Summer camp in Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters,

Last month and in the beginning of this month we had a lot of important events. Some of them are especially priceless for me and my family. So, I'll start with the most important ones. In the beginning of July we attended a wonderful summer camp "Americraine" not far from the city of Dnipro. It's an annual event, and many Christians in Ukraine are looking forward to it every summer. It's hosted by our American brethren. The team engages quite a few Ukrainians as well (most of them are Bear Valley graduates) and some local congregations. This year attendance was 350 representatives from different parts of Ukraine. 8 people were baptized during the camp activities. And the most special ones were the baptism of my mother Valentina as well as my wife's sister Natasha. During the last 18 years I have been planting the Seed in my family circle. We talked a lot about the salvation of souls. A few attempts were made to set up a date for baptism but at the very last moments something would go wrong. But the Christian camp atmosphere as well as the wonderful lessons and God's presence made it all work out for the best. Praise the Lord for His church and the diligence of our American brethren in hosting the camp! And special thanks to Jeff Abrams and his team who comes and encourages Ukrainian Christians every year.

During the month of June, we kept looking for potential students. And currently we found 5 who want to join the program. Most of the interested people are young ones. There is also a married couple. It's a huge blessing for us to have an opportunity to influence young people willing to serve in the Lord's church.

In the middle of the last month we had a team of Christians from Southeast Church of Christ, Aurora, CO. They are my old friends and for many years support my ministry in Ukraine. We are very grateful for their children ministry. They stayed in our city only for a few days. They taught the children's class, evening class in the church and visited the orphanage for the children whose parents had been deprived their parental rights. Please accept our gratitude for the service, encouragement and support of our family and the church.

The other important news that rejoiced me tremendously is that our graduate Oleg Fofanov finalized all formalities to become a full-time preacher in Konstantinivka. Before that two preachers from the city of Kramatorsk Vladimir Paziy and Vitaly Rodichev would go and preach there by turns. It was not a very good arrangement because they had to occasionally miss the services in their own congregation. Now this will change. Oleg will take over completely. We request your prayers for Oleg and his ministry in Konstantinivka.

In summer time our students are back to their home congregations with the practical assignments. They all sent me the reports for the previous month. Thus, Eljune Aliev is with the church in Kamenskoe and simultaneously helps the church in the village of Plaveschano. They are getting ready for the VBS. Also he was an active participant in the youth camp in the city of Zapporizhe where 10 people were baptized. Masha, Rosa and Lena work with children in their local congregations. Rosa worked with the children in Slovyansk last month, but she didn't leave her regular children's ministry in Skvira. It's a 14 hours trip from Slovyansk to Skvira by train or by bus. Vitaly works with the congregation in Dnipro. He taught some lessons, paid a visit to some disabled Christians. Ruslan is very active in the congregation of Bela Tserkva. He taught a few lessons and part in the street evangelism efforts. These are some news about our students' summer activities. And in my next report I'll write some more about their work.

Thank you all who continue supporting our Institute and the work of the congregations in Ukraine. We appreciate your involvement a lot.

Your brother and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard,

Dennis Sopelnik

8 baptized in Nepal

Nepal Center for Biblical Study

April – June,  2019

Respected brothers in Christ,

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. May grace of God, love and peace always be with you.

Vacation camp

We are doing well in the kingdom of God at Kathmandu. We had finished our three weeks of holiday on the month of April. We had time to encourage our graduated students with their home congregations. Total eight new souls were added in the Church. Most of our graduated students are doing their hard work in the vine yard of the Lord. Possibly we will get some new students from their areas for the next class. We did had ladies classes in three different congregations. Rejina, and our current lady students had opportunity to teach other ladies in our vacation camp.

Regular classes

We are doing well in our regular classes at school. We are repeating our Old Testament and New Testament books. Brother Jerry is taking classes in different topics from the Bible.

Graduation

If things are going smoothly, we will do our lectureship and graduation for this group of students in the last week of September month.

Voice of Truth International

We have finished our translation and proof reading of VOTI. We will print out in this month. Another volume will be print on the month of October.

Thank you all of your prayer, support, love and guidance.

Brother in Christ,

Gajendra Deshar

Special guest teacher in Malawi

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE – EKWENDENI, MALAWI

JUNE REPORT - 2019

Introduction

What a great start of the second semester full of good news from student’s home congregations! We are glad to be back at school for our second semester. We were also blessed to have Brother Richard and Carol his wife. Richard taught our students in the course of “Church history”. Brother Richard and his wife stays in Chimala – Tanzania for the Lord’s sake. As they were in Malawi during this time, not only our students have benefited from them, but also some of Mzuzu congregations did.

Sister Carol had been teaching sisters at Matindibizi in Mpherembe area, Ekwendeni, Katoto and also in Chivunguru Rumphi. On 15th June, there was a seminar at Katoto in Mzuzu and Richard was asked to teach on “reading the word of God” and “The importance of studying God’s words” Nehemiah 8:8. Richard and Carol were also asked to attend worship at Kaviwale church of Christ which he helped establish in 12 years ago. So, on 16th which was Sunday we went to kaviwale where Ephron taught bible class on “How to be a Faithful servant” Ezra 7:10 and Brother Richard preached on “Staying focused life” Hebrews 12:1-3. In all these places the request has been appealing to Richard and Carol to come again!

Good news from the students

We have been waiting for the students to come from their one month holiday, and they reported at school on 2nd June with their faces bright! This was about the good news they brought from their different home congregations. They have been attending seminars, teaching classes, and much more preaching door to door which fulfil the command of great commission by our Lord Jesus Christ – Matthews 28:19-20. From the 14 congregations these student are coming from, many souls have been encouraged by their preaching, teaching and many other duties they helped in while they were on the holiday. The out-come of their holiday has been that 7 souls had been added to the Lord’s church and more than 7 restored.

Short-course teacher

We received Brother Richard on 8th June who started teaching on the 10th of June to the 14th of June. We are always thankful for the visiting teachers. It’s not easy to leave your home on your own expenses to come and help us teach. Therefore, extend our gratitude to Brother Richard for his coming to teach at our school. It was a good class on “church history” as many students confessed that this was their first time to learn how the “Departure from faith started” they admitted to have learnt a lot. After he finished the class on Friday the 14th of June, Bear Valley Bible Institute – Ekwendeni was happy to take Brother Richard and Carol for a meal in Mzuzu where we joined them celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary! It was great joy as we even were accompanied by Brother Moster the evangelist at Katoto Church of Christ, and his wife, along with 3 other families of preachers who works with Moster. It was such a blessing for them to come to Malawi.

Campaigns

We have been invited again to help in establishing two congregations in the area of western Mpherembe. But still our challenge is transport to take our students there. Many people have seen how our school does the door to door work and are calling us to help. We still don’t lose hope, because God wants all people to be saved and will help us with transport. We are ready to share our faith always whether we go near or far!

Graduation

We are also happy to let you know that in September this year, we will have Donnie come and teach the last short-course and have graduation ceremony at the end. This will be our second graduation ceremony in Malawi since the school was established in 2015.

2020/2021 intake

We are planning to have our next interviews in October this year. We have already received 24 application forms from all the regions of Malawi. We are hoping to have more application forms coming. The more applicants, the better the choice! We are looking to have 20 students this time. As we have the opportunity, we need to train many preachers as we can. Opportunity + Ability =Responsibility.

Words of thanks

We are very thankful to Bear Valley International for the support fro this work. The school cannot run without your support. Keep up supporting us in many ways you can as this school still need your involvement. Thanks for your kindness and many prayers! We are also thankful for Brother Richard and Sister Carol for helping Matindibizi congregation where Carol taught the ladies, by giving them a sawing machine and also helping them have an opportunity to buy subsidised Bibles that are found with Ephron. The Bibles are in our local language of Tumbuka. So you have the Bible under two conditions; you either memorize the books of the bible or you buy it at Mk5, 000 to get one, instead of Mk7, 100 at the Malawi Bible Society. Let me also thank Brother Dale my fellow worker in the Lord for helping funding for this subsidised Bible project twice since last year. This is really helping many Christians in rural congregations have a Bible. Eternity Is Forever, Think Souls!

Ephron and Clergynton

Gratitude for BV in New Zealand

We currently have three full-time students, and they are all doing very well. Monique, our youngest student, and her mother came up to me the other day saying, “We are so glad you brought Bear Valley to New Zealand.” Of course, I had to inform them it wasn’t me, and I am also thankful to be a part of the Bear Valley family.

The specific reason on their minds was because some Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on their door the other day. Typically, they would have said, “No thanks.” This time, however, Monique had just come home from class and had the Scriptures on her mind. She was able to engage in very thoughtful conversation with the nice lady at her door. They spent some time reading the Scriptures Monique brought up, and God was glorified. We are all thankful for what God is doing through BVBINZ. And we’re thankful for those who sacrifice for it to be reality.

Lance Mosher, Director

36 souls won in Guinea!

Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible Institute Activity Operations Report for May 2019

We have come to the close of activities for the month of May at the Gueckedou, Guinea Bear Valley Bible Institute. Although several things occurred during the period, this report will be a summary of the major events and of those which attracted our attention and therefore our time. On the overall, we have graded the indoor activities as “good” and the outdoor activities especially because of the comparably high number of conversions as “excellent”. For this reason, it is for me more of a pleasure than a duty to submit this report which is outlined under the below subheadings.

Classroom: The month of May falls in the second quarter of our course study for the second year which requires a lot of credit hours. Compared to that of the “Major prophets” 3 shorter courses including Homiletics 2 and Romans were completed just before the close of May so that we could start “Old Testament 4”, the Major Prophets scheduled for 12 days of 7 hours each day. This is our second to the last course for this quarter. It is therefore likely that to complete the last course for the quarter (Biblical Interpretation 2) there will be an extension of 2 or 3 days in our gospel campaign week scheduled to begin on the 17th of June.

Evaluations for such voluminous courses have included home assignments compelling the students to do much reading and research. So far, the results are good and all 17 students are still on roll.

Evangelism: As highlighted in our April report, the month of May has been one of great success in terms of evangelism. As it was the role of John the Baptist before the coming of the Lord, the men in the new congregation at Foidou had advanced our preaching in many of the villages around them in April while we were on break. In deed the challenge was ours to get ready for an outdoor preaching in the village call Damas (which is the English Damascus of Acts chapter 9) on the evening of Saturday May the 4th.Seven men and women confessed the Lord as a result of the word, but because it was late to get to the river side we agreed to return the next day for the baptism. By His grace it was another opportunity of Bible discussion during the study class of the worship and it resulted to a total of 11 conversions!

Before returning to that village (Damas) for another Saturday preaching which also resulted to 5 conversions among those who attended the following Sunday of May 12th worship from the 2 villages (Damas and Foidou), 1 lady was baptized in Gueckedou on Friday, the 10th of May. Interestingly, another 5 men and women were baptized on the same Sunday in the congregation at the school premises. That means by His grace 10 persons were converted on that Sunday, the 12th of May.

The weekend of 18th to 19th May was another of pressing need for us to reach another village. Now the men of Foidou assisted by some from Damas extended the message to Milliandou, another village where we were encouraged to go and preach that Saturday evening. Again, 7 men and women accepted the gospel call and were baptized the following day, Sunday the 19th of May along with 4 other women from the village of Damas. That is true, Sunday, the 19th of May another 11 conversions took place as were on the 5thof May. Let me mention in passing that at each area of our public preaching we would close up with the exercise of tract distribution!

Furthermore, there were 3 additional convertions on 20th and 26th of the month – 2 in Gueckedou and 1 in the village of Milliandou.

In all we have converted 36 souls to Christ during the month of May.

Worship Services of the Brethren in the 3 New Villages of Foidou, Damas and Milliandou:

 It should be of concern how and where the Sunday worship services of the brethren of these new villages are being held when at the same time conversions were taking place in either 2 or all 3 of them. Indeed on every Sunday of May – the 5th, the 12th, the 19thand the 26th Gueckedou Bear Valley was converting people in at least 2 of the 3 new villages. Here is how it was done. Worship was held in just 2 of the 3 villages for all 4 Sundays of the Month. Encouraged by their friends who first announced the message before our Saturday preaching, the prospects would walk to come to worship and to be baptized the following Sunday at the host village/congregation.  That was really impressing!

At the moment the desire and agreement is for all of them to remain as one congregation worshiping in one village this Sunday and in another the other Sunday. This might change in the future as the converts in each village increase with other necessities such as for children, the old age and the disable. The average attendance so far is 50 including the 2 workers from the institute.  

Material Need for Evangelism and Gospel Campaigns: During those Saturday public preaching we saw and or felt the need for loud speaker and amplifier materials. In all previous campaigns we had only done house to house and door to door evangelism. We did reap some fruit, but have lately experienced that the general public proclamation of the word will result to more fruits. Hence, we are here appealing to any well-wishers to support us with amplifiers and other public preaching materials. This is especially needed for the city (Gueckedou town) preaching. Support the volume of our voices please!

Conclusion: Gueckedou Bear Valley had had much to do in the classroom during the month under review. We were challenged by courses which required more than 35 or 48 credit hours, but we did go through successfully. More than that, we were somehow pressed, but glad to go out on every Saturday to preach in one village while at the same time making efforts to build the town congregation. Constrained by limited transportation means and repairs of the old vehicle on hand we struggled, but the efforts were blessed and therefore the month of May has carried the highest score of conversions (36 souls) than any other since we established in March 2018!

Tract distribution has been and is still an active role in all our personal and public preaching. We are grateful to the “French World Outreach”/ bro Barry Baggott for responding to our call.

Thanks and appreciations to you all who support this honorable work.

May the Lord be praised because “we are unprofitable servants: We have done that which was our duty to do”- Luke 17:10.

Francis

Three "extended" schools in metro Accra

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE

EXTENDED SCHOOLS REPORT

Koforidua, Kasoa, Nsawam

We are most grateful to the Lord for His hands on the schools, blessing the schools with regular admission and the love of the brethren, who always desire to support us for the truth. Bear Valley, Extended schools mentioned above started in January, 2019.

Koforidua is a Regional (State) Capital and the school is meeting in the meeting place of Ada Road Church, one of the six congregations in the city. Currently, the school has 13 students and is growing. Gyan Mante, one of the instructors of the school in Accra is the director.

The school in Kasoa, a District capital, meets in a congregation called Papaase No. 2. The school has 12 students. Kojo Acquah Beenyi is the director.

Nsawam is also a district capital. This is the first among the three and has 20 students. It meets in the meeting place of Adoagyiri Church of Christ.

These congregations have also given out all their facilities to the support and progress of the school. Their light bill as well. Basically, the instructors for the Accra school are the instructors and they teach base on courses assigned.

The school runs on weekends – Fridays, 4 – 8pm and Saturdays, 8am – 4pm. As part of the academic program, all students partake in the campaign programs, lectureship and other activities.

The fascinating character of the schools is that the truth is maintained and has yielded a positive influence all over the churches in Ghana, in which most of the churches are sending their men to study the Bible for the sustainability of the truth. With the help of the instructors, our students keep improving in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and the scriptures.

Our students have appreciated the consistent support of the brethren, especially our brethren at Riverside Church of Christ. Currently, with your help in finance, we’ve been able to afford 50 new folding study-chairs which is improving the comfort in the studies.

Evangelism in Accra

Introduction

This month has been fruitful to us and a cool season, being the raining season in Ghana to the glory of God. We appreciate the wonderful works of God throughout the period; our classes, administrative task, teaching and non-teaching staff in Ghana. And the marvelous contribution of our dear brethren, we never cease praying with you in our various congregations.

CLASS & EXTERNAL ACTIVITIES

Classes are on-going, and students participating in their lessons effectively. In few months, the third batch (full time students) will be completing their program for the two years and some of the weekend students in like manner be completing their course at the his year 2019. Due to their number, students yet to be completed, has been separated to enable them quickest completion for the rest of their courses.

As part of the program for the full time, thus church visitation exercise, the students are participating effective and doing well in the churches assigned to. The aim for this visit is to let our student improve in the homiletic presentation and practice.

We are also grateful to the Lord for bringing Kojo safely to Ghana and also thankful that he is doing well, very energetic and looking handsome. Immediately he arrived, that week, he started teaching for Kasoa Extended School. Also, he has made trip to Tamale to check on how the school and the church are doing over there, as well teaching in the school.

We cherish your remembrance of us in your prayer.

Keep praying with us. God bless you all. Amen.

David Ballard visits Cameroon

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings and love from our beautiful Cameroon. We are happy to share news with you on what the Lord is doing here in Wotutu through His children. We are on and God is watching over us in the midst of the crisis in Cameroon. Keep praying for us for we can see the effectiveness of your prayers as the ongoing crisis will soon take shape for peace to return as the world keeps praying over Cameroon, once peaceful nation.

Last week in Wotutu was great but very busy as many things were going on. Our Bible students were in class studying THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH as a short course. Brightland Christian schools were on a break as the third edition of VBS was on the secondary campus. The nurses’ room in the Bible building was used for the free medical consultation. The community came to benefit. Since the crisis has affected many who depend on farming such that they cannot freely farm now, they came and were helped by the free medical consultation and dispersion of medications.

Our coordinator came with a team of 8 this summer with different activities to be perform. You can see him in class teaching on the New Testament Church. It is very important for people to know about the new testament church. The students will gather the rich information from the subject matter and will take it to the corners of our country.

He brought ties to all the students and some staff who were present. The students were able to take two ties each. This will help them look neat as they preach the gospel. Thank you very much brother Steve Marx. Even though you have sickness, you were thinking about these students. You are in our prayers and we know that God will bless you.

In the Bear Valley Bible building nurses’ station, the free medical consultation was there. Many people came to see sister Vicki who was heading the medical department. She saw a total of 317 patients within 5 days. We send some serious cases to the hospital in Limbe to see the doctor, like a child with Hep B and SS, and woman with liver infection, and many others. This woman with liver infection escaped the war area in Kwa Kwa and has been staying in the bushes for long as the crisis is on. She developed this liver infection in the forest. She is now presently in my house to follow up with the doctor in Limbe. She cannot go back into the forest. She is a widow and her house was burned down in the crisis. Please pray for the situation we find ourselves in. It is hard here on both sides.

PLANS

When the students return, we shall continue with the weekly evangelism in the west coast of Cameroon.

APPRECIATIONS

Thank you very much for all your help. My God continue to bless you as this work is in progress. Do your best to share these reports with others.

 God bless you.

 Elangwe and family

By the grace of God director BVBIC-Wotutu

Mission Printing materials reaching souls in Kenya

This is to share with you what has taken place at the Kenya School of Preaching, a branch of the Bear Valley Bible Institute. This is about what the students had done while at the school during the 3rd quarter/semester. The current students are twenty (20) in number. Full time African teachers are two (2) Charles and Elias. American Instructor has been one (1)-Dr. Mike Rowand.

This quarter the students had managed to visit and serve ten (10) local congregations around Kisumu. These are the nearby churches that they visit on weekends, sometimes at the request of local preachers in those congregations or home local congregations. During their visit and evangelizing the are around the school, the students had managed to make 28 evangelistic trips, attended 4 gospel meetings, conducted 44 Bible studies (classes) with prospects and preached 55 sermons. As a result of all these efforts, two (2) individuals had been restored back to fellowship with the Lord and with believers in one congregation. They had as well conducted 27 baptisms and restored one local church back to the right doctrine.

The school had closed on 7th of June, 2019 and they will be away till they report back beginning on 28th of June, 2029 for 4th quarter.

As per the Mission Printing Literature at the school, Local church preachers still come to pick the tracts for evangelism and edification. This they do with the help of vehicles, motorcycles and small trucks called "Tuktuk" which are meant for carrying luggage.

We also have WBS- World Bible School materials which local preachers take with them as they come for the tracts. These they use to provoke prospects to study the Bible with them and be converted at the end. The one man who has committed himself to working with these is called Nixon Ochieng, a preacher at Migosi local congregation.

Towards the end of the quarter, one of our current students (David Mwai) had lost his beloved father and preacher- Lucas Mwai. The father had been a preacher at Sota Lord's congregation for many years.We went with some students to be with the bereaved family and helped with the burial. It is our request that you still remember the family in your prayers.

Thanks to God the Almighty for the the much good he has accomplished with the Bible students at the KSOP. Thanks to all of you who have been supporting the preaching school in one way or another, either with prayers, money or service. May the Almighty continue to use you for the continuance of the training program and the much good that is done to the lost and the saved. Be all blessed,

In His service,

Elias

The new school in India is BV school #40!

On June 3 a new school began in Tirupati, India. Not only is this monumental for the Lord’s church in that part of India, it also marks school #40 in the Bear Valley family.

Tirupati is a city of a half million people that is best known as one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage sites, due the the existence of a famous temple. The temple hosts 50,000-100,000 people daily. It is sad to see so many dedicated, well-meaning people being deceived by false teachings.

Being a Christian in a predominantly Hindu culture is not easy. In fact, it took months to finally find someone who would rent us a building in which to house the school. But, not only does the church exist in this bastion of Hinduism, under the leadership of Director, Vijay Kumar, we are now also training gospel preachers to share the good news in their country of 1.3 billion souls.

Classes began with the maximum of 20 students, as well as several others who want to audit the classes. We anticipate untold eternal good being done through this school. If you think you or your congregation might like to partner with us in this, please write me at kkasarjian@wetrainpreachers.com

Brotherly,

Keith

First campaign in Abuja

 REPORT OF THE BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE ABUJA 1ST EVANGELISM CAMPAIGN.

INTRODUCTION:

The Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja 1st Evangelism Campaign was organized after a prospect follow-up exercise conducted on a listener of the 'Let the Bible Speak' program of the Church of Christ, Kado Abuja, in a remote village of Tunga Madaki Gaku village, behind the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on the 1st June 2019 at 8am.

The campaign featured students and faculty of Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja, World Bible School Abuja team members, and members of the Church of Christ, Iddo-Sarki, with a total of 56 participants, consisting of 42 students, 6 faculty, 4 WBS team members and 4 Church of Christ Iddo-Sarki members. A team of Medical & Health officials from Talk Project Consulting provided health services to the members of the community.

REPORT:

Activities;

Among the activities for the campaign were house-to-house preaching, open-air campaign and health services. The house-to-house preaching produced three (3) baptisms (2 male and 1 female) . Also, the open-air campaign had seventy-nine (79) participants in attendance, with  ten (10) visitors from different denominational churches, such Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Evangelical Reformed Christian Church (ERCC), Evangelical Church of Winning All (ECWA) etc, including a retired Pastor of ERCC. Over 100 members of the community benefited from the free health services, which includes High Blood Pressure check, sugar test etc.

CONCLUSION:

The seed of the word of God had been sown into the hearts of many through the campaign, and many hearts received but few accepted, else the need for follow-up and study time. The good news about the campaign is the relationship built with the community chief, though a Muslim, but wholeheartedly received and accepted the team and approved the open-air venue and a land for the church use.

We give God the glory for the opportunity to be used for His work and special thanks to the students and faculty of Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja, World Bible School Abuja Team and others for their contributions and participation in the campaign.

Graduation in Ukraine

Dear brethren and churches,

I'd like share with you the happy news from our Bible Institute. This year we had three graduates. On the one hand, it's a very joyous event but, on the other hand, two years ago there were 9 students who had started the studies and only three of them crossed the finish line. And two more students will graduate after they take a few more courses to meet all requirements of our Institute. Sadly, four students were asked to leave. Some of them didn't have good Christian morals and the others could not keep up with the load of academic work.

Our graduates got their Diplomas and now they can use their knowledge in practical ways. I'd like to write in detail about all graduates and their plans for future.

Sergey Khovrich is staying in Bela Tserkva for now. He has plans to evangelize in a tight security incarceration place. One of them is located within the city limits. He has some personal experience of prison life and quite possibly it's the best way for him to use his Biblical knowledge and practical skills.

Sergey Omelchenko moved his family to Bela Tserkva about a year ago and they are currently considering staying here. Originally they are from Konstantinivka. The family has three children. The older ones attend local schools and a little girl is in a kindergarten. Two weeks ago their oldest daughter was baptized for the forgiveness of sins and now Dasha is a part of our spiritual family. For a quiet family life Bela Tserkva is a reasonable choice. Not too far from Kiyv, the capital of Ukraine. There are job opportunities and the rentals are affordable. For now, Sergey was able to get employment at a saw mill. This job didn't require any work experience and Sergey went for it. His wife is employed as an administrator at a beauty parlor.

Oleg Fofanov returned to his home city of Konstantinivka upon receiving his diploma. Two years ago he was very serious about becoming their full-time preacher. I'm not sure if he had any change of plans but he has a really good potential to become an excellent preacher and leader for a local congregation. Oleg was a very diligent student and we will be praying for his right choices.

There is another great news, in my opinion. Our graduate of the last year Arthur Litvinenko who helped the work of Lviv Church of Christ decided to move to the city of Kremenchug where he plans to work with the local congregation.  He will be preaching and doing evangelical work. I think that this is definitely a step forward. With the Lord's help our graduates are preaching in many cities of Ukraine.

As of our potential students we have two who committed to study and three more who are still thinking about it. Every new school year it's a challenge and hope in God's help to find the right candidates. My last recruitment trip was to Zaporizzha. The local congregation has a lot of young men who are in the boarding school. Local preachers have worked with these young people for years and it has been fruitful.

And last but not the least, I'd like to express our sincere appreciation for everyone who supports the ministry of our Bible Institute. Firstly, to our sponsors who generously give this time, efforts and funds to continue training of the preachers in Ukraine. Secondly, our deep appreciation goes out to our Instructors and their families, both in Ukraine and the United States. This year we had Jim Sherman and Keith Kasarjian who attended the graduation ceremony. Even though very busy in the States they found time for us. We are very thankful to Terry Harmon, our extension coordinator, for his patience and hard work. And thanks to people who assist with our communicative needs - to our translators Konstanin Kisilenko and Natasha Parakhin. There many more name of the faithful people who work with us. Dear loved ones, your reward is great! Thank you for your help.

Your brother and co-worker,

Dennis Sopelnik.

60 students every weekend in Nigeria

Dearest in Christ Jesus,

Greetings from BVBIN- WEEKEND SCHOOLS in Agege, Ikorodu and Ibadan.
Bro.Mfon Etim of Ikorodu school taught today on The Geography of the Bible at BVBIN-ONIKOKORO,IBADAN and 13 students were in attendance. Bro.Lawrence Dada of Ibadan weekend school taught on 1&2 Peter and Jude at Ikorodu weekend school and 22 students present while Bro.Emmanuel Odo taught on 1&2 Thessalonians at Agege School and 25 students present.

Thanks once more for your partnership and support. May the Lord keep on using you and all of us for His glory is my fervent prayers. Amen.
Bro.Isaac Olaniyan will be teaching from Monday, June 10 on Life of Christ-4 at BVBIN AND SWSE, Ibadan, Butubutu village. 
Have a wonderful weekend.
Sincerely His & yours........
MAKINDE Ebenezer Olufemi

New developments in Zimbabwe

MAY 2019 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The vision of BVBIZ remains, “To be a leading and preferred spiritual and academic centre in Zimbabwe and beyond.” Our mission is also remains, “To empower men and women through training and development.” The school’s core business is training and development whose objective is to have  a “relevant, robust training and development  programme that empowers servants of God to transform communities.” The aim is to produce highly qualified, equipped and competent servants through this robust training and development program. The month of May saw BVBIZ continue advancing this agenda as reported hereunder. This report will also highlight events to be anticipated in no distant time.

1.0 TERM ENDS

BVBIZ students are now on break. The term came to an end on the 25th of May. This is their first break since the second of January when they resumed school. They will be back at campus on the 18th of June in preparation for their practicum. Exams were also written successfully. The following subjects were taught;

Church Leadership

Christian Spiritual formation

African Traditional Religion

Greek

Advanced Homiletics

Church History

Marriage and Family Development

Research Methods

2.0 FIELD PROGRAM

This year’s field program shall start on the 22nd of June end on the 8th of September. Teachers will make follow their follow ups as the program proceeds. This program shall be longer than the other programs the school has run so far. This is in line with BVBIZ’s thrust of producing a well-trained and competent product. This practicum enables this to take place. A six month practicum is scheduled to take place next year before the students graduate. This is over and above weekend evangelism programs and one week campaigns that take place each term in various areas.

3.0 DEVELOPMENTS AT SITE

Some developments continue to take place at the school’s site. A comprehensive report on what has been done so far and anticipated developments shall be made in the subsequent reports. This month we are pleased to give a report on three developments;

3.1 UPDATE ON BOREHOLE

BVBIZ first borehole which was drilled in February of this year has now been fitted with a solar system and a 2500litre tank. Great appreciation goes to Partners for Africa for making this a success.

3.2 FRUIT TREES

BVBIZ is in the process of digging 1m x 1m x1m holes for the planting of fruit trees around the site. The target is to plant a total of 100 fruit trees such as avocadoes, oranges and mangoes. More will be planted in future. The focus will be to improve the diet of students and provide more income to the school.

3.3 FUNDRAISING PROGRAM

BVBIZ board and management shall be rolling out a local fundraising program scheduled to take place in the next few weeks. This is in line with the school’s three year strategic plan. The first fundraising program shall take place in Harare. The idea is to harness resources towards the development of this site. Everyone both within and outside the country is encouraged to join this effort. A committee to run this program has been selected and more people will be co-opted in to serve in various committees. More details shall be made in the subsequent report. Suggestions are always welcome.

4.0 EVANGELISM

Students continued going for their weekend evangelism in the month of May. This is done every Saturday and Sunday. Congregations that benefitted included Mkoba 12, Mkoba 17, Nashville, Mambo and Julena. 2 WBS seminars were also held in Mkoba. BVBIZ students and teachers served in many capacities. Senior preachers were also available to teach classes also. These included Brothers K.Dominico, S.Nyarugwe, D. Chikware, C.Mafusire, G.Mutambara and L.Manyanhaire. The last seminar that was held at Chikumbiro Primary school saw BVBZ students distributing over 3000 fliers prior to the seminar. Three were baptized during these efforts.

CONCLUSION

We thank God for what he has been able to do through BVBIZ in June. Our appreciation continues to go to our sponsors for their unwavering support and to many others for their moral and spiritual support. The next report you shall be reading from us, shall be reporting on our much anticipated field program. To God be the glory!

Active students in Zambia

Warm greetings to you all brothers and sisters!! We give honor and glory to God who has given us the opportunity to work in His Kingdom.

We continue to thank our God that the current students are clocking a year studying at BVBI-Zambia. The crop of students that we have, have not only impressed us in their academics but they have also overwhelmed their local congregations with their improved work in preaching. As mentioned earlier, they have proved this to us in their daily performance in the courses that they are taking. They are taking four regular courses and one short course this quarter. These courses are as follows:  

Personal Evangelism 2, this course emphases the importance of Church planting. And it is being taught by Cephas Mwamba who is also teaching Worship of the New Testament. In this course the emphasis is placed on the principles, doctrine and practice of the New Testament Church. The remaining regular courses of this quarter which are textual studies are being taught by Fred Kanangu. These are 1st & 2nd Peter, Jude, and then 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. 

The short course on the Book Galatians or on Leadership will be taught by Brother Kennedy Mukuka. The suggested emphasis on the course on Galatians will be placed on the relation to Hebrews. And Leadership course will furnish the students with leadership styles that God would want His servants to have.

Apart from their class performance, students are busy doing personal evangelism. This is also to fulfill their partial requirements of their course on Personal Evangelism 2. They are translating what they are learning from the class to the real world. We are very glad as a school for these men and indeed the programs and we are happy to report that through these programs Mathew Chisupa, Misheck Chileshe and Twiness Chanda have been baptized and restored back three souls. We as the Institute for this month have concentrated much on three districts here on the copper-belt, namely Luanshya, Kitwe and Mpongwe. On the other development brother Cephas and Kennedy were in Lusaka and taught the gospel and Royd Kabonga a police officer gladly submitted to Christ in Baptism

The school was also invited by Wusakile church in Kitwe to participate in their city wide gospel meeting that started on Friday, 24th May and ended on Sunday, 26th May 2019. The team of the Gospel chariot for World Bible School from Malawi en-route to DRC was also part of this Gospel meeting. Brother Cephas Mwamba was one of the regular speakers invited to speak during these meetings. He with the BVBI-Zambia students braved the coldness to participate in all the proceedings of these meetings. Though no Baptism but only restorations recorded we had a good experience.  

The school has continued being recognized by the congregations in the Copper Belt Province of Zambia and beyond. This is evidenced by many invites that the school receives from these congregations. Copper Belt churches of Christ hold an annual Gospel conference between June and August. And for the time the school has been in existence it has been invited to participate in teaching during these conferences. Brother Cephas Mwamba will be one of the Keynote speakers during this year’s conference which will be held in Ndola. He will be speaking on “Sin”. This meeting starts on the 29th June 2019 and ends on 1st July 2019. We continue soliciting for your prayers that all the meetings succeed and that through these meetings many will come to the full knowledge of God. 

BVBI-Zambia has continued to work with our former students and through Stephen Ngosa we have baptized 7 souls in this month. We witnessed the conversion of these seven souls from two families, Grant Chisenga, Chrisford Chisenga, Chrispine Chisenga, Peter Chisenga and Memory Kaulai, Thandiwe Kaulai, Kingslee Musonda. Stephen is preaching at Baluba Church of Christ, here in Luanshya District. 

Joseph Musonda is still in Mansa, Luapula Province of Zambia where he is doing a very commendable job. He is currently worshiping and working with Mansa Central Church of Christ. He has so far converted one soul and restored back to the Lord three souls. He also reports that the Central Church, Mansa had two gospel meetings in the space of two weeks. One was held at Chipili at which a new congregation has been stablished and another at Mano at which the Institute has been invited to help in evangelism. Albert Phiri is actively working with a congregation in Myengelwa, Mpongwe District. He also reports that he has continued conducting Bible studies and door to door personal evangelism with some brothers at Myengelwa, though this place is 65 Kilometers south of Luanshya the Institute is constantly in touch with Albert to encourage him with his effort to preach.  We had thirteen (13) baptism and six (9) restorations and one New congregation planted.  

Please continue to pray for the overall work that we are involved in here in Zambia. Pray for the Word of God to continuously have an impact on our lives and also the lives of those we are teaching.

Our hearts are truly thankful to Woodland Oaks Church of Christ for financial support and all the encouragement in this good work. We will likewise pray that God will bless the works that you are all involved in as well.

For the sake of Christ,

Cephas and Fred

Making a difference in Lima

Dear brothers in Christ,

The Bible Institute continues, we started our second semester with a lot of encouragement, both students and teachers have done and are doing a great job. We concluded the previous semester with the Homiletics 1 course with Abraham Alata and we began this semester with the course of Hermeneutics 1 with me as a teacher. Students do their best to take advantage of this instructional time.

As part of our calendar of activities we had two days of Bible conference in the month of April (18-19), Christians from different congregations were invited to participate in this event, we received the visit of approximately 60 people each day, the exhibitors were the teachers of the institute two per day, the conference was based on the book of Philippians ("Prisoners of Joy"). This was also a very good time of fellowship and instruction for the brotherhood. If God allows it, we are setting precedents for future events, because we want to do it every year.

The students, as part of their training, developed an evangelistic activity together with some members of the Church of Christ in America (where the Institute currently operates), on May 1st this activity was developed.

We greatly appreciate the time taken to read this report and to support the activities both spiritually and materially, our Lord keep and bless you.

Your brothers,

Juan and Abraham

Continued growth in Guinea

Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible Institute Activity Operations Report for April 2019

Our major second quarter activities at Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible Institute commenced on 22nd April 2019. As in previous quarters we had both indoor and outdoor activities though this time for a limited period compared to other months in the past. Nevertheless, we did our best to fulfill all necessary requirements one of which considered the central focus of all outdoor activities is evangelism resulting to the conversion of 3 souls. Below are the details.

Classroom: By His grace we are still maintaining the 17 students on roll. Regular classes did commence, but we had to adjust the course schedule especially for the short course initially set for the 7th week. Bro Balla was rescheduled to conduct his class right from day 1, the first and only week to finish the month. This was done because the instructor was not sure of being available in any other week during the quarter. The results were very good.

Evangelism: The new congregation at Bilin which was started during our first quarter break on 31st March had another one soul added on 14th April. Since all the conversions so far in that village were during our break when I was also away, necessity was laid upon me not only to participate evangelize the village, but especially to go see the new converts. Therefore Sunday, 21st April just before classes resume the next day we made a visit of acquaintance and to strengthen the brethren. Our meeting was one of delight! It resulted to the conversion of 2 additional souls that day.

In our last report for the month of March we explained the conversions of persons in 2 different villages (Foidou and Bilin) said to be 2 new congregations. The good news now about especially the men at Foidou is that they have taken upon themselves even while we were on break to advance the message in most of their surrounding villages, thus paving the way for a greater conversion in May. Details of this are soon coming in our next report.

Dining Hall Repairs: The first rains of Gueckedou town were accompanied by violent winds and thunder blasts. Many families saw the roofs of their houses fly away. Bear Valley’s dining hall was no exception. Tarpaulins of one-half of the shelter were torn apart and destroyed. We had no option, but to speedily engage repairs which were completed in 2 days.

Literature Reception and Distribution: We owe a big “thank you” and appreciation to the “French World Outreach” / Barry Baggott based in Nashville, TN who is a great blessing to our preaching ministry. In deed bro Baggott had sent us 4 cartons of New Testament Index Bibles, tracts and pamphlets most of which (except Bibles) are often distributed during all our campaigns and evangelistic trips. These too have their part in proclaiming the good news of Christ (and his church). French World Outreach must be recognized as a part in the conversions being done at the Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible School!

Conclusion: We had only 1 week of major activities for the month of April, but are thankful to God for the classroom and outdoor activities especially for the 3 souls converted. With the initiative of advancing the gospel message by the men of Foidou, an exciting report of greater conversions is on the way.

Our thanks and appreciations to you all especially those of you who support this paramount work. God bless us all!

Francis

Reaching the most populous country in Africa

Beloved fellow soldiers of Christ.

Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and great Redeemer, Jesus Christ from your fellow servants of God in Nigeria,most especially in the BVBIN and SWSE Ibadan main campus located in Butubutu Village via Badeku/Jago,  Oyo State.

Here are some of the report of our activities in the Lord for the month of May 2019.  

 OVERVIEW

i.  Students now in a month Vocational training.

ii. The Lord's Church planted in Salako's Village via Igbo-Oloyin Road,Ibadan.

iii. 4th Semester begins on June 3 through August 25,2019

iv. Four muslim believers converted  during WBS Seminar in Itu, Akwa-Ibom State.

v. 6,000 Copies of VOTI Volume 100 ready for distributions in Nigeria.

A MONTH STUDENTS' VOCATIONAL TRAINING :

All our year one students are presently in a month Vocational Training which will end on June 1, 2019 while the year two students return to help their different congregations in the evangelization of their communities and in edification of the saints. Nine of the year one students are with me in Ibadan studying electrification, tailoring,motor mechanic, e.t.c.

THE LORD'S CHURCH PLANTED IN SALAKO'S VILLAGE OFF IGBO-OLOYIN RD. AKINYELE L.G.A.OYO STATE:

In continuation of our mission as a School of Biblical Studies and Evangelism, the staff and seven of our year one students and one of our graduates and one of the recent students in BVBII degree program, Bro.Oladokun Samuel and a fellow WBSFUW named Bro.Dele Shotola evangelised Igbo-Oloyin,Salako and Aroro villages in Ibadan rural area on May 10 and 11 and started the first Church worship in Ile Olopa ,Aba Salako(I.e, Police' s house,Salako's Village) on May 13 with 12 brethren and the total collection was N2,250.On May 20, a soul was restored after many years of self disfellowship from the Lord's church. Bro.Oladokun Samuel and one of our students is now working with that young congregation in Aba Salako. To God be the glory and honour.

FOURTH SEMESTER CLASSES BEGINS ON JUNE 3 AND CONCLUDE WITH A MONTH TEACHING PRACTICE FROM JULY 27 THROUGH AUGUST 25,2019:

Our last semester for this session begins on June 3 and will be concluded on July 26 follow by a month T.P( Teaching Practice) between July 27 through August 25,2019. We are planning to send the 33 students to four out of six geographical zones in our country, Nigeria. This will cost us between $600 to $750 for transportation and reprints of our local gospel tracts and we can conveniently raise about $200 among Nigerian brethren for this spiritual exercise.

A DAY WBS SEMINAR: A day World Bible School Seminar conducted by Bro.M.B.Archibong in Mbak Itam, Itu on May 15 led to conversion of four Muslim believers. Several tracts from both local and gospel mission International and Voice of the Truth International volumes 98 & 99 were freely distributed during this one day WBS seminar.

SPECIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT:

The BVBIN & SWSE, Ibadan ,Butubutu village is  using this opportunity to appreciate in advance Bro.Keith Kasarjian and the BVBID and association for assists us with fund to purchase a bigger generator plant to supply electrification to our schools community. We shall be purchasing the generator as soon as we receive the fund on June.

6,000 VOTI VOLUME 100 : The Voice of Truth International Volume 100 is now ready for distributions to churches in Nigeria. We deeply appreciate the World Evangelism crew for this great job for the growth of the Lord's church in Africa and the world as a whole.

ABOUT A STUDENT: Bro.Baruch Uchenna Okpulor is one of our year one students. A member of the Lord's church in Osusu Elendu,Aba,Abia State.Join the school in 2017. Became a member of the Lord's church in 1987.A graduates of Enugu state University of Science and Technology. Presently, our student's leader. His mission is to be trained as a preacher of the gospel and to become a missionary in the near future.

OTHER COMMENT: The Onikokoro /Gbongudu congregation have started another three month series of Studies every Lord's day under the theme:THE NEEDS OF THIS CONGREGATION and I spoke on Our Present Needs on May 13, The Needs for Sound Preacher on May 20 and Not Being Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ on May 27,2019. Another brother will be speaking next Lord's day .Our average attendance now 36 with average collection of N5,500=

CONCLUSION: We thank you all for your moral and financial supports toward the growth of the Lord's church in Africa, most especially in Nigeria. May the Lord continue to bless all our joint efforts in Christ Jesus, amen.

I remain your fellow servant of God, MAKINDE Ebenezer  Olufemi (The Chief servant of BVBIN & SWSE-IBADAN and WBSFUW)

Good news from Fiji

Report from the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa, Fiji

We just completed the first week of the second term.  We have 10 students this term.  The classes for this term are Peter and Jude, Romans, the Crucifixion of Jesus, Old Testament Poetry 2 (Proverbs through Song of Solomon), Hermeneutics,  and OT History 1 (Joshua through 1 Samuel).  

We have been very fortunate to have congregations send us books for our students.  The Westside Church of Christ has sent books to our students on a number of occasions.  We just recently received 16 copies of Evangelism Handbook by Phil Sanders.  We really appreciate this congregation and others who are putting tools in the hands of our students to build up their own personal libraries.  

We said goodbye to our first international student.  Lency Mena came to us from the Solomon Islands and finished up his course work at the end of this past term.  While we were sad to see him leave, we are excited about the work he will be doing in the Solomon Islands.  He plans to spend two years working with the church in the capital city of Honiara and after that relocate with his family to Nendo Island to establish the church there.  Lency and his wife Nancy are both from this island.  Please pray for Brother Lency and his family!

To God be the glory,

Rocco

Campaign success in Malawi

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE EKWENDENI (Malawi)

May Report  

Introduction

Bear valley Bible Institute Ekwendeni in Malawi is continuing doing a great job of teaching and preaching the Gospel. As we reported that the students are on holiday and yet not resting still preaching and winning souls to Christ! We are very thankful to God that the name of the school is also being known to many areas in Malawi through the work our students are doing.

More to this, we are also proud of our former students, who are still proving themselves that they really graduated for a purpose of winning souls to Christ. In this report, we have good news from one of our former student Saliwa Nkosi. Saliwa is a powerful teacher and preacher. He recently (15th to 19th May), conducted a preaching campaign and invited the Director and Instructors of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Ekwendeni to attend. It was great joy as we witnessed about 21 souls being saved. This is truly walking in the path  known to Jesus Christ, for He came to save that which was lost Luke 19:10!

Preaching Campaign

Brother Saliwa Nkosi organised a preaching campaign in his home area at a distance of about 7 miles away from his home village. The area is called Emadhloveni; it has lot of people but no congregation. It is now great joy to share the news that the church is now established in this area after the campaign brother Saliwa conducted. We arrived in this village on 15th May, which was the day of getting everything set for the campaign.

It was very interesting on Saturday, as we were going out house to house to preach, those who heard us preach in the previous days were following us asking more questions about Christ and His church. And still some wanted to be added to the Lord's church, this was amazing! The Lord used us as His vessel to lead lost people to Himself.

We want to express our gratitude to Bear Valley International for their support. Without your support this could have not been achieved. We want also to thank brother Saliwa for his zeal in this work of winning souls to Christ. Eternity Is Forever, Think Souls!

 Ephron & Clergynton

Note: We are eagerly waiting to see our students back in class on 3rd June!