An incredible first year in Abuja!

INTRODUCTION:

The official inauguration of the Bear Valley Bible Institute – Abuja on 2nd February 2019 signaled the beginning of the school in Abuja and its environs. A total of Fifty-One (51) students (44 brothers and 7 sisters), with Eight (9) faculty members, in two (2) study centers of Kado and Nyanya were inaugurated, with the inaugural speech delivered by Bro Chad Wagner (BVBI-A Coordinator) and was witnessed by the Elders of the Church of Christ, Kado Abuja.

EVANGELISM CAMPAIGNS;

·       The students and faculty organized the first Evangelism Campaign of the school in a remote village of Tunga Madaki, Gaku village, behind the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on the 1st June, 2019, with three (3) baptisms recorded during the program. A total of Fifty-Two (52) brethren participated in the campaign, described as follows; students (37), faculty (6), World Bible School Abuja Team members (5), Church of Christ, Iddo-Sarki, Abuja (4). The campaign was organized to strengthened the newly established congregation (a month old congregation).

·       The students of the Nyanya center were engaged in a house-to-house evangelism on 23rd August 2019 at Mararaba Central, Nasarawa state, and open air campaign on 24th September 2019 at Aku village, Nasarawa state (where a newly established congregation is located). Note, the preachers of the two congregations are students of BVBI-A.

·       The 2nd Evangelism Campaign of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja was organized as a support and follow-up exercise for the newly established congregation at Kpaduma, Asokoro extension, Abuja. It is a denominatonal church, converted and changed to Church of Christ, Asokoro, Abuja. The former pastor turned preacher of the church was a listener of the 'Let the Bible Speak' program of the Church of Christ, Kado Abuja, for over seven (7) years, which motivated his conversion in June 2019. The campaign featured students and faculty of Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja and members of the Churches of Christ, Asokoro and Kado, with a total of 51 participants, consisting of 32 students, 4 faculties, and 15 members of the Churches of Christ Asokoro and Kado. The crew of the Nigeria Gospel Chariot was around for the Open-Air evangelism in the evening.

ACCOMPLISHMENT(S):

Office Equipment: The school received support from Bear Valley International, for the purchase of office equipment, among which are;

·       Laptop Computer.

·       Printer.

·       Book Shelf.

·       Office supplies.

·       Student’s tables (30 pieces for Kado and 15 pieces for Nyanya Center).

·       Office table.

Public Address System (2): The school purchased a 12inch and 16inch multi-purpose, rechargeable and movable Public Address System, for evangelism purposes. It has inbuilt rechargeable battery that can last for five (5) hours or more, two (2) wireless microphones, USB for songs, etc.

Printing of Exam Paper: The school exam paper was printed for the school use during examination period. This was done through the contribution of the faculty.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

·       The school organized a one-day Interactive session for the students and the faculty in the month of June (June 12, 2019). The objective is to get feedbacks from the classes held and a review of student’s understanding and comprehension of the courses undertaken so far. This will enable the faculty to improve on the existing plan of work.

·       The students of the Kado center participated in a 1-day Leadership Seminar organized by the World Bible school Abuja team, with the theme “Pulpit Management”. Topics such as ‘The Pulpit and who manages it’ and ‘Content development for effective Pulpit management’ were treated to the understanding of the participants by seasoned teachers and preachers; Osita Onuora and Mike Udam.

·       A general meeting of the school was organized on Sunday, 8 December, 2019 for both students and faculty. The objective was to discuss issues affecting the school and the students. While a Faculty meeting was held same day to discuss on the upcoming plans and schedules of the school in the next academic year.

CONCLUSION:

We (students, instructors, churches etc) are more excited about the opportunity Bear Valley Abuja offers them and the church, because of the exposition of the courses offered so far, and the quality of the teachers handling the courses. They are more committed to the study and activities of the school.

We have received inquiries from more students who are interested in enrollment into the school program.

We appreciate the partnership and support of the Bear Valley School in building capacities of preachers and members towards the growth and development of the church in Africa, especially Nigeria.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU

Guest instructor in Sierra Leone

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE KENEMA, SIERRA LEONE

Operation activities in the month of November and December with Bear Valley Bible Institute are as follows with a summary of major events.

CLASS ROOM ACTIVITIES

Arrival of Students for the 3rd Quarter session begins in November and ends in December 2019 with 14 students. This quarter involves seven courses. In this we have 2 short courses. We were bless to have Brothers in the persons of Bro. Osman Sheke who teaches on the subject... The life of Christ II and Bro. Steven Ashcraft handle..... Bible Geography. This subject Bible Geography was very interesting as we went through the studies of Bible lands and places. I was privilege to be part of the class for that week. Five weeks was meant for regular courses. These are 1. Old Testament Two; 2. Wisdom Literature; 3. World Religion;  4. Prison Epistle and 5. 1st Corinthians were all climax of the 3rd quarter session. Lecturers on regular courses were as follows.....

Gabriel Abu, A .B Lansana, Joseph G. Bash, Alfred Koyama, Joseph Messalie

Unfortunately one of our students was hospitalized in the middle of November. However, we thank God for his recovery.

Classes are now shutdown for the 3rd Quarter and students sent home for holidays. We are expecting them back on the 1st week of January 2020 for the begining of the 4th Quarter of the First Year, God willing. Kindly remember our students in your prayers 

EVANGELISM

Evangelism being the heart beat of the Church is what we have not be able to execute effectively. We enjoyed a house to house 3 days Evangelistic campaign before the closedown of school for the quarter. We were grateful to our students for their commitment in that direction. We look forward for better days of performances to come.

CONCLUSION

On this note we pledge our commitment in doing what we are doing to further the cause of the Gospel. We continually thank all those who are putting their resources to empower men in training for the sake of Christ Jesus. May God Almighty bless you all. On behalf of Management; Staffs and Students of Bear Valley Bible Institute Kenema, we wish you all a better year and prosperous 2020 In advance.

Kindly keep us in your prayers and we always do for all.

Yours in Him,

Jacob Sesay

Admin /Director – Bear Valley Bible Institute Kenema

Sierra Leone

Ending the year well in Nigeria

Dear fellow workers in the vineyard of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace, peace and blessings be multiplied unto you all in the name of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.
We always appreciates God for all of you, our supporters and well wishers,mentioning you one by one in our daily prayers. We continuously remember before our God and Father your wonderful work expressed by your support for the Lord's work in Africa, particularly in Nigeria and BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN and your contribution toward the growth of the Lord's Church throughout the world.
Below is the summary of our activities for the month of December 2019.

                       OVERVIEW
* Birth of the Lord’s church in Ajia town.
* 2nd Semester classes and instructors.
* BVBIN-Ikorodu 4th Annual Bible Lectureship.
* VOTI volume 102 aid in conversion of souls into Christ.

BIRTH OF THE LORD’S CHURCH IN AJIA TOWN:
As the Lord would have it, the one week Gospel Camp in Ajia town, Ona-Ara L.G.A. Oyo State of Nov.24 through 30,2019 resulted into the conversion of one of the sons of the soil (Omo Onile/an indigene), Bro.Agunbiade Idowu’s shop on December 1st, 2019 with 4 people and our collection was N1,830. On Dec. 08,we are worshipped at the rented Hall in Apata compound, Ajia with 6 people and collection was N1,050.
Bro.Dele Shotola is now working with two of our students, Bro. Jude David Canox and Bro. Oviri Iruo-Oghene Careson at this young  congregation on weekend and Wednesday Bible Classes.The Church is now meetings at the rented uncompleted building in Apata Compound,Ajia near Akanran and Egbeda town.

SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES AND INSTRUCTORS:
Second semester classes began as scheduled on Nov 18 through Dec. 20, 2019 and will continue Lord’s willing on Jan.6,2020 through 31 to enable the students continue their vocational studies for another one month on February and also gives time for the Instructors to participate in the annual Great Workshop for Gospel ministers & WBSFUW in the Seventeen Southern States of Nigeria and Abuja that is coming up on February 2020 in Abuja, FCT.
In this 2nd Semester , I ( Bro. Makinde )is handling Research Method, Homiletics-1&Ministerial Counseling. Bro Abiola J. Olusoji is handling Hermeneutics 1&2, Bro Isaac Olaniyan is handling World Religions and Galatians, Bro Ebenezer Ojo is handling How we got the Bible and Life of Christ-2(Mark), Bro Silas Guda Mazi is handling Acts of the Apostles while Bro Adeolu Andrew is handling Cost of Discipleship & Christian Evidence and Bro Kayode Solomon Eniafe, OTP (Major) & Evangelism- 2.

BVBIN-IKORODU ANNUAL BIBLE LECTURESHIP:
With the help of the Almighty God and the support of N50, 000 from BVBIN coupled with voluntary donations from both the students and instructors of BVBIN- Ikorodu, the 4th Annual Bible Lectureship organized by the Ikorodu School was a big success. The lectureship was attended by order 120 brethren across the churches in Ikorodu L.G.A & Kosofe of Lagos State. I spoke on How to apply the word of God in difficult situations and Bro.Mfon Etim spoke on Evangelism Strategies.

VOICE OF TRUTH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 102 AID IN CONVERSION:
According to the message I received from one of the recipients of VOTI volume 102, Bro. Enefiok Archibong (min.),Church of Christ, Nkwot Edem Edet, Ikono, Akwa ibom State, the 2 pack of VOTI Volume 102 sent aid in the Bible Lectureship of this month which resulted into the conversion of eight (8) precious souls into Christ’s Kingdom. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

ABOUT A STUDENT:
BRO ADEGOKE TIMOTHY ADEMOLA is one of our year 2 students. Born in June 2001 by the preacher Bro Ogunleye Samuel of Church of Christ, Off Greater Tomorrow Road, Agbaluku Quarters, Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State. His mission is to be an evangelist in Akoko Area of Ondo State after his tertiary education. He is presently serving as one of the Bible teachers in Akure town congregation, Ondo state.

APPRECIATION AND CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, we the entire staffs and students of BVBIN  & SWSE IBADAN and SWKA give all praises and adoration to Almighty God who in His mercy and love made year 2019 a successful year for us and for you our supporters.
We also express our profound gratitude to you, our supporters and our well wishers for your moral and financial supports toward the growths of the Lord's Church in Africa and the world as a whole. May God bless you wonderfully and gloriously in the year 2020 and beyond in Jesus Christ name, amen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL !
I remain your fellow labourer in Christ's Vineyard,
Bro.MAKINDE, Ebenezer Olufemi
(The Chief Servant of BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN and WBSFUW)

Lectureship in Lagos

NUMBER OF STUDENT: 30

LECTURESHIP
The school at Agege hosted a one day lectureship on November 30, 2019. We recorded an attendance of 60 that day. Bro. Makinde E. Olufemi spoke on "CHURCH AUTONOMY, TO WHAT EXTENT" while Bro. Emmanuel Odo spoke on the topic "CHURCH DISCIPLINE, TO WHAT EXTENT". The programme went well and was sucessful. We hope to host a better one next year.

EVANGELISM:
The school went on evangelism on two occasions with two local congregations (Agege and Iyana Ipaja) a soul was converted and added to Agege congregation.

ROTATIONAL TEACHING:
Olusoji Joseph Abiola started his teaching on 1 Corinthians from 28/9/2019 to 19 / 10/2019. Okoro Chinyere taught on "Church History" from 26/10/ 19 to 16/11/19. The last instructor was Ezekiel Okorougu who took " THE LIST OF CHRIST II" from 23/ 11/19 to 14/12/19. All students wrote their tests and examinations on various subjects.

Guest instructors in Philippines

BVBI- Philippines is privileged this quarter to have two brothers from the US teaching our students more about the Epistles. Brother LT Gurganus of Jasper, Alabama taught a class on the Prison Epistles last October while brother Brandon Evans from Delano, California shared a wonderful lesson on James this month. Both of these teachers had done a great job teaching and our students learned a lot from them.

Our students used the weeks in between our classes to teach and preach what they learned. Brothers Michael Parilla (wearing white shirt) and Ronel Romano (wearing green shirt) shared the fruits of their evangelistic efforts. Both of them have 2 baptisms each after our class this month.

We rejoice with these men as they reap what they have sown. As we face a new year this 2020 we pray that God will open more doors for us here in the Philippines.

1 Cor 3:7 “God will give the increase.”

In His Service,

Neil Emperado

Good things in Togo

We give glory to God for his blessings and thank him for the lives of our sponsors. We pray that heaven will grant us health and above all, to accompany our Bear valley coordinator for all the Bible Institutes that operate under his and the almighty's supervision.

BVBI-Kpalime:

Evangelist OMOU Kokou Jean-Marc who graduated from BVBI-Kpalime by his bravery we won three souls following a meeting of three assemblies at president-cope. He is single with one child, he has a motorcycle from the center which he uses for his evangelism ministry. He teaches the students in Saturday's classes. In relation to his work, the diplomas of the Bear Valley Bible Institute in Togo are progressing very well. Our prayer for them is that they will have a fund to get better and better.

 Agriculture and livestock:

There are 40 of them and they attend classes from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. They also take part in the evangelization campaigns organized by BVBI.

Saturday's classes:

Very soon they too will join the Bear Valley Institute. More than half is already earned to the lord. It is only those who deserve it, that is to say those who will be converted: the Christians who can speak and write French well. As people are interested in Saturday's classes, we want to have a class in every big city in Togo, if it is possible.

 Evangelization:

 The evangelistic campaign organized by the Bear Valley Institute will be in December for the 5th time this year and twice by the Centre. Keep this project for us in your prayers.

Final exams in Wotutu

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from your brothers and sisters here in Cameroon. We are doing better in health and other things. We do hope you are doing great in all that you do for family and for the Lord. Last week went on well in all of the ministries from the congregation, to the Bible school, to the orphanage, and also the Christian schools.

Students were busy during last week writing their final exams which marked the end of their first year of intensive studies here, The Exams went on well and marking is on now.

The students are done with their final exams. They were presented in the congregation for the church to thank God for a successful finish of their first year. A special prayer was offered for them as we wished them well in their next field work that will start on the 8th of December after the annual Bible lectureship.

The students will always amaze the Wotutu congregation whenever they have the opportunity to preach. Brother Pride Clinton did a good job today preaching the sermon. Keep them in your prayers as they grow.

We also preach as staff. As we preach, it is also a moment for the students to learn. As I taught a class today on our yearly theme, we evaluated how far the church have benefited from theme. It was a great Bible class from Psalms 23.

Brother Kunda is a member in Wotutu. He is an agronomist and whenever he has opportunity to teach, he will do his best to give advice on farming to our Christians as we are all peasant farmers. He teaches vocational training on Agriculture in the Bible college to reduce the gap of dependency as they get into full time preaching.

PLANS

On Wednesday the 4th of Dec we shall travel to Mbanga for the annual Bible lectureship. It will be a time to evangelize the Mbanga community and also to have fellowship with brethren all over the country of Cameroon.

APPRECIATIONS

Thank you very much for your prayers and support. They are the wheels that made this work move smoothly. Share our report with others.

God bless you.

Elangwe and family

Graduation in New Zealand

Joziah Townsend has officially graduated! On the first of December, we held a graduation at the Wellington church building. Todd O’Donnell came down from Foxton and delivered a lesson on the impact even one Christian can make on the world for Christ. Trevor Major from Auckland also flew down and shared in the keynote speech. In addition to Joziah, we also honored our two new full-time students: Monique Knopert and Michelle Stretch. Joziah plans to attend university next year and study psychology. Pray for him as he continues to use his knowledge and skills for the kingdom of God. Monique and Michelle hope to graduate next year.

Reaching out in Zambia

Hello brethren,

Greetings in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We victoriously report the activities that took place in the month of November with Joy in our hearts. It has been a busy month for instructors Fred, Cephas and Kennedy who dedicated some time to visit some congregations in three Provinces. Luapula, Muchinga and Northern provinces were targeted for these visits. 

Fred visited Luapula Province, Kennedy went to Muchinga while Northern Province was visited by Cephas.Fred had an opportunity to visit  Mansa, Samfya and Milenge districts. During this tour he also met with Joseph Musonda one of our graduates who is stationed in Mansa. Joseph has been given the opportunity to serve as a preacher at Mansa Central church of Christ. He conducts Bible studies both in the homes of Christians and also at the congregation. He is now married, well respected and has since baptized five Souls. Fred also linked up with Fredrick Mwansa  one of our former students, though he only spent nine months at the Institute and went back due to his family problems. Fredrick is a vibrate Preacher and a well-respected church leader at Monokola church of Christ. He has continued to be evangelistic in the Monokola area and has converted 41 souls since his return of which two young men are now prospective students for the 2020-22 intake. It is worthy noting that Fredrick's home congregation has grown remarkably within the last twelve months. At the beginning of 2018 the congregation had 15-20 members. This number has grown to a regular membership of 80-90 brothers and sisters. He shared that sometimes the Sunday attendance exceeds 100.

Milenge District is the most southerly district in the Luapula Province, and was carved out of Mansa district. It is very rural and undeveloped. Its southern boundary is the Luapula River which divides it from DR Congo. Most of the population of the district lies along the shallow valley of the Luapula River. Gilbert Mulubwa attended BVBI-Zambia but dropped out of school due to hunger that had stricken his house during his absence; he just could not continue his training. Gilbert is a native of Milenge District. He comes from a village called Kafwanka within Milenge. He is a deacon at Milenge Central church of Christ. Milenge church of Christ has a membership of 130.

As indicated earlier, Milenge borders with the Democratic Republic  Congo (DRC). We are proud to report that Gilbert has spearheaded in the establishment of six churches cross the border. These churches are within walking distances from Milenge. In fact, these six congregations in the DRC use Bemba, a popular Zambian language, as the language of communication. 

Kennedy Mukuka had a great tour of duty in Zambia's Muchinga Province. His journey was targeted at visiting some churches in the province and was privileged to hook up with  representatives of the churches in Isoka and Nakonde  districts where we have two congregations. He shared the dreams of Bear Valley Bible Institute Zambia with them and encouraged them to partner with us by participating in our training programs. He spent   three days in Nakonde and then moved to Mpika District where he spent another three days and was given the opportunity to share not only about BVBIZ but also the word of God. 

The church in Muchinga is quite small numerically but vibrant spiritually. On Sunday the 24th they had two sisters baptized Eleanor Mushili and Exilda Lumba Mulenga. This also happened to be brother Kennedy's birthday. Additionally, he managed to five names of prospective 2020-22 BVBIZ students. 

Cephas is still on his tour of the Northern province and he is expected to cover four districts before the end of December; his exploits will be covered in our December report.

In His Service

Cephas and Fred

Also in Fiji...

THE THIRD TERM OF THE YEAR IS FINISHED!

The third term is finally completed and in the books! We had another outstanding term at the Bible Institute of Raiwaqa. This term, I was able to teach three courses: Old Testament History 2, Hebrews, and Biblical Foundation of Ethics. I truly enjoyed teaching all three of these courses! The students seemed to relate well to all of them. In the Old Testament History course, we survey the books 2 Samuel through Esther. Much of this material is completely new to the students, because many of them have only had a very basic introduction to the study of the Old Testament books. Since teaching the course, several of our students have preached lessons from these great Old Testament books! My favorite book of the Bible to teach, however, is the book of Hebrews. I love teaching it especially because most of my students have never really studied from this book. One of the students told me after the course, “Brother Jason, before I took your class, I was not really looking forward to studying the book of Hebrews. I did not think it was relevant to us today. Now, it is one of my favorite books to study!” He confided in me that the biggest reason he was not interested in it is because he had never really been able to understand it. Since taking the course, this same student has now preached a couple of excellent lessons from the book of Hebrews.

The Ethics class is one of the most challenging courses for me to teach. This is primarily because we have so little time for it. Rather than focusing on a bunch of specific moral issues, I choose to approach the class in a more general way by giving them a better understanding of things that shape our values and understanding of morality, teaching them why we look to God as the source of our ethics, and helping them to understand the Bible’s role in teaching us ethics. In the class, students are then given a specific moral dilemma to study. They have to research the topic and write a short paper on it. Then, at the end of the course, they have to sit down with me for three minutes and try to convince me to do the proper moral thing in their assigned scenario. The students will often tell me that three minutes with me seems like an hour! But they all did an outstanding job with their assigned topics.

In addition to my three courses, Dad taught two courses this term: Paul’s Epistles and Scheme of Redemption. Brother Emosi taught a course on Denominational Doctrines. All of these classes were well received. I am truly blessed to work alongside of both of these great men!

STUDENT CAMPAIGN TO NADI

Each term, we do our best to schedule some kind of evangelistic campaign to give our students some practical experience with ministry and evangelism. This term, we were invited to host a campaign with the Nadi Church of Christ. The Nadi congregation is a smaller congregation who has recently been going through some struggles. We wanted to do something to encourage them while helping them to reach out into the community.

To encourage the local members, we decided to have a series of short lessons just with the students and the members of the Nadi congregation on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. These lessons were all taught by our students. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, we actually split up into men’s and women’s classes, so that our female students could get experience teaching a ladies’ class. Afterwards, we would all spend time having tea together and fellowshipping with the members to encourage them.

To help with evangelism, we spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday out making visits and door-knocking. Most of the group went door-knocking in various neighborhoods to hand out tracts. I worked with brother Jone (pronounced Johnny) Koro, who does most of the preaching for the Nadi congregation. We took a couple of students with us each day and went to visit members who had become unfaithful, were new converts, were shut-in, or were study contacts made from previous outreach efforts. Many of those visits proved to be very fruitful.

Our big evangelistic effort was to host an outreach seminar on Friday night and all day on Saturday. We handed out fliers to invite people to come to our seminar which was on the topic of the family and the home. When out visiting, we would ask people if we could pray for them. Nearly all of them asked for the same thing – please pray for my family. So, the topic we had chosen was one that we knew would be meaningful to them. All of the lessons were delivered by our students or faculty, who did an outstanding job. We had one visitor from another congregation in the area to observe, “I have been a Christian for 30 years, and this is the first time I can remember having lessons that are specifically on the topic of the home. We need more of this!” All in all, we were very pleased with the turn-out for the seminar.

One of the great things about a local evangelistic campaign is that we are close enough to help do follow-up work. One of the things that our students have been doing is going back to Nadi a couple of times each month to spend a weekend helping with the work. The students will go up on Friday, spend Saturday with some of the local members making visits, and then the male students will help with teaching and preaching at the Sunday morning worship services. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Nadi and stopped in to visit for Sunday worship. Two of our students were there. They had been out all day on Saturday making visits. On Sunday morning, one of them got up early and went to the local prison to deliver a message and study with some of the prisoners. The other student preached the morning’s sermon. The congregation also asked me to teach the Bible class. Please pray for our students as they continue to make efforts to encourage the Nadi congregation.

A new program in Fiji

Bula vinaka from the beautiful Fiji Islands,

On Monday, November 11, we started a new program at the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa.  Our normal program is a day program for full time students and it consist of 48 classes over two years.  Since starting this program we have had men interested in attending, but were prevented because of having jobs in the daytime.  At their request we began this night program.  

This program is designed as a leadership program for men and their wives.  Emosi has been placed over this program and he was successfully recruited 9 students.   This program consists of 12 course over three years.  Each class will go for three hours on Monday evenings for eight weeks.  Emosi's first class is on the Life of Christ and they just had their Mid-Term exam on Monday night December 9, 2019.  

Students who score a B or better will be able to transfer those hours to our day program should they choose to enroll at a later date.  We are excited about the potential for this program.  Please keep it and Emosi in your prayers.

Your servant in Christ

Rocco Pierce

2 Tm 2:2  And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Good news from Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I'd like to share with you some of the latest news from the Bible Institute and a few local congregations about the events that took place during the last month.

First of all, the great news to share with you.  Beginning of June next year, we are to resume the Masters' Program. It will be the first Master Students recruitment in the last few years. About 5 different people contacted me and they were looking forward to the resuming of the program. Personally, I'm extremely happy because the graduates of the program join our permanent Instructors' pool.

Secondly, one more congregation contacted me looking for a full-time preacher. There's a very high probability that one of our next year graduates will be ministering in the congregation. It demonstrates that our Bible Institute does a very valuable work training new ministers qualified to preach the Lord's truth. Looking at the map of Ukraine one will see that geographic location of the Churches of Christ with our graduates as Ministers is getting a wide spread.

And yet another great news of the last week. The Department of Education of Ukraine gave us an official permission to work with orphans at the Children's Home. It opens the door for our local congregation for active social work with the teenage orphans who reside there. Sometimes God closes one set of doors but opens a different one.

Last month the first year students had Genesis (taught by Viktor Semikoz) and Exodus - Deuteronomy (by Dmitry Galyuk). The second year students had 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Dennis Sopelnik) and The Book of Acts (Vladimir Paziy). In the end of the month our students will go back to their home congregations. The classes will resume on the second week of January.

We send our Season's greetings to all. May God bless you with wisdom in making important decisions!

Your brother in Christ and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard,

Dennis Sopelnik.

Graduation in Arusha

For many years, the Lord has been blessing His Kingdom through your generosity and prayers. We have been able to train men from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Congo, Zambia and even this time South Sudan. Countless souls will one day be in Heaven just because people like you cared for the lost souls. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

“And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”(2 Timothy 2:2).

This is the motto of our school. It has been a blessed year here at Andrew Connally School of Preaching as we have been celebrating the graduation of 26 graduates. This year we have had graduates from Masters Class, Bachelor Degree class and Certificate of Biblical Studies from the Arusha Bible School. I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to pray for all our graduates as they are starting their new journey in the ministry.

This year’s class was a Swahili Class, men and women from over twenty congregations were able to finish their studies. We thank God for both them and their families for supporting them in this journey. These are committed men and women who were ready to sacrifice their lives for two years of study. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

Again, we thank you so much for your support and prayers. Please keep us in your prayers as we are beginning our youth camps this coming two weeks.

May the Lord bless you as you continue to serve Him daily.

Your servant in His Kingdom, Till all have heard,

Charles H. Mwanga

Doing much good in Tamale

NOVEMBER REPORT 2019

We give thanks to God for how far He has brought us; indeed He is the ultimate controller and protector of our lives and the daily activities we offer in His Church. We are very glad and appreciative for the financial support and prayer you offer to the need of Bear valley Bible Institute in Tamale for its survival.

STUDENTS IN SCHOOL

We continue to thank God for the lives of these brothers who have wholeheartedly committed their lives to the course of God. Fourteen have joyfully reported and have spent four weeks remaining two weeks to end the year 2019. They are healthy and sound and the teaching is ongoing with four courses treated remaining two to finish.

LECTURES

The details of classes are as follows: Brother Alex Jabado Nanpari taught “Homiletics 2”, Brother Albert Malir Tamanja taught Book of “Galatians”, Brother James Legend taught “Personal Evangelism” 2 and Brother Kojo Acquah Beenyi taught “the worship of the Church”. Tests and exams were conducted respectively and student performance encouraging.

ADMINISTRATION

The administration of the school is making a progress; there is a fluent flow of information between the administration, coordinator and extension director as we gear toward the end of year 2019. The extension director{Steven Ashcraft} our encouragement has being of good help for us, he visited us and encouraged and motivated us to remain committed and hardworking to enable the gospel meet Christ target in the Northern regions. He also updated and corrected us the activities of the school which will ease our work as administrators; he also had a fruitful deliberation with us on how the school in Tamale can create a self-sustainable mechanism to generate internal income to supplement external support. The coordinator Kojo Beenyi is always by our side to monitor the activities of the school so that the image of the school is elevated to exhibit Christ mission.

We are working to ensure that public outreach and personal evangelism becomes our priority to advertise the good work Bear Valley Denver is doing in Africa-Tamale. We would have started last week, but one of our machines developed a mechanical fault, we hope to start this week end. Our effort have yielded a positive result, sister Grace the member of Roman Catholic was happily baptized after the gospel of salvation was taught on Sunday 1st/12/2019 and added to the Church membership.

We have also started campaign for students’ enrollment for 2021 academic year and most of the prospective brothers have been contacted through phone calls when Brother Albert Malir journeyed to Bimbilla-Chamba District. We hope that with God’s help and your support and prayer we shall be through in these fruitful activities we have embarked on.

We are working hard on the irrigation project we have had in the school with the hand pump waiting for mechanization to facilitate the farming work, already we have benefited from this ‘well’ so far, for about two weeks now the city water is not supplying which resulted water crisis in Tamale township, we are relying on the well to bath, drink, wash and irrigate vegetable we farmed. We also wish to send delegates to take part in annual camp that is coming on 19th/12/2019 at Bimbilla-Chamba district so that we can sell the school to enable prospects have access to the admission forms.

We pray that God causes all these proposals come true to push the school to forge ahead in other to achieve its purpose. God will continue to strengthening you and keep you save, happy New Year in advance.

Entire denominational church converted

REPORT OF THE BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE ABUJA 2ND EVANGELISM CAMPAIGN

INTRODUCTION:

The 2nd Evangelism Campaign of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja was organized as a support and follow-up exercise for the newly established congregation at Kpaduma 1, Asokoro extension, Abuja. It was a denominational church, converted and changed to Church of Christ, Asokoro, Abuja. The former pastor-turned-preacher of the church, Victor Olukayode, was a listener of the 'Let the Bible Speak' program of the Church of Christ, Kado Abuja, for over seven (7) years, which motivated his conversion in June 2019. Three instructors of the BVBI-Abuja are currently involved in his special training.

A Brief on Victor Yusuf Olukayode

Victor became a convert from Islam into denominational Christianity about ten years ago and he became very zealous for the things of God. He, however, wasn’t satisfied with the brand of Christianity he was getting and began ‘searching’ without being very overtly conscious of his search. He established his church and set it up the best way he knew and followed his heart concerning how he thought pure religion and the Christian life should be.

About seven years ago, he stumbled on our TV program, Let the Bible Speak’ and began to explore the Bible and New Testament undenominational Christianity with the team. He began to spot practices that were not in consonance with New Testament teachings and he commenced on aligning his church with what he was learning about restoration on TV. About a year ago, he said he also stumbled on the ‘Let the Bible Speak’ Radio program (LTBS) that Brothers Biodun Adegoroye, Felix Ekpeyong and David Akpata anchor every Sunday morning on Raypower, (African Independent Television –AIT) Radio Station in Abuja. It was then that Victor, like King Josiah who ‘found’ the sacred book and began a restoration of the ancient religion, took the faithful decision. You may recall that the ‘Bible’ (Book of the Law) was lost in the generation of the King but was found abandoned somewhere in the temple during repairs (2Ki 22:3-6). King Josiah undertook a massive and comprehensive restoration of the ancient religion that God gave the Israelites and he was accounted by God as a faithful leader. Victor was greatly influenced by this ideal of restoring the ancient Words and Christian religion as revealed in the book of God that was lost from the early centuries and later found by those dissatisfied with the apostasy from the Christian faith prophesied by Jesus, the Prophets and the Apostles. He began to call us at LTBS and we finally booked an appointment. He didn’t know he would be baptized that day but the Spirit of the Lord arrested him and he gave his life to Christ. He got home to explain the joy he has in his conversion and his wife also decided for Christ. Eight members of the denomination took the great decision to follow Christ in His way prescribed by faith while some in the denomination left the church, not being comfortable with the direction their former ‘Pastor’ is now taking them.

Victor has renounced ownership of the church and in his own words, he says “I have given the church over to Jesus because I know it was never mine and I do not have the right to own a church!” He stopped collecting tithes from the congregation and is no longer having all church monies belonging to him. He disposed of the mechanical musical instruments and changed the signboard of the church to read Church of Christ rather than Liberation House.

He also came to the realization that he has to start afresh unlearning and relearning to retool and become biblically effective in his love for the gospel and proclaiming Christ. He humbly left the pulpit to learn under the feet of those whom God has appointed to teach him aright. It is a joy to see his hunger and thirst for righteousness and our prayer to God is for God to sustain his faith and love for His work. A lot of challenges awaits but with God, he and family will surely overcome them all. Three BVBI instructors have begun training him and the church and we covet your prayers for strength and success in this work.

The campaign featured students and faculty of Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja and members of the Churches of Christ, Asokoro and Kado, with a total of 51 participants, consisting of 32 students, 4 faculty, and 15 members of the Churches of Christ Asokoro and Kado. The crew of the Nigeria Gospel Chariot was around for the Open-Air evangelism in the evening.

REPORT:

Activities

The major activities for the campaign were house-to-house preaching and open-air campaign. The house-to-house preaching had over 50 prospects and follow-up. Also, the open-air campaign had one hundred and forty-three (143) participants in attendance, with seven (7) visitors from different denominational churches. Topics such as 'The plan of Salvation,' ‘The Kingdom of God versus the kingdom of men’ and 'Do you understand what you are reading' were discussed during the open-air campaign.

Successes

* Two baptisms, namely Bro Moses Segun and Sis Rejoice Simon were recorded during the worship service on Sunday

* Over 30 prospects indicated interest for further Bible study.

Recommendations:

* Student's schedules to the new congregation for capacity building.

* Immediate follow-up exercise for prospects.

CONCLUSION:

The seed of the word of God had been sown into the hearts of many through the campaign, and many hearts received but few accepted, and consequently there is the need for follow-up and study time with prospects. The good news about the campaign is that the church has come to stay in the community, and members are ready to share the good news.

We give God the glory for the opportunity to be used for His work and special thanks to the students and faculty of Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja and the Elders of the Church of Christ, Kado for their support and participation in the open-air campaign.

Many good activities in Ibadan

Dear fellow ministers of God.

Grace, peace and mercies be multiplied unto you all from God our Father and from Jesus Christ the author and finisher of our faith. Below are report of some of our activities in the Lord from October 31 through November 30,2019.

OVERVIEW:

1.  Gospel meetings, mass evangelism/ Gospel Camp.

2. Vocational Weeks / Break outcome

3.Second Semester Classes Commenced

4.Budget for 2019/20 Academic Session.

GOSPEL MEETINGS. MASS EVANGELISM/ GOSPEL CAMP IN EGBEDA TOWN : We were able to work with Omu-Aran congregation in Kwara State from October 31 through November 3, Ode-Ajagba congregation in Ondo State from November 14 through 17 and with Egbeda congregation in Ajia and Egbeda town from November 22 through 30.We thank the Almighty God for crowning our joint efforts with five conversions and restoration of ten. TO GOD BE THE GLORY !

VOCATIONALWEEKS / BREAK : Our year-1 students engaged in different Vocational training for four weeks while our final year (year -2)students helped their local church in many way such as House-to-house evangelism, open-air preaching, visitation and private indoor Bible Studies with non- members during their four weeks break.

Report reaching us from the students shows the conversion of 14 and restoration of 14 erring Christians.

SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES COMMENCED : All our students reported fully for second semester classes as scheduled on November 18,2019.

Classes for second semester  begins on November 18 through December 20 and January 6 through 31,2020 Lord's willing. The students will be on two weeks break from December 21 through January 4,2020 to enable them participate actively in the end of the year programs in their congregations.

ABOUT A STUDENT: Bro.Oladejo Alabama is one of our final year students. Born in year 1996 and was converted in year 2015.His mission is to be one of the missionary after his tertiary education. He is the only Christian in the family of twelve.

WBS PROGRAM EXTENSION: Our World Bible School Follow Up team extend the recruiting of students for WBS correspondence courses to Offa in Kwara State in the month of November. Four schools were visited by our team and over 1,000 introduction lessons freely distributed and posted to WBSTC %  Bro.Joel Coppinger 

SPECIAL ACCOMPLISHMENT  / SWSE BUILDINGS' PLAN UPGRADED : With the loan of N1,315,000($3,800) we were able to upgrade our school buildings' plan according to the directive of Oyo State Government in the month of November 2019.

UP COMING EVENT : Our 18th Annual Leadership Seminar is coming up Lord's willing on January 27-29,2020. Theme of the seminar is LEADERSHIP FOR CHRIST JESUS and our Guest Speaker is Bro.Chad Wagner

CONCLUSION : Thanks to you all for your assistance in many ways. May the Lord keep us fit in His way till death is our fervent prayers

 Your fellow servant of God,

Makinde E. Olufemi

(The Chief Servant of BVBIN & SWSE, Ibadan)

26 baptisms in Guinea

Gueckedou, Guinea Bear Valley Bible Institute Activity Operations Report for October 2019

To you, our supporters, well-wishers and to those of you who have interest to know what we do here at the Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible school, greetings!

The month of October has ended and though half of it was part of our 3rd quarter break a few interesting things did occur and we are glad to share such things with you. On the over all, it was another month of success both in the classroom and on the field of evangelism where the reactions were not only challenging, but dramatically interesting. On the other hand a thousand dollar donation was made to us to be used where needed in the work. Follow with me for the details outlined below.

Classroom: From our third quarter break, classes were resumed on the 14th October and we completed 2 courses – Christian Ethics and The Book of Revelation. The results were good for the 16 students left on roll. No other event was special.

Evangelism: During the 2 weeks of our evangelism, we visited 3 of the villages where the church is already planted with the aim to strengthen the new converts and to win additional souls. By His grace, the efforts resulted to 10 conversions 2 of which are in the congregation at the school premises. There was another village where we visited and evangelized and there was a good turn up to hear the gospel, but no conversions even though hopes were raised for another visit.

Campaign: Besides the regular campaigns which are on a quarterly basis, Steven, our West Africa Coordinator financed an extra campaign with the sum of $525.00 since September.

We visited and worked in 2 different villages in 7 days – 4 and 3 and converted 16 souls – 10 and 6 in Koundou-toh and Kolifa Ouende respectively.

In the latter, we found 2 members of the Lord’s church one of them was part of the 87 persons, a whole Pentecostal denomination converted in August 1995 in the town of Nongoa where the Lord had brought me (as a refugee) to plant the church and train men to help 2 years earlier.

What was really interesting in Kolifa was the dramatic challenge from 2 forces: A certain young woman was touched by the word and decided for an immediate baptism. The husband, a New Apostolic denomination leader and chief of the village who himself admitted “the message is true” would not allow his wife to make the change. It was a hot debate between them on the question of whether the woman remain his wife and stay in the NA church or accept the baptism and lose the marriage.  Since he was not directly against us or the message, we intervened to help him understand the importance of obeying the truth that “now, today is the day of salvation” (2Cor 6:2) and the danger of becoming a stumbling block. Yet he would not still accept, but the woman was adamant even to the risk of losing the marriage and was urging us to baptize her. After additional effort to plead with the man we accepted the woman’s desire and baptized her. The man made further threats and refused the wife from worshiping with the church. We have since made follow-up visits and seen that no divorce took place, but sister Tewa Leno is in a very sad mood for not being allowed to worship with her brethren. She needs our prayers and encouragement!

The other challenge was from another elderly man, a Muslim who resisted 2 other women, his relatives from accepting Christ because as he put it “this mosque that I am building here is for them!” Consequently, none of them accepted the Lord. We hope God will grant them another opportunity that will be accepted.

A Special Aid: A $1,000.00 check was cashed and forwarded to me for “church building construction work or needed equipment” by brother Ken Stanley of the Florida, Niceville church. The funds were from donations by members of the 9th Ave church of Christ, Alabama for a signed book of Poems written by sister Teas (the mother), in memory of her son, Randy Green, a great World Bible School teacher who has passed on. Randy was the main evangelist though at distance for the planting of the church of Christ in Bomi Hills, Turgmanburg, Liberia through WBS program some 30 years back when we did coursed with him. The funds will be used in one of the areas indicated above. Our appreciations to the sister and the 9th Ave church as a whole.

Conclusion: We are closer to completing the course requirement for the present class. The work on the field of evangelism is tedious, but the results keep us encouraged. A total of 26 persons were baptized this October. The Lord is to be praised for enabling you to support and encourage us in this work. Our appreciations to you all.                                                 

A few photos are attached.     

 Francis

A new school in Lagos Island, Nigeria

REPORT OF THE BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE – LAGOS ISLAND CENTER,  OCTOBER- NOVEMBER 2019.

Greetings from the staff and students of Lagos Island Center of Bear Valley Bible Institute Extension Programme.  

INTRODUCTION:

We once again thank God that we are found worthy to be part of this great work in Nigeria and Africa in general. This is our second month concluded.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES:

Academic activities have started in our center and students have written two exams.  

Writing - Language and Research coordinated by Godwin Frank and

Personal Evangelism 1 taught by James Luka.

Tim Iwe will be teaching the third course starting this Saturday 30th which is Preacher and His Work.

ACCOMPLISHMENT):

Buying of Tables/White Board and Printing of Exam Paper:

We want thank the Director and management of BV for assisting us to get tables for class and a white board. This made our class and exams last weekend very different for we did not pay for rent again. The school also printed questions for exams.

UPCOMING PROGRAM:

 Lagos State churches are looking forward to hosting ‘The Gospel Chariot Evangelism’ come first quarter next year. We look forward to participating in that great programme. More details will be made known as the plan comes up.

CONCLUSION:

This is a great opportunity being trained to serve and involving in training to serve in the Lord’s kingdom. We appreciate your effort in helping churches in other parts of the world to grow and develop, Nigeria inclusive.

Thanks and God bless you.

TIM IWE

Successful alumni evangelism campaign in Malawi

Bear Valley Bible Institute – Ekwendeni

Malawi – November 2019 Report

Introduction

Bear Valley Bible Institute – Ekwendeni in Malawi is dedicated in the work of training faithful men to be preachers who can take the same saving message the apostles taught to other people – 2 Timothy 2:2. We always understand that the gospel should be shared; therefore we make sure we train as many capable men to be good vessels who can be used to carry the gospel to other people. We have this opportunity to train men since 2015.

November has been a busy month of the year and a lot have been achieved. In this report, we will be giving you a feedback of the trip Brother Ephron had and also the interviews Brother Clergynton conducted for our 2020/2021 class. We also had to visit an area called “Tumbwe” – Kasungu the central region of Malawi, where we called some of the students we trained in 2016-2019. We thought sometimes it is not good to just train men and let them go after graduation without following them up to check if they are continuing doing what they have been entrusted. We were encouraged to see the fire burning in them. We conducted a 2 days campaign and the result is outstanding.

Gweru – Zimbabwe

It was in 2017 when brother Donnie suggested that the directors of the three schools in central African have the time visiting each other at lest once in a year. Brother Matthew Muchingami visited Malawi school in June and he taught the book of Revelation. This is the time when we agreed that Ephron will also visit Gweru – Zimbabwe to teach Pastoral Epistles. We want to thank Brother Donnie for helping Ephron with the bus far to travel to Zimbabwe school and back. It was great to see the work our sister school is doing. They are doing a good job. They have good students and lot of congregations are using this opportunity for evangelism work as they call the school to help. Ephron spent one week teaching the Pastoral Epistles and came back encouraged for what the brothers are doing at the school in Zimbabwe. We pray that God will keep blessing the families of our fellow soldiers there for the good work they are doing in the Lord’s kingdom.

2020/2021 intake

Very amazing turn up! We received 40+ application forms from the applicants while we only needed to pick 20. The interviews were conducted in all the regions of Malawi and about 45 men came for the interviews. We have chosen 20, who will be coming to the school in February, 2020. The classes will begin in the second week of February, which will be the 10th of February, 2020. All the preparations are done.

Gospel campaign at Tumbwe – Kasungu (Central Malawi)

After the graduation in September this year, we decided that we start following up the students we have been training since 2015. This year we thought to start with central region of Malawi and great results have been seen in just two days of the meeting with the students. We went just to see how they were doing, but guess what? The students didn’t like seating and just discussing about what they are doing in their congregations. We ended up going in the villages preaching the gospel and the result was very excellent. We witnessed the Lord adding to His flock 5 souls and 8 other souls restored. This means, we had a number of 13 souls saved! We are thankful to God for the students as they preach the “healthy gospel”. It is our prayer that the Almighty God will bless their families as they keep staying focused and being faithful in doing the good work. God will always bless His people – Romans 8:28.

Good news from Brother Richard Wakisa and Oscar Banda

Brother Richard Wakisa is the recent graduate from our school (BVBI – Ekwendeni Malawi). Brother Richard was once a Muslim before he became a Christian. He is such a noble vessel in the Lord’s church. Only in the month of November, he has helped 7 souls be saved, and also about 15 souls restored. He is doing a wonderful job in Karonga far North of Malawi. And also, Brother Oscar Banda is a young Christian man who is looking after the church we established before the students left in September. This congregation started with 51 people and now they are 59, in a week ago he baptized a husband and his wife (2 souls saved). We hope God will continue using these brothers’, help many come to Christ. It is only when the gospel is preached; people are called to Christ – 2 Thessalonians 2:14

Challenges

In this year of 2019, we have had some challenges as we train preachers, the main challenge is “Transportation” this is very important as an institution especially when we have trips going to preaching campaigns. We have been hiring minibuses to travel to preaching campaigns but it is expensive. It would be better if we could have a van at the school. The van can be used as we take students out for preaching campaigns, taking students to hospitals if any is seriously ill and also be used to pick visiting teachers. It is our hope that God will one day remove away our challenge. God is able!

As we always say; on our own we could not reach where we are without the support the Bear Valley Bible Institute International are giving us. We thank God for you! As the door is widely open for the gospel to be preached and train as many people as we can to be faithful gospel preachers, your involvement is still needed. We pray that God will keep blessing your family for the support you give us and the school. Eternity Is Forever, Think Souls!

Your fellow soldiers of Christ,

Ephron & Clergynton

Students gain practical experience in India

We hope that this reporting letter may serve us to convey our greetings, gratitude and thanks to each one of the prayer partners and supporters of Bear Valley Bible Institute, in Tiurpati, A. P. State in India.

According to the BVBI-instruction soon after two months period of class work the students need to be sent out for the one month practical work. Therefore all the students of Bear Valley Bible Institute at Tirupati have been sent out for the field work in the month of November. This one month break is so much useful and helpful for our students to work with their local congregations and with the neighboring churches and earn good  practical experience.

Our students were able to gain well experience how to organize gospel meetings, children classes, youth classes, ladies  classes, home bible studies, leadership classes, holiday bible classes, family counseling, funeral services, marriage ceremonies etc. The local churches were able encourage and nourished  by the preaching and teaching of young men whom we sent out from BVBI. The Third semester has began from December 2nd, 2019 Monday. All the students were able to submit the one month field report to the college. All teachers were able to make correction and given their paper for the second semester.

BVBI at Tirupati has conducted staff meeting and decided about the courses to teach in 3rd semester according the syllabus prescribed by the BVBI.

By partnership with Healing Hands International we are trying to established vegetable garden with innovative methods using raised beds, drip irrigation system, self making compost, building perfect fencing to prevent from the animals like cows, pigs, chickens etc., and cultivating organic healthy vegetables. Students are happy to work few hours in their leisure timings .

All the teachers are mostly preachers of different local churches and they have more than 25 years of preaching experience. We appreciate their dedication to serve in our BVBI.

Lord willing next month BVBI’s  Coordinator Mr. Mark Reynolds and Mr. Damon Vincent are going to visit us and teach few courses.

We thank you so much for your loving cooperation and fervent prayers for the success of the spiritual educational project (Bible College). Please keep on praying for the 3rd Semester.

Thanking you.

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

B.Vijaya Kumar, Behalf of BVBI-Tirupati, India.