Beginning The Third Year...

Much excitement as Tanzania Missions continues to expand
It’s hard to believe but this report coincides with the beginning of our third year since returning to Tanzania. Like life for all people around the globe sometimes it feels like time has flown by and other times it feels like the clock has stopped. Regardless of how it feels, the work here continues to go forward at an amazing pace. The mission team, coupled with so many local brethren, is overwhelmed (in a positive way) with the amount of work we are facing. It is a great blessing to have such a talented pool of people working in their various areas of expertise, all in an effort to broadcast the gospel. We have brethren that can preach, teach, evangelize and write. Others handle the work’s translation needs; both written and spoken, technical needs, printing needs, construction and facility improvement needs. Still others are nurses, cooks, cleaners, organizers, artists, facilitators, project managers and motivators. On and on the list could go and we are so blessed to be able to truthfully say so! And lest I be remiss, we have you, faithful, sacrificial and generous supporters – thank you! With servants on both sides of the world Tanzania Missions is a working picture of the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. We realize, however, that there is always room for additional growth and it is here that we propose a golden opportunity for the furtherance of the gospel in East Africa.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION…ALMOST
While on furlough last year myself and Cy Stafford were blessed to be able to agree to terms with Rudy Cain, general manager of World Video Bible School in Maxwell, Texas, who had everything we needed to start a high quality video production studio. The equipment is almost new and is in pristine condition. The sticker price was in the neighborhood of $20,000+ and Rudy could have easily sold it and recouped his money. However, his interests were more toward the benefit of the kingdom and he agreed to sell it to Tanzania Missions for $10,000! Further to our benefit, Rudy is allowing us to pay it off over the course of 2014. How blessed we are, again!
We stepped out in faith and agreed to purchase the equipment. I brought everything back with us when we returned from our furlough and we are chomping at the bit to get set up and start recording.

In order to fund this endeavor, Cy Stafford, our mission team leader, has asked that each missionary family make a plea to their current supporters, and any other brethren that might be interested, to help us cover this investment. We need to pay for the equipment and complete a dedicated space for the studio. The grand total for the equipment and the space is estimated at $15,000. Thus far, others on our mission team have raised $1700 leaving us with a balance of $13,300.

Brethren, this is a tremendous opportunity to further help reach the millions of souls in East Africa. We know you are taxed with so many financial obligations but we beg on behalf of the lost for your help. God, through your generosity, can make this happen.

If you plan on helping it is important that you pay attention to this: DON’T SEND THESE FUNDS TO OUR REGULAR SPONSOR. These funds should be made out and sent to:

Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver
C/O (EARMARKED): TANZANIA MISSIONS VIDEO STUDIO
2707 S. Lamar Street
Denver, Colorado 80227

If you are going to help would you mind dropping me a line so I can let the others on our team know? By doing so we can share in the joy of your gift and keep track of where we are in obtaining our goal.

OTHER HAPPENINGS
The picture at the top of the page is the Maji Ya Chai church of Christ. Anita and I had the privilege of visiting and worshiping with these good brethren recently. The Maji Ya Chai congregation has benefitted greatly from our sponsoring congregation, the 2nd & Adams church of Christ (2acoc) in Elk City, OK. 2acoc has held a number of campaigns in the area and has generously contributed by supplying the funds to build the church building and preachers residence. 2acoc plans on sending another group this June for further campaigns in the area.

Anita is well on her way of painting the mural at ACSOP. We are all excited to see what the finished product will look like. If you want to follow her progress, take a look at our Tanzania Missions Facebook page.

I have been working on the shelves and mobile work islands for the Arusha Bible School. Hopefully they should be done in a couple weeks. It is really easy to take for granted the resources available in the U.S. as this project has reminded me. There is no such thing here as a flat sheet of plywood and my work sometimes looks like a blind drunk put it together. In the end it will work, I just wish it looked a little better.

The Arusha Bible School (ABS) will be the hub for the new resource center. Books, magazines, brochures, visuals, DVD’s, computers with bible software, regular classes, etc., will all be part of the resource center. Area congregations will be able to check out materials to assist them in their teaching and evangelistic efforts.

While we are on the subject of ABS, a very encouraging thing happened there last week. A man came in and inquired about what type of school it was, how much is the tuition, etc.… The Massawe’s (a faithful couple that live and work at ABS) informed the man that they taught the Bible from cover-to-cover and that there is no tuition. It is free to any who wish to attend. He then related that he was a denominational preacher and he wanted to enroll and he wanted his entire congregation to enroll! He and several others in his congregation have already turned in their applications and will start school in the near future.

Recently we visited the home of Saitote, one of our guards, and his wife, Pendo. We enjoyed playing with their newborn son Joshua, having some soda and getting to know them a little better. I have had a few bible studies with Saitote and hope to have more with him in the near future. We hope he and his wife will come to Christ one day.

During the month of January we had the privilege of being the host for the Friday night mission team devotionals. Each week we get together for a potluck and have some good fellowship, singing and studying the Bible.

BACK STORY
From time-to-time we are asked about the highs and lows, the victories and the frustrations, of being missionaries in a developing country. In the past week we were faced with one such challenge. I think what makes it so frustrating is that things like these are out of our control and we must simply deal with it. This past week our electricity cost went up. Sure, utilities go up, it’s part of the world we live in right? But when is the last time your utilities went up almost 45% without any warning?! To add insult to injury, this is the second time Tanesco (the government run juice supplier) has raised rates in the last two years. Our electricity now costs almost 90% more than it did just two years ago, that’s right 90%! The poor citizens of Tanzania are rioting because of the rate hike as they can’t afford it at all. Add this to a 7% inflation rate and, usually, no increase in pay and the poor only get poorer. Pray for them that there can be some relief.

As I close, Anita and I offer our thanks for your continued support. We hope and pray that your labor in the kingdom is filled with joy and that when discouragement and trials come your way you bless the Father and give no place to the wicked one. We pray for the church in America often and we ask that you petition the Father on behalf of the church here as well.

Until next time, take care and God bless,
Sean and Anita Hochdorf

New Students Arrive At ACSOP...

Greetings Fellow Servants;

We stand amazed at the good being done by God here in Tanzania. The Gospel is going out daily by various means, converting the souls of countless throughout East Africa. We stand amazed at the support team we have making all this possible. Your love for lost souls and your great sacrifice in giving toward the many opportunities that God offers here in TZ has proven to be a winning combination for good. God is so good and you all are so good to us, we can only say, “Thank You” from the bottom of our very souls. 

The new students have arrived. We had 32 applicants completed and approved. So far 27 have shown up for classes with the possibility of others still to come. This is by far the largest intake we have had, thanks to your generosity. The Lord is blessing us with more church plants and needs for trained, faithful evangelists than we could have ever imagined. We are so excited about the future of the church in Tanzania, East Africa and yes, the world. We are blessed beyond measure to be a part of such a grand mission effort and to partner with so many amazing brothers and sisters in the church. 

Christopher & Julia Mwakabanje are coming to America. Christopher will follow Charles Heberth (who will be at World Video Bible for some translation work in a couple of weeks), to translate and video two Bible courses. If anyone would like for either of these brothers to visit your congregation and report on all the Lord is doing through the Andrew Connally School of Preaching and through the many evangelistic outreach programs, please drop me a note and we will do our level best to arrange a time and date. A very special thank you to all who have contributed and made this work possible. By translating Bible material into Ki-Swahili, we will be better equipped to reach the 150 plus million souls with God’s saving message. 

If the Lord wills, Stephanie, Granny and I will be leaving Tanzania in a few hours, heading to the U.S. of A. We look forward to a little time off to see our family and more so, seeing many of you, sharing with you, one-on-one, the amazing good being done here in this part of God’s world. We have a few openings in our schedule, so, if any one would like to “hear” the story of God’s working in East Africa, please let us know. 

Please pray for Dennis Dickey and his team as they teach a Short Course at the ACSOP and help in the planting of congregation number 8 in the Njiro Chini area of Arusha. We solicit your prayers as we travel and for the whole Tanzania team as they continue in the work of the Lord. We pray for each of you as you strive faithfully where you serve. 

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Students And Staff Are Preaching The Word...

Beloved in Christ Jesus,

Greetings from your fellow laborers in Christ Jesus. This year’s 2014 Workshop at Ikom, Cross River state, near Cameroon Republic was another success attended by over 500 brethren from all states of Nigeria and a few brethren from Republic of Cameroon.

The 3rd day of events witnessed a convert during the door-to-door mass evangelism and the last day events was another success because over five different books from brother John Waddey and another lover of God were freely distributed with Bibles by brother Doug to all the participants.

Brethren, on behalf of Nigerian brethren and churches, I thank all who have made this Great Workshop a successful one! Thanks and God blessed.

Brethren, on Sunday at the Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregations in Ibadan, I taught on “Worship in Patriarch and Mosaic Dispensation” while brother Arowolo Samuel, a year 2 student of SWSE-Ibadan led in songs.

In the afternoon at the women’s Bible class, I taught on “The Sweetness of Christian Fellowship.”

At the campus church in Butubutu village, Ibadan, brother Festus Ayoo, one of the SWSE year 1 students, taught on “The Bible-Final Authority in Religion of Christ” while another year 1 student named Godwin Ede admonished the church from John 15:1-10.

Beloved, the SWSE-Ibadan main campus resumes 3rd semester classes on Monday, February 3, 2014. I, Makinde, will handle Life of Christ 3, Doctrine 1 & 2, Hermeneutics 2, Practical, 1 Corinthians and Bible Geography (now penciled down for brother Steven Ashcraft during his March 31 to April 4 visit); brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe will handle OT History 2, OT Prophets-Minor and the Book of James; brother Isaac Olaniyan will handle 1 & 2 Peter & Jude and John 1, 2, & 3 John; brother Abiola Joseph Olusoji will handle Christian Home and World Religions and brother Okon Sunday Udoh will handle Romans, Evangelism 2 and Christian Evidences.

We thank you all for your partnership! May the Lord of blessing continue to bless all your undertaking in Jesus Christ name, Amen.

Stay blessed and be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sincerely in Christ,

Part 2

Dearest in Christ,

Grace and mercy be multiplied unto you all from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan main campus resume classes on Feb. 3 as scheduled.

On Feb. 6, our August visitor in the month of February, brother Bill Pennell visited our permanent site at Butubutu-Ibadan, Ona-Ara L.G.A. Oyo state and on February 7, Friday, we went to WNCC campus in Abeokuta, Ogun state for the same purpose.

On Saturday, February 8, our students and staff of SWSE-Ibadan evangelized Alagbede and Tadi villages between 9:00am - 3:00pm.

On Wednesday, February 5 at Onikokoro congregation, Ibadan I taught on “Our Purpose in Life” (Phil. 1:20, 21 & Matt. 5:13-16) during our mid-week Bible class. On Sunday, brother Arowolo Samuel, one of the year 2 students of SWSE-Ibadan admonished the church from Prov. 6:16-23.

At the campus church in Butubutu, one of the year 1 students named Eze Ikechukwu (from Enugu state) taught on “Christian and Temptation” while another year 1 student named Festus Ayoo Kwaghchimin (from Benue state) admonished the church on “The Truth.”

On Tuesday, February 11, one of our prospects named David Dele was baptized by brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe, one of the SWSE-instructors.

Beloved, we shared 7,000 WBS introduction courses during this year Great Workshop at Ikom in Cross River state to all the participants while the remaining 3,000 are for recruitments of students in Western states of Nigeria. On Monday and Tuesday evening, our WBS team visited two high schools in Oyo and Osun state and 1,000 introduction lessons were freely shared.

If you are interested in teaching more people the gospel through the WBS correspondence courses, please contact brother Joel Coppinger of WBSTC, California wbstc@lightspeed.net or brother Ron Pottberg of WBS, Texas ron@worldbibleschool.net.

Brethren, due to the number of students admitted this section (2013 /2014) at SWSE-Ibadan & Lagos campus, which is 37 in all, against our budget which is for 30 students, the school is in need of extra $3,200 (N480,000) for balancing the budget and $2,700 (N400,000) for digging a water bore hole at the school site.

Those willing to assist us should please contact one of the men of God below:

*Brother Doug Wheeler douglasmwheeler@gmail.com
*Brother Joel Coppinger wbstc@lightspeed.net
*Brother Steven Ashcraft samtnhome@yahoo.com
*Brother Bob Turner bturner@bvbid.org

This coming Saturday has been set aside for us to evangelize the Felele area of Ibadan with brother Dele Shotola and the WBS team.

Thanks for your love and care! May the Lord of blessing continue to bless our joint efforts in Christ name, amen.

Sincerely in Christ,

Makinde E. Olufemi (Director of studies)
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan & Lagos campus, Nigeria

KSOP Sees 8 Souls Obey The Gospel...

Beloved,

I take this opportunity to share with you the joy of 8 souls that were baptized through the preaching school students going out to evangelize in the local congregations for the past 4 Sundays. Some students even organized with the church preachers to conduct door to door evangelism with the result that many Bible studies were established. We are excited at the zeal to spread the gospel being shown by these men. The is knowledge put to practice.

Phabian Paul, a former student at ACSOP in Arusha, Tanzania, is teaching the book of Isaiah during this quarter and after him we look forward to having Mike Reese and Denny Petrillo teaching two short courses from February 24 through March 7. We will also have six students from Uganda and Kenya coming for two masters class at KSOP. It’s a great honor to have foreign teachers come to teach and get involved with the Lord’s work.

We are also expecting a team from the US, led by elders of Charlotte Avenue Church of Christ, SC. They will lead gospel campaigns in various areas in Western Kenya. Together we will lead the preaching students to Ndwara for a three day gospel campaign from February 20 -23. We look forward to a fruitful week during the campaign to help the new congregation reach out. We pray for your safety as you prepare to fly.

The school is growing steadily and stronger every quarter and we thank all who take time to pray for us, generously supporting the school and offering advice and encouragement. Join us in prayers to buy land for the school; I know this will come to pass. Do not therefore “…grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”

His servant and yours,
Charles Ogutu

Weekend Evangelism Sees Increase From God...

Dearest in Christ,

Calvary greetings from Wotutu here in Cameroon. We are doing great in health and the work entrusted in our hands, except for some students who had malaria, but thanks to God we had drugs on campus that we administered to our sick students and some members of the congregation.

Last week in Cameroon is always different characterized with lots of activities as the 11th of February every year is a national holiday where both the French and English speaking Cameroonians in 1961 accepted to be one.

All other activities in CBIW are going on well. Students continue to grow in their studies and way of life to give glory to God. Keep them in your prayers.

Our students during the holiday marched pass government officials raising their Bibles up to show that lives on earth will not be meaningful if many continue to live their lives out of the norms of the Bible. Our early 5 am program is “Back to the Bible.” It continues to help expose the truth to many in our communities.

Our Christian elementary school school in Wotutu, Brightland, was also part of the celebration. What a great thing to colonize the minds of these young ones with the word. That is our aim in Brightland Christian Academy, to give the word of God to these young people and help them grow daily with the truth. Many of them come from unbelieving homes. Your prayers and support will do great things to this work. The motto is “Excellence and Trust Built in God.”

Our involvement in the holiday is of double purpose, as the government commands all schools to be actively involved and participate in the activities, like choral singing and other stuff. CBIW students will only march pass and spend the other time sharing the good news to many young people as it is an opportunity for many schools in the communities to come together. We do our best to transplant the truth which will grow in them and help them.

Brother Mokwe, in Koba village, obeyed the government with their instructions. Some CBIW students traveled to 7 different locations for weekend evangelism. Brother Mokwe Eugene was in Koba, my village, sharing the good news to the people on house to house. Keep my village congregation in your prayers as they have a lot of struggles to stand firm. There is no one to preach the word to them which made many fall from the grace. They have no building to worship God, which also presents a great challenge.

Brother Mokwe baptized sister Judith into Christ. He also baptized brother Modika and restored 8 souls into Christ. What a God we serve. Keep this work in your prayers as we are putting our interest as along as we have the means to send our students there on weekly basics, so that this congregation will get sound messages and get the backsliders who are in their number to come back to the Lord. Please, would you love to be part of this soul saving ministry?

One soul was added in Ediki, Dikome  and a total of 5 precious souls were added into the church this weekend. Keep them in your prayers as we feed them with the spiritual milk that will help them grow.

The Koba congregation is under construction. We are fighting hard to get a wooden building and zinc on it before the rains comes Please keep this in your prayers. The old building sits beside the new one under construction

Plans
We continue reaching out to many communities weekly. Koba and Dikome have great interest.

The work in Dikome continues to grow and the Christians made an appeal for more Bibles, as they show their interest in studying more so as to share with others. They dominant population in that congregation are sisters and they are zealous.

Appreciations
God bless you for all that you are doing to the work here. God alone will bless you and reward you for your good heart. Continue so that you will get your reward in due season.

Do your best to share this report with others.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW

Power-packed And More...

Simply saying the past week was power-packed would be a gross understatement. Words cannot adequately express the incredible nature of the week at the Freed Hardeman Lectureship. We know the lessons were powerful, the singing euphoric, and the fellowship nothing short of divine this side of heaven. 

We are thankful to have an opportunity to share in this event each year and the staff of the extension program was able to meet for two days to discuss various areas of the work. Taking time to discuss the work of each location and what can be done to improve the areas lacking, serves to enhance the development of extension training. Each year we take steps to grow and this year was no exception.

In addition to our discussions about the work, we were also able to hear about three new possibilities where Bear Valley is looking to partner in the training of preachers. The announcement and development of these new locations is forthcoming. We ask you to be praying about our efforts and the growth of the program as we work together to fulfill God’s will in training men to preach the gospel of Jesus.

One of the quotes from the week in our staff meeting that is worth keeping in mind: “I am so busy doing my stuff I don’t have time to evangelize, but he is so busy evangelizing, he doesn’t have time for all the other stuff.” We all felt it was a thought worth considering.

Now on to the other reports...

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

The latest report from Wes Autrey about the work in Cambodia can be read here.

Extension Reports 

One Man’s Funeral Helps Bring Spiritual Life To Others: A recent death in Cameroon helped others hear the message of salvation and they responded in obedience.

Training In The Midst Of Turmoil: The political turmoil in eastern Ukraine introduces challenges to the growth of the church and development of BVBIU in Gorlovka, Ukraine.

Activity, Agriculture, Accommodation, And Annual Lectureship: The work at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies remains busy as students are involved in numerous areas.

A Special Baptism, Special Visitors, And Special Events: The Asunción Bible Academy and the development of a church plant, and growth of the Sacramento Avenue congregation is exciting.

Introducing The Daniel Gaines Family: The Gaines family is working in Arusha, Tanzania. Read about their work in their blog posts.

An Entire Denomination Registering For Bible Study: Talk about exciting, the report from Cy Stafford expresses news about an outreach through the Arusha Bible School.

The Gee Family Will Be Returning To The US: After 10 years of serving in Tanzania, the Jimmy Gee family will return to the US in May. Please pray for their family.

Final Thoughts
Thank you for believing in us and the work of extension training. We could not possibly do this work without you. Your prayers and involvement keep us excited about what we are doing and the future before us. Reporting about the development of the work each week is uplifting and we pray it is encouraging for each of you. Thank you for being there.

God bless
Bob

One Man's Funeral Helps Bring Spiritual Life To Others...

Dearest in the Lord,

Greetings from Cameroon. I do hope this report will find you all in good health and sound faith as usual. I am writing this report with much tiredness from a long journey. Thank you for your prayers toward us as many of us left Wotutu to 9 different locations for weekend evangelism. As I write this report, God who took us out, brought us back safe and sound.

This weekend evangelism was great, as we were able to meet up with the numerous invitations from some congregations to send our students to help them. It is exciting that students are always happy to go to the mission fields in different locations. Some locations are not easy to access, but the joy of reaching out to perishing souls is a strong force that pushes and provokes us to go, so that we may rob from the strong man’s house. This week was full of blessings as God added souls to His church.

Four students and I went on our way to a village far away from Wotutu called Nfainchang. Our mission to this village over the weekend was to bury a brother who died in Ediki congregation and we were supposed to take his corpse to his home village for burial. There is no congregation there, so five of us went there from CBIW to conduct the burial. We were soaked in our clothes with dust.

Our mission after the burial was to see how we can establish a new congregation in that village, so we embarked on house to house evangelism. It is a very small village with less than 15 houses. The people are so attached to their fetish beliefs and witchcraft, they looked upon us as bringing something strange to them, but they were very receptive to us and they are educated to read from the word and see what God is saying. There are 3 denominations already in the village and those 3 denominations allowed them to remain and do all things that are satanic in their traditions, so they were surprised to see us exposing it and saying that it was bad and they need to repent from that and come to Jesus and enjoy a new life .

I preached the funeral message on “Where Will You Spend Eternity?” It was great as the entire village, as small as it is, stood by and watched me speak out of God’s word with courage and pointing them to the cross of Jesus. It was a message that touched their minds and provoked them to think as they struggle to answer the question. Keep this community in your prayers.

One brother who is into smoking and drinking of alcohol came to us and asked many questions on what if he repented now, will God accept him into his house? He has been doing lots of atrocities. He was a visitor to the village who came for the funeral, but he lives in Kumba town and the church of Christ is there, so he will be worshiping there. Keep brother John Itoe in your prayers as he grows in the Lord.

Brother James is a son to the brother that died. He listened to the message and decided to obey it also on his father burial. What a joy. He is not a white person, but an albino. Keep him in your prayers to grow to maturity.

Another son obeyed the gospel. Daniel was happy to become a Christian even though the atmosphere was characterized with sadness, but he is having hope for eternity as long as he remains focused. A total of 4 male energetic souls obeyed the gospel during the funeral of brother Tom Eyong who was a preacher since the 60s, but because of ill health he became ineffective to continue his work. Please remember his family in your prayers as his 8 children are left behind.

A student went to weekend evangelism at the Baird Memorial College in Buea, which is a Christian Secondary school being run by a sister in Christ in Buea. They are having a college congregation and they need our students to come there every weekend and help with evangelizing the unbelieving students and the people who live outside the school campus. The Lord added 5 precious souls there this weekend, 3 students and two from outside the school. Keep this work in your prayers, as we see it develop every week.

Beside the grave, many watched the fulfillment of God’s word. That man came from dust and to dust man returns. It was great for many to learn truth which has been hidden from them.

After we left Nfainchang village because no one in the village obeyed the gospel and all those we baptized were strangers who traveled back to their respective destinations. We left and came to Manyemen village and decided to stop and worship with this congregation. We arrived there yesterday and this morning it was great to meet with them, so that we could encourage them to keep the faith and reach out to their community and make disciples for the cross. Our presence was a big encouragement to them and because of the way our students handled the word of God, we have two prospective students who admired them and have made up their minds to apply when the next entrance exams will be given so that they will come and be trained. Keep their burning desires in your prayers.

Some 15 students went to the Bomaka congregation on invitation for house to house evangelism throughout the weekend. God used them to touch the hearts of many with the truth and a total of 7 souls were added in that congregation. We have strong assurance about their growth because one of our instructors in CBIW is an evangelist there, Otia David. A total of 16 souls were added to the Lord’s body over the weekend.

Brother Etah Edwin taught and stressed the importance of the decision that a brother took to follow Jesus. While they moved down the stream, brother Edwin opened the Bible again and again for him to be convicted about the decision to obey the truth and become a slave for Christ. When we have tracts many will benefit from it as congregations keep asking for tracts, Bibles and other study materials from us. If you have those things, please tell us and we will tell you how you can get it to us.

Plans
We continue our weekend evangelism because we have seen that it is yielding fruit for the kingdom. Keep us in your prayers as we do more to bring glory to God.

Appreciations
We say thank you for your prayers, commitment and support to us. God bless you all and watch over you as you do this for His glory. You are in our prayers. Keep us in your prayers also. Do your best to share this report with others. God bless you.

Elangwe and family
By His grace Director CBIW

Activity, Agriculture, Accommodation, Annual Lectureship...

By the grace and mercies of our Lord, activities are going on steadily as per the schedule of the Institute.

We are happy and thankful to the Lord for bringing brother Tony Johnson and brother Steven Ashcraft from America back to Tamale.

EVANGELICAL ACTIVITY
Currently, students under the supervision of brother Agyei Mensah and Tony Johnson are on an evangelism campaign in the Zabzugu Tatale Distrct of the Northern Region of Ghana. This activity is planned to assist one of the graduates of the Institute to win more souls for the Lord and also to edify his young congregation.

TRAINING IN AGRICULTURE
Plans are being made to make our students undertake some training in agriculture.This is to enhance their knowledge and skills in agriculture. Since most of the students are farmers it is hoped that the Ministry of Agriculture which has been requested to conduct the training, will bring to bare the modern technics in farming. The Institute involves the students in such activities in order to make them do farming to support themselves where the congregation is not financially prepared to support the preacher.

ACCOMMODATION FOR DIRECTOR
As part of the Coordinator's plans to bring improvement into TIBS, a two bedroom accommodation is being built for the Director. Work is in progress and hopefully will be completed by April. This is a major booster to the work here in TIBS and we wish to express our profound appreciation to our sponsors.

ANNUAL LECTURESHIP
The Church of Christ campus ministry in all the three northern regions is meeting at TIBS for a 4 day lectureship on the the "THE CHRISTIAN YOUTH IN THE 21st CENTURY" 

This is one way that the youth are to benefit from the usage of the facility which, God through our sponsors, have built for the lord's work. We appreciate it.

It is our prayer that the good Lord will be with us in our effort to Serve him.

Thank you.
BAAH JOSEPH OKYERE

A Special Baptism, Special Visitors, And Special Events...

Wow! January was quite an exciting month! The Lord continues to give the increase here in Paraguay through spiritual and numerical growth. What a blessing to work in His kingdom! We hope the good news from this month’s report from the mission field of Paraguay brings you much joy!

Developments at Sacramento Avenue
We’ve been reporting for a few months about our continued study with Sandra Duarte and how her husband, at first, didn’t want her involved in the church. This month, Sandra decided to obey the Gospel call! Oh, what joy to see the Word of God working in the hearts of those diligently seeking Him!

Our sister in Christ, Karen Bennett, returned to Paraguay this year to visit us and to give the keynote address at the Annual Ladies Retreat. It was a huge success with nearly 30 in attendance to help set their goals for 2014.

The men have approved the idea of planning a future church plant! They were four possible cities suggested, so they are going to start investigating to see which one might have the most potential. Please pray for this!

Developments at Ñemby Congregation
The brethren at Ñemby have decided to make some special improvements on their meeting facility that they rent. First item on the list: a bathroom for the ladies! That’s right, a bathroom - the one toilet they had was stolen, so they have decided to close in an area and make a nice facility for the ladies.

Eliezer Perez returned to Paraguay on January 6th from his furlough back to his home country of Panama. When asked if he missed Paraguay while he was home, he said, “Yes. Because I’ve already grown accustomed to being here.” He said he even took some tereré (yerba mate) back with him to Panama!

Asunción Bible Academy Update
The students are only a few days away from finishing their first complete year of studies in the Bible Academy! What an achievement! We are so thankful for their dedication and hard work, but more so for the spiritual growth we see in each one.

Brother Luis Camacho of the Bear Valley Extension School Program came to Paraguay during the week of Jan 20-24 to teach “1st Corinthians.” He did a wonderful job, the students responded very well to him, and we greatly enjoyed having him as a guest. He also preached for us at Ave Sacramento and he had the opportunity to visit the congregation at Ñemby.

Brother Enoch Rinks, (our former mission teammate), also taught a short course for us in the Academy on the topic of “Church Planting.” The students were then assigned a Special Project where they had to develop a complete strategy plan for a new church plant somewhere in Paraguay.

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies / Activities
We were blessed to have our sister in Christ, Karen Bennett, come back to visit us. She is such an encouragement to us and we appreciate her missionary spirit and willingness to serve. She is a member at one of our supporting congregations, Central Ave church of Christ in Valdosta, GA. While she was here, she made a lot of great connections with the members and especially the ladies. They even gave her a going away gift (that says a lot!)

Ike Yegros and I have continued our study with, Rolando Duarte, the husband of Sandra Duarte (who was just recently baptized). We are doing a verse-by-verse, expository study of “Matthew” at his request. He takes lots of notes and asks lots of questions so the studies are very thorough. It’s so refreshing to see such great interest in God’s word - and don’t forget that we mentioned in previous reports that he is very Catholic!

I now have a twice-a-week study going with my Taekwondo instructor, Christian Jourdain. We are studying “Fundamentals” on one day and “Matthew” on the next. He is very inquisitive and has said he just wants to be pleasing to the Lord. We also started having a prayer with everyone in the gym before starting practice.

I had the opportunity to study with our brethren, Ramon Paredes and Elvira Dominguez, who will be getting married on February 8th. We used the Bible for some pre-marital counseling to help them start off with a very strong Christian marriage. We pray for a long, happy, and prosperous marriage for them both.

Andrea has several studies going on between her English/Bible students, evangelistic studies, and some new “edification” studies. Her studies are with Oscar Parodi, Adriana Rodriguez, Jazmine Santander, Dina Aycock, and Sandra Duarte.

Hawaiian Luau in Paraguay! Most people here had no idea what we were talking about, nor does the word “luau” translate very well into Spanish. But, once we said “just dress up like you’re going to Hawaii,” then the whole youth group got really excited! Andrea prepared several typical Hawaiian dishes, had flower leis for everyone, translated everyone’s name into Hawaiian names, had island music playing, and the works! There were 40 in attendance including about 10 visitors. Everyone had a blast!

Other News and Upcoming Activities:
Enrique Albera and Leti Alfonso, as well as, Ramon Paredes and Elvira Dominguez will be getting married in February

Special Mission Trip to El Salvador/Honduras

Annual Church Camp/Retreat

Personal Activities
Andrea went to a “Going Away” tea for Laura Rinks at the home of Nora Yegros. It was great to get to see Laura and Enoch while they were visiting family here. By the way, they are expecting another baby real soon!

We went to visit Maria Teresa Vaesken to encourage her in her attendance. She hasn’t been coming as often and sometimes people just need a little encouragement that their church family misses them when they don’t attend faithfully.

We enjoyed a nice evening of fellowship and food in our home with our brethren, Delci Enciso, Natalia Mendoza, Maria Teresa Vaesken, and Karen Bennett.

I finally had the opportunity to go play golf! Karen Bennett and I went and tried out the Asuncion Golf Club. It was a nice course and it was fun, but the sewer water running through the creek in the middle of the 1st hole was a little distasteful!

The brethren at Ñemby hosted a “Welcome Back” dinner for Eliezer Pérez. It was a nice evening to get to see and visit with our brethren out there.

Personal Study
I am currently reading / have read:

The 360° Leader by John Maxwell
Why I Left The Catholic Church by Joseph C. Malone

I have been studying with a Jehovah’s Witness for the past several weeks. I asked him “How can we ever arrive at the same conclusion if you are using a different Bible than what I use?” He has proceded to show me all about his Bible but still hasn’t satisfactorily answered my question! They take a lot of verses out of context and employ a very strange hermeneutic to show their “reasoning” from the Scriptures.

I have been preparing sermons and lessons for a mission trip to El Salvador and Honduras in February.

Preaching / Teaching Opportunities

This month, I had the opportunity to preach at Avenida Sacramento on the subject of “How to Identify a Mature Christian.”

I also taught classes on Judges and Romans in our Bible study hours at Avenida Sacramento.

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

To read Troy’s report with pictures, please click here.

Introducing The Daniel Gaines Family Report...

This Classroom Exists Because of Your Support
A couple of weeks ago we let you know about some needs that the Ilkuirei congregation had, and your response was resounding. You came through with more than we asked for to build a partition and install windows! The congregation has been touched by your generosity and has asked me to convey to you their sincere gratitude. It is wonderful to see brethren reaching across oceans to help and connect with one another.

One of the members, Emmanuel, is a fundi (carpenter) and was able to provide the labor in building the partition. You can see his handiwork in the pictures above. The members have taken pride in the addition and are very excited. Work should begin on the windows this week. Thanks to your kindness, I expect there to be enough money left over to possibly provide curtains which would further dim the outside noise. We will be sure to keep you up to date on the progress being made.

A Church is About to be Born
As I have mentioned before, the Arusha congregations are working together to plant a new congregation in the Njiro Chini neighborhood. On Saturday, I joined a group of evangelists and local church leaders to survey the area and make plans for the month. Each congregation is "adopting" a day of the week for the whole month of February to go door to door in this area. Ilkuirei's day is Fridays. A new church being planted by the purposeful, combined efforts of other congregations rather than because of splits and discord - what a concept! God and His people never fail to amaze.   

Ladies at Work
Last month all of the preachers' wives in the area got together for fellowship and Bible study. They were edified so much that they decided to make it a monthly event. This month's meeting was Saturday.  Anita Hochdorf taught an exegetical study. Agnes, one of the local women and one of the best cooks in town, taught the other ladies how to make communion bread (no Matzos crackers here!). Then Tiffany put her teacher skills to work doing a "make and take" session to improve the very limited Bible class tools that each congregation has. This month she helped them make a poster to teach the names and divisions of the books of the Bible (in Swahili of course). You can read Jessica McVeigh's excellent article about the day here.    

Thank you for your continued interest and support. It is thrilling to be partnered with you and God in working for the kingdom.

Daniel Gaines

To read Daniel’s report with pictures, please click here.

Back to School!
We are looking forward to this being an incredibly busy, but wonderful week. The first quarter of the year begins this week at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching. That means we will be welcoming in a new class of Swahili speaking students, and advancing our existing class of English speakers to second year status. I can't wait to get to know the new students. I'll spend twelve hours in the classroom this week teaching "How We Got the Bible" and "The Intertestamental Period.” Both are fascinating and challenging studies.

The new church plant in Njiro Chini had their very first worship service today. It is exciting to see a church being born! We will continue to help there as opportunity permits throughout the month.

A couple of weeks ago, Tiffany started her own blog entitled "Choosing Gladness.” Tiffany is a talented writer and I always enjoy her perspective on things. Her post last week has been particularly popular and a number of people have expressed that it was encouraging to them. You can read it here.

This month is our turn to host in our home the weekly devotionals for missionaries. With Valentine's Day right around the corner we have chosen to focus on love for the entire month. We began our study looking at 1 Corinthians 13 and reminding ourselves from verse 3 that any sacrifice we might make or work we might do is useless without love as our motivation. We also observed that love is an "eternal" virtue. When we get to heaven we won't need hope because our hope will have been realized. We won't need faith because faith is the evidence of things unseen, and then we will see God face to face. Yet love will still remain - love for the Lord and for one another.

Team leader, Cy Stafford, shares the following story that is worth repeating: Last week a fellow came up to the Arusha Bible School introducing himself as; “Reverend Nicolaus Shayo.” He inquired as to what the school was doing and how might “his congregation” be involved. After it was explained that anyone could come, tuition free, and study the Bible four days a week for two years at no cost to them, he said: “I want my whole congregation to join.” He took applications for each member and some have already joined the new intake.

It is so rewarding to see the ways that God is constantly at work here! Thank you so much for partnering in this work with your prayers, encouragement, and support!

Daniel Gaines

To read this week’s report from Daniel, please click here.

An Entire Denomination Registering For Bible Study...

Greetings Fellow Servants;

We pray everyday for all of our friends and supporters, making God’s mission work in Tanzania all it has become. Over the years, many of your have come and joined us in our outreach and edification of the good people of TZ. We have had many missionaries come, work, and return to their home land of America. I am a firm believer that each and every soul that has come has done some good in the lives of the good people of TZ. We say thank you for going the extra mile, leaving the comfort of your home and country, coming and making an eternal difference in the lives of many.

Our perfect example, Jesus Christ, made it very clear to His disciples, giving each of us an example to follow: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, …..” (Matthew 28:19a-KJV); notice He never said, “Stay.” Now, you might be asking yourself, “what do you mean?” Remember what Jesus told his disciples earlier in Matthew’s account, “…whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet” (10:14).

As good Stewards of God’s resources, should we not consider the receptivity of the people as to where we “stay?” Tanzania is not one of those “places” where the general population is not receptive to the hearing of the Gospel. On the contrary! Last week a fellow came up to the Arusha Bible School introducing himself as “Reverend Nicolaus Shayo.” He inquired as to what the school was doing and how might “his congregation” be involved. After it was explained that anyone could come, tuition free, and study the Bible four days a week for two years at no cost to them, he said, “I want my whole congregation to join.” He took applications for each member and some have already joined the new intake. Yes, this is a good place to entrust the blessings God has bestowed upon you, to His glory and to the saving of many souls.

God is indeed good. Yusuph Mdaki writes, “Hello brother, God has added two souls at Ushiromobo and at Kahama we have a promise of one baptism on Tuesday or Wednesday from a denominational Preacher.”

David Bayi writes, “We had a good worship today, one who was backsliding was restored, thanks be to our living and most Holy God.”

Stephanie and I thank our good church family for all your prayers, support, kindness and what you mean to us. Our plane tickets are covered thanks to our good friends in TN & AL. So far we have appointments at Sherman Drive, Denton, TX, Edgefild, Dallas, TX, Henderson, TX, North Brandon and at Madison, Jackson, MS, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. We still have some openings, so let us know soon as we will book out quickly. If the Lord wills, we will leave TZ next Sunday, arriving in New Orleans late on the night of the 17th. We solicit your prayers and thank God for each of you. Till all have heard…..

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

The Gee Family Will Be Returning To The US...

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path."  Ps.  119:105

Dear Family, Friends and Supporters:    

Thank you so much for your interest and support of our family these past ten years as we have worked with the TZ 2000 Mission Team (2001-2002, 2005-2014). As you may imagine, there have been the normal adjustments/challenges that all missionaries face plus many fulfilling and rewarding moments as people respond positively to the Gospel. However, after months of prayer, we are planning to return to the states on a permanent basis as soon as Jimmy secures a position.    

There are several reasons a missionary (or anyone in any vocation) may decide it's time for a "new chapter" in their lives. Some missionaries return due to family issues, difficulty adjusting to the culture, illness, problems with their mission team or the church, or their term of commitment has ended. Although there are many positives about living and working in a foreign land, the biggest challenge for most missionaries has been and remains to be, fund-raising.  Many more might go into the mission field were it not for the overwhelming stress of securing/maintaining funds. This fund-raising issue is the reason we are returning, and NOT because of any problems with the mission work, whether it be the direction or doctrinal stance of it. The TZ 2000 Mission work remains strong. 

Many have given very sacrificially and have made this work "your" work. Our appreciation cannot be adequately stated in words. However, many times congregations and/or individuals find it necessary to discontinue their support...even if they are still in great favor of the work and the fruit it bears. Congregations may face many financial problems and feel they must take care of needs at home first. This is very understandable. During furlough last year, our family of 11 traveled 15,000 miles reporting on the work and trying to make up the deficit in our support. However, very little monthly support was raised.

For your loyalty and devotion, we thank you immensely. Our family has been privileged to have been a small part of the great success of TZ 2000. Our work has mainly centered around the Andrew Connally School of Preaching and the Kisongo congregation (Jimmy has served as Dean of Academics and continues to be an instructor and director as the new director is transitioned into the position). More than 130 men have been trained to preach and have graduated from the ACSOP. Numerous Bible classes, sermons, and seminars on Bible subjects have been taught to many people. Our family has also engaged in personal evangelism, encouragement and benevolent work.

Currently, the TZ 2000 Mission team consists of three other full-time missionary families (plus one intern couple) who will continue the work. Also, numerous Tanzanian evangelists work diligently to further the Kingdom in East Africa. It has been rewarding to see God raising up the Tanzanians into leadership positions. This work was not begun by the Gee family and will certainly not end with our leaving.

After ten years of service in Africa, a part of our hearts will remain with the Tanzania 2000 Mission work and hope you will continue praying for it. However, we are literally "taking our work home with us" in that four precious Tanzanian souls were adopted into our family and we will continue teaching them for a lifetime. While still waiting on obtaining immigrant visas, our hopes are to arrive in the states in mid-May of this year. If each of you could continue your support until the end of August we would be most grateful for your love and loyalty (while we find a job and settle into a new home). 

Our daughter, Abigail, will be returning to Tanzania in the fall/winter of 2014 to continue her work of establishing a library (with an emphasis on Bible teaching) in Kisongo. With God's help and that of the brethren, this eighteen-year-old has obtained a sponsoring congregation, over 1,000 books and the use of two acres on the ACSOP property on which to build this library. An article concerning her dream to further educate Tanzanians has been submitted to the Brotherhood News, with hopes of publication soon. 

Concerning the happenings for the past three weeks: Gary Fallis taught two short courses for the Masters' students ("The Gospel of John" and “Hebrews"). A new area is being evangelized this year (Njiro Chini) and the Kisongo church participated in "knocking doors" yesterday. Abigail held two Bible studies as the group worked to introduce this community to the church. Today, the very first worship service was held in that area. The new church plant for last year was White Rose and they continue meeting, worshipping and gaining new members.

Jimmy returned last night after teaching for one week ("The Gospel of John") at the Chimala Bible Institute in Chimala, Tanzania. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dennis Dickey and daughter, Mariah. Dennis will be teaching the Gospel of John to the bachelor level students and Mariah will keep busy with other projects that the missionary women have for her.

Kisongo Bible School just enrolled students in their new quarter. This school, designed for the person in the pew, accepts non-Christians but has a specified number of slots designed for Christians only (giving them first priority for a seat in the classroom).

Thirty-two new Swahili students have enrolled in the ACSOP and will begin classes this week. Jimmy continues teaching the Bible class at the Kisongo congregation on I, II, and III John. Last week, in Jimmy's absence, Edwin Kashumba (Master's student and valedictorian of his bachelor's class) preached on the subject of "Christian Service" as it pertains to helping others. He said that long ago, due to conflict in a congregation in Dar es Salaam and, simply on the basis of some complaints, he and some other church members were arrested and put in a jail cell early one morning. Other cell-mates in the jail were asking why Edwin was there. Being scared of all the criminals there, he said he momentarily thought about lying and saying he was a murderer in order to gain their respect. However, he realized he should tell the truth. One of the men asked if he would study the Bible with him after Edwin was released (later that evening). Long story short, Edwin kept in touch with him after the man was transferred to a maximum security prison. When the man was released, he was baptized and became a student at the Tanzania Bible School. Edwin was encouraging us to help and serve everyone in whatever situation we find ourselves in because great results can come!

Thank you again for your participation with us in the work of teaching and reaching lost souls in Tanzania and all of East Africa (where the ACSOP students return to their homes). We have enjoyed this journey with you and are looking forward to introducing you to those in heaven whom you helped hear the Gospel. What a wonderful day that will be!    

With Love from Africa,
The Jimmy Gee family

Training In The Midst Of Turmoil...

Dear brothers, families and churches.

This January in Ukraine was full of events both politically and in church. It's the first time in 24 years of independence when Ukraine was standing on the verge of a civil war. In cities that are regional centers the authority shifts from government officials to opposition. There are many killed or wounded people. We keep praying for stabilization of the situation in our country and for peaceful solution of all these problems. I’m sure God is in control.

Things are going quite well at the institute. Howell and Mary Ferguson, Denton Landon, Alexander Rodnayev and Victor Semikoz visited us in January. They all give up a lot in order to teach and share their experience with students. We are especially grateful for our American brothers, who continue showing us their care and dedication, traveling over a thousand miles every time they come here. Next month we are expecting a new student from Dnepropetrovsk. He wanted to get a quality Bible education for a long time, and now that he’s retired, he can pursue his plans. In two weeks, our students, Aleksey Mitskutis and his wife Alina, will travel to city Ukhta in Russia. The Church of Christ there is in need of a preacher. It’s more than 2500 km from Gorlovka to Ukhta. It means that we started training preachers for the former USSR countries too.

There is some good news in the churches in Donetsk area. In the last month there were 5 baptisms in one congregation in Kramatorsk and 1 baptism in another. The church there is actively working with children and there parents. Also summer camps and winter outings with the church to Svyatogorsk play a huge part. Jeff Abrams and his team, Vitaliy Rodichev and Vladimir Paziy are the people who have been working in Kramatorsk for many years, and the results of this cooperation are already visible. 

There was an important event in Gorlovka Church of Christ. Bogdan’s (our graduate and the youth leader) grandmother Lyudmila was baptized. She has been studying the Bible with Bogdan for a long time, even though she wasn’t so eager to do that. Nevertheless, Bogdan was persistent, and his reason for that was the fact that his grandmother attended Jehovah’s Witnesses. Thank God she made the right decision, and we hope that Bogdan will be encouraged to achieve new spiritual victories. 

We continue visiting the orphanage. I started taking students with me there, involving them in this work. Mostly it’s Katya Kadenko. She is an active and devoted Christian and expresses willingness to work with kids.

We thank everyone who supports the work of the BVBIU and its students. We know it’s a huge sacrifice, but the results of this work are already seen. Churches in Ukraine are in need of sound doctrine and strong preachers. 

Your brother and co-worker,
Dennis Sopelnik

To see Dennis’ report with pictures, please click here.

A Focus On Missions...

Sunday was a very special day, as I had opportunity to visit with the Greenbrier Church of Christ. This congregation has been home for many years. I always enjoy the time to visit and participate in their annual Mission’s Day. This Sunday was no exception. I was privileged to hear one of the best lessons I remember hearing on the subject of giving. The response of the congregation in their contribution was incredibly generous. The love expressed by the family at Greenbrier is always a welcome encouragement. I love and appreciate all of you and look forward to seeing you again soon.

The Freed Hardeman Lectureship is on the agenda for the week ahead. The opportunities to learn from some of the most sound men in the church abound for the week. The week will conclude with the annual Extension staff meeting in Jackson. These meetings afford us the time to visit about the various areas of need for developing a stronger program. As we mentioned last week, we ask for your prayers as we discuss the development of extension training.

Additionally, the week ahead opens a door of opportunity to share the work with others. We will visit a couple of congregations to share the latest news about the most recent developments in the overall program. The good and bad, no matter how challenging it is, helps others see the realistic nature of this work. Even though these challenges exist, the work of extension training continues to grow and provide a powerful approach to fulfilling the Great Commission.

The news of the week is filled with information about growth and development in the kingdom. There is news of sadness with the passing of Hawatthia Jones’ mother, but there is joy in the victory she has gained in an eternal reward. New souls were brought to the Lord this week, the church was encouraged, and our God was glorified.

Now on to the other reports...

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

Extension Reports 

A Busy Weekend Yields Souls For Christ: The evangelism over the weekend in Cameroon brought souls to Christ. The news is exciting.

Cambodian Goals Worth Considering: The development of a 20 year plan at the International Bible Institute of Siem Reap reaches the second phase.

Going Home And Making Changes: Training at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies continues as Tony Johnson returns to the work.

Please Pray For The Jones Family: Hawatthia Jones lost his mother this past week. Her victory is a celebration of the Christian life she lived. Please remember this family.

Classes Set To Resume In Nigeria: Students at the Southwest School of Evangelism will begin another quarter of classes on Monday, February 3rd, as they prepare for ministry.

Church Building Collapses, Help Is Needed: The recent rainy season in Tanzania caused a local congregation to lose their building. Read how you can help.

Final Thoughts
We express our gratitude to each of you for continuing to believe in the work we are doing. Our efforts to participate in the training of men to preach the gospel is a blessing on every level. We know that it would not be possible without your help. Thank you for sharing in the work of extension training.

God bless
Bob

Church Building Collapses, Help Is Needed...

Greetings Fellow Servants;

We thank you for all you mean to the Kingdom and to the Tanzania 2000 Mission effort. God and heaven alone truly know of the good being done, the lives being changed and the true number of souls being saved day by day. Your part will be remembered by our Lord for eternity and the souls that are saved in Heaven one day will be the true testimony to your care and generosity. 

We thank our dear brother Gary Fallis for his coming and teaching in the Master’s program. We strive, with the Lord’s help, to develop a sustainable Church growth program. The training of good men at this level is vital and with full confidence, we know the godly men of Tanzania will continue to carry the “Good News” on to the generations to come.  Thank you Gary, and thank you Bear Valley for a good work that will help in taking the Gospel to all the world. 

The congregations of Arusha, now 7 in number continue in their outreach. Saturday, members from each of these congregations came together to reach yet another area of Arusha with the saving message of our God. Each congregation has committed one day a week to the outreach and new church plant in the Njiro Chini area. This is part of a five year plan to plant five new congregations in five years. Please join us in this effort through your prayers and continued support as we strive to glorify our God through our good deeds. 

A note from Josephat Massawe: “We rejoice with the Angels in Heaven today as two precious souls were added to the Lord’s Body. Pray for Teresia and Maua as they grow in faith.”

A note from Yusuph Mdaki: “Yesterday we had a debate for one hour with a group of Seventh Day Adventist. The good result is one evangelist has promised me to call for baptism at any time. We continue to spread Bible tracts and invite others to study. Please we need more bibles and tracts, these people are starving for God’s Word.

Amos had two to obey the Truth and were baptized for the remission of their sins, being added to the Body of Christ. Due to heavy rains the church building collapsed. We really need to help these good brothers and sisters, helping them with a roof. They have done their own bricks and just need our help with $400. Please the heavy rains are upon us.”

The preacher’s wives met yesterday to study God’s word. Anita is teaching them “how to” study the Bible. They engage in other learning activities and are able to fellowship with each other, encouraging one another in the work of the Kingdom. Thank God for godly women, even more so for the wives of Gospel preachers who give that others might live. 

God is good all the time and we live in a time that allows us to truly take the saving message of the Gospel to all the world. God cares, He cares for your souls and each and every soul on this planet. Let each of us influence one another unto good works that the world might know of the love of God and His desire that all mankind know Him and His will. Till all have heard.....

In Him,
Cy, Stephanie and Granny

Classes Set To Resume In Nigeria...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from students and staff of the Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan .The SWSE-Ibadan main campus end 2nd semester classes and tests tomorrow, January 28, 2014 Lord's willing, to enable the students rest for five or six days before the commencement of 3rd semester classes on Monday, Feb. 3 through April 11, 2014.

On Sunday, January 26, my second son-John Makinde led in songs while brother Destiny Elijah, a year 1 student of SWSE-Ibadan taught on “Kinds of Worship” and I admonished the church on “What Kind of Worshipper are You?” (Psalm 15) at Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregation-Ibadan. We are 55 in attendance with total collection of N2,600=

Brethren, two of our students are now working with brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe on weekend since last two week due to the conversion of thirty souls at St. Anthony High School, Ikoyi, Osun State during the WBS seminar where brother Doug Wheeler was our guest speaker. This now cost the school additional N5,000=monthly to transport this two students who now help the church at Asejire - 1 and Ikoyi, Osun State while brother Kayode work with Egbeda congregation in Oyo State. We thank brother Doug for assisting us with N10,000= for this exercise!

Beloved, Lord's willing, we (SWSE - both Ibadan & Lagos campus staff) shall be traveling tomorrow morning to attend this year’s Great Workshop 2014 at Cross River State for evangelists in seventeen Southern states of Nigeria and some Northern states such as Kwara, Kogi, Kano and the Federal Capital-Abuja.

We, therefore, humbly request for your prayer for this nine to ten hours journey from Ibadan to Ikom in Cross River State.

The SWSE appreciates your support towards the continued survival of the school since 2003 and we sincerely solicit your continuous partnership to make our dream a reality! Thank you for your love for Nigerian brethren and churches.

We deeply appreciates your labor of love ! Stay blessed and be strong in His grace for your labor in the Lord is not a labor loss (1 Co. 15:58).

I remain yours in His grace as a servant,

Makinde E. Olufemi (Director of studies)
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan & Lagos campus, Nigeria

Please Pray For The Jones Family...

Dear Family and Friends,

May the goodness of God be upon each of you. 

Yesterday, January 31, at 7:30 a.m., Hawatthia's mother, Cynthia Jones, who Byron considers his mother as well, passed from this life to her glory and rest in Jesus. Mom had been struggling for some time with various health issues, but as a strong woman, kept recovering and moving forward. Yesterday, however, her body succumbed to her failing health. We are both thankful that we were able to speak to her briefly and express our love and appreciation for her in her final moments on this earth. God is good. We are now thankful that she is in our Lord's care and enjoying the many wonderful promises He has given to His children. 

The funeral services will be held at the Broad Street Church of Christ, 131 North Broad Street, Lexington, TN, 38351, this coming Saturday, February 8. The time has not been set, but we will send out another message as soon as we know. Please keep the whole family in your prayers so that God will comfort and console each heart during this time. We are confident she is with the Lord, but we still feel the sorrow of her departure. 

Thankful for your prayers. God bless you!

Hawatthia
Byron

"Teaching the CENTRAL MESSAGE in CENTRAL AMERICA!"

Going Home And Making Changes...

As most of you know I was back in the U.S. during the month of December and first part of January to take care of a minor medical issue. I find it interesting that when I return to the U.S. I always say that I’m going home, even though I don’t really have a home there anymore. When I’m there I live out of a suitcase and whatever I can carry around from place to place in my truck. I go from place to place to talk about the work we are doing here, and rarely stay anyplace for more than a week at a time. But it’s still home and it’s still close to my heart. What makes it home is the many special people that invite me to be part of their family for a short time. Over the past couple of years there have been many of you who have taken me in, fed me, worked on my truck, even traveled with me, and provided the love and support that is what family is all about. Special thanks to those who gave me a place to stay on this trip and made me feel like family - Del and Love Hines (and Foster, who gives up his bed for me) in Greenbrier, AR; Jack Wilkie in Pritchett, TX; Chris and Shirley Brill (and Haden, who also gave up his bed) in Talala, OK; and Brian and Deann Wilkie in Golden, CO (who are truly my other family). And thanks to my brother Ken in Council Bluffs, IA, and of course my mom, Virginia Hielen in Gilbert, AZ who always takes good care of me.

I was blessed to be able to visit and speak at a number of congregations during my travels, including some congregations which I was able to visit for the first time. Thanks to the Guy church of Christ in Arkansas, Pritchett church of Christ in Texas and the Morton St. church of Christ in Denison, Texas. It was also great to have the chance to visit and speak with old friends in Mesa, Arizona; Lone Tree, Colorado; and at the Bear Valley Bible Institute in Denver Colorado. My greatest joy though comes from being able to spend time with my home congregation in Greenbrier, AR, even if it is just for a day. I look forward to making it back soon to visit those of you I missed on this trip.

Speaking of my next trip, I’ll be returning home on June 6 in order to be a counselor once again at the Bear Valley Future Preachers Training Camp (FPTC). This will be my 5th year helping at the camp, which I believe is one of the great works in the church today - encouraging teenage men to become preachers and leaders in the next generation of the church. One of the changes I’ll be making this year is to begin returning to the U.S. every six months instead of the originally planned every 10 months. It has been pointed out to me that I was running myself a little ragged and that I needed to take a little better care of myself, and hopefully this change will allow me to recharge more often in order to continue working here as long as possible. After FPTC I will be in traveling to Arkansas and then Arizona before returning to Ghana around the 9th of July in order to start our new school year at the Bible Institute.

Another change this year will be in the way I am reporting on the work here. It was also pointed out that my reports last year tended to be a little long as I tried to talk about everything we are doing in each report. So this year I’ll try and keep each report shorter, focusing on just one of the areas of ministry we are involved with. But for those who still want more regular updates I have created Facebook pages for Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies (https://www.facebook.com/TamaleChristians) and Kingdom of Hope Children’s school (https://www.facebook.com/KingdomOfHopeSchool) where I will be posting pictures, short notes regarding the work, and even some videos. If you have Facebook I hope you will check them out and like the pages. For those without Facebook I am working on how to post the same information on the T.I.A. blog page so it can be accessed by anyone. Hopefully by next month’s report I’ll have a link for this (if I can figure it out).

The work here continues, and I want to thank all of you who make it possible. Special thanks this month to the Guy church of Christ for supporting me for the coming year, and to the Mesa church of the funds for Kingdom of Hope to purchase a grain mill that will assist the school both in preparing their own food as well as becoming more self-supporting. I also want to thank those congregations who have supported me throughout the past year - Colony church of Christ who have supported me since I was a Bear Valley Student, White Oak church of Christ, Leiper’s Fork church of Christ, and Broadway church of Christ. A very special thank you to the Greenbrier church of Christ, who has been beside me every step of this journey. Going home will always mean coming back to you. Next month I will highlight some of the individuals who make this work possible. Until then, “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24- 26).

Tony Johnson

To see Tony’s report with pictures about the work, please click here.

Cambodian Goals Worth Considering...

Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ. Happy new year! I pray the Lord's blessing upon all of you who support the Lord’s work here and elsewhere in the world. May you continue to have opportunities and the privilege to support faithful works around the world. May you set higher goals to achieve for our Lord in the year 2014. 

As I begin the new year, I can’t help but look at my long term goal and reflect on my 20 year plan for the work here in Cambodia. I am in my 6th year in Cambodia and, according to my plan, have transitioned from the "Foundation Period" (2008-2013) to the "Growth Period” (2014 - 2018). By the end of 2018, the local church should be able to support 50% of IBISR's monthly expenses. As of right now, we are supporting 10%. If we continue to increase at 10% each year from now until 2018, we will hit our 10 yr goal! 

Some who read this report might be wondering why it seems like I'm stressing money, money, money and percentages, but please don't misunderstand, there's a reason for it. It is the same reason that Paul gave to the Corinthians in 2 Co. 8:5 and to the Philippians in Phil. 4:17. If you read the context of those passages you will find out that the reason why the Macedonians were able to give above their means was because they gave themselves to God FIRST. It was the result of their faith. The same thing with the Philippians, they were able to support Paul when no one else did, and Paul said that their giving was the fruit of their faith. 

If the church in Siem Reap is able to support its own work, it will indicate their level of faith and trust in God. That's our goal. We want to be the church that's found in the Bible and we are striving to produce fruit! Within the first five years, we've built a strong foundation of faithful Christian families that are here for the long haul. From here we want to grow, not only numerically, but financially, and ultimately, spiritually! We are confident that with God’s help we will accomplish our goals that we've set for Him. We ask that you continue to pray for us and our endeavors.

In order to meet our goals for the next five years, the leadership (Chann's idea) has come up with the idea of personal mentorship of the staff and male students. We have 6 men and 4 staff mentors (myself, Chann, Darat, and Piseth). Every weekend for the next 3 months, the students will have personal one on one time with their mentors in the field. They will learn how to talk to people, how to set up a Bible study, how to build relationships, how to follow up, how to prepare, and, most importantly, how to get back up after they fail. After each quarter, we will rotate the students to a different mentor so that they can gain knowledge and experience from all of us. This will avoid preacheritis (1 Co. 1:10-13) from forming. By the end of the year, they would have learned from all of us. I am the mentor for Sopheak and Sovannara in the first quarter and so far we were able to go to the local prison in Siem Reap to try to get our foot in the door, but it so happens that there is already a group there (I think 7th day Adventist) who apparently have the rights to the whole prison because we couldn’t get a Bible study request in. Anyway, it was a good experience for the students and myself. We are excited to go out in the field on the weekends to implement what we learn/teach on the weekdays! Please keep the school and this program in your prayers!

Phanat

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

A Busy Weekend Yields Souls For Christ...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from Cameroon. We do hope you are all doing great over there in the congregation and in the family. Life is going on well by His grace, but some are not sound in health. Three students missed weekend evangelism and the Bible lectureship in Mudeka village because of ill health. They were sent to see the doctor because our drugs could not help them on campus. Keep them in your prayers.

Last week was good for us as our students keep growing in the knowledge of God. They are excited that the choice the made to attend CBIW was a nice one and are looking forward to full time ministry in different villages after their graduation this December.

The weekend was also very busy, but exciting as we were reaching out to souls in 7 locations, however, the mass of the students and staff were in Mudeka village for house to house evangelism and many indoor lectures to nurture souls already in the kingdom of God.

Some CBIW students arrived Mudeka village for Bible lectureship. It was great as souls were touched.

Without any waste of time the students and staff started moving from one house to another hawking the bread of life free of charge. Many opened their doors for these men to share with the them.

Our students stood for hours upon hours, as long as the opportunity was given, to share the saving message. House to house is good to me and I am happy that our students are gaining lots of experience on the practical part of their career as they are opportune to meet people weekly which helps strengthen them before they graduate from school.

This weekend was great because my wife was part of the house to house evangelism in Mudeka. My wife worked along side others sharing the gospel to these young people who were nurses in that village.

Brother Ebage baptized brother Obi John along side his wife, who obeyed the gospel the same day what a great moment. Keep them in your prayers.

Brother John Nkemnkeng baptized brother Chia in Mudeka. Keep him also in your prayers.

Brother Orock Yannick baptized sister Nchini with her pregnancy. Through out our stay in Mudeka the Lord added 6 precious and energetic souls to labor for Him as he kingdom keeps increasing. Keep this congregation in your prayers to help nurture and follow up these young babes to grow and be mature.

On this sad note, brother Tom Eyong, a preacher whom we revived in the young congregation of Ediki, died last week Wednesday at the age of 79 after suffering with diabetes for many years. He was active in the things of God. Keep his family in your prayers. His village does not have the church, but in his will he said we should bury him in his village. This will be another great opportunity for us to see how we can reach out to villagers with the gospel and introduce them to the New Testament church and her ways of worship. Please keep this mission in your prayers.  Transportation to the village is far from where our brother was a resident.

I went to my village congregation in Koba last week for the funeral of my aunty and I realized that among the 7 villages there, 5 had a congregation of the Lord’s church and among these five only this one is still struggling to stand. Please, with tears I write this report to you making an appeal to come and let us go help this congregation which will in future help revive the other dead congregation. Please, precious souls are perishing. How can I do a lot and my own people are not having the light of the truth which I preach and train men to preach. Please, please come to my aid to keep the congregation going. For now we can send our students on a weekly basis to preach and teach. It will cost us 15.000 frs, but the urgent need now is to get the roof of that house erected with iron sheets. It will cost us 3000.00 USD to get that house up and wooden walls nailed to it and secure it from rain and stray animals. Please, please I have never been so touched with situations like this one in my own village. Please help me evangelize my people who are so receptive to the gospel. If we start the work I will be sharing the report and you will see what God will do in that place. Please share this with others who may love to be of help.

Plans
This weekend, part of the students and some staff will carry the remains of our brother to the village while part of the students will go to the Bomaka congregation, a young congregation not too far from Wotutu for evangelism.

The Dekome work keeps witnessing an increase and oh what a work to the glory of God for those standing by us to make sure these souls can eat the word of God, which will enable them to grow. It is really far from CBIW into the forest and hills, but God is making it possible for our students to reach there every week so that souls will be touched with the word.

Appreciation
Many thanks to God for His great care over us and the encouragements he is according to us to meet up with the work entrusted in our hands. Thank you so very much for all your prayers, deep concern, comments and support to make this work a reality. Continue and do not faint because in due season God will reward you all.

Do your best to share this report with others. God bless you all and watch over you all.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW