Pressing on in India

Reporting letter for the month of November-2020

We convey our warmest greetings to you in the matchless name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. We are ever grateful to you for your continual  prayers  and encouragement. We pray that this reporting letter finds you well spiritually as well as physically.

We are grateful to our international director for devotion which was conducted yesterday, it was rally a thrilling experience for me to see all my brothers who ever involved in this great task of training faith people in all over the world. In fact it was my ambition to have such a meet with all the directors of the BVBI. We  praising God for such a great privilege that we had yesterday. The lesson which was delivered by Mr. Denny Petrillo has given us a great encouragement to fight against Satan and win souls for Christ and train up faith men and women for the  spiritual bottle against the Satan.

Dear brothers , There is cyclone storm effect in India , there is heavy rain continually falling down  for few days but by the grace of God well are safe.

 We have began our classes in the month of September after covid-19 , we try to follow all the necessary covid-19’s  guidelines as per the Indian governmental instructions . By the grace of God we have completed the fifth semester and six semester has been going on  now , in order to cover up and complete the syllabus  we have cancelled the break up period . We appreciate the students and staff for their well cooperation. In the month of November we have completed the gospel according to John and  first John, second John and Third John and Book of Acts and book of  Romans .

Regarding the kitchen garden which was established by the cooperation of Healing Hands International:  The second crop was completed,  again students and staff have involved in doing hard work in order to cultivate and sowing the seeds for the third time crop. We have planted Bitter gourd, Brinjal, Okra ,Onion, Ginger, Bottle gourd, Pumpkin and other Leafy greens. We are grateful to Mr.Carl Burkybile , the director of agriculture  –HHI,  for his great encouragement and guidance for the establishment and  maintenance of the healthy  and organic vegetable garden in India. We grow all the planted in the raised beds , we have 12 beds in our garden. We are happy to share with you that each bed has been taking care of by two students voluntarily, now the garden is clean and healthy.  We not only care for the plants but also the soil given by God.

We once again thankful for all your efforts which you invest for the smooth function of BVBI-project in India, we are need of your continual prayers and encouragement.

Prayer request: Dear brothers , lord willing in the month of January- 15 and 16 -2021 we would like to organize the Bible Seminar , there will be 12 lessons from the book of Proverbs. We humbly request your prayers for the success of the seminar.

Thanking you.

Yours brother in Christ.

Vijay  behalf of BVBI-Tirupati-India.

Making great strides in Zimbabwe

NOVEMBER 2020 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

2020 is coming to an end. It has been a year with a difference due to the COVID pandemic. However, the hand of God has been visible throughout. November was not an exception. God’s guidance continued. We can report on the following;

1.0 SECOND INTAKE

1.1 Graduation

As highlighted in the last report, graduation for our second intake shall take place on the 13th of February 2021. Preparations are in progress.

1.2 EVANGELISM

The graduating class continued with its evangelism efforts in various areas. Seven of the students already have congregations which they are serving as ministers. Three are still to be engaged but are heavily active in their respective congregations. They are available for engagement. The efforts of these graduates-to-be saw 6 souls being added to the church.

2.0 RESUMPTION OF THIRD INTAKE

The third intake which has been doing online classes will be coming for face to face instruction on the 6th of December and break on the 20th of December. Classes will resume on the 6th of January 2021. This will be the first class to undertake their studies at the new site.

3.0 PROJECTS

Two major projects took center stage in the month, that is, poultry and maize project. In December, we are hoping to introduce free range (road runners) and rabbits. The idea is for projects to contribute, in a small way, to the school’s budget, provide food for students, provide life survival skills for students and slowly provide more capital for other projects. This month we report on poultry and the maize project.

3.1 Maize

In the previous reports we highlighted the school’s desire to plant maize and beans on the +/-10 hectares availed to the school. A hectare of maize was planted on the 18th of November. The lack of resources has hampered the planting of more hectares. $4770 was needed to fully utilize the land.

3.2 Poultry

The school’s poultry project continued in the month of November. The batch of 200 birds which we started on the 16th of October began to be sold around the 23rd of November. Due to the scarcity of chicks, we got a batch of 25 and another of 50 on the 27th. The former will be ready around the 25th of December while the latter, around the 8th of January.

4.0 CONSTRUCTION OF TEACHER’S HOUSE

The construction of the much anticipated teacher’s house commenced on the 6th of November. The following stages were successfully done and inspected; setting out, trenching, footing and the box. The two next stages will be to put the slab and then the construction of the superstructure.

Great appreciation to Woodland Oaks for the provision towards this effort and the local brethren for doing the same. Besides the list of families who made contributions as presented in the last report, the following families provided the following amounts;

Chirenda $200

Mukondwa  $10

Maseko $10

Suwari  $80

Muchingami   $100

Toperesu $50

Chimedza $40

Mazambani  $20

CONCLUSION

As reported above, progress continues to be registered on several fronts. The words of Paul in Philippians 4:8 can sum up, for us, the month of November for us:Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.To God be the glory

Successful campaign in Liberia

Bear Valley Bible Institute- Ganta, Liberia Operations Reports- OCTOBER 2020

PROLOGUE

We bring you greetings from the students and staffs in Liberia- Bear Valley Bible Institute, hoping all is well with you and your families in the Lord's name during this very difficult time in your country . We want you know that we continued to remember you in our prayers.

CAMPAIGNS:

I am always happy to announce the wonderful work that is being done by the students and staffs when it comes to Campaigns evangelism. Their zeal for gospel campaigns continued to sent out the good news and make the Lord's church known in the community and beyond. In the month of October, the middle of the rainy season where our roads in Liberia are very terrible and movements becomes difficulty, we still carried out two very successful campaigns supported by brother Steven Ashcraft in the Garrbosin areas were we had the total of twenty four (24) person accepting the gospel of Christ through water baptism.

This campaign also resulted in the restoring of a falling congregation, brought back backsliding members and planted the gospel seed in the hearts of many people who never knew the truth. We are sincerely thankful to Brother Steven and to everyone who continue to supports our campaigns efforts with every dollar you continued to sacrifice. May our God bless you with refund.

WEEKEND EVANGELISM

We are never giving up on our weekend campaigns in Ganta where we have the school located. Our students continued to engaged the communities in Ganta during every weekends in house to house evangelism and distributions of tracks. The administration has made this a requirement from the school to enable our students practice personal evangelism for their future as trained gospel preachers. Their weekend work includes visit to the market places, hospitals and prison. Presentations and reports are made every Monday morning to evaluate their weekend field work. Meanwhile, this effort is not only making the church known or have great impart on prospects they come across, but helping the individual students with great experiences on field work and what to expect in the future of their own ministry.

PASSED STUDENTS VISITED AND THEIR PROGRESS:

In keeping with our goals to train men who will be able to train others also, we have designed a program to keep up with our passed students. This program that is aim at reaching out to our passed students in getting to know what and how they are doing with the work at their locations is being sponsored by a local church brother and his wife, Sister and Brother Nornie. We explained to the Ganta church the need to keep up with the passed students of Bear Valley and they volunteer to provide the transportation needed to check on these preacher and encourage them.

With their help, we were able in October to checked on two of the passed students at where they are preaching. Prince Vonleh and Jefferson Dologbay are both working together in Gbapa town and are doing very well in this villages. Though there are some personal challenges they explained, but they are applying all that they learned from the school. They were all very happy to see us from the school they graduated from visiting them and appreciating them for the work they are doing. One common recommendation they all came up with is the need for the school to go in and evangelize their towns. They both came back with us in Ganta for some gospel tracks. Please keep these young preachers in your prayers.

CONCLUSION:

We are truly grateful to everyone who supports the work of the Bible school here in Liberia. We are sincerely thankful for every dollar you continued to sacrifice for the sake of Christ in Ganta Liberia. Thank you very much. 

Your brother and co-worker in the Lord

Robert P. Dahn, Jr.

Director- BVBI-Liberia

Success and sadness in Kenya

This is KSOP students report for the month of November and early December. This marks the third quarter of the second year of KSOP fourth intake students. We have closed the school on 4th of December, 2020 for the months' holiday.

We had began with 19 students at first, but towards the end of October, one student by the name Kefah Guto had left the school without giving any information as to where he was going. So we have to guess that may be the class has turned to be tough for him or has gone for some work/ business best known to him.

On 30th of Nov.2020, another student by the name Jonathan Asembu died at his home after ailing for some two weeks. He had been the student's' leader for almost two years now. The body will be buried on Tuesday 8th December 2020. His death has surprised us and we ask for prayers. We now have 17 current students.

Before we closed, the students had evangelized the school area and served other local congregations. They had served 14 congregations at the request of local preachers. They made 20 evangelistic trips and as a result had restored 22 individuals back to fellowship with the Lord. They had restored one local church and baptized 21 persons into Christ.

We are looking forward to graduating the 17 students in case they finish up the remaining courses that they will do next year. The graduation day will be March 13th 2021.

We ask for your prayers as we near the end with these students. We also ask for the brethren's prayers for Corona Virus to go down. Thanks to all who have participated in one way or another in supporting KSOP. May the Lord bless you all.

In His service, Elias Omollo

Souls being saved in Zambia

November, 2020

Report

We send greetings to you all brothers and sisters!! We give honor and glory to God who has given us this rare occasion to work in His Kingdom.

Everything is going on well here at Bear Valley Bible Institute – Zambia. All the students have adapted to their first quarter school work. The school could have normally closed by now but we will be closing on the 11th December, 2020. And we will reopen on 8th January, 2021 for the second quarter.

The rainy season is here and very strong. In fact, every day or night it rains for many hours. We could not have allowed our students to go back for the preparation of cultivating their fields. This was due to some adjustments made because of Covid-19. Zambia is still recording few cases of Covid- 19 And Church meeting have already started and members are slowly coming in numbers to attending church worship services. And almost everything has gone back to normal with just few restrictions here and there.

November is the month that is considered as the planting season here in Zambia. This is the time when farmers especially those living in the rural Zambia are engaged in farming activities. It seems as if everyone goes to their field nearly every day. And it is the busiest time of the year, It takes about three to four months from planting and harvesting.

On the other development, we have baptised seven souls (7) and we had thirteen (13) souls who have been restored back to the sheepfold. Working with our Christian brothers in Ndola we had the household of Zachariah Magawa put on Christ on the 14th November, that is husband, wife and a twenty two (22) years old daughter. We have noticed a great development in our new intake with their involvement in preaching and teaching of the message of the cross and our evangelism in Luanshya, Kitwe and Ndola districts has been profitable. We have had three baptisms in Luanshya and One baptism in Kitwe, For the time the students have been here, they have since started exhibiting vital signs of growing into vibrant preachers.

Before the students go for December break, they will be privileged to study The Scheme of Redemption with Brother Kennedy Mukuka. They have so far studied the following courses since they reported for their first quarter: Old Testament 1, English (writing skills), and Cost of Discipleship, How we got the Bible, and Christian Evidences.

The graduation ceremony for our 2020 grandaunts is planned for February, 2021. We wish you a great festival season as we slowly count down to a New Year.

Our hearts are always thankful to Woodland Oaks Church of Christ for financial support and all the encouragement in this noble mission. We pray that God will bless the work that you all are involved in as well. Please stay safe and well!

Brotherly,

Cephas and Fred

Another GREAT year in Malawi!

Bear Valley Bible Institute – Ekwendeni

Malawi – November 2020 Report

Introduction

Bear Valley Bible Institute – Ekwendeni in Malawi is always up to thinking about souls. We do teach preachers to be teachers as well as winning as many souls to Christ as we can – 2 Timothy 2:2. It is now 6 years since the school was established and many great things have been achieved in this year of 2020 despite facing the big challenge of the pandemic. God has been so faithful to us in all situations. We have closed for the rainy season until the third week of February, 2021 when the classes shall resume.

Preaching and Teaching

The teaching work has been successful despite the challenge of the pandemic. We have at least done 15 courses this year and we are closing for the rainy season holiday, happy people. Only from the 7th of September to November we have finished 6 courses. We are thankful as well for the zeal the students have shown in preaching work. They have been preaching door to door and lead many souls to Christ.

2020 achievements

Our God has always been faithful to us. We have at least achieved the things we didn’t expect this year to happen as the pandemic was blocking a lot of things. This year we have managed to finalize the buying of the school land, and also apply for the land lease. All the beacons are put in. We were supposed to start putting in the foundation for the class rooms and the hostels, but we are challenged financially because we have paid for the rentals to the campus we are now renting.

2022/2023 Application forms distributed in all Regions of Malawi

We have started sending out applications to all the regions of Malawi that when the time comes we should just conduct interviews. Many people are asking for the application forms which shows the school reputation is beyond recognition all over Malawi. We are proud of our students that most of the graduates since the school started, are helping congregations in the work of preaching and teaching. Same of the students are hired as preachers in local congregations of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lectureship at Rula-Rumphi (Northern Malawi); 17th to 21st of November

We travelled to Rula—Rumphi on the 17th of November, 2020 where we were invited to teach about “Christian Leadership and Church Autonomy including the work of the church to support their preachers”. The average attendance was 106 people. They liked the lessons and admitted that there’s a great need for the qualified men to serve as elders. The problem of not having elders, has led to continual problems in rural congregations that the church is not growing to its spiritual maturity, hence they have their own leadership which is not recognized in the Bible. The lectureship ended with a preaching door to door which led a soul to Christ. God is good!

As we always say; on our own we could not reach where we are without the support the Bear Valley Bible Institute International is 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 are really grateful. Eternity Is Forever, Think Souls!

Your fellow soldiers of Christ,

Ephron & Clergynton

Mourning in Nigeria

NOVEMBER 2020 FIELD REPORT

Dear fellow soldiers of Christ Jesus.

Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Redeemer ,Jesus Christ, the Author and finisher of our faith. Here is the summary of our November 2020 activities.

OVERVIEW

i- Students one month vocational training/ teaching practice report.

ii- Second Semester Classes begins.

iii- Voice of Truth International.

STUDENTS ONE MONTH VOCATIONAL TRAINING / TEACHING PRACTICE:

The one month vocational training by our year-1 students and Teaching practice by year-2 students from October 17 through November 15 resulted into the conversion of thirty-one and restoration of fifty erring brethren. Bro. Ifeanyi Iyesele, Bro.Akinrinde Sunday, Bro.Daniel Azubuikwe and Bro. Harry Chukwu recorded the highest numbers of five converts each while Bro. Silas Wayne and Bro. Armstrong Pat-Okunbor recorded the highest numbers of restoration.

The year-1 students who were on Vocational Training join hands together with the nearby congregation to their training venue in every weekend evangelism and visitation to the erring brethren which finally resulted into the conversion of souls and restoration of the erring brethren.

SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES BEGINS FOR THE 2020/21 SET:

The second -Semester classes began on November 16,2020 and will come to an end(Lord's willing)on January 22 ,2021 with a week break on December 24 ,2020 through January 3,2021.

16 Year-1 students and 11 Year-2 students returned for the continuation of their training.

VOICE OF TRUTH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 107:

We commenced the free distribution of VOTI volume 107 on November 18,2020. And at the time of this writing, we have shared 5,000 copies of this powerful gospel books to churches of Christ in Nigeria and those in our mailing list including friends of the Lord's Church.

We appreciate the great commitment of Bro.Jerry Bates  and the World Evangelism crew for making funds available for the printing. May the Lord keep on blessing their endeavor is our fervent prayers. Amen.

Also, the report reaching us from over 60% of the recipients of Volume 105 and 106 shows the conversion of 55 souls and restoration of 38 erring brethren across the country of Nigeria between the month of September and November 2020 during the Bible Seminars/lectureships conducted by the Churches of Christ (Using the VOTI 105&106 and WBS & Mission Printing International materials ).Among those restored is Bro.Etim Okon Ukpa of Okurikang town in Akwa-Ibom State by Bro. M.B.Archibong after 37 years of disfellowship.

ABOUT A STUDENT:

Bro. Armstrong Ehiedu Par-Okunbor ,a native of Sapele in Delta State. Born on April 1976 and became a member of the Lord's church in 1990. An holder of Bsc from University of Nigeria, Nsukka in year 2001, MBA from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife in 2014 and Msc from University of Port-Harcourt  River State in 2018. His mission is to become a bonafide minister of God after his graduation in any part of the countr-Nigeria

SPECIAL CHALLENGES:

Due to the economic instability and the rising cost of living in our country-Nigeria. It's now mandatory for the school to balance up the remaining sum of N865,000($2,246)been loaned on September 2019 for the upgrading of the school buildings plan before this year runs out.

We therefore ,humbly appeal to you all to come to our rescue! No amount will be too small or big to help us out! Kindly send your contribution to us through Bro. Steven Ashcraft(Director- BVBID, West Africa Region) or Bro.Chad Wagner (Patron-SWSE,Ibadan,Nigeria & Coordinator of BVBIN)

MISCELLANEOUS :

My aged father (Mr.Makinde Olapade Julius) departed this sinful world for the great beyong on the 6th of November. Similarly, my mother-in-law(Sister Comfort Olowe)also departed this sinful world three months to her 70years birthday in the night of November 9,2020 after a brief illness.

My father will be buried on the 29th of January 2021 in our village Onikokoro-Ibadan while my mother-in-law was committed to mother earth on November 28th 2020 in OSU,Osun State. To God be the glory.

CONCLUSION: We appreciate you all for all your great contributions toward the growth of the Lord's Church in Africa, Nigeria in particular.

May the Lord continue to bless our endeavors in Christ Jesus, amen.

Sincerely His & yours......Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (The chief servant of BVBIN & SWSE,Ibadan )

Pray for Haiti

International School of Theology – Haiti

The work in Haiti continues, even in a year like 2020. The great thing about Christ's message is that even a pandemic cannot stop it from moving forward. Souls continue to be being saved, and in Haiti, the gospel is still being preached.  

Please pray for Haiti. 

COVID-19 has had an impact in Haiti with 9,214 reported cases and 232 deaths. We are thankful that not one of our students or teachers had the virus. While the virus seems to be under control, there have been widespread demonstrations, shootings, and kidnappings. I would say that more than 99% of the people in Haiti are good, hardworking, honest, and kind people. Yet, the 1% make it extremely hard on everyone else.  

During the pandemic, the International School of Theology (IST) has continued to function. The students are meeting, and we are looking to extend the program. We are making plans to start a Saturday school, which will allow preachers and others who cannot attend weekdays to attend on the weekend. At this time, we have twenty-eight students. We have both men and women attending who are eager to grow, learn, and teach others.    

Pray for our efforts, pray for the school, pray for the people of Haiti, and pray the church will continue to grow. We know that God has a plan for the future. We may not see His hand working, but He is. God knows our needs, and He knows how to help us meet those needs. As the Christians say in Haiti, "Bondye Bon," God is good.

Larry Waymire

A new school in Uganda!

It's always my joy to make known to you all the joy and what God has done in our lives since the school began on 2nd November 2020. The school started with the number of 18 students from the expected number of 20 students we had . This is a good start and we thank God for that.

It has been long since the plan of opening the school here in Uganda was set, all things available, but until the right time, it has come to its Genesis. The school is steadily progressing with this good number. We are seeking for your prayers day and night. However in the first week, we did experience some challenges of students getting sick five in number. we thank God they have greatly improved though some are still weak but attending classes and are on medication.

We are having a challenge of books since in each and every course, students need to hand in a term paper which is supposed to be well researched from vivid sources. On the day of the opening I was able to call all teachers who will be teaching different courses to come and see where the school is and let all the students know them at orientation day. men of God came and it was a fantastic day of opening.

The first course unit is already done which was taught by MUHYANA RAIMOND. He has been so good and students have appreciated him for the period of two weeks they have been together in class. he has retired home and brother Christopher has come to take them through HOW WE GOT THE BIBLE.

Students have started on very well and with zeal . Thanks goes to you brother Keith for all the struggle. may God bless you.

Be blessed

Until all have heard

Raymond

Director BVBI UGANDA

Challenging courses in Accra

End of October Report, Accra

Report on programmes and activities held from the beginning to the end of month, October, 2020.

Glory be to God and our Lord Jesus Christ for His providence throughout the month.

INTERNAL ACTIVITIES

Classes

Class activities are effectively ongoing. Currently, all Instructors are continuing with their courses as given to teach (the New Testament Church 2, Book of Acts, Personal Evangelism 2, Old Testament 3, English and ICT).

Brother Steven also took the Bible Geography with the students as part of the short courses. Furthermore, the bachelor’s class came on successfully for four (4) days on Basic Greek, which was taught by brother Steven Ashcraft with a class number of twelve (12) men. Though, it was challenging for the previous meeting but gradually the students picked up.

Students Received their Bibles

Each student received a Bible, i.e. Dickson Teacher’s Bible as a gift to enhance their studies. These were presented by brother Steven.

Students Visitation to churches

All the students visit assigned churches every Sunday being part of their training activities.

Number of Students for full-time class

We have on our record twelve (12) students for the Diploma class. Formerly, they were ten (10) in number whereas two (2) were recently admitted making up twelve (12) in total. Currently, the challenge facing on the attendance is that three (3) have not yet reported since they left for the lock down break. These men have been contacted and the response is that “we will come.” We are patiently waiting on them now and whenever they wish to come. The number for the class now is nine (9).

Advertisement

The administration and her staff are actively advertising for more students who may have the desire to come. We are doing this through the means of visiting the old and new students’ churches, our local congregation and other programmes.

We have been confronted by three (3) media stations who desire that we come and advertise the school. It is in the plan of the administration to check on its possibility.

Student’s Profile

Brother Philip Abruquah is one of our students in Accra who has been appointed as the students’ representative. He is a young man of age 42. He is the evangelist to the church of Christ at Doryumu after his father’s sickness in bed. As he was charged with this responsibility, he started the school in the middle of 2019. He has been one of the active students in class. His church is one of the supporting congregations, which supplies food stuff to the school especially, tilapia, lettuce and tomatoes. According to him, “he had loved the school and its instructors and the sound doctrine held. My prayer is that this continue until the end of the world”

EXTERNAL PROGRAMME

Marriage Ceremony

The school was blessed as the Lord joined couples together in marriage, a male student and a female staff. These were Samuel Arhin Joas and Christiana Adziaka on 24th October, 2020. All the present and past students with Kojo, Daniel Adjei Mensah and I, Samuel Sasu Ntim (reporter) were present. We were grateful that everything went on successfully.

CONCLUSION

We once again appreciate what the Lord has done in our aid for all these times. Glory be unto Him.

Keep praying with us. Stay blessed

Graduation upcoming in Wotutu

Dearest in Christ,

 Greetings from this part of the globe. It is amazing for us to be alive to praise His holy name. God is faithful to us, and we are happy to be by His side. If we look around ourselves and see the things that are happening, we will see that we have no hope for the future. But God is helping us, in every step we make.

We do hope you are doing good with whatever is entrusted in your hands. We keep you in our prayers. Please pray for us.

The week that has just passed went on well in Wotutu. Many are still busy with their farm work as it is the season for tomatoes. Our Bible students are still busy writing end of course research and many other things that will qualify them for leaving the school of preaching and getting into the desert. Keep them in your prayers that they will have good health and wisdom.

Evangelism on house to house, village to village, is still top on our weekly agenda even though with lots of difficulties and stress. We must preach the gospel and we are pushing forward towards the goal to make Jesus known to the world and especially to those in our communities.

Our students will graduate on the 10th of December. We have done our part to make our graduates self-supporting in agriculture, with crops, the keeping of animals, and birds. The big challenge will be for them to have a little bit of capital to get them started.

PLANS

Weekend evangelism continues, as well as our daily morning program which is also evangelistic.

The Annual Lectureship of the churches of Christ in Cameroon comes up on the 26th to 29th of November 2020. Please keep us in your prayers as we go there to help evangelize that area.

APPRECIATIONS

God bless you for all you do and for all of your thoughts towards the work here. God sees and will reward in due season.

Elangwe and family.

By the grace of God.

Director BVBIC-Wotutu

Back on track in India

Reporting letter for the month of September -2020

We greet you in the most holy and precious name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. We pray that this reporting letter finds you good health and doing well. By the grace of God and your prayers we all are doing well. We thank you so much for your love , kindness, concern and encouragement that you provide for the smooth function of our spiritual educational project Bear Valley Bible Institute in India, we treat it as a great blessing of God for the young people in India to train them up for the sake of great commission of our lord Jesus Christ .

Due to covid-19 Indian government has not permitted to run the classes for few months but by the grace of God we were permitted to conduct the classes from the month of September -2020 onwards,  after restarting our classes we could able to complete five courses from our Bear Valley Syllabus(O.T History -balance books  2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah and Ester ), Personal Evangelism, Life of Christ and Book of Hebrews ). All the teachers have done their level best in teaching more effectively and all the students could able to keep the punctuality for attending to the daily classes , performing well in writing their class room notes, memory work, writing their daily assignments and appearing for the week end examinations.

 We are happy to report you that We could able to send some of the students to neighboring local churches for Sunday preaching . We have sent Mr.Kranthi Kumar to Gudur church of Christ, Mr.Praveen kumar to Vidyanagar church of Christ, Mr.Chittibabu preached at Tirupati church of Christ ,Mr.Rajesh Kumar preached at west Godavari-district and etc…the response was so good from the local churches where ever we send our students  for the practical work.

Regarding the benevolence service we have received some fund from Dr. Damon Vincent, we were able to provide Covid-19 ‘s pandemic relief food supplies to 15 blind families and 14 poor families who are belong to our local church.

Regarding our Agriculture Vegetable garden the second time crop has been completed, indeed we enjoyed excellent organic vegetable , we are about to remove the plants and plan for third  time plantation. We are thankful to Healing Hands International for supporting for the establishment of this demonstration garden.

We share with you that ever since we have began our classes all the students and staff members are safe from the virus, we follow the guidelines of covid-19 as per the rules of Indian government for the safety of the students and staff members. We humbly request your continual prayers and encouragement.

Prayer request: The owner of the Bear Valley Institute ‘s building  has announced  building for the sales , if any local man comes  forward and purchase the building we would like to get the building from the new  owner and continue the program in this same building itself by paying the monthly rents as do right now. We need your prayers for these arrangements. In fact this building has been located 25 minutes travel from the Air port, 20 Minutes travel from Railway station, 15 Minutes travel from the Bus station and close to the university  and near to the four line national high way. All the students feel much comfortable concerning this accommodation. We are hoping that even a new owner comes they may allow us to continue the program, we are just living by faith , we need your continual prayers.

Thanking you

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

Vijay&Swarupa , yours co-workers behalf of BVBI-Tirupati, India

Making progress in Ukraine

Dear brethren, congregations and families,

The Bible Institute has a fall break currently. And we will resume the classes on the 9th of November.

This time we were actually able to run a few evangelizing events, and some students were quite encouraged by them. We had planned some street evangelism and made it happen. From the very start it was obvious that it would be extremely difficult to contact people. Many just hurried up when outside and didn't intend to stop and visit, and others, willing to have a conversation, had experienced discomfort visiting with the masks on.

In addition to this effort our student Marianna was very active in a congregation in Kiyv where they were planning on hosting a few young group meetings untied by certain topics.

And one more exciting event took place as well. Our graduate Alexander Rodichev hosted a wonderful youth conference. These kind of happenings are extremely rare this year while the young people need them so badly.

As for our home congregation, we have some good news. A young couple Alexey and Alesya were baptized for the remission of their sins. They have 2 children and one more is on the way. Their way to church is a very interesting story. As a child Alesya was brought up in a boarding school for children from dysfunctional families. Our sister in Christ Tamara would visit her as a teenager and tell her about God. Later on they lost the connection and wouldn't see each other for quite some time. And just recently they reunited again. Alesya and her husband started coming to church. The good news touched their hearts and they decided to make a covenant with the Lord. Just as that, we never know when the seed we are currently planting will come up and bring good fruit. We hope this story will be an encouragement to some evangelists who don't see immediate results of their preaching.

In October our students had Christian Ethics (Instructor Viktor Semikoz) and Intertestament Period (Dennis Sopelnik). In November and December, we are engaging Ukrainian Instructors again but in 2021 some American instructors have plans of joining our program.

We are very appreciative of your care and support. May God keep all of us safe!

Our students and teachers send their greetings and their love.

Your brother and co-worker, Dennis Sopelnik.

More souls saved in Tanzania!

Grace and Peace to you friends.

Ready for a distraction from all of the election chaos? Let me share with you some news from the Lord's work in Tanzania. This will be much more pleasant to think about! Recently I've heard news of at least 19 baptisms and 17 restorations from our brothers in Tanzania. That's the kind of counting that is edifying to do! Some of those baptisms came at the brand new congregation in the Mesarani village. For those of you who have visited Tanzania, Mesarani is the area where the Snake Park is. The Kisongo church has helped to plant this new congregation, and their members have been making weekly efforts at evangelizing this neighboring community.

Meanwhile, the students at the Andrew Connally School of Preaching continue their studies. The first-year students are just finishing up a course on the Intertestimental Period, that 400-year period of scriptural silence after the close of the Old Testament that forms the background and setting for the events of the New Testament. Next door, the second-year students are wrapping up a course on The Preacher's Work, which is a very practical study that plays an important role in preparing an effective evangelist. Speaking of students, let's turn our spotlight to let you meet one of our second-year students who will be graduating soon.

Student Spotlight - Isaya Fredy Mwainyekule
Isaya was raised in a family from a charismatic denomination. From the Kyusa tribe, he was one of seven children in his family. An ACSOP alumnus taught Isaya the gospel in 2012, and forever changed his life. Now Isaya dreams of being a church planter as he serves God with the rest of his days.

Here's what Isaya wants to say to you, "Knowing the pure doctrine was my dream, and now it has been fulfilled. So I really thank all who support this school from the deepest part of my heart, and I pray that God will continue to fill you, with spiritual and physical blessings according to His will."

I join Isaya in being thankful to all of you who give of your resources and through your prayers to make the mission work in Tanzania possible. If you would like to hear an in-person report about the work, then reply to this email and let me know. I would love to come and visit your congregation!

Till all have heard,

Daniel Gaines
Director
Tanzania Missions

Evangelism in Enugu

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE

Enugu Study Centre, Enugu State Nigeria

Bear Valley Bible Institute, Enugu Study Centre resumed on the first week of June 2020 after the relaxing of lockdown caused by COVID-19; 15 students have resumed despite the economic changes after the lockdown.

From the month of June to August 2020, the students have studied and written exams on 3 courses.

The centre had their evangelism by the month of September 2020 to practicalize what they have learnt and the outing was successful; Douglas Street Church of Christ where the BVBI is situated had newly baptized members through the effort of the outings of the students.

We appreciate BVBI of Denver coordinators and resource persons/churches for their great efforts and supports financially, morally and spiritually to all the study centres globally. Also to resource person/persons in Nigeria, we say thank you.

May the good Lord bless and keep you as you continue in this good work in Jesus name Amen.

Report submitted by

Bro. Patrick Makwe

Enugu Study Centre coordinator.

60+ students in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

PROGRESS REPORT FROM BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE PORT HARCOURT  AND AHOADA IN RIVERS STATE NIGERIA WEST AFRICA 

PREAMBLE  

Permit me to begin this report with a profound appreciation to Bear Valley Bible Institute founders and management for their foresight and efforts made to sustain the institution over the years.

The idea of the part - time extension program is a great idea. The extension program had made preachers training possible in the areas like Port Harcourt Rivers state Nigeria. In our area, men and women had been desiring to be trained and equipped to preach the gospel for a long time, due to the absent of a Bible college, congregations in our area resulted to appointing people among them to become preachers without any form of training. This method brought some men and young men who are not properly trained into the pulpit. Untrained preachers had caused a lot of problems to many local congregations in the state due to ignorance of the scriptures and ignorance of preaching ethics.  

A DREAM THAT CAME TRUE

Our dream of having a Bible college came true when we met Bro. Chad Wagner and Bro. Keith Kasarjian. The connection to these men came to us through Brother Mike Udam. Our discussion with the mention people led to the approval of our centre on the month of October 2019. When we wanted to start, we had a large number of applicants who wanted to be trained, due to the large number of applicants we were advised to have two centres in Rivers State which we did. And on November 2019, we started at the two centres. One of the centres is located at the Port Harcourt metropolis and the Rumuokwuta Church of Christ in Port Harcourt is our host. The other centre is located in Ahoada which is about 65km from Port Harcourt town. The church of Christ Ahoada is our host in the Ahoada centre.

NUMBER OF THE STUDENTS AND COURSES TAUGHT IN EACH OF THE CENTRES

In Port Harcourt centre, we started with 33 students but after the Corona Virus 3 month’s lockdown some of our students dropped. Currently, we are having 30 active students in this centre. We had successfully taught and written exams on the following courses:

1.    Life of Christ

2.    How we got our Bible

3.    Christian Evidences

4.    Acts of the Apostles

5.    Homiletics

6.    Personal Evangelism

7.    Hermeneutics

8.    Old Testament (Book of the law)

9.    New Testament Church

In Ahoada centre, we started with 28 students but after the corona virus lock down, we lost one of our students and few others dropped. Presently, we are having 24 active students in Ahoada centre. We had successfully taught and written exams on the following courses

1.    Life of Christ

2.    Acts of the Apostles

3.    Christian Evidences

4.    How we got our bible

5.    Hermeneutics

6.    Homiletics

7.    Old Testament (Book of the law)

8.    New Testament Church

EVANGELISM OUTREACH

Our students are very active in Evangelism in Rivers State. We have participated in various Evangelism programs organized by the local congregations. On the month of March 2020, we located a large community where there is no existing congregation; we mobilized all our students from the two centres and went to the community for two days Evangelism outreach. After the intensive house to house and open air Evangelism, we discovered some members of the church who are living in the community without any congregation to attend and so we started a congregation in the community which is presently growing. After establishing the new congregation, we encouraged one of our students who is living in the community to work as a minister of the new congregation. The young man is doing his best to sustain the congregation. We are appealing to anyone who cares or group of brethren to take up the support of the student preacher who has been working hard without any support. The new congregation need a support also.

On the month of October 2020, our attention was drawn to a large community known as Ogbogu in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area in Rivers State Nigeria. We were informed that the community is very large and have a new congregation which was planted late last year. We were also informed that one of our students in Ahoada centre is struggling to keep the congregation going. On Saturday 31st October 2020 we mobilized all our students from the two centres and some members of nearby congregations in the area to the community for a mega Evangelism outreach. The mandate given to our students by the director before sending them to house to house Evangelism was “go and come back with souls for Christ”. The students went out to houses, streets and market squares, fishing for Christ. After an intensive Evangelism in the community, our students came back with 3 souls, 2 male and 1 female who gave their lives to Christ and they were baptized and added to the church.

As at the time of this report, our students are still rejoicing and celebrating the success of this Evangelism outreach on 31st October 2020.

Bear valley bible institute in Rivers State is marching on unto greatness. We thank all the supporters of the institute for all their support.

This Report is from Anthony Ejike Oluria (Director of studies -  BVBI Port Harcourt and Ahoada centres)    

Temporary setbacks in Zimbabwe

OCTOBER 2020 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

October was a  month filled with several events in the school even as things slowly get back to normal in the country regarding COVID19. Despite one notable setback, a number of activities took place in the month. These are reported below.

1.0 THIRD INTAKE UPDATE

Online classes have been progressing, though at a slow pace. The pace will pick up soon as students are set to come physically on campus from the 5th to the 20th of December and then  resume again normally in early January. The December session would be to cover issues that could not be covered by the online classes. Outstanding examinations will be written in early January

2.0 THE SECOND INTAKE UPDATE

2.1 Evangelism

This class continued with its evangelism efforts. These efforts saw 21 souls being added to the church whilst 2 were restored. This is according to reports from the field. The locations of these students are covered in 2.3 below.

Baptism at Shackleton

2.2 Graduation

This class was supposed to graduate on the 3rd of October, however, due to the present challenges induced by the COVID19 pandemic, the event has to be postponed. The new date is now 13 February 2021.

2.3 Where are they?

Besides the following, there are three others, not listed, who are yet to complete their coursework;

·         Isaac Mupanduki- Isaac is currently working with Bro. George Muhura in Kadoma. A new congregation was recently started at Waverly. This is the second in the town after Rimuka. Beginning in November, Isaac will officially be working with the Waverly congregation as its preacher.

·         Virimai Gandiwa-Currently at Manyame, his home congregation under the tutorship of his preacher, Godwin Marandure. He is yet to be engaged.

·         Takudzwa Chikuni-Currently serving as an associate minister at the Maware congregation in Chikomba District, Mashonaland East.

·         Khulekhani and Thandikile Dube-Besides working with Sipaba congregation in Esigodini, Matebelaland South, the couple is also working with Zimbabwe Missions.

·         Batsirai Tengurachepa- Batsirai  is now the preacher at Redcliff church of Christ, a new congregation that began last year during the school’s field program.

·         Blessing Tiyani- Blessing is currently at his home but working with Mashayamvura congregation in Manicaland.

·         Matthew Adrian Phiri- Matthew is at Alaska, Chinhoyi. He is currently working with his home preacher at Alaska and other congregations. Brother Donivert Khata (the local preacher) works with several congregations which includes Alaska, Shackleton, Mhangura and Piringani among others.  

·         Gray Ndoro-Gray is currently working with the Plasworth congregation. This is the congregation that was recently started at the school’s permanent site. Gray is available for full time engagement anywhere.

·         Charles Muzambi-Charles has is now the resident Minister at Warren Park in Harare.

3.0 LOSS OF SOLAR PANELS

Whilst there was progress on several fronts, we lost solar panels and the control unit to thieves on the 25th of October. This is a major setback to the plans the school was having. These were fitted to a borehole which was providing water to the community for consumption and their livestock. Both the school and the community have been affected greatly. Prior to this event, plans were at an advanced stage to put them on top of the hostel. The matter is now in the hands of the Police and is under investigation. On a positive note, the incident has increased our determination and resolve to increase our presence at the site besides the security system we had put in place.

4.0 AUDIT REPORT

Part of BVBIZ’s values includes transparency and stewardship. To enhance these, the schools books are audited annually. We want to the thank the Board for making this possible. The books were then audited by Brother Brighton Raradza. This report and the recommendations are attached.  

5.0 PROJECTS

5.1 Poultry

BVBIZ targets to have broilers, layers and free range (road runners) as part of its poultry  projects. As reported in our last report, we started a broiler project with 50 birds. This batch was a success. The market was also good. On the 16th of October, we got a batch of 200. This is partly being sponsored by the first batch. This batch will be ready towards the end of November. 

5.2 Maize and beans-land Preparation

As reported in the last report, the school has been offered close to ten (10) hectares for use during this coming planting season which is set to begin in November. If resources were available, we would want to make use of all the available hectares. This will indeed be a game changer in the school as there is a prediction of good rains this season. The vision is to reduce the food budget significantly by planting maize, beans, sunflower and other crops. Maize and sunflowers will also be key to our poultry project. In October, we were able to prepare 2 hectares of land at a cost of US$170. The total needed is $4770 if the school is to make maximum use of the available land.

6.0 TEACHER’S HOUSE-UPDATES

There was great progress in the month of October towards preparations for the construction of the teachers house. 21000 bricks are now on site. 5000 more bricks are still needed. The plan for the house has already been drawn and work is expected to commence around mid-November. Earlier on, the projection was to commence work in January, but since we have received some funds from various sources, work can commence. We appreciate the following donations (both locally and internationally) that have been made so far for this effort.  The following is the list so far;

1.      Chipendo Family $20

2.      Chirenda family $250

3.      Mpofu family $64

4.      Gwena family $20

5.      Nyahada family $100

6.      Woodland Oaks congregation $3000

CONCLUSION

Despite the loss of solar panels, we praise God for the stage that the school reached in the month. BVBIZ could not have reached this far without the unwavering support we have been receiving. Thank you for your moral, spiritual, financial and material support. Together, the world will be won to Christ. We remain grateful to you all. To God be the glory!

Utilizing technology in Peru

Our warmest regards,

As the singer Juan Manuel Moretti says "Things are running their course" dear brothers, things have gotten very difficult in recent months, but we keep moving forward, and that is the path that the Lord Jesus has put us ahead to walk. , and the best of all is that in the middle of whatever comes our way, there he is with us, by our side, encouraging us, strengthening us, extending his hands to hold us when we feel faint and that we can no longer advance more. The lord is good!

One more month has gone, approaching the end of this year 2020, leaving us many troubles, and disappointments, but also many gratifying moments, which continue to encourage us and give us reasons to continue.

As planned, BVBI PERU continues with its activities and events, we have successfully concluded the Church History course, which has been presented by Abraham Alata, our co-director and teacher. Here are a few words from Abraham Alata regarding his Church History class:

"In the course I could see the interest and also the amazement of many to understand what the church was like in its early years and how the changes arose as time passed that contributed to the formation of many doctrines that we contemplate in churches today and how the effort was made to go back to the origins. It was a great experience to be able to share knowledge with the students about the course of Church History".

We have had 3 new students in the course and although their interest has only been for this course, as free students, we are convinced that there are many possibilities that they will decide to enroll in our curricular program. If not, we believe that the experience you have had in this course will result in very good recommendations on your part, to other brothers who are looking for a biblical training center.

We started our webinars through which we try to awaken the interest of people in the classes and the program that the institute offers, as a result of our first webinar we have new students registered in our program, I mean Israel Avendaño, Jerson Chura , Humberto Gonzales, Bartolomé Trujillo, Gerardo Muñoz.

We are ready to start a new course, the speaker this November will be Yens Nima, we will present the course "Paul's letter to the Galatians."

Thank you for taking the time to read these notes on things here at BVBI PERU and stay safe and secure.

Juan Abanto

Agriculture education in Liberia

Greetings Brethren,

It has been a great privileged and blessings to be part of God workforce in teaching the truth in His kingdom here in this part of the world. We are so very grateful for this opportunity to serve. Many thanks to all those making it possible through their willing sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom. So far, all has been moving very well since the reopening of the school after the Corona Virus Pandemic.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Our classroom activities continued smoothly through the month of September which was a very very busy month for everyone, both the instructors and the students had lots to do to cover up for the lost time created by the corona various sickness. Among what the students had to do included the following:

1. Group works

2. Research work

3. Individual Assignments and presentations

4. Daily quizzes and memory works ( Practical and theory).

   5. Cleaning the campus etc

   6. Agriculture practical

   6. Weekend visitations to congregations outside Ganta for practical teaching and preaching experiences etc

OUR COURSES UNDE DISCUSSION ARE AS FOLLOW:

* Life of Christ – Bro. Nathan Tears

• Advance Hermeneutics- Bro. Robert P. Dahn, Jr

• Advance Homiletic- Bro. Robert P. Dahn, Jr.

• The Book of James- Bro. Joel Weah

• Church History – O.D.K. Zakamah

• Old Testament IV (Major Prophets)-Bro. Robert P. Dahn, r.

This quarter ended successfully on the 15th of October.

AGRICILTURE FIELD TRIP

On the 25th of September, our students of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Liberia was taken out on a one day life changing agriculture field trip by their agriculture instructor and some of the staffs to see the farm and set up of Liberia International Christian College (LICC). When they returned, they were made to write a report individually on their field trip experiences and what they wrote melts my heart and I am so thankful for allowing them to go on that trip and to have the experiences they wrote about. At LICC agriculture department, they are seriously involved into animals husbandry and crops productions on a little larger skill.

From the reports written by our students, many of them had not seen live animals before. They were privileged to be taken around the farm by the farm manager of that college. He showed them them all the animals they have there with explanations on how to keep the animals. Our students had the opportunities to have seen animals like the monkeys, snakes, rabbits, pigs, different kind of chickens, different kind of birds, turkeys, crocodiles, different kind of goats, geese, and many more. They were also taken to seen different fish pools and had a lecture on how to create a fish pool and a pig pan. They were also taken to the crops farms and plantations to see how many different crops are planted and maintained. They also saw the Bee farm and were taken through the process of Bee keeping for the honey. Their field trip ended with a running race among them and student Winston Carrick won the race and was given a bottle full of honey. This was truly a life changing experience for our preacher students and I am so happy for them. Meanwhile, they have started practicalizing some of the things they learned from the field trip in the school.

CONCLUSION:

We are truly grateful to everyone who supports the work of the Bible school here in Liberia. We are sincerely thankful for every dollar you continued to sacrifice for the sake of Christ in Ganta Liberia. Thank you very much.

Your brother and co-worker in the Lord

Robert P. Dahn, Jr.

Director- BVBI-L

Graduation in Fiji

Another academic year has come to a close. We have had our third graduation at the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa. On Saturday, 31 October, 2020, we honored six students who have successfully completed a rigorous program consisting of 48 classes covering every book of the Bible. Their studies also included several classes on Bible related subjects like Greek, Christian Evidences, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Hermeneutics, Scheme of Redemption, and Critical Thinking, etc. This year’s graduates are:

Moira Lyn Lee

Irava Etika Mesulama

Movono Rokotuivalu

Nanise Carol Tera Sailo

Jacinta Saurara

Lesio Soko Saurara

With covid19 travel restrictions, we were not able to get any guest speakers from the U.S. But thanks to the marvels of modern technology we were able to have video presentations by Terry Pafford, an elder in Midland, TX, Keith Kasarjian, director of international studies at Bear Valley Bible Institute International, and Dr. Denny Petrillo, President of Bear Valley Bible Institute. These all gave timely and encouraging charges to our graduates, students, and staff. Also, Lesio gave a very encouraging message on what the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa means to him.

The services were well attended by the families and friends of our graduates. Sharon Nakabea, a student in our night program, donated a beautiful cake that was served at a reception held in honor of our graduates.

To God be the praise and the glory!

Rocco Pierce
Director