Schools, Mountains, and 30 Prospective Students...

It was a thrill to return to the students and teachers at CBI this fall. After the audacious 2-day journey, Menard greeted us at the small airport in Mbeya. We returned to the mission and immediately were greeted by the faculty and students at CBI. Sunday we went to Uturo. The building was crowded with some of our students and teachers who had been holding a campaign all weekend. That morning two were baptized because of their efforts. 

On the way to church that morning we talked to two of our students who had been invited to hold worship services at the Islamic school down the road. There are four Christian students there and these two CBI students were allowed to have New Testament worship with them in one of the classrooms. 

Ezekiel this next week was asked to grade the district Bible Knowledge exams for the whole district. Our students at the Herring Secondary school passed the exam with over 2/3 making either A’s or B’s.  We also found out this week that Remmy, the CBI English director was asked to provide our students as teachers in many of the area schools to teach Bible on Fridays. We are now organizing these students so they will be able to learn the pure gospel of our Savior every week now. 

Boaz has been taking two students on his motorcycle weekly up the mountain to Nungu where this summer they have had 7 restorations and 9 baptisms. We will have one student from the mountain come to school next year named David, which will further strengthen the work there. 

Xavier has been working in Igawa for the past two months. He is having classes on the weekends teaching the men to preach and lead the worship. He says that his purpose has been “to make the church independent and make every man a leader.”

Classes are keeping all of us busy. I am teaching Church History and Bible Geography. We now have over 12 books that have been printed in Swahili for the classes. Also we are all helping unload the new library books. We had our first faculty meeting this week and the faculty is all working hard in their respective realms. We have over 30 students who have shown an interest in coming next year. The prospective students will be coming to campus in a couple of weeks to be interviewed. The days here are long but ever so rewarding. We are so blessed to be working with the finest students and faculty we have ever known. Please continue to pray for CBI as we prepare the preachers and teachers of Tanzania and Malawi. 

Garry L. Hill
Extension Coordinator
Chimala Bible Institute

Lectures Conclude In A Special Way...

The Bear Valley Lectures concluded on Sunday evening. The lessons were all focused on What’s Right With The Church. “Amazing” is the word that first comes to mind about the lessons presented by the speakers over the weekend. I would encourage you to visit the website and listen to the lessons at your leisure /chapelcast/

Within a time and culture where it is easy to find what is wrong and negative (seeking ways to destroy the very family of God) it is refreshing to listen to lessons focused on the good and positive nature of what God intended for the church. The lessons were well prepared and applicable to everyone. I know you will find benefit from these lessons as well.

While we were focused on the beautiful nature of the Lord’s church, we also had opportunity to discuss the work associated with the Bear Valley Bible Institute. This included sharing the wonderful news of how we are blessed to partner with congregations and schools around the world in the Extension Program. It is powerful to learn about the great work being done by the men who are on the ground making tremendous sacrifices to prepare men to preach the gospel.

One bonus to the end of the lectureship was seeing one very special soul obey the gospel in putting on Christ in baptism. The assurance of a relationship with God and hope for the future cannot be measured in physical, monetary terms. I am always thankful to see how God works in our lives to help us draw closer to Him. May He be glorified in all things!

The reports this week continue to emphasize the work accomplished by the wonderful men and women who labor diligently in several of the various schools. 

Now on to the other reports...

Coordinator Updates
Reports from the coordinators are now located on the website, under Staff Reports. The address is /extension-schools/

Extension Reports 

Fully Obeying The Gospel: It is interesting to see how those who are seeking will find the truth as it is proclaimed. The power brings full obedience to the life of those in Cameroon.

Equipping Cambodians With God’s Word: The work of the International Bible Institute in Siem Reap is working with a new class of students to equip them in God’s word.

Two Souls Added In Tamale Campaign: The results of a recent campaign in Tamale saw two precious souls added to the Lord’s church.

Gasper Called To Court: This is a report that is worth reading and sharing with everyone you know. This event shows the power of God working through His servant, Gasper.

Friday The 13th? A number of events and circumstances over the past week in Arusha have demonstrated some strange thoughts connected to Friday the 13th. 

Final Thoughts
Thank you for your time in reading the report this week. The news continues to show the diligent work of men and women around the world. The student outreach is incredible. Thank you for all you do to help this work continue. There are so many people and areas involved in the success of the overall program, it would be impossible to list them all and not miss someone. However, suffice it to say it takes everyone working together. Thank you for the part you play.

God bless
Bob

Friday The 13th?

Dear Co-Workers:

LONG TIME NO HEAR FROM. Due to Jimmy traveling, it has been two weeks since our last report. In fact, there is so much to report that part will have to wait until next week. As is normally the case, we are enjoying a beautiful, warm Lord's Day and enjoying our five guests. Neil Richey, his father (Paul Richey) son, (Peyton Richey), his friend (Lance Leavens) and Lindsey Whitehead arrived Friday night and joined us for supper on Saturday. Heather cooked a delicious meal of fried chicken (with Tony's Spice), mashed potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls, and brownies.

HOW SHALL THEY HEAR...without a preacher? Paul taught the combined classes this morning concerning "Examples of Conversion" and Neil preached on Colossians. The church in Tanzania is very fortunate to be the recipients of such good, sound teaching from visitors. Among the 98 in attendance were two Tanzanian visitors, Paul and Christina. Last Sunday, a lady who is attending the free English classes at the Kisongo Bible School also accepted the invitation to attend Bible class and worship.

THESE THINGS COMMAND AND TEACH. While Neil is teaching Romans and Galatians in the ACSOP, Paul, Peyton, Lance and Lindsey will be involved in personal evangelism in our neighborhood (Mateves Village, Kisongo). Seems that God is answering our prayers that one day our entire neighborhood will be converted...or at least taught! Speaking of neighbors, Grace invited Abigail to her birthday party last night. Abigail was surprised that she was the only guest (no family or other friends were there). They enjoyed cookies and cokes while there. Abigail continues to study with Grace every Sunday and Lindsey is studying with Nice today.

FRIDAY THE 13th? No, actually it was the 21st but felt like the "13th!" Due to ear pain and Dr. Smelser's recommendation, Jimmy visited our dentist to find out he needs a root canal. Later that day, we wound up in Dr. Smelser's clinic again getting a stitch put in the back of Stuart's head due to a gash from hitting a metal gate. Our co-missionary Stephanie was involved in a minor car accident when the brakes of a Tanesco (Tanzanian Electric Company) truck failed. Thankfully no one was hurt.

HEAD-INJURY CLUB. When 10-year-old Peyton arrived, Stuart and David formed a club of just them three because all of them have either had their head stitched or glued back together (David has had both). ha/ha

SPEAKING OF THE MONDULI CLINIC, many of you are familiar with David Martin (Elly Martin's brother). David is a fine Christian man (late 20's) and is working at the clinic as a doctor's assistant. Next year, he plans to continue his education to become a full-fledged medical doctor, specializing in either surgery or pediatrics. How exciting to see Christian men advancing in their profession, knowing many will be influenced for Christ through them.

THIS PAST WEEK, Trina visited with Mama Pendo (non-Christian sister of Helen who died with cancer but became a Christian before death and sister to Lembris, Isaiah and Elizabeth...all members of the Lord's church), Joyce and children, Mama Steven and Mama Abbas. Trina also met Sylvesta who has been studied with on many occasions. Presently, Anita Hochdorf is studying with his wife Neema. Trina also met a young man (early twenties) named Allen who either studied or at least talked with Chris Akin a few months ago. He will be attending a university to study Agricultural Economics. He promised me he would visit the church.

"IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD"...said Hillary Clinton. While out walking, it is normal to see many groups of children (some very young) who are seemingly "on their own" throughout the day (maybe they return to a house at night). Our first thought is, "Where is their Mother?" If you have actually SEEN "village-owned" (so to speak) you would disagree with Mrs. Clinton. Who would dare look at these precious children (dirty, hungry, sick, without supervision, without shoes and without good manners towards others) and declare that the village is taking such good care of them? God's way...two loving parents teaching and obeying the Scriptures, enforcing rules and setting boundaries... certainly produces happier and healthier children and better citizens.

"GIVE HER THE LIVING CHILD...SHE IS THE MOTHER THEREOF." (I Kings 3:27) Praise God concerning prayers answered for our new sister in Christ, Hilda! Her husband was requiring her to get a job locally and take her young child (one-year-old) to her mother-in-law far away to leave him for one year! She obeyed her husband and took him (all the time her heart breaking). After talking with the mother-in-law who said she would be traveling soon and could not take the child, Hilda's husband agreed to let her return with their son and continue caring for him. Many mothers take it for granted that they get to care for their own children...and may even complain about the work sometimes. Never forget what a blessing and privilege motherhood is!

WOW...Cy Stafford, TZ 2000 director, received the following letter from Gasper, (TZ evangelist at Mosquito River) and, while hard to believe, it certainly is a reason to rejoice! A woman in Mosquito River became a Christian. She was married to a Maasai man who already had one wife. She understood that, in order to be a faithful Christian, she could not stay married to the man. So, she sought to divorce her husband, going through the courts. What a rare situation! Most people do not seek a divorce (especially women divorcing their husbands). Most Maasai women would be ostracized and/or beaten by their tribe. These are Gasper's words (though some omitted and some spelling corrected to clarify). See Cy’s report above for the letter he received.

For the Bible to make a difference in a Tanzanian court case, especially concerning the Maasai tribe who are basically ABOVE the law and are a "law to themselves" in this country, is extremely encouraging! Gasper, the church, and the Bible were respected. The church in Tanzania is making a difference and influencing for good! Gasper was educated at the ACSOP.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. God's Word does not return unto Him void. 

In Christian Love,
The Jimmy Gee family

Gasper Called To Court...

Greetings Fellow Workers;

We continue to pray on your behalf, thank our God for all you mean to His work here in Tanzania.

The following e-mail was received last week from our brother Julius Gasper:

Gasper Called To Court!
“Hello brother Cy, last friday I received a call from the court that I was needed there with the bible. When I arrive there, I find a lot of people waiting for me. The judge ask me, ‘are you a preacher?’, I answer yes, Which church? I answered, church of christ. She ask me where are your sheep? I answered, you and all who are here. She kept quiet and then she started to say, ‘we called you here and we want to improve according to the bible, is there any place in the book that agrees with the marriage of 2 wives?’ I said NO, she ask me again is there any place in bible that allows man to give His wife a divorce for ANY reason?” I said NO, except for fornication. Then she took those 2 certificates of  the married and ask me which is the right married among these, 2?’ I told Her the first ONE is the true marriage. Then she said;  ‘thank you”.

Then she gave a chance to the man, who had said you can receive divorce for any reason, and you can marry 2 wives according to the bible, (Deut 24:1). He said here we see GOD allowed any one to send his wife IF she was displeasing. I was told to answer him, then I told them when Jesus came He made correction on this statement according,“It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery (Mathew 5:31-32)....(Mat 19:1-9). Then Lameck to have 2 wives is Not the plan of God since the beginning. The judge said; ‘preacher you are free to go and continue to do the work of God, they are disturbing you.’ She told the opposer to sign all 3 places where he was wrong, and the opposer was told to pay 5 million shillings to our sister in Christ. Thank for your prayer about this case for long time. May God bless you all who pray for us. Your servant, Gasper”

Oh that other countries would heed God’s Word!

Elly, Jimmy, Sean and myself just returned from a journey that took us to Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya, Dodoma, Singida and through Babati back to Arusha. Our purpose, to meet and greet evangelist in these locations as well as promoting the Andrew Connally School of Preaching. We met with over 30 different evangelist in the locations.

It was truly an amazing experience. It was a joy meeting with these men of God who give so much. We shared our trials, joys and challenges. We spoke of the work before us and how we might work together in our service to our God and our fellow man.

Stephanie, Anita and several other Christian ladies conducted a ladies seminar, hosted by the Mearani congregation (yes ladies, this is where all the Tanzanite comes from). The only “jewel” was one new sister in Christ! Thank you ladies for a job WELL done!

We hope and we pray you have a blessed week in the Lord. Please remember our upcoming Tanzania Leadership Conference coming up October 11-14. We will be blessed by a host of speakers from the States and are expecting over 100 participants.

In Him, Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Two Souls Added In Tamale Campaign...

Greetings from Tamale! Here is the latest news from the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies (TIBS). 

School Update
The seventh term is well under way at TIBS with students beginning to take mid-term exams during the coming week. We were extremely happy that all students were able to arrive safely for the beginning of this term, including the students that missed the previous term due to illness. Unfortunately, the happiness has been interrupted with many of the students and their families continuing to struggle with illnesses. Last week we had to have one student admitted to the hospital after he fell ill and became unresponsive. After 3 days of IV antibiotics he finally began to respond to the treatment, although he remains extremely weak. In meeting with him and his family it was decided that the best thing for his health would be to return to his home village in order to rest and regain his strength. It is our prayer that he will be able to rejoin the school at a later date should his health permit. Other students have also been dealing with health issues, including trips to the hospital for treatment. In addition to this, two students had to leave classes on Friday to return to their villages in order to take care of sick children. As difficult as it is to leave their families for six weeks at a time in order to be students, it is so much more difficult when they also have to deal with sickness and worry for their loved ones. We continue to pray with the students and for the students as they strive to better prepare themselves to preach and teach God’s Word despite the difficulties. 

Evangelism Update
We received good news this past week as two more precious souls were added to the kingdom during follow up work from a recent TIBS supported campaign. The Kpatringa church of Christ reported that Mrs. Elizabeth and Mrs. Magnan put on Christ in baptism. We rejoice with the angels at this most wonderful news. We have also received word that the recently planted church in Cinkasse had an attendance of eight for this past week’s worship service. We continue to pray for this new church in a predominately Muslim area of Togo, and rejoice in their growth.

Planning is under way for the next student campaign which will take place at the end of the current term. There has been much discussion about where to go, and if we should work at planting a new church or assist some of the existing village congregations with personal evangelism. While planting new churches is an exciting and rewarding experience, we have a rule that there must be a plan in place to support and edify the congregation as part of the planting process. To that end we have decided that this campaign will be in the Bimbila area. While there are a number of churches of Christ in the villages surrounding the city of Bimbila, the city itself lacks a congregation. We are currently seeking to identify men who would be willing to work in Bimbila when a congregation is established, while making plans to help strengthen the surrounding congregations during this campaign.    

Closing Thoughts
In closing we continue to thank those who support TIBS with your prayers and financial support. We are still looking for congregations or individuals who would be interested in helping support a student ($100 per month takes care of one student) or an evangelistic campaign (each campaign costs between $750 and $1000).There is much work that can be done with your help! 

In His service,
Tony Johnson

anthonyjohnson2010@gmail.com

Equipping Cambodians With God's Word...

Jumreapsooh brothers and sisters in Christ!

What a pleasure it is to be able to share in the work of Christ in this part of the world with all of you. I pray that we can be an encouragement to you as you are an encouragement to us. 

We have officially started our 2012-2014 school year and the staff and I are very excited for the new class. We have a total of 9 students enrolled. There have been some changes in this year's program that I think will benefit the overall work in general. We are introducing a "Work Study Program" for our students at IBISR. This program is designed to aid the students physically while at the same time teaching them responsibility and accountability. This program will help them to be hard workers and will hopefully train them not to be dependent upon foreign aid, principles found in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 and 3 John. 

They will be equipped with God's word primarily, but also be equipped with vocational training so that they can help support themselves as Paul once did. We ask that you keep this work in your prayers and we look forward to updating you all with the progress of the Lord's work in Cambodia! Please continue to come by and visit. Peace and love to all of you.

Phanat

If you would like to see pictures of the new class, please click here.

Fully Obeying The Gospel...

Dearest in Christ,

Accept our sincere greetings in Jesus name. We do hope you and your family are doing great. On our side, we are doing great and we thank you for your prayers over us. The students of CBIW will round up their campaign today as many of them decided to add few more days to follow up most of their prospects before they will go to their homes for a short vacation.

Brother Takang listened to the same program and visited us last Sunday. He came again today and asked the question on what he can do to FULLY obey the gospel. Answers were given to him and he decided to obey the gospel. He is a son to a female elder in Presbyterian denomination. Please keep him in your prayers for the fight he must fight to keep his faith and through him many in that family will see the light of the truth.

The congregation in Wotutu continues to miss the fellowship we are having with the students when they are on campus and we pray for their return on campus this Saturday. Our congregation continues with the normal schedule in our program to reach out to the community, as we continue preaching daily from 4:30 am visiting and evangelizing on Saturday.

Our worship today was great as we had above 80 people in attendance. 

I just returned from Ekondo Titi which is really far from Wotutu. I went there to visit 4 students working in that area. The roads are really horrible but God took me there and brought me home safe. I was with sister Odilia in Lobe village frying Garri to make the ends of life meet. She is also a member of a group that is being controlled by the church of Christ in that community called the virtuous women. They do a lot to reach out to many in those communities with humanitarian things like used clothe and food from their farm.

Today was another great day as three young precious souls obeyed the gospel this morning during our worship. Sister Geraldine smiled as she was baptized. Keep her in your prayers so that many of her friends will continue to listen to the morning Back to the Bible program. This time around the power in Wotutu is off for the whole week. Many thanks for our standby generator set we used to still speak out the truth loud and clear.

Brother Chijoike Nwachukwu lives very close to the church hall. He is a son to our sister who just came from Nigeria to visit with the mom and dad, sister Shela. He obeyed the gospel this morning. Keep all of them in your prayers as we help them grow to maturity.

I also had opportunity to visit some devoted brethren in one of the congregation. They smiled to welcome me in their congregation. They also used that opportunity to appreciate CBIW and the big Bear Valley family for all their efforts to spread the good news in Cameroon. They are ready to get a student to be their permanent preacher, but lots need to be put in place. It is sad at one time to see the willingness and then the need to look upon again and again for it to work. Keep their plans in your prayers.

This afternoon after worship our congregation was part of the tree planting exercise that is taking place now in Cameroon. This is not just planting trees but planting medicinal trees that will help many in their health.

Plans
We are set to go to Batoke the first week of October to plant a new congregation. This will involve the entire school and some members of the Wotutu congregation. Keep our plans in your prayers and be part of this mission. That is why we keep crying for a van of our own that will help transport us as many as are willing to go and make known the name of Christ in a virgin land.

Appreciation
Thanks for all your prayers and support. Keep this work in your prayers and tell others to be part of it. Keep our students in your prayers as they come for the final quarter. Time flies, God is good, and our graduation comes up on the 20th of December 2012. The second matriculation comes up same day. Keep us in your prayers and make plans to be here with us on that august gathering of the saints in Cameroon.

God bless you all.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW

Bear Valley Lectures Are Set To Begin...

The Bear Valley Lectures begin this week in Denver. These lectures have proven to be so powerful in the past and I know this year will be no exception. With all the negativity that exists in our world, and far too often within the church, the theme and focus of this year’s lectureship is What’s Right With The Church? Men from all over the country will be traveling to Denver to participate in this year’s lectureship and it promises to be great.

If you would like to listen to the lectures this year, a website link exists where you can listen to the recordings. Remember these lessons are not available live, but after they have been uploaded to the website you can listen to them at: /chapelcast/. I encourage you to listen to these positive lessons dealing with What’s Right With The Church? This link will also allow you opportunity to listen to the various lessons from each day’s chapel at the Bible Institute.

In addition to the announcement about the lectureship, this week’s report shares news from around the world where the work is exciting and growing. The work of training men to preach and seeing their involvement in evangelizing people in their own countries is still the most exciting work I know.

Thank you for taking time to read through the reports each week. I know you share the same excitement I do when it comes to seeing the powerful ways the gospel is transforming the lives of those who have heard the message. It is thrilling to know there are men around the world who have given their lives to prepare themselves to take this message and share it with others.

Now on to the other reports...

Coordinator Updates
Reports from the coordinators are now located on the website, under Staff Reports. The address is /extension-schools/

Donnie Bates’ latest report is located here.

Extension Reports 

Let The Campaigns Begin In Cameroon: After completing two short courses, students of the Cameroon Bible Institute are making their way out to 17 villages to preach the gospel.

Spiritual And Physical Growth In Cambodia: News in Cambodia continues to show the steady growth of the church.

Pray For The Church In Uganda And Congo: Graduates from the school in Uganda are working with the church in several areas around Busia.

Shaping A Nation For Service To God: Events connected to a recent Gospel meeting, along with  upcoming events in a Leadership Conference, our shaping the future of Tanzania. 

Final Thoughts
Closing out this week’s report simply gives me opportunity to thank you again. Your involvement in training men to preach the gospel does not go unnoticed and it is appreciated far more than we can ever state in words on a page. I am thankful for your vision in seeing the value of this work. I am thankful for your love for the Lord, His church, and the lost. I am also thankful you trust us in doing this work. I pray for you every day.

God bless
Bob

Pray For The Church In Uganda and Congo...

Dear brethren, 

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We hope that you are all doing fine in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are doing fine here in Uganda. We thank you all for the support you are giving to us in one way or another. Through your finances and prayers, the Lord is helping us to accomplish his great work of soul saving in East and Central Africa.

Nandwa Church of Christ (Uganda)
Christians at Nandwa church are doing fine. Brother Benson Outa, an older brother in the Kiswahili class who is from Kenya, with four students from Congo, are now working with Nandwa church. Ouma Hillary our graduate of March this year, an old member of this church, is also working with them. Ouma Hillary today taught the adult Bible class about giving and  brother Embamba from Congo preached about faith during the church service. They both did a good job. They showed a lot growth in the way they all applied the scriptures. Today, Paul and Susan did not attend service. When they were planing to go to Nandwa, their child, Wechesa Jr., fell sick and they took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed having malaria. He was admitted, so please remember him in your prayers. 

Bulang'i church of Christ (Uganda)
This morning we left Busia with Margaret on a motorcycle as my old Surf could not make it. When we reached Lumino, which is the trading center near Nandwa church. I decided to put her on another motorcycle to Nandwa and I branched to Bulang'i to see if I could worship with them. When I arrived there I found brother Odwori Silvano our graduate still at his home which is next to the church building. His wife had gone to get some potatoes from the garden. When I asked him when they start service he told that they start late and today they did not have the fruit of the vine. I could not help them as I had not carried some with me. I decided to go to Nandwa for worship. 

Namungodi church of Christ (Uganda)
Emmanuel Mawa and Edith do attend church service at this church. Emmanuel is currently the one working as the preacher of this congregation. They are doing fine. These days they have started learning songs before they start worship. Emmanuel, being not from Samia land, is also learning how to sing songs of Lusamia Lugwe. Edith says that he is coming up well. He will soon be a good song leader. Emmanuel will be finishing school in January. 

Nahayaka church of  Christ (Uganda)
Wandera Peter, the youngest student in English class, is working at this congregation together with one student from Congo. They are meeting in the home of an old man who is also sick, but loves the Lord very much. They are still worshiping only with the family of this old man as people do not want worship in  peoples homes. They say that worship is only done in the church, meaning the church building. If we want more people to start visiting that congregation, there must be a change of a place of worship. Pray for this congregation so that we may get a place to rent for them until they grow and start paying for the place themselves. 

Baraka church of Christ (Congo)
Brother Mutndjwa Kipimo, the preacher of this congregation, said that they are doing fine and last week they had a baptism. Pray for Congo brethren so that there could be peace in that country.

May God bless you all. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. 

Yours In Christ,
Francis, Margaret and Edith Wechesa

Shaping A Nation For Service To God...

Dear friends and supports of the work in Tanzania, we hope you find this current newsletter uplifting and that you will seize upon it as a tool to encourage you to greater service in the kingdom. Without further delay let’s bring you up to speed on God’s work in Tanzania.

East Africa Gospel Meeting
Last month Cy Stafford and I had the privilege to further our recruiting efforts for the next English class intake at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching. We traveled a total of 1400 miles (7000 American miles*) and were able to enjoy the beauty of the Tanzania countryside.

Our first stop was Babati, Tanzania where we met with a group of 10 preachers and interested members. We spent some time discussing their needs, concerns and hopes for the future. Cy went on to discuss A.S.C.O.P. and handed out a few applications that could be taken back to prospective students. We said our goodbyes and hit the road to make it to Singida by nightfall.

The trip was planned in order to coincide with the East Africa Gospel Meeting. The East Africa Gospel Meeting is an annual event that is completely planned and coordinated by churches of Christ in the East African community. The location rotates each year and this year’s meeting was in Mwanza, Tanzania. From Singida it was a full day’s journey but we finally arrived early that evening. Mwanza is a beautiful city located on the Southern shore of Lake Victoria.

With preachers and faithful brethren attending from all over East Africa we were grateful for the opportunity to speak about A.S.C.O.P. and to encourage those in attendance to take back applications for those men who have the desire to become Gospel preachers. We addressed the crowd and handed out a number of prospective student packets. Keep our recruiting efforts in your prayers as East Africa is always in need of qualified men to preach Christ to this overpopulated region.

The E.A.G.M. was a well attended success for the cause of Christ. In addition to local members there were 38 men from 25 different congregations present. Brethren came from Kenya, throughout Tanzania, Congo, and Uganda. In the end a tremendous amount of fellowship was had among the brethren and they received much needed encouragement. Even better, 8 souls were added to the kingdom and God was glorified through the teaching and preaching of His word.

After departing Mwanza we headed for the town of Kisumu located in Kenya. It was here that we were to meet up with Mike Reese. Mike had come with a group of men to help in setting up the new Kenya School of Preaching. One of our A.S.C.O.P. graduates, Charles Ogutu, will be the first director. He is a very capable and dedicated man and we are grateful he is willing to step up and lead this large undertaking.

A.C.S.O.P. Student Recruiting
In addition to the previous trip, we have scheduled another recruiting effort that we intend to start this next week. We will be traveling to Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, and Mbeya. The trip will be a long one coming in at a hair under 1500 miles. This time Cy Stafford, Jimmy Gee, Elly Martin and myself will be making the trip. Please pray for its success and that we can have safe passageway.

The Minor Prophets Make A Major Impression
I have just finished teaching Minor Prophets 1 (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Nahum, and Jonah) at the A.S.C.O.P. What a thrilling study. Having never taught the Minor Prophets I saw the class as an opportunity for personal growth and I am sure glad I did. Aside from the primary message of their preaching to Israel and Judah it is amazing how relevant their preaching is for today. Let me encourage you to take some time and study the minor prophets and if you really want to challenge yourself and grow exponentially, teach a class on the minor prophets. God’s word is rich and the neglected study of the minor prophets are nuggets of gold waiting for you to mine and add to your treasure chest of scripture knowledge.

I am glad (yea, relieved) to report that all of my students passed the class and can proceed to Minor Prophets 2 which I will be teaching next quarter. After finishing their final, we had all the students up for lunch. I have included some pictures of our meal together. I find it’s good to feed the students after thrashing them for a quarter. It’s like a peace offering that keeps me in their good graces.

Meet Arnold
One of the tragedies in our world is the number of children that are abandoned by parents who don’t care what happens to their own flesh and blood. I wish it were in the power of one person to wipe the slate clean and provide every orphan with the love and care they need. We can’t fix every broken home but we can help some along our journey toward eternity. Meet Arnold. Arnold lives in a traditional mud hut with his grandmother and their cow. Yes, the cow does come in from time-to-time. Arnold’s parents abandoned him when he was very young. We have located his father but he doesn’t want anything to do with Arnold. No one knows where his mother is. Arnold’s grandmother is very old and has been sick for a long time. We don’t expect her to live more than another 6-12 months. Arnold has been the lackey for those that share the family property (distant aunt’s, uncles, etc). Arnold has had it rough. No one wants to take care of him and he has suffered more days without food than you can imagine. I first took notice of Arnold on my daily drive down the hill. When I drive down the road I roll down my window and all the kids come running to slap me high fives as I go by. Arnold seemed to always have some kind of comedy routine when I approached and it intrigued me. One sign of intelligence is the use of humor and comedy and Arnold didn’t lack for either. After some investigating we found out about him and his tragic situation. How do you laugh and cut up under such horrible circumstances? At any rate, we wanted to see if we could offer him some real help, help that might give him some hope for the future. I could spend a considerable amount of time explaining everything but suffice it to say that we now have Arnold enrolled in a private school and he is doing well. The effort has been a collaborative one involving my parents, Nester and Esther (our head guard), and Anita and me. Nester and Esther are feeding Arnold each night and the school provides breakfast and lunch. Arnold comes to our house to get water so he can bathe and be presentable for school. He will be reporting to me bringing his grades to show how he is progressing and doing a few chores around the house so we can get to know him better. Keep Arnold in your prayers. Although we have opened some doors for him his life is very difficult.

Want to help Arnold? Drop us a line and we’ll get you what you need to know.

Tanzania Leadership Conference
For quite a while now our team has been working on the upcoming Tanzania Leadership Conference. I was tasked with scheduling, topics, etc. and have had a good time organizing the effort. We have 21 different speakers coming from 3 different countries. A large portion of the staff at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver will be present to deliver a number of the lessons. What a blessing. This year’s theme is: NATIONAL LEADERSHIP: SHAPING A NATION FOR SERVICE TO GOD, Lessons on national leadership from 1&2 Samuel and 1&2 Kings. With 33 different lessons for men and women we are hoping this year’s conference will bring glory to God and a mountain of edification for our brethren.

As this report comes to a close we want each of you to know how much you are appreciated. It is only through your selflessness that a work like this can go forward. Your sacrifice doesn’t go unnoticed by us, and more importantly, by our heavenly Father.

Until next time, take care and God bless.
Sean Hochdorf

To see Sean’s report, complete with pictures, click here.

Spiritual And Physical Growth In Cambodia...

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to share some information about our work in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We are very blessed and honored to work for our Lord, Jesus Christ. As we continue to share and teach the gospel to people in Siem Reap and throughout Cambodia. Our church currently has from 45-50 meet every Lord's day.

At the weekend, especially Saturday, we were also involved in teaching the people around the congregations at Takam and Leang Dai as well. There are around 100 people that we have been teaching, mostly teenagers.

The church decided to have a fellowship meal once a month, especially on Wednesday in the second week. Somehow the church is continuing to grow spiritually and physically as well.

When I mean physical, some of you may know that most of the members of the church are very young, and from day to day, they continue to grow. 

I want to thank especially to the brethren in Bear Valley church of Christ and from some other brethren that keep supporting the work here in Siem Reap.

May our God bless you more.

In Him
Chann

Let The Campaigns Begin In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ,

Accept greetings from the staff, students and members of the Wotutu congregation. We praise God for you over there and we do hope you are doing great.

God blessed us again last week by adding sister Patience Wase into His body here in Wotutu. Keep this pregnant sister in your prayers that all will go well with her and through her, the husband will one day obey the truth.

We just concluded our worship of God today under severe rain, but God blessed us to have 87 in attendance and 1 visitor. Rainy season is still on in Cameroon making the weather good for our garden and plant life.

As I write this mail all the students of CBIW are away from the campus to 17 different communities for their last evangelism exercise as they round up their studies by 20th of December 2012 for the alpha graduation.

As I write this report brother Brandon Watson from Texas is flying over the sky on his way to meet with his family and his congregation, please keep him in your prayers. After this report I will be taking brother Robert Prater to the airport in Douala to fly out to Germany where he is serving as a missionary. Keep him also in your prayers. We appreciate God for their good health throughout their stay with us here. We were blessed with their time both in the school and our congregation.

The students and the visiting lecturers stood with me for a family picture and also to express our appreciation to God for a successful end of the short courses, Denominational Doctrines and the book of Hebrews. Our tombs were up again, as usual a strong sign to comfort ourselves that we are not alone.

Immediately after the family picture, students were set to collect transport and grape juice to far away villages for their campaign. We do our best to buy these brand of fruits of the vines because many congregations in those villages use alcoholic wine for the Lord’s supper. We are advocating seriously against that, and we pray God will help us make the church of Christ in Cameroon pure from all stuff.

Our students also help us in the distributions of the Teachers Bible to preachers, leaders and denominational “pastors” in faraway villages. This will help blend the doctrine of Christ in Cameroon and also help spread the saving message to denominational leaders. Giving the Bibles to denominational leaders is the aim of the producer, brother Roger Dickson. Brother Dickson is a missionary in Cape Town, South Africa.

As usual, whenever we are sending our students for campaign, and also say goodbye to our visiting instructors, we organize a small fellowship meal. This time around popcorn and peanuts were the combination to keep us together as we say safe trip to both the students and the visiting instructors.

Plans
1) Within this week I will do my best to check on some of the students in their respective place of campaign.

2) More evangelism to virgin land is being studied now before the students will resume school on the 29th of September.

Problems
We faced difficulties in sending students out because of the rainy season that has destroyed most of our roads, and because of this transportation from Wotutu to those campaign sites was not easy. But thanks be to God who helped all of them to get to their destinations without much problems. Some of them trekked by foot long distances inside the forest.

Appreciations
Many thanks goes to God for His great care over us and His love for all of us. The students in our congregation and the orphans in our congregation are all back in school. We thank God for you and for your deep prayers and concern over the work here. God bless you all and keep you to do more for His glory.

Do your best to share this report with others. God may touch someone to be part of this soul winning ministry.

Elangwe and family
By His grace Director CBIW

The Nepal Summit...

The Liberty congregation outside of Houston hosted the first Nepal Summit over the weekend. The focus was on the work of the Nepal Center for Biblical Studies in Kathmandu, Nepal. Don Prather and Mike York have been working stateside to assist the work in Nepal. Both men serve as a co-coordinators for the work. They are assisting Jerry Golphenee who works on the ground in Kathmandu along side director, Gajendra Deshar. 

Jerry was able to attend the Nepal Summit and share the latest information about the work of the school in Nepal, along with the development of the local congregations in Kathmandu. There is a great deal of excitement associated with the work of the school in helping prepare men who will strengthen congregations. The impact of their work is already making a difference as local Christians witness the difference in the ability of these men to preach God’s word.

I enjoyed the opportunity of sharing in the Nepal Summit and providing information about the development of the overall Bear Valley program. With the development of working together with congregations in four new locations, training men to preach is taking on new wings. With the partnership in Liberia, Nigeria, Kenya, and as the work in Paraguay begins in March 2013, there will be approximately 350 men in 18 locations involved in preparing themselves to take the saving message of Jesus to their people.

There is nothing better than being able to report about the progress these men are making as they are studying and evangelizing at the same time. Their work is already making a difference in the lives of so many people around the world. This week’s reports continue to support the reason this work is so necessary.

Now on to the other reports...

Coordinator Updates
Reports from the coordinators are now located on the website, under Staff Reports. The address is /extension-schools/

I recently received a report on the progress of the work being done by Gage Coldwater, who provides the extension program with training for students in agricultural / vocational development. If you would like to see the report with pictures and learn more about Manna Farm, please click here.

Howell Ferguson’s report with recent pictures of Howell’s grandchildren can be seen by clicking here.

Extension Reports 

Short Courses Soon Lead To Campaigns In Cameroon: This is the last week for short courses at CBIW and the students then travel to 17 locations for campaigns.

Celebrating 15 Years Of Training: The very first school where Bear Valley began working in Extension Training is now celebrating 15 years in Ukraine.

Local Congregation Is Growing In India: The local church meeting where the Visakha Valley Bible College is located is seeing numerical and spiritual growth.

Mission Groups Visit Paraguay: A group from Virginia recently visited the work in Paraguay and their efforts were positive.

Three Precious Souls: A recent campaign in northern Togo and in Ghana has seen fruit born as three obeyed the gospel.

Demonstrating Love For God, Even When Persecuted: It is amazing when someone obeys the gospel and then must stand for God, even though persecuted. This is a powerful read.

A Beautiful Sunday In Tanzania: The beautiful nature of Tanzania is a great backdrop to the beautiful nature of the work in Arusha. 

Final Thoughts
As the program continues to develop in the months and years ahead I am thankful for the privilege of working side by side with those who have dedicated themselves to the task of training preachers. There are a number of levels and numerous men who have made great sacrifices to contribute to the success of this work. Thank you! As well, for most of you reading this report, you already know the prayers, financial support, encouragement, and sharing these reports with others is helping spread the word about the Extension Program. Thank you! All of us, working together, is what is needed to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. Only God knows how many lives will be touched through this work. Thank you!

God bless
Bob

A Beautiful Sunday In Tanzania...

To our wonderful supporters, family and friends, 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I believe that the first test of a truly great man is his humility." --John Ruskin

Many who enjoy our report are kind enough to write and say so. We appreciate the comments and your compliments on the writing (although we know that many improvements could be made). Trina agrees with a famous writer who said, "Writing? Oh, that's nothing. It's just like sitting down and opening up a vein" (and, in our case of reporting, trying to remember all the details of events, etc).

Today is another beautiful Sunday in northern Tanzania (East Africa). One of the benefits of living in Tanzania is great weather the majority of the time! Stuart's count after church services was 108, which included one visitor named Francis (from Kisongo). The attendance in the ladies class was lower than usual. Genesis 29:1-20 (Jacob meets Rachel) was our scripture passage and our study focused on "love" (our topic from verse 20 "Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her." Jimmy taught the new converts' class and preached on "Suffering for the Sake of Righteousness."

After services, Trina met with all the mothers to announce a service that the "Gee ladies" are offering on Wednesdays from 9 am - 1 pm. Every Wednesday is "Market Day" in Kisongo where people buy all kinds of food (fruits, vegetables, corn flour, etc), live chickens, goats and other goods (shoes, tobacco, clothes, furniture, etc). Due to the crowds and heavy loads they must carry, this is a hard day for many women. Imagine carrying a child on your back or holding the hand of a young child as you battle multitudes of people, livestock, dala dalas, and wooden carts while trying to shop. This experience gives new meaning to the "shop 'til you drop" phrase  . . . because women here can really relate. Since many don't have anyone reliable with whom to leave their children we hoped this short, child-care service would benefit them. We have seen a baby left in the care of 8 year old neighborhood boy and very young children left at home alone and were concerned for their safety. In order to give quality care, we limited the age span (1-4 years old) and the total number of children accepted (10). The children will learn about the Bible, play games, learn some English, color, watch movies, play outside and be served a snack and lunch. Nine children were signed up with a possible tenth one tomorrow. Heather and Candace are excited about this, and, perhaps when Lindsey and Abigail can help, more children can be accepted in the future (perhaps we can offer this service to non-Christian families using it as an outreach program).

This week, Lindsey and Abigail continue studying Revelation at the ACSOP, still have papers to write for other ACSOP classes, and are continuing to complete their home-school education. Last week, we failed to mention that the picture of the two little girls with their hair "mussed up" was Lindsey and Abigail during our first year in Africa (2001) when they were 6 years old. Oh, the memories...

For two days our visitors, Adam Miller and Scott Baggett, worked with the church in Kwa Mrombo where one unfaithful member was restored to the body and one new soul was added! Kwa Mrombo is a new church plant (established in the last few years) and has been the recipient of the efforts of many, including both the Hoover, AL and Oklahoma groups. Speaking of the OK group, Brad Whinery will be returning to TZ in October to speak at the Leadership Conference. Some other visitors scheduled in the near future are: Neil Richey, Buddy Fry, Denny Petrillo, Bob Turner, Michael Hite, Neal Pollard, Nathan Adams and the preacher at Zachary, LA (Bruce Hatcher) where we served for 2 years before coming to Africa in 2005. We are very grateful for the many who labor with us (our supporters, visiting teachers, evangelists, etc) and who are responsible for a great deal of the success of the TZ 2000 Mission Work. Adam and Scott (above) have returned from a week of preaching and teaching in Moshi and, again, brought great news of two baptisms and one restoration!

For those who do not receive our director's report, here is an interesting excerpt. Cy Stafford writes:

"I received a short note from our brother Gasper today sharing the good news of one soul being added to the Kingdom at the new church plant at Kamba ya Chui. God continues to give the increase as His faithful servants continue to serve Him. We are indeed grateful for the privilege we are so richly blessed with, being able to work with such godly men.

One such man is David Bayi, the evangelist working with the Kioga congregation. When David was a student at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching the need for a new church plant was presented to the class. He volunteered to walk up Mt. Meru three miles every Sun. and Wed. was in school and continues today. This congregation began meeting in a small 6X8 foot goat shed and today is a congregation of over 100 souls. Yes, with God all things are possible."

While in Nairobi last week, Cy met with 18 evangelists from the Nairobi area in order to share the news of the Andrew Connally School of Preaching here in Kisongo (in its 11th year of operation) and the fruit being borne. He came away from that meeting with two men expressing the desire to come to the ACSOP. On Wednesday of this week, Cy, Jimmy, Sean, and Elly will leave to begin their week-long travels to Dar Es Salaam, Mbeya and other cities, towns and villages to meet with preachers and prospective students to recruit for the ACSOP. The school is named for the late Andrew Connally from Texas who began the work in Chimala, (southern Tanzania) in the early '60's. For interesting reading, find a copy of one of his many books on mission work entitled "So You Want a Glorified Holiday?" His wife, Claudine Connelly, wrote an insightful account of her time in Africa entitled "I Walked By His Side" which Trina read before coming to Tanzania.

ALUMNUS ASSOCIATION TO BE ESTABLISHED: During the upcoming leadership conference the ACSOP faculty plan to meet with graduates and present students in order to have a meal together and talk about setting up an alumni group, possibly using Facebook as a tool in the process. Please pray that God uses this to His glory.

GENERATOR: In the past we have mentioned the need for a new generator at the school. Many of you responded generously to that need. We purchased the generator and then filed for a tax exemption. Well, it has been many months now and the government has still not completed that process. In order to get the generator we have decided simply to pay the taxes and move on. The needed amount is $2600, of which $1250 has already been contributed. Therefore, we are lacking $1350. If you or your congregation can help with this we would be grateful. Please send any amount you can to the Kensington Woods address, listed on the front page of this report. Please mark it "ACSOP Generator."

In the family news, Matthew turned six years old, Trina has rearranged the house again and the girls are planning to invite a house full of friends for a sleep-over while Jimmy is gone. Abigail has gone to study with Grace and Trina got the opportunity today to visit with Rosemary and see her new baby girl! She also visited with Rosemary's sister-in-law Usta, who is her next door neighbor (also a member at Kisongo).

Love to you all and our many thanks for helping us win souls in East Africa!

Blessings to you and your family,
The Jimmy Gee Family

To view the report with pictures, please click here.

Demonstrating Love For God, Even When Persecuted...

Greetings Fellow Workers,

We continue to remember you all in our prayers of thanksgivings. You are in our minds and heart daily as we labor together in the Kingdom’s work. Our continued hope and prayer is for prosperity to be with you and that through your continued support of God’s work in Tanzania, many might be saved eternally.

The true power of the Gospel is having its way throughout East Africa. One such example is in the faithfulness of our new brother, Gaudence. During the summer campaign at Maji ya Chai this fellow received a Bible tract on the subject of God ‘s plan for the salvation of man. He approached a team the next day and inquired to know more of God’s Word. In the end he and an older man obeyed the Gospel.

Over the past several weeks Gaudence and his wife (who has also obeyed the Gospel) have been persecuted without mercy from those of their former faith. Gaudence and his wife remain strong in the Lord, having found a new meeting place for worship and this past week lead three more souls to the Lord. This demonstration of their love for God, perseverance and love for the lost is really what makes all this effort worth while.

Another wonderful example of God’s power through His Word and the Gospel is the new school of preaching in Kenya. Mike Reese and others, working through the Bear Valley extension program have begun a new work in the city of Kisumu, Kenya. The new class intake begin their studies this month. The spread of the Gospel has been spreading for years through the good efforts of the Tanzania 2000 mission efforts. This demonstrated fittingly in the planting of this new effort in Kisumu.

The Director of the program that has been chosen to lead this effort is Charles Ogutu, one of our graduates. The two deans are also graduates of the Andrew Connally School of Preaching. We are thrilled to be apart of such a grand work of God and to be able to see the fruition of the labors of the past few years. You have heard me say before and I say again; what God controls grows! Thanks be to God for the increase.

We are thankful for Adam Miller and Scott Baggett for their efforts at Kwa Mrombo and for this past week that spent at Moshi working with the Kilimanjaro congregation. Through their efforts the Lord has restored one and added another at Kwa Mrombo the week before and at Moshi another soul was restored and one obeyed the Gospel. The positive impact and influence of our short-term workers are never underestimated by this missionary. We thank God for these two godly men and all the others who sacrifice much in coming to join us in our search for lost souls.

A closing tribute to our dear sister Caitlin Middleton who returned home this past week. She is a true soldier of Christ and there are now six souls in the Kingdom because she cared. Thank you Caitlin, job well done.

Gasper called a few minuets ago and three souls obeyed the Gospel at Mto wa Mbu today. These three have been studying with Greg Dixon, an Elder at the Northport congregation in Tuscaloosa, AL who has been teaching God’s Word via Skype. Amen, Amen!

We continue praying for you all and we beg of your prayers on our behalf. There is much to do, few laborers for sure, but, by the power of God all things are truly possible.

In Him, Cy, Stephanie and Granny

Three Precious Souls Added...

Greetings from Tamale! Here is the latest news from the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies. 

School Update
Students will be returning on Monday, September 10th, to begin their seventh term (out of ten) classes. The schedule at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies (TIBS) is designed to allow the students time to return home after each of the six week terms in order to plant, harvest, and take care of their families. In order to take the extra time off the students spend seven and a half hours per day in classes during the term.

This term the students will be receiving instruction from the entire staff of TIBS as well as from guest instructor Daniel Ampadu Asiamah from the West Coast School of preaching. The schedule for this term includes World Religions, focusing on Islam and Animism, Old Testament 5, Denominational Doctrines, Gospel of John, and Marriage and the Home. There will also be a short course on the great commission and an evangelistic campaign at the end of the quarter.

We are praying that all students will be able to return for this term. During the previous term two students were unable to attend because of serious illnesses. Please join us in praying for the students and the success of this term.  

Evangelism Update
During the period of August 22nd through September 2nd, an evangelistic campaign was held in Cinkasse, Togo. This campaign was a combined effort of TIBS, the church in Bawku, Ghana, and preachers from Dapaong, Togo. The purpose of the campaign was to plant a congregation of the church in Cinkasse, assure that the necessary support for the church to grow during the next year was in place, and encourage the Ghanaian and Togolese Christians in working together to grow the kingdom in the northern regions of both countries.

Cinkasse, which has an estimated population of around 30,000 people, is located in the northwest corner of the country, where Togo, Ghana, and Burkina Faso all meet. Because of its location it is a major trade area, with people from all three countries coming for the Thursday and Sunday market days. The city is primarily Muslim, as is the case with most of the northern regions of both Ghana and Togo, but is also heavily influenced by traditional African religions.

The campaign began with a week of preparation by current TIBS students Joseph Molsak and Nichema Jacob, along with Fidel, one of the Togolese preachers. Joseph and Nichema brought a number of members from their home congregations in Bawku to assist them as they went out visiting in the residential and business areas of Cinkasse to invite the community to attend the showing of Bible films during the last three days of the campaign. Joining the group later in the first week were two TIBS graduates, Stephen Abugbilla and Avoka John Mbilla, who are currently working as preachers in northern Ghana. Finally, Steven Ashcraft and I showed up on the 29th with the equipment to show the Bible films to complete the campaign team.

For the final three days of the campaign we spent the mornings going out in teams of two to visit the community and do street preaching and teaching. After resting in the afternoon, we would begin setting up the video equipment at the local park to show a different movie each night. The first night we showed The Jesus Story, an account of Jesus’ life based on the gospel of Luke, with an estimated 300 in attendance. The second night the movie was The Passion of Christ, and the final night’s movie was the story of Abraham. While it was impossible to get an accurate count of how many attended, I would give a conservative estimate of over 400 for each of the final two nights, with many, many more coming and going throughout the evening. Each movie was paused about halfway through in order for one of the preachers to offer a message, and then again just before the end for another message. The end result of the campaign was three precious souls baptized. There were four additional prospects who expressed a strong interest in being baptized who are being followed up with by the team who is providing support for the church as it grows.

One of the more interesting challenges during the movies was explaining The Passion of the Christ for the audience. Those familiar with the movie know that the dialogue it is in Aramaic with English subtitles. Since the audience did not speak/read English it was necessary for me to explain what was going on to one of our students, who then explained it to the audience in one of the local dialects. The challenge was in keeping up with the film as we went through the multiple translations! 

Closing Thoughts
In closing we continue to thank all of those who are supporting the Institute through your prayers and with your financial support. You are a blessing to us and to the church in Northern Ghana and the surrounding countries. There are still many needs, both here in Ghana and in the surrounding countries. If you are interested in knowing more about the work being done, or are interested in helping support a student ($100 per month takes care of one student during their time in school) or an evangelistic campaign (each campaign costs between $750 and $1000) please send me an e-mail at anthonyjohnson2010@gmail.com. There is much work that can be done with your help! 

In His service,
Tony Johnson

To see Tony’s report with pictures, please click here.

Mission Groups Visit Paraguay...

Mission Group from Virginia
We had a mission group from Virginia come down and work with the church here in Paraguay. They worked on several service projects, visited the area orphanages, and helped develop new contacts through teaching English by using the Bible. We are very thankful for their humble, servant's attitude.

Bible School
The Special Committee for the Bible School has continued to meet regularly and to work on the development of the school. They have spent several weeks focusing on the mission statement of the school, and eventually arrived at the following (translated into English): "To nourish our brethren with the words of the faith and of the good doctrine, in brotherly love, so that they may be thoroughly equipped to fulfill the commandments of our Lord Jesus" - 1 Timothy 4:6 and Matthew 28:19-20. It is wonderful to see the way they are approaching and thinking about this! It shows great maturity on their part!

Service groups and Bible studies!
August brought many great activities and opportunities! We had a mission group come down from Virginia who completed several service projects. Andrea and I have been very active lately with lots of Bible studies (our favorite thing to do!), and we've had the opportunity to make a few more visits this past month. We continue to work on generating more contacts and are currently teaching several English students by using the Bible. What a tremendous blessing! We thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers! God is being glorified in Asunción, Paraguay! Enjoy!

Troy Spradlin

Local Congregation Is Growing In India...

We salute you in the matchless name of Lord Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer of the world.  It is so wonderful to witness the baptism of several people especially those belonging to a certain denominational group during the last two months. These results have been a great encouragement to the school as well as to the local congregation. 

Church is growing:
Local congregation: We were uplifted by the addition of new souls to the local congregation that meets at VVBC facility. In the recent visit of brother Denton Landon, who taught Master Class students, he worshipped with the local congregation. When he saw the large group gathered on that Sunday he remarked that the ‘local church is growing.’

Gradually our school and the local congregation are becoming well known by the brethren all over the city of Visakhapatnam. We are happy with the increase in not just the attendance but also the addition of members to the local congregation. Recently a mother and her daughter have been added to the church. They were attending the worship service and mid week bible class and the local minister who also works in the town have been studying with them for 3 months. Finally they made a decision and embraced Christ and be added to the church, the family of God. We rejoiced with them. We are happy to say that the church is growing in number as well as spiritually. 

Mission Work:
Our graduates are putting forth their full energy & time for the evangelism in this part of Andhra Pradesh. Through Bible classes and gospel meetings they are proclaiming the word of God.

The two newly established congregations are gathering every Sunday for worshipping God. Brother David Raju, who is one of our students who recently began ministering of the congregations, is facing problems from the denominational church where he was a member.  Kindly pray that he would be strong and courageous to overcome the problems.

Revelation class is going on very well. One of our faculty, brother Vamsee Bhushanam, has been teaching this class for the last 6 months. This class is helping the students to clear all their doubts and misunderstandings about the book of Revelation. Our graduate, brother Prakash, is arranging this class once a month. From time to time the number of students is increasing for this class. This has become another avenue to give publicity to our school.

We have been hearing from our graduates about their personal Bible studies and how they are progressing. We had one Master’s class student baptized into Christ. He is from a very remote area. He is going to be very influential in that area to bring many to Christ.   

A Hindu Activist:
As you are aware our country is predominantly Hindu. Over 80% of the people belong to Hinduism. These people in our country profess that all the people in India are Hindus by birth. Severity of the religion is very high in some places, especially in the northern part of India. However, there are some places in south India which are called as sensitive places where the severity of the religion is very high because there are some Hindu radicals who deny every religion in India because for them the rest of the religions are foreign religions.

In the times of Jesus, when the gospel was being preached, several radical people were converted and conservative Jews also. Those who harmed and cheated people also embraced Christ. Even those soldiers who spat on him and mocked said, “Truly this one was God’s Son!” We do not know for sure how the widows of the heart of several people are opened; this is what exactly happened when one of our graduates, G. Srinivas, preached in his village which is in Visakha district. This is what we have been pursuing through our Bible School.

Brother Narayana Murthy was an active BJP leader. This is a national party who are very religious and believe that India has no other religion than Hinduism. For them other religions are not considered as local, rather they are foreign.  Mr. Murthy has heard Srinivas’s father proclaiming the word of God. He was attracted to the message and came to the preacher and put forth all his questions about God and the message he heard. Their first conversation ended up with lot of excitement where Murthy wanted Srinivas to visit his house and hold a Bible Study, to everybody’s surprise he began studying the Bible then on. 

Master Class: 
We had a good start with the Master classes. 9 students enrolled in the calls, in fact there were 3 others who missed those classes because of their personal problems; now they wanted to join in the classes. I do not know whether they will be able to or not. We had two classes taught by brother Denton, one is ‘Introduction to the graduate research’ and the second is ‘Advanced Apologetics’. At first it took some time for the students to get connected with the instructor, chief reason is listening the whole class in English. Since English is not our spoken language it is a problem. Only the students who are good at Bible and English vocabulary can understand these classes well. Since these students have a great desire to learn and enhance their knowledge base, they put forth a lot effort to go along with the flow. As a result these students have thoroughly enjoyed these classes. We appreciate brother Denton for his patience with these students, because at times he had to pause if something is not understood correctly by the students.

John Dean the Dean of the School is also enrolled in this class since he wants to help the rest of the students by doing the follow up. All the master class students will be meeting next week to discuss and write down the assignments for the two subjects taught by brother Denton.  

Library:
As we all realize for a successful Bible School, a well furnished library shall have a great impact. Assuredly it is the same with our school, too. With the small donations we are receiving and the books we are receiving from World Evangelism as well the books we are receiving from brethren like Chuck Ramseur and Jerry Bates our library is gradually having an increase in the number of books. Hopefully our meeting again will be well spent in our small library so that all the master class students will finish the assignments successfully. By the way, this is the only source for our Master Class students for doing a healthy research. I hope we shall be blessed with more books as the days go by.

Guests:
Dr. Jack Tucci, the Vice President of academic Affairs, Faulkner University visited with us. We were blessed with his precious visit. He was here a couple of years ago and wanted to see how the work is progressing. He was very anxious to meet the students and faculty to teach his favorite lesson about the history of the city Ephesus. He taught the lesson through a power point slide show. It has all the scenic pictures of the City of Ephesus that describes its wealthiest history, showing the harbor and the great temple of Diana. He presented the history which is relevant for the students who study the epistle to the Romans. His description helped the students to understand the epistle contextually. It was amazing. Our students have really learned so much about and from the epistle through the presentation of Dr. Jack Tucci. 

Brother Jack has admired the school work and encouraged the students to be diligent in learning the word of God and be efficient in proclaiming what they are learning. He appreciated their dedication and commitment to work for the Lord. The kind visits of these brethren are quite an encouragement to all of us. We are hoping to have Dr. David Warren visiting next year. He worked at HCU for a while and now he is working as the professor for ancient Biblical languages at Faulkner University. He really wanted to come this year, but things didn’t work out well. For sure he will be visiting the school next year. We are truly blessed with the relationship we have in Christ through which we are able to work together and encourage each other.

Campaign Week:  
This campaign week ended with a Preacher’s Fellowship in Pydikonda. This is another success story of our school. Preacher’s Fellowship is a mission program that has an objective of increasing the fellowship among the brotherhood in that area also to discuss a Biblical topic that will benefit the preachers as well as the local congregation. This program was lead by one of our faculty, brother Rama Raju. Six preachers spoke on the subject ‘Edification of the Church.’

We are planning for a campaign week at the middle of November in the state of Orissa. We are hoping to establish gospel campaign in that area to invite the believers to go to Bible school and establish a long term relationship with them. We are praying for God to strengthen our faith through which we would continue to reach the unreached millions. Certainly the gospel is to be widely preached in this part of Andhra Pradesh.  

Gospel Tools: (Bibles, Hymn Books, Bicycles, Lanterns) 
We are privileged to distribute these gospel tools for our graduates who are striving for his cause. Thankfully for our graduates, not all but some students, were able receive these tools to use them to proclaim the word of God and building the congregations. With the help of the individual donors they were able to have them. These tools are very useful for the preachers working in remote areas where there won’t be 24 hours of electricity as well as there is no transportation and the facility is very limited. Recently our brother ‘Yosepu’ from Devarapalli area received a bicycle. Indeed it is very helpful for him because he is not able to take care of all his transportation expenses to travel in the hill area to proclaim the word of God. Right now it is raining in their area. When everything settles down we are planning for a one week gospel campaign there. He really wants us to come, he is sort concerned about the safety of us who are going to visit with him. Since his place is in a very remote area, we have to be watchful for mosquitoes which might cause serious health problems. 

Prayer Request:   “I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock” Acts 20:29 

Now a days, in our secular country of India, several people are embracing Christianity. It is not making quite a difference in the percentage of Christian religion, however, some religious groups are so worried by seeing the thousands of people who are accepting Jesus as the Savior. These gradual conversions are causing fear in the hearts of those religious people, which is why they want to stir up people by imposing certain laws to threaten the Christians. Unfortunately several of these conversions are into denominational groups. 

Jerry’s Visit: 
Brother Jerry & sister Paula Bates will be visiting us from the 8th to the 15th of September. On the 8th they will be visiting Skinner’s Garden, on the 9th they shall be worshipping at Bikkavolu Church of Christ and on the 10th he will start teaching at Visakha Valley Bible College and leaves on the 15th from Visakhapatnam. He has done a great job teaching the same class to the last batch. Now we are looking forward to his class on ‘Leadership’. 

Thank you note:
We humbly thank you for your kind support for running the Bible College (Preacher Training School) successfully. Without your esteemed help we cannot imagine our self doing this wonderful Lord’s work at Visakhapatnam. We do appreciate your prayers for us. It is really overwhelming to see you brethren encouraging us from the other side of the globe to the rescue the lost souls on this side of this globe. This is just marvelous, and truly the love of God is compelling you all to extend your love in order share the love of God. Kindly convey our (director, students & faculty) heartfelt gratitude to the congregation. This is the reason for this good Bible school program. We appreciate your concern and trust in us. We are certainly thankful to God for His providence too. 

Work Report: 
Number of people baptized in these months through our ministry: 18
Denominational preachers restored: 2
Gospel meetings conducted – 18
Weekend Campaign – 2
Gospel tracts distributed – 24,000
Doors Knocked - 687
Held the Bible n.of Studies - 73
New Congregations Established - 3  

In Christ & His service, 

John Dean & Sameul Raju Muppidi
Skinner's Garden Bible School
Visakha Valley Bible College
Church of Christ
Andhra Pradesh,  INDIA

Celebrating 15 Years Of Training...

Dear brothers, families and churches.

In my letter, I want to share with you some news about the events in BVBIU in August and the beginning of September.

Last month went by under the credo: "We are looking for students; classes are starting soon." I had to make phone calls to different congregations, prospective students and their families. Some cancelled previous arrangements, even though previously they were more than sure that they will study. Others were excited about my phone calls and were looking forward to September 1, which is the beginning of the new school year. In the end, we had 8 first-year students and 7 second-year students. In January, another student from Kramatorsk will join our program.

Thus, we have a total of 15 students. God has blessed us abundantly indeed: out of 15 students, there are 12 men and 3 ladies. The majority of them are young people, whose average age is about 25 years. I hope they made a level-headed choice and will work for God's church in future. Two young men are from western Ukraine, one is from central Ukraine, and others are from Donetsk region. I ask you to pray earnestly for them and their ministry for God in Ukraine.

September 1 was an Orientation Day; students and teachers arrived, and we praised the Lord together, got acquainted, and students moved into their apartments. Classes at the Institute began on Monday, September 3. Right now Albert Bagdasaryan teaches a class on "How we got the Bible" to the first-year students, and Victor Semikoz teaches a class on "Ezra, Nehemaiah, Esther" to the second-year students.

We have another achievement with which you can congratulate both us and yourselves. BVBIU is 15 years old now. It's hard to tell whether it's much or little, but we are eager to continue this work and do our best at it. In 1997 a branch of Bear Valley Bible Institute was founded in Kramatorsk, and the first dean was Buck Hall. Later Terry Harmon succeeded him, and in 2007 the Institute moved to Gorlovka, where we were able to get a wonderful building. Starting with 2010, I served as a dean there.

I thank God and you for the trust you put in me and for your support of our work. I hope there will be times when we would be able to support Christianity where it is necessary. During the years of it's function, the Institute trained about 80 preachers, and some of them are still serving in the Lord's church. Because of these efforts we are still standing in the truth and spreading God's kingdom.

In August, I was able to visit and preach at several congregations: Illovaysk, Kramatorsk and Svyatogorsk. Some churches are going through difficult times, and others are prospering. More than likely it is inevitable in the process of growth and development of the church.

Also in the last month, my family and I participated in VBS, that was held by the Central church of Christ in Gorlovka. There were about 20 kids, and during 4 days we were studying the Bible with them, played, etc. This church has a plan to continue studies with these kids in future.

There is also some news that made me sad. Two second-year students (Nastya and Yura) decided to leave the program. They plan to get married and decided to get a job to secure their future in financial matters.

In the end, I want to thank you again for your work and willingness to help God's work. God bless you.

Your brother and coworker,
Dennis

To see Dennis’ report with pictures, please click here.

Short Courses Soon Lead To Campaigns In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ,

Accept greetings from the staff, students and members of the Wotutu congregation. God bless you as you read this report. We do hope you are doing great in health and sound faith. We praise God for you and your family. We are also doing great in our assignments given to us.

This is sister Theresa Abanda in the water pool of baptism putting on Christ. Please keep her in your prayers so that many in her family will see the light of the gospel in her and come follow her.

The students started their short courses and it is already one week old now. We praise God for the short course instructors, brother Robert Prater from Germany and brother Brandon Watson from USA who are with us for one week now and all is well with them and the work here. They have entered the last week of their stay with us to teach in CBIW. Continue to keep them in your prayers.

Brother Brandon Watson preached to the entire community of Wotutu and 5 other villages through our PA system which we call our community radio, but it does not pass through any FM or AM station. The program is urging many to go BACK TO THE BIBLE. The program has helped many who have gained consciousness about the truth and many keep asking questions and come to our congregational programs. The program starts every morning at 4:30 am to 6 am as requested by our keen listeners.

On the 3rd of September the short courses began in CBIW, but before the class on Denominational Doctrines, by brother Brandon, he brought a precious gift to all the staff and students of CBIW, a copy of the handout and a nice tie to make both the students and the staff look great as they handle the word. We keep her in our prayers and we do appreciate her for her love for the work here.

The program for the short courses this quarter has some changes. The normal routine of one instructor teaching the whole week and the other continue the next week was not part of our program this time. Both courses will be taught same day but at different times. The first one, Denominational Doctrines will start from 8 am to 11 am while the students will have chapel and lunch break and the classes will continue from 12 noon to 3 pm. It is working well and we praise God. Brother Prater is teaching the book of Hebrews.

The program continue to cut across the hearts of many. The sister you see in the motor bike stays some reasonable distance away from our church hall, but she listens to us loud and clear and decided to ask many questions to our students as they move from house to house every Saturday to evangelize and also visit. She came and worshiped and finally made a decision. Because of heavy and continuous rainfall these days only a motor bike can get someone to the stream for baptism. Our student Awatt Manfree is always ready to help someone become like us.

Plans
1) This week CBIW students will leave to 17 different communities for campaign house to house. We shall send out married students with their wives again. This will be the last campaign to our students at the end of the quarter, because the last quarter will end on the 15th of December and graduation will follow suit on the 20th of December. So when they return we shall spend some more time on weekend evangelism.

2) There are two virgin areas that we are praying that by His grace two new congregations will be planted there during this campaign and we pray for students to go there after graduation for a full time nurturing and evangelism mission in many places where we have passed there for these two years.

Appreciations
We keep you in our prayers for God to bless you and watch over you for all your love and deep sacrifice for the work here. It is time to go back to school in Cameroon. Many of our children resumed and some will resume this week. Many thanks to you for your prayers and support to make this happen in Wotutu. God bless you and all your endeavors.

Sad News
Minister Efamba Felix of the Kwa-Kwa congregation is dead. This is a man that has been helping our students during campaign in His congregation. That congregation has been accommodating our students since we started. We shall stop there briefly before many of our students will transit from there to their campaign sites. Keep his family in your fervent prayers to God.

Do your best to share this report with others. God bless you.

Elangwe and family

By His grace director CBIW