Safari For Souls Campaign Underway In Tanzania...

Greetings Fellow Servants,

We stand is awe of God’s blessings through His faithful both here in Tanzania and through our faithful friends and supporters in America. We count it a privlage to be at His bidding, with His greatest desire, “that all men everywhere be saved and come to a knowledge of the Truth.”

Our summer Safari for Souls campaign efforts are underway. Two campaigns are currently underway, with a third to start in next week. Dwight Burton, Iddi and their two sons, have been working with Charles Haberth and the Kwa Mrombo congregation here in the Arusha area. They have been going house to house conducting many studies. Dwight’s two sons have participated by handing out Bible tracts each day. Charles called last night and told me he had received 10 calls from the tract distribution, people wanting to know more about the Church and where the saints meet on Sundays. Yes, even the young can do their part in the teaching of God’s Word. Dwight was also privileged to speak to 76 of our youth at the Youth Day at Kwa Mrombo yesterday. Please pray for the Burton family as they will begin their journey home this Tuesday. We thank God for them and their desire to do God’s will.

The second campaign is being conducted at the newly planted Njiro Chini congregation on southeast part of Arusha. Gary Box is leading a team of workers from the Cottondale, AL congregation. Many studies are underway and the Lord has blessed His Church with an increase of 7 precious souls. Please remember Corey and Hannah as they too will be traveling back on Tuesday.

The students at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching have finished another quarter of studies and are heading home to be with their families and to help with this years’ harvest. A very special “thank you” to John Gaines for coming and teaching the second year students on the subject of “Advanced Hermeneutics.” What a blessing it is to be able to come and train men in God’s Word that they in turn might be able to teach others. And what an amazing bonus, to spend time with three of his grandchildren, being Daniel’s dad! John will also be leaving this Tuesday, please keep him in your payers.

Our good friends and co-workers will be heading this way from Hoover, AL this week. Sid Aultman and Chuck Webster will be leading a team of 19 souls coming to “seek and save the lost.” Also joining them will be two sisters from Elk City, OK. They will be joining us as we continue the outreach in the White Rose (Elkire) area of Arusha. The church was planted there early last year. Daniel, Tiffany and family have been working with this congregation for the past several months and are doing a great work, “helping them, help themselves.”

The above are examples of the Lord’s people doing the Lord’s work to His glory and to the saving of the lost. The Tanzania Mission Team, including all of our friends and supporters. are accomplishing much. With God’s continued blessings and strength, the best is yet to come as we witness the true growth of His Church in Tanzania. Till all have heard….

In Him, 
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Classes Begin On Schedule In Nigeria...

Beloved in Christ Jesus,

Greetings from staff and students of the Southwest School of Evangelism, Ibadan and Lagos Campus, Nigeria.

Lectures commenced as scheduled on May 30, 2014 at SWSE IBADAN main campus in Butubutu village from 8:15 am through 6:00 pm with one and half breaks in the afternoon. This morning, we rode on the school van and my jeep to evangelize Kuede, Laminin and Laboro villages between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. Three of our students and myself served as public preachers while others were divided into groups to preach the Word.

Tomorrow, Sunday, I will speak on “Fellowship with One Another” as the first lesson under our three month internal lectureship that will centre on “Caring for One Another” at the Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregations, Ibadan.

Most of our students will also be teaching or preaching in their respective congregations tomorrow. Brother Gbenga Ilori will teach at the Egbeda congregation, brother Olusegun Idowu will teach at the Asejire congregation - Osun state, brother Olorode Samuel Oluwafemi at Baale-Ayo, brother Gideon Ede at the Wasimi congregation, brother Akinade Oluwaseun and brother Oladapo Alabi at Jago.

Brethren, it's really a blessing to serve God! Our heart is full of joy for being one of His servants! We thank you all for your prayers and financial support. May the Lord of blessing continue to bless all our joint efforts in Christ’s name, amen.

I remain yours in His grace as a servant,

Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Director of studies)
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE) Ibadan & Lagos satellite campus, Nigeria

Students Graduate In Uganda...

Dear brethren,

We greet you in the name our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank God very much for the blessings He is bestowing upon us. We are very much thankful for the support you are continuing to give to us. More thanks go to the elders of Woodland Oaks Church of Christ who have helped us to have a very colorful Graduation. Twelve men graduated on the 9th of May 2014.  Among these, seven were from the Kiswahili Class and five from English class. Six students were from the Democratic Republic of Congo, two were from Kenya, and four were from Uganda.

Needs:
We will be making  a pig house where 24 pigs will be kept in this building. This house is still under construction although we have moved some piglets in it.

We will be deepening the reservoirs, two small ponds, making a trench to the reservoir, and putting nets around the second big pond. All these have been getting this service and I need to pay those who have been supplying materials to me. The good news is that the fish we put in the ponds are okay. Those which were taken by the flood are not much. The Tilapia have multiplied. We only lost mostly the catfish. What we need to do now is to fertilize the ponds to stimulate the growth of algae.

Ladies Class is to start on the 9th of June 2014. We will need to help them with their transport for coming to school and going back home after two weeks. I do not know yet how much because I do not know the number of ladies coming this time.

I will be attaching the cost of one student from Congo, Tanzanzia , Kenya  and  Uganda in detail. But the total cost for one student from those countries is: Congo $1,150, Tanzania  $650,  Kenya  $530, Uganda $100

I plan to be traveling to Congo during the month of June to meet with those who need to be coming to School. Fourteen men from seven congregations in Eastern Congo have shown interest in coming to study the word of God in the Kiswahili class. In Tanzania we expect two men also in the Kiswahili class and from Kenya there may be three in the Kiswahili class. In the English class we will get students from Uganda and Kenya. Many men have shown interest and we will be calling them to be interviewed. Pray for this work.

Yours

Francis and Margaret Wechesa

Students And Preachers' Wives Learn Lessons In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from this end. Calvary greetings to you, your family and the entire congregation, in Jesus’ name.

We do hope this mail finds you in good health and a sound faith. We are doing better here after a week busy with the things of the school and also family issues. My son was sick almost the whole week and that takes me to places to see the doctor and I praise God he is doing better now. It was also a moment of fighting hard with lots of issues.

CBIW students finished their second semester exams from their long courses without any problem. They are better in their health condition as many were sick after we return from the scholarship lectureship in Kumbo. Brother Kenechi passed out blood that made him to collapse and we rushed him to the hospital. He is getting better and he was able to take his exams without any hindrance.

Brother Steven Ashcraft is visiting and he preached a great sermon this morning in the Wotutu congregation on the true gospel. He arrived safely yesterday and he is doing fine. Keep him in your prayers that his stay with us will be good as he will start teaching “Bible Geography” to our students tomorrow and will stay here for one week.

The Wotutu congregation enjoyed great house fellowship aimed at helping neighbors to our Christians know more about the church of Christ. This happened when brother Maurice’s wife delivered a baby girl. Keep this young family in your prayers.

This weekend all the preachers’ wives in Cameroon congregated at the Bonaberi congregation for their third annual seminar. This idea was initiated by us in Wotutu aimed at empowering preachers’ wives to rise up and be active in helping their husbands in their Divine calling.

My wife taught on how preachers’ wives can help their husbands to achieve their goals. A total of 42 wives were there, meaning we still have many pulpits without preachers. We thank God for CBIW as we train preachers who, by His grace, will go and fill those pulpits. Keep praying for us.

The preachers’ wives also have round table discussions to provoke others to fully attach themselves to the work their husbands are doing. Please pray for this initiative and see if you can be of help. It is a common saying in Africa that if you train and empower a woman you are directly empowering  the entire family and nation. Please, please keep this work in your prayers as the visions grows.

In the Wotutu congregation, sister Kimah Zinadel obeyed the gospel. She is the fifth person in their family to obey the good news. The mother is a widow who was made an elder in a denomination. She discovered the truth from her own daughter, who became a Christian and took the gospel with some of our students to the mother to share the same things that she heard. She listened to our morning program “Back to the Bible.”

The preachers wives are eager to study. They love the Lord and they are provoked to be helpers to their husband. We thank God that the annual preachers forum is three years old now and it is gaining ground in the church in Cameroon.

Plans
1) We are planning another campaign after out short courses to congregations in both French and English communities.

2) This campaign is blessed as we shall have enough tracts from Mission Printing. The Mission Printing ocean container made its way to our seaport. We had some delay to get a truck that will carry the container to Wotutu, that is what I will doing tomorrow to make sure by His grace it will be in Wotutu. I am sure we shall use the next few weeks to distribute the container to as many preachers and leaders as possible in different congregations of the Lord’s church here in Cameroon. They are eagerly waiting for the container, so that they will start using it for their evangelistic efforts.

3) We are making plans for a one day preachers seminar in the Wotutu congregation where we shall discuss more about how preachers can better use the tracts and help evangelize the world. Keep us in your prayers for success.

Appreciations
We give thanks to God for all that He is doing to us through you. God bless you for standing with us. Keep standing for God alone will reward you. Do your best to share this with others.

Elangwe and family
By His grace Director CBIW

Campaigns And Seminars...

With the school year at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies finished the past few weeks have been a time to focus on some other activities, gospel campaigns and Bible seminars.

Gospel campaigns are a part of my individual work as well as part of the training provided to students at the school. Beginning in their third term there is at least one campaign scheduled in every term, meaning that students will take part in at least seven school sponsored campaigns before they graduate. This year many of those campaigns have been scheduled in the Tamale area to assist the newest congregation, the Kpalsi church of Christ. This congregation, which was originally started to provide a place for the school’s students to worship without having to walk a long distance has grown to now have an average attendance of 25 when students are present (many students attend their home churches if they are close), and 16 whenever the students are not at the school.

During the periods when school is dismissed between terms I also have the opportunity to be involved with other campaigns as well. In the past couple of months I have been able to assist with a campaign hosted by the Apong church of Christ in the Central Region of Ghana and one hosted by the two churches of Christ in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Eglise De Christ De Patte Doie and the Eglise De Christ De Paglayiri.

The work in Burkina Faso was much different, with both a stated goal and an unspoken goal on my part. Our stated goal was to help the existing congregations evangelize within the communities surrounding their building locations. The unstated goal was to evaluate what needed to change if the church was going to survive in Ouagadougou. According to a summary about the church of Christ in Burkina Faso by one of the leaders in Ouagadougou, the church of Christ first came to Burkina Faso in

The goal of the Apong campaign was to plant a new congregation in the village of Nkoransah, which is about 15 miles away. Like most campaigns I work with this campaign involved showing a movie at night along with public preaching, followed up by teams of Christians going house to house during the daytime doing follow up work and Bible studies. At the end of the 5 day campaign we were blessed with 11 souls obeying the gospel and 35 adults attending the first worship service there.

1986 and at one time claimed 7 congregations. However many of these collapsed due to a lack of leadership and trained preachers so that today there are only 3 congregations remaining, the two in Ouagadougou and one in the town of Po. But even these are suffering a loss of people, with the estimated total membership of 90 a few years ago now being less than 50. I spent 10 days working with the churches on this campaign and the problem appeared to me to be two-fold, a lack of trained preachers who had a desire to evangelize resulting in congregations who neither knew how nor had the desire to evangelize themselves. For this campaign I was able to bring in 4 preachers, 1 from Ghana who spoke the local Mossi dialect, and 3 from French speaking Togo (2 who were recent graduates of the Bear Valley extension school in Kpalime) for the final 4 days of the campaign, and we were also joined by Bear Valley coordinator Steven Ashcraft. While we did not have the numerical success of the Apong campaign we were able to demonstrate to the local congregation that people would respond if someone was willing to go out and share what the Bible teaches. But you have to be willing to go! There is a great deal more work to do and I hope to share some plans for how we will continue to evangelize and teach the local congregations how to do the same in the coming months.

Another activity that has kept me busy since classes dismissed for the planting season was the TIBS spring seminar. Twice a year we host approximately 100 of the leaders and/or preachers from the 3 northern regions of Ghana to discuss a particular topic. This year’s first seminar was on the topic of church organization, which has recently been an area of concern due to a few of the larger churches in the south attempting to form a centralized organization (with them at the head of course) to control all of the churches of Christ in Ghana. We were fortunate to have one of the Elders from the Bomso church of Christ who helped lead the fight against this unscriptural approach to church organization come to speak about the issue and its current status, as well as to explain what the Ghanaian government requirements for congregational registration were and how to accomplish it. During the seminar I was pleased to present a class on the Biblical Examples of Church Organization, while other guest speakers spoke on the Biblical Examples for Church Cooperation, the Need to Support the Bible School Student and the Need for Congregations to Support Their Preachers, all issues which the group proposing a national organization claimed to be able to solve. The seminar was well attended and also provided us the opportunity to distribute Bibles, tracts ,and other teaching materials to the many congregations who were in attendance. Now we will begin to work on our fall seminar which will deal with the role of the Holy Spirit and Miracles, another subject where false teachers are attempting to disturb the church.

This year has also seen two trips to Togo to meet with and encourage the church there, an earlier trip to Burkina Faso, as well as twice monthly trips to the Upper East Region and the Kingdom of Hope Orphan School, and the school campaign in Gotani. We manage to stay busy whether school is in session or not.

You can always get more information and news about the work at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies at the School’s blog page, http://tamalechristians.wordpress.com/ or their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/TamaleChristians.

You can also get information about our other work, on the Kingdom of Hope Orphan’s School, at their blog page, http://kingdomofhopeorphansschool.wordpress.com/ or their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/KingdomOfHopeSchool.

Thank you again for your support and prayers. I will be travelling back to the U.S. at the end of next week, so this will be my last report until August, but I am looking forward to visiting many of you soon! Until then, “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26).

In His service,
Tony ‘Wintima’ Johnson

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

Pray For The Brethren In Gorlovka, Ukraine...

This past weekend brought a graduation ceremony for the students at BVBIU in Gorlovka, Ukraine. In the midst of all the turmoil and conflict they face, these students were able to complete their studies and reach the destination. We are thankful for their involvement while facing such controversy and challenge. Please pray for these students as they also enter the work of helping the Lord’s kingdom in Ukraine.

We received several reports from the Central congregation in Gorlovka that Sunday morning a larger number of armed and masked men believed to be terrorists with the Russian federation came in during the worship of the church and seized the building. After negotiations to allow the women and children to leave, the men of the church were given about three hours to get all their belongings out of the building claiming the building now belonged to these federationists. Thankfully, no one was harmed during the incident. Please pray for the brethren there and the school that holds classes in the facility. 

Extensions throughout the program continue to provide training, as well as, evangelism in efforts to reach out to the lost in their corner of the world. The reports each week continue to demonstrate the power of God’s word in changing the lives of those who are outside of Christ. Please pray for the perseverance of these men as they learn and work in the kingdom.

Now on to the other reports...

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

To read Donnie Bates’ latest report, please click here.

Extension Reports 

First Annual Scholarship Lectureship in Kumbo: After a long day of transportation to Kumba, students attended a lectureship with a sister school of preaching.

The Gospel Chariot In French West Africa: The Gospel Chariot Mission is providing a van for work in Togo. This effort will increase the amount outreach near Kpalime.

Love: The Spirit Of Christianity: The title just about says it all. Read about the latest lessons taught in Nigeria by the staff and students of the Southwest School of Evangelism in Ibadan. 

Seventeen New Souls Added To The Kingdom In Tanzania: Two graduates from the Andrew Connally School of Preaching report how God is blessing their efforts.

Want To Try your Hand At Leading Singing In Swahili: Few will accept the challenge, but the Gaines’ report indicates their son did just that in Tanzania.

Final Thoughts
Thank you for your continued support of extension training. Just the thought of knowing we have such wonderful partners excites us to think about the future. New schools are on the horizon and we look forward to reporting more about the development of these works in the months ahead. Until next time…

God bless
Bob

Want To Try Your Hand At Leading Singing In Swahili...

Campaigner season is getting kicked off in a happy way for the Gaines household. Last week we told you about our new friends the Evans family and John Strong. After a great visit they returned safely to Iringa early in the week. A couple of days later, we were thrilled to welcome my father, John Gaines, to Tanzania. He is currently the preacher at the Skagit Valley church of Christ in Burlington, Washington. He'll be hard at work this week teaching a short course on Hermeneutics at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching. Additionally, he'll be preaching and teaching in some of the area churches and has been accompanying me on Bible studies. We had a great study with the niece of Matilda (the lady from Njiro Chini who was baptized last week). Hopefully, this whole family may one day find themselves in the Lord's church.

This week the mission team will also welcome visiting workers from Cottondale, Alabama and Evansville, Indiana. I love getting to spend time with mission-minded brethren from different parts of the world.  

Improvements continue to take place at the Ilkuirei congregation. You have helped put glass in the windows and create a children's Bible classroom. This week we were able to add a table for the children's classroom. This will be a great improvement over coloring on their laps!

Friday we were pleased to host the weekly missionaries' devotional at our home. Dad spoke and the other men took turns leading singing. Our 3 year old son, Josiah, got the courage up to lead a song for the first time. He led Jesus Loves Me... in English AND Swahili. It was a proud moment.

Have a fantastic week!
Daniel Gaines

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

Seventeen New Souls Added To The Kingdom In Tanzania...

Greetings Fellow Servants:

What a privilege it is to serve the good people of Tanzania. What a joy it is to know we partner with God’s faithful (you, our friends and supporters) in the greatest vocation that can be known. What peace we have knowing our God is with us each step of the way. 

At the Andrew Connally School of Preaching we are blessed to see many young (and some not so young) men come, learn, and leave, excited about the Kingdom’s work. As is the case with all mankind, some have greater talents than others, while some have a greater zeal than some of their fellow classmates. Michael Losotwa (a graduate of the ACSOP and now serving on our Translation team, serves as Dean of Academics and Instructor at the ACSOP) and Daniel Kazungu, another graduate of the school, are two amazing examples of men with great talent and zeal for the Lord’s work. 

Our brother Daniel, after completing his studies at the ACSOP, went back to his home village and began a new congregation, baptizing around twenty souls. His wife, a nurse, was transferred to a new location and there he began to plant yet another congregation. He called the school requesting some Bibles and Bible material. Michael agreed to deliver the materials and help his fellow graduate. Here is a short report he sent after his journey: 

“My journey started from Arusha to Mwanza last Saturday of May 17, 2014 early in the morning. And I arrived in Mwanza City at 6:30 PM the same day, spending night there. Early the morning I traveled to Magu district, about 90 miles. From there I traveled 40 miles to Mahaha village where the church is located. We began worship with 45 people in attendance. After worship we had lunch together to show their fellowship together as members of the church.

After lunch we had a short Bible class with non Christian visitors. At the end of class I invited them to obey the gospel, 13 sweet souls were ready to obey. We planned to baptize them the next day because the time was gone, it was almost 6:00 pm and the place for baptism would take 1 hour and 30 minutes by foot. So the next day we met and we went to the water for baptism. After baptism we went back to where the church meets and spent some hours teaching and encouraging them to be faithful to Lord. We prayed for them and we let them go to their homes.

From there we went our way to find and teach some more Bible classes. Whereby getting to the evening 4 more people were ready to be baptized. So we planned for the next day. So in the next day we met with them and baptize. Right after that we spent several minutes teaching them more and encouraging them to be faithful to the Lord and to the Church. We prayed for them also. Then, I started my journey going back to Mwanza city, ready to pick my journey back to Arusha the next day....Michael”  

We thank our God for the good men who are sacrificing much for His cause. Please pray for these men as they strive to do the will of the Father in taking the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost of this world. Thank you for your part in making this a reality! 

We welcome Dwight Burton and his family from the Washington Ave. congregation in Evansville, IN who arrived safely yesterday and ask you to pray with us for Gary Box and his team from the Cottondale congregation in AL who are to arrive tonight to join us in this year’s Safari for Souls outreach. 

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Love: The Spirit Of Christianity...

Dearest in Christ , 

Greetings from Nigeria. Happy Lord's day to you all.

I taught the mid-week Bible class at Oniyere & Oke-Ofa Atipe-Ibadan last week on Tuesday & Wednesday respectively on “Love...The Spirit of Christianity.”

On Sunday, May 25, 2014 I taught at Onikokoro /Gbongudu congregation, Ibadan on “Spiritual Formation in the Family” (Deut. 6:4-7) while brother Kayode Eniafe taught at the Egbeda congregation-Ibadan on “Christian Increase.” 

Beloved, Lord's willing, classes will resume at SWSE Ibadan on May 30, 2014 and on Saturday will shall commence our weekend evangelism at Kuede and Laminin villages and the following Saturday will shall evangelize Jago village .

Thanks for your labour of love! May the Lord of blessing continue to bless all our joint effort in Christ name, Amen.

Yours in His service,

Makinde E. Olufemi (Director of studies) 
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE ) Ibadan & Lagos campus, Nigeria

Gospel Chariot In French West Africa...

The Lord Keeps Adding the Saved to His Church

It is always a joy to see people respond to the Gospel in baptism. It is true that the Lord adds the saved to His Church. The Kpalime area churches are experiencing the joy that the first century Christians experienced when “they went everywhere preaching the Gospel.” In the month under consideration, four souls were added to the Church.

A New Tool For Evangelism: Togo Gospel Chariot
The gospel Chariot Mission in South Africa has provided funding to purchase a Benz Sprinter bus for evangelism. This is the first of its kind in French West Africa. Gospel Chariot Mission last year provided a Benz truck for outreach in Ghana. We hope that, with this new tool, we are going to do even better in our effort to win Togo for Christ.

There is a cargo bus that is being worked on to make it suitable for use as an evangelism van. It will be partitioned for equipment and a place to sit four. It will then be painted red and the logo for the Gospel Chariot in French placed on it.

The van when completed will be furnished with a PA system, generator, laptop, projector, screen and any equipment that will facilitate our outreach program. This tool is going to afford the students of CBS the opportunity to be involved in practical evangelism on weekends.

Kpadape Church of Christ Has a New Place to Worship

On my recent visit to Togo, I was at Kpadape to inspect the work on a church meeting place. The brethren have almost completed the shed. This structure, when completed, will seat about 50 during worship. The Kpadape church is one of the adopted congregations in the Kpalime area. The preacher is David Wama.

Willie Gley

First Annual Scholarship Lectureship In Kumbo...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings and peace from your brothers and sisters in Christ here in Cameroon. We do hope you are doing great. We are doing much better by His grace. Many are still sick, but God is in control to help as they take drugs and herbs.

Last week was suppose to be a week of exams in CBIW after the end of the long courses, but we were invited by a sister school of preaching which is the Kumbo Christian Bible College, about 400 miles from Wotutu. This is their very first scholarship lectureship that they organized, so we were invited to be part of it and we made the trip.

As I write this email, we are all back on campus, even students who had a transit to weekend evangelism are all here safe and sound. We praise God.

Our students got up early in the morning on a hired van to take off from Wotutu to Kumbo in the northwest region of Cameroon.The Lord took us there and we spent 4 precious days getting lessons from the word. It was good that we made it. Thanks for your prayers and support.

It was not only time to study His word, it was also time to do some song practice. Some of our students and others, even some visitors who are part of the Kumbo Bible school who came from USA, were also part of the whole issue.

My wife and I were there. It was great to see and study with others and brain storm on many biblical subjects. We went so that our students and I could be watchful and make sure they don’t absorb wrong teachings, but throughout our stay at the lectureship, no error was identified. Praise God.

On our way back to Wotutu the journey was characterized with fun, as we stopped over in different villages along the road to buy road side food for the students. My wife and I were having fun with our students as we ate together. What a big family we have in CBIW.

We arrived in Wotutu and our journey was safe. We raised our hands up to say “thank you, Father for who you are.” Many of our members in the Wotutu congregation, who were not part of the trip, came and waited for us at the church hall. What a great fellowship we have in Christ.

Brother Muofo Bernard is one of our students in CBIW. The month of May marks the beginning of our students presenting their senior sermon in Wotutu congregation. While I grade them as the preacher of Wotutu, the members of the Wotutu congregation are also evaluating them as they prepare for their graduation December 11, 2014. Keep this date in your dairy and in your prayers.

With all the tiredness, some students transit to different villages as usual for our normal weekend evangelism. The Lord added 3 souls to His church. Brother Premus Mendi obeyed the gospel in Wotutu after listening to our “Back to the Bible” early morning radio program. He came to our compound where the construction work was going on to do manual labor. He came in contact with us and started asking lots of question from the scriptures about what we are preaching very early in the morning. He obeyed the gospel with smile. Keep him in your prayers, that he might keep growing so that many in His family will come to know the truth through him.

Today was a great day in the life of the church of Christ Wotutu because we were able to see brother Vincent, a brother and a Bible student in this current batch who was arrested in a village on transit to another village for field work. There was an uproar in that village where the youths attacked some people, burnt their properties because they are practicing fetish things in the village. The government intervened, they never listened to them, that is why the government sent for an arrest, to arrest any young man they see in the village. That was the same day brother Vincent was arrested and he is not even a resident in that village. He stayed under custody until the 21st of May. Today, the entire church celebrated his discharge from prison. While in prison he continued to preach and converted 18 souls, and he was able to meet with some members of the church there in prison. He told our congregation this morning that the church in prison has a membership of 28. Please, please keep this work in your prayers as we already sent an application for authorization from the government to give us permission to send students from the school to go and handle worship with that prison congregation. Come join us to move to another level with our calling: “I was in prison and you visited me.”

Plans
1) As the days are passing by, we continue to receive requests from other brethren who would love us to visit their villages and help in ways of evangelism and nurturing. We plan to go to Lebialem to do evangelism in the months ahead and see the means to plant a new congregation. The plan to establish a new congregation in Isokolo is still in progress. Keep our plans in God’s hands through prayer.

2)  Students in CBIW start their exams tomorrow. Keep them in prayer as this is their second quarter exams leaving only two more for them to be ripe for graduation in December by His grace.

Appreciations
Words can only express our appreciations to God and to you to a lesser extent. We search what we can use to show our appreciation to you and the way God is using you in His work. We don’t have the words. We thank you very much for your love and care over us and the work entrusted in our hands to do. The glory goes back to Him for He is the architect of all that is happening. Share this work with others. God bless you for all that you are doing for the work here. Share this report with others .We love you and we keep you in our prayers.

Elangwe and family

By His grace Director CBIW

A Day Worth Remembering: Graduation...

Today is the day the students in Denver all strive to reach: Graduation Day. We are excited for the fourteen men who will be walking up to receive their diploma and then begin their journey into the various areas of the work they have accepted. They are prepared to face the challenges before them and we have full confidence in their abilities to achieve success with the power and grace of God to help them.

Next week the extension program in Gorlovka, Ukraine will have their graduation. We are sure everyone is familiar with the political turmoil between Russia and Ukraine the continues to escalate. At this point, everything is in set for graduation to take place, but we ask you to continue in prayer for this event and the work these graduates are entering, even in the midst of such difficult circumstances.

Additional graduations are scheduled in the near future and we are excited to see the number of students who are working to share the Good News with others in in each of the 17 locations. These students continue to demonstrate the dedication and determination to achieve God’s mission of saving those who are outside of Christ.

Join us each week in praying for these students and the work they are doing for the cause of Jesus the Christ.

Now on to the other reports...

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

Extension Reports 

Christian Training For The Young And Old In Cameroon: The work in Cameroon continues to influence the young, old and everyone in between.

Moving Forward With The Work In Haiti: Everything is set to begin the new work in Port Au Prince, Haiti.

Elder Visits From The Lake Houston Congregation: The power of seeing the work firsthand makes all the difference, and such is the case in Visakhapatnam, India.

New Class Of Students Prepares To Begin At WCSOP: The West Coast School of Preaching is ready to enroll a new class of students in Takoradi, Ghana.

Eight Baptized In Guatemala: News from the ITL lectureship and recent studies conducted by one of ITL’s graduates demonstrates an increase given by God.

New Courses Are Prepared For The Next Quarter: After completing an open air Bible Lectureship, a new quarter is set to begin at the Southwest School of Evangelism.

The Spirit Of The Missionary: The work and influence of Andrew Connally left a lasting impact on the people and mission in Tanzania.

Two More Souls Added To The Kingdom In Tanzania: The kingdom witnessed two new precious souls added the church on Sunday in Arusha, TZ.

Final Thoughts
A final note of thanks. Each week we are reminded of how much we need you for this work. The partnerships we have formed are changing lives everywhere students are preparing themselves through extension training. Thank you for making it possible and thank you for allowing us the opportunity to stand with you in the Lord’s work.

God bless
Bob

New Courses Are Prepared For The Next Quarter...

Dear fellow soldiers of Christ,

Greetings from Nigeria. We thank you all for your prayer for our dear country, Nigeria.

We (myself, brother Kayode Eniafe & brother Dele Shotola) traveled on Friday afternoon to work with brother Emmanuel Nwaorji and the church at Ilisan-Remo in Ogun state in two day open air Bible lectureship and house to house evangelism on Saturday morning through evening.

On Friday open air, I taught on Heaven and it's occupants while brother Kayode Eniafe taught on Hell and it's occupants. On Saturday morning, we divided ourselves into four groups for house to house evangelism while brother Dele Shotola taught on Sin, Our Great Obstacle to Enter Heaven and the host minister taught on What Can a Sinner Do to Get to Heaven during the Saturday evening open air Bible lectureship.

On Sunday morning, May 18th, at the Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregation-Ibadan, brother Makinde Emmanuel led in songs, I taught on Spiritual Formation from Matt. 5-7, while brother Destiny Elijah, a year one student of SWSE -Ibadan, admonished the church from Eph. 5:1-17.

Brethren, all other instructors at SWSE-Ibadan took a give role in their respective congregations on the Lord's day of May 18, 2014.

Thanks to all our supporters in the U.S. and Canada who are playing a vital role in the continuity of the SWSE, Ibadan, Nigeria. We also appreciate brother Steven Ashcraft and associates who have help us raise the needed $3,200 for the completion of this session (2013/2014). The school will open for lectures on May 30, 2014, Lord's willing. I (Makinde) will handle the following lectures: Life of Christ 4, Research Methods, Church Leadership & Administration, Discipleship Training & Practical. Brother Kayode Eniafe will handle OT Prophets-Major, Pastoral Epistles, and Evangelism 3. Brother Isaac Olaniyan will handle Revelation & Church History. Brother Abiola Joseph Olusoji will handle Christian Disciplines / Psychology and Methodology while brother Matthew Idowu will handle Romans, Evangelism 2 and Homiletics 3.

Our final students teaching practice for this session comes up July 12 through August 10, 2014, Lord's willing.

Our entrance examinations & interviews for the next academic session comes up on June 21, 2014 at Ibadan main campus.

Brethren, due to our financial position, which is not encouraging, we have decided to admit only twenty five students for both year 1 & 2 courses.

Once more, we thank you all for your partnership and brotherly love! May the Lord of blessing continue to bless you all is our fervent prayer, Amen.

Your fellow laborer in the kingdom of Christ,

Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Director of studies)
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan & Lagos satellite campus, Nigeria

Two More Souls Added To The Kingdom In Tanzania...

For the last several days, we have greatly enjoyed having John Strong and the Adam Evans family visiting with us. They are missionaries working in Iringa, Tanzania.  Iringa is about a 14 hour drive from us, which takes 2 days in Africa because you don't want to travel after dark. 

Adam taught a short-course on Christian Ethics at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching, while John helped out with some personal Bible studies. This was a great opportunity to share resources and strategies with each other for better reaching the people of Tanzania with the gospel of Christ. They are great people and our families became fast friends. Hopefully, we will get the opportunity to visit together again.

You can read about the Evans family and their work here.  

Two Baptisms Today
Following services in Njiro Chini, a sweet, crippled lady named Matilda put on her Lord in baptism. Meanwhile at the Arusha congregation, a young man named Kevin was also baptized. John and I along with Godfrey (the preacher at Arusha) studied with Kevin and his family a few days ago. He is bright and full of eager questions. We studied together until the sun went down and it was too dark to see. I am thrilled for these two children of God!

Daniel Gaines

To read Daniel’s report and see the pictures, please click here.

The Spirit Of The Missionary...

Greetings Fellow Servants,

We thank our Heavenly Father for the privilege of serving here in Tanzania and most of all, for each of you and your sacrifice making God’s mission work in TZ possible. It is a joyful life seeing the transformation of countless souls coming to the knowledge of God’s love, the saving power of Jesus Christ and the fellowship we share in the Gospel of love. 

Yesterday was one of those days that remind you what is important and how powerful God’s Word really is. The areawide congregations continue to support the new Church plant in Arusha, in the area of Njiro Chini. Several of the local evangelists and church members went throughout the area conducting several Bible studies. As a result, we now have another new sister in Christ. Others are very close to the Kingdom as they contemplate their eternal destiny. The three studies I was apart of reminded me of the fact, we are in the right place, doing the right thing at the right time. We simply need more help......

I have attached a PDF document that has an article written by Andrew Connally entitled; “The Spirit of the Missionary.” When I read this I thought of the 15 missionary families that have served on the Tanzania Missions team over the years. Each has left his or her mark on God’s work here in East Africa. Each contributing to the growth both spiritually and numerically. We are most grateful for men and women who are willing to go into new worlds, unknown cultures and often most challenging endeavors. 

As I read these words written by the man (Andrew Connally) who most influenced my idea’s regarding missions more than any other (besides Christ Himself), I thought mostly of Jimmy Gee, his family, as well as Nathan and Jessica McVeigh. Both families have returned to America, but both left a legacy of good works that have influenced souls for good and for eternity, each serving in different ways, working in their “strong-suites,” using their talents all to the glory of God and to the saving of the lost. Thank God for missionaries who strive faithfully with good attitudes, a godly spirit and can work together as good team members do. Thank you Jimmy, Trina, Gee children, Nathan and Jessica. We love you and we pray God opens the best door of opportunity that you all might be able to continue serving with all your desires and talents. 

We thank our amazing Christian family at Mayfield who donated the needed funds to replace our refrigerator. It has been a blessing to our lives to be able to host many in our home, including Cotton, Beulah, Gene and Steve from the Mayfield congregation. We are so very grateful to be a part of the best family on earth, the Christian family. 

Please remember the family of our late brother Isaac Mwangonde (a graduate of the ACSOP) who passed away this week, leaving his wife and three small children behind. Also, we have several who will be coming our way to participate in the annual Safari for Souls campaigns, please pray for them and our effort to “seek and save the lost.” Until all have heard...

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

The Spirit of the Missionary
Andrew Connally

“The pseudo saintism of some missionaries must be a stench in the nostrils of Almighty God! Yet, the men and women of God who live in a foreign land must ever radiate the true spirit of Jesus Christ. Such men and women are not angels nor ascetics. They are dedicated servants of their Savior. They must make no pathetic plea for sympathy for themselves, but rather seek cooperation for their work and the job they are doing.

As Kipling admonished:

    ‘Go to your work and be strong, halting not in your ways, 
     Balking the end half-won for an instant dole of praise. 
    Stand to your work and be wise----certain of sword and pen, 
    Who are neither children nor gods, but men in a world of men.

The spirit of a missionary must be a composite of faith and works, action and reaction, reliance and relief, acceptance and aggression, expression and suppression, under insurmountable odds, never quitting nor losing hope. They must persevere when ordinary or lesser men would fail? Because their work is not an ordinary job! They work for God. They labor not in vain. They are building for eternity, and souls of men comprise the temple of Jehovah God. Their works shall live long after they have left this human scene. Their memory will be hallowed and eternity will reward them. 

The spirit of a missionary never must be daunted. He must bear criticism, jealousy, envy, rejection and veritable onslaughts of lesser men, yet always show forth the forgiving spirit and example of our Lord. Seldom does a good missionary escape such from his own brethren, and often his fellow missionaries. Only God and judgment will sort out such unjust, unchristian actions. But the missionary must bear this own cross and know that God will take care of him and finally will vindicate righteousness. 

Truly, a missionary has a noble calling and those who manifest such admirable qualities retaining the spirit of Christianity are worthy of our honor and esteem. ‘May their tribe ever increase?’”

[Book: So You Want A Glorified Holiday?; Missions --- Missionaries --- Methods ... All To The Glory of God. by Andrew Connally, Connally Publications, Seagoville, TX, pp. 21-22)]

Eight Baptized In Guatemala...

Here we are in May of 2014! It is unbelievable how this year has gotten away from us. Yet, we are very thankful for the all the blessings God has showered upon us. There are many things that have occurred since our last report, so there is no way that we are going to be able to get it all into one newsletter. So, please be looking for several newsletters/reports over the next few weeks that will bring you up to date with the work in Guatemala and with many other happenings in our ministry and personal lives. We hope they will encourage you.

We would like to begin by sharing with you the good news of some of those who have made the commitment to follow Jesus. Let us begin with the new additions to the church family at Linda Vista.

During our 5th Annual ITL Lectureship, four people responded to the invitation on Sunday morning, March 16. The first was Maria Martinez. This sister in Christ was first introduced to the Gospel several years ago, while Francisco and Erminia Ramos (Alpha class) were still members at Linda Vista, prior to coming to ITL to study the Bible. Maria is Erminia’s sister-in-law. Francisco and we studied with her and her family for several months, but she never obeyed the Gospel. She attended a denomination off and on and last year began to attend the assemblies of the church of Christ at Linda Vista. During this time, Maclovio Calderon (Beta class, Saturday program) and others of us visited her in her home to offer her the Gospel invitation once again. She said she would think about it. That is why it was so encouraging to see her walk down the aisle after Eliezer Perez (Beta class) finished his sermon and offered the invitation that Sunday morning.

The next two are Elmer Martinez and Jasmine Hernandez. Elmer is Maria’s son, and Jasmine is his girlfriend. Elmer was present on several occasions when the Bible studies were conducted in his parents’ home, but often would choose to play soccer instead. He was interested in Christ, but worldly pursuits had his heart. Both Elmer and Jasmine began to attend the assemblies with Maria at the end of last year. It was encouraging to see how his interests had changed. Both of them came forward seconds after his mother responded to the Gospel. It was heart-warming to see the three of them in front of the audience ready to confess Jesus as Lord and to be baptized for the remission of sins.

The fourth baptism was Roberto Valladares. Roberto lives in Jutiapa, about three hours from Linda Vista. He was at the lectureship because a few days earlier Anibal Ramirez had received his contact information from Anne Milstead, a World Bible School teacher in Arizona. Anne got in touch with Anibal because Roberto had expressed to her his desire to become a Christian. After calling Roberto, Anibal explained to him about the lectureship activities taking place at that moment and that he would try to make a visit to Jutiapa shortly after the activities were finished. However, Anibal invited Roberto to come to Linda Vista if he was able. It was great to see Roberto arrive that Sunday morning all the way from Jutiapa! He was ready to put on Christ. He, too, responded to the invitation and was among those who became a Christian that day.

Please pray for these four new souls who have committed their lives to the Lord. Pray that they will grow in their faith and will become active members of the Lord’s kingdom. Especially pray for Roberto, who lives so far from Linda Vista. He is currently worshiping with a small congregation of the Lord’s people not too far from his home. Maria, Elmer and Jasmine have been attending the Linda Vista services and are maturing in their faith.

During the lectureship, Benny Montejo (Alpha class), served as one of our translators. He made the most of the opportunity and invited some friends to attend the event, Silvia Chavez and two of her children, Bryan and Melanie. Benny knows Silvia because he works with Silvia’s oldest son, Carlos, better known as Charlie. This was the first time that Silvia and her children attended anything related to the church of Christ. We remember seeing them getting out of the car as we arrived Saturday morning, March 15th to the church building. After the day was over, Silvia and her children were so excited about the lessons they had heard and what they had experienced that they went home to tell all about it to Charlie, who had to work that day. On Sunday, all four of them were there! Charlie got so excited about what his family told him that he requested the day off and came with them. Benny was able to establish a regular Bible study with all of them and on Wednesday morning, March 26, he sent us a text message so that we would be at the building that evening at 6:00 because the four of them were ready to be baptized. Several of us had the honor of witnessing their new life in Jesus!

Please keep Silvia and her children in your prayers and join us in thanksgiving to the Father for their decision to obey the Gospel. They are making efforts to grow in Christ and to become more and more involved in the life and work of the church.

It is so exciting to see how God works in the lives of people who are searching for the truth and for a relationship with Him. We pray that you, too, will continue to reach out to people because we never know who will respond to God’s call. If you are not a Christian, we pray that you will give Jesus the opportunity to change your life!

God bless each of you! Thanks for reading this report and be looking for another one soon!

Hi
Byron
Snezana

To see the report with pictures of the various events, please click here.

New Class Of Students Prepares To Begin At WCSOP...

Thank God the classroom and all other works for the month of April went on successfully. We vacated on the 11th of April 2014. During the break period, tiling work in the classroom block and the dormitory were undertaken. This tiling work is gradually ending. We strongly believe by the close of next week the remaining works will be completed.

Also during the break period, we intensified our search for prospective students. We are conducting interviews for admission for the next academic year on the 22nd of May, 2014. Present indications are that we may be able to get a significant number of students.

We continue to ask for your prayers as we resumed classes on the 12th of May, 2014.

Matthew Ackah

Elder Visits From The Lake Houston Congregation...

Dear Brethren in Christ,

Greetings to you in Christ’s name. By the grace and mercy of our Almighty God we are all doing fine, and we do hope you are all doing fine too. We have been blessed with the Lord’s work that is going on through Visakha Valley Bible College in various parts of Andhra Pradesh. We are certainly thankful for your prayers and support

Master Class: Brother Jerry Bates spent two weeks teaching the Masters classes. He taught ‘Theology’ and ‘World Religions.’ He has done a marvelous job. Students indeed gained so much from these classes, especially through the material given by brother Jerry.

Ladies Class: Sister Paula always wants to spend her time very useful as she can. This was by taking care of Jerry, getting things organized and also teaching the women in the places she traveled with Jerry. This time also, she spent several hours teaching the woman that meets at the school and another place where our Graduate brother Satyanandam is working. He works on the out skirts of Visakhapatnam Industrial Park.

Yona Raju: Our School is certainly a shining light in this part of Andhra Pradesh. Like the shining light, it is attracting several from the darkness into the light that is everlasting. Brother Yona Raju who is from a Tribal (mountains) area heard about our school couple of years ago and he visited the school and wanted to sit in the classes for some time. When he started listening to the lessons taught in the school by the faculty, he was overwhelmed with the truthful teaching he heard in the classes and verified with what he believed so far. A few weeks after that he met with the faculty bringing some questions for discussion and when everything was clarified he realized that he needed to be baptized. He had a degree from a preaching school where he was baptized, but once all questions were answered he realized that was not a true baptism. So, he wanted to be baptized, he is now working in his community. Every time he attends the school he takes some Christian Literature with him. This time he took some ‘Voice of Truth International’ magazines with him. We thank brother Jerry Bates for bringing these magazines, we do thank sister Betty Choate for publishing them. Yona Raju says, that these are very useful for his personal study as well as to teach others. He remarks that these magazines are a knowledge Bank; the only thing we have to do is withdraw God’s wisdom from this. We believe that he is going to bring so many to the Light of the Lord.

God gives the increase: For Preachers, our primary job is to carry out the gospel to the unreached millions across the world. As the preachers are being produced from the school and they go out and proclaim The Good News, results are very obvious. These results bring glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In this process all of us are involved in various ways. We are striving in various capacities for the same cause and purpose and when we join hands for this process of rescuing souls, which is our common goal, our Lord gives the increase.  

JY’s visit:  We were truly blessed with the visit of brother J Y Brown, who is one of the elders at the Lake Houston Church of Christ, who supports the Visakha Valley Bible College. During his visit he preached at the local congregation on Sunday morning and traveled to Skinner’s Garden in the afternoon. Monday morning was a special day, for on this day we had a gathering of all the preachers who have graduated from the school so far. Also, the current batch of students both undergrad and graduates were present. It was a gathering of over 60 preachers on that day. All these preachers have introduced themselves and explained about the their mission work. We have located their places on a map and marked them and given to brother JY to share with the church. This would explain how the Churches are growing. He remarked that his visit was very special and a God given opportunity to see everything in person and get first hand information.  We are very encouraged with the visit of brother JY. We have been longing for such a visit from the brethren at Lake Houston, since it would always be wonderful for supporting congregations to see every thing first hand and help make everything more understandable. Finally, the time came and our wish was fulfilled, hoping to see the relationship with the school and Lake Houston be bonded for a long time.  

Elections: We have a New Prime Minister elected in the recent General Elections in our Country. He is from a Hindu Lead party. The Hindu Lead Party got elected where the secular party was defeated. We wonder how they are going to rule our country. The proposed person for being the Prime Minister is an active Hindu leader, but on the other side he is positive about the growth of the nation. We are concerned about the Religious Freedom as the associated Hindu lead groups would take advantage of this and start causing trouble to the Christians in the whole nation. The circumstances we may come across may be beyond the imagination, but they may not appear in a sudden way, but gradually. I believe this may be the time to test our faith and truthfulness. Kindly pray so that we would be bold enough to preach the good news out loud without any circumstances.

Gratitude: The Visakha Valley Bible College work is truly a team work. We really appreciate all those who are part of this team. In this team we have the faculty, visiting professors from BVBID, director, students and staff; when all this works together in a proper system, things go smooth and work is increased. We firmly believe this is what is happening at Visakha Valley Bible College. There are some unseen members of the team I should mention as they are the supporting and overseeing church, coordinator, elders of Bear Valley and director of the Extension Schools. We convey our thanks to all those who are doing their portion of the job for producing preachers at Visakha Valley Bible College. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement.

In Christ

For Visakha Valley Bible College
John Dean

Moving Forward With The Work In Haiti...

Greetings in the name of our Lord,
I first want to thank each of you for your prayers and words of encouragement as we continue our work for the Lord. My desire is to be a tool for the Lord in expanding the borders of His kingdom, the church. A special thanks to you who have given financially to the work; I could not do what I do without your partnership.

The Haiti Container Has Arrived!
We are glad to report that the container has arrived in Haiti! For several months we have raised the funds and people have donated items to ship a forty foot container to Haiti. The container was filled with items for the children’s home, the school of preaching and items to be used in other works. Your help and contributions have made this possible. We want to send another container but we need help. The cost for shipping, handing fees and customs comes to about $12,000. If you know of a person or congregation who would be willing to help raise or provide these funds, please have them contact me. The needs are great and the items shipped truly help thousands of people. 

International School of Theology
We continue to move forward with the school of preaching planned for Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, with a population of more than three million souls. While we have paid the rent for the first year ($15,000) more help is needed to sustain the school. I will be going to Haiti in June to make some of the final arrangements. We plan to have a two day conference and open house to introduce the school to the churches in Haiti. 

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we have partnered with Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver and Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee. By combining forces we will be able to have some great Bible teachers and will be able to offer a high quality of education to the students. We plan to start accepting students in June for the fall enrollment and are hoping to have twenty-four students. We plan to have a website for the school in the future so you will be able to meet the students and see the facilities. 

Your help is needed. The cost for the school is going to be about $6,000 per month which is only about $250 per student. We need individuals and congregations to help us meet these needs. If you or the congregation can help provide and sponsor a student, I would be willing to come and give you full details about our plans, curriculum and provide any other information.

Roundup, Montana
In late June and early July we will travel to Roundup, Montana to work with the church for two weeks. The congregation is small, having only four members. The nearest congregation is in Billings, Montana and is about fifty-five miles away. The church in Billings and the church in Lewistown are very helpful and continue to visit the church in Roundup on a regular basis. 

There is a very nice building with a great deal of classroom space but they are in need of a full-time preacher working in the community. If you know of someone who might be interested in working in the big sky county, please let me know. The four members are willing to work and they are filled with love and have a strong desire to serve the Lord. 

Jamaica Campaign
April 18-26th, I had the privilege of traveling to Spanish Town Jamaica with a group from the North Henderson church of Christ - Steve Croom, Ethel Croom, Carleton Salfarlie, Friday Akpan, Elkanah Akpan and Elizabeth Saunders. We were the second week workers in a two week campaign for the Spanish Town church of Christ. The theme for the campaign was, “Let the Bible Speak.” Brother Carleton Salfarlie, the preacher for the North Henderson congregation, did the speaking each night and I spoke during the Sunday morning Bible hour. Brother Salfarlie preached powerful and scripture-filled lessons each night.  

Each day we knocked doors or conducted home Bible studies. We were also privileged to work with some of the preacher students from the Jamaica school of preaching. Some of these students I had worked with in Linstead, Jamaica last year. The growth and maturity that had taken place since last year was truly encouraging. The maturity of the students is a great commentary on the school. They are being well trained in the teaching of God’s word and the practical side of Christianity, evangelism and working with the lost. 

The two weeks of door knocking, home Bible studies and gospel preaching led to nine souls coming to Christ, one restored to their first love and several had their Christian life revived. We left the Spanish Town congregation with about fifty home Bible studies to follow-up with and several contacts to visit. To God be the glory and praise for all that was accomplished in His name. Brother Leslie Goode is the local evangelist and he serves the Lord daily reaching to the lost and working with the church.

The congregation is filled with love and joy in their service to God. The building was filled with about 120 people each night. The local members worked alongside us each day so that the local church would be able to do proper follow-up. They feed us three meals each day and while it might not have been exactly what we as Americans normally eat, it was great! The cooking crew was led by Sister Betty and she and the others made sure every worker had sufficient food. They cooked for about twenty workers each day.  The church reminded me of what Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:16 – Take a moment and read it. 

BibleTalkTV.org
On Thursday and Friday we were able to stream live broadcast around the world via the internet. Brother Derrick Brown, the preacher for the Jago church of Christ in Spanish Town, came with camera in hand and was able to send the message of Christ through the internet. I was able to get the word out to several and they too were able to join us. The Jago congregation broadcasts weekly over the internet at www.bibletalktv.org.  You may wish to visit their web site at http://www.stjagochurchofchrist.org. It is great to work and serve the Lord in a world where there are so many opportunities to reach the lost. Brothers Brown and Goode are only two men but they are truly making an impact on the Spanish Town community.

Final Thoughts
I have had the privilege of working with the Broad Street congregation in Lexington, Tennessee for almost 25 years and now serve as a resident missionary. I am thankful for the eldership I serve under and for this congregation. Brother PJ Hardy serves as the full-time evangelist and Carter Hoover serves as the youth minister. Virginia McClain serves as our secretary.  I am also thankful for my wonder wife, Carol, who supports me in every way with the work I am doing. She teaching at Freed-Hardeman and is not able to travel on all of the mission trips but is able to get in two or three a year. I am blessed to have her in my life. We have a great team and I know that I could not do the work that I am doing with out their encouragement, love, prayers and financial support.   

I have been privileged to work on or visit more than forty countries around the world and there are great needs in every one of them, including the United States. There are many great works being done that include evangelism, Christian maturity, training preachers, feeding the hungry, helping the hurting and educating people so they can have a better life. To God be the glory for all that is being done in His great name! 

Working for the Master,

Larry Waymire
lwaymire@gmail.com
731.798.0136
731.968.6688

To see Larry’s report with pictures, please go here.

Christian Training For The Young And Old In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from Cameroon. We are doing great even though some among us are sick. We know it may be the climatic condition. Today was sunny and our worship was great as many came eager to worship their God and to listen to the reading and explanation of His word. We do hope you are doing great over there. We wish you a great worship today and send our love to your family and the congregation.

This past week we finished our two months of long courses at CBIW and our students were supposed to start writing the exams tomorrow, but we postponed the exams until the 26th of May because of our invitation to attend the scholarship lectureship in Kumbo organized by the first Bible college in Cameroon. We shall travel there this Tuesday morning. Keep us in your prayers.

The camera had some problems and the students that went out for weekend evangelism could not get pictures of the work.

Some of our students stood by the river side reading the scriptures to a lady whose three children are attending Brightland Christian Academy. She saw changes as her children decided to stop going to the Presbyterian denomination to attend the children’s Bible class at our congregation. She came and she saw the way we worship as the New Testament Church. We pray Brightland Christian Academy continues to impact the lives of these little children as they grow. It is easier to train children, than to repair adults. Keep BCA in your prayers daily.

Sister Ruth Mbong obeyed God after hearing His word. It is great that many continue to listen to us through our PA System Radio program that is not passing through any media. Keep her in your prayers for her to grow. We are reaching out to Dikome, Koba and other places as they continue to appreciate our weekly efforts. Our students think souls and go for souls so that the strong man's house will be robbed. We robbed 4 souls this weekend in different locations. God is faithful.

My son Ray decided to dress up today for worship. I asked why and he said “I love Cameroon and I love the church of Christ.” I was surprised to hear my son give me that type of explanation. Oh how our children are growing. I decided to have him stand on the stair case that leads to our extension of the church hall and the dorms for our Bible students. Please help us pray for him to keep growing in his love for the Lord and to always appreciate God. We need to love our earthly nations, but let us focus on the nation that will never end (Phil. 3:20).

Brightland Christian Academy is touching the lives of those in our community. They started writing their first public exams on Thursday. These exams are organized by the government. They attended our computer lab. More computers will do good to the ever growing population of our congregation and the Wotutu village. Please consider how you can be a part of this growth.

Our visions are many in Wotutu village. We touch the lives of the old and the young and anyone in between. Several ladies are part of the adult literacy classes, as we are reaching out to many in the communities. One of the hindrances was supposed to be the inability to read and write. My wife is doing this great work free of charge for these people who have never been to school. God is great and the class keeps growing day after day. This past week demonstrated how many desire to study, but there was no opportunity. It was a belief of the old that the woman’s place is in the kitchen. Keep this work in your prayers and come be part of this development.

Plans
1) We shall travel to Kumbo in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. It is above 400 miles from Wotutu. We are going to attend the scholarship lectureship. This will be the first of its kind in Cameroon. Keep us in your prayers.

2) By early next month we shall have a one day seminar with preachers and leaders in Wotutu and thereafter we shall start distributing cartons of tracts sent by Mission Printing, which are still in transit in an ocean container. We keep praying and waiting for the arrival of the container. It will help many in Cameroon towards their evangelistic efforts.

3) By His grace, before the month of June runs out, we are planning to establish a new congregation in Isokolo village. This will be the second congregation in the entire west coast of Cameroon.

Appreciations
God bless you and your family for all that you are doing to us. We thank you and appreciate your efforts towards the work here. God bless you, and He will reward you in due season.

Do your best to share this report with others. Stay safe in Christ.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW