Student Studies With Parents...

Dear brethren,

Greetings to you in the precious name of Lord Jesus Christ our savior. By the grace of God we are all doing fine. Hope all is well with you. We are thankful to our God who is enabling us to continue doing his ministry in our part of India. We have 15 students who are regular to the school. We are happy to say that they will be completing this course study by April 2013. All of our students are uplifted in their faith so much through the teaching of various subjects by our faculty. Our students are so blessed to be in this school, of course they remark our school very highly too.

Short Course: Brother Chuck Ramseur visited with us for a week. During his visit he taught the ‘Epistle to the Hebrews’ to the undergraduate students. As usual, this trip has been very productive than previous one. His first trip had been quite bit of learning since everything was new and it was his first visit to teach at an extension school of BVBID.

We were excited about Chuck coming to Visakha for the second time which really helped us to work together for the betterment of the school. He is very mindful of the school in Visakha, we appreciate him for that. Our students had a good time of learning Hebrews from the audience perspective. Chuck has a done a marvelous job of teaching the Epistle to the Hebrews in this perspective so that the students would get the exact message from the epistle. He spent lot of time in explaining the text rather than applying it to the present audience. It was a different learning experience for me as well. Chuck has done a review before the start of every class that helped the students to stay on the same page along with the instructor. Regular memory work and the quizzes have helped the students to learn more from the epistle. It is very important to any student to rightly understand the text before he applies it to himself or teach it to somebody so that they would apply it to themselves. Understanding the epistle to the Hebrews is just like any other book in the Bible. Chuck’s way to teaching it by emphasizing the key words and their connection & relation between them throughout the epistle was marvelous. Especially he mentioned the text coded from Psalms to show how much more blessed we are through Jesus Christ who is superior above all in this universe. He affirmed to the students about the greatest salvation we have in Jesus Christ and the great hope receiving the heavenly Jerusalem.  He did a great job compared to his first visit & teaching. Students have learned so much. They did a good job in writing their final exams; most of them have good grades. We pray that his regular visits would be a blessing to the school and to all of us.

Zeal for towards his loved ones: David Raju, He is one of our diligent students in the current batch. He lives in a village which is 40 kms from Visakhapatnam. He was a Hindu believer. He heard about Jesus and obeyed him by being baptized into Christ. After he became a Christian he wanted his parents to learn about God and obey the Lord. Since they are very old he really wanted them to obey the truth before it is too late. While his curiosity of saving his parents was growing wild, he could not resist himself from teaching them about the plan of salvation and about their need to repent of their sins and becoming children of God. His regular teachings finally motivated them to repent of their sins and come forward to be washed themselves in the blood of Jesus Christ. This wonderful event has taken place at VVBC during the first week of this month. Brother Eric Ramseur witnessed this overwhelming event. After they confessed that Jesus Christ is the son of God, they were baptized by John Dean for the remission of their sins. David Raju has the happiest moment in his life. Tears ran out of David Raju’s eyes during the baptism of his parents really denoting the joy he had from the fulfillment of his long waited desire.

We have scheduled a weekend gospel campaign during the end of the first of May. We are very much looking forward to spending some study time with those who are learning about God. We hope the word of God will be received in gladness and souls will be added to the Church. Certainly there is a great future for the Lord’s church in this village. This only possible through some enthusiastic preachers like David Raju, who is very zealous for the Lord. We have few other men who are very eager to proclaim the word and are strong to live according to it.

Needs: Dear brethren please be mindful of the needs for the preachers in this area, especially to those who are going to school and soon will be full time preachers. A bicycle & lantern with some Bibles at the time of graduation is a wonderful gift that we can offer to them to help with their mission to preach the word.

Summer: Here the weather is getting heated up. Right now the temperatures in some areas are over 95 F. We do not have rains from last 6 months. Due to that, ground water levels are going down and down, with the relative affect on the prices of electricity and vegetables which has been a burden to the common man. Of course the hike of the prices is an uprising problem in the world over, but for a common man like a preacher who doesn’t make so much from very poor congregations it is really struggle. Kindly pray for the preachers in that area who are honestly serving the Lord besides the difficulties.

Future Preachers’ Training Camp: While I was at Bear Valley during my visit in 2010, I was blessed to be at the Church who hosted the FPTC. I was really impressed with that program and wanted to try that in India too. When Dr. Dennis Jones, president of HCU, visited Skinner’s Garden on the 9th of February, he inaugurated the program. We have scheduled this week long FPTC program starting from the 4th of June till the 10th. Since this is our first effort, we would like to invite the preachers’ sons who are over the age of 13. This program would certainly help them to become leaders in the future. Kindly pray for the success of this camp.

Thank you note: Dear brethren we are thankful to the brethren at Strickland Church of Christ, especially to the elders for their trust and charity with which we are able to run the school successfully. We continue to remember them in our daily prayers and thank our heavenly God for their great role in seeking and saving the lost in India. Yes, India is a growing wild in religious perspective with the TV media well spread. Everywhere the entire denominational groups in India, especially in the state of Andhra Pradesh, have been spreading the man made doctrines. These situations need well trained young man who teach the only doctrine which was once for all delivered. We pray that our combined efforts produce more effective preachers to spread good news & the right doctrine to the lost millions in India. 

Work Report: 
Number of people baptized in this month through our ministry: 6
Denominational preachers restored: 1
Gospel meetings conducted – 6
Weekend Campaign – 1
Gospel tracts distributed - 1200
Doors Knocked - 135
Held the Bible Studies - 21

We thank you all so much for your concern for the Lord's work in India. Our calender year has been so busy, kindly pray for our travelling to various places. We thank you all so much for being a part of this great Lord's work in India. 

Samuel Raju & John Dean Muppidi
Visakha Valley Bible College
Church of Christ
Andhra Pradesh,  INDIA

VVBC Activities Show Growth...

Dear Brethren,

Greetings from Visakha Valley Bible College to you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. By the grace of God we are all doing fine and the school work is going on well.

We were thrilled to hear that the Elders at Strickland Church of Christ have come forward to oversee the Visakha Valley Bible School. We have known these brethren from a long time, in fact me and my father have visited this congregation several times. This congregation has been involved in supporting the Skinner’s Garden work under the oversight of the Elders of West Corinth Church of Christ from a long time. They helped us buy bicycles, lanterns, sewing machines, Bibles and other evangelistic needs. Their part in evangelizing the world is commendable.

It was my pleasure visiting with them in the summer 2010 when I was given an opportunity to give a work report. I took advantage of that and mentioned about our new school Visakha Valley Bible College and our association with Bear Valley. I didn’t have much to talk to them about any more than the presentation, but the later developments encouraged them to come forward to oversee the Bible School work. We appreciate Jerry & Paula for their part in encouraging the elders to take up this new responsibility. In deed we feel like it’s God’s providence. We pray that our relationships will be built up stronger for the betterment of the Lord’s work in India especially in the northeastern region of the state of Andhra Pradesh.

We are encouraged so much with the growth rate of the students, as it is well aware a few numbers of the students always stay little behind despite their hard work. However most of the students are up to date in completing their assignments and tests. 

Preachers’ Fellowship Meeting: 
We are very happy with the evangelistic efforts by our students. We have a student named Uday, who always wanted to attend the short classes, invited us for the preachers’ Fellowship meeting at their place. He wanted us to teach on the subject ‘The Work of the Church.’ He wanted the local congregation to understand about their responsibility towards the fellow Christians and taking the gospel to the lost community in their village. We had most of our graduates attend this Preachers’ Fellowship meeting. We praised God when 3 of those graduates who spoke on the subject encouraged the local congregation to seriously think about charity and evangelism.

Paul Raju’s health condition: Paul Raju, one of our old students had appendicitis pain and had to go through the surgery. By the grace of God everything went well, and he is recovering. He is working in the Viskhapatnam city only. He is one of those who registered for the new Master’s Class which shall be starting July 2012, if that is Lord’s will. 

Special Bible Class on the Book of Revelation: 
DVS Prakash, one of our graduates of the previous batch, is a zealous preacher. He never wanted to take a back seat if a situation comes where he has to deal with that. Denominational groups have been teaching about the premillennialism by misusing text from the Book of Revelation. So, he never wanted to delay approaching the school for help. Brother Vamsee Bushanam, who teaches the Book of Revelation in the school, came forward to help this graduate and the congregation. The local congregation decided to hold a 1 day Special Bible Class on the book of Revelation every month. By the grace of God the congregation is learning the true word as it is written while the speaker is rightly dividing the word of God.   

Applications for the Masters Class:
We are blessed to have another term of Master Classes starting in July this year. We are anxiously looking forward for the start of new batch. We have a list of 16 students who shall be attending enrolling for the Master Class. 

Short Class: 
Brother Chuck Ramseur will be visiting with us for the next week. During his visit he shall be teaching the ‘Epistle to the Hebrews’ with the undergraduate students. We are excited about Chuck coming to Visakha for the second time which really helps us to work together for the betterment of the School. He is very mindful of the school in Visakha. We pray that his visit would be a blessing to all of us. 

Brother Irven Skinner’s Visit: 
Brother Irven Skinner has been a missionary to India since 1999. During his recent visit he arrived at Visakhapatnam Airport and wanted to spend a couple of days teaching the students at Visakha Valley Bible College. He really loves teaching the Bible. This time he encouraged the Indian preachers to live their lives like a light. One of the lessons he taught was, “ brethren, do not grow weary of doing good,” 2 Thess 3:13, encouraging the preachers to always abound in the Lord to do good things. Our students enjoyed class. Irven Skinner also taught for 3 hrs on the next day during the local congregations meeting we held on Saturday at VVBC facility. We had a great time sharing the Lord’s word. As a result, 3 came forward to be baptized. We rejoiced with those who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Brother Irven said, regarding the Bible School work, he would like to come next time and spend more time with the students. 

Thank you note: 
We are thankful to the brethren at Strickland Church of Christ for choosing to be the overseeing church for the Bible School, to guide us spiritually for the betterment of the Church in India. We continue to strive for our common goal and purpose, which is evangelizing the lost millions. We appreciate all of your prayers for us and your financial support. Kindly write us back if you want to know more about the Bible School work. We appreciate brother Bob Turner, Ralph Williams and Jerry Bates for their encouragement in running the school successfully.

Thanking you in Christian love, 

Sameul Raju & John Dean Muppidi
Visakha Valley Bible College
Church of Christ
Andhra Pradesh,  INDIA

VVBC Students Outreach And Leadership Workshop...

Greetings to you from Visakha Valley Bible College, Visakhapatnam. By the grace of God we are all doing fine and hoping the same with you. The weather here is getting gradually warm as another hot summer is awaiting for us. We cannot describe this unless some one spends a week here like any other person..ha.  

Moreover, in the meeting with Brother Jerry Bates during his recent visiting to Visakha we were thrilled to learn about the interest of the Elders of Strickland Church of Christ to sponsor our School, this is really wonderful news. We praise our loving God for his providence. At the same time we extended our heartfelt gratitude. We have known this congregation for a long time, I remember myself giving a report to the brethren at Strickland during my visit in 2011, which is when I mentioned about the school established in Visakhapatnam and its association with BVBID. It is certainly a great blessing of God it is beyond my comprehension, may our Lord receive the praise. 

I remember my visit to Denver during the summer 2010. During my visit the church at Bear Valley was holding a Future Preachers Training Camp. I was inspired by that program and wanted to introduce here. You know we have been conducting a Youth Rally. Now FPTC is an addition to working with the young people in India. I really thought it would be great if we can do this program here. I am praying God for a successful Camp.  

Faculty meeting: 
This is another time for us to discuss several things including our preparation for the next quarter. We have a great time to share our views and experiences with the students with which we can go forward in training the men to be more effective. We advised all the faculty to turn in the Score reports of the students for the respective classes they are teaching. We all agreed for a new kind of score report prepared that would be useful by all of us.  

Visit of the Coordinator: 
Our coordinator, brother Jerry Bates, visited with us for a couple of days. In our meeting with Jerry, several things were discussed. One of them is cutting our expenses which is very crucial. We feel like there are certain modifications we can make to tailor our expenses. However it is not possible to cut the cost we spend on evangelism, because our school is established to train the evangelists. We hope with the tailoring of expenses whatever is possible, things would work out. The church in this part of the Andhra Pradesh has not really grown to the point to have a self paid preacher. Under this circumstance it is too advanced to seek any support for the school. May be in the long run we can see the congregations coming forward to take care of their expenses in all the evangelist activates, where as helping with the other activities like Bible school seem to be mere impossible this soon. 

Library: 
We are thankful for Chuck, Jerry, Denton and Garry who helped us in adding some books to the Library.  If there is a possibility, kindly see that our brethren can raise at least a little money towards the library with which we can buy some Telugu books (religious) for the Library. It will be a great addition. With this development, library assignments can be a part of the daily activity of the students. When our faculty met with brother Jerry, they spent a little while talking about the progress of the school programs and shared with him the format of the score reports. During their conversation they mentioned about the need for more Books in the Library which they remark it as a lack, at the same time they expressed their happiness about the collection what the library has now. Adding more books is nothing but adding more treasure. 

English classes for Under Grad Students: 
English is our business language in India. People tend to use a little bit of English at shopping malls, restaurants and other entertainment centers. Nevertheless many students want to communicate in English, but when it comes to a Bible School, most of the students feel like it is a great thing to learn the Bible in English medium. In addition to that, most of the literature available is in English. So, if there is ever opportunity that would be available for the students to learn the English language they would be delighted to get enrolled in that class. Moreover we think it is necessary for every Bible school student to have some good foundation in the English language. Unfortunately not every student has that foundation even though they have a desire to have it.

Having this mind when we were looking for a way to resolve this, we got an amazing idea…that is requesting the Instructor’s wives to teach English to the undergrads. Paula Bates usually comes once or twice in a year. If she comes she always looks for an opportunity to work, so we are thinking why can’t we use their ability for the benefit of the students. Greg Hamlin’s wife, Sheila, is going to visit with us in September. We would like to take advantage of her visit by using her as an English teacher. Hope it will be a great step towards providing better education.

Then our school will be well identified as the school that has the strongest motive in providing effective education. It has sounded as a wonderful thought to have English Language Classes for the Under Graduate students. Hope it works out good for the students overall for the school. 

Working with BVBID Graduates:   
As part of my vision, I am taking every opportunity that comes my way to reach the vision, that is to see the establishment of the Leadership in all the local congregations in India. Brother John O’Neal and Russell Bell from USA are working together conducting preachers seminars in various places in India. This time I had the opportunity work with them for a week as a translator and also to co-teach the text book for the seminar. The book, 'The Church,' published by Roy Lanier Sr., who is the founder of BVBID. Russell Bell is a graduate of Bear Valley. This time, we had Dennis Holst, a graduate in the year 1983, who is now working as the full time preacher in Odell, NE. It was really a wonderful time for me to work with those two Bear Valley Graduates in India.

Farewell to Gary: That was an exciting moment for Gary as well as for the students to meet him at his hotel room to offer send off. In fact, Gary was leaving on early Friday morning, Master class students didn’t know this until Thursday evening. When they heard that they all went together and asked the Director to allow them to meet Gary at the Hotel. Since the director, Samuel Raju, is also one of the students in the Master’s Class he was very glad to go with them, so it all workout well for them to meet Gary in his hotel room. He was thrilled to see them coming to give him a send off, especially when they presented some gifts which made him very very special. He, along with the students, shared a momentous joy for a little while. After that they left him and returned back to the school. The affection between the Instructors and the students is what we have to really think about. At our school, our Lord blessed us so to have a healthy relationship within us. This kind brotherly atmosphere and love is what scriptures are teaching about. We continue to keep our spirits up to keep up this brotherly love. 

Leadership Workshop: We had a visit from the President of Heritage Christian University, HCU to Skinner's Garden on the 9th of February. We invited all the students of VVBC to be present. Attached is the group photo with brother Dennis Jones showing some of our students who attended the one day Leadership workshop. Brother Dennis was very impressed to see all the work that is going on here. I explained our  Bible School project which has focused on the Northeast region of Andhra Pradesh. He was very happy to meet our faculty and students.

Repair: When we work very hard, really hard, maybe beyond our capacity, we encounter health problems, like wise our copier needed some repair. It happened during the visit of Gary only, after printing several reams of paper, the toner has to be replaced, also the drum cylinder. It cost over Rs.8000/- including the labor charges and taxes. 

Work Report: 
Number of people baptized in this month through our ministry: 2

Denominational preachers: 1

Gospel meetings conducted: 8

Preachers’ Fellowship meeting: 2

Weekend Campaign: 1

Gospel tracts distributed: 1800

Doors Knocked: 112

Held the Bible Studies: 43

Please convey our heartfelt thanks to the Elders at Bear Valley for their efforts in running the School successfully. Give our greetings to all the brethren that labor at BVBID. Convey our greetings to your family as well.   

In Christian love & service,
Samuel Raju & John Dean

VVBC Annual Report...

Greetings to you in the precious name of Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. By the grace of God we are all doing fine and the school work is going on well. 

On the 9th of February we shall be having a one day Leadership Workshop by Dennis Jones, President, Heritage Christian University. All of our students & faculty from VVBC are going to be attending this workshop. 

Annual Work Report (2011) 
Through our efforts in this year God blessed us with these results. It is certainly encouraging to look back to see how far we came, however when we look at the task of reaching millions of lost souls, which are in front of us, we remind ourselves of our responsibility. During 2011, we had the opportunity to meet with several preachers from rural parts that area. They are about 300 kms from the school. Part of the evangelism program we shall be visiting these villages to spread the good news through our campaign week programs. (Tract distribution, Bible Classes & Gospel meetings)

New congregations have been planted by the work of the school and the students  -  4

Baptisms have been conducted – 180

Christians have been restored  - 52

New villages we are currently working in where the goal is to plant a congregation in 2012 - 5

Bible studies conducted  – 823

Gospel meetings conducted in the villages  - 37

Denominational preachers, congregations and individuals converted  - 7

How many pieces of literature has been distributed – over 60,000 

Faculty in their ministry
We are blessed to have the teaching faculty who are also ministers of the gospel. As their efforts have been going on steadily that is giving great results of adding more souls to the Lord’s body.  

Short Classes
Currently I am teaching Denominational Doctrines. I have taught the Gospel of John in the last week. We are through with that. I am so happy that students have done a good job in writing the exams, and the assignments. The reading assignment really helped the students understand the text better. I remarked on the diligence of our students. 

Master Class
Brother Gary Fallis is teaching Christian Education and Church Growth. This is the last session for the Master Class students. They have to turn in the due work. They are agreed to turn in their work on the date set by them. With that we came to a conclusion that the graduation exercise will be in July on the set date. Hope fully we shall set the date soon. It is certainly a joy to think about the first Graduation exercise of the Master Class. We are thankful to God for this great blessing toward the Church in India. Right now there are 10 students. Hopefully all of them will complete the required work to be graduated. Our school is the first and only school to offer this Degree. We have a list of 12 students we shall be interested to be enrolled in the next Master class batch. 

About our Plans in the Year 2012 
As usual our chief focus would be Evangelism. In 2012 a new program to spread the good news in the city involves: holding a VBS at the school premises during our summer break. We can do a great job with this program. Briefly, stretching our arms of evangelistic activities in the city and rural areas to spread the good news.

Brotherly,

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

Gospel Campaign And Preacher's Fellowship...

Greetings to you in Christ name. Things are going well at our end, pretty exciting as the Bible College program is playing a vital role in evangelism.

We had a wonderful two days Gospel Campaign program in Badam where one of our graduate is working as full time minister. 

Preachers’ Fellowship meeting: 

There are three main goals behind this program in various districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh. 

1.    Fellowship: As it is instructed through the Word to grow in the fellowship, this program focuses on establishing relationships with the fellow preachers in that area. Hosting preachers take the opportunity to invite the denominational preachers and teach them the truth. They usually remark highly about this program.  

2.    Teaching: For every Preachers’ Fellowship the host congregation selects a topic to be taught or discussed. This gives a great opportunity for preachers to explore and speak boldly. It also helps other preachers to learn extensively from the Bible.  

3.    Edification: In addition to the messages spoke in the morning, we also hold a gospel meeting in the evening. In this way the local congregation, as well as, the preachers attending would get a great detailed message on the particular subject. 

4.   Evangelism: Besides teaching throughout the day with the preachers and local congregation, in the evenings local congregations hold a gospel meeting too. This is a great time to reach the villagers with the good news. Distributing gospel tracts and holding personal Bible studies really works during this time.

We are really blessed to be part of what brother Rama Rao is doing in his village. He has good respect in the village. Of course he is well known as the minister. He has good reputation in his village and around. During the night they held the meeting just beside the Hindu temple. This helps us to understand how much people are receptive to the gospel, also the kind impact our students (preachers) have in their society. We were really impressed to see that taking place.  

During the public gospel meeting I was given with an opportunity to preach. I taught about ‘What is truth.’ You know India is basically a religious country. Almost everybody believes in God and those who believe in God believes in eternal life i.e. Heaven. So, in my lesson I discussed how can, with these different kind of religions and practices, we all inherit heaven. We worship different gods but we all look forward to go to one place that is heaven? I mentioned my further statements will be from the book of God that is Bible, which is written by the godly men who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. We had so many people listening to us out in the street. Our students did a good job during this evangelism campaign.

On this occasion we took the advantage to distribute Bibles to our Graduates as well as faculty who are serving as ministers. As we mentioned earlier they are in desperate need of Bibles. Through the charity that is showed upon us through Jerry & Paula we were able to buy these Bibles and distribute them. Thank you very much Paula & Jerry for providing funds to buy Bibles to distribute in this area. 

It is really a God given opportunity for all of us to enjoy the fellowship, edify the congregation and evangelize the village. We praise God for this opportunity. 

We knocked almost all the doors in this village and distributed gospel tracts and held Bible studies. We invited those interested people to come and worship with the local congregation. We hope our efforts will help the local congregation to gain more souls as the local ministers do a follow up.  

Description of Photos: Clink here to see the pictures listed below.
1. L. Rama Rao, VVBC graduate the local preacher
2. Bibles Being distributed to the Graduates who are working as ministers in that area
3. Preachers in Vijayanagarm area receiving Bibles
4. Balaram, on of the faculty receiving Bibles, these will be distributed to those who were newly added to the Church
5. gospel 1,During the night gospel meeting
6. gospel 2, while going into the streets with good news
7. gospel 3, People who received the tracts they study them...
8. gospel 4, preaching out in the streets
9. gospel 5, gospel tracts being distributed door to door
10. John Dean preaching during the day.

Thank you very much for your kind cooperation in running this school successfully. Please convey our greetings to the Elders, also to the brethren at Bear Valley. 

Brotherly,

John Dean Muppidi
Skinner's Garden Bible School
Visakha Valley Bible College
Church of Christ
Andhra Pradesh,  INDIA
Cell: 091 - 9989922844