Taking The Messiah To The Masai...

It is wonderful to see people responding to the gospel of Christ! Follow-up work continues in Ilkiurei and a campaign has wrapped up at Usa River. Over the past few weeks hundreds of Bible studies have been conducted and dozens of baptisms have resulted.  

Two of those baptisms were Masai men named Simon and Obeti. They were eager students of the word, and readily accepted what the Bible had to say. Some of our visiting campaigners were a little shocked when we had to spend time in serious Bible study with these men over the question of whether or not a Christian can drink blood. After all that's not a question that comes up very often back home in the States. They're not vampires, but part of traditional Masai culture is drinking a beverage that consists of cow's blood mixed with milk.  

These men had a great attitude and can't wait to share what they have learned with their family. One of them plans to enroll in Bible school, then go back to his home village to plant a congregation among his kinsmen. What a fantastic plan!

As we extend the invitation at the conclusion of services here, the process works a little differently than back home. Rather than coming to the front of the auditorium, he or she is asked to remain standing at the conclusion of the song as everyone sits down. The minister then comes to them to see what their need may be. 

Daniel Gaines

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

Posted on June 29, 2014 .

Marks Of True Discipleship...

Beloved in Christ,

Greetings from staff and students of the Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan Sand Lagos campus, Nigeria.

Brother Jerry Bates arrived in Nigeria safely on Saturday around 4:30 pm and resumed work on Sunday morning at Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregation, Ibadan where he taught on “Marks of True Disciples” from Luke 5 while I served as his interpreter. We went out on house to house evangelism immediately after the morning Bible class by brother Jerry from 10:00 am to 11:30 pm on that Lord's day of June 15, 2014.

Monday morning through Friday evening, he taught the students and five of SWSE instructors from the book of Romans.

The staff and some students of SWSE, Ibadan main campus travel on Friday evening to join the brethren at Idah, Kogi state on a day mass evangelism which resulted into conversion of two souls.

Brother Jerry continued his African tour on Saturday afternoon as he boarded the Arik Air Line to Ghana where he will be teaching the students there more about the Bible.

On Sunday morning, I taught on “The Church and Mission” at Isheri-Oshun congregation, Lagos. We are 170 in attendance with total collection of N14,330=.

June 21 was an entrance examination and interview for the next academic session 2014 / 2015 at SWSE-Ibadan main campus and that of Lagos satellite campus. Ten new students were admitted to join some students with low grades while twelve students are enrolled for the second year courses. Details will be sent on Friday with the proposed budget for 2014 / 2015 session.

Brethren, we thank all of you who have made the trip of brother Jerry to Nigeria a reality. May the Lord of blessing continue to bless all our joint efforts in Christ name, Amen.

I remain yours in His grace as a servant,

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

Posted on June 29, 2014 .

Another Successful Campaign In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ

Greetings from Cameroon. We do hope you are doing great in all that you do for family and the church. We are doing better here even though many people are still sick.

As I write this report to you all, our students who were out for campaign and vacation are back on campus to start the third quarter. Wow! Time is flying and and before you know it we shall be graduating our beta batch and matriculate our gamma batch. Keep all this progress in your prayers.

We give thanks to God for brother David Ballard who left Cameroon last week on Wednesday. He is back in the US after spending three weeks teaching in CBIW, visiting congregations and meeting former students who are now evangelist in different congregations. It was great for us to see our graduates serving the Lord in different locations serving the Lord, training leaders, and building the Lord’s church.

Brother Awatt Manfree is one of our graduates who heard about the Mission Printing tracts in Wotutu and came to get some which will help him in his evangelistic efforts in his location. The tracts are creating smiles as the evangelists get them from our warehouse. In a short while we shall be including in our reports the news about the tracts, mostly for those who don’t have access to the internet to relate information about it.

Brother David and I visited last Sunday with the Ediki congregation and worshipped with them. This congregation was dead for many years before it came to our notice that there was a congregation in that village many years ago. Because we think souls and go for souls we mapped out time to go and revive this congregation. God restored joy again in them as they serve God. We keep sending our students weekly to make sure all things are in order.

Brother Pascal and his entire family obeyed the gospel and renounced Islamic religion. He was born and raised as a Muslim. We preached the gospel to him in another town. He obeyed and later on he invited us to come to his house and share the gospel to his entire family. It was great to see somebody accepting Christ with joy after one of our students gave him some French tracts from Mission Printing, JC Choate and a reply to a Muslim. Keep this family in your prayers.

Her first daughter is very intelligent, fluent in reading the French language in the Bible for their first time. She obeyed the good news and today was their first day to worship as Christians. She will be entering the university next academic year.

Brother Mbappe continues to be busy after his one week campaign in Bekora village. He was the one who translated the Bible study in brother Pascal’s house that led to the mass conversion of the entire family. Our students are back and God blessed them with great interaction with many. As they shared the gospel and tracts from Mission Printing, the Lord added 16 souls and 33 unfaithful Christians came back in those 27 locations that they were serving the Lord for one week. Keep these souls in your prayers as we continue to do follow up for them to grow and be mature. They also came back with many requests for us to come over and help revive congregations dying and some that are already dead. We are ready to go and rob from the strong man’s house.

Brother Mbappe exhorted and prepared them for their confession before their baptism. After their baptism, they made great comments like “God is sweet like sugar, and they feel lighter after baptism, that it seems some heavy load has been taken off from them.” This family will continue to worship with a newly established congregation of Down Beach. This will help them grow faster. We shall get them French Bibles. We shall need more French Bibles as many French speaking people keep obeying the gospel.

Plans
We have 4 locations that are calling us to establish new congregations. Keep this plan in your prayers as we make plans to make sure we fulfill this work

Appreciations
God bless you. We keep thanking God daily for you. Thank you for standing by us to accomplish what we can accomplish for His glory. God alone will reward you for your sincerity. Do your best to share this with others.

Elangwe and family
By His grace, director CBIW

Posted on June 29, 2014 .

An Experience In Encouragement And Excitement...

The summer has arrived in the U.S. and it is the time of year where we are traveling to see a wonderful group of Christians who are involved in supporting the work. We always enjoy the opportunity of sharing with others the progress of the Extension Program. There is a level of encouragement and excitement that is hard to beat when seeing the faces of others beam with joy over the fellowship of participation in this work.

The weeks ahead will have us traveling several thousand miles, visiting with multiple congregations and individuals involved in the program, and introducing others to the power of God’s word as it is being witnessed in each location that reports.

News from the various locations where we are partnering in the training of preachers is always encouraging. There is never a time when the news about souls being added to the kingdom, churches being planted, revived, or built up in the faith, and prayers being answered gets old to read. Each week this kind of news makes it all worthwhile.

We encourage each of you to take a few minutes to read the reports this week and consider how your participation in the gospel is bringing many souls to the Lord and keeping the church strengthened in the faith. Without your partnership in this effort it would not happen. Thank you for sharing in the work of Extension Training.

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/

The latest report from Luis Camacho, coordinator for the school in Paraguay, can be read here.

Extension Reports 

A New Version Of Polishing The Pulpit: The work in Cameroon has grown incredibly, in part, because of a recent lectureship where tracts were distributed to spread the good news.

Campaigns Are Powerful In Tanzania: The new director of the Andrew Connally School of Preaching shares how the campaigns are affecting the work in Tanzania.

The Difference One Congregation Can Make: Since 1998, the church in Arusha, that started with 30 members, has grown to impact the entire city. This is worth reading.

God’s Blessing On The Work In Arusha: One of the campaigns in Arusha during the Safari for Souls has produced numerous contacts. Daniel Gaines shares the news.

Final Thoughts 
As we close out another week, we are reminded of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi; “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me” (Phil. 1:7). Thank you for your love for the Lord and participation in the gospel.

God bless
Bob

Posted on June 22, 2014 .

God's Blessing On The Work In Arusha...

The Lord continues to bless the work here in wonderful ways. After a big campaign at Ilkiurei a week ago, the very important follow-up has been going strong this week. There were enough new contacts made to keep us busy for a long time. We enjoyed seeing lots of new faces at worship this morning. It is so great to see all of these baby Christians beginning their journey of spiritual growth!

Meanwhile, a team from Oklahoma has arrived and is conducting another campaign at Usa River. We've divided our time between the two efforts so as to maintain maximum involvement.
The effort is going well and there are already several baptisms that have resulted.

Daniel Gaines

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

Posted on June 22, 2014 .

The Difference One Congregation Can Make...

Greetings Fellow Servants,

It is with great joy and excitement I write this short-report. Because you pray, believe, support and many of you even come and join us in this amazing work of God here in Tanzania, the Lord is being lifted up, glorified, praised and thanked every day. The Lord is smiling down on His/your/our efforts in a grand way. Let me illustrate...

In the year 1998 we began a work of God here in Tanzania. In the early days I stood before a congregation of the Lord’s people, numbering around 30, in the city of Arusha (at that time the only body of believers in Arusha), encouraging them to take the Gospel light into all Tanzania, East Africa and yes, the world. To say that message was received with any degree of confidence, would be a stretch. Today that same message is being taught not only in Arusha, but throughout all Tanzania and many parts of East Africa with belief and conviction.  

Today, what started with one congregation and 30 precious souls in the city of Arusha, has grown to 8 congregations and over 450 souls in the city of Arusha alone. What made this possible, your prayers and support to be sure, God’s blessings without a doubt, strong and consistent mission team and yes, a very strong body of believers here in the Church in Arusha. Two other key elements are the Andrew Connally School Preaching and our yearly Safari for Souls campaigns. let me illustrate...

We have now graduated over 130 trained and dedicated evangelist. We know there have been more than 300 new church plants, a combination of efforts through the Tanzania 2000 mission team and through the efforts of our graduates.  This years Safari for Souls efforts are also an example of what can be done when the Lord’s people join hearts, minds, and souls for a purpose greater than any one of us individually, God purpose. We began our pre-campaign efforts the first part of May. Our co-workers began joining us toward the end of May. Some have gone back to America, some remain and others are yet to come. The Lord has blessed the efforts thus far with 28 new souls being added to His Kingdom. Amen! Amen! Amen!

Please pray that God continues to open doors of opportunity and that we might touch many lost souls with His saving message of mercy, grace and reconciliation. I plead with each of us, to pause for but a moment and pray that God might use EACH of US to His good pleasure and to the saving of some lost soul before it is eternity to late. Pray not one soul be lost because we did not care, because we neglected the talent(s) God has blessed us with, or because we were “to busy” pursuing anything in this life, that in the end, will count for nothing. 

Yes, we serve the living God, the God Who is able to do mighty things in our lives and in the lives of those we know and influence for good. Pray, pray, pray! Thank you for your prayers, for our God is answering them in a powerful way and He will do the same in all of our lives, if, we give Him our all. 

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie and Granny

Posted on June 22, 2014 .

Campaigns Are Powerful In Tanzania...

Greetings friends and brethren, we hope that you are all well and haven’t been affected by the thunderstorms, hail, and tornadic weather we have heard about on the news. Everything in our neck of the world is moving along at a rapid pace and I am glad to send out a glimpse of the work that is taking place.

CAMPAIGNS
Campaigns have been going on for the past month and will continue through the end of June. We have had brethren from Alabama, Oklahoma and Indiana join us this year. Currently, six brethren from Elk City, OK are conducting a campaign in Usa River (pronounced “oosah”). On Sunday we said goodbye to our good friends from Hoover, AL. With nineteen folks in their group they were able to get a great deal accomplished in assisting the congregation at Elkorea get more firmly on her feet. You might recall that last year the brethren from Hoover helped establish the congregation in Elkorea. This year’s efforts were met with great enthusiasm by the local brethren. The seed was sown, brethren were edified and many were added to the kingdom. Our longtime companions to the work here, the Gary Box family, and several others from the Cottondale congregation, conducted a campaign in Njiro Chini (Pronounced injeerō cheeny). In my next report I’ll give a little more detail concerning these campaigns.

We enjoyed having the Dwight Burton family, from Evansville, IN, with us this year to assist the Kwa Mrombo congregation in their campaign. The Burton’s were great fun and hard workers. Along with the brethren from Kwa Mrombo they conducted 12 classes with 33 in attendance each day. They visited seven members who have gone back into the world, passed out several bibles, over 1500 bible tracts, signed up 15 people for correspondence courses and passed out 24 Searching for Truth books. One of the encouraging events at Kwa Mrombo was the youth day. The day was a great success with 76 young people gathering for a day of singing, teaching and fellowship. Another exciting thing happened during the Kwa Mrombo campaign as well. If you have never visited here you wouldn’t know it but there are mosques on almost every corner and every mosque has, at least, one very large speaker to blast out their propaganda. The Kwa Mrombo building is located roughly fifty yards from a mosque and the local Imam decided to fire up the speaker and give the community a sound warning. Charles Heberth, the local preacher, reported the following concerning the announcement about the Kwa Mrombo congregation:

Do not listen to them, do not listen to them. They are well organized people, they know what they are doing! They are well organized and they come even to the houses of Muslims who are living in this area. Please be aware with them for they have shaken the faith of some of us! Their efforts are well organized and they do this yearly with few members following behind every week...!”

Sometimes it is very easy for us as Christians to start to complain and not knowing that we are working for God. It is easy also for us to stop working thinking that God is not in control. The above announcement was made by the Imam at the Mosque near the Kwa Mrombo Church of Christ on Friday the 30th  May 2014. This shows that though we  may not see what we are doing the Lord and other people see and we should not be discouraged with whatever surrounds us but rather we should press on working for the Lord....

UPCOMING FURLOUGH
Our furlough is rapidly approaching. We would like to be able to sit down and visit with as many of you good brethren as possible and discuss the work and the good that you have been and are supporting. If you would like to do so let us know and we’ll see if we are going to be in your part of the country at the right time.

Furloughs are a necessary part of the work of a missionary and a number of things are accomplished when they are planned properly and regularly. First, it provides some time to regroup and recoup. The foreign field takes a toll on a missionary in ways that are not describable, like other professions, unless you have actually experienced being one. The bottom line is you need a bit of a break in order to recharge and get ready for your return. Second, furlough is a time to visit supporters and report about the work. This time together is invaluable as we get to show more pictures, answer in depth questions, actually speak face-to-face with many good brethren and, most importantly, say thank you. Third, it provides us the opportunity to, hopefully, gather new supporters to close the substantial gap in our support deficit. If you are a congregation that currently supports us and would like us to come and report, we would love the opportunity, just drop us an email. If you know of a person or congregation that might be interested in talking to us while we are on furlough, again, drop us an email, we would be thrilled to visit with them.

Speaking of our upcoming furlough, we are in great need of the funds for our tickets. Our tickets are $4900 and to date we have $200 that has been given toward this amount. If you are able to help we would be most grateful. Our new sponsor’s mailing address is located below. Please earmark your contribution for: Hochdorf Travel Fund.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
We thank the Almighty for the diligent work of the local brethren, all the campaigners, the missionary team and YOU! There is so much good being done for the kingdom that our reports can’t do it justice. On behalf of Anita and me, we say thank you for your continued support, prayers and encouragement.

Until next time, take care and God bless.

In Christ,
Sean Hochdorf

New Sponsor Information: Please make checks payable to BVBID and mail to:

BVBID
c/o Hochdorf Mission Fund
2707 S. Lamar St.
Denver, CO 80227

Posted on June 22, 2014 .

A New Version Of Polishing The Pulpit...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from this end. We do hope you are doing great in health and in your faith. We are doing the same here even though some members are sick because of the climate I guess. Keep us in your prayers.

I am sorry I could not send my news letter last week, it was due to internet problems and other things.

Both last week and this week is going on well. God continues to bless us and help us go about His work. Both weeks were characterized with lots of activities.

We had house to house evangelism in Mile 4 near to Wotutu which is a congregation we established in February. All the students and some staff along with the coordinator, brother David Ballard, were part of it and God recorded great success. People are eager to listen as they cluster to see what the Bible is saying. It was great as many benefited from tracts of great Bible lessons.

It was also a time to celebrate with the Brightland Christian Academy of Wotutu. This is the first of its kind for a school of this grade being run by members of the church of Christ. BCA is two years old now, but its fruits are alarming in the community of Wotutu. Their results from the government were great. Keep this dream in your prayers as we are working hard to make it grow to touch lives of these little children who will be able to get the truth in their tender age before they grow to be corrupted by denominational doctrines. Please, your prayers and input are welcome.

My wife, sister Magdalene, made a speech to over 500 men in the population on the importance of Christian education. Her effort is seen. Please come join us to explore the life of these little ones, many of which had no opportunity to attend school, mostly the young girls. Most can smile as BCA gives out quality education almost free from fees. Our dream is to help our communities in many ways. That is why we are also doing the adult literacy classes, which are free.

In Wotutu, again last week, we had the first edition of Polishing the Pulpit seminar. It is a seminar that we are still dreaming to get to be part of the work here to help many preachers and leaders come to Wotutu and spend some days studying more from God’s word, mostly issues and subjects which in turn cause problems in congregations. Keep this in your prayers.

After the seminar, it was also time for preachers and leaders in over 60 congregations who attended to get access to our warehouse for mission printing tracts, over 85 participants came. It was great fellowship with those we have stayed for years without meeting. Many raised hands up when they saw the piles of gospel tracts from Mission Printing. This is the first time Churches of Christ in Cameroon could received this quantity of tracts to boost our evangelism efforts in Cameroon. Thanks to Mission Printing and all those involved in getting that container to us. We have started distributing it in Wotutu and started Bible study with many who keep raising interest to know some more.

Minister David Ballard, coordinator of CBIW, had his last worship today in Cameroon after visiting 10 congregations and the Lord blessed our effort with 8 souls. It was also time to visit our students on evangelism and to see some of our graduates in their congregations and how God is using them there. It was amazing for us to do so.

Sister Grace was one who put her Lord on in baptism in the Kwakwa congregation.

Even after the seminar, many preachers and leaders who heard about the news later still came to Wotutu to get tracts. God has blessed Cameroon.

Arrival of tracts in the congregations provokes smiles and joy in the hearts of many and we know the readers who are the end beneficiaries of the tracts will read with joy and obey as the Lord will keep drawing many to Himself .We are appreciative to all of you and we know God will bless you.

Our students went out last week to 27 different locations , and we shall welcome them back next week as we shall share with you how God has use them to accomplish His purpose.

Plans
1) We were in Isokolo village where there is the possibility of establishing a new congregation.

2) Lectureship invitations keep coming our way.

Appreciations
God bless you and keep you. We thank God for you and we keep you in our prayers for all that you are doing and will yet do for the work. Thank you for loving us and the work we do. Do your best to share with others.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW

Posted on June 22, 2014 .

Future Preachers' Training Camp...

The week beings with wonderful news from several locations. Sunday completed a week in the Future Preacher’s Training Camp of Denver. Thirty-six young men from around the country came to Bear Valley to learn about the art and science of preaching. Based on the reports provided by various staff members of the camp, the future of the church is good hands as the heart and ability of these young men was demonstrated in their preaching.

One of the reports this week from India also indicates similar experiences, as John Dean relates the success of the Future Preacher’s Training Camp in Visakhapatnam. The interest of young men from both sides of the globe is exciting because their present and future activity in the church will make an eternal difference in the lives of those they teach. Let us pray for these young men that God will help bring more who will prepare for the future of preaching.

The design of both programs is to strengthen the interest of young men in the Word of God and encourage them to consider attending the Bible Institute in the future. We encourage you to think about those you know in the congregations where you worship who might be interested in attending FPTC and preparing to preach in the future.

The news we receive each week is always encouraging. The growth of the kingdom is seen in every report. Please read through each report and pray for the work God is blessing in preacher training.

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 

FPTC In India: The Future Preacher’s Training Camp in India is modeled after the camp in Denver. John Dean shares news about the most recent camp in Visakhapatnam. 

Visiting Teachers Help KSOP Near Graduation: The school in Kenya is one quarter away from their first graduating class. The excitement is high and student prospects are encouraging.

Staff And Students Continue Preaching The Word: The activity at the Southwest School of Evangelism is continually promoting lectureship activity and preaching the gospel.

Furlough Reporting And Fundraising In The USA: News from the work in Paraguay about the church and school is exciting. The Spradlins' report from their furlough on the road.

Campaign Season Is In Full Swing…And More: Although Daniel Gaines’ report is lengthy, this is one worth the time to read. The work is experiencing wonderful growth.

Final Thoughts 
We are always mindful and appreciative of every person who is involved in this work. This includes the supporters, prayer warriors, encouragers, teachers, and servants who are continually working behind the scenes to do so much in each location where Bear Valley is privileged to partner in training leaders in the Lord’s kingdom. Thank you all.

God bless
Bob

Posted on June 15, 2014 .

Campaign Season Is In Full Swing...And More

One of my favorite, but busiest times of year has arrived—campaign season! A steady stream of visitors began in early May and will not let up until the end of July. These visitors provide energy and encouragement as they work hard to contribute to the work taking place here. Meanwhile, the full-time missionaries busily tend to logistics, hosting duties, pre-campaign work, follow- up work, and generally helping out in any ways we can.

It began with a visit from our friends and fellow missionaries from Iringa in the southern part of the country. We enjoyed sharing strategies and tools to further the Lord’s cause throughout East Africa. Then my father, John Gaines, visited to teach a short course at the school and participate in Bible studies. While he was still here, the Bruton family from Evansville, Indiana came to conduct a campaign at the Kwa Mrombo congregation. Also overlapping is a group from Cottondale, Alabama. The Cottondale group is doing fruitful work in the Njiro Chini area.

Currently, a large group from Hoover, Alabama is here working with the Ilkurei congregation. This effort coincides with a children’s seminar and includes new- converts class, personal Bible studies, and a service project. We will be distributing 1,000 mosquito nets to the community along with a selection of Bible materials. This will provide good will and meet a need within the community. The season will continue with more groups from Oklahoma and Alabama. Our visitors keep us hopping, but we love being a part of so much great activity. It is also wonderful to become acquainted with good brothers and sisters from different parts of the world. How great it is to be a part of the family of God!

Preaching Student Spotlight: Elisha Daniel
Elisha comes to us from the Bonga congregation in the Manyara region. He initially came to a knowledge of the Lord through reading printed material. After some follow-up clarifications by the preacher at Bonga, Elisha was obedient to the gospel of Christ.

Having received the good news, he felt obligated to share it with others so he came to the Andrew Connally School of Preaching to learn to be an evangelist. Elisha’s passion for evangelism can be seen in the fact that even though school has let out for break, he is one of three students who elected to remain behind to help with the campaigns rather than return home.

Thank you for your help in training this promising young evangelist.

Tiffany’s Thoughts
I love babies. I love kids of all ages. I wish all babies were loved and raised in Christian homes. I recently visited an orphanage in town. There are many in the country of Tanzania and I know of several in town. This particular orphanage cares for infants and toddlers. Many of their babies are abandoned on the steps of churches, in ditches, or recently a baby was found in a gravel pile with the umbilical cord still attached. These homes have a big job. Infants take a lot of care. I like to go and just hold and cuddle babies. Nannies are on staff rotation 24/7, but still there aren’t enough hands so volunteers to cuddle, read, play, change, and feed are greeted warmly!

There are so many beautiful faces, raised hands of babies wanting to be held, and sad eyes in the baby homes. It is easy to assume that mothers “didn’t want them” or are “bad” in some way. In reality, most of these mothers are desperate for help and have many times concealed a pregnancy until a baby was born and then left for others to find and care for. Sometimes mothers die in childbirth and the father will bring the babies to a home to be cared for while he works because he has no means of feeding them. There are other times the babies may have AIDS or other diseases that the mothers choose not to deal with or don’t live long enough to care for the children. However, few situations involve just not wanting a child. Every story is sad. These children live in a poverty stricken economy and would have little chance of survival if not for these homes.

On this particular day I was greeted at the door by the founder of the home and promptly handed Dawson. Dawson is only a few months old and was left on a roadside only hours after birth. Hopefully he will be adopted before he is 3! I held him for 2 hours as he slept peacefully snuggled into me. As do all newborns, he just wants to be held and cuddled, but is mostly in his bed or on a blanket in the floor most of the day.

What a blessing these children’s homes are to the community. What a blessing it is for me that I can go and hold them some during the week. I am thankful for those who have hearts that choose to care for orphans and their mothers. Please keep the babies, mothers, fathers, and that baby home caregivers in your prayers.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Gaines Family

To see the Gaines’ report with pictures, please click here.

This has been an absolutely action-packed week. So much so that it will take both of us to tell you all about the week. I (Daniel) will start by telling you about the campaign at Ilkuirei, then Tiffany will tell you about some of the great things she was involved in over the last few days.

The Ilkuirei Campaign
We had 10-15 teams of campaigners and translators canvasing the Ilkuirei congregation. You'll recall that this is a baby church that was planted just last year. The Sunday morning attendance averages in the low 30's. That means we literally had more people working the area last week than we typically have in attendance on Sunday. Needless to say it was an exciting week for this young church. 

Setting up Bible studies is not at all a challenge here. The limiting factor is time and teachers, not finding interesting studies. So when this type of manpower shows up then the contacts start flooding in. By the end of the week, the fruit began to pour in. After church this morning, we were thrilled to witness the 15th and 16th baptisms of the past 5 days. 

Among those who were baptized this week, was a young lady named Angel. Regular readers might remember that I introduced you to Angel a couple of months ago. She is the young mama that I (and others) had several studies with. She has long understood her need for baptism, but has been prohibited by her fear of water. I am thrilled to report to you that yesterday she overcame that fear, and the angels rejoiced for Angel and for the 15 other souls that have been rescued from sin. I can hardly wait to see what else may come as the campaign follow-up work begins.

Worship Today
There was a standing-room-only crowd at church today. New Christians mingled with old members. Campaigners eagerly took note of the people who had accepted their invitations to come to church, and bid farewell to those with whom they had closely worked over the last few days.

It was difficult to get an exact count, but there were so many people there that we had to wash and refill the communion cups 3 times to serve everyone. It is such a pleasure to see the great things that God is doing here.

This evening our visitors from Alabama are returning home after a busy trip. At 7:30 in the morning, Cy and Daniel will meet to go pick up another group from the airport. It's great to be busy in work of the Lord!

VBS
I (Tiffany) have been involved in all aspects of VBS for years, from planning to decorating, to teaching, to feeding. VBS is a great tool to teach children and a method of sheer exhaustion for those adults lucky enough to help. VBS in Africa is a completely different creature. After doing all of the prep work (planning lessons, copying papers, cutting out crafts, writing puppet skits, preparing materials to take to the VBS site, and decorations of course) we crammed the car full and “toted” all of our goods and children to the church building at Ilkuirei.

I decorated as the children peeked in the door and windows. Our theme was superheroes of the Bible and we focused on young heroes Miriam, Esther, Daniel, and Jesus. The children and adults here had no idea what a superhero was. I had to really explain the concept to help them understand. The children piled in and sat, some in chairs and some on the floor. Older siblings held baby brothers and sisters as we began singing. We sang songs in Swahili and English. The children sang happily along. Abby played the part of Super Rafiki in our puppet skit. He was complete with cape and mask. The children loved the puppets! The most amazing part to me is how 50-75 children daily, ages birth to 15 sat silently as I told the Bible story. I never had to say “listen” or “shhhh” or get their attention in any other way than telling the story. Wow.

We also reenacted the story each day after our first craft. (By the way, doing crafts as the only adult with that many children…whew!) The kids loved acting out the Bible stories and did a great job answering questions about the lessons.

The toughest part by far was handling the snacks. (I know, crazy, right?) But, we are dealing with children that rarely if ever have kool-aid and cookies. If you aren't careful giving out treats like this can cause a stampede and trample the small kids so you have to be organized and stern. We managed to keep everyone alive while having snacks and the children left each day with bright red mustaches, just like a VBS kid should.

Our last day of VBS we learned about boy Jesus and how he grew to be the ultimate superhero. We talked about how we want to be superheroes for Jesus too and help to teach others about God! I made many felt masks and had many superhero capes made by the preacher’s wife to give to the children. They all ran around saying “shujaa mjuu la Kristo!” because they were superheroes for Christ! It was really fun seeing their excitement over the costumes.

I might add that all young girls translated for me for VBS. The oldest was 19 and the youngest 10! Victoria (10) translates for me a lot on Sunday mornings as my usual translator has just had a baby. It is amazing that such a young girl can play such a vital role in Bible instruction. I am really proud of her.

When VBS was over I was pooped, but it helped to see all of the smiling faces on the children and watching them run with their capes flowing behind them and laughing. They hugged me and said “asante sana teacher!” (thank you!) And, that’s all I needed.

Ladies Day in Masai Country
I was blessed to be able to teach a ladies seminar at Mtu Wa Mbu this weekend. I picked up my translator, Grace, and drove 1 ½ hours to Mosquito River only to find the preacher loading a dala dala to go out the one of the village congregations made up of mostly Masai. So, we followed him out to the site of the seminar. We arrived at what appeared to be an old run down and abandoned school. I was saddened to find that it was not abandoned and was in fact used daily. It was heartbreaking to realize that children were in such horrible conditions.

While waiting to begin the ladies picked brush from the ground and held it in a bundle and swept the floor of the room we were to use. When we began, I had a batik cloth that I laid over a bench to add a little color to the room. One of the ladies lead singing to start us off. It was absolutely beautiful and calming. I could feel the breeze slowly blowing through the windows (there were actually only bars over a hole with no glass…) Another, older bibi lead the prayer and then they turned things over to me.

I scanned the room and saw mamas nursing little ones, a number of children crowded in one corner, a large number of Masai women, and some other Tanzanian ladies from Mtu Wa Mbu congregation. Many of the faces looked worn and so tired. I gave my first lesson on Marriage and how we can treat our husbands in respectful and honorable ways. I was a little stressed by the fact that the Masai women seemed bored, and a couple were asleep. As a speaker, that doesn't really make you feel like you are rocking it out…

After the first session I asked if there were any questions. A Masai lady stood and said that the ladies were so happy for me to be there, but they were struggling to understand. I had a translator, so I wasn't sure what else to do. Then I found out that several ladies, including the 2 asleep and the few looking bored only spoke the Masai language. I was initially relieved that it wasn't what I said that put them to sleep, then I was shocked that they had stayed for 2 hours and understood nothing, yet had such strong desire to learn that they stayed  2 hours on hard, small, no back benches listening to words they did not understand in hopes that they would glean something of God’s word.

I quickly found someone who could translate from Swahili to Masai. The ladies then began asking questions about Biblical marriage. I knew that the Masai have many wives to one husband. I worried that I would offend them but I turned to 1 Corinthians and had them read for themselves. They expressed their deep unhappiness in marriage because their husbands are chosen for them and they are beaten if they try to refuse him. They are treated poorly and worked hard. There is little romance or love in the marriage at all. They are in a terrible situation. They are sad, lonely, and often jealous of the treatment of “other” wives in the tribe. They asked what I would do in their situation to have a more Biblical marriage. I countered with, “Well, what does the Bible say we should do? That’s what matters.” They understood that to be Biblical they must leave the marriage and cleave to God because only the first “wife” is truly married to the husband anyway. However, this would mean being shunned from their tribe, their way of life, their means of making a living, and their well being. They have a lot at stake to follow Christ. It is a difficult challenge for them that needs prayer.

After our Q&A I worried they would be angry with me for speaking against their marriages. On the contrary, they each came up and hugged me and kissed both my cheeks. Their eyes streamed tears as the translator told me that they were thanking God for sending me to teach them His word so that they can follow Him. Mungu ni nzuri! God is good.  I paused as they broke for lunch to say a silent prayer of thanksgiving for my own marriage and the fact that I had married for love.

Lunch was cooked outside with a few big pots over a fire. The ladies poured water over our hands from a bucket to wash them before eating. We had some kind of meat stew over rice. There were no utensils, as is normal at these large functions. Everyone eats with their hands. Yes, me too. The children were waiting eagerly to eat as the adults eat first and the children are given the plates of the adults with the leftovers and devour it like wild animals. The older siblings feed their baby brothers and sisters and give them drinks. When I realized the children were waiting for our leftovers, I was suddenly very full and they were exceedingly thankful for that.

During lunch I took some photos of the children. They love to look at themselves on the screen of the camera. One little baby was absolutely terrified of me as I was the first Mzungu (white person) she had ever seen. She would look at me and scream and hide under her brothers robe crying. Poor baby. Others tugged on me wanting their own “picha.” The Masai ladies are generally very spooked around cameras, but I asked to take a picture of one and then showed her and she giggled like an 8 year old girl at her image. It is so difficult sometimes to break the barrier between cultures, especially such drastic differences as Masai women and a little Alabama girl, but when you do you are rewarded with great warmth and friendships.

As the second session began Grace and I asked Naomi to join us so that the Masai ladies could understand the lesson too. I passed around a bag of “pipi” (candy) for them to eat as I spoke. There were grins all around as this was a big and unusual treat. I began my first ever double translation lesson. When going through 3 translators you have to be extra careful with your sentences. They need to be well thought out and have enough substance to sustain. It takes awhile to get through 3 people saying the same thing, lol. I wondered frequently during that lesson about the gossip game people play to talk about gossip and how well what I was saying was making it through 2 translations. I kept plowing through and 2 hours later, we closed the lesson. All eyes were alert and all ears were listening the entire lesson.

Before the lesson was over, however, a Masai man stumbled, drunk into the room and was yelling and pointing. I just knew that someone had relayed my morning message about Biblical marriage to him and he was coming to take me down. Fear rendered me almost paralyzed as he pushed toward me and grabbed my Bible from my hands and sat on the front row. I could see the preacher running toward the building through the window as the man continued his yelling. As the preacher ushered him out I could hear through sobs, “Mzungu Mama!” The Masai ladies were all laughing because he was crying because he wanted to stay to hear the white lady talk. I was relieved that I wasn't going to be burned at the stake in a Masai ceremony that night and returned to my lesson as I heard his wails grow faint in the distance.

As usual we ended with questions and answers. After answering numerous Bible questions I opened the floor for any mzungu questions they had. The questions ranged from “Is everyone in America rich?” to “What do you eat?” and everything in between. As I talked about the differences between America and Africa, one Masai mama said, “I wish I had been born in America.” (told to me through 2 translations) I looked around the room and saw only souls. No matter where we are born or where we end up, we are each a soul created and loved by God. None of us can control where we are born, but we can indeed control where we end up.

As I drove home past Masai huts with small, naked children wearing only beads outside them, I thanked God for reminding me that my problems are few and His love is amazing. Mungu akubariki.

Daniel Gaines

To see this report with all the pictures connected to it, please click here.

Posted on June 15, 2014 .

Furlough Reporting And Fundraising In The USA...

We are happy to report that our furlough for 2014 is going quite well! We have been extremely busy this time, with many additional activities and stops added to our schedule. We were blessed with safe and timely travel back to the USA on April 24th. Since we arrived, we have enjoyed staying in the homes of so many kind, and wonderful brethren. We are so very thankful for their gracious hospitality!

One of the first things on our agenda was a special seminar held at Southwest School of Bible Studies in Austin, TX. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to speak to the students, as well as several visitors, about the importance of indigenous missions (respecting autonomy). I pray it was beneficial for all those who attended. While in Texas, we also had the opportunity to attend Focal Point at the University church of Christ in San Marcos for one day which was very encouraging.

Following our time there, we traveled to Florida where I preached my first Gospel meeting with the brethren of the Jay church of Christ. The subject was “The Sum of Thy Word is Truth.” We had a great week of fellowship and a good turnout for each night. Everywhere we have been, the brethren have been so encouraging and we rejoice that the good work that is taking place in Paraguay brings them such joy!

In addition, we will also be making a special trip out to Bossier City, Louisiana, in June; as well as, a few stops in Mississippi and Alabama to do a presentation of the work, with hopes of gaining new supporters for the Bible Academy. We look forward to these new opportunities!

NEWS FROM THE ASUNCION BIBLE ACADEMY
The students recently participated in a special campaign that focused on making survey trips to several Paraguayan towns where the church is praying to plant new congregations in the near future. They spent their time speaking with town officials, visiting with the local citizens, and trying to establish new contacts for future Bible studies. The results of the survey trip were very encouraging!  We pray that these efforts will soon result in the Gospel being spread to those areas and precious souls being added to the Lord's church.

Our brother in Christ, Gary Fallis, returned to Paraguay this past month to teach 2 Corinthians. He brought his wife, Sarah, with him this time who also taught some ladies classes and met with the wives of our two brethren that are eligible to be elders. Brother Denton Landon, will be coming to Paraguay this next month to teach Advanced Hermeneutics in the Academy.

A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY AND A SPECIAL REQUEST!
As was reported in our previous newsletter, the church in Paraguay is asking for help in supporting students for the upcoming “Beta Class.” We are happy to report that several congregations and individual families have responded by offering their support! There are also others who are now seriously considering to offer their support and will be letting us know soon. God is SO good! We have been able to make several new contacts to whom we will giving a presentation in the near future. Those who are currently supporting the school or have recently offered their helped are:

•Central Avenue church of Christ (GA)

•Jay church of Christ (FL)

•Poolville church of Christ (TX)

•West Dyersburg church of Christ (TN)

•Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ (FL)

•Anonymous Families (TX, FL, AZ, TN)

Supporting one student costs $300.00 a month for the two years that they attend the Academy. Therefore, THE CHURCH IS ASKING FOR YOUR HELP. If you can help in any way, or know someone who can, please let us know!

•If you would like more information, click on this link: the Asuncion Bible Academy.

•Or, you may contact me directly at 561.601.6551, by responding to this email. Also, if you know of someone who can help, please let us know.

•You may also contact Luis Yegros at luisyegros@hotmail.com (he speaks English and is the church treasurer).

Please keep this special opportunity in your prayers! Thank you and God bless!

FURLOUGH REPORTING
As has been reported this year among our supporting congregations, Andrea and I have asked to extend our commitment to the work in Paraguay for an two additional years. This will carry us to the Spring of 2017. This new commitment will give us opportunity to foster the new church plant and hopefully graduate one more class from the Bible Academy. What happens beyond 2017, we are putting into the hands of the Lord.

We humbly ask that you keep Andrea and myself in your prayers during our travels for furlough this year.

PRAYER REQUESTS
You can help the church in Paraguay by adding the following to you prayers:

•Funds raised for the next class of Asuncion Bible Academy

•For continued leadership development among the men of the church in Paraguay

•Spiritual development of members

•Possible new church plants in Paraguay

•Our current Bible study contacts and that God may provide others

•For the students and faculty of the Asuncion Bible Academy

•For the members of the new church plant in Ñemby

•Improvement of Andrea's health

•Safe travels throughout our work week

•Continued improvement in Spanish speaking skills

Andrea has had some exciting adventures during this year's furlough. Probably one of the most exciting was her recent fishing trip where she caught some monster red snapper! We had a very tasty fish fry that evening! Thank you to brother Joe King who made the excursion possible.

Andrea and I feel so very blessed with many opportunities to serve in the Lord’s kingdom and to witness several milestones being achieved here in Paraguay. We pray God will continue to use us as his “instruments for the Gospel” in the upcoming year. We are very excited about the possibilities for 2014 and look forward to the adventure!

Thank you for reading our report. God bless!

Troy and Andrea

To see the Spradlin’s report with pictures, especially of the fish, click here.

Posted on June 15, 2014 .

Staff And Students Continue Preaching The Word...

Dearest in Christ Jesus,

Greetings from SWSE-Ibadan & Lagos campus, Nigeria. The staff and students of the Southwest School of Evangelism, Ibadan main campus evangelized Jago and Kupalo villages as scheduled on Saturday, June 7, 2014 between 8:00 am and 4:00 pm.

On Sunday, June 8, we are all busy for the Lord in teaching the Sunday morning Bible classes.

At the Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregation-Ibadan, we discussed “Encouraging One and Another” which is lesson 2 of our three month Internal lectureship.

At the campus congregation-Butubutu, one of our students named, brother Olofingorite Mayowa, taught on “Giving Unto the Lord” while another student named, brother Eze Ikechukwu, admonished the saints from Daniel chapter 1.

Other students that also took an active part in Sunday church activities are brother Akinade Oluwaseun who taught on “The Christian Life” at the Jago congregation while brother Oladapo Alabi Ishmael admonished the church from Psalm 127.

Brother Idowu Oluwasegun taught on “Christian Fellowship” at the Asejire congregation, Osun state; brother Olorode Samuel taught on the “Lord's Supper” at the Baale Ayo congregation, Osun state; brother Godwin Ede taught on “Blessed are the Merciful” at the Wasimi congregation, Osun state, while other students such as brother Adeyehun Raphael, brother Adekunle Olnrewaju, brother Adeniji Joseph, brother Felix Oladipo, brother Faleye Joseph, brother Udeme Michael Umoh and brother Adeyi Gedion Kehinde admonished the saints in their congregations on the “Second Coming of Jesus Christ.”

Brother Godwin Ede, the evangelist of the Wasimi congregation, Osun state and one of our year 1 students reported the conversion of two couples in their congregation on Sunday, 8, 2014. To God be the glory. 

Brethren, we are awaiting the visit of brother Jerry Bates of the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, CO, USA who will be with us from June 14 through 20. Please, remember him in your prayers.

Thanks and God bless.

Sincerely in Christ,

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

Posted on June 15, 2014 .

Visiting Teachers Help KSOP Near Graduation...

Dear brethren,

Its amazing to know how times flies very quickly. Just few months ago Kenya requested for a preaching school and now graduation is two months away.

We had a great 7th quarter with Elias teaching the Minor Prophets while I taught Greek III and Denominational Doctrines. The 13 students are on three weeks break now and we look forward to great reports from them when they come back.

We were blessed to have Ralph Williams and Wayne Burger, both from USA, come and teach. Ralph taught 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. Wayne amazingly taught Revelation and Scheme of Redemption, a total of 60 hours in ten days. Both showed great strength and we at KSOP look forward to having them again.

Worth noting on Wayne is that he defied the US travel advices against flying to Kenya during the month of May and June due to terrorism. He came and did the Lord's work, even traveling to preach in one of remote parts of the country. We also thank the Conifer Church and Wayne for the Truth for Today commentaries they bought and he brought for the school! We are slowly and surely building the library.

During the quarter, 6 students traveled to different country side congregations leading bible classes and worship services. As a result 10 souls obeyed the gospel. Knowledge is only useful if and when it's put into practice. 

So far we are having great response for the second class intake. Of the many applications I have received, and waiting to receive, 22 are very potential students, but we will select the qualified 20. 

We look forward to a great final quarter and graduation ceremony on August 23.

Words may not express enough the joy, excitement and thanks we have for your prayers and support, God bless you.

Charles Ogutu

Posted on June 15, 2014 .

FPTC In India...

Greetings to you in the precious name of Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. By the grace of God we are doing fine and hope the same with you. Thank you very much for your prayers.

First of all, I must thank you for making it possible for me to visit BVBID in the 2010. During my visit, I witnessed the FPTC program being held at Bear Valley. I learned something and wanted to implement it here. I remember the help in preparing the FPTC brochure. I wanted to give a report on that. Thank you for your encouragement. 

This year, we had an excellent 6 Days Future Preachers Training Classes, had an attendance of 120 young men ages 13 and above.  We have divided the students into two groups. Those who attended the second time are seniors. Juniors get the same classes every year, where as the subjects for seniors would be changed every year. We had 27 qualified to receive the certificate of completion in the senior group and rest are juniors. We have been doing this camp from 2012 till now.  In the year 2012 we had only 37 who received the course completion certificate. In 2013 we had 57 and now we had 80 who completed the course. Each senior class student received an English Bible coupled with Bible Literature. Junior class students received Telugu Bibles.

The subject we taught for these students during these classes was The Bible. For Seniors: We introduced The Bible, Description of the Books of the Bible, Proofs of the Bible, Bible, The Word of God, Bible & Science, Uniqueness of the Bible. For Juniors: About the Bible, God’s Plan of Salvation, 3 Dispensations of the Bible, Life After Death, The Church. Practical classes included How to Sing, Pray, Read the Bible, etc. We had Question and Answer sessions, and an out door Gospel Meeting Experience along with street evangelism, too. This is our effort to prepare the next generation evangelists. It is quite thrilling to see 3 young men coming forward to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Above all, we can’t imagine the great response we had this time, because we had 120 young people who attended, 27 among them attending for the second or third time. We sure hope to see students attending these classes regularly and one day they will become preachers. One of the exciting things is one young man who decided to join the preacher training school after he finished the 6 day’s course. We were thrilled with his response with great interest to become a preacher. We pray that our Lord would open doors to reach out to many young people who could be the next generation of evangelists.

Please give my greetings to all the brethren at Bear Valley. 

Greetings from my wife Vani and father Samuel Raju. We appreciate all your dedicated efforts, God bless…God Bless USA

In Christ,

John Dean M

Posted on June 15, 2014 .

A Partnership In Work That Changes Lives...

Something about extension training is special beyond words. Several reasons express why this work is so special. One, the people whose lives are changed. Perhaps the most significant reason is the fact souls are being saved. The lost are brought to the Lord, rescued from the kingdom of darkness to share in the kingdom of the beloved Son of God. The church is encouraged and edified. The lives of these individuals will never be the same because of the staff and students in each location.

Second, the purpose for the work. The greatest cause on earth is the basis and direction for every part of extension training. From before the foundation of the world, God had a plan to send His Son to provide the needed sacrifice for sin. This hope for the world rests upon the message entrusted to us.

Third, the partnership we share. Perhaps one of my favorite parts of entire program is the fact we get to walk through the fields of this world together. Fellow-workers with each other and with God make this exciting. From the staff that works on the ground in each location, the US staff, and the supporters who keep both sides functioning, each individual is a key part of the work. It is awesome to think about working together with each individual involved.

This week’s report will share the ideas stated in ways far more powerful than I have said them. The reports provided from each location paint a beautiful picture that illustrates the whole of what I have tried to say.

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 

Visiting Instructors, Mission Printing, And Growth: Two instructors visit to teach short courses and materials sent by Mission Printing arrive at CBIW. The result is growth in the kingdom.

The Day That Will Be Difficult To Forget: Dennis Sopelnik, director of BVBIU in Gorlovka, Ukraine, shares the good and bad of recent events in Ukraine.

Christian Influence Worth Reading About: Have you ever wondered what others in the religious world are saying about Christians? Read this report. It is worth the time.

Final Thoughts
Thank you for the blessing you are to each of us on both sides of the world. Everyone in the work feels the same. We are so thankful for the generosity and sacrifice each of you makes to keep this work fruitful. We give God the glory.

God bless
Bob

Posted on June 8, 2014 .

Christian Influence Worth Reading About...

Greetings Fellow Servants,

We hope and we pray you wake with hearts of thanksgiving, to yet another day, a day the Lord has made. We thank each of you for your continued prayers and support of God’s mission work here in Tanzania. The work is growing, the work is moving forward with the end in mind, that being the reward promised to all those who live righteously in Christ. 

We continue with our Safari for Souls summer campaigns. Our good brothers and sisters from Hoover, AL have arrived, prayers answered. The work continues at Njiro Chini as we begin yet another campaign at Elkire. The Lord has added 11 souls to His Church and for this we as Amen! Below is a short report from our brother Charles Heberth that showed the good and impact the Gospel is having in the Arusha area:

Do not listen to them, do not listen to them. They are well organized people, they know what they are doing! They are well organized and they come even to the houses of Muslims who are living in this area. Please be aware with them for they have shaken the faith of some of us! Their efforts are well organized and they do this yearly with a few members following behind every week……….!”

Sometimes it is very easy for us as Christians to start to complain not knowing that we are working for God. It is easy also for us to stop working thinking that God is not in control. The above announcement was made by the Imam at the Mosque near the Kwa Mrombo Church of Christ on Friday May 30th 2014. This shows that though we may not see what we are doing the Lord and other people see and we should not be discouraged with whatever surrounds us but rather we should press on working for the Lord.

We thank God so much for the team that worked with us this past week at Kwa Mrombo. We have been able to teach a total number of 12 different classes with the total number of 33 souls in them. We have been able also to visit 7 different back sliding Christians and they have shown the desire to come back to the Lord. We have also been able to give out 1,500 Bible tracks, 7 Bibles, 15 Bible correspondence courses and 24 Searching for the Truth books.

On Saturday, we were also able to hold a youth seminar. We had an attendance of 76 youth without counting the small kids who came with their brothers and sisters. We taught (Brother Dwight and Charles) three classes followed by a singing session which took place after lunch. It was a wonderful experience to both of us. All this was for God’s glory and His Kingdom.”

This report is but one example of the good being done here in Tanzania. 

Yusuph writes:One soul has obeyed at Kahama (the new church plant new Ushirombo), we continue with classes.”

Fariji writes: “We have been giving out tracts, five hundred so far, as our pre-campaign efforts continue.” (A team from Elk City, OK will be here next week to conduct our next campaign at Usa River). 

Thank you for making this possible. Until all have heard....

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Posted on June 8, 2014 .

The Day That Will Be Difficult To Forget...

Hello dear brothers, families and churches. 

May was full of events both good and not so good. As you already know, the civil war started in Ukraine, especially in its eastern part. The building of our Institute is situated in the Donetsk region where fights and clashes take place openly and violently. Every day hundreds of soldiers and peaceful citizens die in those clashes. We didn’t believe that it would be that serious until the very last moment. Every one of us hoped that it would soon be over and that the politicians would find a peaceful solution of this conflict. 

I will remember this May by two important events. First of all, we had a wonderful Saturday, May 24. We held a graduation ceremony. We had 7 graduates this year. And the second event we can’t forget is that our building was seized by armed men on May 25 during the Sunday worship service. These two days were completely different. The graduation was held in positive atmosphere, even though many of our teachers and guests couldn’t come, but we still tried to make it a real celebration for our graduates. But Sunday became a day when we faced real threat, and we had to leave the building of the church and the Institute in less than three hours. Right now there are pro-Russian terrorists on its premises. They have already started ruining the building. They used Christian literature to barricade the windows, and they have put mortar-guns in the attic. They took many of the Institute’s belongings for their own usage. Most importantly there were no victims. Right now the church and the Institute don’t have a building to worship and train preachers. 

Ukraine is still in the need of your prayers. The Institute will continue its work. Many Christians and churches encouraged me not to give up and to continue moving forward. Right now my family and I moved to Ternopol, which is situated at the center of Western Ukraine. I don’t know how long we’ll stay here. We have three more months before the next school year starts. It’s evident that we can’t return to Gorlovka in this year. I keep looking for a building and the church that will open their doors and will be willing to cooperate with the Institute. We continue talking with church leaders in Ternopol about our future stay here. We haven’t had a definite and detailed conversation yet. If the Lord’s willing that we should go to a different place, my family is ready for that. 

The first-year students (5 people) made it safely to their homes. We keep in touch with them. They want to continue studying the next school year. Julia Kudelina (translator) also made it safely to her hometown in Russia. 

We are asking you to pray for the situation in Ukraine, for the future of the church here and for the Bible Institute. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who stayed in the Donetsk and Lugansk areas, and we urge you to pray for them as well. Thank you for your brotherly help and good advices that you gave to me. 

Your brother and co-worker,

Dennis Sopelnik

o see Dennis' report with pictures, please click here.

Posted on June 8, 2014 .

Visiting Instructors, Mission Printing, And Growth...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from Wotutu, Cameroon. It is another beautiful day here. We had a great fellowship with God and others during our worship of God today. We do hope this mail will meets you all in good health and a continuous sound faith.

We had a great week with brother Steven Ashcraft who came to teach our students a short course on “Bible Geography.” He did a great job as our students understood him and benefited a lot from his mastery of the subject matter, the Bible. As I write this email he is either making his way to the USA or he is already there as we keep praying for him.

Brother Steven taught class with passion and love for the Lord and His church. We are blessed to have great brothers coming to teach whose love for the gospel is giving us much encouragement.

Brother Steven supervised his final exams in CBIW. Our students performed well from the final grades that he submitted to my office that goes to their result sheet. Keep praying for our students as they continue to prepare themselves for full time ministry in different locations a few months after their graduation.

Thousands of Mission Printing tracts came to us finally. We have tracts on many subjects that will help us in our evangelistic efforts and that of many congregations all over Cameroon, both English speaking areas and French speaking areas. Keep this effort in your prayers and pray for the brothers and sisters who are sacrificing time and money to make sure we have these great materials that will go a long way to touch the life of someone very soon. We shall have a one day seminar in Wotutu with ministers in Cameroon. After that we shall start distributing the tracts.

CBIW students smiled after receiving a box of used books from Mission Printing. This will help them build their personal library after they leave school. On behalf of the students and the coordinator of CBIW, minister David Ballard, we say thank you to all those who were involved to make this happen. This is the first of its kind in Cameroon, a first in history for the church of Christ to receive tracts in such a great quantity.

I was able to stand next to my son Ray with Cameroonian color and brother Steven at the airport ready to depart our nation. Keep him in your prayers as he made his way home or he is already home now. We say praise God for His care.

As brother Steven departed Cameroon, brother David Ballard arrived yesterday. We met at the airport and visited with him before we started off for Wotutu. Brother David was strong and refreshed after a long trip to Wotutu. We took breakfast with my family this morning. Keep him in your prayers for His stay here and the work lined up for him, to train men to preach and reach out to souls on house to house evangelism and others.

Brother David Ballard taught during our Bible class this morning on the topic “God’s Mission from the Foundation of the Earth.” It was great and our congregation in Wotutu benefitted a lot.

Last Sunday evening, brother Divine Esimo, who has been studying with us, obeyed the gospel. Please keep him in your prayers to grow as the members of the body here help him grow to maturity.

Our students were on weekend evangelism in one of our newly established congregation in Down Beach, Limbe. The congregation and other congregations continue to grow. Keep praying for the onward movement of the work here and all over the world.

Plans
1) We shall have a seminar this weekend to study and later on we shall distribute boxes of gospel tracts from Mission Printing to many that will be represented.

2) This weekend, CBIW students will go to different locations for mission campaigns to strengthen congregations and to do evangelism. Keep our plans in your prayers so that we shall realize them for the glory to go back to God.

Appreciations
God bless you and watch over you for all your help towards the work here. God has used you to make things happen here and we are very grateful to God and we keep you in our prayers. Keep standing with us so that we shall continue to do more for the glory of God.

Do your best to share this with others, maybe someone will love to come and stand with us.

Elangwe and family
BY His grace Director CBIW

Posted on June 8, 2014 .

Updates On Ukraine And Other Extensions...

Reports about the situation in Ukraine continue to highlight the news in the secular world and in the extension program also. Howell Ferguson provides an overview of the events from last Sunday along with current information involving the status of the staff and students from the school. We ask you to continue praying for the situation in Ukraine. The church and the school will face many challenges in the weeks ahead and would appreciate our prayers for them.

News from other locations where Bear Valley partners in the work of extension training is encouraging as the result of everyone’s efforts continues to demonstrate the power of God. Souls are responding in obedient faith, the church is edified, and our God receives the glory through it all. This work is all about Him and we are thankful to have the opportunity to be fellow-workers in the kingdom.

Students are working to raise the support needed to attend the Bible Institute in Denver in August. Raising support is one of the most difficult parts of attending school. There are 24 students who have been approved to begin this next quarter of studies. Please pray for them as they work at raising support and finalizing all the details at home in order to move to Denver and begin their studies in preparation for work in the kingdom.

We will have more news about the upcoming class of students and the lectureship in September in the weeks and months ahead. We welcome you to join us in the 50th celebration of training preachers at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver.

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/

Tony Johnson’s latest report from Ghana can be read here.

Howell Ferguson’s latest report about the situation in Ukraine can be read here.

Extension Reports 

Students And Preachers’ Wives Learn Lessons In Cameroon: Recent events at CBIW provides students and local preachers’ wives with an opportunity to learn more.

Students Graduate In Uganda: Another class of students have completed their courses at the Uganda School of Evangelism. They recently graduated and are entering the work.

Classes Begin On Schedule In Nigeria: The last of May saw the opening day of classes for the students of SWSE in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Safari For Souls Campaign Underway In Tanzania: One of the exciting areas of the work in Tanzania each summer is the Safari for Souls. Cy Stafford explains more this week.

A Guest Post From John Gaines: Daniel Gaines’ father is visiting Arusha, TZ and teaching a short course at ACSOP. His post explains more about the work.

Final Thoughts
Thinking about the past 50 years of training men to preach the gospel is exciting, but we are also aware of how this is possible. God has blessed this work with some of the most wonderful people in the world. The generosity shown over this time is inspiring and we are thankful to each of you for all you have done in the development of this great work. To God be the glory.

God bless
Bob

Posted on June 1, 2014 .

A Guest Post From John Gaines...

Daniel offered me the opportunity to write a guest post this week so I could share with you my impressions from visiting Tanzania and experiencing the mission work firsthand. 

This is my 7th time to travel to Africa, dating back to a survey trip to Cameroon in 1980 a few months before we moved there to fulfill a two-year mission commitment. My only previous trip to Tanzania came in 1999 when I traveled with Cy Stafford to investigate the possibility of joining him in the early days of the Tanzania 2000 work here in Arusha. Ultimately, I did not commit to come to Africa at that time, but I saw the tremendous potential for what Cy and Stephanie were planning to undertake.  

Now 15 years later, it is easy to see how much progress has been made. All the missionaries who have served here have contributed to some remarkable progress in the Lord’s work. The Andrew Connally School of Preaching has been training preachers for most of that time. Teaching a short course this week to the second year English-speaking students gave me a chance to learn the high quality of young preachers who are graduating from ACSOP. I am highly impressed with these young gospel preachers and what they are going to be able to do for the church in East Africa. I’ve also met several graduates of the school who are already involved in various aspects of planting and strengthening churches in the area around Arusha. New congregations are being established and the cause of Christ is prospering.

If you will pardon me for exhibiting some natural fatherly pride, I must take time to tell you what a fantastic job Daniel and Tiffany Gaines are doing here. They are just a little over six months into their three-year commitment, but they have acclimated themselves to living and working in Tanzania very well. I know well from personal experience that those adjustments are not easy to make. Daniel has made good progress toward being able to communicate in Swahili. He is still studying and will get better, but he is already comfortable communicating in basic conversational Swahili. Daniel is involved in the work of neighborhood congregations around Arusha. He tries to carry out some evangelistic Bible studies each week as well as carrying a teaching load at the school. While Tiffany has her hands full homeschooling a middle-schooler and being Mommy to a one-year-old and a three-year-old, she finds time to get involved in Bible teaching activities with women and children. Bias freely acknowledged, but I think they have become very effective in the work they came to Africa to do.

I know they are grateful to everyone who has supported their work and made it possible for them to be here. Please let me assure you that your support is a great investment in reaching souls and in building up the kingdom.

John Gaines

Posted on June 1, 2014 .