Final Report From Josh Austin...

Dearest brethren, 

We hope you had a great holiday season and are looking forward to a great year.  Most of the month of December I was in Cameroon, Africa.  The rest of the month was full of recovery time and Holiday time with family.  

Cameroon Bible Institute of Wotutu graduated its first class of 17 preaching students.  All of them worked extremely hard and sacrificed much for the sake of Christ.  We are happy to see they are all going to preach full time in various congregations that they have worked with previously through campaigns.  

The first week I was there I taught their final class, which was “Marriage and Family.”  The students really seemed appreciative of the material.  When classes finished up, we went to the annual lectureship about 1 ½ hours away.  There were over 450 people who attended this lectureship.  It was encouraging to be there.  I was asked to speak on Sunday morning.  It was an honor to share God’s word with so many.  Once we got back to Wotutu we had a lot of work to get prepared for the upcoming graduation.  They not only had the graduation, but they also introduced the 26 new students at the same ceremony (called a matriculation).  There were over 1300 people in attendance for this great event.  So many people contributed to make it a special day.  

During graduation, I also made the announcement that I would be stepping down as the coordinator & David Ballard would be taking my place.  David has a great reputation, familiarity & love of the people in Cameroon.  We are excited about his decision to help this fine school continue making a difference for eternity.  

My attention now turns toward the goal of planting a church in Phoenix among the Native American people there.  Our goal is to move to Phoenix & begin the work in June.  We are so thankful for the Morenci congregation for their support in helping me during this time of transition.  They’ve been an encouragement to our family.  They’ll be looking for a good solid preacher to come when we leave.  If you know of anyone who would like a good solid work please let me know.  

We currently have ¾ of our support raised for the upcoming work in Phoenix.  We are still looking to finalized the rest of our support & get our goals & plans in clear workable steps.  There is a lot of research to get done as we think about a church plant in a metro area with the Natives in mind.  There are going to be challenges, but I believe many great rewards.

Thank you for your continued love & support of all our efforts in the kingdom to the glory of our God.  We pray for you & look forward to the next time we meet.

Sending our love and prayers to you and the brethren.

Josh Austin

Planning A Very Busy Summer...

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?" Psa. 27:1

We hope you are enjoying a wonderful New Year! Ours has been blessed with lots of rain. During this morning's offering, the men speaking could not be heard above the rain pounding on the tin roof. Trina and the children worshipped at Kisongo and Trina taught the Ladies class on Genesis 32. The goal was to finish Genesis last year but due to many factors (continued construction on the classroom, translator sick or out of town, guest speakers we wanted to hear) it was impossible. The goal is to complete Genesis before furlough.

Abigail taught on the Days of Creation/Fall of Mankind in the Children's Class. Ahimidiwe continued teaching Acts in the Men's Class. Mrutu preached a powerful lesson on "Gratitude." Jimmy taught and preached at White Rose, a newly established congregation meeting in a member's home, a small 2-room concrete house (not 2 bedrooms). Total people listening to Jimmy and his translator were seven: Baraka and Angel (the couple living in the house), their non-Christian neighbor (Witness ) and 4 children.

Lindsey has continued her studies with Rachel John, who recently turned 16. Rachel, a bright young lady who knows English well, attended Tanzanian Christian Camp and asked many questions about Catholicism. Yesterday, Lindsey's study focused on what constitutes a valid, obedient baptism. We rejoiced that Rachel was baptized into Christ! She needs your prayers because Tuesday she will travel to Moshi (an hour away) to enroll in a private Catholic school (the students are not allowed off campus but are expected to attend the Catholic services on Sundays). Most Tanzanians do not get the opportunity to attend a private school. She was given the chance due to her aunts' influence (so it's not something she wants to give up). The plan is for the local preacher to contact the school and request special permission for her to attend the church services in Moshi. (By the way, Lindsey conducted 50 bible studies with 15 people last year...multiple studies with several).

Congratulations to twelve-year-old Anita Mwakabanje and her parents, Christopher and Julia! Passing her exams with the highest scores in the nation (in Math and English), she was selected to join Moshi Technical Secondary School (the government will subsidize most of the cost).

This Saturday, all the Kisongo teen girls have been invited to our house. Abigail will lead them in a discussion of the importance of Bible study and prayer. Of course, where there are teen girls there must be food and games. Abigail hopes to plan several more before leaving on furlough.

This weeks' spotlights shines on: J.W. and Jackie Gee (Jimmy’s parents), two of our most dedicated supporters! To try to list everything they do (from errand running, to mailing important papers, and numerous other tasks Jimmy asks of them) would be impossible! We appreciate all the time and effort! Most of all, they (along with Trina's parents) don't put us on a guilt trip for taking their grandchildren 10,000 miles away. They are truly supportive in every sense of the word!

Please pray our TZ children's immigration visas will be completed by late February in order to enter the U.S. and become citizens. Our target date for leaving TZ is April 15th because our summer is filled with some very important ceremonies! Lindsey and Abigail will have a reception celebrating their graduation from high school and from the ACSOP. Our sweet son, Todd (sorry, Todd, Mom had to say it!) graduates from Faulkner in May, Jimmy graduates from Amridge and last, but not least, Todd and Lauren's wedding in May!

We'll be stocking up on Kleenex! Lauren's brother, Jared Kelly, will also be graduating high school. Then there are the birthdays to celebrate: Naomi, Elijah, Trina’s Mom, Heather, Lindsey and Abigail (#18) and Jimmy! Also, the generous brethren at the Huntingdon, TN congregation are giving us an all-expense paid trip to the Creation Museum in northern Kentucky!

Thank you for the privilege of working in Tanzania and for the furlough funds sent thus far! 

With Love from Africa,
Jimmy, Trina & family

The Lord Gives The Increase In Paraguay...

RECENT BAPTISMS!

Brethren, is there really anything more important in this world than one’s salvation? The answer is, obviously, NO there is not! Last month, five precious souls recognized this truth through the power of God’s word and decided to heed the Gospel call! What a great way to end 2012!

• Baptized! Zully and Vicente Martinez! They came to the church more than a year and a half ago. After we and several brethren studied the subject of baptism with them on many occasions and teaching them EVERYTHING involved in being saved, Zully recognized that she needed to be baptized according to the Bible in order to be saved. However, Vicente believed that they had already been baptized for the right reasons. He maintained this posture based on how he understood “the one baptism” of Ephesians 4:5. Something in him changed recently when he finally recognized that he had been previously baptized under a false doctrine and was, therefore, re- baptized with this time knowing it was according to the scriptures! 
• Baptized! Nery and Delia Martinez! Nery is the younger brother of Vicente Martinez. Vicente had been evangelizing his brother for quite some time, but when two young preachers from Guatemala came to visit, he decided to seize the opportunity to set up a study with them and his brother. Nery decided to obey the Gospel call, then his wife, Delia, decided to do the same! Praise God for the power of the Gospel! 
• Baptized! Adriana Ramirez! Adriana is a friend and neighbor of Mirta Vera, our church secretary. When we needed a cleaning lady for the church building, Mirta suggested Adriana and she has now been with us for several weeks. Adriana began asking many questions and Mirta continued to evangelize simply by showing her what the Bible says. Then one Friday morning, Adriana decided she needed to be saved and right away! Praise God for her obedience! 

Special Activities / Congregational Development:

• We enjoyed a wonderful evening of fellowship, fun, and food at our annual End of Year Dinner with both congregations! Everyone brought lots of food and some brought friends or family. We had a few presentations and then topped off the night with a very humorous talent show! 
• Andrea hosted the Ladies Tea in our home this month. There were 26 ladies that came and enjoyed fellowship and some of Andrea’s “famous” cooking! Andrea also gave the devotional thought and afterward, the ladies exchanged Christmas gifts. 
• Brother Chris Fry was our guest speaker this month (via Internet) for our Wednesday night “Summer Series” lessons. He always does a good job and we enjoyed his lesson. Some of our upcoming speakers include Willie Alvarenga, Andy Chavarilla, Enoch Rinks, and Douglas Alvarenga.
• Bible Academy development: The time is getting closer and we are getting more excited as the Asunción Bible Academy   

  continues to develop! There is much left to do, but the men are steadily moving forward with the development by working on the Student Manual and teacher expectations. It is long, tedious work, but they are very dedicated. We have several potential students and we ask that you please keep them in your prayers. They are: Enrique Albera, William Arzamendia, Paolo Roschol, Ramon Paredes, and Karen Vega. 

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies:
English Course Contacts: Our English studies have gone well but now that we are in summer time in Paraguay, many are taking off work for vacation. Several of our students have suspended their classes until February. We ask that you please keep Adriana, Andrea, Guadalupe, Blanca, Sergia, Antonio, and Graciela in your prayers that they continue their studies with us and that they may ultimately respond to the word of God. 

Steps toward mission goals:

• Perry and Alba Hardin have completed their committed time to the mission team. They left Dec 31 to go work in Peru for two months, then plan to return to Paraguay where Perry will assume the position of Director of Academics for the Asuncion Bible Academy. 

• We made some improvements on the building! We removed one of the interior walls in order to enlarge the space we are using for worship assembly. We also repaired several cracks in the walls and repainted a large part of the interior. 

Upcoming plans: 

• 2013 looks like it will be super busy as we get ready to start the Bible Academy, host several groups from the US, gear up for our annual congregational retreat, launch a new English campaign, and offer several community seminars!

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES
Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: What a way to end the year 2012! There were five baptisms this month, along with a wonderful End of Year dinner, and the beginning of improvements to the church building.

Personal study:

• I have finally finished the Spanish study guide book for new converts that I have been writing! The first copies of “First Principles” have been printed and given to several Spanish speaking brethren to help with any corrections needed. 
• I am currently reading / have read:  
• “Paul’s Letter to the Saints at Rome”” by Robertson L. Whiteside  
• “A Return to Christ Centered Missions” by Earl Lavender 

Cultural or language discovery: 

“Flor de Coco” is a popular tradition for Christmas in Paraguay. Many street vendors sell this very fragrant Coconut Flower so people can put them in their homes or around their nativity scenes in their yards. 

Family activities: 

• We enjoyed a nice Christmas Dinner in our home with several of our teammates and Brittnea’s parents, Kevin and Tammy Dye! 
• Andrea has a new BIG hobby! Making gift baskets, cakes, and finger foods. Since she loves to cook and everyone loves her cooking, she decided to start taking a few orders by request. 
• I’ll be completely honest, I do not like going to the gym! Although I know I need the exercise, but I can find a million excuses for not going. So, I needed to find a different approach and I recently found one in Tae Kwon Do. I must say, it has been rather interesting learning a new sport in Spanish, but I have really enjoyed it and I already feel much better! I even recently earned my first belt! 

Visitation: 

• Gustavo Aguero has been struggling with many aspects of his life lately. He has once again slipped back into drinking. But, recently he indicated that he needs to get his life back together and return to the Lord’s church. We’ll be praying and doing all we can for him. 
• Estella and Graciella - Estella turned 70 years old on Dec 24 and her daughter Graciella, who lives in the US, was here to celebrate. We got to spend a little time with them both because Andrea was asked to prepare a large gift basket for her. They are such wonderful people!
  Upcoming plans: 

We are hoping to complete the interior remodel and painting of the church building in January. 

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

To see the Spradlin’s full report with pictures, please click here.

New Year Adds 5 Souls In India...

Dear Brother/Sister

This past year has been a great year and we are thankful to the Lord for all of His blessings in it. We also are thankful for our supporters, well wishers and fellow workers in helping us to spread the borders of the Kingdom.

Our last week also went well with a blessing. We had gone this past week for a gospel meeting in Ferozepur, Punjab. The students also went with us and they spent 4 days. During these days one young girl obeyed the Lord.

Just after the New Year greetings, one of our old students, brother Sunil, told me that they had baptized 3 people a few hours ago. Brother Nanda, our student, (his father is also working for the Lord) told that 2 more souls were baptized this week.     

Altogether the new year brought for us the news of at least 5 souls obeying the Lord in this week. 

We wish you all good health and may this coming year be your best yet!

Earnest, Family and all 

180+ Attend Youth Seminar In Chimala...

Youth Seminar and Mission News
The Chimala Mission Church of Christ held a youth seminar last weekend where over 180+ youth attended from various parts of Tanzania. I was asked to speak on Marriage in the Church and also I was a part of a Q and A panel session with the youth. The seminar was successful and we had 6 baptisms during the seminar! To God be the Glory! I also met a young girl (about 15) who had recently converted from Islam to Christianity. She had been wanting to convert for a while (since someone from the church had been studying with her) but her family had stopped her. Finally, she decided to put Christ on in baptism and she has now been added to the Church. We have to remember that Tanzania is NOT in the Bible Belt! There are not churches on every corner. In fact, there are several Muslims that come onto the mission every day. The Chimala Mission is truly on the 'front line' in the church's fight against Islam.

The Herring Christian Secondary School starts back on Monday, January 7, with their Form 1 students for School Orientation. The rest of the students at HCSS will arrive this coming weekend for the start of school on January 14th. This also includes a new Form 4. Also, students for the Chimala Mission Primary School and also the Chimala Bible Institute will be arriving to begin school also on January 14th.  

We had a few BIG visitors to the Chimala Mission on Friday. The District Commissioner and the District Executive Director, as well as other dignitaries both district and local, were on hand for a ceremony. The ceremony was the start of a new immunization program of the vaccine Prevnar. Prevnar has been available in the US since the year 2000 but the first dose in this whole district was given by the District Commissioner on Friday at the Chimala Mission. It was raining but that didn't stop the people from coming and seeing their DC and DED. I was seated directly next to the DC and DED. This allowed me to get to know them a bit -- since I have only been here since June 2012. We also shared a meal following the ceremony. The food was rice, some sort of stew, and also a whole cooked chicken! Boy, what a spread! The meal was great, but I had trouble eating the chicken with a spoon. Finally, after a few minutes of trying, one of the cooks gave me a machete knife to cut the chicken! Finally, success!

Wagner Family Update
The Wagner family is doing well enough here. While our home back in Arkansas was blanketed with a record breaking 10 1/2" of snow, we were sweltering under heat. However, the rains have come to Chimala and the temperature has dropped from around 90-95 degrees to a whopping 80-85! What a change and a blessing! We are actually pulling our covers up again at night.

The girls are continuing to be home-schooled under our tutelage. Rena teaches the younger three and I have taken the older two. Rena is truly enjoying being able to teach the kids. After lunch every day, we would sit in the living room and read-a-round the book Cameron Townsend. It was a book about a Central American missionary who pioneered Bible translation in that region. The older two girls are studying Greek and Roman mythology right now and its relation to the God of the Bible. We have very interesting conversations around the lunch table!  

We have been struggling a bit the last few weeks with poor electricity, cell phone service, and internet connectivity. In fact, the cell phones and internet were down on Christmas Day -- where we had planned to have a family phone call with our loved ones back home. However, we were not able to do that. Also, the electricity lately has been very off-and-on. It is a bit trying sometimes, but we always make it through with reading, going outside, etc.  

Rena and I have mapped out a walking track around the main part of the mission. It is a one-mile track which we do twice. It has ups-and-downs and is really pushing us! We have generally all lost weight being here.  

Preaching the Gospel
We visited several congregations this week. We try and visit a new congregation every Sunday morning and a local congregation on Sunday nights. I preached at Mfumbi church of Christ this morning where there was a good number of people -- probably 15+. I preached on identifying marks of the church that Jesus built in Matthew 16. The singing was good and the fellowship was just as good. This evening, we went to the Chosi A congregation where I preached on growing in maturity. At the church, we had about 5 adults and about 25 kids! When we arrived at the building, they were sitting on the front steps awaiting our arrival and began jumping when we pulled into the church building. Very sweet.  

Bar-B-Q Sauce
How much do you pay for a regular bottle of Bar-B-Q Sauce? You might think that BBQ sauce is inexpensive and easy to have around. How much do you pay for Ranch dressing? I remember at home that we would pay $1 for a regular bottle of BBQ or Ranch. Here we are paying $3.50 for the same size bottle! If Ranch or BBQ is over three times the cost, you can imagine how much meat costs! We are currently 'breaking even' on money. We are not able to get ahead financially due to the cost of our family living in this country. We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider starting or increasing your support in 2013 so that our family can be more secure financially. We are relying upon you, our brethren, for the very food to feed our children. Please, prayerfully consider this request this year.

Chad

New Opportunities, Ideas and Plans In Ukraine...

Dear brothers, families and churches.

Every New Year is associated for us with new opportunities, ideas and plans. We want to wish everybody wisdom and patience in fulfilling God’s will. We still have many ideas that weren’t implemented before, and we hope to complete most of what we have planned with the help of your prayers and support of God’s work in Ukraine.

The passing year was very successful for the institute and God’s church. We had 5 graduates. One of the graduates is working as a secretary at the institute, and two others help local churches in their work. Also we had a very successful recruitment. We have 10 freshmen, who actively joined God’s work and student’s life. Sponsors continue supporting the institute despite the difficult economic situation. We thank our Creator for this all. This year was fruitful for us. We don’t know what is waiting for us in the year 2013, but we fully rely on His mercy. 

In December, I had an opportunity to make several important trips to recruit new students for the next school year. I visited Dnipropetrovsk and Dniprodzerzhynsk (these two cities are situated in Central Ukraine). Our graduate, Alexander Rodichev is preaching in one of these cities. He finished our program two years ago. God is really taking care of His work in Ukraine. Alexander and his wife Helen (also BVBIU graduate) has been coming to Dnipropetrovsk for more than a year now. He is preaching there, and Lena is teaching Bible classes for kids. They both are willing to move there permanently. 

At the end of December, we had some fellowship time with our students to summarize and celebrate the passing year 2012; it was interesting and fun. Some of the students participated in preparing this celebration. I think that such events help to create friendly atmosphere among our students. Right now the institute is on the Winter Break, and classes will resume on January 8. We are looking forward to Howell Ferguson’s arrival; he will teach Homiletics 2.

In January, another student from Smela (Cherkassy region), Sergey, will join our program. He wanted to become our student, but his family situation didn’t allow him to do that. In February, we expect the arrival of another student from Kramatorsk, Arthur. Please pray for these men because they are future leaders for God’s church. 

Right now the weather in Ukraine is good: -5C at night and +2C during day. We have managed to put three new windows in two classrooms, and we have to print new advertising flyers for the institute. As you can see, Solomon wisely said that “money answereth all things” (Eccl. 10:19). Living in this material world, we really depend on it. Some say that money rules the world, but our Lord is even greater than that. We have to be thankful for everything that we have, and He will always give to His children what they need. 

Also we have some sad news. We had to say goodbye to one of our students, Julia. She is kind but very reserved young lady, who started our program in September. From the very beginning, it was difficult for her to study. She showed low results on final tests and memory work tests, didn’t do her homework on time and often missed classes without the valid reasons. We talked about that with the teachers, and after several conversations with Julia, we decided that she has to leave the program. Please pray for her and her future. 

In the Central Church of Christ in Gorlovka, we had a baptism. A lady Galina (she is sight impaired) decided to be baptized again. She was previously baptized in Artyomovsk Church of Christ, but then she went to the church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), and after that she returned to us. After several conversations with the preacher, Andrew Zhuravlyov, she decided to be baptized again. We hope that she will become a faithful Christian. 

My wife and I continue visiting the orphanage. Even though our visits are rare (only 2-3 times in a month), we got used to those kids, and they also love us. 

Our students send you their greetings and the best wishes. We want to thank everyone who participates in the work of this institute: American and Ukrainian teachers, sponsors and those who continuously support us in prayers. We need all of you.

Your brother and co-worker for the Lord’s cause,

Dennis Sopelnik

If you would like to see Dennis’ report with pictures, please click here.

Special Prayer Request From Guatemala...

Greetings Everyone,

We pray that this message finds you all enjoying the new year.

We are writing this brief note to inform you of a tragedy that has taken place with the Linda Vista family. Most of you who have visited Guatemala will remember Carlos Ordoñez. He was the husband of Patricia Ordoñez, the sister who cooks many of the meals for our visiting teams and visiting ITL instructors. He was also the father of Carla and Julissa, two of our teenage members, and Paola, the youngest daughter.

We received news from Anibal Ramirez that Carlos was killed in a truck accident while traveling from El Salvador back to Guatemala. From the information that they have at the present it is believed that the brakes failed on the truck he was driving.

Patricia and the girls were taken to his hometown for his burial yesterday by the leaders from Linda Vista for the wake and burial. Please keep them in your prayers as they go through this very difficult time in their lives.

Anyone wishing to send this family a card may send it to us while we are in Texas. It will need to arrive on or before Friday, January 12. Please send it to the the following address: 

The Ordoñez Family
c/o Marty Browne
730 E. 13th Street
Colorado City, TX 79512

Please pass this message to all that you know that have been to Guatemala. We would rather people receive it twice than not receive it at all. We would like as many people as possible praying for this family.

We will close for now. May God bless each one of you!

Con amor, 

Hawatthia
Byron

"Teaching the CENTRAL MESSAGE in CENTRAL AMERICA!"

Beta Class Begins In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ,

New year’s greetings to you from my family and the family of God here in Cameroon. I do hope this year, 2013, met you and your family and the family of God in your area in good health and a strong vision to do more for the Lord.

We praise God for all that He is doing in our lives and our ministries. God is still at work in our lives here in Cameroon. We began the New Year with love and focus to reach out to more souls which is part of our New Year’s resolutions. May God help us to attain them as the year starts running on a good footing.

Sister Joan obeyed the gospel in Wotutu. Keep her in your prayers to walk with God.

As I write this email, I appreciate God for a two day’s mission work out of the south west region to the north west region of Cameroon, which was successful and I am home safe and sound and my family is in good health. As I write this email, brother David Ballard, the new coordinator for CBIW, will be checking in at the airport in Douala to start his journey home after visiting with the new students, staff and leaders of the Wotutu congregation for one week.

The new students of CBIW (beta) batch are in class. As they resumed last Wednesday and started classes on Thursday beginning with Old Testament 1. Time waits for no one. Our program is intensive and we have no time for leisure. Students are set to study and we are also ready to impact their knowledge. Keep them in your prayers as they started their two year race.

29 students in number stood in front of our worship hall, which also serves as the lecture hall for CBIW. They raised their tomb, a strong sign in CBIW meaning “we are not alone.”  We know you are with us as you read this report. May God keep you by our side as we continue to work together.

Minister David Ballard preached and taught in the Wotutu congregation during his one week visit. Keep him in your prayers as he starts coordinating the work of CBIW.

Brother Ballard was part of our house to house evangelism to 4 different congregations. It was a great success.

The Lord added 3 souls in His vineyard in the congregations that we visited. Keep the souls in your prayers for them to grow to maturity.

Plans
We have started, and the demands to come over to many places and help are much on my desk. Keep us in your prayers that the Lord will take us to places to reach out and rob from the strong man’s house and many will come to know God through our preaching and teaching efforts this 2013.

Appreciations
We give our sincere appreciations to God for His love over us throughout the year 2012 and for all that He did to help us train men and successfully graduate them, and now they are in the field to serve and win souls.

We appreciate God for you who came and believed in our dreams and stood by them, because without you, our dreams would have remained a dream till date. We lack words that we can use to say it, but we say thank you and we shall thank you. God will bless you, and because we are still together, we shall by His grace accomplish more this time around for His glory. Have a great and wonderful year 2013. God bless and watch over you and all that you do.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW

2012 In Extension Training Comes To A Close...

Since it will be December 31st when most of you read this (or maybe later), I feel safe in saying this is the last report of 2012. What a great year this has been in training men to preach. From Denver to the various locations around the world, the work of training men to preach the gospel in their own language to go out and share the good news with their own people has been very blessed.

Reflecting back on the past year brings many wonderful memories to mind. The reports have been a powerful source of encouragement. The number of souls that were brought to the Lord, those added to the kingdom along with those restored, demonstrates how great the hand of our God has been by giving the increase. Reading about the congregations that have been planted, revived and strengthened brings a level of enthusiasm to the purpose of this work.

Looking forward into the year ahead shares a vision of God’s hand continuing to bless the direction and purpose of Extension Training. The shoring up several schools we were able to begin working with in 2012 and the establishment of a new school in March will have 2013 filled with a tremendous amount of work, but one that will be exciting.

My prayer for you in 2013 is that God will continue to bless you for your generosity, dedication, sacrifice, and love expressed through all the ways you make this work possible.

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/

The latest report on the work in West Africa from Steven Ashcraft, who serves as the Director of West African Extensions, is posted here.

Extension Reports 

Growing The Work In Liberia: Read how the challenges are being met in Liberia as God blesses the efforts of the men training at the Liberia Bible College.

Reflection On The Work In Chimala: The growth of the program in Chimala continues to change lives throughout Tanzania and Malawi.

Opportunity For ITL In Guatemala: A wonderful opportunity to own a permanent facility in Guatemala has arisen. Please take time to read and see if you can help. Thank you.

300+ Souls Added To The Kingdom In 2012: How powerful to read about the numbers of souls added to the kingdom in Arusha, Tanzania. Our God is great!!

Two Reports Worth Your Time To Read: While these are a little lengthy, the news shared by Jimmy Gee is worth reading. The work is powerful in Tanzania. 

Final Thoughts
The most wonderful part of starting the new year is the opportunity of working together with everyone involved in this program. Thank you for each part you fill in the work of training preachers. Without you a great void would exist. You are needed and appreciated. Thank you for what you have done in the past and what you are committed to do in the year ahead.

Happy New Year to all of you.

God bless
Bob

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