Graduation in Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters,

This year Bear Valley Bible Program in Ukraine had 7 graduates. They received their graduation certificates and memorable gifts. It was a great honor for us to teach these people during the last two years. They took all courses assigned by the Institute's faculty and successfully passed them all. Since the studies at our Institute are so intense not all people who had joined the program two years ago were able to complete it. So these 7 graduates made us proud and thankful to God and we will continue to pray for them and help them be faithful workers.

I'd like to write a few words about each of them.

Alexander Belorusov returned to his home town of Zyrgess. That territory is occupied by pro-Russian terrorists but thankfully the church of Christ continue to gather for services. He'll be preaching in this congregation and implement the knowledge that he obtained with us.

Valentin Tsiopa will most likely stay in Bela Tserkva. He has proved himself to be a very diligent student who has demonstrated good results. He has found a secular job but he is still able to assist the Church in Bela Tserkva and is planning on joining our Masters' Program. He has a lot of potential to become a great Bible teacher and hopefully serve our Institute in the capacity of Instructor later in life.

Arthur Ivashkiv returned to Kramatorsk. He plans on helping the Church of Christ in Slovyansk by preaching and teaching the Bible classes. By his first education he is a History teacher, so he plans to get this kind of job again and serve the local church as well.

Dmitriy Levenets returned to his home city of Ternopil. He also helps the local congregation. At present he's got a job at a local factory where he is employed as a security engineer. He and his wife serve the local congregation after work. His wife Kristina teaches the Sunday school and is actively involved in other church activities.

Arthur Litvinenko returned to Lviv. He plans on actively helping the Church as a youth minister. He will become an irreplaceable helper for brethren (our former graduates) who founded the Church of Christ in Lviv some years ago.

Iliya Semikoz will be working with the Church in Brovary. The congregation was established by our Instructors a year ago. Now they need help with their youth ministry. Iliya has a lot of potential and desire to serve in the vineyard of the Lord.

Marina Gurkova was a very disciplined and knowledgeable student. She will stay with our Institute as a secretary, librarian and interpreter. She has a kind heart and has always helped the congregation with ladies' and children's classes.

Last month Jim Sherman worked with us. He does so much for our Institute every time he comes. He taught "Life and service of a Minister" and "Epistle of James" courses. We are very thankful for his service and his love for Ukraine. 

For the next school year we have 4 recruits, potentially our new students. And there are a few other men who haven't committed to the Program just yet.

It's time for our summer practical work. The students who got promoted to the second year of studies also returned to their home congregations. We have 8 second year students and we are actively preparing for the next school year.

To make sure our students will successfully continue their education we have to have reliable financial support. I am asking everyone who reads this letter to help us raise funds for our Bible Institute in Ukraine. If you'd like to be a part of this great work please contact Terry Harmon at (harmon99.th@gmail.com). Terry Harmon is the Coordinator of Bear Valley Bible Institute in Ukraine.

We send our greetings and express our sincere appreciation for your work and for your support of our ministry of training preachers.

Your brother and co-worker,  Dennis Sopelnik.

35 baptized in Nigeria!

Greetings from BVBIN and SWSE, Ibadan and fellow WBSFUW in South West States of Nigeria. All our students are now fully back in Butubutu campus for 4th semester classes. Below are the end of the month of May report :

OVERVIEW : From the report gathered yesterday from our students, it shows that two congregations where planted during the five weeks break /vocational weeks by the joint effort of the students with the congregations where they served. Total converts of 35 and 27 restored. 

SPECIAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS :With the support of Bro. Steven Ashcraft and associates, we were able to purchased 30 mattresses for the students use and in preparation for our forty coming 15th annual Bible Lectureship and graduation ceremony that by God's grace will come up on August 22-24,2018

FOUTH SEMESTER CLASSES :

Bro.Kayode Eniafe will be teaching on Old Testament Prophets (Major), Evangelism -2,Evangelism-3,and Church History. Bro. Abraham Yeje will be teaching on 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. Bro. Gbenga Ilori on Life of Christ -4(Christ's Ministry ),Bro. Silas Guda on The book of Romans .Bro. Abiola Joseph Olusoji on the book of Revelation. Bro. Isaac Olaniyan on Leadership  and Christian Disciplines (Ethics) while I, Bro. Makinde Ebens will be teaching on Research Methods, Discipleship Training, Homilectics -3 and Practical (Subject and Textual Sermon) 

EVANGELISM :Students were divided into four groups for last week weekend evangelism /campaigns (May 25 ,26).The first group led by Bro. Kayode Eniafe worked with Egbeda congregation. Second group worked with Badeku Congregation and the third group with Bro. Dele Shotola in Felele Congregation in Ibadan while the fourth group worked with Bro. Emmanuel Godwin at Igbara -Odo in Ekiti State

Our students as usual will cover at least four out of the six geographical zone of our country, Nigeria. Ten to twelve will be working in Taraba, Benue, Kwara,Kogi and Abuja. Ten to fifteen in the East and the South while the remaining students will be serving in Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Lagos,Edo and Delta state .

OTHER EVENTS :Lord 's willing, I will be leading a group of students and instructors of BVBIN and SWSE, Ibadan on June 8th through 10th for the restoration of the Lord 's church in Bachita town, Kwara State and on June 15th through 17th will be evangelizing Badeku town with the students and instructors of the school in Butubutu campus .

CONCLUSION :Brethren, we thank you all for your partnership and love toward the growth of the Lord 's church in Africa and beyond. May the Lord continue to bless all our joint effort in Christ name, amen. 

I remain your fellow labourer in Christ 's vineyard...... Bro. Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Director of Studies & Chairman of Administrative Council, BVBIN & SWSE, Ibadan and WBSFUW) 

Evangelism in Kenya

The students have  been going out on weekends  and have served 19 local congregations mostly in Western Kenya. As a result, eighteen (18) souls have been baptized into Christ and 39 individuals have been restored back to fellowship.

While the students are away,  the  faculty visited  different churches where we have been invited  in gospel meetings or seminars, and as we do so, we recruit students for the new intake. That will  take place soon after the forthcoming third graduation on August 25th, 2018. The last two weekends, Charles visited a church in Kakamega while I attended a gospel meeting at Malele.

In this week and in the next, we have Wayne Burger from Bear Valley teaching the book of Revelation and the Scheme of Redemption. We appreciate his presence as he divides the word  of truth to the students.

We are glad to have the new facility/ campus and now we are working on beautifying the  compound by planting trees  and flowers. A challenge we experience as one enters our new big library, books  are still  few and many shelves  are  empty. It  is  our prayer that whenever brothers come  to  visit  with  us, they will bring  with them, good conservative Christian books.

Thanks  for  your  prayers on our  behalf,  and  be all blessed.

Your brother,

Elias Omollo

Dean of Students, KSOP

A new class in Guatemala

There is a new class of students in Guatemala and you can see them, as well as read about them, by clicking HERE.

A new school in the Philippines

For more than a year we have been working on a possible new school in Cebu, Philippines and on May 14, 2018, with the help of many, it came to fruition! Under the leadership of Director, Neil Emperado, everything is off to a great start.

We had seven "for credit" students and several others who audited the course I taught on "Sermon Preparation and Delivery". Students will come to Cebu for one week every month and complete a course from the Bear Valley curriculum. 

Cebu is the second most populous province in Philippines with a population over 3 million souls. While some students are from Cebu proper, others come from nearby islands. The need for the school here is great and we are happy to partner with so many faithful brethren to make it happen. A special note of gratitude goes out to Wayne Barrier, whose idea this was. 

Much credit is due men like Reuben Emperado, who has spent his life in preaching the gospel all over central Philippines. It is because of those like him, that the church is alive and well and in need of even more preachers. As such, he is wholeheartedly behind this effort to train the next generation of preachers who will take the good news to those who need it. 

For Him,

Keith Kasarjian

Off to a great start in Guinea

Dear brethren,

After the activities of March, Bear Valley Guinea successful accomplished the following major expectations for the month of April. These are:

Classroom: All 19 students went through the April lessons which also concluded our first quarter classes for this first year. Since most of our students are adult men who had left school for a long time, it was a matter of necessity that these men take some time of concentration to awaken their minds for another academic challenge. Therefore every student was required and encouraged to participate in oral reading, asking and answering questions, various assignments, memory work, etc. Preaching during the devotional periods was the only exception for the months of March and April scheduled only for the men previously serving as preachers and teachers in their home congregations. This was necessary also to permit time until "Public speaking" scheduled for the second quarter could be taught. With these backed by some general and personal counseling, there was an improvement in the students' performance from the previous 60 percent in March to about 75 percent in April.

Evangelism: This work by some of the students, staff and the host church members who went out to preach by different methods such as by extending invitation to non members all resulted to the conversions of 6 persons.

Challenges: It was a tense challenge in the absence of our own copier to meet up with the required quantity of study materials for students and staff. It greatly affected our monthly financial balance "carried forward" of March which we were building up for some other project activity in the future.

During the period we have come to realize that we must begin to send out some of our students to weaker congregations around and prepare to revive others that have died or almost died down. Our May report during which month we conducted a successful gospel campaign will reflect more on this.

Personal profile: Saa Philippe Tolno, a member and preacher of the Solondonin, Gueckedou church is one of the regular staff here on campus. He is married and has 3 children.

Philippe's conversion in 2003 from the Free Pentecostal denomination was of great interest. While working with the GTZ organization in the refugee camp of Dabola came across a young man carrying one of our study materials -  "Church of the Bible" which attracted his attention. After convincing the man to allow him read it for some time, Philippe started and his interest grew as he realized how the Lord's church is unique. He therefore bought a copy book and 2 pens - blue and red with the plan to copy the entire book so that he could afterward carefully study the materials and then try to start that church. He was now at lesson number 8 when Osman Shekey, then preacher of the church which was in that refugee camp who was strolling the camp met him. Through a brief discussion, Philippe understood that the church was already in that camp and therefore desired to be a member. However, he had some particular questions and because the preacher could not satisfactory convinced him, I was sent for and had to travel some 450 klm. 

On arrival I saw the evidence of his faith and interest for the Bible church. He afterwards was converted and on another occasion led us to a group of some 10 men and women 9 of which were also converted from the Shekina denomination with which he had started to affiliate. 

Philippe's interest grew in the faith and I was moved to answer his request to help him get a formal Bible training. Saa Philippe Tolno therefore became the first Guinean brother to attend and complete a 3 years Bible training at Benin.

Philippe has since returned and had been serving not only as the preacher for the first of now 3 congregations in Gueckedou town, but also helping to strengthen and establish weaker and new congregations respectively.

As many other preachers in the country, Philippe had a small support and tangled by the needs of extended family his living conditions were not very good. Therefore the Gueckedou denominational pastors (many of them well supported) made mockery and tried to draw him over, but Philippe will always say "this faith, if I die in it even if it's for poverty then I have won". 

Our desire for a Bible training center in Guinea -Conakry has been long therefore as soon as Steven made the first contact with me in 2017, brother Philippe and his though small, but dedicated congregation was in turn my first contact. During the months that followed Philippe led his congregation in prayers and fasting and in every other thing it took on their part as per their ability such as to find students to succeed the establishment of Bear Valley Bible Institute in Guinea.

Three members of his small congregation form part of the 19 students drawn from 9 congregations in the country. It was one of the 3 students that top the class out of all the academic and practical lessons for the first quarter.

Philippe is one of the regular staff on campus and is often counselling those students with such academic need.

He is a good singer. The local radio program is introduced and closed by a very nice recorded congregational song which he led.

I am proud of his faith!

Your brother,

Francis Sahr Musa

Director, BVBI-G

A new congregation in Cameroon

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from Cameroon , we are doing better in Wotutu even though some other areas of our country is not in peace , by His grace we are enjoying peace and safety .Hope you are doing great and we keep you in our prayers. Please pray for us .

Students in our Bible college are doing fine even though some of them are sick, but is normal as long as we are in the flesh we can get sick. Keep praying for us as we are our best to transplant the message from the Bible to them, preparing them for full time ministry. The students are excited to prepare for the full time work in His vine yard as they are moving gradually to the graduation which comes up in December 11 & 12 2018 marking the 4th batch of graduates .

This weekend we were in Idenau which is located at the west coast of Cameroon. There we established a new congregation, so this weekend was the time for us to go there for mass evangelism and it was great that we came as many of the inhabitants are very receptive to open their doors and listen to the word .

We started with house to house evangelism with lots of our mission printing tracts. A lady stopped brother Peter to read from his Bible and said "I want to read from my own Bible, just keep preaching and quoting so that I verify from MY OWN BIBLE." That was good we were happy because she was surprised with seeing the truth for the first time in her own Bible and she said or what will man do now ? I was born in this denomination?

Our students, met people in their farms working they stopped and listen and happily received a tract from our students alongside mobile numbers which they will call for more clarifications , many thanks to mission printing for this great assistance in our evangelistic efforts.

We shall attend the Kumbo scholarship lectureship were I will speak on Thursday about the importance of salt in the Bible. Pleas keep our trip in your prayers and that God should give me utterance to speak and help a soul be strong for His work.

We shall welcome our Coordinator David Ballard and deacon Jonathan to Cameroon this week as they are coming to invest their time into the work to train men and to raise Orphans in a Christian family setting.

God bless you and keep you strong, thanks very much for all your love and deep concern towards this work, I doubt if you were not there how this work would have been possible .Share our reports with others.

     God bless you and keep you strong.

     Elangwe and Family

    By His grace director BVBIC-wotutu

Classes and campaigns in Myanmar

We had a great study for five weeks from March 19 to April 20 2018. The first two weeks were taught by Dr. Steve Christian from Double Springs, Al. The church of the Bible and The Life of Christ (four gospels). The third and fourth weeks were taught by Jerry Bates, Church planting and the book of Acts. The fifth week was taught by Jon Lucius from AL, the Godhead. The students took as much advantage of the knowledge of the teachers as possible and busy with paper work and tests. I keep all the records.

After the five weeks school, six of BV students went with me to Kalay for one week Youth Camp. Seven precious souls obeyed the gospel during our Youth Camp.  After the Youth Camp, we visited four villages and conducted Bible campaigns in Chin state. One precious soul was baptized in Khawdar village.

The forth village that we visited was a new place for the NT church. They never heard of the church of Christ and the NT teaching about salvation and worship. We had a great discussion with many individuals and one lady was baptized after we left. We need to visit that village again and do more Bible teaching in the future. The students also distributed correspondence course to many villages and later they collect and graded them. This tool gives the students to do personal evangelism which we planned to continue. The other three students will do the campaigns at their places. 

My heartfelt thanks and appreciation to everyone who make possible for BVBI-M. I hope and pray that this school will help the church in Myanmar to grow and strengthen. 

Yours in His service

Philip

Three new schools in Nigeria

Dearest friends in Christ Jesus. 

Greetings from BVBIN schools.Below is the report concerning the three weekend schools in Nigeria. 

IBADAN EXTENDED SCHOOL

Average attendance : 15

Courses completed so far: Old & New Testament Survey, The Pentateuch, How we got the Bible, and Christian Evidences is up next May 26 through June 16. 

Evangelism: On second Sunday of  March and April, evening, Bro. Makinde Emmanuel and Bro. Olawale Lawrence Dada led students in evangelized Onikokoro, Gbongudu and Sooko area of Lagelu local Government and three souls were converted. 

IKORODU EXTENDED SCHOOL :

Average Attendance : 19

Courses completed so far: Old & New Testament Survey, The Pentateuch, Christian Evidences, and next up is New Testament Church (The One True Church).

Evangelism: Bro. Okoro Chinyere led the students to evangelized Agric area of Ikorodu on the evening of Second Sunday of April and May and two souls were converted. 

AGEGE EXTENDED SCHOOL :

Average attendance : 22

Courses completed so far: Old & New Testament Survey, The Pentateuch, New Testament Church -(The One True Church ), and next is How we got the Bible.

Evangelism : Bro. Abiola Joseph Olusoji and Bro. Ezekiel Okorougo led the students to evangelized Olowora area of Lagos with the churches of Christ in Lagos on third Sunday of April (evening). No converts yet but many prospects. 

Conclusion :We deeply appreciate your partnership and encouragement. May the Lord keep on using you all for the growth of His kingdom on earth is our fervent prayers. Amen. 

Sincerely His and yours ,

Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Assistant Regional Coordinator, BVBIN EXTENSION SCHOOLS) 

Campaign opportunities in Liberia

We bring you greetings from Liberia West Africa, hoping this report meets you all in good health by the continued grace of our loving father in heaven. We are grateful to share with all the happenings in the month of April with you.

REGULAR CLASSES

We are so grateful to God that classes here in the school are going on very well without any major problems. All the students and instructors are in very good health and sound mind toward the final quarter of the second year curriculum

NEW STUDENTS ENTRANCE EXAMINATION

Finally the date for the entrance examination has been set for all those new students who applied to be our next batch of students for the Bear Valley Bible Institute here in Liberia. On Saturday the 26 of this month (May) all our 46 applicants will be tested from the Bible and English to enable us select 30 qualified men that will make up our next batch of students for the next two years after the graduation of our current students.

GRADUATION PLANNING

God willing, on September 15, 2018 the Bear Valley Bible Institute- Liberia will be hosting its first graduation of our final 14 students who have faced all the challenges to the end. The planning committee has been set up to work on everything that will make the graduation a success.

GOSPEL CAMPAIGN AND MORE

The school had just completed two campaigns making it 6 campaigns in all this year, resulting in 19 baptisms in all for the just ended two campaigns. . One of the campaign was carried out around the church of Christ in Ganta that witness 6 baptisms and 5 restored and another one in a far away village where 13 were baptized.

Meanwhile, we have a Macedonia calls from three very big towns to come in and start the church of Christ there. These people have been listening and following our Radio preaching program for over a year now and have come to the conclusions that the church of Christ is the One True Church. These are unbelievers asking that the gospel we preached on the radio be preach to them in their towns and the church be set up there. This is a very great opportunity for all of us to share the saving message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with others.

In this light, to carried out these outreach (campaigns) programs, we need funds for transportation and feeding of the team. With your help, we can plant congregations, restore many and bring many more lost souls to Christ. We have a very strong evangelistic team who are very ready and willing to go out and teach and preach the gospel. We also have all well functioning preaching equipment to carried out our public preaching. It will cost $500 to effect each of these campaigns. Can you please help us preach the gospel to rescues the perishing?

APPRECIATION

We continue to thank you so much for your support to all the work here in Africa especially in Liberia. May God continue to bless you in Jesus Name.

In Him,

Robert P. Dahn Jr.

Director- Bear Valley Bible Institute- Liberia

Positive changes in Sierra Leone

Hello Brethren in Christ,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ in whom we live forever Amen. We are happy to report the following development that has taken place this second year of our studies in Sierra Leone.

We are on the verge to relocate the School outside Kenema Town which lies about (3) three miles along the Liberia board road. We have purchased a large portion of land for the School which is about 1.5 acres of land. The Dean supervising students at the new site in the burning and clearing exercise over the weekend

EVANGELISM:

The Dean and Bro Victor Sahr a student visited congregations out of Kenema and shared the word of God with them, below is a picture of the activities in which four soul were baptized by Bro Victor Sahr

STUDENT PERSONAL WORK ON WEEKENDS

Every Saturday our students are engaged in practical evangelism work from house to house within the community in Kenema where they share the word of God with people they meet. Classroom teachings and preaching are ongoing with student’s practical work.

CAMPAIGN FOR NEW STUDENTS ADMISSION: We have started our campaign from church Church in Segbema , Kailahun , Kono, etc to sensitize members of the churches of Christ to enroll for next year academic school.

God bless,

Ishmael Bangura

Director, BVBI-SL

The final quarter is here in New Zealand!

We are excited to say that we have now entered the fourth quarter of year 2. That means that, for those three graduating in July, this is the final quarter! 

We are also happy to announce that Mark Reynolds has joined the teaching staff of BVBINZ. He will teach his first course in July online, but he will also be joining us in person later that month, if the Lord wills. He will be our speaker at graduation on the 29th.

A week from today begins our next campaign. Some Bear Valley students will stay in the Wellington Region to work with about a dozen Freed-Hardeman University students to knock doors Porirua, Wellington, and the Hutt Valley. Others will join other FHU students in other parts of the country. In the midst of our campaign, we will all meet back together as we host our annual camp and lectureship. 

We’ve been staying very busy working to get everything ready for the campaign and camp. Look for a detailed report in about a month’s time.

God bless you!

Lance Mosher, BVBINZ Director

Vocational training in Nigeria

Beloved in Christ Jesus, 

Greetings from BVBIN and SWSE, Ibadan and fellow WBSFUW in South West States of Nigeria. 

The students of Bear Valley Bible Institute Nigeria and Southwest School of Evangelism, Ibadan concluded their one month vocational training yesterday to prepare for the fourth semester, classes that by God's grace, will commence on May 21, 2018 at our main campus in Butubutu village, Ibadan. 

During the one month vocational training, our students and instructors worked with congregations nearest to the students station and 28 souls were added to the Lord 's church, over 20 restored and a congregation planted. 

The Bear Valley Bible Institute weekend schools in Agege, Ikorodu and Onikokoro Ibadan are also making progress. Agege school now have 21 students, Ikorodu 19 ,and 13 in Onikokoro Ibadan. 

In conclusion, we appreciate you all for your partnership and cares. May the Lord keep on using you all for His glory is our fervent prayers in Christ Jesus name, Amen.

Makinde Ebens, Director BVBI-N

Graduation upcoming in Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters, churches and families,

I'd like to share with you the news about our Institute April's events.

This year we graduate 7 of our students. The graduation is May 26th and it's a very joyous day. Two years ago 11 students had joined the program but unfortunately 4 of them didn't cross the finish line. Some of them were expelled as a result of some disciplinary actions but some decided to quit due to the rigorous study requirements. We are sorry that it happens but I'm not sure I know how to avoid such occurrences. We have a set of requirements for our potential students. First, they have to get a reference letter from their home congregation men's business meeting or eldership. Secondly, a student has to be an active member of the Church for at least three years prior to joining our program. Then they have to have a formal meeting with our recruiting staff members and produce the medical card. We are very determined to choose the right people stopping those who are not interested in preaching the truth. However, only after the first few months of the program we get the real picture.

This year so far we have a few recruits hoping to find more potential students during the summer time. So, I'd like to request prayers for new students of the Ukrainian extension.

The other big news is that I have an opportunity to study with people who are confused by denominational teachings. We found a group of people who gather on Sundays and worship with no leadership. They asked us to come and preach for them on Sunday afternoons. So I had a chance to meet them and have a Bible study. I taught about the true Church and we had started the discussion of the plan of salvation. We pray that these seeds grow and produce good fruit and their hearts will be open to receiving the truth.

In April our first year students had Ezekiel (taught by D. Sopelnik), Book of Daniel (taught by A. Bagdasaryan) and the Gospel of Luke (taught by Viktor Semikoz) while the second year students had 1 and 2 Corinthians (D. Sopelnik), Personal Evangelism (A. Rodichev) and the Book of Revelation (taught by A. Zhuravlev).

Now we are getting ready for the summer evangelism practice. Usually the students return to their home congregations where they have to practically apply their knowledge. We discuss the details of the activities with the local preachers and they come up with a plan of what needs to be done by our students. This time of the year is interesting in the way that each of them can try and see how they feel in the position of a preacher. Each of then have a list of activities for every month usually including visiting the sick and those who are not faithful in attendance, pulpit preaching, active participation in Sunday services, etc.

And also our students are still very active in street evangelism. They purchased a microphone and a speaker. Some people stop and listen, usually very interested in the Scripture reading, but unfortunately that's the extent of their interest. During the whole last year only one person visited the church being attracted by the street evangelism. It reminds me of God's words addressed to Ezekiel 33:32, "And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one who hath a pleasant voice... for they hear thy words, but they do them not".

Thank you all who keep us in your prayers and supports the ministry of Bear Valley Bible Institute. We are very thankful for your generosity and care.

Your brother in Christ,

Dennis Sopelnik.

Another term in the books in Chimala

MAY PDATE FROM CHIMALA BIBLE INSTITUTE

CBI

It has been a long time that I have not shared with you about the Lord's Work in he rea I do work. We thank God that He has enabled us to complete our school session well for the first term. Today, students have been able to do their short course final exams and get ready for their trip back home. All students who come from near by places have gone home already same day today but those at distant places will start their journey tomorrow. Another term will of our school will start on July, 2nd 2018.

MASTERS

The Masters students are expected to arrive here at campus tomorrow on Saturday and Sunday ready for starting their studies on Monday "but on this day" students will spend their time in Library studying and work on the assignments given before hand and get ready for Tuesday class study. Thanks for the Masters support you have sent to enable them sit for their 4 weeks of studies. 

CHANG'OMBE

 Hello brothers, I also would like to share with you about the Chang'ombe church starting an Evangelism tool "Bible School", we had already started having about 14 students. We do teach on Thursday and Saturday from 2:00pm to 5:00pm or 6:00pm. The class is a combination of both non christian 3 and christian 8 students. The courses we now teach are 1. KNOW THE BIBLE- Marko our Church preacher is teaching every Thursday and 2. BASICS OF FAITH- I do teach every Saturday. So, we do ask a help of about 20 or 15 Bibles for the program.

Thanks very much.

Pray for us as we do for you.

CBI staff

Graduation in Accra

To God be the Glory, forever and ever more. We shall be always blessed with new strength and ideas.

Successful Graduation & Matriculation

We held our 2nd Diploma and Masters’ Graduation in the Accra School on 14th April, 2018 at Sarpeima Church of Christ Auditorium. On the same day, we also had matriculation for our 3rd batch of school. 12 diploma and 12 masters’ received their certificates for the successful completion of their programme. Nine (9) Masters’ and Fifty-two (52) Diploma Students were matriculated. It was a colourful ceremony. On our facebook site we have our activities in pictures. https://web.facebook.com/Bear-Valley-Bible-Institute-Accra-Ghana-130710414226278/

As part of the programme, we had dinner party at the school campus with the aim of bring all our students both past and present together and strengthening our fellowship. The staff and students were grateful for the occasion and the lectures by Gary Fallis and Steven Ashcraft on sharing the word of God helping us believing into Jesus Christ and His Church.

 School Resumes the 2nd Quarter

Students reported on 15th April, 2018 and effective class commenced on 16th April, 2018. This begins with the 2nd Quarter activities with the following courses:

Regular Classes

1.      Life of Christ I (Synoptic Gospels)

2.      Old Testament Survey II (Joshua to Esther)

3.      Christian Evidence

4.      Homiletics I

5.      Communication Skills

6.      Computer Studies

Short Courses

1.      The New Testament Church

2.      Godhead

Active Teaching & Non-Teaching Staff

All instructors; Yaw Amoo-Gyimah, Kojo Acquah Beenyi, Emmanuel Odeng Larbi, Kwabena Gyan Mante and Samuel Ntim Sasu are effectively instructing according to the schedules of the school which commenced on Monday 16th April. The weekend classes are also on going.

Number of Students

In our regular class we have Thirteen (13) students and Thirty-eight (38) students in the weekend class.

Sincerely,

The staff of Bear Valley Bible Institute - Accra

Another term completed in Fiji

Greetings!

Bula Vinaka from Fiji! We hope that our latest report finds you all doing well. Things are going great with work of the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa here in Suva, Fiji. We have completed our first regular of classes of the year, participated in the Fijian Workshop, and are winding down the last week of our short courses. Even as I write this report, our students are busy taking their final exams for the short courses.

The last couple of months have brought us plenty of excitement! We have been visited by two tropical cyclones (Josie, a Category 1 storm, and Keni, a Category 3 storm). But, we have also enjoyed some much more pleasant visitors who have come to help with the work! We look forward to sharing more information with you in this report!

Term One is in the Books

Over the last couple of months we experienced what I believe was our best term yet. Last year, we ended the school year with eight full-time students. This year, we began the term with twelve full-time students! Three of those students are new students: Asher Abraham from Pohnpei in Micronesia, Alphonsus Rickimae from the Solomon Islands, and Samuela Tupou from Suva, Fiji. Our fourth addition is a returning student, Brother Kitione Salinadrontini. Brother Kiti is from the Naila congregation in Fiji. He began the program last year, but he had to withdraw in the middle of the year due to a work commitment. We are glad to have all of these students with us.

The first term has been a very challenging one for our students. Dad taught Sermon on the Mount, Congregational Development, and Introduction to Greek. The students were especially engaged during the Congregational Development class, where they asked a large number of questions about how to develop leaders in the church. They particularly asked challenging questions about how to appoint elders in the church and what is their role in the church. They were also asked to complete a group project in which they had to design a year-long Bible class program for a local congregation. The students took the project very seriously and turned in some excellent programs. We hope to encourage them to implement some of their ideas in their own local congregations in the future. But, the most challenging of Dad’s courses was Introduction to Greek. It is never easy teaching a foreign language, but it is especially difficult when teaching it to students who speak English as a second language. But, Dad did a great job in teaching the course. While the students definitely found the class to be challenging, they worked hard and did a great job with it. I taught Old Testament Prophets I (Isaiah – Daniel), General Epistles (Philemon, James, 1-3 John), and Christian Evidences. By far, the most challenging of the courses was Christian Evidences. But, as it is with the U.S., it is a very important topic for Christians living in the South Pacific. In recent years, there has been a strong push to introduce evolution and atheism into the local schools and universities. Our goal is to equip our students with the information they need to answer these challenges. Overall, our students had an outstanding first term!

Visits from Short Course Teachers

We are just finishing up our first round of two-week short courses. This month, we have been blessed to have brother Terry Pafford teach a course on OT Poetry I (Job-Psalms). Brother Pafford lives in Midland, Texas, where he serves as an elder in his congregation. His congregation has been a generous supporter of the Bible Institute. Brother Pafford has done an excellent job in covering his topic. He has also been known to share a few of his jokes with my sons during his stay! We have really enjoyed having him visit the work.

Our second teacher this term is Randy English, who is teaching Preacher and His Work. Brother English has spent twenty-nine years working full-time in the South Pacific, so he is no stranger to the work. We were really excited to be able to get him to teach the course on Preacher and His Work, because his experience working in the South Pacific has given him a great insight into what the work of preacher in this part of the world really involves. We were also blessed to his wife, Sharon, and their daughter, Cassie, with him on this trip. Randy and Sharon were my parents next door neighbors for five years while they worked in American Samoa, so it was great to be able to visit with their family.

We had an additional special visit during the short courses this year. Aaron and Cindy Baker spent seven years working as missionaries in Vanuatu. They were traveling back from a two week trip to work with the church there when they stopped over for a few days in Fiji. Aaron was especially interested in visiting the school to see what our program has to offer. It was such joy to be able to spend a few days visiting with Aaron and Cindy.

Our New Library has Arrived

In our last report, we mentioned the fact that our school library had just shipped from the U.S. I am excited to announce that our library has arrived in Fiji and cleared customs! The delivery was delayed about a week and a half due to the two cyclones, but it arrived safely. We were just finishing up our last day of final exams when they contacted us that it was ready to clear customs. So, Dad and I loaded up and headed to the customs office to pick up our shipment. After a couple of hours of processing the customs paper work, they released the shipment to us. We had just over seventy boxes of books for our school library! We hired a truck to deliver them to the school, where we were met by some of the students to unload all of the boxes. Over the next couple of days, my oldest two boys (Austin and Cory) unpacked and shelved all of the books. We still have to catalogue all of the books and organize them, but we hope to soon be able to give our students full access to this valuable resource. Again, let me offer my sincere thanks for all who made this possible!

Brotherly,

Jason Pierce

New staff members in Tamale

So soon it is one year since the new year of our sixth batch of students began. We thank God for His blessing and for you the wonderful people who keep on supporting us in prayers and financially. 

STUDENTS ON VACATION

The fifth term classes came to an end rather shorter as this is the farming season for the people in the northern part of Ghana. As part of their support the students do some farming in their villages to help feed their families. So the students are on long break from now to July 1st when they will come back to school to continue with their academic work.

STAFF

Albert Tamanja Malir and James Bisong Legend have joined the management and are now the core staffs of the school in teaching, security and handling the day to day activities as they staying in the school. They are also to see to the growth of the church that meets in the school that serves as the immediate training ground for the students.

EVANGELISM AND VISITATION

As part of the school’s mission of growing the work of Our Lord in the northern part of Ghana, visitation to all the congregations in the area is put in place as well as visiting all our graduate preachers and other preachers working in the area. Already visitation is done on the road from Tamale to Bimbilla, a journey of three and a half hours on the motor bike.   

Many people are also being contacted for Bible studies in Tamale township and also in the vicinity of the school and the responses are favorably.  

STEVEN AND WIFE VISITED

Steven and Karen Ashcraft visited us at the school for three days. The progress of the school, the management of the school, maintainace of the school and the welfare of the students were all discussed. Even though Karen was not part of our meeting her interaction with us and her fellowship with us was great and inspiring.

Thanks for your support and may the Good Lord richly bless you.

A new congregation is planted in Zimbabwe

INTRODUCTION

Jesus’ great commission remains pivotal at BVBIZ. Though many efforts are taken to equip students for the ministry, the end result is always to obey this commission. In brief, BVBIZ exists to fulfill this endeavour. Students, whom we take as Jesus’ foot soldiers are currently at various centres doing their practicum. This is the main activity that transpired in the month of April.

APPRECIATION

This year’s field program runs between April and May. Deployment was done on the 4th of April. This is an opportunity for students to put into practice what they have been learning in class and during their weekend practicum. Our appreciation goes to the congregations that are hosting the students and the individual men and women who in their capacities are trying to meet the needs of the students.

FOLLOW UP

Teachers have succeeded in making their first follow up of students. Another follow up shall be done in May. At each follow up, teachers will identify weaknesses, challenges, strengths and evaluate each student. The teach will assist each student on the practical aspect. The director also made independent visits to almost every camp.

CAMPUS CONGREGATION

A campus congregation at Midlands State University has now become a reality. Authorities at the University had taken long to grand the permission and several Church of Christ students did not have opportunity to worship. BVBIZ shall be working with the University students buoyed by the Nashville church of Christ congregation here in Gweru. The school shall use these students as a pivot for evangelism. The picture below speaks a lot about what these students were missing.

NORA VALLEY CONGREGATION

A new congregation started at Nora Valley near Ruwa. This has been made possible by BVBIZ students who were posted to the area. The Nyakudya and Zungunde families have been behind this vision. Please find attached, a report from students at Nora Valley.

GRADUATION

The graduation ceremony for our first batch of students shall take place on the 2nd of June 2018 beginning at 10am. BVBIZ, therefore, invites you to witness her first ever graduation ceremony.

CONCLUSION

Finally we would like to thank you all for your moral, spiritual and financial support. Our request this

month is that you keep remembering the students who are in the field. Our desire is that the world be won to Christ. To God be the glory!

Mathew Muchingham, Director, BVBI-Z

A new campus in Kenya

Beloved,

Greetings from the Kenya School of preaching faculty and students. We are very excited to report that we have moved to the new location and building. We are proud to be working in such a great place now. 

When we look back to where we began in October 2012, we thank God for such a humble beginning, we also thank the brethren who support the work and the trust that they have in us to lead the training of preachers. 

All the 18 students are back from the break and zealous to take the few more classes remaining before graduating on 25 August. 

We closed the last quarter by attending a three day gospel campaign in Lieta, the students had an opportunity of going door to door and sharing the gospel before assembling in the evening for a gospel meeting. The campaign despite being in Lieta where two former KSOP graduates serve as ministers, the current KSOP students led in teaching. We are thankful to the brethren who love and support such a great cause, we are thankful to Dan and DJ for being part of the campaign. We pray we will be able to have more of such campaigns. 

The students are thrilled with the new facility and can’t hide their joy in and outside class. Brethren, everyone is thrilled with the new school, the students are attentive and focused as they look forward to joining the Lord’s field. Thanks to Christians for Kenya for such a wonderful facility, we can’t thank you enough but God will reward all. 

We keep on working hard to see that we have a good environment for learning and evangelism by planting trees in the new facility and providing water to the community. We pray another congregation of the Lord will be planted in the new Location as we did with the previous place.

This quarter we have six classes, minor prophet I and II being taught by Elias and Charles continues with Greek III and Denominational Doctrines. Wayne Burger will come and teach two short courses, Scheme of Redemption and Revelation in May – June. 

During the break, Elias and I visited different congregations and gospel meeting, we led teaching and recruitments for the next class in October. It is always great to meet former graduates who are still faithful and keeps working in the Kingdom and more so it’s inspiring to here reports from the congregations how our students are sound in doctrine and industrious. 

The students were very fruitful in leading and being part of 15 different gospel meetings and campaigns during the break that led to 16 baptisms, 12 souls restored and one congregation of 50 in Nakuru restored to the Lord’s worship after many studies done by Zachariah.

The classes taught so far have a great impact in these students and we appreciate the foreign short course teachers for coming to teach and providing study materials. 

Brotherly,

Charles Ogutu, Director KSOP