Rainy Season Causes Great Damage At WCSOP...

S.O.S. We need help immediately to repair badly leaking roofs in the two buildings – the classroom block and the dormitory block. The heat of the months of October through March affected the trusses of both buildings resulting in some parts caving in and the asbestos roofing sheets cracking in several places. Some cracks in the sheets were fixed early this year when we had some rains. We had to change four sheets then. The present situation has been noticed in recent times with the unusual heavy downpours we have had in the last couple of weeks. (see attached pictures –my compound this Sunday morning at 6:40 am). When it rains the respective rooms are filled with water which runs into the adjacent rooms. We need assistance immediately to replace some forty asbestos sheets to avoid damage to the buildings and loss to the school. We have not gone half way through the rainy season yet.

Classes ended June 3, 2011. Students are using the two weeks their teachers will be taking their master’s classes to complete all assignments which they must submit before the academic year ends June 24, 2011.  That will end one year of study for the present class of students. Eight of us are enrolled in the master’s program with Brother Ted Cherry teaching Advanced Apologetics and The Preacher and His Work.

We have lost some $700 from our monthly support so far. This brings us to some hard decisions. We have started an enrollment drive for fresh students. With the rising cost of food and general goods in the country we may not be able to add to our number of students for the next academic year considering the fact that four times in the year we shall provide for about three times more students during the short courses. These are the options we face: (1) Suspend the enrollment of new students. (2) Keep the present students through their second year and graduate them before seeking fresh students. Our fear is that those who respond to enrollment drives but do not get to come to school when they seek admission do not come at all when offered admission at the next opportunity. We seek you advice in this matter.

We are thankful to God for the opportunity to serve and to you for upholding our hands in this service.

Daniel K Ampadu-Asiamah

CSMT Reaches Another Great Step...

After reaching her goals with the primary and secondary school projects at the CSMT, the program has reached a level that is self-sustaining for the preacher training side of the program. It is with great joy we are able to announce the achievement of this goal. As a result, the financial support provided through Bear Valley will not longer be needed. Below is a report from Reuben Egwu, Provost of CSMT. He mentions the withdraw of support from the Bear Valley Bible Institute and the information above provides an explanation.

CSMT-School of Biblical Studies (SBS) has been reaching a lot of lost souls meaningfully with her students during weekend evangelisms. The new and old churches they have been visiting are doing fine.  The students will be completing their two years training this month of June, 2011. They are presently taking the outstanding short courses that were delayed because of the little break by CSMT’S foreign partners (Bear Valley Tutors). It will be interesting to note the following below about CSMT:

1. CSMT-SBS has planned to graduate her 2^nd set of students (7 in number for degrees and 3 in number for Masters) on 6^th August,2011. The ordination service of the 7 students will be held on 31^st July, 2011 while the Banquet for the ceremony will take place on 5^th August 2011. Our earnest desire is to charge them into the world for a fruitful souls -winning campaign for Christ.
2. Chad Wagner from Paragould,USA, who is also representing the Bear Valley Bible Institute, USA has planned to arrive  Nigeria for the ceremony on 1^st August 2011.
3. All Directors of Bear Valley, Directors of sister schools here in Nigeria and abroad, congregations of the saints and Churches of Christ’s Leaders are invited to the ceremonies.
4. CSMT has started planning on how she can be independent since Bear Valley will be withdrawing her level of financial support to the program after this month (June 2011). The plans are in progress. Pray for the plans.
5. My former resignation from being the Provost/Director of CSMT-SBS has been withdrawn. The Chairman (Dr. Offor) has persuaded me to withdraw the resignation as there is no present capable hand to handle the program. With the acceptance of the Chairman to address the issues that led to the resignation, I agreed to withdraw the resignation only on the part of the CSMT-SBS not CSMT- Staff Secondary School. I want to concentrate to enable me carry out my leadership seminars on weekly and quarterly basis within Ebonyi state..
6. There will be a unique Leadership seminar in CSMT on 17^th December, 2011. Foreign brethren who are interested are invited. We also need willing resource persons on leadership themes to write us on time to enable us arrange for their accommodations.

We need your prayers for a successful convocation ceremony and good plan for the continuity of the program. WE  LOVE OUR GREAT SUPPORTERS WHO HAVE ALLOWED THEMSELVES TO BE USED TO COMPLETE  THE TRAINING  OF THE SEVEN (7)  BRETHREN WHO ARE gloriously going into the world to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Reuben in Service

A New Week In Tamale, Ghana

One of the students at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, Tony Johnson, continues his work with the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies. His most recent report about the work is posted below. If you would like to see more of Tony’s posts with pictures, you can visit his blog site.

Just some random thoughts from the past week …

Thursday – June 2

The students continue to improve, which probably has more to do with their ability to understand what I am saying than my abilities as a teacher.  They get a test first thing every morning over what was covered the day before so I can tell if they are understanding me or not. I let them use their notes as a way to encourage them to learn how to become good note takers (hint, hint, to all the instructors at Bear Valley.)

Friday – June 3

Last class of the week, and we worked on Old Testament poetry today.  The students have a good foundation of knowledge for Bible stories, but have never been taught who the writers God used were, when these books were written, or why God wanted them written and added as scripture.  Today we also had a practice test on memorizing the Old Testament books in the proper order. The spelling needs lots of work, but overall they did pretty well.  Just like most people I know, including myself, they struggled with getting the minor prophets in the right order.  They know that this will be part of their final exam, so hopefully this will encourage them to study a little harder over the next couple of days.

Saturday – June 4

Since I had the day off I decided to walk into town and see what was going on. If you like to watch people this is a great place to spend an afternoon.  The women carry everything on their head except their babies, which are tied to their backs.  Buses to and from nearby cities, which are really just vans, are crammed so full of people that it is a wonder no one is crushed, and even the tops are used to transport both people and animals.  The most common form of transportation (for those who can afford something) is motor scooters, and it is not uncommon to see a women riding down the road on one with her baby tied to her back.

We also got the air conditioner in my room fixed today.  It was blowing air, but it wasn’t very cool.  The air conditioner is only large enough to cool the bedroom, but that is fine, and I’m looking to a cool night for a change.  Tomorrow we are going to meet the East Tamale church of Christ to worship.  I am looking forward to getting to know some of the brethren there.

Sunday – June 5

Wanted to post this to the blog site last night but the local internet was not working.  Probably was due to the rain that come last night.  Whenever it rains you can also count on the electricity going out as well, so that air conditioned night’s sleep I was looking forward to did not work out for me. I will post on Wednesday instead and get back to my normal schedule.

Worship with the East Tamale church this morning was very interesting. The service was in both Twi (pronounced “chwee”) and English.  Twi is an Akan language which is widely spoken among the people of Southern Ghana, but not very much here in the north.  Both congregations in Tamale use Twi, which does not make it easy for the local natives who speak Dagbani to worship with them.  The plan is for the new congregation that will be planted next to the school to be a Dagbani speaking congregation, which will be a very good thing.  The Bible class lesson was advice for those who were married or thinking about getting married, something they do the first Sunday of each month.  The worship service was about benevolence, a topic that they struggle with, as do most congregations in very poor areas.  The desire to do more is there, they just need to continue encouraging one another in what they are able to do.  I was asked to give a word of encouragement at the end of the service, and since they were already running long I kept it really short.  I reminded them that the church in Jerusalem had a concern with benevolence, and how they choose seven well respected men, full of wisdom and the Spirit, to work the problem out.  As long as they use the Bible as their guide they too will work out whatever problems they face, to God’s glory.

Monday – June 6

Back to class and finishing of the Wisdom literature books.  We also started on the major prophets, getting a start on Isaiah.  The best news was that we had two more students who made it in over the weekend!  They will have some work to do to catch up, but we are glad to have them.

Tuesday – June 7

Class this morning on was on the major prophets.  A question about the “dry bones” of Ezekiel lead to an interesting discussion about dreams and visions. Most of the local tribes practice some type of traditional religion that place a lot of value on dreams.  One of the errors (in my opinion) many mission groups make is trying to mix Christianity with the traditional religions.  We talked about when God spoke to people through the prophets, and in visions and dreams, but using the Bible determined that God speaks to us now through His Son, who sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles and prophets who wrote the inspired letters.  It was a good discussion and hopefully we dismissed any idea that God is still speaking to people in dreams or visions today.

During the afternoon we went to town to do a little shopping and get some more bottled water.  While there I saw a person riding their motor scooter with a sheep tied around their waist.  Don’t see that too often, even in Arkansas.  The sheep seemed okay with it, so I guess I’m okay with it.

Oh, and more good news, we had another student arrive last night and start class this morning! Praise God!

Wednesday – June 8

Off today as another instructor has his class this morning.  There are ten four hour class slots each week and three classes, so the schedule rotates a little.

Even with a day off, my days are pretty standard.  Get up around 6 to get ready for the day.  Breakfast is usually a couple of crackers with jelly and a glass of juice or a cup hot tea.  I find I eat a lot less here, which is a good thing.  Class from 8 to 12, lunch of crackers and peanut butter and some fresh fruit, then a couple hours of preparation for the next class, grading papers, etc.  Sometime in the afternoon I try to get some laundry done (when you wash everything by hand you don’t let it pile up!) and then a walk around the neighborhood either before or after dinner.  I have been spoiled with Steven’s wife Karen being here as she cooks most nights so I don’t have to eat my own cooking. Diner is usually something to do with chicken, rice, beans or spaghetti.

This afternoon I got a schedule change as one of the other instructors has to leave town for a funeral, so I will be teaching both the morning and afternoon classes tomorrow.  This will also push their Old Testament final up to Friday instead of Monday as planned.  Should be interesting.

That’s it for this week.  Thanks to all who have made this possible through your support and your prayers!

Nepal Could Criminalize Conversion To Christianity...

In response to allegations of forced conversions among Nepalese citizens by over-zealous Protestants, the government is considering changing the criminal code to make it illegal to convert to any religion other than Hinduism and Buddhism. This wouldn’t just be limited to the act of conversion itself; according to Asia News, under the new code, “anyone who preaches or tries to persuade others to change religion could get up to five years in prison and receive a fine of [around $900].”

Nepalese officials say that the move would not be intended to stigmatize Christians as a whole. “The law is not against Christians who do great work in the service of the country,” Nepali Justice Minister Prabhu Sah said, “but is against the imposition of Christianity.”

He added, rather pointedly, that the allegations of forced conversions did not apply to Catholics. Protestant groups vehemently denied the claims.

Note from Jerry:  This was published June 9. The Nepal government is at its most unstable position that I have seen in my 15 years here. Three years ago it appointed a special Constituent Assembly to write a new constitution. Nothing has been accomplished. Parliament was going to decide how to integrate the Maoist soldiers into the fabric of the Nepal Army and/or civil life. Nothing has been accomplished. Over these three years, as deadlines approach, the political parties made many promises, but nothing has been accomplished.  

Twelve years ago the country had 5-6 political parties. All they did was fight each other for power. Today there are 29 parties still doing the same thing. On paper and in numbers the Maoists are the strongest party. They are anti-American and anti-God. You hear more talk about bringing back the king, which means bringing back a strong Hindu state. The World Hindu Organization is flexing its muscles more.  

The political future of Nepal is a mystery.

In January 2010 the doors opened for The Nepal Center For Biblical Studies. Our six students will graduate in September. We should begin a new “batch” of students in November. Working with these students has been an honor, a pleasure, and to see their progress is an encouragement.  

The spiritual future of The Nepal Center For Biblical Studies is not a mystery, at least not in the minds of Gajendra [the best Director you could hope to find] and me. At this moment the students, Gajendra, and Kirish [Nepali teacher] are on a campaign to four villages high in the mountains to work with, encourage, and mature established congregations. This is the first missionary outreach where I have not gone along. Thanks to their progress, they can do a good job, will set a good example, and my presence is not needed.  

Please pray for Nepal as a country, the church in Nepal, and the unhindered continuity of the school.

In God’s grace, love, and peace …………. Jerry

News On Graduates Of BVBIU...

As we have already noted in previous articles, the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Ukraine graduated another five students who are about to enter into service in the Lord’s kingdom. Below are the names and plans for each of these students. 

STAS KUROPIATNIKOV
Stas graduated as valedictorian and delivered an encouraging address during the graduation ceremony. His immediate plans upon graduating are to return home and take college exams as he had also studied an electrical trade. He has financial support in place and plans to work with the church in Slavyansk where Albert Bagdasaryan is the preacher.  Stas will preach and teach as needed and help Bro. Albert with other church work. He also plans to visit other congregations and encourage and help them.  Stas is a natural encourager and has already done a superb job in recruiting future students to Bear Valley. He plans to further his studies and will be entering the Master’s Program this fall at BVBIU. 

SASHA RODICHEV
Sasha’s immediate plans after graduating are to work with and help encourage the youth groups in both Kramatorsk and Konstan-tinovka. The church in Kramatorsk, where his father preaches, is his home congregation. His desire is to help these two churches before securing a work in a new place. He also plans to help in children’s Bible camps and in various gospel campaigns. He knows English and has been able to translate on occasion as needed. Sasha is very computer savvy and has been instrumental in putting out the monthly Bear Valley newsletter.  He does not have outside support at this time and plans to find work to provide for himself. He plans to further his studies and will also be entering the Master’s Program this fall at BVBIU.  

ANATOLY CHEBOTAR
Anatoly started the school belatedly, so he will work on finishing up his studies at Bear Valley this fall.  After he completely finishes, he will finalize his future plans.  He is willing to relocate anywhere and preach the gospel in any city he goes. So, he has a desire to preach and teach and wishes to secure a work just as soon as he can.  Anatoly has a friendly spirit and is easy to be around. As he continues his studies and his growth as a young Christian, he promises to be an encourager and a fine preacher and teacher of God’s word.  He also has a desire to enter the Master’s Program at BVBIU in the future.                 

LENA CHUENKO
Lena’s immediate plans after graduating include returning to her home congregation in Kramatorsk and working in every way she can there. She will teach a children’s class, and she will help work with the youth group. She will also work in Christian camps and in gospel campaigns. She truly has a meek and quiet spirit. She will continue to be a great example to those around her of a fine Christian young lady.  She knows English and has translated some as needed. She is extremely talented in graphic arts and has already used that talent for works of the church.  Although her role is different than a man’s, she can fulfill her God-given roles in a wonderful way and help further the kingdom as well. She is very smart and plans to find work to provide for herself. She plans to marry in the future, and she also wishes to further her studies by entering the Master’s Program at BVBIU this fall. 

LENA TONKE
Lena’s immediate plans after graduating include securing work. Being already married, she will now have more time to spend with her husband. She will continue to work in her home congregation of Slavyansk and teach children’s and ladies’ Bible classes. She is very smart and will be an even greater asset to her home congregation as she is able to move back. She is sweet and has a quiet spirit about her. She can use her God-given role as a Christian woman to help strengthen the church. She is interested in evangelizing and in furthering her studies. She will also be entering the Master’s Program at BVBIU this fall.

Please pray for these students as they enter into the next phase of their service to the Lord. Thank you for all your help in the development of their lives and service.

Howell Ferguson

More Souls Added In Tanzania...

Greetings Fellow Workers;

We hope and we pray all is well in your life of service to our Lord. We thank you for your continued prayers and support of God’s work here in Tanzania. He is listening and blessing us in all the right ways. 

Comings and Goings: For the past week or so our Church family from Hoover, AL and GA have been with us and helping us with two Safari for Souls campaigns in the Arusha area; one at Njiro and the other at Kwa Mrombo. The good that has been done has been nothing short of amazing. 

The two congregations along with support from sister congregations in the area, have done a lot of ground work ahead of the group arriving from the States. As of this writing 21 souls have been added to the Church. 

Today Stephanie and I were blessed to be able to worship at Kwa Mrombo. There were over 40 children present, our sister Carolyn taught this class. We also had half of the group from the U.S. and “ALL” of the new converts and local members. It was so sweet to worship with a group of over 80 souls! The group that worshiped at Njiro were blessed with one soul obeying the Gospel as well as one soul at Kwa Mrombo. 

Our AL/GA group left tonight and we were blessed with Gary Box, Hannah Box, Rachel Box, Kristina Proctor, Daniel Salmon (Hoover, AL) and Jeremy Archer (Hattiesburg) arriving tonight. Penny Cabler (GA) will leave tomorrow night. Those just arriving will do some follow up studies, some personal evangelism at Karatu, visit/work with a couple of orphanages, and three of them will work some at the Tanzania Christian Clinic. 

Our brother Desdery Massawe traveled to Bukoba (Northwest shore of Lake Victoria) to hold a Gospel meeting and reported four souls being added to the Church. 

We solicit your continued prayers as we continue with our campaign efforts. We also ask for your prayers on behalf of the Kensington Woods city wide evangelistic efforts in the coming days. Also, please remember our brother Neil Richie and his family as they grieve the loss of his mother. 

Until all have heard, may our God be glorified and may each of us be all we can be in His name. 

In Him, Cy, Stephanie, and Exel 

One Exciting Report From The Gee Family...

Dear Supporters, Family and Friends,

We are "furaha sana" (very happy) to report that Helen (who has cancer) was baptized on Friday!  We feel as if a large weight has been removed from our shoulders. Thank you so much for your continued prayers. Now that our translators are back from Kwa Mrombo our nephew, Steven, can continue studying with her husband (who said he would never again return to the Lutheran church). We believe her whole family will be converted.

What a busy week! The Hoover Group (plus visitor Penny Cabler) have been conducting Bible studies in Kwa Mrombo and Njiro all week long resulting in 190 studies with 309 people. There were also a total of 21 baptisms (9 in pre-campaign work and 12 during the campaign). The group leader, Sid Aultman, has been instrumental in establishing the congregation in Kwa Mrombo, and has been very dedicated to its growth.

Steven has been studying with English-speaking employees of a nearby recreation center. He also taught a great lesson Wednesday night on the subject of Peace at the Kisongo congregation. The girls and Trina have been busy cooking for the Hoover Group (as has our co-missionary, Stephanie Stafford). A big thank you is extended to the Hoover Group for all their efforts. Cy will accompany them to the airport this evening for their return trip. Please pray for their safety. J.W. (Jimmy's Dad) has a ditch in the works to bury an over-head electrical line so it will be out of the way of the water truck. Next, the plans are to replace a cracked water pipe.

This morning, Lindsey taught the children's class, Jimmy the adult men's class and Trina the Ladies class on Genesis. Before class ended there were about 20 ladies including Agness with new baby, Joshua. He is extremely cute but looks a little strange because, for some reason, his mother has put black eye-liner across his eyebrows. It's supposed to protect him from getting sick if someone with "bad eyes" looks at him. Much superstition and old wives' tales abound in Africa.

We are excited that Gary, Hannah and Rachel Box plus Kristina Proctor, Daniel Salmon and Jeremy Archer arrived today to work....The "boxes" have been "shipped air mail" many times to Africa and they don't really seem like guests.

Our oldest son, Todd, is busy this summer working at Backwoods Christian Camp in Lineville, AL. He plans to return to Faulkner University in the Fall (as a Junior) to continue his education.  We are thrilled that he and friend, Lauren Kelley, have plans to visit us in December of this year.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. Great things can happen when Christians work together. You are a great encouragement to us in a work that has far exceeded the initial plans.

Because He Died for All,

Jimmy, Trina, Lindsey, Abigail, Heather, Candace, Stuart, David, Naomi, Elijah and Matthew Gee

Graduation At BVBIU And More Great News...

News of another graduation reminds us of more men who are entering the field to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Recently, the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Ukraine completed another class of students and they are looking forward to the beginning of a new class in just a few months. More on this report is located below.

Over the next few weeks, the Center for Biblical Studies in Kpalime, Togo, along with the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies in Tamale, Ghana, will graduate a combined 23 men who will also enter the work of preaching and teaching the gospel. These two schools are planning to begin new classes with a total of 44 students. The more graduates who enter the work the more growth we will see in the number of students entering future classes to prepare themselves for preaching the gospel.

When I read this kind of information it excites me to know we are participating in the most effective way of fulfilling the Great Commission. The work of training men in their own country and in their own language, to take the gospel to their own cities and villages around the world, is certainly worth getting excited about. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to work with the greatest people on earth in Denver and 15 locations around the world. 

I ask you to share the news of this work with others. Encourage others to get involved in helping train men to preach the gospel.

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

Howell and Mary Ferguson recently returned from a three month trip to work with the BVBIU in Gorlovka, Ukraine. Howell’s latest report speaks of the success of the recent class graduating from the school.

Please pray for Gary and Sarah Fallis while they are in Cambodia to work with the school and local congregations. 

Extension Reports 
Persecution In Chandigarh, India: Earnest Gill shares the news of recent graduates who are preaching the gospel and suffering for doing so.

Evangelism In Cambodia: Chann Lork reports on the recent work in several villages surrounding Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Graduation In Ukraine... Bitter and Sweet: Another class completed their studies at the BVBIU. Read more from Dennis’ report.

A Teacher / Student Perspective: As Tony Johnson begins teaching in the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies, his perspective grows of the work. 

Work In Ghana Grows: Steven Ashcraft reports on the growth of the church in Ghana as a result of the work students are doing in both Tamale and Takoradi.

Charges Acquitted In Honduras: The charges of kidnapping against Nery Irias have been acquitted. Read more about this situation in Nery’s recent report.

Safari For Souls In Arusha, TZ: Cy Stafford writes about the development and work of the Safari for Souls campaign in Arusha.

One Powerful Example: It is always encouraging when Christians travel to see the work. It is even more encouraging when they set such a powerful example through their work ethic. Read more about Jimmy Gee’s father in Arusha. 

Final Thoughts
I want to close with a word of thanks. I know I say it every week and I hope you realize it is as sincere this week as it has been from the very first day. I do not take for granted the grace of our God who works through each of you to provide for this work. I know you are making great sacrifices in order to support the work of Extension Training. Everyone in this program is thankful for your gracious giving.

I will be traveling for the rest of the month of June to Uganda, Togo and Ghana. I am looking forward to being a part of the graduation ceremony at Togo and Ghana. As well, it will be my first time to visit the work in Uganda and I am excited to meet the staff and students of the Uganda School of Evangelism. I ask your prayers on my behalf as I travel.

Please know I pray for you everyday and give thanks to our awesome God upon my every remembrance of you.

God bless
Bob

Work In Ghana Grows...

Greetings to all our brothers and sisters across the ocean and throughout the world. Our Lord is continuing to bless the work here in West Africa as we anxiously await His return. Although we face many challenges the schools are continuing to train Christian leaders, as new congregations are established and existing congregations are edified. We continually thank our God for giving us the strength to continue, and for providing faithful brethren to partner with us in this work. May the Lord bless each of you for the sacrifices that you are making for Him. 

The Bear Valley Program  
As a coordinator for the Bear Valley Extension Program in West Africa, part of my time is spent overseas directly assisting the schools, part of my time is spent visiting with congregations in the U.S. to find the support we need to operate and expand the schools, and part of my time is spent in communication and meetings with the extension school staff in Denver Colorado. After returning from Ghana in March, the extension staff for all of the Bear Valley schools throughout the world had the opportunity to meet in Denver. We spent time discussing many different aspects of the extension program including the role of the coordinator, the curriculum for the extension schools, problems that are being experienced at different schools and potential solutions to these problems. We all had the opportunity to meet one another and obtain a view of how things were working at other schools in other countries. The meetings proved very beneficial to all that were involved, and helped us to see even more clearly the need for training leaders in their native lands! 

Many Baptized in Ghana 
One of the great rewards of working with the Bible schools in West Africa is the opportunity to experience our students going out and teaching others the word of God.  If you have been keeping up with the reports from the schools in Tamale and Takoradi, you will see that taking place. You can see these reports updated regularly on the Bear Valley Bible Institute extension web page.  See the links below:   

/extension-news/tag/TAMALE 

/extension-news/tag/TAKORADI 

The latest reports from Tamale talk about a new congregation established by the students and instructors of TIBS in northern Ghana where one of our graduating students will be working.  Beginning on April 23rd, the students spent five days and nights in the town of Damonko where fifteen souls were baptized into Christ. The students at TIBS also had the opportunity to make an overnight field trip to a Mango farm where they were able to study how to establish and operate this type of venture. We are continually looking for ways that our graduates can help to support their families when they go out to teach others what they have learned here at school. You can also read about the radio work that the congregations in Tamale have embarked upon. It is all very exciting news! 

With your help many are coming to Christ, new congregations are being established, and leaders are being trained. We thank God for all those instructors and students who are making sacrifices for this work, and we also thank God for all of you who are making this work possible through your prayers and financial support.  

Challenges of the Work  
I have written in the past about many of the challenges that we face in the work here in West Africa. The traditional religious system of offering animal sacrifices and consulting diviners and soothsayers is difficult for many local Christians to leave behind. The influence of Islam upon large groups of people in the northern regions makes it very difficult for them to choose Christianity. There are hundreds of different groups that claim to be teaching the truth about Christianity while they are all teaching different doctrines that are contrary to the Bible. This causes mass confusion upon those who would like to learn the truth. The marital system in West Africa allows for multiple wives (polygamy) which makes it very difficult for the older more respected members of society to make the changes necessary to become faithful Christians. The answer to all of these challenges has always been very simple in theory but difficult in practice and that is to teach the TRUTH. When people come to understand and believe the truth, they will leave the religions of their fathers as many of those in the Jewish religion turned to Christianity 2,000 years ago. When people come to understand the true Christianity revealed in the Bible then they are no longer confused by the many different doctrines taught by the many different religious groups in the world. That is one reason that the Bear Valley Extension Schools are so important. They are teaching the truth as found in the word of God to the indigenous people so that they can go out and teach others. What a wonderful concept! 

There is another challenge that is making the work more difficult throughout the world. Some of the missionaries that go to West Africa and other parts of the world are practicing and teaching false doctrines. These missionaries go out in the name of the Lord’s church but they teach doctrines contrary to the word of God. They receive support from the body of Christ but they plant congregations that look nothing like the church of the Bible. Many times they fellowship those who are teaching error and attack those who are attempting to teach the truth. It is unfortunate that many of those who should be our allies are now our enemies. In Galatians 4:16 Paul said, “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” Let us make sure that we are supporting those who teach the truth! May the Lord give us the strength to withstand all the evil forces that are attempting to destroy HIS work! 

… and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)   

Financial Support 
We want to thank all of the supporters for their contributions to this exciting work in West Africa. Without you, this effort would not be possible. All checks need to be made out to: 

Mountain Home church of Christ 
For: West Africa Mission  

And mailed to: 
Mountain Home church of Christ 
380 North College Street 
Mountain Home, AR  72653 

Any questions can be directed to the church office at 870-425-4330.  

Or you can contact Steven Ashcraft at:  

Email:       samtnhome@yahoo.com 

U.S. Cell Phone:         971-270-8535 
U.S. Message Phone:  870-425-4330 
Ghana Cell Phone:      233-24-614-6022 

Please email Steven if you would like to receive this newsletter with photos by email.  

Thanks So Much,  
With Christian Love  
Steven Ashcraft 

Persecution In Chandigarh, India...

Dear Brother,

We are thankful that the Lord is keeping us and using us abundantly for His kingdom's increase in the Northern parts of India. Our previous students go to the places where people have not even heard about Jesus. 

These days a burning news is coming from Gangoh, a town of Saharanpur District in UP state. Brother SONU has been working there wholeheartedly. He was working in a private firm for his earning but recently he told me that he has left the job, because he wants to pay more time in the ministerial work. He had chosen a few villages nearby to preach the gospel. RSS (Hindu fundamentalist) people had been threatening him and asking for the past several months not to preach the gospel. After he left the job and devoting more time they were agitated and I was told that they beat him and the matter is with the police now as they have published in the local news paper also. 

Brother Sonu and the congregation there is strong enough that they do not want to stop evangelizing the villages. But as we are the people of faith in prayer, I wish that the prayers be lifted to the heavenly throne about about present situation. Throughout India, especially in the Northern part it has been difficult to share the good news, but we believe that we serve the living God and we must now stop telling about him.

Thanks for being a part in this great task. 

God Bless 

In Christ
Earnest 

Evangelism In Cambodia...

Hello brethren,

We are just get back from Takam for our evangelism. We had a good time with the people up there. These two weeks we went to Leang Dai and Somroung also to Takam try to bring our students go to see people and sit down study the Bible with the people. 

In His service
Chann

Graduation In Ukraine... Bitter and Sweet

Dear brothers, churches and families. 

I hope you all are doing well. We keep praying for the families who have suffered as a result of tornado.  

May was a happy month and full of events. 

First, Terry Harmon with his family and Jim Sherman visited us. They both helped with the work in the Institute: Terry taught Greek, and Jim taught classes “Preacher and his work” and “Intertestamental period”. I thank God for these brothers who are an example of servitude for every one of us. We all can see how God works in Terry’s family; Andrew looks great, and remembering the last year events, we see how our Lord takes care of Christians. 

Second, we have good news: we finally found our next secretary for the Institute. It took Howell and me a while to find a good candidate for this position. We knew that this person should have a good reputation, sound understanding of the Bible and willingness to serve people. Her name is Oksana Heohdzhayeva, and she just finished her first year at Bear Valley Bible Institute. Previously, she got her BA and MA in English and spent two years working and studying in the U.S. Oksana will start her work in September, but she is already helping us to get ready to the new school year. Her email: hamil_hamil@yahoo.com. If you have any questions or suggestions about her, please write to me.  

Third, the happiest and the saddest event was the graduation of our students. At the beginning of the two-year period, their group consisted of many students, but only five of them could actually finish all the courses. Every one of them will stay dear to us and to God, but it’s time for them to start sharing the knowledge that they acquired. Please pray for their future ministries and that they would stay faithful to the very end. This year we have had a wonderful graduation. Howell brought shirts with the Institute logo on them to all of the teachers and graduates and portfolio folders with the Institute logo to the graduates. They all enjoyed such presents, and I could see that Ukrainian teachers saw themselves as a part of the big team that serves all around the world.  

June 1, we had to say good-bye to Howell and Mary Ferguson. They’ve been helping and encouraging me and others at the institute for 3 months. They eased the process of getting along with the work while looking for secretary. They always tried to be where their help was needed. Their input in the Institute and church in Ukraine is enormous. I pray that they have a safe trip, and we hope to see them soon, if Lord’s willing.  

In the Central Church of Christ in Gorlovka, we’ve had one baptism in May. The lady’s name is Lyudmila. She had been studying the Bible with Andrew Zhuravlev (the preacher) for about a month before she made this important decision. Please keep her in your prayers. 

This month we’ve also had the meeting of the preachers in Svyatogorsk. We also visited churches of Christ in Donetsk (Ozerna and Proletarsk) and made presentations of our Institute there. 

Starting with June, the Institute is on summer break. The classes will resume on September 5. At the moment, we have 7 applicants to the program who want to start studying in the fall.   

Thanks for all your prayers and support that you give to the Institute and to my family. All the information about the future ownership of the building will be mailed to you as soon as we receive it. 

God bless you in your service to Him.  

Your co-worker, 
Dennis

A Teacher / Student Perspective...

One of the students at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, Tony Johnson, continues his work with the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies. His most recent report about the work is posted below. If you would like to see more of Tony’s posts with pictures, you can visit his blog site.

Sunday – May 29

I made my first trip to the villages outside Tamale this morning.  If you look on Google Map you can follow the Tamale-Yendi Road east out of Tamale until you come to the town of Jimle, where a congregation of the church meets.  We stopped long enough to tell them we would be back after visiting some of the other brethren in the villages.  Steven and I had originally planned to divide up and go to separate congregations, but after hearing that some of the groups were struggling, it was determined that it would be more encouraging if we all went to visit each group.  So we headed north, leaving the nice paved highway for the much more common dirt road.  We passed a number of villages, most too small to get a mention on the map as we headed first to Tijo, where we dropped a brother off who had travelled with us from Tamale, and the on to Bah, which is also too small to show up on the map, but is about halfway between Tijo and Gariwe.

Once we arrived in Bah we found the local congregation in the house they use to meet, but they had just finished their worship service. The congregation only has a few members, and some of them were missing the morning we visited, but there were two adults and a number of children present.  The leader of the congregation is a man named John who faithfully attends with his two children, arriving every week on his bicycle with one child sitting on the back and the other on the front.  Even though they had finished services John asked if we would come in and say a few “words of encouragement,” which is their way of saying “preach.”  If we all looked at sermons as “words of encouragement,” which is what they really are, maybe fewer people would be worried about how long they were!  Since they had already meet when we got there we kept it pretty short, singing a couple of songs, and I gave a short devotional from 1 John 4.  Since none of the people in the village speak English the songs were in Dagbani, and Alhassan translated the lesson for me. After a prayer we stayed and answered some questions John had concerning what the Bible teaches about marriage between Christians and non-Christians (a question that comes up anywhere you go) and what the Bible teaches about Christians and animal sacrifices (a question that I have never had to deal with before!)

After leaving Bah we headed back to Tijo where the brother we had dropped off, Jaminja, had conducted worship services with the saints there.  That morning there were 5 adults and a handful of children who meet to worship on a couple of benches under a tree.  We spent a few minutes visiting with them before heading back to Jimle.

Once we arrived back in Jimle we were surprised that the congregation, consisting of 2 men and one young lady (with her baby), had waited many hours for us to return to have their service!  The worship service consisted of prayer, singing songs, a “word of encouragement”, the Lord’s Supper, and giving – just like at home. When people follow only the Bible it will not matter where you are, you will worship God in the same manner.  I was asked to give the “word of encouragement”, and the material I had prepared on being a servant just did not seem to fit.  How do you preach to people who give up everything to become Christians in a Muslim dominated area that they need to be servants?  They should preach to me!  So I made up a lesson as we sat there from Matthew 5, and talked about the blessings God has in store for His faithful people, and the important role they play as the salt and the light in their village. I hope it was as encouraging for them as they were to me. 

Monday – May 30

Today began my teaching career.  Boy, do I have a lot to learn!  But that is okay, I will learn, and thankfully the students showed great patience with me.  The biggest thing I have to learn is how to talk slower.  Much slower!  English is a second language for all the students, and why they speak and understand it well, their tone and diction is very different from what we Arkansans call English.  I am pretty sure that no one understood anything I said today because I was speaking to fast for them to hear me!  They were too kind to tell me though,, so I did not find out until after the class.  We will see tomorrow just how much they heard when they take their first test over what was covered today (we may have to use a big curve on this one!)

My class goes from 8 AM to noon each day. We started today with “How We Got the Bible”, then we will be taking a survey look at all the books in the Old Testament, followed by all the books in the New Testament.  During the afternoon, from 1 to 5 PM, the students are taking a short course on the life of Christ being taught by the schools director, Joseph Baah.  Next week they will begin taking a writing skills class and Faithful Christian Living class during the afternoons.

Tuesday – May 31

Last night it rained hard again here, which is good news for the farmers.  A friend commented that it looked a lot greener than he thought it would be, and that is because the rainy season has begun a little earlier than normal and had produced more rain than normal.  I am told that once it stops raining completely in October that all the vegetation turns brown and looks dead by January.

I should mention that there are 10 students in the class right now.  The school had accepted 24 students in this class, but for various reasons many of them have not made it to the school yet.  We are going ahead with teaching the 10, and thanking God for their decision to put aside all the things of the world in order to gain a better understanding of God’s word.  There are plans underway to bring in additional students that will catch up by taking classes in July, when this class returns home for a month to be able to plant the crops their families will need to survive.  Then the two classes will join together for the rest of the two year commitment the school requires.

The verdict on whether I talk to fast is in, and the answer was a resounding yes!  However the tests were not too bad, not because of my teaching, but because the one student that could understand me formed a study group at 7AM this morning and was helping the other students who had no idea what I had said.  Pretty cool!

Today I did much better – still need to slow down a little more I think, but the students are opening up more and letting me know if I get excited.  We started on the Old Testament survey this morning, going through the book of Numbers.  The students are quite sharp and know most of the stories in the Bible, so it is very encouraging to me.  Tomorrow’s test should let me know if I have slowed down enough to be more effective as a teacher here.

Wednesday – June 1

Today’s test went much better!  Either I made it to easy or they are beginning to be able to hear me better.  Today we covered Deuteronomy through 1 Sam 8.  I will have to make tomorrow’s test a little tougher to see what happens.

I am slowly learning the students names, but have a tough time with pronouncing them in a way that they understand who I’m calling on!  The class includes Telinyi Johnson, Joseph Miatib, Donker Mathew, Kwame Lot, Loti Nlakidi, Bilam Philip, Timothy Niligrini. Fobil Joseph, Lanyon Solomon and Bentime Godwin.   I will have to continue working on this!

This evening we ran out of water in the tank that feeds the bathrooms to both mine and Steven’s apartments.  It is attached to the city water supply so no one can figure out why it is not filling up, as the tanks in the courtyard that the students use are full.  Anyway, tomorrow morning I will get to experience bucket bathing for the first time.

That’s all for now.  Thanks again for your continued prayers.  I am privileged in that I get to see the results of the money you give and the prayers you offer that make this work possible.  I can tell you that it is a very good work, one that is offering sound teaching to men who want to take the message back to their villages and tribes.  You are helping to take the gospel message to places most of us have never dreamed of.  God bless you!

Tony

Charges Acquitted In Honduras...

Thanks, brother, for your concern and for all the brethren who have been praying for me. I give thanks to God that I presented myself to the court and the charges of “kidnapping” that had been against me were removed because brother Nasario appeared and was to withdraw the complaint. But, I am very disappointed that brother Nasario, since he is influenced by his mother and declared that, in effect, my brother and I kidnapped him with firearms and threatened him that we were going to kill him. The judge did not believe them, their version “lies” and for lack of sufficient elements of merit to adjudicate any responsibility they closed the case. I have in my power a copy of the dismissal; when you come you will be able to read it. In my neighborhood all the persons believe my brother Jairo and I are kidnappers, especially the sectarians with those we have studied the Bible.

We always continue with the selection of future students. Today I have the visit of brother Cesar and we are discussing when we could go to Olancho to confirm the spirit of the students, but he commented to me that the son of brother Enrique of Catacamas, who is our contact, was shot. A group of drug dealers clashed in a shootout, and the son of our brother was walking to his house when the shooting happened resulting in his injury, but it was not serious. For that reason we decided to postpone our trip until the second week of June.

We have a new prospect by the name of Cristobal. He is single and is very excited to study. I sent the money to brother Enrique, and he said that this week he is to move his family. I, for the moment, continue living in the church building. The rainy season has begun and I have to be watchful for the small river or creek since the infrastructure of the building can be seen to be at risk.

Pray that the building is capable of supporting this winter.

Nery

Safari For Souls In Arusha, TZ...

Greetings Fellow Workers;

We rejoice in the Lord, know our God is able and that His Saints are praying and supporting His work in Tanzania. We are a blessed people for sure and we praise His High and Holy name. We think of you often knowing it is only possible to be here, doing what we love to do so dearly, because you care and you sacrifice in your giving making all this possible. We say, thank you and may God bless you all richly. 

As mentioned before, we are now in full swing with our Safari for Souls campaigns. Our friends and co-workers from Hoover, AL are here along with a small group from GA. Sid Aultman, Chuck Webster, and Neil Richie are leading 23 others in two campaigns, one at Njiro and the other at Kwa Mrombo. 

A lot of “pre-campaign” effort has gone into making these campaigns as effective as possible. In just the pre-campaign efforts there have already been eleven souls added to the Kingdom, nine of those from Kwa Mrombo. Today in worship at Kwa Mrombo there were 21 souls present for worship, 100% of all the new converts present! God is so good!

Today  all our visitors from AL/GA worshiped at Arusha, a grand day of worship it was. After services Elly was making the announcements. As I listened I was once again reminded of the good and of the influence the Arusha congregation is having in the country of Tanzania. 

Today From Arusha: Isaac and his wife Makunde went to Kwa Mrombo. They have both helped in evangelistic effort for this work and have led many to the Lord. Desdery Massawe has traveled to Bukoba to preach a meeting for their campaign. Anthony Freedo and his family worshiped with the Njiro congregation. They have been working with this young Church helping them grow in the Lord. Others could be mentioned, but space does not allow. Suffice it to say, God is doing good things through His children at Arusha. 

Two souls added to the Church this week, our new sister, Loveness and our new brother Jonah. Please remember them in your prayers this week as they begin their new lives in Christ.

We solicit your prayers for all our campaigners and for open doors and open hearts. We thank you and we pray God will bless you that you might continue blessing others. Until next time, may our God be with us all as we faithfully serve. 

In Him, Cy, Stephanie and Exel

One Powerful Example...

Dear Supporters, Family and Friends,

Wow, another Sunday is here. We've just finished eating burritos for lunch and are working on preparing vegetable soup and potato soup for 35 people. We're very excited that the Hoover (AL) group arrived Friday night and will be working in the Kwa Mrombo area where the church was established last year. Our nephew, Steven, visitor Penny Cabler and several Tanzanians have already "set the stage" conducting Bible studies these past two weeks (resulting several baptisms!). Penny, a third-time visitor, studied with new Christian Agness, helping her to understand the importance of worship and other basic principles. Because of the study, Agness agreed to start coming to worship (even though it is against culture because her baby is not yet 3 months old) and was there today. Penny also studied with Momma Michael's two daughters, Einote and Betha.

Steven preached a most excellent sermon on 2 Cor. 5:17 concerning our newness in Christ and how to get into Christ. We were thrilled that he spoke on these topics due to new Christians being in the audience and several visitors. It was also a good reminder to us older Christians that we are to "put off our old self." The church needs more preachers like Steven who can preach the truth with such clarity.

J.W. (Jimmy's father) has been a huge help to us repairing everything from water pipes to the kitchen sink (literally). He did not solicit funds from churches to do evangelism but came to accompany Steven on the long trip, to help us with many projects and visit with grandkids. But, in helping us, we feel that he is definitely contributing to the spread of the Gospel. Tanzanians have been impressed with his work ethic (a good example is a mighty good sermon!).

We were finally able to study with Agatha again! Our study went great as we read Scriptures about the church for which Christ died and established. She is understanding more and beginning to "see the light." We wanted to study every day this week but, due to her business, it will probably only be 4 days.

To all who prayed for Helen this week, we owe a huge debt of gratitude. Many wrote to assure me they were praying. Thank you so very much! She, her brother and another relative made it safely to Dar es Salaam. However, when she arrived at the hospital (Ocean Road) they refused her admittance because the hospital in Arusha did not send all the proper documentation for her transfer! Seems to us, they could've called and spoke to the proper personnel to get the specific information they needed. So, she was required to go to another hospital (her 5th in about 3 weeks) to be subjected to the tests again. Helen was discharged (staying with relatives in Dar) for two weeks until test results return.

Initially, we were disappointed that more time will be wasted (while she waits for results) before treatment can begin. However, we know that God heard our prayers! Perhaps, this two-week period will provide enough time for her to learn the Gospel BEFORE her treatment begins. As we get information on the status of her Bible study, we will report it. Please keep praying. Two of her children attended Bible class and worship and Steven studied with her husband this past week.

Would you love to teach God's Word to someone eager to learn? Opportunities abound in Tanzania where "the fields are white unto harvest" and you can wear yourself out in God's service! The rewards are great! Thank you for your continued support and prayers! 

In Christian Love,
The Jimmy Gee family

Remembering The Bond Holding Us Together...

While many throughout the United States observe a day of Remembrance (Memorial Day), we also reflect on the work being done around the world for the cause of Christ. We all appreciate the men and women who have served so diligently to protect the freedoms we enjoy. We know their dedication and sacrifice have made so much of what we enjoy possible.

Even more so, we remember the sacrifice of our Savior to provide the greatest freedom. The love demonstrated at the cross can never be adequately described in words. His love for us was motivation to die on our behalf. Jesus literally took upon Himself what we deserved to receive. His sacrifice paid the price required for our sins. He now lives to serve us.

The act of love on the part of our God and Savior is the bond holding us together around the world. In each of the 15 locations where men are preparing to preach the gospel, we have fellow-workers in the Lord. We are bound by more than just blood flowing through our veins, but rather the blood of Jesus that covers our sins.

I love the fact we have the opportunity to share in this work. Every time I read a report about the evangelistic efforts of students. Every time I learn about souls who are being added to the kingdom. Every time I learn about the plans for future growth. Every time I learn about the struggles and persecution often faced. Every time... I give thanks to our God. He is all powerful, wise and present. We know He is in control and will use each of us to His glory.

I love the news this week and I believe you will too. Thank you for reading. 

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

Donnie Bates' report for May shares information about his activities and plans for the work ahead. Please take a moment to read more about his work.

Please pray for Gary and Sarah Fallis as they travel to Cambodia and work with the school and local congregations.

Extension Reports 
Cameroon Campaign To 14 Congregations: With the completion of the second quarter in Wotutu, students are now working with 14 different congregations on their second campaign.

Beta Class Begins At ITL: Donnie Bates is presently in Guatemala. His report gives information about the new class and his visit. Also, there are pictures of the new students located here.

A Different Perspective In Tamale: Tony Johnson is spending the summer working with the school in Tamale. This report shares his perspective of the first few days in Ghana.

The School And Church Working Together: Chann Lork reports about the progress of the students from school working to help the village congregations.

Blessed Are You..."And Falsely Say All Kinds Of Evil Against You:" Nery Irias, director of the school in Honduras reports on some of the challenges faced when others make false accusations. 

Prayer And Fasting For All God Is Doing In Tanzania: The dedication of the Lord's people in Tanzania continues to bring glory to God. Cy Stafford's report shares how God is working and blessing the church.

Four Baptisms, A Working Mzee, And New Studies: The Gee report this week deals with the great work in Arusha. The growth and the future are encouraging.

Final Thoughts
As we begin another week and close another report, we give thanks to God upon every remembrance of you all. Your involvement in this work is appreciated in every way. 

The summer reports will continue to be filled with news about the progress of the schools. A few will graduate one class and begin a new class. Others are pressing on in their diligence to provide training for these men who are dedicated to prepare themselves for the work.

We ask for your prayers on behalf of all that is being done.

God bless
Bob

A Different Perspective In Tamale...

One of the students at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, Tony Johnson, is spending most of the summer break in Tamale, Ghana. Tony will be working with the school and the local congregations. He will also spend time in the villages working to share the gospel of Christ. I wanted to include his latest post about his perspective of the last few days since arriving in Ghana. If you would like to read additional posts in the week ahead, you can go to his blog site and subscribe. His latest report is below for you to read.

I know I normally post on Wednesday, but for the first couple of weeks at least I will try to post twice a week in order to share what it going on in Ghana.

Thursday, May 26th

During the morning we went out to see the new school location. One thing that becomes immediately clear is the vision for the future that Steven has. The site is a total of 4 acres and initial building includes a school office, living space for visiting teachers, 6 dorm rooms for students that will house 8 students each, bathrooms and showers, and a large classroom. The 48 students will double the current capacity of the school while still being much more comfortable than the current space allows. Even with these improvements, that is just the beginning of what Steven has envisioned as he has already laid the foundation for the next set of dormitories, and the building is set up for an additional wing to be added for classrooms at a later date. The school and dormitories are contained in a walled area of three acres (more about the wall in a minute), with the remaining acre outside the wall being set aside for a worship center to be built for the local community as well as the students. The posts have been set for this building and Steven hopes to be able to lay at least a foundation soon. Even though the land has been purchased it is important to build on it as soon as possible in order to keep someone else from making a claim on it, or even having the tribal chief sell the land again to another person. This week we hope to see the roof put on the new building and hopefully the remaining carpentry work completed (door and window frames.) There is still much work to be done, but you can see the great opportunities the site will make possible. There is room to build a house at a later date on the property for whoever is overseeing the work here as well as a place to put in a garden that will allow us to teach the students how to install and manage drip irrigation (and thus give them a means to sustain themselves once they return to their villages) and provide food for the students.

Now, about that wall. It is actually quite safe here in Tamale, but walls around the compound are a good idea because of the possibility of tribal violence. The school here is unique in it has students from many different tribes living and working together. In the class of 15 that is graduating next month there are nine different tribal languages represented, and most of the students are not from the tribe that is local to Tamale. So when tribal issues do arise, as they will from time to time, the wall, which will be topped with razor wire at a later date, gives the students some level of protection and comfort until the dispute gets settled.

Later we went to town to do some grocery shopping. Never have I missed Wal-Mart so much! You go to one store to buy your household supplies (laundry soap, etc.), another to buy your basic food supplies, and another for frozen meat, another for bread, and your fruits and vegetables from the street corner vendors. Very interesting experience.

You can buy most everything on the street, which is good, because the closest Wal-Mart is a couple thousand miles away.

During the afternoon we met with the leaders of the school to discuss budget items and the upcoming graduation and lectureship. It is important to get the leaders from the local congregations to come to the lectureship and graduation to see the school in action, but it isn’t as easy as just sending an invitation. Because most people in Northern Ghana barely make enough to feed their families it is necessary for the school to provide a place to stay and meals each day for those coming, so the invitation is limited to 4 from each congregation in addition to the student’s family and guests. While it only costs 3 Cedis for space in the local hostel (about $2 US) and about 2 Cedis each day for traditional Ghanaian meals cooked by the women of the local congregations, the budget for a three day lectureship is huge by Ghanaian standards. During the meeting the rainy season officially began in Tamale. The rainy season lasts from late March to the end of September here. It doesn’t mean it rains that much though, not like in Southern Ghana, it just means it rains occasionally. During the months of October through February, the hottest time of the year, it does not rain at all here. When it does rain in the rainy season though, it really rains. Power went out about an hour before the storm got here and we got to enjoy a beautiful electrical storm light up the sky. Then the winds and rains came and lasted for a couple hours. The electricity came back on after the storm cleared the area and this morning everything is a little cleaner and the plants a little greener.

Friday – May 27th

This morning we spent working on getting supplies for the new building, something that is a little more difficult than calling your supplier and having him drop off 400 sheets of plywood. After much discussion we all headed over to the local shop to see what was available. After much waiting around the carpenter who is doing the work showed up to inspect the wood, and while I’m not 100% sure (since the carpenter doesn’t speak much English and I speak none of his tribal language), I believe we got what we came for. And it only took 4 hours to take care of!

One thing that has quickly become obvious to me is that the culture is one where much talk precedes any action, even one where the decision has previously been made and all that is necessary is taking care of business. Of course, with my Americanized “let’s make a decision and get going” way of thinking, this is quite a change. One of the things that Steven has done well here is help balance the “let’s see what happens” culture with a little “let’s make it happen” attitude.

During the afternoon I worked on my class material for a while. It will be interesting teaching here as I try to figure out what level to teach the classes at. I don’t want to make it too easy as it is a Bible College, but at the same time I don’t want to assume they know something that they might not have been exposed to in the past.

I capped my day off by taking a walk up to Tamale Polytech, the local university. Tamale is a large town by any standard, and I have seen a number of white people so far, but the little children still like to call out and get a big smile when the white guy waves to them.

During the evening Alhassan a young man who graduated from the West Coast School of preaching in Takoradi and now assists the Director of the school, set up the projector and screen outside of the school compound and showed a movie on the life of Jesus (based on the book of Luke). The students came out to watch and a pretty good crowd from the local area came to watch as well. The film was in English so Alhassan translated it into Dagbani, which is the language of the Dagomba tribe which is prominent in this area. Showing movies like this gives the students a chance to interact with the local community, and hopefully opens some doors to preach the gospel as most of those who come to watch are Muslim. It was a fun evening for the students and for those who came to watch.

Saturday – May 28th

Today is an off day for the students here in Tamale and most are taking advantage of it by doing their laundry, cutting one another’s hair, or just sitting outside and visiting. I took my first attempt at laundry this morning and what is called “bucket washing.” Never again will anybody with a washer and dryer available to them be able to elicit any sympathy from me because they have “all this laundry to do!”

After laundry I went exploring the neighborhood by walking to the construction site of the new school, which is about a mile from here. It is interesting getting directions from place to place as there are no street signs and most of the roads are just paths that have been created by people over time. The people are very friendly and almost everyone greets you as you walk through their neighborhood. I stopped to help a young lady and her daughter who were trying to level a 55 gallon drum of water on some rocks and as we talked it was obvious that she was concerned that I was trying to walk too far. She kept telling me the next village was too far to go by walking. I don’t know that I ever convinced her I was just going for a walk up the road a little way. Later in the evening I road back up to the site with Steven on his motorcycle and was able to wave to her, so she knows the crazy white guy didn’t try to walk across Ghana after all.

The afternoon was filled with a meeting of the Bible School staff and the leaders from the local congregations. It appears that there will be many such meetings in the coming weeks as preparations for the graduation continue as well as working out all the little details for the class that has just begun. I will begin teaching this Monday morning for 4 hours each day on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for the next 5 weeks. I was only planning on having 30 hours for each class, and it looks like I picked up an extra 10 for each one. Good thing I have lots of extra material, so I will be able to extend the “How We Got the Bible” segment in the Old Testament Survey class and devote more time to each of the books in the New Testament Survey class.

This evening Steven’s wife Karen made chicken tacos for dinner. I have really been spoiled with her being here and cooking every night so far! The students generally eat local fare each night, banku (corn mush) and boiled yams seem to be the staples. There are plenty of local food options as you walk down the street, but I’ll be sticking to either Karen’s great cooking or my own efforts outside of a few restaurants that Steven has pointed out as safe for us out of towners.

Tomorrow we head out early to a couple of the villages to worship with the saints. Steven will drop Alhassan and I off at one and then He and Karen will visit at another. I am looking forward to speaking to the church for the first time here in Ghana! Thanks for your continued prayers!

Tony

Cameroon Campaign To 14 Congregations...

Dearest soldiers in Christ,

I bring sincere greetings from CBIW. I am just excited to share with you what made news on our campus. On behalf of the staff, students and brethren of the Wotutu congregation I am saying thank you for all your efforts towards us to train men to preach the gospel. I am saying this because we have gone through our second quarter without any major problems.

For the past week all went on well in CBIW even though the atmosphere was darkened because I lost my younger brother. The incident was suppose to affect the smooth running of my activities but I give glory to God who is ready at all time to encourage and comfort His people.

All students took their exams without any problem. They left the campus on Thursday 26^th May to 14 different congregations for their second ever campaign.

Thanks be to our King that all arrived at their destinations and were highly received by brethren. This campaign took our students to both French and English speaking areas. I am appealing for your prayers so that they will do great work that will depopulate hell so that heaven will be populated.

For the week, sister Ernestine Owi was baptized in Tole congregation. Our students go to this congregation every Tuesday for their Bible studies and worship services.

Brother Shey Sheriff was equally added in Wotutu congregation. Shey is a young man who had the opportunity to be part of the funeral service of my younger brother and listened to message, that death or Christ can come at any time, just as my younger brother died without sickness. So he was pricked in his heart and decided to give his life to Christ. Keep him in your prayers as he worshipped today for the very first time with the Church of Christ.

CBIW students will transit their campaign to vacation and will return to school on the 15^th of June to commence with their short courses, “THE GODHEAD” AND “THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH.” Brother David is set for the course. We keep praying and waiting his arrival on our campus.

VISION
1) I shall move around to three communities to see the possibilities of planting a congregation there when the students return.

2) The public address system will be a powerful tool to help us accomplish this.

3) Transportation to and from from this mission. Pray for us.

With much joy and satisfaction we thank you for your support for this past two quarters. Please, I am soliciting for your steadfast efforts towards the work for the other quarters in the future so that all will be in accordance with His will.

Do your best to share this report with others. I am sorry the pictures are not ready as of the time I am writing this report.

Please do have a great time. I will not send weekly report again until after 15^th June when the students must have return from campaign.

Stay bless and continue to pray for us .

Elangwe and family
By His grace Director CBIW

The School And Church Working Together...

Greeting from Siem Reap Church of Christ
I would love to share some information concerning of the work in Siem Reap, Cambodia. All things are going well here, and on behalf of the church and the school in Siem Reap I would like to report you all the following: 

School
The work of the school is doing alright, as now we are at the first year and fourth quarter of our two years courses. Scheduled to teach:

Cheuy is teaching in book of I and II kings

Savai is teaching in book of I and II Samuel

Darat is teaching in the book of Ezra, Neh/Esther

Phanat is teaching in book of I and II Thess/ Jude

Chann is teaching in English and computer 

Church
The work of the church has some progress of spreading the gospel to many people in villages at country side (Takam, Leang Dai and Soroung). Why are we not doing evangelism in the city? This is an evangelism work, so we want to see the good influence of our students to the people in the country side at first because most of people at the country side are uneducated. After we do that for two weeks then we will move to do more evangelism in the city. That would be a benefit to the church in country side and also to our students and as well as to the church in the city. The focus point one is the church in the city.

They have done a great job of contacting people even though it is the first time for them to teach and make a contact.

All in all we will do our best as we can to preach and save more people’s souls in our country.

We have one idiom saying, “try to make contact with people from friendship to be a membership and brotherhood.” 

In His service
Chann