Steven and Willie left Accra on Saturday, the 11th of August and returned on Tuesday the 14th of August. The objective of the trip was to deliver a new copier to CBS, worship with the Nyiveme church of Christ and to discuss the needs of CBS. During our visit we had the opportunity to teach the Bible class and preach.
Denominational Preacher forced to resign
Piere, a couple of weeks ago was preaching for a denominational church in Avetonu, near Kpalime. He heard of the teachings of the Church of Christ and decided to investigate. Upon visiting the church, he was handed a tract which addressed the issue of the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament. After carefully studying the tract, he decided to teach his congregation, and this was the beginning of his predicament. He was accused of teaching a false doctrine and subsequently summoned to appear before the council of elders and the founder of the Church. As a result of the incident, he was asked stop preaching. On my recent trip, I met Piere when he came to worship with the Nyiveme congregation. Cephas is seriously teaching him the way more perfectly. Lets continue to pray for Piere Kanyika.
CBS News
Students and staff of CBS conducted a two day door knocking exercise at Kpadape near Kpalime. There were 11 preachers who participated in this outreach program. Several tracts were distributed and many contacts made. As a result of the exercise a family is visiting and engaged in studies. David is making all efforts to reach out to all the contacts in Kpadape. The future of the church looks very bright. All they need is permanent place of worship. Two men were baptized recently.
Brethren are considering starting a new work in s village called Atiyi. Initial contact has been made and the village chief has offered a place for the church to build a meeting place.
The Nyiveme church now has a membership of 43. The congregation is involved in home bible studies with a couple of prospects.
The radio program has continued with Cephas and Jean doing the preaching. Several continue to make contact and extend an invitation to the Church of Christ to plant a congregation in their villages. Truly, the brethren have more than they can handle now. God is using the radio program to reach many.
CBS Interview
The interview date was on the 17th of August. I arrived in Kpalime at about 10 pm on Tuesday the 16th. The interview started at 9 am with entrance exams in the French language and later a couple of Bible questions were presented to test their Bible knowledge.
There were 22 persons present but only 17 passed the exam and interview. Three brethren will be added later to bring the number to 20.
Out of the 20 who will start classes in September eight (8) are from the church of Christ and 12 are denominational “pastors” and leaders. If we can’t get them to sit and listen to the truth preached to them, we have devised this strategy to teach them in our classroom. We are using CBS as evangelism too. Our track record shows that this has worked twice. Our goal is to convert all of them by the end of the first year. The interview ended at about 6:30 pm.
Beme campaign for Christ
Seventeen (17) left Kpalime on Friday morning at 9:30 am for Kpele Beme. The campaign was scheduled to begin on the 19th of August and end on the 21st. We used my car to convey the PA system and some of the preachers. The preachers who had bikes used them to convey other preachers. We arrived there in about an hour, and quickly had to visit one of the elderly men in the Beme congregation, who led us to greet the chief. After that, we paired and went into the town to conduct Bible studies.
There were 154 contacts during the two days of personal work from house to house and in the market places. There was public preaching each night. During worship on Sunday, there were a few visitors among whom one was baptized. The church now has several prospects to keep the preacher and members busy till the end of the year.
I did the preaching that morning using Romans 8:28 to encourage both Christians and visitors. Since the Beme congregation does not have a meeting place and were using someone’s living room, we decided to rent a canopy. Provision was made to provide two meals each day during the campaign.
CBS re-opens on 12th September
We have decided to start 2011-2012 academic years on the 12th of September. We are grateful to the Gabriel Oaks Church of Christ for their commitment to the process of training these men to preach the gospel of Christ. In spite of the financial crisis worldwide, they have remained committed, and for these we are thankful.
Willie Gley