Campaigns Highlight The Reports...

The first quarter of studies for students in Denver came to a close Friday at noon. Students then left for campaigns in Arizona and Colorado. The outreach in Arizona is located east of Phoenix and another location at Fort Defiance. Two locations near Denver (Conifer and Aurora) also have students working to share the gospel with those who live in these areas. Once the students return and provide reports, we will share news of their progress. New classes for the students begins on Monday, October 20th.  

Reports within the extension program demonstrate encouraging news about the spread of the gospel and the impact it has on the souls of those who obey. The powerful nature of these reports is based on the diligence applied by these men throughout their studies and outreach. The lessons they learn are shared within the communities where they live and the results are worth taking a few minutes to read about.

Additional news about expanding the program will highlight reports in the future. Research and investigation is occurring as this report is written and read. As the information is compiled and finalized we will share the exciting news of where and when these schools will open. We are thankful for the opportunity to have so many potential locations to consider. This is foundational for the growth of the program.

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/

To read the latest report from Tony Johnson, please click here.

Extension Reports 

Campaign Cameroon, And A Story Worth Reading: A campaign in Cameroon added 35 new souls to the kingdom and 48 restorations. The story of one of those converted is worth reading.

20 New Students Are Ready To Begin Their Journey: Monday, October 6th, is the day 20 men begin classes as the second intake of students in Kenya.

Tamale Campaign Brings Souls To Christ: A recent campaign in Tamale, Ghana witnessed souls coming to the Lord as the gospel is proclaimed.

The Lord’s Kingdom In Paraguay Is Growing: Troy Spradlin’s report from Paraguay expresses the power of the gospel in changing lives in the work.

A Call To Service In Nigeria: The message recently preached to Christians in Nigeria is simple, “A Call to Service.” This lesson was designed to move Christians to action.

An Interesting Approach: Second-Hand Evangelism: Daniel Gaines shares an interesting avenue for getting the gospel of Jesus into the hands of Tanzanians.

Final Thoughts 
With each day that goes by, we want you to know how much we appreciate all you contribute to the development of the work. This far exceeds the financial gift, because your encouragement and ability adds the various components needed to create success in this program. Thank you for your love for the Lord, His church, and the lost. Thank you for believing in extension training.

God bless
Bob

An Interesting Approach: Second-Hand Evangelism...

Recently a man approached me with a request. He was a man who has diligently completed nearly a dozen correspondence courses that I have given him. Correspondence courses and tracts have become one of my favorite methods of evangelism because they don’t require a translator. With a few greetings and language basics I can open a dialogue and offer a tract that gives soul-saving information. It is also convenient because I can give them out wherever I go as I conduct the regular business of life – the store, the gas station, the policeman on the side of the road… anywhere! 

Anyway, back to the man’s request. There was a worker at a nearby house that he wanted to give a correspondence course to. I had never met the lady or her employers, yet she wanted literature from me. Furthermore, this man who has not yet been obedient to the gospel was already seeking to share what he has learned.

Not long ago I was flagged down in my truck by another man. To my knowledge, I had never met or even seen the man before  A little wary, I cracked my window to see what he wanted.  He asked me if I was the man who had been spreading the Bible lessons around. I couldn’t tell by his demeanor if he was mad or glad about that, but I told him that I did share Bible lessons. He then looked excited and asked if he could have one. A few days later, he returned his completed lesson in to me via a common acquaintance.  

I did not seek that man out. I did not approach him and flag him down. He looked for ME. He looked for me because other people told him what I had shared with them, and he was interested. 

I relish the opportunities that I have to approach people with the gospel message, but these secondary contacts really have me excited. They demonstrate the organic nature of the gospel.  “Gospel” means “good news.” If there is one thing that good news does well, it’s spread. Watching the good news spread so readily encourages me greatly.

This is the way it’s supposed to be. This is the way it was always intended to be. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). It is these people who are “teaching others also,” as well as those who are taught be them, who will continue to make a difference long after the missionaries return home. This is why we do what we do, and this is why you have sent us. 

Tracts and correspondence courses can be printed at the price of a mere 2 cents apiece. We would like to print 500,000 for our coming efforts, which will require about $10,000. Of course, how can a student complete a proper Bible study if he has no access to a Bible? We need 2,500 Bibles for the work here, which we can purchase for just $6 each. Can you help us meet these needs? This is really one area in which you can make a big difference with a small donation.

Keep spreading the good news!

Adding another “school” to our list…Schooling in Africa and God’s unexpected blessings

Living in Africa it is easy to realize that you are very fortunate if you get an education. Public schools here are very sub-par and the private schools cost a fortune to attend. Homeschooling is basically unheard of as even most expats attend the international schools. Abby has had a very wide array of schooling. She has attended preschool, public school, private schools, homeschool, co-ops, and is now adding international school to her list.

We never intended to send her to school here, but when our missionary friends returned to the states they took the only friends her age we had available. The congregation we attend has many, many children. However, they are all very young. We quickly found that Abby was lonely and in need of interaction with children her age.  We began looking into international schools as options but found that they cost more to attend than private universities in the states! We approached God prayerfully for an answer and set up a meeting with the Headmistress at Braeburn School. We were able to enroll her successfully in extracurricular activities and electives 2 days a week to supplement her homeschooling. She would be with children her own age learning art, music theory, internet technology, design technology, photography, and piano.

Still, the money was a huge chunk. Exactly 2 days after enrolling Abby, a good friend messaged saying she was sending an extra donation this month to cover some of Abby’s school fees as she knew of our plans. The amount was $7 shy of the full amount needed. Our God is truly amazing and will always do things in His timing if you rely fully on Him. What a great financial relief and answer that we are choosing what is best for our Abby.

She has made friends and is feeling a bit more “normal.” She loves the school and her classes. As parents, we are trying our best to show our children the most important thing there is, the love of Christ and sharing His word with others. In doing so we are not amiss that other challenges will arise but God handles all things beautifully when you are a disciple of Him. To God be the Glory!

Daniel Gaines

A Call To Service In Nigeria...

Dear fellow soldiers of the cross,

Greetings from Nigeria and the Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan and Lagos.

Our campus minister, brother Abraham Idu Yeje, taught at the campus church on Sunday, September 28, on “Remembering the Poor,” while one of our students, Nnamdi Blessing Eze, admonished the church from Ezekiel 33.

Brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe taught on “Admission into the Lord’s Church” at the Egbeda congregation and one of their prospects was baptized after the Sunday morning worship.

At the Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregation, Ibadan, I taught lesson three of the Great Commission which I tittle as “Saved to Serve.”

I taught on “A Call for Service” in the school’s morning devotion of September 30, and in Wednesday chapel on “Christian Service,” and on October 2, 2014, I taught on “Tackle Your Problems with Prayer” (1 Samuel 1:9-20; 1 Chronicle 4:9 & 10; Matthew 14:22-30; James 5:13-16) for a two hour special class on prayer between 5:00 am to 7:00 am. We used that medium to pray for peace in Nigeria and the world as a whole. We also pray for SWSE, Nigeria, and all our supporters, for God's blessing on all their undertaking and we remember all our graduates and the present students and the instructors in a two-hour prayer program before we resumed for class work at SWSE by 8:00 am.

Brethren, this coming Saturday is our evangelism program and we plan an open air lectureship at Ogunbunmi and Alaase villages via Jago due to the Muslim festival (Salah) that comes up on October 3 & 4 in our country.

This coming week is set aside for our first semester test before the students go for vocational training over the next four weeks between October 11 - November 7, when we shall resume, Lord's willing for second semester classes on November 10, 2014.

Beloved, we thank you all for your brotherly love and partnership in training more soldiers of the cross.

May the Lord of blessing continue to bless all your undertaking in Jesus Christ's name, amen.

Yours in His grace as a servant,

Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Director of Studies)
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE) Nigeria

The Lord's Kingdom In Paraguay Is Growing...

September was a month of growth and development. Several souls were added to the Lord’s kingdom and some exciting plans are being developed. We pray this month’s mission report brings you much joy! God bless!

BAPTISMS!
Alma Agüero, (pictured at right, top), asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?” and was then baptized. She is the daughter of our brother and sister in Christ, Gustavo and Elva Agüero. There is now another entire household of disciples of the Lord’s church in Paraguay. Praise God!

Mikael Jara. Francisca Villalba. Estefania Bogado. (pictured at right) Do you remember that flyer we reported on earlier this year that got put in the mailbox of one young man, (Alex Valdez) who told a friend, (Fabian Nuñez) who told a friend, (Sebastian Garcia) plus one more friend (Marcelo Alcaraz) of the original young man... that ended up with all 4 being baptized? Well, Marcelo has been studying with several of his friends and all 3 of them were baptized this month (and hopefully 2 more will be coming soon). Now we are up to 7 SOULS being added to the church all from JUST ONE FLYER that got put in someone’s mailbox when they weren’t home.... (which, by the way, was a campaign conducted by the Asuncion Bible Academy, AND.... all four of these young men are interested in attending the Academy). Indeed, “God provides the increase”! (1 Cor 3:6)

Developments at Ave. Sacramento Church of Christ
Special Benevolence Project (cont’d). The church distributed some more beans and rice packages to the local flood victims. It was just a little something to bring some much needed relief to a group who is suffering (Matt 25:40). Paraguay continues to experience high river levels and some reports say there are still some 55,000 people displaced from their homes.

The Directors of “AME” (Adventures in Evangelistic Missions) made a special survey trip to Paraguay this month to coordinate sending interns to come work with us in 2015. AME is a work of the church of Christ in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, which trains and prepares Christian youth to go out and work with various congregations in Brazil and Latin America. We will be receiving two interns in January and we’re looking forward to having these evangelistic minded young men as part of our mission team in Paraguay!

Men’s Retreat. The men of the church held a special, overnight retreat in the town of Itacurubi, this month. We prayed together, studied the subject of “Spiritual Development,” and enjoyed some wonderful Christian fellowship. Many were already talking about the next time we could do this!

Developments at Ñemby Church of Christ
Preaching the Gospel. Vicente Martinez carried Eliezer Perez and David Avila (who was visiting Eliezer from Guatemala) to a town in the interior so they could preach the Gospel to some of his family members. This may turn into a possible church plant in the near future! Please pray for the possibility!

Asunción Bible Academy
Quarterly Report. The Asuncion Bible Academy continues to move forward with its classes and activities. After an initial introduction, the new report we have developed for the school will now be published every quarter. The next report will be published in October. You can see all the previous reports by visiting www.paraguaymission.com/asuncion-bible-academy/

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies / Activities:
I was able to connect a couple of times with our brother Ruben Castro in Meteti, Panama, via Skype this past month in order to study “Fundamentals” with him. Not only is he learning the material for himself, but he is using it to prepare lessons to teach the congregation on Sunday mornings.

Our ABA “Leadership Training by Extension” students , Javier Zarate, Luis Yegros, and Enrique Albera have been steadily continuing their courses.

Bible Studies and more Bible Studies!
We wish you could see all the wonderful things happening here, especially all the Bible studies that are taking place! We have members studying with other members, others studying with coworkers, with family members, and visitors, and new Bible study groups that have started up in different homes. How wonderful to see a church that is increasingly becoming more self-perpetuating!

One of our members, Magda Ortiz, asked if we would come study with her son, Junior, who is struggling with drug addiction and other problems. Before we arrived, he had invited a friend of his and his friend brought his family with him. There were five new contacts at what turned out to be a new, evangelistic Bible study! We shared God’s word with them by focusing on where we should place authority for religious matters and then gave them a copy of “Searching for Truth.” They were all very receptive!

Andrea has been continuing her Bible studies in English with Adriana, Martin, and Oscar.

I am continuing to study the Bible with Beatriz Ortiz in English, as well as, with Sebastian Garcia. I also have a couple of new contacts that will be starting a study this next month.

We pray all of these listed above will develop into more souls being added to the kingdom of God!

David Ávila, who is a close friend to Eliezer Perez from when they attended ITL Bible Institute in Guatemala, came to visit Paraguay and work with us for a month. He taught a class in the Bible Academy, preached several times at Ave Sacramento and Ñemby, and lead several evangelistic Bible studies. It was a real pleasure to have him here with us and we hope he returns real soon!

Coming Up:
Brother Luis Camacho will be returning to Paraguay to teach “Denominational Doctrines” in the ABA next month.

Andrea will be traveling to Brazil for “Continent Care Connection,” a missionary retreat and renewal seminar.

Personal Development and Activities
Andrea had quite an interesting and exciting challenge this past month! She was asked to cater lunch for the employees at the US Embassy. With her usual high-level of enthusiasm, she tackled the challenge and “knocked the ball out of the park.” Everyone loved her food and, of course, she now has a few more customers for “Mas Que Dulces.”

An interesting factoid: there just wasn’t a lot of reliable tourist information on Paraguay in the recent past. However, there are now two great guidebooks on Paraguay for American tourists written in English. Andrea has met the authors of each book! One is Natalia Goldberg, who is Paraguayan and now living in the USA (her website is listed below), and the other is Margaret Hebblethwaite, who owns a hotel in Santa Maria de Fe. Coming to Paraguay sometime? We highly recommend their guide books. Both are available on Amazon.com.

We hosted another “Grilled Pizza Party” for the youth at our house. It is always so much fun and they just love it!

My mother, A’Gatha Spradlin, suffered a major stroke this past month. She was completely paralyzed on one side and unresponsive to anyone or anything. She is still in the hospital, slowly recovering, and doing some better. Please keep my family in your prayers. We would greatly appreciate it.

Personal study:
I have been reading (or, still reading):

“Isaiah,” “The Gospel Accounts in Chronological Order”

“The Book of Ezekiel” by Jim McGiuggan

“The Major Prophets” by James E. Smith

“Contextualization and Syncretism” by Gailyn Van Rheenen.

I am continuing to take classes in Guarani and have also begun a basic study of Portuguese.

Preaching/teaching opportunities:
I preached one Sunday at Avenida Sacramento and one Sunday at Ñemby.

I taught “Biblical Greek 2,” “Baptism: Unwatered Down,” and “Ezekiel and Daniel” in the Bible Academy.

Paraguayan Culture Spotlight: Cerro Lambaré (Lambare Hill)
As one sails northward on the Paraguay River, there is a peculiar high spot that stands out alongside the riverbank called “Cerro Lambaré.” The hill lies just South of the city of Asuncion and there exists varying legends regarding its historical importance. One has it that it was here where the Spanish conquistadors first came into contact with Paraguay’s fierce Guarani Indians, lead by Chief Lambaré. Several battles ensued and it was soon discovered that the mighty Spanish armada was no match for the Indian chief’s warriors. Another legend says the conquistadors landed here peaceably, scaled the hill to make observations up river, and were met at the top by Chief Lambaré, who extended an open welcome ... and yerba mate! The Spanish then established the city of Asunción in 1537 and even enlisted some of the Guarani for explorations into the region of the Chaco. Today, the hill stands as a monument to Paraguay’s eclectic history. In fact, a monument called “Victorious Peace” was installed in 1982 which had five statues of Paraguayan heroes prominently displayed which included the then dictator, Alfredo Stroessner. After he was overthrown, his statue was destroyed and removed from the monument, leaving an empty space on one of it’s sides! For more information on all things Paraguay, visit this informative website: http://discoveringparaguay.com.

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

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

Tamale Campaign Brings Souls To Christ...

By the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, every bit of the plan for the quarter is being unfolded. Presently, students are out for a gospel campaign at Gumani, one of the suburbs of Tamale. This is an effort from the Institute to establish a congregation in that suburb to make the number of congregations to three. There are a number of brethren who reside in that suburb who will be glad to worship closer to their residencies.

After the campaign, brother Joe Wilkie will arrive from America to handle the class for two weeks, together with brother Tony and brother Jaminja Ndakar. This arrangement is to end the quarter on the 17th of October, 2014.

Among the students is Brother Isaiah Ahmed Amadu, who has impaired eyesight. He is an enterprising student who could be developed to preach to specifically the citizenry with impaired eyesight. We, however, are faced with the lack of equipment and materials for teaching and learning such challenged students. The Institute wishes to humbly appeal to our sponsors and all brethren who can come to our aid to assist us in the effective training of this brother/student so that he can also become an effective preacher for the Lord’s Kingdom.

Aside from the materials and equipment for teaching and learning, if there is anything available to motivate this student, the Institute would be glad to have it for this brother.

The Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies welcomes all brethren who have the desire to support any activity which will build the faith of the flock of the Lord in Tamale to win more souls to inform the Institute through the Director (joebah2003@yahoo.co.uk), brother Anthony Johnson (toeknee223@hotmail.com) or brother Steven Ashcraft (samtnhome@yahoo.com). 

Let us all build together the House of God through which salvation can be obtained.

Baah Joseph Okyere (Director)

20 New Students Are Ready To Begin Their Journey...

Beloved, 

We at the Kenya School of Preaching are very excited to inform you that we had 47 applicants for the second intake and we selected 20. This was a very stiff selection because of the qualifications and their involvement with Lord's work, but we will determine whether they are up to the task when classes begin on October 6th. 

We, the faculty are still very determined to keep training high and will not entertain laziness and joy riding. 

We are also happy to tell you that all 20 students selected have reported and another additional student came without an invitation letter on October 3rd and insists on staying at the school. Unfortunately we will have to send him home and he has to wait for the third intake 2016. 

The number of applicants is a proof of perpetuity and a vote of confidence in the new school and the great work we did with the first intake.

After our graduation we didn't have rest, as is sometimes good for workers, but joined local congregations for a series of gospel meetings and door to door evangelism where 11 obeyed the gospel. 

We had a good number of KSOP graduates serving in various ways during the meetings, we are proud of them and look forward to greater service from them.

God is causing the increase when men go out to plant and water the seed. 

Keep praying for the school, new students and our graduates who are in the field already. 

I will be leaving to Arusha Tanzania on October 8th to attend Men's leadership conference where am scheduled to speak on "Perfect leaders manage their resources well" Nehemiah 4:16-18.

Keep me prayers.

Thanks all for your prayers and assistance to keep the good work going on.

God bless you more and more.

His servant,
Charles Ogutu
Kenya School of Preaching

Campaign Cameroon, And A Story Worth Reading...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from Wotutu. It is another day here and our worship was great as we invested time to worship God according to how He wants people to worship Him.

We hope this report finds you in good health. We are doing better in health. We do hope you are doing fine in health. Keep us in your prayers. Our students are back on campus strong and ready to start learning for the final quarter. One student is sick and has not been able to return, but he called and said by His grace he will be here after one week.

The students spent two weeks in the mission field reaching out to many and nurturing congregations. This field work led to the establishment of two new congregations and the revival of the Mile One Kumba congregation where the church stopped worshipping because there was no one to preach. The nearby congregation started sending their Christians to go and help, but they stopped also without any explanation. We praise God because one of our students went to that community and invested two weeks and the congregation had 42 fallen Christians return to the Lord.

Today in Wotutu, we had a meeting with our students and their wives. This meeting was scheduled for us to start making preparations for graduation. I used that opportunity to thank their wives for such a sacrifice leaving their husbands to be in the school for two years. More appreciations will be expressed on the day of graduation, which is on the 11th of December 2014.

After the meeting we took a family picture with the wives. It was another opportunity for our wives to meet their friends and for them to share visions toward full time work come January 2015. Our graduation and matriculation will be on the same day. The new Gamma batch of students have started coming to my office to get their admission letters.

Our student, Itoe David, spent two weeks in the Muea congregation and the Lord added 5 souls and 4 fallen Christians came back. The Muea congregation is the congregation I shared last week with the overflow population sitting outside the hall.

Our student, Mokwe Eugene, spent two weeks in Yoke village and the Lord added two souls into the church there. He was able to baptized our new brother. He is called brother Tita. He is 85 years old and was a polygamist with 3 wives. When he got the truth he called his wives and told them that he had found the Lord and could not continue in his old ways. He settled with all the wives by sharing his wealth and houses and took his first wife. He gave them portions of his property and told them that he will continue to take care his children as long as they need his help. What a God we serve. It was a “come to and see something” in that community. The wives were amazed what the gospel can do. We have started studies with the Mission Printing tracts on polygamy and shared with many in that community because that is a habit there.

Our young congregations in Batoke, Dikome, Koba, Ediki, and Down Beach Limbe witnessed great spiritual growth because students stayed longer. Sister Sylvia obeyed the gospel in Batoke.

Brother Tita popularly called in the community. After His baptism he said it aloud and was very happy, “Thank you God, you have remembered me.” It was a joyous day for his family and the community. Keep him in your prayers as our students continue to go there on weekly basis until their graduation in December, where by His grace a student will go there and start his ministry.

Summary of the two weeks evangelism by CBIW students:

Number of baptism: 35
Number of restoration: 48
Number of newly established congregations: 2
Number of congregation revived: 1 mile from Kumba.

Plans
Keep praying as we move closer to November where we shall have a mass evangelism in Lebialem and Mamfe for the annual Bible lectureship in Cameroon.

Appreciations
God alone will bless you and reward you in due season for all that you are doing tirelessly for the work here in Cameroon. We say, “thank you” because if not of your kind heart it would not have been like this here. God bless you as you share this with others.

Elangwe and family

By His grace Director CBIW

Back In West Africa...

West Africa has been in the international news a lot over the past few months. Unfortunately most of the news coming out of this part of the world has been negative. Ebola is certainly the story most people are familiar with right now when it comes to West Africa. Boko Haram’s aggression in Northern Nigeria continues to receive attention, especially in regards to the fate of the over two hundred school girls who were kidnapped. On a local level, a recent cholera outbreak along the Ghanaian coast is causing a level of concern, as well as economic issues that has resulted in an inflation rate of almost 16% this summer and has resulted in the local currency losing over half its value in the past year. There are a lot of distractions in West Africa at the present time!

I have been back in West Africa for over a month now and, despite all of the distractions, the work continues. I arrived in time to start teaching classes at the Tamale Institute of Biblical Studies, which began its seventh (out of ten) term in September. All twelve students were able to report on time for classes, which got the term off to a good start. Unfortunately, one student came down with an ailment that required him to return home during the second week of classes, so we are down to eleven students at present. I am teaching two classes this term, both covering the book of Romans. 

Other classes being taught this term are Old Testament 6 (Major Prophets), 1 Corinthians, and 2 Corinthians. There is also a student campaign scheduled during the term. Our 1 Corinthians class will be taught by a visiting instructor from the U.S., Joe Wilkie, of the Lone Tree, Colorado congregation. This will be Joe’s second trip to teach at the school in Tamale, as he also traveled over last year to teach Introduction to the Old Testament and Introduction to the New Testament courses during the first term. I, personally, am very thankful for Joe’s willingness to come, especially in light of all the negative news reports. Joe arrived on Friday, October 3rd, and will be here until October 20th.

The student campaign this term was in the neighboring community of Gumani, a prominently Muslim community on the outskirts of Tamale. One of the school’s local instructors lives in the community so the plan was to determine the feasibility of establishing a congregation in the area in the future. The students canvased the area and were able to talk with many people, and in the process learned how difficult it can be to evangelize in a community where Christianity is an unknown or unaccepted religion (most of our students come from predominately denominational Christian villages). While the work produced no baptisms and no real hope for a local congregation in the near future, there were three ongoing Bible studies established. We continue to pray for the work in that area and for open minds to the truth of God’s Word during these studies.

While the students were in Gumani, I made a trip to Burkina Faso to meet with the church at Ouagudougou and see how plans were progressing for me to send teams of evangelists to assist them. We were supposed to have a place ready for the evangelists to stay while working there, but due to the housing laws they have not yet been able to take control of the location. So we are sending the first teams to the area of Po where there are now 4 village congregations meeting, including one in Kaya where we did a campaign last year. Arrangements have been made to send a full time worker to help these congregations by the Ouagadougou congregation, and our evangelist team will be assisting him during the month of October. In November, we will have a week long campaign in Ouagadougou with both of our evangelist teams working there during the campaign and remaining the next week to do follow up work. There have been a total of three baptisms at the congregation since our campaign there this spring. I am excited to see this work begin to grow.

Thank you again for your support and prayers. Until the next time we meet, “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).

In His service,
Tony ‘Wintima’ Johnson

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

Immeasurable Joy Through Extension Training...

After an incredible weekend of lectures, the past week settled into a more normal routine of students back in class. The week ahead brings an end to the first quarter of this school year and students are preparing for finals and then off to campaigns around the country. The opportunity to put into practice what the students learn during classes provides valuable experience for them and it brings a benefit to the congregations where they serve. The greatest benefit is that souls are taught the gospel and given an opportunity to become Christians.

As hard as it is to believe, we are only three months away from the start of another year. These next few months are critical to the implementation of plans for developing the future of extension training. A number of new locations are being considered for 2015 and we look forward to sharing news of their beginning in the months ahead. We ask that you pray with us and for us in the success of this work.

News from several extension locations is encouraging. There is an immeasurable joy that exists in reading about those who become Christians, the restoration of those who left the church, and Christians who are built up in the faith. The increase God gives continues to make this work worth the time and effort given to it. Thank you for your partnership in this global work.

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 

Tracts Continue To Have An Impact In Cameroon: Mission Printing’s delivery of tracts for the work in Cameroon continue to reach into uncharted places that need the gospel.

After 22 Years, A Blind Lady In Togo Finds The Church: Seek and you shall find, Jesus promised. A touching story in Togo demonstrates the truth of His claim.

A Compassionate Plea For Training Preachers In Nigeria: Efforts in Nigeria continue to see the gospel proclaimed and the need for help is the plea from the school in Ibadan.

East Africa Gospel Meeting Yields Fruit: The EAGM is an annual event and this year it was held in Kisongo, Tanzania. The results are worth reading about.

Twenty-One New Souls In Arusha, Tanzania: The power of the gospel is changing lives around the world, and recent efforts in Tanzania are seeing souls brought into the kingdom.

How Can I Get To Know The Right Church? This question was posed to one of the staff members at the ACSOP in Arusha, Tanzania and is leading through a Bible study.

Final Thoughts 
Thank you for trusting us to carry out the task of training men to preach the gospel around the world. Your confidence in us to partner with faithful men in each location, to provide them with training, encourages us to work harder in fulfilling the Great Commission. Thank you.

God bless
Bob

How Can I Get To Know The Right Church?

The scripture says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit,…” NKJV. This is a great commission where we are told to "go." The scripture does not tell us how we should go. There are so many ways we can use to carry the gospel to the unbelievers. I came to believe that even those who say “using the Bible tracts as a way of reaching out to lost souls is an outdated method,” are very wrong!

We recently started a program of giving our Church members a Bible tract to hand over to their neighbors or friends. So, each week about 35 church members get an opportunity to hand out one tract with a different topic. Each of these tracts have a preacher’s phone number, and we instructed them to give it to a person they know. Many are calling in and asking for further explanation on what they are reading from the tracts, and some are asking about the location of the church building and time of our worship service. About 40-50 people called in and texted.

It happened last week when I received a text message from Raphael asking, “How can I get to know the right Church?” We started chatting in regards to his question and he finally gave me a call inviting me to his home place to conduct a Bible study. He then invited his family members to listen to me; there were four of them. As we continued with the topic of the one true church, they came to understand that denominations are not the plan of God. We spent much time showing the one true church, the New Testament church. We established the fact that Jesus established one church, of which we ought to be members. In the next lesson we talked about the mark of the one true church. This was the point when their eyes were about to come out. They were touched when they heard what the scripture says,  “ …the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” Acts 2:47. The fact that those who are members of the church have Jesus Himself adding them to the church after obeying the Gospel.

Raphael then promised to come and visit the church next Sunday. We thank God that his family was more open for more Bible study with us. It is our hope that they grow in their desire to know the truth, and soon they will be added to the church. It is our sincere hope that you will pray for Raphael and his family as we continue studying with them and answering their questions.

It could not have been possible for us to meet Raphael and his family, if that one church member had not handed them a Bible tract. So there has never been an outdated method for reaching out, and one method can be as good as another. We have to use any means in our ability and time to reach out to people with the Gospel of Christ. About 180 Bible tracts have been handed to people and 21 people have been registered to take Bible correspondence courses. We thank the church members who are learning and participating to share the gospel with others. Thanks goes to the sponsor of the Tanzania mission, for enabling us use the resources you are sending in strengthening the local congregation and reaching many with the gospel. May Lord God Bless you.

In Him,

Godfrey Mngoma  
Student DEAN-ACSOP

Twenty-One New Souls In Arusha, Tanzania...

Dear Brethren,

I would like to take this opportunity to again thank all of you who are making things possible through your Christian love. The Kisongo congregation’s follow up to the East Africa gospel meeting is going extremely well. Last report shows that 90 souls have been taught the gospel. We praise our great God as 21 souls have put on Christ in baptism! We were blessed to have Lance Leavens and Cary Oglesby, two of our brethren from America, visiting to help us a great deal with our follow up. 

“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). The Kisongo church has a great responsibility to feed these 21 souls. This is not easy task because Satan is not happy that we are busy doing the Lord’s work. For instance, this week big opposition from a group of Lutherans rose up against the church, accusing the church that they had taken their followers. This happened during a local funeral service. The brethren here need your prayers as they resist our adversaries and their efforts to destroy the good seed that has been planted.

Recently, several first year students from ACSOP and I were able to visit two congregations in Babati. Aside from the many preachers that have been trained at ACSOP, the school has been a great blessing from God in encouraging the brotherhood in this area. Babati is almost 120 miles from Arusha. I left one group of students at Babati town and I moved with another group to the congregation at Nakwa. We were privileged to meet with several brethren including ACSOP graduates Salvatore Mwakimbwala, Godwin Elisha, and Naaman Oto Sheizer. I found the Babati town congregation doing well and growing even better than during my last visit. Their biggest obstacle is a place to meet. They are growing at a fast rate, but are still meeting in a rental house. With the town growing rapidly, a building provides a sense of legitimacy to their effort. Unfortunately, congregations aren’t considered “legitimate” unless they are in their own building.

I encourage you to join us in this work that we, together, can accomplish what our Lord has required us to do.

In His Work

Ahimidiwe Kimaro
Assistant Director, Andrew Connally School of Preaching
A Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver extension school
Arusha, Tanzania

East Africa Gospel Meeting Yields Fruit...

Greetings Fellow Servants;

We serve the God of love, oh, to be like Him. We serve the Savior of love, oh, to act like Him. We serve the Spirit of love, oh, to think like Him. When I think of where I have came from, where I am, and where I hope to be, I thank God I am in Him. Without Him I (we) are a most miserable soul indeed. We thank you all who show genuine biblical love in all you say and do for God’s mission work in Tanzania. 

This week has been a reminder of God’s love and power when shared with the lost of this world. Neil Richey and his team have taught and shared the love of God with many in the ACSOP and in the Kisongo community. They worked hand in hand with our fellow believers, sharing the good news of the Gospel with a dying world. 

God has blessed their good works by giving the increase. They watered where others had planted. They dared to care, leaving family, and the creature comforts of “home” to come and give, to give that others might live. 

It thrills the soul to see God’s hand at work. Many years ago we encouraged and engaged in an evangelistic work here in the Arusha area. We call this ministry “Safari for Souls.” Our good friends and supporters from America have come and continue to come, engaging in evangelistic efforts. Our brothers and sisters in East Africa have participated and seen the good that can be done when Christians join hands and hearts in the work of the Church, yes, the main work of the Church, and are now doing the same. They call their outreach ministry the “East Africa Gospel Meeting.” Men and women from all over East Africa come together each year to glorify God through a joint effort of teaching and preaching of the Good News. 

This year’s E.A.G.M. was conducted here in Kisongo, Tanzania during the month of August. Through their efforts three souls obeyed the gospel during the meeting and seven during the follow-up efforts. When Neal’s team arrived this past week, they engaged in continued efforts in follow-up.  The Lord smiled down on the efforts of all by adding twelve more souls to His Kingdom. Yes, God does desire all men every where to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:4)! Twenty-one new souls added to the kingdom; that’s what I call a GREAT blessing.

We are an imperfect people who serve a perfect God, the God of love. Let us love as He has loved, let us forgive as He has forgiven, let us give as He has given, and let us be faithful, for He is always faithful. 

God is love (1 John 4:8). Let us love one another. Until all have heard...

Wisdom from above: “Oil and perfume make the heart glad, So a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend.” [Proverbs 27:9]

In Him, 
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

A Compassionate Plea For Training Preachers In Nigeria...

Dear fellow soldiers of Christ,

Grace and mercy be multiplied unto you all from God our Father and from Christ the chief commander of the troop.

The students and the staff of the Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan main campus played active roles in a two day open air Bible lectureship organized by the church at Ikoyi-Osun state and brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe on September 19 & 20, 2014. 

I spoke on “Freedom from Bondage (OT law)” on Friday night, while brother Kayode spoke on “Tithes and NT Giving,” and on Saturday evening I spoke on “Christ -The Last Prophet of God” (Deut. 18:18-19; Acts 3:22-23), while brother Kayode, the host minister, concluded his teaching on “Tithes and NT Giving.” The turn out was impressive. Two souls was restored on Sunday as the result of the exercise.

Brethren, as we are relaxing on Friday night around 8:00 pm, I received a call from brother Matthew Idowu and a tex message from brother Dairo Joseph Abiodun announcing the sudden death of SWSE foundation secretary, brother Phillip Okome, who passed away at the age of 50, after a brief illness. His body was laid to rest on Saturday afternoon at his house in the Agoro-Ijoko area of Ogun state. He is survived by children and his young wife! 

On Sunday morning at the Onikokoro / Gbongudu congregation, Ibadan, I continued my four Sunday’s teaching on “The Great Commission,” as I taught on the four "alls" in the Great Commission before we moved out of the meeting hall for one and half hours door-to-door evangelism, which resulted in the conversion of a young boy of 17 years named Mayowa Akindele. 

In the evening, I admonished the saints on “Why Cumbereth it the Ground” (Luke 13:7). Brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe taught on “The Narrow Way” at the Egbeda congregation on September 21, 2014.  

At the campus church, brother Abraham Idu Yeje, our campus minister, taught on “Helping the Helpless,” while brother Akinade Oluwaseun Akinleye , one of our year-one students admonished the campus church on “Idolatry in the House of God” (Ezekiel 8:1ff).

All our year-two students were all active in the Lord's service on the Lord's day of September 21 in their respective congregations.

Brethren, we thank the Almighty God for His mercies on us all and we appreciate you all for your kind gesture and partnership. May the Lord continue to bless all our joint efforts in Christ’s name, Amen.

The report reaching me now from brother Dele Shotola (one of our  2013 graduates) and brother Nwarorji Emmanuel shows that their three week door-to-door evangelism in Ilisan -Remo town has given birth to another congregation in the city. They were eighteen in attendance in the first worship on September 28, 2014.

Reports reaching from the SWSE instructors shows the conversion of two souls by brother Matthew Idowu during their end of the month evangelism at Ijegun Ikotun area of Lagos state, while brother Abiola Joseph Olusoji reported the conversion of one lady at the Agege congregation and five at the young congregations in Mary Land Lagos. Brother Dairo Joseph Abiodun reported the conversion of two during their monthly Open-Air Bible lectureship at Ota, Ogun state and brother Isaac Olaniyan reported the conversion of one at Ijoko-Ota, Ogun state this Lord's day.

Brethren, the SWSE Ibadan and Lagos campus’ have been operating since August 11, 2014 to the present date on money borrowed from friends and relatives with the hope of refunding or paying the loan back on November 17 or 18, 2014.

We rely totally on God and godly men and women such as you for our survival and the continuity of this good work of training more soldiers of the cross.

Therefore, be compassionate on us at SWSE, Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria and please give your fellow laborers in Christ 's vineyard whatever you can afford now to keep us marching forward for the Lord in this 2014 / 2015 session. We budgeted $23,000 for this 2014/2015 session.

Brethren, October 1, 2014 is our Independence day. Please, keep on praying for us and next year’s election.

We deeply are appreciative of your dedication for the cause the Master, Jesus Christ.

My best regards to the saints over there.

Your fellow laborer in Christ's vineyard,

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

After 22 Years, A Blind Lady In Togo Finds The Church...

She kept listening to the radio program each Sunday night, but felt she had met some missionaries in Lome about 22 years ago who kept mentioning Eglise du Christ (Church of Christ). She remembered some of the teachings about the church. She was then an official at the Lome Airport, but later became blind and had to return to Kpalime. Recently, she took the telephone number of the presenter and the direction and decided she was going to worship with the church one Sunday. Her search that Sunday morning took her and the motor bike taxi to several churches in the area, but each time they arrived at a church she asked several questions that the leaders of the denominations couldn’t answer. She never gave up, but continued her search that Sunday morning until she came to the entrance of the church of Christ and asked for the presenter Essotena (Cephas). Though she was blind, she found the Lord’s church. Any diligent seeker of the truth will surely find it. Though the service was almost over when she got there, she was given the opportunity to tell her story. Her presence at the church was a source of encouragement to the brethren after they heard her story of a long search.

Golokuati Church of Christ
During my recent visit home, I had the opportunity to preach to my people. A lady responded to the gospel invitation and was baptized. I grew up and started my primary education in this village.

Mars Hill Christian Academy
Mars Hill Christian Academy reopened on the 16th of September to start another academic year. Our mission still remains as an institution that exists to give these little ones the best preschool education in the Afadjato district of the Volta Region. However, as low as the fee is, most parents cannot afford to send their kids to school. There are several villages in the area that have little kids of school going age who are still at home. With $25.00 a month for each kid, Mars Hill can assist them to be in school. This amount can take care of tuition, provide one meal a day, provide free transport to convey kids to and from school, provide uniform and school materials and support infrastructural development. Should you be interested in giving a kid a future, contact me. We shall not only be supporting a child to go to school, but also developing a potential Christian - a member of the Lord’s church.

We have almost completed a wooden three classroom block, a toilet facility and have constructed few desks for the classrooms. We need help.

Activities of the Gospel Chariot in Ghana
The Zone 7 churches in the greater Accra region organized a one month six days campaign to strengthen their congregations and win souls for Christ. The Zone is made up 16 congregations of the Lord’s Church. The campaign started on the 4th of August and ended on the 11th of September. By the close of the campaign seven souls were added to the Church while 485 names were enrolled for WBS. Several hundreds of tracts provided by Mission Printing were also distributed. Below are some of the activities during the campaign.

Activities during the campaigns include: Open air preaching each night, visit to schools, tract distribution and enrollment exercise. Sometimes the chariot team members are given the opportunity to preach or teach a Bible class on Sundays. The host congregation has the responsibility to feed and lodge the chariot team and the team is enjoyed a meal together.

The Gospel Chariot is a great blessing to the church in Ghana. It has rekindled the evangelism spirit in Ghana. Brethren are now cooperating to organize outreach programs that benefit their congregations. We thank all who in divers ways have made all these possible.

Facts and Figures:

    Names enrolled- 4,180 

    Congregations visited - 16 

    Boxes of tracts distributed – 10 

    Baptisms conducted - 7 

H. Willie Gley
P.O. Box AN 19611
Accra North, Ghana
My new email address is wgleycbs@gmail.com

Tracts Continue To Have An Impact In Cameroon...

Dearest in Christ

Greetings from your brothers and sisters in Christ here in Cameroon. We do hope you are doing great in all that you do. We are doing better in health. Some of our students in the mission field could not continue because of ill health. We advised them to come back to school where they can get some medicine.

I am happy to report the happenings of last week. Our students are still on the mission field. Instead of one week, students are putting in an additional week because we had but one week of short courses instead of two. So we decided to invest the other week for evangelism in different locations. I am back from visiting some of them at the end of two weeks of intensive house to house evangelism and nurturing of congregations. By next Sunday I will be able to give a detailed report about their work.

The Mission Printing tracts continue to get into the hinterlands and towns of Cameroon. Many have not heard about the availability of tracts, but whenever they hear about it, they make a trip to Wotutu for the tracts. We continue to keep Mission Printing in our prayers for such a great work to reach out to many, many people through the printed page. We are also thankful for all the loving brethren who sacrifice in many ways to get the ocean container to us. Sister Emilia, from a village congregation, decided to pay for her trip to Wotutu to get tracts so that she will help many in the village as a teacher. She has great influence in that community.

She loaded up her boxes and was ready to ride on a motor bike, which is the easiest way to take off tracts to many locations.

As our students move from one congregation to another, they are nurturing and, at the same time, house to house evangelism is helping expose the truth. By so doing, many congregations are witnessing an increase and the halls they built many years ago cannot contain them any longer, do to the over flowing crowd in Muea congregation. It was not too long when I took a picture during a torrential down pour of rain, and those outside were forced to get inside and stand up. They are looking for means to get even nylon paper to put over them. Keep this congregation in your prayers.

Our student, Itoe David, is loved by this congregation, for they can see his love for the church and the love for lost souls. They told me we need someone to help us grow. We can barely afford food, but how will he sustain his life? As a single man, he needs to get married one day. What will he do to realize this dream?

We give God glory that we walk on stones and rivers and waters, at times on bad roads, so that we can rob from the strong man’s house. The mission work is good, but it has lots of challenges. Thank you for your prayers for us daily.

As we move from one house to another we take people to the Bible and point the word to those who are eager to study with us. Sister Linda, who always listens to our morning program, decided to come and worship for the past three weeks. She always reads tracts that we give her. This afternoon, she called me and told me that she is ready to be baptized, but she doesn’t have money to cook food for celebration. I told her Jesus paid that for her already. Open your heart and obey the gospel. She called the husband and the husband said “Go ahead, if you have found the truth.” After the baptism, the husband came and asked a series of questions about the church of Christ because he said all Christians are one nor matter your denominational affiliation. I gave him the tract, “The church of Christ, Who are these People?” and started a study with him. Keep him in your prayers, so that he will open his heart as we study with him. His name is Louis.

Sister Linda Owi smiled as she obeyed the Lord. She said, “Finally, I am a child of God in His body. Keep her and her family in your prayers.

The prison ministry is working well. We started realizing our dreams of the ministry, which is to preach and relocate a released brother to their villages and introduce them to the congregation there, if it is already there. Brother Paul Adrin, who was released last week, moved to Wotutu and spent some days with us for us to take him to his village in Mundemba, which is far from Wotutu, but it was our joy that we had the means to take him there and meet with the brethren there who were happy to welcome him. He is eager to serve God all the days of his life as an evangelist. God is great.

Plans
We are still making our plans to storm Lebialem for a mass evangelism in November, if the means to transport all the students there. This is an area characterized by Catholicism.

Appreciations
Our hearts are grateful to God for you for all that you are doing here. The work is in progress because of your love and sacrifice. If not for you, we keep you in our prayers for God’s blessings and providence.

Do your best to share our report with others. God bless you and keep you strong.

Elangwe and family
By His grace director CBIW

Making Known God's Eternal Purpose...

“Making Known God’s Eternal Purpose” was the theme of this year’s lectureship at the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver. Focusing on the book of Ephesians allowed for an exegetical approach to this powerful letter penned by the apostle Paul. Additionally, several breakout sessions provided opportunity for speakers to address several key topics surrounding areas presented throughout the letter.

The consistency in handling the text and topics within each lesson made for a cup filling weekend. The lessons supplied everyone with encouragement and edification. The lectureship book was dedicated to the Bible Institute’s president, Denny Petrillo and at the annual banquet, Tom Black was honored with the NUAC (Not Under Any Circumstance) award for his dedication to holding to and not compromising the truth of God’s word.

Derald and Verna Dunigan were honored with the “Second-Miler” award for their service and dedication to the Bible Institute and the Bear Valley congregation. They continue to demonstrate a servant’s heart in every area. Since this year marked the 50th year of training preachers, at the celebratory event, the elders honored Denny Petrillo also with the NUAC award for his dedication for the past 29 years in training preachers.

The future development of the extension program is exciting as we look to expand the number of schools and improve the entire process by which we provide training around the world. This week’s reports continue to express all the reasons why this work is so encouraging.

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 

Focusing On The Children At Brightland Christian Academy: Since students are out on campaigns, the report from Cameroon focuses on the children at BCA.

Three Souls Converted After A Funeral: One of the most powerful times to think about eternal matters is after the loss of a loved one, and this week in Togo, three were converted.

Evangelism Continues To Bring Souls To Christ In Nigeria: As the staff and students from the SWSE evangelize each weekend, souls are brought to the Lord.

A Closer Look At The Impact Of Evangelism In Tanzania: Reports from students involved in evangelism demonstrate the excitement of what they are learning in school.

Final Thoughts 
As we close out this week’s report, we want each of you to know how much you are loved and appreciated. We are all keenly aware of the vital nature of your involvement for the success of this program. We need you and you are a blessing to us all.

God bless
Bob

A Closer Look At The Impact Of Evangelism In Tanzania...

Greetings Fellow Workers:

We greet you with hearts of joy and thanksgivings. You are making a difference in the lives of countless souls here in Tanzania, throughout East Africa, and to the glory of God. Much has been accomplished on the one hand, yet there is so much yet to do. We are often reminded of the fact we are at the right place, doing the right thing, and at the right time. As we have seen in the case of Ukraine, doors can open and doors can close! 

This past week, I was privileged to teach on “Foundations for Missions.” It was refreshing to see the students light up as they began to really understand the true purpose of the New Testament church, yes, their (our) purpose. In the afternoons, as part of their class work, students went into the community meeting and studied with the people. Toward the end of class, each of them expressed their delight in what they had learned and for the amazing experience of sharing God’s love, grace, and the gospel of Jesus Christ with others. One commented, “It was not as scary as I thought and so encouraging to see the joy in the people when they learned of God’s love for them and of the hope of salvation in Christ.” Here are a couple of quotes from one of our text books. I really got a lot out of these quotes and hopefully you will as well: 

Have you ever asked yourself the following question? “What is the task of the church of our Lord, our task?” The task we are commissioned with can be glorious and challenging, exciting and frightening, refreshing and exhausting. As Henry C. Thiessen puts it in seven statements: ‘The purpose of the church is to “glorify God, to edify itself, to purify itself, to educate its constituency, to evangelize the world, to act as a restraining and enlightening force in the world, to promote all that is good.’”

Hugh Thomson Kerr puts the emphasis where it ought to be: “We are sent not to preach sociology but salvation; not economics but evangelism; not reform but redemption; not culture but conversion; not progress but pardon; not a new social order but a new birth; not revolution but regeneration; not renovation but revival; not resuscitation but resurrection; not a new organization but a new creation; not democracy but the gospel; not civilization but Christ; we are ambassadors not diplomats.”

It is a beautiful thing to witness first-century Christianity alive and well in the twenty-first century. May we, the church, awaken to the great need of this world, EVANGELISM! We are thankful that our brother Neil Richey and four others have arrived safely. Neil will be teaching in the ACSOP this coming week while the others engage in follow-up Bible studies here at Kisongo, resulting from the East Africa Gospel meeting that took place in August. 

Let us be reminded; “They went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs followed.” (Mark 16:20) So must we!

In Him, 
Cy, Stephanie & Granny

Evangelism Continues To Bring Souls To Christ In Nigeria...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from students and staff of the Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan & Agege campus-Lagos.

The students and staff of SWSE Ibadan main campus evangelized the Olomi and Agric area of Oluyole L.G.A, Ibadan with Oniyere, Agric and other brethren from nearby congregations on September 13, 2014 and the five hour spiritual exercise resulted in two restorations, while our staff and students at the Agege campus, led by brother Matthew Idowu, joined other brethren in Lagos to evangelize Ijegun town of Alimosho L.G.A of Lagos state. The Lord crowned their efforts with two conversions. To God be the glory!

On Sunday, at the Onikokoro / Gbongudu -Ibadan, I taught a lesson on “Sharing Christ with Others under the Great Commission.”

At the Egbeda congregation, brother Kayode Solomon Eniafe completed his last week of teaching on “Tithes and Offerings.”

All our year 1 & 2 students actively participated in one way or the other on the first day of the week service for September 14, 2014.

Brethren, we thank you all for your partnership and we pray the Almighty God will continue blessing our joint effort in Christ name, Amen.

Your fellow laborer in Christ,

Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Director of Studies)
Southwest School of Evangelism (SWSE), Ibadan & Lagos, Nigeria

Three Souls Converted After A Funeral...

The late brother Agbenyo, until his demise, was a prominent member of the Kpadafe Church of Christ. Brother Agbenyo, in consultation with his family, donated a piece of property behind his house where the congregation built a shed for worship. When he died all the congregations in the Kpalime and the Kloto region organized themselves and gave the brother a fitting burial. The Kpadape township was so impressed with the performance of the church that they developed a love for the church. After the burial, the congregation started receiving visitors each Sunday.

I understand that several of the family members are considering becoming members of the Lord’s church. This reminds me of the scripture in Acts. 2:47, where the church was “having favor with all the people.” We are looking forward to good things in the days to come. You may be wondering how a funeral program can bring someone to Christ. We took advantage of the opportunity to have a large gathering to preach the gospel, not focusing on the dead, but the living. We turn the funeral ground into a campaign ground.

Here lies the mortal remains of brother Agbenyo. He died at age 85.

This casket sends out a strong message that man needs to be prepared to meet his maker.

Chariot Driver is now baptized
In my July report, I informed you about the Chariot driver we hired from a denominational church. Atsou was willing to assist us during the July campaign, a job he did very well to the amazement of all of us. Atsu was hired after the campaign. During a recent campaign at Danyinu a suburb of Kpalime, Atsou decided to give his life to Christ in baptism. Atsou was asking a lot of questions while driving the chariot and he was surprised that the Bible was used to respond to his questions. Atsou was overwhelmed by the number of preachers who engaged him in conversation.

Danyinu campaign
Danyinu is a suburb of Kpalime. We were privileged to organize a campaign for the congregation that meets there. Gabriel, one of our first graduates, preaches there. It is a fairly new congregation that needed the publicity of a campaign. There was a large crowd each night and the activities included open air preaching, film show, and tract distribution personal work from house to house etc. At the end of it all, three souls gave their life to Christ. This included the chariot driver.

Center for Biblical Studies (CBS) re-opened on the 1st of September
After a month break, the students returned to start the second year of study. They are taking the following courses:

1) Hermeneutics
2) Denominational doctrines
3) 1st & 2nd Corinthians
4) Jeremiah
5) Lamentations
6) Biblical Teachings
7) 1st Samuel – 2nd Kings
8) Job- Psalms
9) Logic
10) Church History
11) Hebrew
12) Isaiah

Students received Thompson Chain Reference Bibles
Steve Ashcraft, the CBS coordinator, donated Thompson Chain Reference Bibles to the eighteen students.

WORLD RADIO PROGRAM
A blind lady ( Melanie Folly) finds the Church of Christ after twenty two (22)years

She kept listening to the radio program each Sunday night, but felt she had met some missionaries in Lome about 22 years ago who kept mentioning Eglise du Christ (Church of Christ). She remembered some of the teachings about the church. She was then an official at the Lome Airport but later became blind and had to return to Kpalime.

Recently she took the telephone number of the presenter and the direction and decided she was going to worship with the church one Sunday. Her search that Sunday morning took her and the motor bike taxi to several churches in the area, but each time they arrived at a church she asked several questions that the leaders of the denominations couldn’t answer. She never gave up but continued her search that Sunday morning until she came to the entrance of the church of Christ and asked for the presenter Essotena (Cephas). Though she was blind, she found the Lord’s church. Any diligent seeker of the truth will surely find it. Although the service was almost over when she got there, she was given the opportunity to tell her story. Her presence at church was a source of encouragement to to brethren after they heard her story of a long search.

Report by Willie Gley

Focusing On The Children At Brightland Christian Academy...

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from Wotutu. I hope this mail finds you all in good health. I am reporting this week more about Brightland Christian Academy and the prison ministry because our students are out for their campaign and will return in the weeks ahead.

God has blessed us as of now to have a good new school year start. Nothing serious has happened to our kids in the Wotutu congregation, even though many parents are still lamenting about paying the fees of their children with the current financial situation in Cameroon.

We were able to wait on the Lord’s table for the congregation in Buea CP, meaning the central prison. Keep this work in your prayers as many continue to know more about the church of Christ. One brother was released and is now with us in Wotutu. Keep John Ekema in your prayers.

Many in the Wotutu community have started taking interest in Christian education, as the kids in BCA were able to play on their campus.

Kids in BCA do devotionals every morning standing in lines according to their classes before the classes begin.

Older kids can read and read. We are looking for an opportunity to do a mass sharing of Bibles to all the kids and some staff who don’t have a Bible. So, as the preacher teaches the word they will also see it with their eyes from their own Bibles.

As kids in BCA go out for lunch break, one little girl of school going age will come with her peanuts to sell. She does not go to school because there is no one to help her go to any level. We are trusting God for electricity to the campus of BCA so that the ad about adult literacy classes will help many again learn how to read and write and by so doing, they will be able to read God’s word for their very first time. Please, you can be part of this vision.

Sister Clara Bana taught a class in BCA. What a blessing to have sisters teaching in the Christian school. They will use most of their explanation and illustration to apply the Bible. Keep this work in your prayers.

Evangelist Nsong Nelson taught Bible from one class to another. The mass distribution of Bibles will help these children check on the word at home to do their assignments before the next school day.

Thinking about all these children, if these minds can be touched by the pure gospel in this tender age, where they started learning how to sing without dancing and clapping, by God’s grace they will grow to know this because they come from denominations and they will be in their denominations once a week while they will be in BCA five times a week, so it means their learning and stay in Brightland will influence them deeply. Please keep praying and see how you can be of help to this to make it work.

Plans
Lebialem mission is coming up in November.

Appreciations
God bless you more for all that you are doing for the work here. God alone will reward you. Keep praying for our sick brethren.

Do your best to share this with others.
Elangwe and family