The Joy Of Growth... God Is Blessing Tanzania

Greetings Fellow Workers: 

What a joy it is to greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today is His Day, a day we can all come together as His family to worship the one and only true and living God. Today in Arusha we were blessed with a great Bible lesson by our brother Christopher Mwakabanje and a supper sermon from our brother David Kalaba. It is so wonderful to be part of a worship where we start on time and we pay little attention to the end time. We sing every verse of almost every song, and with many of the Ki-Swahili songs we sing each verse twice. When worship was over and we had prayed for the seven souls  who responded to the invitation, one (John Sulle) surrendering his life to God and was baptized into Christ (Rom. 6) they made the announcements. At the end of the announcements, we sang two more songs, every verse, it was simply the best!

This past week was such a delight. I was blessed to visit with a number of our evangelists who reported much good news in their respective works. In the two months Stephanie and I were away, souls were saved in the Kioga, Kisongo, Arusha, Maji ya Chai, Manyire, Mearoni, Ushirombo, Monduli, Monduli Juu, Mbauda, Kwarombo congregations as well others. The work of the Kingdom continues to grow and grow as the Lord continues to bless His servants here in TZ. 

With your continue prayers, God’s continued blessings, and with the united efforts to all the co-workers in the Lord’s Church here in Tanzania, many souls will continue to come to know God as their God and Jesus as their Savior!

Request: Thank you Brian Horner for the donation of 150 glass communion cups. Brothers and Sisters we need 150 more. Can you help? If so, please let me know!

Also, campaign time is upon us. We would like to purchase 1,000 Bibles, English and Ki-Swahili for use throughout this year. If you would like to help in the effort, you can send your gifts to the Kensington Woods Church and mark your gift “Bibles for Africa” they will insure the funds get to us. Thank you all and God bless your kindness and generosity. 

Note: $5 will put the Bible in the hands of one soul! $50 will put God’s Word in the hands of 10 souls! $500 will bless the lives of no less than 100 lost souls and some will become saved children of God! 

We close with joy and gratitude in our hearts, for the life God has blessed us with, for the friends and co-workers God has blessed us with, and most of all for the spiritual blessing we share in Christ Jesus. To God be all the glory, great things He has and He continues to do through the faithful few. 

In Him, 
Cy & Stephanie

The Mountain Of The Lord...

Nepal, located between China and India, is home to about 23 million people. Eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains are found in Nepal. Mt. Everest alone contains 240 peaks over 20,000 feet above sea level. It is a scenic land popular with tourists and adventurers. 

However, Jerry Bates and I left the USA Jan. 13 because of another mountain, referred to in scripture as “the mountain of the Lord’s house,” (Isa; 2; Micah 4).  Both these contemporary prophets picture people of all nations going up the mountain of the Lord to be taught of God and walk in His ways.  

This passage prophesies, or prefigures the house, kingdom or church of the Lord composed of all nations. It is a description of God’s blessings through Christ and of world evangelism. After spending a night in Delhi, India, we flew to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, a city of 3 million. Kathmandu has become a center of evangelism for the country of Nepal. 

Jerry Golphenee, a dentist, and his wife have lived in Kathmandu for 14 years. Though he helps people through his dental practice, his greater service is in guiding them to blessings in Jesus Christ. Jerry recognized a need for the Nepali Christians to be trained to teach their own people. 

As a result of Jerry’s efforts, Nepali brethren, together with the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, began the Nepal Center for Biblical Studies the first week of January, 2010. Gajendra Deshar and Jerry Golphenee teach most of the classes, but are increasingly assisted by other brethren. Gajendra is also the Director. 

The students attend classes for about 88 weeks of comprehensive Bible study and training for two years. On weekends they assist local congregations by teaching classes, preaching, and helping to establish programs for church growth. Most Nepalis are all extremely poor and their abilities to earn a living are limited. Therefore, plans are being made to give each student the tools to be able to provide adequately for himself and his family. Some of the men who live in the rural areas will receive “gifts” and training of livestock and agriculture methods. Others who live in urban areas will receive appropriate vocational training, such as plumbing, solar energy, computers, welding, etc. Each man receiving a “gift” will be required to “share his gift” with another Christian family within the first year of his work. This vocational training is critical so that the gospel can spread and the church, with very limited resources, will not be burdened. 

People will continue to come to Nepal to see the beauty of its mountains, some to back-pack, a few to try to scale the heights of even Mt. Everest. That is all temporary and temporal, however. Of far greater importance is to see the people of Nepal, who have been wandering aimlessly in the wilderness of false hope, now be able reach the heavenly heights in and through Jesus Christ. 

—Gary Fallis  

Report of Bear Valley Extension in Nepal
Every year in Nepal there is a five week national holiday (called Dashain) sometime in late September and most of October. The exact dates are determined by a Hindu priest according to the full moon. The students went home on September 24 and returned to school at the end of October. This was their first holiday and home visit since the school opened on January 4, 2010.

During August and September we spent some time discussing and planning how the students could encourage, teach and motivate their brothers and sisters at their home congregations. This was to be a family visit and also a spiritual mission outreach. Our students went to their villages high in the mountains to the north, low in the jungles to the south, east to a large city and just outside Ring Road right here in Kathmandu. This outreach touched much of Nepal. 

In addition to the students doing the Lord’s work in various villages, three men from Kathmandu went out to four areas {3-5 days each area} to assist the students in their evangelism and to strengthen the members. Gajendra Deshar, the school director, Kirish Maharjan and Deepak Deshar were these three men who spent about 50 hours on buses, slept in strange beds or on the floor, and labored to train and guide the students in a joint effort to mature the Lord’s church in Nepal. They were warmly and lovingly received and begged to return by grateful brothers and sisters. This is one of our major goals becoming a reality—Nepali leaders will evangelize Nepal. 

Donnie Bates arrived Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, attended service in a Tamang village on Sunday morning {after an hour’s “jeep ride” and a half-mile uphill walk}, and also preached Sunday evening at the Nepal Center for Biblical Studies. On Monday morning he began his classes on prayer. Don Prather was our first guest teacher in July, and Donnie was the second. Their excellent teaching, their example of love and service, and the inspiration from the supporting and contributing congregations have touched the minds and hearts of the church in Nepal.

Jerry Bates and Gary Fallis came January 15, 2011 and shared the teaching for one week. Jerry taught about the organization and worship of the church in the morning. Gary taught about the establishment of the church in the afternoon. They were here in the coldest part of the year, with no heat in the hotel or in the school. Despite the cold, they taught clearly and reinforced their teaching by discussion with ample opportunity for questions. The students bonded with them from the very first day. 

We had an evangelistic campaign three weeks after Jerry and Gary left. The results were good, and we have plans for another in April. This time we will walk three to four miles in the low jungle area to reach a village that has an attendance of about 70 local villages every Sunday.   

The progress of our seven students has been very encouraging. In a country of low literacy, where memorization is the educational standard and accepting what your superior teaches without question, one of our goals was to help the students know “how to learn.” Men who have been preachers for many years are saying, “I want to learn to preach sermons like these students give.”   

—Gajendra Deshar 

God Is Able 
Last September at the Bear Valley Retreat in Denver, CO, we focused on Eph. 3:20. As 2010 comes to an end, I can say that I have seen God’s unmatched power work through His servants to produce fruits “abundantly beyond all that we ask or think”. We have a long way to go. There is much more to accomplish. Because of the efforts of too many to name in America, joined with the work of many in Nepal, and blessed by the power of a gracious God, loving Savior, and guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have made a great start and are headed in the right direction. Please remember us in your prayers. 

—Jerry Golphenee

Cold Weather, Baptisms, and Birthdays

Greetings dear brethren, 

February for our Institute was quite eventful. First of all, a few words about the weather. During the last three weeks in Ukraine we have been having some low temperatures (15-25 below zero in Celsius). It is not extremely low temperature but added to the high humidity it is hard to withstand this cold. Due to this it was rather cold in the building but we hope that March will be warmer.  

Recruiting events
On first Sunday in February some students and I went to the church of Christ in Donetsk (Petrovsky district). It’s one of the largest congregations numerically. They have three elders, some deacons and preachers. We were able to do the BV presentation and establish a good connection with this congregation.

Also during this month we were able to visit church of Christ in Rubezhnoe (Lugansk region). It is a home congregation for our second year student Anatoly Chebotar. I preached there at Sunday service and also told them about the BV work. Some men were interested in our Institute. Please pray for our prospective students.

In the beginning of March our students will go to the conference in Kiyv and we made arrangements with the stuff of the event to give them the floor and do our presentation.   

I assume that information about our Institute is available to all churches of Christ in Ukraine. We try and tell about our work and encourage Christians who want to serve in the Lord’s Kingdom to come to us.

Time after classes in the Institute
Our students have already established some traditions and thanks to them they are able to feel like a part of big family. One of these traditions is birthday parties. This month we had 3 of them, including a birthday of the Instructor. In February we congratulated Stas and Helen as well as our Instructor Albert.

Also we have a very nice time at the gym. If you have never seen men and women playing soccer together you have to come to Ukraine. Also in my opinion we have very powerful, interesting and edifying youth group meetings that take place in our building. For a time being there had been mostly our students present but recently to our great joy some young people to Gorlovka joined us.

On February 14th the central congregation in Gorlovka baptized two young men Bogdan and Aleksey. They obeyed the Gospel and brother Stas baptized them. Also we had evangelical events on February 14th and 22nd.

At present, brothers Viktor Semikoz, Albert Bagdasaryan and I are teaching. The first year class has 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles and Minor Prophets. The second year has 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Hebrews.

We also have sad news about our first year student Alexander. We had to let him go due to his unchristian lifestyle.  First of all, he failed more than half of the courses he took. Secondly, he continued to live in sin (smoking, alcohol and constant lying). After numerous talks to him we had to make him leave the program. Please pray that he repents and stays in the church.

If you have comments, questions or suggestions I am always ready to hear you out. Thank you, brethren, for your support and your prayers. We try very hard to make sure that the Lord’s money is used in the right way. Paul was very appreciative of the work that had been done for him in Macedonian churches (2 Cor. 8:3). We too are very thankful for the opportunity to train the church leaders for the congregations in Ukraine.

Your brother in Christ, 

Dennis.

Nigerian Growth Through Suffering...

Beloved,

Students go out every weekend and come back with good news.

I met well with brother Douglas at Ibadan on 15th February 2011. There I was given an opportunity to speak during a seminar organized by one new church the next day, 16th February 2011. I spoke after brother Douglas' speech and our Lord added one soul to the church. It was interesting. Douglas is really good. He payed for my trips to Ibadan and back home. He even supported my leadership seminars financially and gave me a carton of complete small bibles for my new converts. He welcomed me graciously, received my reports and demonstrated fatherly love. I think he should have gone back to the States today.

When I came back from Ibadan, instead of going to the new church, I went to the church at Ameata-Ozizza (the church that a preacher messed up) with four strong youths. Our ministerial students visit this area on weekend. It was amazing to the youths. The youths saw what I and some ministerial students have been suffering to reach lost souls. They were touched and were persuaded to confess that they will be glad to be going out with me. Beloved, I was really glad and encouraged to receive the reactions of the youths last Sunday and hope to achieve my target of persuading the young men to love the profession of preaching and working for God. Continue to pray for that. However, it cost me much to go out with them such far. Many of them were fainting in hunger. They have to be fed including myself and fueling. Worship there was fantastic and brethren at Amaeta were highly encouraged with the efforts of bringing young men to such a far country, knowing what it means to visit that area.

For my family, the CSMT church and CSMT everything is okay. I only had a little breakdown after the far journey to Ibadan but I got well on Saturday to start work on Sunday. My family is still looking onto God for His blessing of baby from now. Please pray for my wife's safe delivery this month or next. 

We made it out to the new church today. Our consistent efforts are to solidify the faith of the new converts including the converted Pastor. It may be very dangerous to convert and fail to do a reasonable work on their faith. The efforts are yielding much fruits. Today, we had ONE BAPTISM and the new church called us back to the place of worship to entertain us after the baptism. That was the first time since we have been going out for missionary work.

Most interestingly, my first son who is about five years old went with us and demonstrated the spirit of a missionary to be. I was personally glad for him because that is what I am praying for, willing son(s) to take my place in the gospel ministry when I am no more. Even last Sunday, he went out with us for a missionary trip to Uburu Ohaozara Church of Christ- about 3 hours journey from Abakaliki. Join me to pray that God will hear my prayers for the willingness of my son(s) to continue the gospel work I do.

My car is becoming very old that it always keeps us stranded on the way almost every time because of one fault or the other. The car has served me in the work for six good years. It goes to any interior part of the Ebonyi state and beyond. I pray that God will help me to replace it with new one for His work. Help me to pray as I make personal arrangements.

Continue to pray for the work. The Lord is wonderfully great with what we try to do for Him in our areas. We pray that the supporters of His work should be highly recognized by Him. Let all that supporters who secretly support God's work be rewarded openly by God in Jesus name, Amen.

Reuben in His Service. 

Nepali Campaign...

Dear respected brothers in Christ,

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

Every day is the happiest and blessings each day for God’s people in His kingdom. We all are using our good time and effort in our school. The month of February was so good to all our students and other local congregations. All our students are studying hard in classes. They are doing their best in their learning process. They are progressing much. They are improving every day. Brother Bharat, Dev, Suka, Surya, Jeet and Surya are fine with their families. 

Brother Mike York and Gage Coldwater had visited NCBS in February. Their participation and classes went much better than our expectation. Lessons are very simple, practicable and useful to all congregations. We had gone for campaign work on 4th - 8th at Tanahu district (out of Kathmandu valley), which is almost 6 hours by bus travel. We all students, staffs and some of the valley preachers had work together for that campaign work. It was really encouraged to all. 

After three weeks we are going to give three weeks holidays for our students. On that holiday they will spend with their family and local congregation. All their children’s school will have holidays in this early summer. So that, there will be much benefit for them to be with their children and family members. They will do some of the useful Bible study program in their local congregation. Please kindly pray for our students and their family members.  

Thank you.

Servant of Christ…Gajendra Desha

God's Increase To Chimala Evangelism

I returned to the Chimala Mission after a three-week stint in the States conducting gospel meetings and raising money for the Chimala Bible Institute. One of the main focuses of CBI is evangelism.

The students visited Sumbawanga and baptized a total of ten people. In Ilemi, three people were baptized. Two people were baptized in Welu and one person in Mbuyuni. A total of eighteen people were baptized.

Every weekend, a group of students goes out to a different village with an established congregation for the purpose of evangelism. The students go from house to house encouraging people to come to the Saturday night gospel meeting. They also hold Bible studies and invite the villagers to the Sunday morning worship service.

In January, the students visited Sumbawanga and baptized a total of ten people. In Ilemi, three people were baptized. Two people were baptized in Welu and one person in Mbuyuni. A total of eighteen people were baptized.

In February, three people were baptized in Vwawa and three people in Matebete. One person was baptized in Uzinje and five more people were baptized in Sumbawanga. A total of fourteen people were baptized.

These efforts resulted in a combined total of 32 baptisms within two months. It is evident the student's work in evangelism and their application of their studies at Chimala Bible Institute is very fruitful.

CBI is currently conducting its two-week short courses. This week, Brent is teaching John while I teach Christian Ethics. Next week, Brent will teach Christian Evidences and I will teach I, II Timothy and Titus. The students are thoroughly enjoying these classes and look forward to the new quarter beginning March 14th.

A typical Wednesday evening is likewise evangelistic. I went out on March 2nd to the Chosi A congregation with the short-course teacher, Brent Smith, Rebecca Benson, the CBI Librarian, and Atupikisye Mwakyasima, a woman student at CBI. Lai, a CBI instructor, preached a sermon on the oneness of baptism, while Rebecca and Atupikisye taught the children. Fifteen children were present and eager to listen. Atupikisye masterfully taught the creation account in Genesis 1, thoroughly engaging the young children in her lesson. It was her first time teaching a chidren's class.

Continue to remember us in your prayers as we train the preachers and teachers of the next generation in Tanzania and Malawi.

God Bless, 

Garry L. Hill
Administrator
Chimala Bible Institute

Hard Work, Sacrifice, Weddings... Just Cambodia

Dear fellow workers in Christ, 

I humbly greet you with information concerning God's work in Siem Reap for the month of February. God continues to bless this work by adding to His church two more souls for this month. Not only does He add numerically, but He adds spiritually as well. I am witnessing the fruit of the Spirit bearing in our brothers and sisters in Christ here in Cambodia. 

This month, the students from Siem Reap, along with church members at Takam village got together to fix the road that leads to where the church meets at Takam village. Every year, the rainy season washes away the road which makes it difficult  for the villagers to travel. So we got together and dug dirt from the side of the road and transport it to fill the huge holes. It took us two weekends to complete the road. We had men, women, and children all helping to get it done for the benefit of the community. 

We definitely fulfilled Matthew 5:16! The village chief there appreciates our hard work and praises the church for it, giving glory to God. Choeuy is doing a wonderful job at Takam. He is to be commended for his hard work and sacrifice. His father's death is what motivates him to continue to preach the gospel to those who have not obeyed. He is a very mature young man and a powerful preacher of God's word. 

Sokchea is doing a wonderful job at Leang Dai as well. I don’t know if you all know how much Sokchea sacrifices to accept the challenge of working in Leang Dai. He had an opportunity to work in Siem Reap where it's modern and easy living, but instead chose to do "mission" work in the village. He is applying what he learned from IBISR and is immersing himself in the 'village culture' so that they can accept him. He's been a great example as God's faithful servant and doing wonderful things for the Lord there. He is planning to be engaged to his long time girlfriend Pisey this month so please keep him in your prayers. 

Speaking of marriage, Darat, one of our staff will be marrying Saray next month! We are very excited. I can go on and on about each one of our leaders and the good work that they do but you just have to come witness it yourself to see what God is doing here in Cambodia. We are growing according to plan. If we continue to grow at this rate, we will have sound elders, teachers and preachers in 20 years!  I can’t wait to see this happen twenty years from now. 

I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful work and I thank God and you all for your support in making this a reality. I hope and pray that we can continue our partnership for 20 plus more years. Speaking of growth, our staff will have the opportunity to grow by participating in our 2nd annual lectureship that will take place on March 26-27.  This is part of the local congregation's work in edifying the body of Christ. I can’t wait to report of the outcome to you all next month! 

More exciting news is that my parents from America have come to visit me and their grand daughter! I had the chance to spend about a week with them in Phnom Penh and it was truly great to see them again. God is so good to me and my family. As they will stay for about 3 months. I am back in Siem Reap now. Even though I know the work in Siem Reap will continue to operate as normal when I am not there, I still miss my family in Christ in Siem Reap. Thank you all for taking the time to read of the work here in Cambodia. I hope that you will check back next month and continue to see God's wonderful work here in this little third world country!

To read the report, complete with pictures, please visit Phanat's blog. 

Phanat-

News Worthy...

Each week the news continues to pour in and it is worthy of our time to read. I appreciate all of those who send reports during the month to keep us informed concerning the work. This week is no exception to the news around the world.

The North India Bible College in Chandigarh held graduation just over a week ago. Studies continue to bear fruit with the work being done by the students in Cameroon. The works in Arusha, Tanzania and Siem Reap, Cambodia are proving beneficial to the growth of the Lord’s church. The news is all below.

Take a few minutes to read through the reports from the schools listed below. Also, take a moment to read the updates from the coordinators. The work of the past, present and future makes it more and more exciting to share in this marvelous effort.  

Coordinator Updates

Reports from the coordinators are now located on the website, under Staff Reports. The address is /extension-schools/

Howell and Mary Ferguson are preparing to return to the work in Gorlovka, Ukraine this week. The following address is a link to Howell’s latest report: l/howell-ferguson-reports/

Donnie Bates report about Honduras and Guatemala can be read at the following address: /donnie-bates-reports/

Extension Reports

Major Campaign Planned: The news from Cameroon on the involvement of the students in reaching out to the people in the Southwest Region of Cameroon emphasizes the power of the good news. Read more.

Fields White Unto Harvest: Earnest Gill's report about the Lectureship and Graduation show potential for the church in the Northern Region of India.

Three Congregations, One Country...Cambodia: The work is growing in Cambodia. Chann's report brings encouragement to the growth in three congregations in Cambodia.

The Joy Of The Mission Field: At times the perspective of men on the field identifies the joy of mission work. Cy Stafford shares news from Arusha.

Growing Through Studies In Arusha: Jimmy Gee's report continues to show the progress of the work in Arusha.

Final Thoughts

I hope you will take a moment to pray each day for the work in the extension program. The work is exciting. It is growing. Perhaps above all, it glorifies our God. 

Thank you for your diligence in making sure the Lord’s kingdom continues to grow. Thank you for your vision of training men to preach. I believe, with all my heart, this is the most powerful way to fulfill the Great Commission.

You make it possible, and I know I can speak on behalf of everyone in the program when I say your effort is making a difference. Please know I pray for you everyday. I love you. I love this work and I love reporting to you about it.

God bless
Bob

Three Congregations, One Country...Cambodia

Greeting from Siem Reap Cambodia  

I would like to share some informations about the work in Cambodia.

Leang Dai

The church in Leang Dai is doing alright and we are very proud of a new Christian brother over there who was baptized about a month ago. He is studying hard from the bible and teaching the word of God to his friends and crew who work with him in a brick factory.

He always gets some questions from his friends and then he comes by to see Sokchea and Revy trying to get answers to answer to them.

Keep your pray for one the members in Leang Dai. Her name is Srey Mao who has suffered of her illness for over a year and now she feel better from day to day after we took her to one of the hospitals in Phnom Penh.

Now she is recommended by the doctor to go to see the doctor once a month every month.

Takam

The church there is also doing alright. Recently, Cheuy asked us as the church and school from the city to participate in helping to build the road after it was destroyed by the flood during the rainy season. The head of village over there requested the local church there to help, which just a good thing to help because it is a benefit to the church there and also a good example to the people there.

Siem Reap City

The church is doing fine. Now we encourage to all of the members to participate in spreading the gospel to friends neighbors and relatives as well. By doing that we got some good results from our orphanage (Hannah's hope) that orphans invited their friends to come to church and there are some young ladies who became Christians.

I have scheduled to teach them every Sunday evening also. Now I am working to contact another orphanage just cross from the house I rent trying to volunteer to teach English and especially the word of God.

Also on 26-27 of March we will have an annual of our lectureship that would be in the school building in Siem Reap. We invited the leaders of the church of Christ from Phnom Penh and TNT as well to participate.

All in all we have lots of work to prepare for and especially the evangelism.

In His name

Chann

Fields White Unto Harvest...

5^th North India Preachers’ lectureship Chandigarh and the North India Bible College, graduation ceremony went very well. Prior to the Lectureship we had no fellowship with each other and it seemed as there were no work in the Northern part of India. Again 70+ people from 9 states Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab, Bihar, UP, MP, Orissa, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand attended this lectureship. It shows that in the Northern India the Church is very much active and is growing strong.

We have graduated 42 people so far who are serving in these states. New works are established across Northern India.   

Few brothers could not attend this year because of their personal reasons, but overall the lectureship was rejuvenating. It was felt that the brethren now wait for this day each year. It has become an important event for a North Indian Preacher. Few preachers brought their wives also and Sister. Benu took them aside for a women’s fellowship. We had no room for them in the building, we hired, so they gathered in a nearby Park. I believe that a preacher is handicapped without the support of his wife and his wife is equally important for his work. Keeping this in mind we think we should have preachers’ wives’ lectureship in the near future or at least involve them in this great event. 

The day and the subject for next year are already fixed. NIPL Chandigarh-2012 will be on Feb. 16 and 17, 2012. And the book of 1 John will be studied. This way we can fix the things in advance as this time because of the late announcement we had trouble in finding suitable place for the lodging. Speakers this time included: Francis David (New Delhi), Amul Bansod (Aurangabad, Maharashtra), Ernest Singh (Agra, UP), Peter Singh (Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh), Julius Hembrom (Bhopal, MP), Vinay David (New Delhi), Russell Bell (Topeka), Bobby Peyton. Brother John O’ Neal could not attend the lectureship because of his ill health. He stayed in Chennai, but was missing this as he is present always. Brother Russell Bell presented 3 different lessons during the lectures and 1 in the graduation ceremony. 

With the closing of the ceremony we have announced the opening of new session. Students have started coming. 2 from Chhattisgarh have already reached and invitation to other places has also been sent.  

Names of those who could complete the course this time are:

               Pancha Nan Bag (Orissa)

               Rachel (Punjab)

               Love Mathew (Punjab)

               Sukh Mathew (Punjab)

               Lakhwinder Masih (Punjab) 

Field work
Apart from this our other efforts to enhance the work are continued. Every preacher of the Lord’s church is deeply involved in this great effort. Gandhi once said that India lives in Villages, and it is very much true. The real India lives in villages. Before graduation we took students to brother Salatial’s place, 250 kms. from here. It is near the Pakistan international Border. They visited houses and the villages, arranged a gospel meeting where I Preached.  They enjoyed in the village ministry. Met people, prayed with them and taught them. 

Daily outreach and cottage meetings
It is our daily routine to go to people and share with them the word of God. On Mondays Benu has ladies’ class in our home, on Wednesday we have Bible study. 

First Wednesday
Each month on the first Wednesday we invite people and preachers from the state to have fellowship and share their experience as they labor for the Lord. 

Free SMS Service
Sending a daily Bible verse was started in November last year with 200 SMS and has touched 1,000 marks in just a few months. This service was started keeping in view the people of unbelieving India. We thought to send each day one verse’ related to people and that way they will be allowed to know about the Bible. We get telephone calls from all over India. Some are interested in Bible study; some ask for prayer, some forward that massage and some give more contacts to reach the unreached. It has been a real blessing that we have been instrumental in feeding this much people are fed by the word of God daily.  

Bible Ki Baat
Recently we have started a new service called BIBLE KI BAAT (Let the Bible Say). In this service a brief, personal letter is planned to print with a Bible topic on an inland letter. This is cheaper than the regular letter. We send an inland letter and fix postal stamps on it and send each month to various people. This way we can send 12 different articles a year.

In the first step, we have already sent 1,000 letters in January and are planning to print 3,000 more. Presently we have 4,000 addresses in our list, nationwide. Understanding that we can reach more souls by this kind of tiny, simple and easy to digest weapon in lesser time. we want to fill the people’s mind with Apostles’ Doctrine.  A letter would cost us Rs. 6 (approx $0.14). For 4,000 letters at least we will need $600 each month. We want to involve people in that and ask your prayer for this ministry. 

Booklets and Tracts
We had translated and printed why I am a Member of the Church of Christ (Leroy Brownlow) and Some Things you Should Know in Hindi, Things Eternally Important (Charles F. Scott), Understanding New Testament Christianity (Charles F. Scott), 10 Simple Rules to Understand the Bible (Charles F. Scott) and Bridge of Life in Hindi and Punjabi languages. All these are helpful for the brothers in their evangelism work. We helped preachers with the Bibles, song books and these booklets, and the Truth for Today literature as well. Again this year 25,000 Hindi copies, and 3,000 Punjabi copies of the Indian version of Becoming a faithful Christ were distributed throughout India.

Brother Peter Singh from Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) telephoned that he needs 500 more copies of Understanding New Testament Christianity. 

World Video Bible School
We have English and Hindi video lessons from the WVBS. We show to the regular students. We have encouraged the local people to learn that but sometimes they discontinue after some time. I plan to offer them certificate of participation once they complete the course. Hopefully this will work well. We had started that a few years ago with an old TV. This TV is not working well. Sometimes the picture comes and sometimes the audio. We need a good TV with big screen where about 20 people can sit together and watch the classes. Please Pray for that.

More
Requests for Bibles, tracts from the brothers are received as they know that we help with this material. We get requests for the Bible correspondence course in Hindi language as well printed more that 5,000 request cards and sent to different people. The names of those who respond are forwarded to the local Church of Christ preachers for follow up. Voice of Truth International (Hindi) is proposed to start.

Earnest Gill and familyPlease pray that the Lord may provide a permanent place to operate these good works for His glory. We are facing problem where we have class rooms as well as with our living quarters. People have difficulty that we use residential accommodation for the church activities and our house owner wants us to vacate after February 28th. It is matter of real concern for us as we lose peace of mind with this kind of obstacles. It hurts Lord’s work.

Help for the work can be sent in the name of CHURCH OF CHRIST paid in Chandigarh and sent to Earnest Gill, 5721A, Sector 38-west, Chandigarh-160014, India 

Growing Through Studies In Arusha...

Dear Supporters, Family, and Friends,

One of the many blessings of living here is the constant beautiful weather.  You may doubt the word "constant" but truly, in my opinion, it is.  Most of the year consists of one warm, sunny day after another.  Any rainy days are wonderful and welcomed also (because we need it so badly).  In the "winter" here (May, June and July), it's a little cooler like Fall to Americans and guess what...we love it, too.

This morning, Trina woke up feeling dizzy due to some inner ear trouble. Since moving her head in any direction was beginning to make her nauseous, she took an allergy pill and stayed home.  

Studies with Katherine went well as usual.  Chapter 4 ("The Bible Predicts the Future") in How do You Know the Bible is from God  (by Apologetics Press) was the focus of our study.  When we arrived at the other study, Agness was not home (probably due to a mix-up about rescheduling).  So we visited with Therasia and she will resume studies this week.

All is well on the home-front.  The kids are super-excited that their cousin, Steven and their Grandpa are planning to visit in May...for a whole month!  They both will be involved in teaching, preaching, personal Bible studies, devotionals, handy-man work (Grandpa) and anything else we can find for them to do.

Jimmy will begin teaching the first-year students the subject of Genesis and Greek I this week. Lindsey and Abigail plan to attend the Genesis class. His study with Lembris and Rosemary continues. He was reminded in the last study of some very important things. In trying to help them grow as new Christians, he made an agreement with them that they would begin reading some portion of Scripture everyday and that they would hold each other accountable for doing so. Part of that agreement was that they write down any questions that they have and Jimmy would try to answer those questions at the next study. 

One of Lembris’ questions was along these lines. He had read in Matthew concerning the baptism of Jesus by John the baptizer. But, he also knew that John was one of the disciples of Jesus. His question was “How can John baptize Jesus and then become one of His disciples.” You probably already see Lembris’ problem. He was assuming that John the Baptizer and John the Apostle were one and the same person. Once it was explained to him that these were two different people he understood. 

This reminded Jimmy of two things. One, it is a wondrous thing to start teaching someone who is a “clean slate” so to speak, with very little knowledge of the Bible. Even the “little things” are new to them such as the very identity of the characters of the Bible. In that way they are like the small children in Bible class with minds just waiting to be filled with the Truths of Scripture. Lembris is always stating his thanks to Jimmy at the end of each study for his taking the time to help him to grow. Two, it reminded Jimmy of the blessing of having been “raised” in the Church with a Christian family to support him and help him become a Christian and grow as one. Without that start in life he would not be what and where he is today.

Lembris and Rosemary (as well as many millions in the world) never had that chance. We thank God Lembris and Rosemary can start afresh and that their children will know the blessing of being brought up in a Christian home. It is you, our supporters, who make this all possible for these good people.

We are thankful to have our brother Cy Stafford back safely with us after over two months of furlough and reporting. Please pray for his wife Stephanie and her mother Exel Aultman as Exel recovers from surgery with hopes of both of them coming to Tanzania in late March.

In Christ,

The Gee’s

The Joy Of The Mission Field...

Greetings Fellow Workers,

It is with great joy in my heart and with much thanksgiving that I write this Short Report. Having been on furlough for several weeks getting some much needed grand children bonding, presenting and reporting on the good work God is doing here in Tanzania, it is so good to be “home”. The only down side is my sweet bride is yet to follow. She has remained back to care for her mother who is recovering well from her last surgery. Thank you all for the many prayers, visits, cards and well wishes on Exel’s behalf. Prayers have been answered. 

Yesterday morning, having been up since 3:00 a.m. (you guessed it, jet lag), I was reminded of the great God and creator of this wonderful earth we are so privileged to be stewards of. I sat on the front porch and watched the sun rise over a blanket of clouds covering the eastern skies. I was also reminded of the fact it is indeed a privilege to be called a child of God and to be doing what we have been blessed to do, here in TZ among some of the most wonderful people I have ever known, anywhere. 

This morning I was again blessed beyond measure as I, along with the Kisongo congregation, was blessed in both the Bible class and in the worship hour by two fine lesson from two of our Andrew Connally School of Preaching students. The singing was so edifying! It was a joy to be a part of worship where “time” was not even a consideration. Three hours or so later more than 80 of God’s finest, exited the building, shacking the hand of each person. I guess you could say, Cy was really glad to be “home” (I know, I already said that). 

And just when I thought it could not get any better, I received a text from our brother Yusuph informing me of two new converts at Ushirombo. God has blessed his work here in East Africa on such a grand scale. Thank you all for making this work possible and for allowing God to work through you. To God be the glory, great things he continues to do! Be strong in the Lord and in His great might. 

In Him, Cy & Stephanie

Major Campaign Planned...

Dearest in Christ,

On the right is a family picture of the students and the director took with minister, Awum Nicholas. He visited them from Kumba, 80 kilometers away from Wotutu. He is also the adviser to the school as appointed by the director. He brought greetings from his local congregation and support to the students.

We send our love from Wotutu, the seat of the Cameroon Bible institute. We give many thanks to God for His love and protection over our lives here in Wotutu. I do hope you are also doing fine. We pray for you daily because of your commitment to the work of the Lord.

Let me bring before you what happened in Wotutu in CBIW in the cause of last week.

Monday was the beginning of long course exams for the students. All of them were present to take the exams. They have gone through three courses and the last one will be this 28th February and on the 1st of March they shall start the short courses where I and minister Abasiama will lecture with exams for 10 days and on the 11th of March the students will travel out of Wotutu for campaign. This first campaign is divided into two. Some students will go to other congregations to strengthen them while some, including me, will travel to an area far from Wotutu to plant a congregation in one of our student’s village. Many have been praying for that area to have a congregation, because it is a whole region without the church of Christ. So that will be our first campaign in view of planting a congregation there. Please remember us in your prayers for success and support.

The pics I will share with you show the great works the students are doing in Wotutu to houses close to the church hall and the residential home of the students. We are working on this slogan WOTUTU FOR JESUS. With boldness all homes are being visited by CBIW students every Saturday for visiting and evangelism. I arranged this so that the students will be friendly in this community and by doing so make converts for the Lord.

One denominational pastor who was the closest neighbor to the students left the apartment because he refuses to believe the truth from the students. His morning prayers SPEAKING IN TONGUES was the bone of contentions with the students, so he left untimely.

Brother Mbappe, a student preacher, administering baptism in Wotutu.Minister Awum Nicholas, who graduated from a Bible school in 1975, exhorts the students during chapel on the COST OF DISCIPLESHIP. He was most welcome to share his experiences since then till now in the ministry.

Below is brother Innocent baptizing another soul in Wotutu also. The church in Wotutu has started receiving the benefit of the school as the students visit them in their home on weekends and also others in the village. This is leading to the coming of first time visitors in our worship.

We are thankful to God for His grace. Please, we need to put more effort in Evangelism which is our goal in CBIW, but a lot needs to be put in place like the public address system to reach out to more people from a spot.

The picture below and right is of two sisters from the Wotutu congregation who came to the school from their farms with plantains, vegetables and tomatoes to give to the students.

Share this report with others. It may be God is preparing someone somewhere to use to accomplish some things in the mission efforts in Cameroon.

Our address remains in case you have some items to post to us. God will see you through. AMEN

Elangwe and Family.

By His grace, director CBIW

Walking The Talk...

We are familiar with the saying “talk the talk and walk the walk.” The idea reminds me of a quote from The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, “the video needs to match the audio.” Our actions need to measure up to our words.

As I read the reports each week from the various extension locations, I see application. The staff and students within the extension program are walking the talk. They practice what they preach and the Lord is giving the increase.

The reports this week share information regarding the very idea I am expressing. How encouraging it is to read about the campaigns shaking villages in Cameroon, appreciating and presenting students to the world for evangelism in India, and Bible studies growing in Arusha. This is what the work is all about.

It takes a few minutes to read through each of the reports, but the time is well worth it. Thank you for all you do for this work. I believe the results are obvious from the reports this week.

Coordinator Updates

Reports from the coordinators are now located on the website, under Staff Reports. The address is /extension-schools/

Donnie Bates is in Honduras. You can read the final report from his trip at the following address: /donnie-bates-reports/2011/2/17/edmond-ok-february-17-2011.html

Extension Reports

Okay, This Is Worth The Read: The work in Cameroon gets more exciting as each week goes by. The report about the evangelistic efforts from the Cameroon Bible Institute in Wotutu are worth reading.

Graduation Is Upon Us: Exciting news comes from the Visakha Bible College in India. Read more about the graduation plans in this report.

Rainy Days And Mondays... And The Studies Continue: The weather can have an amazing impact on the work, but the work goes on. Read more about the Jimmy Gee family and their report on the work in Tanzania.

Final Thoughts

My gratitude to God is overflowing. I am not sure whether I love reading these reports more or sharing them with you. Either way, it is exciting and I hope you continue to enjoy them as much as I do.

This work moves ahead because of the vision, generosity, and involvement of everyone in this program. Contributors, teachers, coordinators, encouragers, prayer warriors all come together to help make this work successful. Above all, glory belongs to our God and Savior.

Thank you for making it possible. I look forward to sharing more with you next week.

God bless
Bob

Rainy Days And Mondays, And The Studies Continue...

Dear Co-Laborers:

THREE BLIND MICE. Relax, I'm not telling anymore rat stories.  Just get the tune of "Three Blind Mice" in your head as you sing these lyrics:  "One tiny snake, one tiny snake, see how he slithers, see how he slithers.  Trina cut off his head with a butcher knife, threw him in the toilet and flushed him twice, one tiny snake, one tiny snake."  Trina is just as scared of snakes as the next "daughter of Eve" (example: Denise Rice) but she is more scared to let the little rascal live (I've heard that baby snakes can be even more dangerous than the adults).

SLIP SLIDING AWAY.  Shortly after we arrived at Agness' house (actually a one-room mud hut connected to many others) on Saturday, it came a downpour and we could hardly hear ourselves speak due to the rain hitting her tin roof. Seraphim was also there and joined us in our study about the Old Law and how Christ "nailed it to the cross."  Agnes had to look for the study booklet because she said her husband, Burtwell, had been reading it. We were glad to hear that and spoke to one of the men at church this morning about studying with Burtwell.  When Paulina (the translator), and Trina left to go to the next study, the words of Paul Simon echoed in our heads as we maneuvered the car on the muddy, slippery back roads.  

"PLEASE, don't tire of studying with me."  These words from Katherine win her the prize of being the most grateful person with whom we have studied so far.  She said she wants to learn as much as possible.  She's a wonderful mother who takes excellent care of her little infant son.  Therasia wasn't there for the study but most likely it was due to the rain.  To get to the study would require her to walk up and down a fairly steep hill with her baby on her back and it would be easy to fall. Paulina, was feeling sick (and had been feeling bad for several days) but continued to translate.  Many years ago, Paulina was involved in a terrible car wreck and was in bed for 6 months.  She suffered a crushed hip and had surgery on her arm.  As she lay in bed she made a promise to God, that if he would only let her walk again (doctors said she wouldn't) she would dedicate her life to serving him and teaching others.  Needless to say, she has kept her promise. 

CONTINUING HIS STUDY with Lembris and Rosemary, Jimmy taught them on Saturday morning concerning "The Need to Grow as Christians."  Lembris's worship attendance has been sporadic in the past few weeks.  This morning, after Jimmy's sermon, Lembris asked for forgiveness for the sin in his life.

WE ARE ENJOYING our visitors, Chad and John Wagner.  Mr. John seems to be fully recovered from his illness. Our daughter, Lindsey, said she really enjoyed taking Mr. Chad's short course on "Church History" because it was so interesting!  Both Chad and John have preached and taught classes both at Kisongo and Usa River these past couple of weeks. Abigail has been busy cooking for our guests. They leave on Monday to return home. Please pray for their safe travels. We are thankful they have been able to be with us.

MANY LADIES WERE more punctual than normal concerning their arrival at our Genesis class this morning.  Chapter 7 was our topic of study, focusing on the faith of Noah and his family to get into the ark when it wasn't raining.  The practical application for us is to have faith and obey God's commandments even when we can't see the reasoning.

MAY THE LORD BLESS and keep you as you serve Him "with all your heart, soul, strength and mind."

In Christian Love,

Jimmy Gee Family

Graduation Is Upon Us...

Master's students with instructor Gary FallisGreetings to you from Visakha Valley Bible College. The director of our school, my father, Samuel Raju sends his greetings to you. We are grateful to you brethren for all your efforts to evangelize the world especially India. We firmly believe the Bible School Program is one of the very effective tools to evangelize the world. 

Brother, by the grace of God and your prayers we are all doing fine, do hope you are doing well too. We thank you so much for your prayers. We are excited about the upcoming graduation.

On Graduation day, the program will be like this:  Program begins at 10:30 am. We shall have guest coming from the congregations in the city also the invitees of the graduates. Our honored guests will be from Bear Valley, those brethren will present diplomas and honor the students with medals.

Later we announce the outstanding students in 5 different categories.

1.      Scholar Award
2.      All Rounder student
3.      Singing Award
4.      Evangelism Award
5.      Improvement Award

We take the privilege to honor these students who performed their excellence in various fields during their two year school. They deserve this honor for their sacrifice to be 2 year regular students; several of them dedicated their time besides financial difficulties to manage their families. These would receive some kind of special gifts like a Bible Dictionary, Concordance, Amplified Bible etc., We have to present an appreciation certificate to the faculty of the school as well, you know they are part of this success.  This is our usual pattern of conducting the Graduation exercises.

New Batch Students: We are excited as the requests for enrollment into the next batch is coming in. All our current students are going recommend at least one student to the School. Which means we shall have another 16 or more students enrolling for the course. We shall have the admission test and interview on the last week of March. From the first week of April will shall begin teaching the regular classes to the freshers.

On the right is Brother Jerry bates teaching the Undergrad class.

Below and on the left are two pictures showing a recent baptism we had by one of our Master class student.

Invitation: We cordially invite you as our honorable guest to come and attend this very special occasion in the history of Church in Visakha area. Our school is the only one so far offering a 2 years (full-time) Preacher Training program in this area. It is certainly a great blessing for the Church in this area as well. It is the time to celebrate. We insist on your presence on this very special day.  16 graduates will be leaving school with a strong desire to carry out the gospel to the perishing people in their villages. Some of our students are already serving as preachers. It is the time to appreciate them and present them to the world that they are graduates of Visakha Valley Bible College, an extension school of BVBID.  We are looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Please convey our heartfelt gratitude to the Elders of Bear Valley Church of Christ. We pray that our Lord would bless them with many more years of Leadership.

Your brothers in Christ,

John Dean and Samuel Raju Muppidi

Okay, This Is Worth The Read!

Dearest in Christ ,

We are excited that you are doing great with all that you do for the Lord. Here in the Cameroon Bible Institute of Wotutu (CBIW) we send wonderful love from this end. We are thankful to God for His grace and mercy upon us here. Many students were sick in the course of this week which even affected some from going for the campaign, but we appreciate God for taking care of His own (1 Pt. 5:7).

We also thank God for the daily activities in our campus that went on well as we are finishing all our courses and doing a lot of revision with the students before examination this week that commence on the 24-28 February.

CBIW students, with the director, went out to Munyenge Church of Christ for 3 days evangelism and strengthening. This congregation is being led by one of our students. We give the glory back to God because we recorded another success to the glory of our KING.

The village was shaking with the pure gospel of Christ. Many came to listen, asked questions and accepted the gospel as the truth which had been hidden from them many years ago. Brother Innocent baptized another soul bringing the number of souls to four throughout the campaign. Please remember this congregation and the souls in your prayers so that as the days are going by many more seeds sowed by these students will grow to the glory of our King.

Munyenge is not very close to Wotutu. It is above 120 kilometers, so the hired van (bus) that took the students faced a lot of difficulties on the way, as you can see students trekking on some parts of the road that the van cannot move with students, causing a lot of delay and stress for the students who just left class. The gospel is for all was one motivation that keeps pushing us ahead to reach our destination.

Finally the students arrived at Munyenge late in the evening and started with open air preaching with the population in attendance doubting what is happening in their village with men dressed with black suits moving from one house to another inviting them to come over to the church hall for a public preaching that led to the baptism of the first soul.

The next day students continue their mission from house to house studying with people in their homes. This picture shows some CBIW students studying with a prospect.

Afterwards they continue reaching out with the word to this rural farming population, a place characterized with a lot of denominations who have taken the land captive with false doctrine. More visits in this land are needed for breaking down this falsehood about God.

God blessed the efforts of the students and those with willing minds who saw the truth continue to embrace it, as you see brother Mbappe baptizing one of the souls here.  

The students, administration, Bear Valley and all others who are in support of this school were appreciated by the leaders of the Munyenge congregation, and the chief of the village who said he wish that “these students pastors” keep coming to the village which will influence the young men in the village to avoid crimes by the power of the gospel.

Wherever the students of CBIW passed, they created an impact in the lives of those around them. Many more brothers are interested to enroll in the school come 2013 because of what they saw in the lives of these student's devotion, zealous for the cause of Christ.  I can conclude without any doubt, that the more we go out on evangelism the more we expose the school to others in the brotherhood and by so doing we are securing the future student population.

NOTE

This week long courses will come to an end and long courses exams will start on the 24 to 28 of February. Please help the students in your prayers for wisdom and retentive memory over what they have been taught.

Next week short courses, PERSONAL AND EVANGELISM AND SCHEME OF REDEMPTION will start from the 1 to 11 of March and the students will travel for the end of first quarter campaign in 22 different congregations around Cameroon. Immediately after that they will go for vacation where they will spend one week with their families and return to school for the second semester on the 3^rd of April.

During the second semester we shall involve more in church planting. Please remember us in your prayers and the visions we have to reach out the gospel to all communities. Do your best to encourage someone to be part of this winning team for the Lord in Cameroon. Cameroon is fertile, but more needs to be done for the gospel to grow. You can encourage someone to be with you on this, share this report with others who may love to be part; we still need some basic things which will help add more force to our evangelistic efforts.

1) Public address system, which we can use them during open air preaching (public preaching) during our campaign and during our morning devotion to reach out to the Wotutu population by that from the church hall.

2) Generator for lighting the place, mostly in rural areas.

I really know things are hard but I am just praying for someone God can use to accomplish this for us.

Pray for us as we pray for you, God bless you in all that you do. You are very special in this work. I love the work and I am happy that God entrusted this for me to do for His glory.

I shall love to read from you.

Make a wonderful day.

Elangwe Esowe Greg

By His grace director CBIW

IBH Graduation...

IBH stands for the Bible Institute of Honduras. I had the privilege last Friday of attending the first graduation ceremony for IBH, one of the extension schools Bear Valley is working with around the world in Central America.

The alpha class for IBH consisted of three wonderful students, Oscar, Yoni, and Hector. These men have been dedicated to their studies for the past two years. It was a proud moment to see all three and their families gathered to celebrate the occasion.

To read about the activities see the report below. This past week has been another eventful week within the program. The reports are listed below. 

Coordinator Updates

Reports from the coordinators are now located on the website, under Staff Reports. The address is /extension-schools/

Donnie Bates is in Honduras. You can read current information about his trip at the following address: /donnie-bates-reports/2011/2/13/danli-honduras-february-13-2011.html

Howell Ferguson’s report is located at the following address: /howell-ferguson-reports/

Extension Reports

Alpha Class Graduates in Honduras: The first class to graduate from IBH shows promise for the growth of the kingdom in Honduras. Read about these three men.

Jimmy and Tanzania: Cy Stafford's report is not what you might think from the title. This is an inspirational account of one man's life worth reading.

A Dead Bat or A Live Rat?? This is one you just have to read to appreciate from the Gee family in Arusha.

A Short Course To Graduation: John Dean reports about the recent short courses at Visaka Valley Bible College and their excitement for graduation in just a few months.

Another Soul Added: The reports from Nigeria continue to show growth from the CSMT in Abakaliki.

Ghana's Future Looks Strong: Looking over the past year and the vision for the year ahead shows the work in Ghana stronger than ever. This week's report from Steven Ashcraft shares the vision for 2011.      

An Amazing Step In Cameroon: Word of the school in Cameroon is spreading and recognized by the government. 

Sin In The School: There are always challenges facing each school. Problems arise and must be dealt with as the report from Nepal Bible Center shares with us this week.

Final Thoughts

I love this work. I get more and more excited about what I see and read in the Extension Program. The reports are rich with the Lord’s working. The impact is powerful.

At times there are struggles I want everyone to be aware of in the work. It can, and often is, challenging. Satan will continue to work at destroying the progress. Please know efforts are made to correct the various problems when they arise.

Thank you for all you do to help this work. I hope you know we are all sharing in the greatest work this side of heaven, regardless of the challenges. God has given us an opportunity to change the eternal situation of individuals in every country on every continent. 

How does it get any better? Thank you, thank you, thank you.

God bless

Bob

Another Soul Added...

We visited the new church today. We got there so early and went out for door-to-door evangelism before all the baptized members arrived. It was interesting to be there and we had a wonderful worship. One more baptism today after the worship. They need our constant prayers. Our faith in Christ is not easy for those who have been rooted in denominations. There were a lot of questions and answers during the Sunday school.

Reuben

Alpha Class Graduates In Honduras...

Excitement was at an all time high Friday night, February 11th, 2011 for the Bible Institute of Honduras (IBH). Three men walked to the stage to receive their certificate for completing two years of intense studies.

To read more about the Bible Institute of Honduras, please visit the following site: /honduras/. 

Donnie Bates, Coordinator for the IBH Extension in Honduras, Chase Turner, Harold and Alan Zeller, and myself, attended the celebration. All three will provide a tremendous asset to the work in Honduras.

Take a moment and read the plans these men have for the future. 

Oscar Morgan is the only student who is married. Oscar and his wife, Mirian, along with their three children (Karlina 14, Erlin Esau 11, & Alan 5), not only finished the curriculum for the school, but he also served as the caretaker and security guard for the past two years. His wife served as a cook for the students and staff during this time.

Oscar plans to help the church at El Zar Zal in Danli. He also plans to work with the church in Jicarito, a village 22 miles outside of Tegucigalpa. The distance away from Danli has made it difficult to do this work. Oscar has worked with this congregation over the past 18 months to help it grow from 1 member to 7. While he wants to continue to help in this work, he will also be trying to find a place to work with the church where he can support his family.

Yoni Gonzalez is the son of one of the local preachers from La Union, Honduras. Yoni has provided a great deal of help with the young people in the local area, especially the El Zar Zal congregation during his time at IBH. He will work with the congregation in La Union, specifically the young people and helping his father. Yoni will also help the El Carmen congregation near El Pariso. He is also enrolled and will continue to pursue his secular education.

Hector Viera will finish his secular education while continuing to work with the church in Danli, assisting his father, Nery Irias, Director of IBH. Hector has and will continue teaching the youth. He will also help with the church in Villa Santa (Holy Village). There is one sister in this village and when she is there, Hector conducts a worship service with her. He also spends time each Saturday evangelizing the village. He also wants to find a job where he can eventually get married and begin a family.

The work of these men is only the beginning for the church in this part of Honduras. We look forward to reporting more in the future about the activities of these men and future graduates from IBH. Your efforts over the past two years have born fruit that will continue to grow in the years ahead. Thank you for all you have and continue to do in support of this great work.