Two Reports Worth Your Time To Read...

December 24th report

Dear Co-Workers: 

December has been a busy month with many visitors, Future Preacher's Training Camp, Tanzania Christian Camp and a 2-day camp in Dar es Salaam. There are many "stories" to tell about camp with the most exciting being that Grace, the girl whose father would not allow her to be baptized several months ago, DID become a Christian. Her mother allowed her to attend camp and she requested baptism. As you know, Abigail has been studying with her weekly for the past 8 months. Before baptism, Abigail talked with her, making sure she understood the commitment required and discussed the situation concerning her father. Grace wanted to obey God and she did. 

Another teenage girl named Rachel attended camp and afterwards had a page of questions (mainly about the Catholic denomination). One of the questions asked was "Are you permitted to cry when someone dies if you are a Catholic?" Lindsey was asked to study with her and did so this past week. Rachel knows English well and the translator rarely had to intervene. After answering all of her questions, Rachel asked for continuing studies. Rachel learned much at TCC, one thing being that she had not been properly baptized by a denominational church here called the "Restoration church."

Our appreciation is extended to John Rice, Ben Thompson, Burt Fuller, Alan Middleton, and many others. Nine became Christians and we thank God for that. One of those who did so was Mwita Kambarage, youngest son of Kambarage and Agnes, longtime members of the Arusha congregation.

Middleton and Dewayne Marlowe studied with a Pentecostal preacher (a woman) at Mtu wa Mbu (Mosquito River). Interestingly, she said she could not read and was just parroting what other Pentecostal preachers had told her. She was very interested in studying and initially had two questions. One concerned women preachers. After being shown the truth from Scripture, she said, "How can I say anything against what you are saying since it comes from God's Word?" Hopefully, she will continue to study with Gasper, the local preacher. 

Today, the remaining three visitors (Sean Pettus, Josh Smith and Jared Gaines) attended Njiro. The preacher, Emmanuel Peter, invited them to speak at their "Friend's Day." Jared was asked to speak on the subject of Christians celebrating Christmas during Bible class, Josh spoke on "The Resurrection" and Sean conducted the Lord's Supper.

As for the Gee family, we are all well and hope to stay that way! The Lord has blessed us with a lot of rain today, which has cooled things off. Jared mentioned it was difficult for him to think of it being the Christmas season due to the warm weather here. 

We are very thankful for all of you and wish you all a wonderful end-of-the-year spent with your families. Thank you for your prayers, concern and love. 

With Love from Africa, 
The Jimmy Gee family

December 31st report

Dear Co-Laborers:

WEEKLY QUOTE:  "It is honorable for a man to stop striving, since any fool can start a quarrel."  Proverbs 20:3

Today, Saturday, has been nice, quiet and cool...and with no required places to go. What a blessed day to get several "secretarial" jobs accomplished with few interruptions. Several rain showers have helped fill our water storage tanks and everything is looking a lovely green. Thank you for using your precious time to read about the happenings in the Lord's church in Tanzania, East Africa.

Jimmy and Elly Martin met a second time with seven Arusha evangelists to discuss plans to establish five new congregations in the following areas of Arusha: White Rose, Phillips, Kijenge, Kimandolo, Njiro Nchini, and Mbauda. First focusing on White Rose, they will ask a new member if the church in that area can meet in his home for one month. Several men at the meeting were assigned a particular month to teach/preach at White Rose on Sundays and Wednesdays. Jimmy volunteered for the month of January, to teach Bible study lessons on the subject of "Spiritual Disciplines" and preach sermons on the "Nature and Work of God." Charles Heberth (preacher at Kwa Mrombo) will teach on Wednesday nights on the Life of Christ. Plans are underway for a door-knocking campaign (handing out tracts, setting up Bible studies, inviting people to worship) involving the assistance of new and returning ACSOP students in February. Another idea considered was making White Rose one of the assigned areas for the June 2013 "Safari for Souls" campaign. The men will meet monthly to review the progress and plan further.

Jared Gaines, a Faulkner graduate student, was a part of the group which held the 1st Annual Tanzanian Christian Camp in Dar es Salaam ("Dar") which occurred after TCC ended in Kisongo at the ACSOP. Trina has been acquainted with Jared's father (John Gaines) since she was about 11 years old. Sometime in the 80's, John and his family were missionaries in West Africa (Cameroon) for several years and were sponsored by her home congregation, Oxford Church of Christ. (Interestingly, Jared's older brother, Daniel, along with his wife, Tiffany and their three children, will be joining the TZ 2000 Mission Team in October 2013! We are excited that we will have more help and are looking forward to getting to know them better.)

Concerning the 2-day camp in Dar (home to 5 million people), I asked JARED to write a few paragraphs about it.

Here are some things he had to say:

There was not an official count on the first day but the second day we had 301 (including adults). That's bigger than any camp session I've been to in the states.  The camp was intended for 9-18 year olds but there were 40 under 9 years of age.  We were ready to teach them and they were ready to learn!  We had eighty-three 9-12 year olds. As for the ones older than that, I don't know the count. The theme was from Romans 1:16 teaching them "not to be ashamed of the Gospel. The younger kids learned stories of Jesus from the Gospels.

As friendly as Tanzanians are, they are less punctual than Americans so our schedule was difficult to keep. The meals took a long time to arrive. Next year we hope to simplify the meals in order to expedite the process. Devin Morris, Sean Pettus, Brandon Osborn and Charles Herberth (TZ) all did wonderful jobs in leading the devotionals. There was a discussion panel that served to be very instructive and helpful. The Tanzanian teachers kept getting on to the kids for not singing well enough...but I'm sure by the end of the day they were testing the kid's attention spans (and probably many of these kids were "unchurched" and therefore not familiar with the hymns--Trina).

Burt Fuller (the Administrator of Indian Creek Youth Camp near Jasper, AL) did a great job as the director and was also helped by a Tanzanian named Matthew at the church. Although Dar es Salaam was scorching hot making it difficult to stay hydrated, spiritually it was very nourishing. Overall, this first session of TCC in Dar was a huge success, with 301 in attendance and 3 baptisms in 2 days. Next year we hope to schedule a full week of camp and find a larger site in which to hold camp sessions. I hope it was a great experience for the Tanzanians and I know it was an incredible experience for the Americans!"

Next, an excerpt from the report of our team director, Cy Stafford, concerning recent evangelism efforts:

A second blessing was witnessed through the efforts of Alan Middleton and his co-workers as they labored at Mto wa Mbu. After dozens of studies and countless efforts, ten souls obeyed the saving message of the Gospel. Words fall short as to the gratitude we have for all who come and make this mission effort all it can be to God’s glory and to the saving of countless souls.

Alan, Dewayne Marlowe and Daniel Busche (plus Tanzanians) worked some in the area of Kambi Ya Chui (Leopard Camp) where a new congregation started from the work of Mto wa Mbu (Mosquito River). These men also delivered medical supplies to the Tanzanian Christian Clinic in Monduli (operated by the Smelsers) AND worked at Tanzania Christian Camp (TCC). Please read Alan's comments about TCC taken from the wonderful report he sent out:

...this work (Tanzanian Christian Camp) is way more impactful that I anticipated.  The response of these kids to this camp has been heartwarming, their comments to us as counselors and volunteers have been laced with both grace, maturity and understanding.  I feel after this week that the Lord's church has been strengthened for years to come. With nine baptisms and the leadership potential experienced this week, I am extremely encouraged for the future of the Lord's church in Tanzania. " We encourage you to read his full report (an interesting day-by-day account) to understand more about the work which he was involved in. If interested, please request it at armiddleton@live.com.

Normally, a ACSOP student is highlighted in our reports. Since the students are on holiday, the spotlight will shine on a very hardworking, humble, and super-friendly supporter...CINDY LEDFORD. Cindy is definitely an "unsung hero" working behind the scenes in handling our funds in the U.S. She is a member of the East Side congregation in Cleveland, TN, is married to Harry Ledford and they have a son named Michael. This "volunteer" job is a lot of trouble and involves more than just depositing money and trying to keep the figures straight. Cindy and her family sacrifice part of their lives to join hands in this work. As evidence of true servant hood (or perhaps she is a glutton for punishment) she actually writes us every so often THANKING US for allowing her be a part of this work!!! "Cindy, for ALL you have done for us, for all you are doing and for all you will do in the future... THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!" Our appreciation is also extended to the East Side church elders who allow the money to be received there, for their involvement and financial support. Ernest and Emily Jackson (East Side members) also deserve recognition for their effort and time in copying and distributing our report each Sunday.

Last, but certainly not least, is our latest news: Our oldest son, Todd William Gee, is engaged to a wonderful Christian young lady named Lauren Michelle Kelly, daughter of Chris and Brenda Kelly (and sister to Jared Kelly) from Fairhope, AL. Her mother (Brenda) and I are former "school mates" having attended Faulkner University together. We are very happy and looking forward to their wedding next summer during our furlough. "Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent (wise, sensible) wife is from the Lord." Proverbs 19:14

Also, congratulations are in order for Maddie Hochdorf and her fiancé, Caleb Norman, on their recent engagement. Maddie is the daughter of Sean and Anita Hochdorf (our co-missionaries) and the granddaughter of Norm and Alice Hochdorf who also live in Tanzania.

Another year has come and gone and a fresh, new one lies before us. What will the New Year hold for you? Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. A new opportunity awaits each one of us to love and serve God with all our "heart, soul, strength and mind."

Thank you for your continued support and prayers, without which this work would surely fail. Thank YOU for making the TZ 2000 mission work a success for the glory of God.

With Love From Africa,
Jimmy, Trina, Lindsey, Abigail, Heather, Candace, Stuart, David, Naomi, Elijah and Matthew

300+ Souls Added To The Kingdom In 2012...

Greetings Fellow Workers:

What a joy it has been, another year of blessed service in Him. We are blessed like few others. To all our friends and supporters we say THANK YOU! Words genuinely fail me in expressing our thanks to each of you and the part you played in the saving of over 300 souls in 2012. We thank our God for the increase and for the planting of more than 12 new congregations. We are grateful for all the blessings we share in Christ Jesus and for the opportunity to share these blessings with others.

We believe the best is yet to come and we ask of you, your continued prayers and support. East Africa is proving to be the right place and this is proving to be the right time. We believe The church in East Africa will continue to grow and in the not to distant future will take the Good News of the Gospel throughout all Africa, yes, all the world.

I close this brief Short Report with a special thank you to the Elders of the Bear Valley congregation, for their vision, zeal and for the leadership at the Bear Vally Bible Institute for their vision and efforts in planting Preacher’s School throughout the world.

We have been blessed by these men in ways only the Lord Himself fully knows. We say thank you and may our God continue to bless you as you strive in the making of “disciples” of all nations, that in turn they might take the saving message of the Bible to their own and to others. 

A special thank you to the Kensington Woods Elders and Ken Upchurch for the good you have and continue to do. May our God bless you in a very special way in the years to come. 

Stephanie, Granny and I thank God for each of you, your service, sacrifice and support of God’s mission work in Tanzania. You have blessed and enriched our lives in so many ways, we are humbled and grateful.

We wish and we pray you all have a great New Year, in Him, in service to Him, and in your service to others. 

In Him, 
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Opportunity For ITL In Guatemala...

Greetings Family, Friends and Supporter of Mission Guatemala!

It is our hope and prayer that you are enjoying this holiday season with your family and loved ones. It is also our prayer that God will bless each of you a prosperous 2013.

Many of you have told us to notify you when we have specific special needs. Well, at this time, there is a very important need for your assistance and we pray that you will be able to participate. Please excuse the general e-mail, but this is the quickest way to contact many of you at the same time. 

We have been blessed with a special opportunity to buy both the house we are renting and the house where ITL, our preaching training school, is located. The owner of our house is the son of the lady who owns the property where ITL meets. Due to circumstances beyond their control they need to sell both properties and have given us first option to buy both of them before they place them on the market. We believe that it is a great opportunity for our work and want to take advantage of it. 

Please allow us to give you some details about the properties. First, the owner of our house plans to ask $95,000 for his house but is willing to sell it to us for $70,000. It is a four-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath house, with two additional rooms that can be converted into bedrooms. We have priced property in our neighborhood and have found that the $95,000 that he wants is reasonable since property in the Guatemala City area is quite expensive, especially in neighborhoods that are still deemed safe. We have lived in this neighborhood since we arrived to Guatemala in March of 2000. 

The second property, which joins our house, is what we presently use for ITL. It includes a three-bedroom, 3-½ bath house, a two-bedroom, one bath apartment, and a studio apartment. Presently, our students live there and all of our classes for the school take place there. Remember that we have both a full-time program and a Saturday program. This property belongs to our landlord’s mother. She is willing to sell us her property for $80,000. 

So, the total for both properties will be $150,000 and we presently have approximately $80,000 that we have raised to purchase property for ITL. We say approximately due to the exchange conversion rate. We will need to only raise $70,000 to purchase both properties. 

We believe in using the monies we are entrusted the best way that we can and we believe this is a good way. The following are only some of the advantages for this purchase: 

1. The price for both properties is good for the area where they are located.
2. We will no longer be paying rent and that money can be used in other areas of the ministry.
3. Since the properties are next to one another, this provides an opportunity for the expansion of ITL as it grows.
4. We are already in the facilities. We have lived in our house since 2000 and have rented the other property for ITL since 2009.
5. The properties are centrally located for both the full-time students and for those who study on Saturday. Our full-time students are close to shopping and the other things they need for daily living. It is a fairly easy commute for our Saturday students to come where we are presently located.
6. The properties are located in a safe area. Since we also have teachers who come from the U.S. to teach, this is very important.
7. By purchasing the property, we will avoid the additional costs entailed in having to move our residence and the location of the school, and having to rent another house and another facility for ITL, which would likely be much more expensive than what we are currently paying for both.

We are calling on you to help us purchase these properties. If you can help us, we assure you that you donation will be put to its greatest use. We are also asking to inform as many people as you know about the great opportunity with which we have been blessed. We need to say “yes” to the sellers very soon. So, we need to hear from you as soon as you can to let us know if you can help. You have more than one option to get your donation to us. You can go to our secured website and donate online by clicking here. You can also send your tax-deductible donation to our overseeing congregation at the following address:  

Kingsley Terrace Church of Christ
c/o Dwaine Himes/Guatemala Mission
2031 E. 30^th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46218 

Please note on your form of payment “Guatemala Property Fund.” 

We are attaching pictures of the properties. We are also attaching an electronic “Property Donation Intent Form” to this message. Whether you donate online or through regular mail, please, send us this form through e-mail so that we can know more precisely the funds that have been raised for this purchase. We will keep everyone posted as we raise funds. 

THANK YOU so much for the love and concern that you have for the Lord’s work in Guatemala. Thank you also for helping us to achieve this milestone in our work. Again, please help us get the word out to as many as possible about the opportunity we have with the purchase of these two properties. Please remember to keep the work in Guatemala and us in your daily prayers. 

May God continue to bless. We look forward to hearing from you soon. 

We love you! Happy New Year!!!

Hawatthia
Byron

“Teaching the CENTRAL MESSAGE in CENTRAL AMERICA!”

Reflection On The Work In Chimala...

Men of God like Israel, Samuel, Silence and Godfrey all left school and are preaching and teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the countries of Tanzania and Malawi today. These, and many others like them, finished a two-year program of extensive training and practical studies to prepare themselves to preach. They had classes in the Bible books, Preaching, and Personal Evangelism. They have studied, Hermeneutics, Church History and Apologetics. They were given opportunities every weekend to go out and preach, conduct services, and do home Bible studies. They had experienced godly men from the States who came and taught short courses. Men like Howell Ferguson, Donnie Bates, and Denton Landon and Jerry Bates. They were taught daily by Tanzanian preachers who have the formal education and experience to lead them to be better servants of God. 

One of our recent graduates, and currently a student in the Masters program, is brother Felix Khozomba. He preaches at the Donasi Church of Christ. Nearby is a state prison where he has been holding Bible Studies. Because of his work he has baptized 24 prisoners and meets weekly with the church there. Brother Ephron Mbano has been working in his hometown and has established two new congregations at Kamala and Mutu which now have 25 saints worshiping weekly. Another of our graduates is Brother Clergynton Harawa. He is preaching at three congregations and teaching Bible classes at the Mzuzu Bible College. He writes and says, “I appreciate Bear Valley Bible Institute because they have trained me.”

One graduate says after studying World Religions; “I will teach them about Jesus Christ how he is the Son of God and He is the truth and the life. They way to life after death is the hope in Jesus.” Another student reports; ”I am looking forward to converting more souls from these false religions. My prayer is that they may be saved!” May God continue to bless our graduates as they do the work their years at the Chimala Bible Institute have trained them to do.

Garry L. Hill
Extension Coordinator
Chimala Bible Institute

Growing The Work In Liberia...

Reflection on Scanty Enrollment
In our last report we stated that at the close of the First Term registration in September 2012, the total enrollment stood at fifteen (15) students collapsed into eight (8) commuting students and seven (7) residential. 

We would very much like to have more students, but fifteen students can make a real difference for the Lord as they graduate and go out to preach and teach the Gospel. Even while they are in training, our ministerial students are actively carrying out the commission of Christ in evangelism and edification. This is evident by their weekend evangelism and participation with local congregations in teaching Bible classes, doing personal work and visitation. As indicated in our reports there are wonderful results. There are baptisms from their effort and many restorations. 

Being cognizant of the huge financial contributions being provided by our generous supporter, we have concluded plans to run a second class come September 2013. There is need to recruit, encourage and train more workers for the Kingdom of God because “the harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few.” We believe that preparing more preachers and training more teachers for the Kingdom will encourage support for the preaching school. A second class will start at the beginning of the next academic year to increase the number of residential students who will fully utilize the furniture and fixtures supplied through the financial outlays. We remain eternally grateful for this active benevolence.  

Weekend Evangelistic Outreach
I write to share the joyful news about our students and faculty who are carrying out the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ by teaching and preaching the gospel in evangelism and edification.

In November 2012 LBC students worked with local congregations an in the communities. They actively participated in personal evangelism, visitation, Bible class teaching. For the month of November there were a total of ten conversions and several restorations.

In week one of November our campus-based students participated in community evangelism. At their local congregations they got involved in visitation, taught Bible classes and conducted personal evangelism. In week one three persons received water baptism in the vicinity of the preaching school. These converts placed their membership with the Smythe Road Church of Christ

As usual during the second week the preacher students conducted personal work in the communities and enrolled several persons in WBS courses. At local congregations they conducted personal evangelism on Saturday and on Sunday participated in visitation and some given the opportunity to preach. One of them, K. Harris Wahwelee preached at Kakata Churchy of Christ (situated 45 miles from Monrovia) on the theme, “Leaving your spiritual Egypt to enter in God’s rest,” using as text Hebrews 3:11. Brother Harris also spoke on a local radio program. 

Truth for the World
Our campus-based students were seen in action in the communities during the third week engaged, studying the word of God with community residents. At local congregations our preacher students got involved in visitation and personal evangelism.  Two restorations took place as a result of their effort. The students on Sunday participated in worship activities in their local congregations.

During week four, Jones Town Church of Christ (situated 7 miles northwest of Monrovia), became the center of evangelistic activity for our students and staff. Ten students and the instructor of Personal Evangelism (Brother G. Moses Beh) participated in a three-day gospel campaign at Jones Town, a local congregation recently restored from the tentacles of the One Cup anti-brethren. Seven (7) persons who gladly received the word of God were baptized and added to the church. 

Faculty News
Two of our faculty members traveled to the United States of America in November 2012. They are brothers Maxwell and Arthur David. The latter departed on the 30th of November while the former left on the 1st of November 2012. Both teachers are expected to return to Liberia and resume work in January 2013. Brother Moses Beh completed the Old Testament course for Maxwell. For Arthur, he completed his Worship course and evaluated the students before departing. 

Final Evaluation Week
The regular sessions of instruction for the First Term at Liberia Bible College were climaxed by a week of evaluation. The final examinations were administered during the last week of November commencing on the 26th.    

Short Courses
We offered two short courses during the first two weeks of December. The two courses offered included Leadership and the Scheme of Redemption. The leadership course was presented by Alassis N. Goldore, from December 3 – 6, 2012.  Brother Daniel Sackey, a former instructor and dean of students at LBC taught the Scheme of Redemption from December 10 – 13, 2012. Brother Sackey is a graduate of LBC and Nigerian Christian Bible College (NCBC). He is currently the preacher of the Central Monrovia Church of Christ. 

End of Term Gospel Campaign
At the close of each instructional term (we have 3 terms in an academic year) both instructors and students conduct a week of campaign for Christ. The first term’s gospel campaign, therefore, was held on two weekends of December 7 – 9 and   December 14 – 16. The host congregation was the Smythe Church of Christ. Details and a pictorial will follow soon.

Alassis

A Holiday Wish To All Of You...

This is a holiday week for nearly everyone around the world. From the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, we want to wish you all the best of the holiday season. While there is so much for which we give thanks, we want you to know how thankful we are for the opportunity God has given us to be fellow workers in the Kingdom with each of you.

The closer we draw to one another, the stronger the bond grows between us and the greater the development of the program. Our hope and prayer is for 2013 to be a year where we are able to see more souls brought to Christ through the training of men to share the good news of Jesus. With the continued support provided by each of you, we know the future of the work will benefit and our God will be glorified.

We look forward to sharing news of how God has blessed this work and given the increase around the world. We want each of you to know that each part of this overall work is connected to something big, bigger than all of us and any one of us. 

Now on to the other reports...

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

Extension Reports 

Graduation And An Incredible Two Year Report: Words cannot express the powerful report from Cameroon and the number of lives changed over the past two years.

Need For Leaders To Assist Maturing Congregations: The need throughout Northern Ghana is great to have men lead congregations to maturity.

Influencing Cambodia: The continual influence of Christians in Cambodia is affecting the lives of many and has helped needy children enjoy their birthday.

Sharing Great News: From Arusha to the U.S., the news is wonderful and Cy Stafford shares the great news of events connected to the work. 

Final Thoughts
Just a final note to let you know we love and appreciate you. Thank you for making the Extension Training program a part of your service to the Lord. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

God bless
Bob

Sharing Great News...

Greetings Fellow Workers,

We rejoice in the Lord for all He does for His family and for the lost of this world. We are blessed beyond measure and thankful for the blessing of our Christian family. 

Recently God blessed us with answered prayers. One answered prayer was in the safety and blessing of a good work with the Future Preacher’s Training Camp and Tanzania Christian Camp. We thank Ben Thompson, Burt Fuller, John Rice and others who came and made this years efforts a “home-run.” God blessed the efforts of the TCC with nine precious souls being added to His Church.

A second blessing was witnessed through the efforts of Allen Middleton and his co-workers as they labored at Mto wa Mbu. After dozens of studies and countless efforts ten souls obeyed the saving message of the Gospel. Words fall short as to the gratitude we have for all who come and make this mission effort all it can be to God’s glory and to the saving of countless souls. 

A third blessing was the answer to our “Thanksgiving Challenge” that we sent out with four weeks ago. We faced a year end short fall in meeting the mission needs in Tanzania. We went to our friends and supporters with the challenge with hopeful confidence God would provide through His Saints. 

Stephanie and I arrived at Cotton and Beulah Box’s home last week and received the wonderful news. Cotton shared with me the news that Mayfield would be able to help with the challenge. Cotton (Mayfield) had no idea what we had already received, but when he told me what they had committed to, it was exactly what we were short in completing the goal. God’s providential care is an amazing thing to witness. 

To all who sacrificed to help us with this Thanksgiving Challenge, we say thank you and may our God bless you beyond measure. 

We still need to make up this short fall on a monthly basis, so, please pray and or commit to helping TZ2000 with a monthly donation in 2013. Stephanie and I have a few openings, so, if you or another congregation would like to have us, we would love to come and share with you or others the good being done in Tanzania. 

We wish you all a very happy holiday season and a blessed New Year in your Kingdom Service to God and our fellow man. We love and appreciate each of you for your love of the Gospel and your generosity to the Tanzania 2000 mission effort. 

In Him, 

Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Influencing Cambodia...

Holiday Greetings to all of you who are stateside! I pray that you have a wonderful and safe holiday going into the next year serving God! 

For this month, I want to share with you something that I think is very important that's happening in Cambodia. On December 14th, we had a birthday outing for 4 of our children at Hannah's Hope at one of my friend's restaurant. The birthday gathering is not the important thing, but it's how the birthday party came about. 

No doubt we have many supporters for the children at our home and they are very well taken care of. The staff does a tremendous job in raising them as well as caring for them. All of our staff are Christians and members of the Siem Reap church of Christ. Our brethren from overseas help out tremendously with the financial support to keep the orphanage running. We thank God for brethren like you who understand James 1:27. We thank God for those who support the preaching school in Siem Reap as well. 

The thing that I want to point out about what happened on the 14th is this. The money that was given to us for the children DID NOT come from overseas! It was a local Khmer person who donated it. My mother-in-law recently came into some money by selling a portion of her land and I jokingly told my wife, why don’t you ask your mom to donate 100 dollars to the children at Hannah’s Hope. So, she did and my mother-in-law, without hesitating, gave the money to us and we used it for the party. Now keep in mind that my mother-in-law is not a Christian yet. We're still praying for her. I asked my wife, has mom ever done anything like this before, where she would just give money to total strangers without anything beneficial in return? She shook her head no. She said that she's been around us so much and see how we do things that it rubbed off on her. 

Now I understand that 100 dollars to you in America is nothing, especially if you're a Christian who regularly gives alms without anyone knowing. But, for a local Khmer person it is a big deal. That is a month's wage for the majority of the people here. To see this happen right in front of my eyes brings joy to me and ultimately glory to God! 

We are influencing the world to see what Christianity is all about little by little. We pray that we continue to not only teach what Jesus taught, but show her by our lives what Jesus taught! We pray that we can reach her spiritually and that one day she will decide to give up on her ancestor's tradition and follow after Christ! We ask that you keep her in your prayers as well! 

Happy Holidays!

Phanat

To see the picture of Phanat’s mother-in-law, please click here.

Need For Leaders To Assist Maturing Congregations...

Greetings from Tamale! 

The Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies has just completed its eighth term and students are packing up to head back to their homes for a three week break. When they return in January they will have just two terms left to complete their two year program. I know the students are looking forward to getting back to their families and having some time to enjoy the holiday festivities. 

Evangelism Update
We have received reports from some of the schools graduates informing us of the work being done in the kingdom.  Avoca John  Mbilla, who is working at the Poyamire congregation in the Bawku area of the Upper East region, writes:

Through my personal evangelism work and outreach programs with churches within this quarter of the year, I realized that most of these churches that were planted some years back had scattered and fallen away due to lack of skillful trained church leaders as well as preachers to take care of these churches after planting. This has been a genuine problem across almost all the churches within the upper east region of the Bawku municipality.  Based upon that I took the pain to initiate with all the preachers within the Bawku municipality and the Poyamire church leaders and we were able to organize a three day leadership training seminar in August 2012, but this was not enough. We would therefore wish to appeal for assistance to open a new Biblical leadership training program within the Upper East Region in June 2013, inviting all interested church leaders within the municipality to be trained to help address some of these issues and to promote the growth and sustainable improvement of church planting within the municipality. 

The Bible Institute is making plans to assist John with the leadership training requested. In addition, John and his congregation will be working with the school in February when we do a church planting campaign in the village of Koligungo, which is on the Ghana-Burkina Faso border. Poyamire is the closest existing congregation to Koligungo and will be assisting in providing teachers and preachers for the new congregation.

A report was also received from Albert Malir who is working with the Chamba congregation, which is outside of Bimbila in the Northern Region. Albert writes:

The church members are doing well in time of church attendance. They have no problem with the church doctrine and its practice. This indicates their maturity in the scriptures.  It is the hope and desire of the church that by the middle of 2013 the weak churches near Chamba should be strengthened, so the church is deciding (sic - asking) that if leadership training could be offered to them so that they will be able to help the nearby churches of Christ.

The Bible Institute has not yet been able to schedule a leadership training class for Chamba, but hopes to do so in the near future. Albert also reported that seven additional souls have been added to the church in baptism since his last report, bringing the Chamba congregation membership to 40.

The final report came from Isaac Moakel and David Waja who are working in the villages outside of Salaga. Together they help to support seven different congregations in the area. Since July of this year they are reporting four baptisms in Kulpi, three in Kvuwani, two in Kayeriso, three in Malchee, one in Loloto, ten in Kpajai, and seven in Butan. 30 precious souls added to the kingdom!

Both Albert and David also reiterated a need that we hear constantly from the preachers in the north, the need for better transportation. As these men attempt to help additional congregations the ability to get from place to place is the single greatest limiting factor in how much they can do. Both are seeking the means to purchase a motorbike for their work.

Next week I will be traveling to Burkina Faso to continue to look for opportunities for the kingdom to grow. Please keep both the students and the staff here in your prayers. 

Tony Johnson
Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies

Graduation And An Incredible Two Year Report...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from your brothers and sisters in the Wotutu congregation. We do hope this report finds you healthy and sound in mind. It is a great thing for us to say thank you for all that you have done for us to make our ministry get to this level.

There were 17 students with their academic robs ready to graduate and to go into all the communities in our country to preach and teach and save souls. We have confidence in them because we know what we have transplanted into them. The knowledge and zeal is there and the place to start serving is there. Keep them in your prayers as they go ahead to dismantle the strong hold of denominationalism and rob from the strong man’s house.

This will surely be the last report from us for this year 2012. God was with us to help and direct our steps for all that He has entrusted in our hands. Thanks for your prayers and support. It really help us achieved most of our dreams.

As I write this mail, all the students of CBIW, now graduates, are all off from the campus after the graduation ceremony on the 20th of December. The coordinator, brother Josh Austin, who was here for three weeks, left Cameroon and is now safe and sound in Arizona.

I was able to give my graduation speech to the great population that came to Wotutu. It was a great day in the life of the church here and also for the life of CBIW, graduating the first batch with great confidence.

Brother Josh, the coordinator, gave files from the Bear Valley Bible Institute, the school that gave us affiliation. We pray for them for the great opportunity to train men to preach the gospel. God will bless them and help them in all their dreams.

Brother Josh addressed the entire population, appreciating them for their time and concern for CBIW and their love for the Church and Christ. The great crowd that came out showed the level of love that Cameroonians are appreciating the work of CBIW.

The day was a day that has gone down to history, because they are the first class to graduate. On the other hand, the second class of 26 students was also matriculating to start studying on January 2 2013. Most of them are married. Keep them in your prayers.

Many came for the ceremony, congregations of the Lord’s church, families and relatives came in their number to witness the event and also to enjoy fellowship with us. A total of 1322 people attended. It was a history making event in the life of the Church of Christ in Cameroon. Keep this work in your prayers because it is creating lots of influence in the country.

It was not easy to get all the students for a family picture after the ceremony because of the crowd and excitement. Try to picture what happen. We love our students and promised to always stand with them to accomplish their ministries in the locations in which they have already been involved in full time evangelistic work. They already have an ex-student union now to help develop their work. They left CBIW with the spirit of evangelism as our motto is Evangelism is our mission, and our mission is evangelism. Thanks for your support. We pray we will continue to work for the Lord to accomplish many.

My wife, even though not fully sound in health after having our new baby boy, struggled to be on the stage to appreciate the students as she was also handing out working tools to all the students. The graduating students received a copy of Vine’s and a Dickson’s Teachers Bible, while all the matriculating students received a Webster’s thesaurus. We thank all those who donated those great tools to these evangelists.

I was also able to give an award to the most evangelistic student, Tobias Sakwe. Keep all of them in your prayers as they are all ready to evangelize Cameroon for Jesus.

Our Progress Since the Establishment of CBIW
In 2011 our students commenced classes on the 4th of January with 22 students. Some were dismissed because of their life styles and one died.

The Lord took us with them far and near as we search for the lost souls. 226 souls were added in the Lord’s congregations in many parts of Cameroon, while the Lord restored 170.

In 2012 the Lord added 212 souls into His congregations all over Cameroon and 132 souls were restored.

A total of 438 souls were added into the congregations all over Cameroon during these two years of CBIW. While a total of 302 fall away souls came back to the Lord.

A total of 8 congregations were established and revived. Our students are stationed now in these congregations to provoke growth. Keep the work in your prayers. We can do more now that we have soldiers already trained and ready to evangelize the country. Please, we call on you to come and let us do this great work in Cameroon.

Plans
We shall continue to evangelize the entire country, as some of our students in this new batch are French speaking. We do not have space in the dormitory, because even as of now some who were not among the successful ones during the entrance are still pleading for us to give them opportunity to come and be trained.

We plan to go to virgin lands to expose the gospel and help many come out from pagan practices. This is a demand from many, calling on us to come to their communities and help. Please, just as Jesus said, the gravest in ripe but the laborers are few. Please come and let us join together to work for the Lord.

The Lord added a soul on the eve of our graduation. Sister Naomi Ewoh, who came to witness the graduation of her uncle, obeyed the gospel in the night. No camera was to get the picture. Keep her in your prayers to work according to her calling.

Appreciations
1) God, we thank you for all that you did to CBIW for two years.

2) We thank you for all your prayers and financial support to keep CBIW running smoothly. If not for you we do not know what would have happened to this dream.

3) Thank you. We say thank you. We do not know what we can use to appreciate you, but we say thank you and God bless you and keep you for His service.

Appeal
1) Please continue to pray for us. Your prayers are very effective to our growth in Christ and our work.

2) Please continue to stand with us and do more as we plan to do more for the kingdom this coming session.

3) Do your best to tell others about this work. God bless you as you do so.

I wait to read your reactions about this work.

Stay safe in Christ and remain blessed.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director of CBIW

Plans For Change In 2013...

This has been an exciting week. Reading through the reports creates such a feeling of enthusiasm for the work in the Lord’s kingdom. Reading about the development of men to preach the gospel, coupled with learning about the influence they have while they are in school in bringing others to the Lord, is worth getting excited about.

We are drawing closer to the end of the year and we are looking ahead with great anticipation to what the new year will bring in the work of training men to preach. We are thankful for God’s providential care and guidance as we strive to fulfill the work He has given us to fulfill. As we address needed areas of change and development we will also need your help. Please pray for us and consider how you can help get involved in this incredible work.

One of the changes we are developing over the next year involves plans to implement what we believe will benefit the work in Central America. We are planning to combine the Bible Institute of Honduras (IBH) with the Theological Institute of LatinAmerica (ITL) in Guatemala. We will finish training the current class in Danlí while, at the same time, recruiting students who will apply for training in Guatemala City. This change is explained in further detail in Donnie Bates’ report below.

Other changes are planned and we will share the news of these developments as we move through the months ahead. 

Now on to the other reports...

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

Donnie Bates’ report is located here.

Extension Reports 

One Last Campaign By The Alpha Class: Souls are added in Cameroon as the Alpha class goes on one last campaign before graduation.

The Need In Burkina Faso And Growth In Ghana: There is a need for preachers in Burkina Faso and the work is growing as 12 are added to the kingdom in Ghana.

Adding To The Kingdom In Togo: The work continues to grow in Togo as more are added to the kingdom. 

Final Thoughts
Thank you for taking time this week to read through the reports. It may be that you are focusing on one location of the work or perhaps you read all of them. Either way, your time is appreciated. This work involves many individuals and congregations to be successful and without each of you it could not function properly. Thank you for all you do.

God bless
Bob

Adding To The Kingdom In Togo...

Another student baptized
I was glad when I got the news that another student – KpaKpabia has obeyed the gospel in baptism. This brings 13 the number of baptized students. We are left with two more to be baptized. I learnt they have promised to do so soon. Hopefully, all the students would be baptized before graduation in July, 2013. I am so grateful to God that this strategy of enrolling denominational church leaders and using the school as a tool to convert these men is working as we planned. Please remember the two remaining ones in your prayers. The baptism was conducted by Cephas, the principal.

CLASS IN SESSION AT CBS
During my recent visit, I was privileged to be there while Akalo arrived from Tsevie about 2 hour motor ride from Kpalime. He had come all the way to Kpalime to teach. I appreciate the commitment and the dedication exhibited by these men in their service to the Lord. Akalo preachers for a congregation in Tsevie.

FIVE (5) MEN APPLIED TO ATTEND CBS IN 2013-2015
I was informed that five men have already expressed the desire to enroll at CBS 2013-2015 academic year. We plan to take in 20 students again. I have instructed the teachers to set the entrance examination in preparation for the new enrollment.

FORMER CBS STUDENTS INVITED TO PREACH AT A CAMPAIGN.
Three former students; Selorm, Yaovi and Foli, were recently invited by the Dzodze church of Christ in Ghana to participate in a Campaign for Christ. God blessed their activities with two baptisms.

CHURCH ACTIVITIES: NYIVEME CHURCH OF CHRIST- KPALIME
Ruth’s father Ernest, was baptized about eight months and since then it has been his wish that his entire family will become members of the Church. A few weeks ago, Ruth was immersed intoChrist. Brethren are now studying with his wife and another daughter.

WHAT IS GOD DOING WITH OUR FORMER STUDENTS?
It is always a joy to mention what God is accomplishing through men whom we trained at CBS. In the month under review,

Preacher            Town        Baptisms

Selorm               Noepe            2

Kossi                  Sanguera       2

Yaovi                  Akepe            2

Foli                     Keve             3

Gabriel                Danyinu       1

Hodanu               EYO             2

Total baptisms                    12

EYO CHURCH GETS NEW PLACE OF WORSHIP    
At the time of enrolling at CBS, Hodanu was a leader in the Church of Pentecost in EYO near Kpalime. A few months later, he decided to start teaching his congregation lessons he was receiving from school. Hodanu was baptized and later he baptized a couple of his members. Some of the leaders frowned on this attempt to convert the entire church. As a result some left the church. Those who stayed have completely embraced the New Testament worship and experiencing numerical and spiritual growth. When I visited EYO last week, I met some of the ladies who protested by leaving,had returned. They have since been assisted with CFA 261.00 to construct a new meeting place with CBS also contributing CFA 26,000.00. EYO church has a membership of 19 adults.

Willie Gley

The Need In Burkina Faso And Growth In Ghana...

This will be a different Christmas for me this year. As I walk about the town there are no Christmas lights adorning any of the houses, no Christmas music is being played, and I have not seen a single Christmas tree. None of this is unexpected since the majority of the people who live around me are Muslim, but it still seems strange. Since the temperature on Christmas day will be in the mid-nineties there will not be any hope for a white Christmas, only an expectation of another dust filled day courtesy of the Harmattan winds. And rather than a big mug of hot cocoa the preferred drink of the day will be a Coca-Cola or Fanta. It just doesn’t seem very Christmas like at all!

Further south of here, in the predominately “Christian” part of the country there will be many Christmas celebrations happening throughout the month of December and into the first week of January. Many people will journey back to their tribal villages in order to spend the holiday with their family. On Christmas morning everyone will head off to church showing off their new ‘bronya’ (Christmas) outfits. For many of the children these new clothes will be the only new clothes they will receive until next Christmas. Once church services are finished the afternoon and evening is devoted to eating and partying. Roads will be blocked off as the parties spread out with dancing in the streets. Christmas day in Southern Ghana is traditionally a very lively, and very very noisy day!

As for me, I’ll be spending Christmas planning for a trip to Burkina Faso the following week. It is time for me to have to leave the country and re-enter again so I will be spending a couple of days in Burkina looking for potential towns to plant churches in. So far I have only heard of a total of four churches of Christ in the entire country so it should be pretty easy to find towns and villages that need a church. More difficult is finding men who are able to lead that are also willing to spend the time necessary to help a new church plant grow. Finding those men will be a critical part of my Christmas trip.

Christmas is different here, and my Christmas will be much different than I am used to. What I will miss most this Christmas is spending time with family and friends. Even though I will not see you this holiday season, know that you are all in my heart and I will be thinking of you. Have a wonderful Christmas, and a safe and prosperous New Year! And if you get a chance, drink a big mug of hot cocoa (with extra marshmallows) for me.

Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies
The eighth term for the current class at the Bible Institute will be coming to a close on December 21st. Classes will begin again on January 14th, with the students having only two terms remaining to complete the two year program.

This term I am teaching a double class (80 hours of classroom time instead of 40) covering the Hebrew and Galatian letters. Other classes being taught this quarter include A Preacher and His Work, Godhead, Old Testament 6 (Major Prophets), and Christian Morals. This has been a very full term for the students with lots out of class work being required and lots of in class tests to make sure they are understanding the information being taught. In my class alone the students have written a paper on the relationship between Melchizedek and Christ, created five sermon outlines from the books of Hebrews and Galatians, and will have taken 13 tests by the end of the class!

The biggest news for the school is that, Lord willing, we will be in our new building for the beginning of the next term. There is still a lot of work to do, but if the electricity hookup gets completed we will be able to move in and finish the work as we have the opportunity. The building project has been going on for a number of years and it will be a great day when we experience the benefit of so many people’s giving and labor.

We are also excited that we may have visitors coming during the next term. A small group from Tennessee consisting of Travis White, Tracy White, and Chris Winner are currently raising funds to be able to come over and help teach classes and work with the students during the February campaign week. We do not get many visitors here in the north so we are very thankful for these men and their desire to help with the work here.

We are also looking forward to a short visit by Richard Renfro who works with Mission Printing. Mission Printing sends a huge number of tracts all over the world, including many that are distributed here in Ghana and in neighboring Togo. With the additional room we will have in the new building we are hoping that Mission Printing will send us a large supply of tracts to be distributed throughout Northern Ghana, Northern Togo, and Southern Burkina Faso.

As you can see, we manage to keep busy here at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies!

Evangelism Update
Ten students from the Bible Institute recently completed a four day campaign in the Bimbila area as part of our school curriculum. At the same time two other students were following up with the church planted in Cinkasse Togo this past September. The Bimbila campaign resulted in 12 baptisms and a new church meeting in the town. Leaders from village churches in the surrounding area will be assisting the church with Bible class teachers and preaching until one of the current students graduates and returns to assist this new congregation.

During the month I also travelled to the Upper East Region along with one of the Institutes graduates to do a 1 day seminar on what the Bible teaches about Christians and drinking. Drinking is a big part of the pagan Christmas celebrations in that area and the local preacher asked for our help in proactively dealing with the subject. Once the seminar was concluded I was able to meet with other church leaders in the area to begin planning a leadership seminar for all the churches to be held during the spring of 2013.

Later this month I will be heading back to the north to work on logistics for February’s campaigns. We will once again be involved with two campaigns, with most of the students assisting the church in Walewale with door to door evangelism. A small group will also be going with me to the Ghana/Burkina Faso border to plant a new congregation.

Please pray for our efforts to spread the gospel here in Northern Ghana!

Contact Information

Mailing Address:
Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies P.O. Box TL 925
Tamale, Northern Region
Ghana

Ghana Phone - 011-233-0248216622 E-Mail - anthonyjohnson2010@gmail.com

Kingdom of Hope Update
This month’s trip to Kuka and the Kingdom of Hope Orphan’s school was highlighted by a meeting with the church leaders there to discuss the direction for the school. One of the problems that can arise with these type of projects is the expectation from the local people that the white man is going to be in charge and tell everyone what to do. I am working very hard to make sure that does not happen, while at the same time trying to make sure that they are making good decisions regarding the organization and running of the school. Sometimes it feels like trying to walk on a circus high wire! But we continue to make progress and I believe the church is very happy that this is “their school.”

Construction on the new classroom continues to go well. Between my personal contribution and donations made last month we now have the funds to complete the roof for the classroom. I will be going there later this month to buy the necessary materials and help oversee the work. All of the unskilled work on the building, such as hauling water and sand for the cement and digging the foundation has been done by members of the congregation volunteering their time and energy. At the current pace of work we should have a usable building by the end of January. The new building will be named the Enoch Elliott Learning Center, in memory of the son of Jason and Misti Elliott.

Other issues at the school continue to be addressed as possible. Thanks to a recent donation I will be able to buy a number of mattresses for the students who are currently sleeping on the ground. We have also been able to raise the money to catch up paying the teachers and to help the church with some of the expense of feeding the children. In doing all of this we have also challenged the church to become more involved with feeding the children, a task they have stepped up to through the increased giving of produce from their gardens and a number of chickens and guinea fowls. Working together we continue to meet the needs of a great number of children in Northern Ghana!

Thank You Supporters!
Overseeing Congregation Greenbrier church of Christ

Supporters (includes recent one time contributions) Greenbrier church of Christ
Colony church of Christ
Bobby and Jackie Sims
Sue Shumate
Aubrey and Donna Allensworth 
Mildred Priest
Virginia Hielen
Wilkie Family
Chris and Shirley Brill
Linda Ray
Ron and Joann Boatwright

I am very thankful to all those who are part of the work here in West Africa. I cannot adequately express my appreciation for all of you who make it possible for me to work here. If you are interested in supporting the work at the Tamale Institute of Biblical studies or in helping the Kingdom of Hope Orphan’s School we would certainly appreciate it and put your gift to a good work. Please send all contributions to:

Greenbrier church of Christ
Attn: African Missions
12 Wilson Farm Rd.
Greenbrier, AR 72058

If you desire your gift to be used for a specific purpose please indicate how it is to be used by placing a note with your gift or sending me an e- mail. Some of the current needs at Kingdom of Hope include:

Desks and Chairs - $20 each set
Text books - $4 each
Mattresses - $25 each
School lunches - $150 per month
Repairs for existing building - $1000

Current needs for the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies include the expenses to send the students on evangelism campaigns in February. It costs $75 to send a student on a campaign.

All gifts are appreciated, large or small, and will be put toward a good work. Thank you for all of your help!

Tony Johnson

To see Tony’s report with several pictures, please click here.

One Last Campaign By The Alpha Class...

Dearest in Christ,

Calvary greetings from your brothers and sisters here. It was like a dream that two years of studies in CBIW was over as the last short course instructor, our coordinator, brother Josh Austin rounded up studies on Marriage and Family with our Alpha batch students.

The Lord was with us and saw our efforts to reach out His words to many in the Bonabery community in Douala. The Lord added 5 young and energetic souls into the congregation there. Keep them in your prayers as they continue to grow to impact and influence the community with their life styles for the Glory of God.

The week was a great one full with the blessings of God as brother Ewang Divine, one of our students who was sick, came back on campus much better. Wednesday last week we had the gospel call to travel to Douala for our very last campaign for the year as a school. Thanks for all your prayers, because as I write this mail, all the staff and students are back on campus safe and sound. Glory to our king.

Our students smiled as they sit on the hired van ready for the trip to Douala. God is blessing and maybe, by His grace, one day we shall have something like this on our campus and will enhance our movement to rob from the strong man’s house as we think souls daily. Evangelism is our mission and our mission is evangelism. This is our motto and we do all at our disposal to operate on it.

At the campaign, with very high temperatures, students slept on the floor to rest so that they can continue the work the next day. God was with us throughout as no one had any health problems.

The campaign was characterized by public preaching where the community will come out and ask questions concerning what they are hearing and to see how they can compare it with what they are already doing in their denominations.

House to house evangelism was also a serious point on the agenda. Our coordinator, brother Josh, was fully involved in showing from the scriptures what the Bible is saying about great examples in our leadership, as we don’t point the way, but we show the way for our students to follow. We pray they will continue with this great zeal that we see in them. Keep them in your prayers as they go into the field for full time ministry soon.

Brother Josh continued to share the gospel message to people that we can only meet them by His grace on the street. Building relations and establishing lasting relationships with the people in the community was great and may lead them to Christ someday.

We praise God for all His grace and love that we enjoyed with our students for two complete exciting years. We shall share more about those two years next week after their graduation.

Plans
1) All is almost set for the first graduation ceremony and second matriculation ceremony of CBIW students. The graduation will come up this week on Thursday beginning at 12 noon Cameroon time. Please keep the day and the activities of that day in your prayers as we are expecting above 700 people to witness it.

2) Students from CBIW, after their graduation, will start full time work in January. We have decided to stand with our students as they go into full time evangelistic work. They already formed an Alumni which will help us know their growth and see how we can also use the BETA batch of students to help them evangelize their respective communities. Please pray for us and come and stand with us to win Cameroon for Jesus.

Appreciations
Words, most of the time, cannot expressed what is in our hearts here in CBIW when it comes to appreciation and expressing our gratitude to God for His greatness in our ministries and also to you, your family and your congregation for all your fervent prayers and support to make dreams comes true in Cameroon. Next week we shall do it in a big way when all the statistics will be set as the students will be graduated already. Thank you. Again I say thank you and God bless you and all that you do. His blessings will be with you, your family and all your endeavors.

Elangwe and family
By His grace Director CBIW

No Exception To The Encouragement...

We start a new week with reports that are very encouraging. I look forward each week to receiving the information that is submitted, seeing just how God’s hand is working, and all that is being done around the world. I always hope the information that is being read by all of you is as encouraging to you as it is to me. This week should be no exception.

As we continue to focus on plans for the year ahead, it is important to keep in mind the changes we want to make to see the fulfillment of the purpose for which extension training exists. A part of those plans involves the beginning of a new school in Asunción, Paraguay. It is been encouraging to read about the progress being made in the development of a new school in this location. 

All of us enjoy reading about the development of the staff and administration of the mission team that is working in Paraguay. We look forward to the implementation of the curriculum and the new students that will come on board in March 2013. Presently, the plans are to begin class on Monday morning March 11, 2013. A few of us are planning to be there for the opening day of class, as well as, opening chapel. The very thought of a new school getting started is exciting.

As we continue to move forward and work on fulfilling our plans for the new year, we ask you to be praying for us and for the development of this new school in South America. We will provide information periodically to keep you informed as plans develop, and certainly provide pictures of the great event that takes place next year.

I do want to close quickly by thanking each of you for your prayers and your encouragement during the time of my surgery. I am now home and my hand is recovering slowly, but well. I am learning to type one-handed. However, a good friend of mine (thank you Michael Hite) has shown me how to use dictation and speech on my laptop. This allows me to talk and the machine types for me. It is taking me a little time to get used to it, but I do love this technology. :-)

Now on to the other reports...

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

Howell Ferguson’s report can be read by clicking here.

Extension Reports 

Nearing The End Of The Alpha Class: This week students take their last class in the two years that have been studying at the CBIW in Cameroon.

God Great Blessings In Ukraine: Looking at the work of the past, and the progress that has taken place, helps us see God’s great blessings on the work in Gorlovka, Ukraine.

Courage, Love, And Humility To Run A School: These qualities and more are needed to make difficult decisions and face the challenges in directing an extension school.

Struggles To A Faithful Christian Life In Cambodia: Numerous challenges face a faithful Christian life all over the world, but this report shares about them Cambodia.

100+ Baptisms In North India: The news is exciting about the work taking place with those who associated with the North India Bible College in Chandigarh, India.

ITL Visits Paraguay: I recent visit from students of ITL in Guatemala have encouraged the development of the new school to begin next year in Paraguay.

Cordylobia Anthropophaga?? One Mean Fly: There are some bugs in the mission field that are very challenging. The Gee family tells us about one such fly in Tanzania. 

Final Thoughts
I do want to finish out this week’s report with thanking you again. Thank you for who you are and for the work you contribute to in so many different ways. Without you this work is not possible. I look forward each week to sharing the news with you and concluding by thanking you for your part in this great work. You are a great blessing to all of us, and we thank God for you each day.

God bless
Bob

Cordylobia Anthropophaga?? One Mean Fly...

Dear Co-Workers:

WEEKLY QUOTE:  "The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; BUT they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing."

Isn't that Scripture so reassuring that the Lord takes care of His own? If we "seek the Kingdom first" our great God will provide for our needs.  

Our last report was short, so today more details will be given concerning some of the items mentioned last Sunday.

THANKSGIVING DAY! We hope you had a memorable one. In addition to the missionaries who gathered at the Stafford house to thank God for our blessings, several non-Christians friends joined us for the feast. Speaking of thanksgiving, we are very grateful for the extra funds received lately. Your sacrifice is commendable and your generosity much appreciated.  

GRADUATION. As you know, the ASCOP graduated 17 students (nine from the Master's program, six from the B.A. program and two--Lindsey and Abigail--with their Associate Degrees). Anita Hochdorf and long-term visitor, Allie from OK, along with several Tanzanian ladies, decorated the tables beautifully. An excerpt from the report of TZ 2000 Mission Work director, Cy Stafford states: 

"We were thankful for the presence of Gary Fallis who represented the Bear Valley Bible Institute. We are thankful for all the students, their dedication and the sacrifice they were willing to give that they might be better equipped for the work of the Kingdom. 

The school has now graduated 125 who are now serving the 150 church plants throughout East Africa. It has been an amazing journey since we began in 1998. From two very small congregations with less than 30 to 150 congregations. Wow, simply amazing the things God continues to do. 

We thank the Kensington Woods Elders for their vision...and the Bear Valley staff for their partnership in the Gospel. It was encouraging to see the Tanzania staff at the school take the lead and see this graduation through. All the missionaries did their part, the students theirs and through this cooperation, God was and is being glorified and souls are being saved, day by day. 

And, as if it could not have gotten any better, two men obeyed the Gospel after the graduation. One of our graduates (who hopes to plant a new congregation in his home village of Katish) had invited these fellows who he had studied with earlier to the graduation. They made the decision to obey and now the Kingdom is larger by two souls. Thanks be to God, He is good all the time." 

EVERYBODY KNOWS... that graduation means one has completed the requirements for a course of study. But graduation from a Bible Institute means much more than that! Dave Ramsey (financial guru) speaks of "changing one's family tree" through properly managing one's finances. This is certainly true (the influencing of generations of people) concerning the Faith being passed on from generation to generation. Even a small dam in a creek detours the water to flow in a different direction. 

"THICK SWARMS OF FLIES CAME INTO THE HOUSE..." (Exo. 8: 24) For several weeks, Kisongo has been "plagued" with flies. Almost every night my dining room ceiling has numerous flies seemingly stuck to it (think they were busy laying eggs). Many others are on walls and everywhere else. It's almost impossible to keep them off your plate and was very embarrassing when we had guests over. When looking at last week's report pictures, we noticed that a fly was on the graduation cake! 

(WARNING: The following is not for the "faint-hearted.") A "special" fly in East Africa is the Tumbu Fly (cordylobia anthropophaga...derived from the Greek and means "human eater.")  All clothes hung out on the line need to be ironed or put in the dryer for five minutes to kill any tiny eggs this fly may deposit on the damp clothes. If not, the eggs will hatch once they contact warm skin and the little maggot will burrow into your skin and eat the flesh. This happened to one of our children a couple of years ago. The Tumbu Fly also lays eggs in dirt. If dirt is thrown and ends up in a child's hair and stays awhile, again, the maggots burrow down into the skin and form a pimple-like place which eventually gets all red and inflamed. About two weeks ago, another young child of ours (name withheld to protect the embarrassed) had five places on his head and two on his upper arm. The way to get them out is to scratch off the top and squeeze the wiggling and "very-much-alive" larvae (maggot) out. Yes, squeezing out seven maggots was gross. The affected child developed a fever about a week later (not sure if it was related to the problem of the maggots) but he is now taking antibiotics and seems fine. Okay, someone pick up the grandmothers (Rita and Jackie) off the floor...really, everything is okay. 

GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN sometimes and other times focus on what's truly important. At the last spend-the-night party, during the devotional, five girls stated they did not own a Bible. It was great to just reach in a box and give them one (because the Union Grove congregation, in Cleveland, TN, donated more than $300 last year to purchase Swahili Bibles).  They were very thankful. 

ARUSHA EVANGELIST MEETING. Last week, several local evangelists met with Cy Stafford and Jimmy to further develop a plan for planting churches in different areas in Arusha. Traveling for local folks is a real problem because most people do not own a car and either walk or pay bus fare to go somewhere. Women traveling with small children face additional challenges when it comes to getting to the services. Having a congregation closer to their homes should help many to stay faithful.

STILL MORE TO WRITE...but it will have to wait until a little later. Future Preacher's Training Camp just finished and TCC begins tomorrow. Jimmy is making numerous airport runs with the help of African brethren. It's great to have visitors and we are looking forward to a wonderful week!

THANKS FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!  

With Love from Africa, 
The Jimmy Gee family

ITL Visits Paraguay...

Recent congregational developments and activities: 
The Special Committee for the Bible School has made some great progress this month! We now have the management structure decided, the faculty members have been chosen, and the course descriptions are taking shape. Perry Hardin was named the Academic Director and I was named Administrative and General Director of the school. We are very excited to announce that brother Jorge Vera, from the Cento congregation, has also joined the staff as one of our professors. Everything appears to be on target for beginning March 2013. Please keep this effort in your prayers as we continue to develop this school. 

Special activities: 

• Karen Bennett, who is a member at one of our supporting congregations, Central Avenue church of Christ in Valdosta, GA, came to Paraguay to work with us for several days! She was involved in many activities, from giving personal devotionals in the homes of many of our sisters, to visiting an area orphanage, to encouraging our mission team ladies, and serving as special guest speaker at the Annual Ladies Planning Retreat. It was a real pleasure to have Karen in Paraguay and we greatly appreciate her enthusiasm for mission work. We hope she comes back!
  
  
• Gabriel Gonzalez and Eliezer Pérez are students from the Institute of Theology of Latin-America (ITL) in Guatemala who have come to Paraguay to work with us for three weeks. They have been a great encouragement to the church and have done a fine job in every lesson, sermon, and study that they have given. They have served as a great example as to what we pray our Paraguayan Bible school will accomplish. 

• The Annual Ladies’ Planning Retreat was held this year in the home of Pituca Wingate with 23 ladies present. Karen Bennett brought a lesson involving a Christian’s Survival Kit. Andrea said, “It was so encouraging to see many of our ladies think so deeply about the growth and maturity of the congregation and their roles as women, workers, and servants in His Kingdom as we sat down together to set our goals for 2013.” 

• Annual Team Banquet, Team Workshop and Planning Session, and Team Retreat This time of year is always fun, busy, and exciting because there are so many activities going on. The mission team always takes this time to reflect back on what has happened in the past year, evaluate any changes necessary, and then make plans for the upcoming year. After having the Heiderich’s with us during our workshop, we spent a couple of days developing our plans for next year (it’s going to be a great one!) and then we took a couple of days off to have a retreat in Atyra at the hotel/resort of Casa del Monte. 

• Brother Donnie Bates was the first of our guest speakers (via Internet) for our Wednesday night “Summer Series” lessons. Modern technology allowed us to connect with him from Denver and his lesson was well received! Our upcoming speakers include Chris Fry, Willie Alvarenga, Andy Chavarilla, Enoch Rinks, and Douglas Alvarenga.
   
• Contacts / Bible Studies
   
• English Course Contacts: Our English studies continue to go well as we are advancing toward more serious Bible studies. Please keep Andrea, Guadalupe, Adriana, Blanca, Sergia, Antonio, and Graciela in your prayers that they may be touched by the word of God and respond to Christ’s invitation.

Evangelistic efforts:
We set up several evangelistic studies with the ITL students through one on one studies, and addressed the topic of salvation in our home Bible study groups where a visitor was attending. Please keep Elvira, Susanna, Javier, Miguel, and Vicente in your prayers.

Steps toward mission goals:
Jeremy Barrier and Roy Wilson from the Madison church of Christ in Huntsville, AL came to Paraguay to investigate the possibility of starting a Christian radio program for the area. Brother Ike Yegros accompanied them around Asunción and assisted in researching the local resources. We pray this program will come to fruition in the near future!

Upcoming plans:
Our Annual Congregational End of the Year Dinner is coming up this next month. It is always a fun event!

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES
Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: So many great activities! There was the Annual Team Banquet and Retreat, the Annual Ladies Planning Retreat, visitors Karen Bennett, Jeremy Barrier, Roy Wilson, Eliezer Pérez, and Gabriel Gonzalez, along with the Marine Ball and Thanksgiving dinner! Whew!

Personal study:
I am currently reading / have read: Difficult Conversations and How to Discuss What Matters Most” by Douglas Stone and Bruce Patton, and “Preaching” by Fred B. Craddock 

Culture and language study: 
Andrea has enrolled in Berlitz Language School for advanced Spanish classes. She loves it! We are praying this will really help her skills in speaking Spanish. (BTW, she served as translator for Karen for more than a week!)

Family activities:

• U.S. Marine Ball - we celebrated the 237th birthday of the Marine Corp with several of
  our friends from the US Embassy at their Annual Marine Ball. It was a beautiful ceremony and a very fun night! I even had the opportunity to have a religious discussion with the US Ambassador, James Thessin. 
• Andrea helped head up the planning and execution of the Annual Thanksgiving Lunch by the Las Amigas Club. They use the event to raise funds for the nursing scholarships. There were some 140 people in attendance and the food was absolutely delicious! 
• We took the ITL students to a concert of traditional Paraguayan music and dance. Our sister, Natalia Mendoza, was participating in the event. 
• The mission team shared a nice Thanksgiving Dinner together on “Turkey Day” this year. 

Visitation:
Andrea and Karen Bennett made several home visits to bring a devotional to some of our ladies with theme of “The Joy of Being a Woman.”

Upcoming plans:
Andrea will be hosting the monthly Ladies Tea in our home in December. They plan on exchanging gifts and, of course, Andrea gets to cook!

We will also be having Christmas Dinner with the team and Brittnea’s parents, Kevin and Tammy Dye, next month!

We hope to start the first phase of construction next month on the building. We plan on removing one of the interior walls first so that we can enlarge the space we are using for worship assembly. We’re praying to find a solution to get started on building a new auditorium!

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

To see the report with pictures, please click here.

100+ Baptisms In North India...

As we have entered in the last month of the year, we wonder from where to start with the abundance of blessings we received this year from our good God.  

Sharing the Truth 
The students are asked to go by bus to the far places and visit the nearer places on foot. As an evangelistic tool, we started last year an open gospel meeting in a rented hall. We have fixed this meeting on every first Wednesday of the month. On this day the other preachers also join us and we have a great fellowship.  In addition to that the local preachers have had meetings in their respective areas and invited other preachers including me to preach there. It helps to introduce the Church to the new people as well as new areas.  

Areas of work
We have been working in Maloya, Daddu Majra Colony, PGI, Kharar (a suburb of adjoining City Mohali, Punjab), Baddi (Himachal Pradesh), Panchkula (Haryana). Students are sent as groups to evangelize and teach people. Each day our work is on.  

Bombay Trip
It could be called a successful one, though there was tension in the city at the rumor of a fundamental Hindu leader’s death (92). There was a fear that they could create chaos. But everything went well by the grace of God. After I reached home, I heard that he was dead. It was the same time I landed in Chandigarh. I trust the Lord had providential care in that. I had 3 days class there and taught on the plan of salvation. Many of the denominational people attended that study and appreciated. In fact they requested me to come again in March next year to teach them.   

Wedding Bells
Brother Muan and Mary were married last month. Muan is a member here and worships with us but Mary is in Ahmadabad, Gujarat. She is working in Military service and expects to move to Chandigarh.  

Preparing for the upcoming lectureship
The Chandigarh Church and the NIBC host their annual lectureship for the preachers in North India. This is the first and major initiative to bring brothers together on one platform. It helps the weak brethren to be in touch and do not lose the faith. 100 letters are being sent to the different locations of North India (Hindi speaking Belt) to invite preachers to attend NIPL-2013. This year the North India Preachers’ Lectureship comes on the 14th and 15th of February 2013. The study this year will be from 2 & 3 John and the Epistle of Jude. This year we have planned to gift a small Bible Bag to each preacher with the Bible College address printed on that. This way those preachers can tell about the NIBC, all the time they go for preaching or visiting people with their Bible. 

Literature Distribution 
We are helping preachers throughout North India by sending each month the complete Bibles, New Testaments, Song Books, Tracts and small leaflets. The Voice of Truth has been proven a real blessing for those who are in search of Truth. 

This year so far we have sent 385 Bible, 150 song books, 5,000 VOTI (Hindi), more that 20,000 Truth for today books, several NT’s, tracts and sent BIBLE KI BAAT (Bi-monthly) leaflet.   

The obedience to the Truth
It gives us a great joy when we hear of those who have obeyed the Lord. Not only here, we have heard of more than 100 baptisms that took place in different locations where our co-workers are working.  

New Students
We have been working to enroll the students for the next session. I have been getting requests from Punjab, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and other places. 

We give thanks to God for all the blessings he has bestowed on us this year and appreciate all the partners in prayer and encouraging us with their means. To God be the glory (1 Corinthians 3:6, 7).

These are just a few out of the countless blessings we received and it gives me joy to share with you all.   

Your fellow worker

Earnest

Struggles To A Faithful Christian Life In Cambodia...

Greeting from Siem Reap church of Christ.

Hopefully, this letter will find you in good health and blessed in His work.

The church in Siem reap is doing alright. We may have faced some small problems, but we can overcome only through the very word of God that we trust. 

It's about the harvest time in the whole country of Cambodia so most of our people are going to be busy to gather their crops in the next a few more weeks.

School is doing okay as I heard from Phanat. Also our orphanage is doing alright. Please keep us all in your prayers as we try to live a faithful Christian life and try to teach our members of the church, our orphans and students to grow spiritually. We never forget at all that, while we are trying to be growing, there are some struggling among us and I believe that, things like that happen to everyone and every church, it just may be less or more. 

The reason that we ask you to pray to our God on our behalf, we know that you may have faced more problems than us and you and your church are older and more mature than us. Also, as you know that, we are young both physically and spiritually and yet there are many more things ahead of us, either happiness in Christian family or problems that we are going to face.

Lastly, I am very grateful for your faithful supporting, praying and caring to us. I really want to express my feelings to you and the brethren who are involved supporting us and the work that we are doing, and I hope that through this letter you may understand my long way feeling. May God bless you.

Chann

Courage, Love, and Humility To Run A School…

Happy Holidays to all my friends and family back home in the USA. Hope you had a safe gathering and shared many wonderful memories with your loved ones. As for me and the work here, we are continually making wonderful memories for our Lord. We've gone through many ups and downs as a spiritual family, but we still keep on pressing on. We pray that it is like that with you all in the states as well. 

The school is doing well. We are finishing up our 1 quarter for our first year students. We now have a total of 10 students enrolled for the 2014 class. We ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers. We've also added a new staff member. Piseth, one of our 2010 graduates, came to me and asked if he could teach at the school. I was so proud at his decision knowing that he isn’t receiving a salary for it but still insist on being on the staff. 

It takes a lot of courage, love, and humility to be able to step up and make such a decision. As director, I have to be very careful who I bring on as staff. Piseth and Darat have those rare leadership qualities that are outlined in the Bible. Humility, Courage, Love, Sacrifice, willingness to learn, and trustworthiness describes these two and I am so proud to be able to work side by side with them. 

IBISR continues to get better and better as we progress into the years ahead. We are still learning from our mistakes and still trying to make it as profitable for souls in Cambodia as much as we can. Please continue to support the work here. Trust in God to provide. Trust in His Word to transform individuals to become proper stewards and trust in the brotherhood to carry out His mission across the globe!

Phanat