly interesting also. 

 

Then I did a Linguistics certificate course in Britain associated with Reading University, and later a Diploma in fiction writing along with another Diploma of Business Administration in a local correspondence school. These took several years to do. I did a newspaper writing course from Holland while I was working in Yemen. This was during the time I was working over seas. Much, much later in New Zealand, I did a three year course with the Christchurch College of Education. Then a year's course in ESOL and then I attended a three year Post Graduate Course in Teaching English as Second Language and so, I finally got my Master's Degree in Applied Linguistics from Waikato University. All of the study I did in New Zealand was NZQA, the national qualification authority. After that I did a church based Doctor of Religious Education and later I completed a PhD in Biblical Archaeology, another church based study. Each of these took me five years to do. They were a lot of work but again I so enjoyed doing these courses. They did not have the backing like the NZQA in New Zealand but instead had a church based accreditation. However, the course content was exactly what I wanted. Ten years of study all together for those two courses. I certainly learned a lot from them. I continue to do research in various Biblical Topics associated with these degrees. Now, it's important to understand that all of my studies took place after my regular working day. So. I have completed the following:

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Bachelor of Arts (in Accounting - several accreditations)

Diploma in Fiction Writing (International Correspondence School)

Diploma in Business Administration (International Correspondence School)

Diploma in Computer Repair (International Correspondence School)

Certificate in Applied Linguistics (Accredited by Reading University)

Certificate in Teaching English to Children (Canada Correspondence School)

Master's in Biblical Archaeology (Church Based Accreditation)

Graduate Diploma in Teaching - Tertiary (NZQA)

Certificate in ESOL (NZQA)

Post Grad Diploma in Teaching English as a Second Language (NZQA)

Master's in Applied Linguistics (NZQA)

Doctor of Religious Education (Church Based Accreditation)

PhD in Archaeology (Church Based Accreditation)

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Of Course this has taken many years to complete. Most of it was during my time here in New Zealand. Well, I gained the most experience in teaching Business English and Computers, and especially teaching ESOL and IELTs preparation. I still do this about seven hours a week. But, I really never gained that kind of experience in teaching the Bible. I have taught some courses but not many. There are many good Bible teachers out there, but it was different in regards to good English and IELTs preparation teachers. There was never the rivalry in teaching English as there was in teaching the Bible. Everybody claimed to be an expert in teaching Bible even though they weren't professional teachers. Anyway, I excelled in teaching anything associated with verbal and written communication. And what really helped me was was the doctoral studies in Religion Education and then the PhD in Biblical  Archaeology. Learning how best to teach and how best to learn; this was incredibly interesting. But, my interest in Biblical Archaeology was an out-growth of the different countries I visited and worked in for over the years. Such places as Britain, Italy, India, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, China, Tunisia, Greece and even Afghanistan brought me into contact with many of archaeological ruins. My interest in people and different cultures and languages was the same. One such place I remember in the middle of the desert in Tunisia was an incredible huge Roman Colosseum. Other ruins included many Islamic, ancient Chinese and even Buddhists sites. Many of these included Biblical associated ruins. So each of these doctoral studies took a minimal of five years to do and I still do research on topics relating to both of these. It dealt with topics that I was particular interested in that no other school offered. The Religion Education Program looked at different world religions, plus a very in depth study of the Bible. Spending so many years in Islamic countries and working with people there, I gained many friends and learned a lot from them. The Biblical Archaeology program involved an in depth study of Middle Eastern ancient history, it's people, their languages and archaeological discoveries especially concerning the Bible. A recent study I did was a seventy page expose on the Biblical Book of Job in the Old Testament that I completed after one year of research. Another recent study that I completed was a study on the Babylonian language, Akkadian, from the time of Ur in Mesopotamia. 

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