Dear Supporters, Family and Friends.
We are thankful for the safe arrival of Steve Wiseman, Buddy Fry, Rita Ward and Edith Kincaid this week. Much good has already been done by all of them. Steve Wiseman has had several studies (one of them was with 15 people at once!) and at least one conversion (from Kwa Mrombo) that we know of. In addition, he has spoken on the Leadership conference. Buddy Fry has spoken several times on the conference and will begin his class on Exegesis with the first year students tomorrow. Steve and his daughter Lexi leave on Tuesday night and Buddy leaves on Friday night, so please pray for the safe travel.
Rita Ward, Trina's mother, paid for her own trip so she is here taking time with the family and enjoying the grandchildren. Edith Kincaid, my great-aunt, is here to do a ladies seminar on Personal Evangelism as well as another one on Galatians. The Personal Evangelism seminar actually began this morning in the ladies Bible class and will continue each afternoon through Saturday from 3-5 PM. She will also hold many personal Bible studies with both non-Christians and weak ones. Those will begin tomorrow.
As we ended our worship today a man named Charles stood up and said that he wanted to obey the Gospel. He has been to services on several occasions and simply from the Bible study times and sermons in the services he learned that he needed to put Christ on in baptism. Since no one had ever formally studied with him, Ahimidiwe spent over an hour with him, making sure he understood what he was doing and the kind of commitment he was making. He understood and was baptized shortly after 2 PM. We thank God for another soul added to His kingdom.
As I said, Buddy Fry will teach a short course this week. The next week Jimmy will teach another one on the Church and the following week the fourth and final quarter of the year will begin. This also means that we will be having a graduation (Nov. 26), which will be another milestone in the growth of this work when we graduate the first Swahili class. Praise be to God for wonderful opportunities He has given to 17 men who will go forth from this school and preach the Gospel in many areas of Tanzania and one area in Kenya. By supporting us, you have had a grand part in the training of these men and I pray that God blesses each and every one of you for it.
Finally, we have mentioned several times over the past months the fact that we have been experiencing massive power outages due to a lack of rain and other things. While they have eased a bit (very little) over the past week or two, it is still a daily (or nightly) occurrence. For the past several years the school has had an 8000 watt generator, but this has never been enough to power the whole school when the power is out. In addition, it is on its final legs, needing almost constant repair. Therefore, since we need a bigger generator and need to replace the one we have, Cy Stafford and I are embarking upon a fundraising drive to raise $23,000 for a 45,000 watt generator for the ACSOP. I will be writing congregations and individuals directly to ask for specific commitments so that we can get these funds as quickly as possible. Please consider what you can do and respond accordingly. All funds for this project should be sent to:
Kensington Woods Church of Christ
415 S. 40th Ave.
Hattiesburg, MS 39402
Please send a note with it stating that the money is for the ACSOP Generator.
In Christ,
The Gees