Good in Guinea

Gueckedou, Guinea BVBI Activity Operations Report for Sept 2021

We bring you greetings from the Gueckedou, Guinea Bear Valley Bible Institute in the name of Christ.

After another 30 days of classroom and outdoor activity, we feel compel to give you an update of events that took place here during the month of September 2021. On the overall it was well with all 14 students going through their courses and with a good result of a 10 days “special evangelistic campaign” in 3 different areas. Here are the details below.

Classroom: During September our students completed the required courses bringing up good results with the least of them being on average. There were some students who reported a little late from their second quarter break for which reason they were assign some extra work to cover up. To this date we still have 14 students on roll.

Evangelism: Our evangelistic effort did not yield as much fruit this month as in the previous except that we were encouraged by the warm reception of some prospects and that is what gives us hope for the future.

Special Campaign: Our failure to convert souls during September-evangelism as compared to previous months was the occasion to invest more energy into a special evangelistic campaign supported by certain ones who invest uniquely in this area of gospel work for soul saving. It was in the month of July when our Coordinator wired some amount of funds for “special needs” one of it being this special campaign. A 10 days period was allocated and planned to visit some 4 villages, 2 of which were new areas. In the later, we succeeded to start 2 congregations by 7 and 4 baptisms. Then 3 baptisms in each of the other 2 villages with existing congregations. In all this “special evangelistic campaign” resulted to 14 baptisms.

Conclusion: There were not many activities during September and results in some of the areas did not fully meet our expectations. However, with your prayers and support we were able to accomplish the above including the 14 souls converted during the month under review.

Thanks to you all.

Francis

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Saving souls in Mbanga

The world is a place of transit, and children of God are called upon to live in it as pilgrims, believing that someday we shall be with Christ in our celestial home. We bring salutations from the country-side of Mbanga from where the gospel is going to French Cameroonians and to other parts of French Africa. We are glad to be a part of this great work that is going on in the world and in Cameroon in particular. It is clear that the work of God is a noble vocation which brings people from one end to another. Today we bring you another report from Mbanga Balong and the BVBIC-Mbanga school of preaching. We also bring you a report from our various mission fields.

Firstly, we are happy to bring to you information that our students are doing well with their studies even though some of them are going through serious health crises. Our school nurse is doing his best. With some cases, he will refer them to the hospital. Never-the-less, we are already in the third semester and by December, it will be time for internship and visitation. Prayers of the faithful are needed to accompany our brothers who are student preachers to the end.

Mission work and internship in the month of September was great as our twenty students went into thirteen different fields for campaign and evangelism. The field is ripe but the labourers are few. Even though our terrain is a difficult one, we want to reassure you that our God can do what no man can do. Within the space of 2 weeks, and 3 for those who decided to spend their resting week in the same village or town and to continue with the work of God, about 152 persons heard the word of God on one to one evangelism and the door to door evangelism methods.

It was great as about 12 souls were added into the Lord’s church, and 3 were restored, making a total of 15 souls. Let the name of the Lord be glorified! We also used our graduates to work with them in their congratulations and in their new fields of work which yielded the establishment of a new congregation in Bafia town. The sound-system was also used in public to send out the sound message in Mbouda during this mission trip.

Immediately upon the return of the students on the 8th of September, we went out with the students again for another mission trip which gave birth to 4 new souls that were added to the kingdom of God.

It was also a great joy as I was able to preach the gospel to these women in the village of Kotto where a sister who ran away from the Matoh assembly due to the ongoing crisis invited us for church planting. I thought it wise to go and visit the area for visibility studies. I have found that the land is spiritually fertile and is ready to host the men for implantation. We are still doing our best to see that the work grows.

We are now putting up a temporal building in Loum after a long struggle with a place of worship. God is blessing our few Christians over there. We praise God almighty for blessing us.

Up-coming events.

**- Moungo Zonal Lectureship, (Kake Douala)

**- Francophone Zonal Sister’s Seminar, (Mbanga Balong)

- Annual Gospel Seminar, (Limbe New Town) **

Thank you all for reading this report.

Your fellow servant.

Ititi Benedict

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Great classes in Nsawam

BVBI, NSAWAM End of Third Quarter Report July, Aug., Sept.2021 Introduction

This is to report the various activities that were carried out and completed in the third (3rd) quarter - July, August, and September respectively.

Course Schedule & Instructors other relevant activities

To begin with, a recap of courses scheduled were Denominational Doctrine, Leadership, and Epistles of 1 & 2 Peter. To bring to the notice, the first two courses were taught by Brother E. O. Larbi and the Epistles of Peter were being taught by Brother Kwabena Gyan-Mante. There was a weekly campaign organized and accomplished successfully.

Class Activities

The courses above were taught successfully as scheduled above with their instructors. Contact hours were met as required. The instructor, who is not able to attend up class as scheduled, normally reschedules to meet the contact hours. Exams were conducted at the end of each course and marks were recorded.

Campaign & Other Activities

A follow-up campaign activity was scheduled at Obeyeyie Congregation in Accra. This church was planted by the 2nd Batch students of Bear Valley Bible Institute Accra and is handled by one of our students by the name Emmanuel Yaw Asiaw Aidoo. This was organized in such a way that all the students took part in the campaign (i.e. weekly).

A Visit to Adoagyiri Church Evangelist

As we train faithful preachers, we get good outcomes. As part of the ministry, the students organized a visit to check on a sick evangelist by the name of brother Frank John Ntim, who has been ill for about one and half years. He is the evangelist for the Adoagyiri congregation for more than 30 years. This congregation is where the weekend school is currently residing. The students visited him, exhorted him, sang some hymns, prayed, and presented gifts and money for his upkeep.

We, therefore, request that you remember Brother Frank in your daily prayer that the Lord may grant him the strength to further his work.

The library has been provided

As I reported in my previous report on the need for library and study books for children, we are grateful to have you informed that our requests have been attended to. Now, students and instructors can visit the library for their studies.

Student’s Profile

Emmanuel Yaw Asiaw Aidoo is a student at Nsawam Weekend School. He is married to a beautiful lady by the name of Shtina Ampofoa Baidoo just last year and is blessed with one newborn baby. The wife is a believer. Emmanuel has been in the faith for a long time. He is counted among the brilliant students. He loves to debate, writing articles, he strongly stands against false doctrines when some members of the church intend to post on the media and defends the truth with necessary facts. He is currently helping the preaching work at the Obeyeyie church we recently followed up on for the campaign. Currently, the members are about sixteen (16). He loves to do the work of the Lord as much as he can offer.

We are grateful to the Lord that we have faithful men in the school and help the church in diverse ways. It is our prayer that the Lord will grant them the needed understanding to defend against false doctrines and help the progress of the school.

Next Quarter Time Table

In our next academic quarter class and other activities, it is scheduled that in October we shall study Research and Writing in the MLA Format, Instructor: George Osafo; November – Elementary Greek: Samuel Sasu Ntim; December – Campaign at Obeyeyie Congregation.

Conclusion

We shall always thank our God Jesus Christ who has been making everything necessary and successfully completing activities in this quarter.

To God be the glory.

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Kasoa needs an additional school

KASOA 3rd Quarter Report July August September 2021

So soon we are left with three months to see another year. The Lord Has been good to us as none of our students nor anyone we know is affected by the virus. As we continue to observe the necessary protocols, we pray God to continue to guard and bless us. We also thank God for the love of our spiritual partners as they continue to support the Lord’s here in Ghana and particularly in Kasoa.

SCHOOL IN KASOA

Kasoa is densely populated town and we have over fifty congregations of the Lord’s Church in this town. So, the school in this location is timely as we need more workers for the Lord. The School started with nine students is now having nineteen with five more waiting to be admitted.

The school currently meets in the church premises of Papaase Number 2 congregation where their average attendance is 200. This vicinity is six miles north of Kasoa and we have secured a place in the middle of Kasoa to have a second school.

STUDENTS AND ACADEMICAL WORK

We have an average of 17 students out of the total of 19, meeting weekly for classes and all have done their work assigned to them and also the class work. All of them are leaders in their respective congregations. The one lady among them is the women’s teacher in the congregation she worships. These men are better preparing themselves to take up the responsibility of being preachers for the congregations they are members of, some having been leaders for many years.

The following are the regular instructors for the school in Kasoa: Kojo Acquah Beenyi, the director, Roger Asante, Amo Gyimah. Daniel Adjei Mensah, the director at the Tamale school has also taught a course for us.

CAMPAIGN/EVANGELISM

The second campaign for this year was held at Kasoa Ofaakor. It was a week-long from Monday to Sunday. Several Gospel materials from Mission Printing and Bobby Dockery were freely given out and the great message of Christ was proclaimed. Day time Bible studies were done daily and open air preaching were done each night. Daily dawn preaching was also done. Eleven (11) souls were won for the Lord. There were many prospects who signed our forms for follow up, hopefully some more will respond to the call of Christ to be His disciple. The students’ body also reported of 13 baptisms for the months of July, August and September in their work in their congregations.

STUDENT OF THE QUARTER

Daniel Kwadwo Nkrumah is one of our students in Kasoa. He is the students’ leader and keeps the records of the class. Daniel is 44 years and he is married with five children. Daniel has been a Christian for the past 26 years and has been a leader in the Lord’s church for many years. He has also been the Evangelism leader as well as a Songs leader.

He works as a Metal Fabricator and owns his business that helps feed his family as well as makes a living. His helped with the metal works when the church he fellowshipped with was putting up the meeting place.

Currently he preaches for Ofaakor congregation with is four miles north of Kasoa. Ofaakor congregation has an average attendance of 66. This is a small but is a vibrant congregation that has existed for the past eleven (11) years.

Daniel thinks the School in Kasoa is a brilliant idea as that has helped him as a worker to be able to work and be in school at the same time to better his knowledge in the Lord and also better equip himself for the Lord’s work and also to save soul.

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Sad news from Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, congregations and families,

I will start my September-October newsletter with the sad news. On October 13th our brother, the Minister of Brovary Church of Christ and Bear Valley Bible Institute in Ukraine Instructor Andrew Zhuravlev passed away. He had been one of the first students in the program in the end of 1990s, later he completed the Masters' program and had been educating our students for over 20 years. He was my close friend. His son Iliya graduated from the program this year and now serves as a youth minister in that congregation. On the one hand, it was a tremendous loss for the Church in Ukraine, on the other hand, he is in the house of our Heavenly Father. The official records stated that the cause of death was coronavirus that damaged his lungs in a couple of weeks. We believe that the doctors did everything they could have but God had His own plans. We ask you to pray for Andrew's family, his wife Veronica and his son, as well as the congregation in Brovary.

The school year at the Institute started in September. I will briefly remind you that we have 4 students. All of them are quite young and as we hope will become the future of the Church. The first course was Homiletics, taught by our Instructor Stanislav Kuropyatnikov. Later we enjoyed the visit of Terry Harmon, the Bear Valley Ukraine coordinator. He taught Christian Evidences. In the end of the month Jim Sherman arrived and taught two courses - Family Life and the Plan of Salvation.

In the end of September, we had a very nice gathering of the Bible Institute graduates. It was splendid, with about 30 guests from all parts of Ukraine. We had great lessons on the Church's Growth, a lot of fellowship and encouragement. During the most recent years the world's changed noticeably and this kind of event was extremely needed as we have not had any meetings for quite a while.

Currently the active covid cases are on the rise in Ukraine. Some regions have been declared red zones again. It means that the certain restrictions will be implemented. So the visits of our American Instructors were very timely. Both Terry and Jim made it home safely and are getting ready to come back next year.

There is a very uplifting news from our Instructor Stanislav Kuropyatnikov who just had a newborn son. Stanislav is a very faithful brother who ministers in the city of Lviv and helps us too in many ways. His family is a blessing for us all and we request prayers on their behalf.

May God bless you! Thank you for your support and continuous prayers. The Church in Ukraine needs leaders trained in the sound doctrine. We all work towards the strengthening and growth of the Church.

Your brother in Christ,

Dennis Sopelnik

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Mission Printing appreciated in Cameroon

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from this end. We are doing good and we do hope you are doing good as well. I am sorry for the break of sending reports as I used to do. The internet was down in my area and there was no way to travel to another town to get my reports going.

For the weeks that have passed, the students were on mission work and vacation for the third quarter which was like a break to me too. But as I write this report now, all is back in place. The students are all back on campus and life and training are back to normal.

Our students went through difficult earth roads to make it to different mission fields during the last outing from Wotutu. Welisane John went to a village called Lokando 2. We received the “Macedonian call” about that dying congregation. He was there even during his vacation to encourage and to bring the Christians back to the fold so that they can start worshipping again.

In spite of the difficulties faced on the road, God granted journey mercies to all the students and they arrived at their different destinations safe and sound. They went to work with house-to-house evangelism, and house-to-house encouragement for the Christians. They go everywhere with our tradition of opening the Bible so that the prospect will read the word live and direct.

After all of the hurdles in the field, students are all back to school, and the training continues. But, many of them came back sick because of the climatic and other conditions they faced there. Our nurse is still not completely well from her back surgery, so they are not looked after in the school, but have to see doctors in town for medical attention to keep them feeling well.

We were blessed again with another ocean container from Mission Printing with selected tracts and with many other materials for the work here. We send forth many appreciations to Mission Printing and all the volunteers who made this possible. We have arranged them according to their kind and we are ready for distribution which will have a different format from the previous times. God bless Mission Printing!

In the container, elder Richard Renfro always makes special boxes for preachers. Each box contains books and many other good materials that the preacher can use to build up his personal library. This time our current students benefited first while the rest of the boxes will go to other preachers who have never taken a preacher box from our previous shipments.

The distribution is already on and it will go far and wide from our new Mission Printing to our new tract building in Wotutu Cameroon to towns and villages all over the country of Cameroon. Some French tracts will be shipped from Cameroon to Tchad as well. Please keep our efforts in your prayers.

PLANS

We are invited for a mass evangelism in Kake congregation in the French speaking area by the end of the month.Weekend evangelism continues every week in Bear Valley Bible Institute Cameroon - Wotutu.

Thank you very much for all the prayers and support that helps to keep this work going amidst all of the trouble in the world. God bless you all. Please share our report with others around you.

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Classes resume in Kenya

We at KSOP have resumed classes for the fourth quarter as from 25th of October 2021. The number of students as at now is 16 including Kefa Guto who didn't get to finish the last intake but came back to take the courses he skipped and also replaces Gerald whom we dismissed due to misconduct.

This time round we have 4 local teachers who'll teach 7 courses in total. Joining Charles and Elias will be Nixon Ochieng and John Paul. Courses to be taught are: Old Testament Four (study of the historical books), I Samuel - II Chronicles, Church planting, I & II Peter and Jude, Life Of Christ Four (The Gospel According to Luke), Old Testament Five (Study of Historical Books, Ezra - Esther), World Religions, and Church History. During the holidays our current students served 15 local Congregations, went to 12 evangelical trips, attended 7 Gospel Meetings organized by local Churches, restored 11 individuals, helped plant one new local congregation and baptized 18 new converts.

This time we pray, that despite the Covid-19 effects in the whole world, that God will still open doors and bless us with funds to send the students to the local Congregations for the service of the Lord. More so, we pray that if possible, we may get funds to conduct at least one gospel meeting every quarter, where all students can be involved in evangelizing, and teach in the seminars. This will help them to put into practice what they have been learning in class hence promoting their spiritual growth. We give thanks to God almighty who has been our stronghold up to this far, and all the brethren who have contributed generously to this endeavor. God bless you all!

Your Brother, Elias Owana Omollo

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

A new school campaign

BVBI, NIGERIA-WARRI EVANGELISM REPORT, OCTOBER, 2021

With gratitude to our father the Almighty, and to the Bear Valley Bible Institute International for giving us this great platform to be of service to the Lord, we use this opportunity to give a brief report of the maiden evangelism outreach carried out by the students of the Bear Valley Bible Institute, Nigeria-Warri.

On Saturday, 9th October, 2021 the Bear Valley Bible Institute, Nigeria-Warri students, went for their maiden evangelism outreach at Ovwor-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State. After the preaching exercise, we worshipped with the very small rural congregation on Sunday 10th October, 2021 and three (3) souls were baptized to the glory of God. Please commit the students, the very small congregation and the young converts to God in prayer.

Osita Daniel Onuora Director

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Improvement in Peru

Greetings from Lima, Peru

We hope that all of you are doing well with God´s favor. May the grace of our Lord be always with you.

Last month we have finished the life of Christ IV with brother Abraham the students were very encouraged and asked for titles of the books to continue learning about Jesus' last days. They were given a list of textbooks for them to buy and they were shared some pdf articles.
We had a webinar as we always do to present the new course, Hebrews, in charge of brother Juan Abanto.

Churches are starting to gather together and as part of that, some of our students are doing some evangelistic work as well as some preaching and teaching in their local congregations while some others are still attending church meetings through zoom or Facebook.

As you all know we have been facing difficult times here the good news is that nowadays most of the adults and young people are already vaccinated which makes people more receptive to get involved in activities for that reason we have decided to return to our face to face class starting in January. We have great expectations for next year. We will have a couple of meetings this Saturday and the next one to talk about the school, the students, new prospects, and the goals for next year. We will inform you about the plans for next year.

Keep us in your prayers

Posted on November 8, 2021 .

Student activities in Zimbabwe

SEPTEMBER 2021 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This commission remains alive at BVBIZ as all efforts are geared towards equipping faithful men and women for this cause. In the month of September, BVBIZ continued to advance this agenda in a variety ways. These are covered below;

1.0 TERM BEGINS

A new term began on the 13th of September. All students came back from the short break that they had. This term marks the second year for this intake. The following subjects are going to be taught this term

Sign Language

Church History

Computer Studies

Marriage and Family Life

Community Development and Poverty Alleviation

Church Leadership

Homiletics II (Advanced Homiletics)

1, 2,3 John

Christian Spiritual Formation

Research Methods

Greek 1

Following the purchase of some laptops and desktops for students in August, computer studies commenced in September. Great appreciation to one of our board members, Hailey Mhlangeni for working flat out so that this subject becomes a reality. He blessed the school with Nathan Kuchena, the Technician at Amazon in Filabusi to take students through part of the subject for a whole week.

2.0 GRADUATION AND OFFICIAL OPENING UPDATE

BVBIZ’s 2018 class shall be graduating on the 16th of October. This class was supposed to graduate last year in October but the Covid pandemic derailed all plans. This class will be joined in their pass out by the students who were in the school’s parallel program (part time). These had reached their 4th year of study.

The festivities shall commence with a brief Annual General Meeting at 9am and then followed by an official opening of the site and finally the graduation ceremony.

3.0 FIELD PROGRAM STATISTICS

The field program has come and gone. Students worked under difficult conditions induced by the covid pandemic. A lot of creativity was demanded from the students in the various areas that they were posted to. Great appreciation goes to the various congregation that accommodated, transported and fed our students. Great appreciation also goes to Nashville church of Christ for chipping in with foodstuffs and toiletries for the students who were at  Plasworth and Lot 64.

3.1 What they said

Whilst we greatly appreciate the sacrifices made by the hosting congregations in feeding, some meeting transport costs and providing accommodation, a lot of feedback came to the school. In this report we include only three;

Much thanks to the school for the job well done through what we witnessed in the students who were attached at the Mashava congregation. They are well equipped for the work and we appreciate. We will be happy to have them again (by Isheanesu Masvaya, the preacher at Mashava).

Marenga church of Christ would like to thank you for the services provided by the two student preachers, Thomas Musongora and Carlos Chandipa. They did evangelism, baptized and even moulded bricks for the church building. We liked their stay and also hope that they learnt and enjoyed (from Wellington Makumbe Matsveru, a deacon at Marenga).

We are deeply grateful and indebted for the sterling work done by the student preachers during their 40 day attachment. They achieved so much and made impact within this short period (From Tawanda Chimedza, the preacher at Chiware church of Christ).

4.0 APRRECIATION TO A WORTHY SERVANT

Since May 2020 when the school moved from its rented facility to the permanent site, there is one man, a 2018 student, among others, who worked hard for BVBIZ. He moved to the site even when some basic amenities were not there. His vision was to be a preacher cum farmer. We allowed him to stay as long as he wished till his desire to enrol in an agricultural college is fulfilled.  He became the man on ground since there are no houses to accommodate the teachers. Everything that needed to be done, he was a call away. His was a sacrifice for what he believes and  for the school he loves. When the Plasworth congregation began at the school site, he became its minister. He was not being paid for his services. It was for God.  Furthermore, he ran the schools poultry project since its inception last year to the present together with general maintenance of the site. In this report, we give him tribute. His name is Gray Ndoro. He left for Rio Tinto Agricultural College on the 19th of September whilst the school and church made a farewell ceremony for him on the 18th. BVBIZ wishes him well.

5.0 PROJECTS

BVBIZ continues to advance itself in projects. The intention being to gradually resource the school and at the same time empower and inculcate life survival skills in students.

5.1 POULTRY

Currently, there are three batches of broilers in the school.  Two students are allocated a batch to work with.  This is done on a rotational bases. This method is intended to inculcate life survival skills within them. Together with other life  survival skills being made, each student will, therefore, graduate with hands on experience in many areas.

5.2 LAND PREPARATION FOR PLANTING SEASON

Preparation for this coming planting season is underway. Almost a hectare of land at the school’s site was worked on. Disking will be  done soon. This is was a virgin area full of rocks and trees. This brings the total tilled land to two and half hectares. The hope is to plant maize, beans, sweet potatoes and a bit of sunflower. Great appreciation to brother Donnie Estep for providing the funds to work on this virgin land.

6.0 LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP

One of BVBIZ’s greatest strengths is leadership training and development. The school welcomes congregations who wish to benefit from this. Kadoma congregation took the step and came for a training workshop on the 17th of September. Several topics that impact on the leader and leadership were covered in the workshop.

CONCLUSION

BVBIZ remains grateful to our partners far and wide for their unwavering support. With this support, students continue to be trained and souls won to Christ whilst efforts continue to be put in to keep the saved saved.  The next report you shall be reading from us shall be focusing on the graduation, AGM and official opening ceremonies that shall take place on the 16th of October 2021. To God be the glory.

Posted on October 9, 2021 .

New students in India

Reporting Letter for the month of September-2021

Respected International Director of Bible Studies Mr. Keith Kasarjian and our Coordinator Mr. Mark Reynolds and all the prayer partners we extend our greetings to you in the most holy and precious name of Jesus Christ. We pray that this reporting letter finds you good health.

Students Field work:- In the month of September our students were in the field for the practical work learning. India church leaders just admire the BVBI system in sending the students  from the  class room learning into the filed work learning for every two months (each semester). For the sake of field work we have connected the students with different local preachers in different places for their out door field work , we instructed the students to submit their filed reports when they come back to the college.

New Souls:- We are happy to report you that from January to September 38 souls were baptized, in the month of September 9 souls were baptized . The old student Mr. Ramanapadal has reported that he has baptized one soul , he lives in hills side and working among the tribal people, the other  student Mr.Kranthikumar has converted two souls. we request you to pray for the new souls that they may grow in the image of His son Jesus Christ

Bible Camp for the Blind People:- In the month of September 18th  we have conducted a special camp for the visually challenged people.  By the grace of God we have provided 50 audio bible to 50 visually challenged people. Two blind people were baptized and added to the body of Christ.

Teachers day:- We are happy to report you that KGBV Girls school has invited us for the teachers day on September  5th . We have encouraged them to train up the children and cultivate  school children with quality of character . We have distributed small gifts to the school staff and encouraged them.

Preachers meetings:- In the Month of September 25th we have conducted local preachers leadership class. We encouraged them to reach unreached souls and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Vidyanagar Church has provided afternoon lunch to all the preachers.

Visiting Prakasam District:- We have travelled about 900 K.M and visited other district on September 13th,  one of the local preacher  has invited  for his son’s marriage. I was given opportunity to lead the wedding event, our students could able to lead few songs, on the way we have visited Kavali and preached in their thanks giving meeting.

Newly planted local church :- we have conducted five days back to the bible classes in the village called Poolathotamitta, this is the native place of my wife Swarupa.  In this village we have planted local church, each Sunday 30 to 35 people are gathering for the worship service.

Women Bible Seminar:-  We  are praying and planning for organizing Christian Growth Bible Seminar for Women on 15th and 16th of this month . We have invited 12 sisters who are preachers wives for this seminar to preach the word of God. We have selected The Theme from Galatians 5:22 “Fruit of the Spirit”. We are thankful to Dr. Damon Vincent for his encouragement and generosity to provide the material freely. We expect 150 ladies for this two days Bible Seminar. We request you to pray for the seminar.

Second semester for the second Batch students:- We have began our second semester for this second batch students. We have prepared every things for the smooth and success of the their class room work.

A.G.Gardens:- We have established Agricultural Gardens at BVBI, Poolathota-Village, KGBV-School. One more will be under construction at D.V.Sathram.

Covid-19 situation :- The Covid-19 problem is still hunting the Indian people, there are  few children in the KGBV-school have been infected , many more people have been infected in our city. We request you to pray for our students, teaching faculty, non-teaching faculty and members of our local church.

We are thankful to our International director and coordinator for their dedication  for the establishment of BVBI-extension centre in India. We praise God for the great opportunity given to us to serve for the cultivation of young people India for purpose of   great commission of Jesus Christ. We express our gratitude and sincerely thankful for all their efforts and encouragement.

Thanking you.

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

Vijay&Swarupa, Behalf of BVB-extension Centre , Tirupati-India

Posted on October 8, 2021 .

Alumni doing well in Zambia

Introduction

We send greetings to you brothers and sisters in the lord, we wish you God’s blessing as you labor in His vineyard. We are as delighted as we send this report for the activities in the month of September.

As the students continue learning from the courses that given to them at Bear Valley Bible Institute- Zambia, we can see the evidence of their spiritual growth. The fourth quarter’s courses include the one on “Personal Evangelism 2” which is being taught by Cephas Mwamba. In the first quarter they were taught “Personal evangelism 1” which had an emphasis on how to conduct a Bible study one on one. This quarter the emphasis is placed on church planting. Hence, courses like these become vitally important because they will eventually help them in their life of preaching once they graduate.

I.        Major Activities

A.      Evangelism

i. The students have continued with their personal evangelism practical. They have paired themselves to do door knocking and reach out to people on the street and the surrounding communities. These practical are only done during the weekends because during the weekdays they are busy with studies and other school assignments.

ii.       Bible studies

We are very happy to report that that each pair of these students have managed to set up some Bible studies with some people they have preached to.

Boyd Kalaba and Daniel Kapata, students of BVBI-Zambia have continued conducting Bible studies on Thursday afternoons at one of the members of the church near the campus.

B.      Baptisms

i. We have recorded twenty-one (21) baptisms in the month of October and one (01) congregation established. We are working extra hard to establish another new congregation next month in Masaiti district on the Copperbelt province.

C.      Restorations

i.  We have also recorded seventeen (17) restorations, six on the Copperbelt Churches of Christ, three in the Luapula province, and four in Lusaka’s Mtendere where Simon Nkhazi our former student is currently preaching. We have also recorded two in Kabwe Central province.

II.  Statement on covid-19 in Zambia

i.  We have a very encouraging report on covid-19 status by the Africa center for Disease control and prevention. Their report implies that Zambia is experiencing low covid-19 transmission. Encouragingly, Zambia has also been removed from high risk status by some countries and we are confident that soon others will follow suit.

ii.  Following the reduced transmission of covid-19 in Zambia, government has decided to lift the restrictions for the next one month which started on 2nd October 2021.

iii. With the situation above, we will continue to do more evangelism whenever we have opportunity. We will always adhere to the prescribed covid-19 public health measures.

III.   Goals for the upcoming month

As we knock the doors, preach on the streets and reach out in our communities our goal is to reach out to as many people as possible. We believe that the “world” Jesus Christ was talking about starts next door. We have planned to go for a four days gospel campaign trip at Chibwe Church of Christ. This place is about 18 km (11 miles) from Luanshya town. We have also received invitation to go the Northern Province and North-western province where brother Cephas Mwamba recently visited in the village to lay the foundation for our preaching. We have continued to have quarterly leadership meetings at BVBI- Zambia in Luanshya district to coordinate the work

IV.   Reports from our alumni

We continue to receive very impressive reports from all our former students.

A.  Clive Kabika (2017 graduate) reports that he is working with Mwanshi church of Christ in Kabwe district of Central Province of Zambia.  He regularly preaches on Sundays and also teaches adult Bible studies on Wednesdays and Sundays. He also features on Kabwe FM radio with a religious program every week. This radio station covers most of the areas in Kabwe district and some of the areas of Chibombo and Kapiri Mposhi districts of Central Province of Zambia.

12 people have so been baptized and two souls have been restored back to the Lord because of the efforts that this brother doing. And numerous people have been accorded an opportunity to hear the gospel and respond to it.

B.   Hornbye Mupengu (2019) working hand in hand with our Institute here in Zambia, he is being helped to establish a new congregation in Masaiti district of the Copperbelt Province. His native home happens to be Ndola district but he spends most of his time at the farm in Masaiti district. He has reached out to other farmers in the area with the gospel. Together with his dad, Hornbye Mupengu senior, they regularly conduct Bible studies and church services at their farm. They have planned to have an evangelistic campaign on October 31st, 2021 around Masaiti district. Hornbye’s efforts and that of his father have really made tremendous impact in Masaiti.

We have no doubt that Hornbye, Clive and other former students are men who are dedicated to preaching and teaching others how to live the word.

Our hearts are truly and forever indebted to Woodland Oaks Church of Christ for financial support and indeed to everyone supporting this good work in any way. You are always in our prayers!

Brotherly,

Cephas and Fred

Posted on October 8, 2021 .

Many activities in Nigeria

Beloved in Christ Jesus.

Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the hope and the spirit of the saints. Below is the summary of our activities in the Lord in this month of September 2021.

OVERVIEW

i- First Semester Classes and Instructors

ii- Weekend Evangelism

iii- World Bible School Follow Up Team

iv- Next preaching Trip

v- Covid help from World Evangelism Team

FIRST SEMESTER CLASSES AND INSTRUCTORS

This session began on August 16 ,2021 and will come to an end Lord's willing on November 15 followed by a month Vocational Training for our year-1-students while the year-2-students will embark on preaching trip within and outside the Western States of Nigeria.

Bro. Isaac Olaniyan is handling Life of Christ-1(Matthew), 1,2 & 3 John and Church Problems; Bro. Kayode Eniafe is incharge of Scheme of Redemption, OT & NT Survey and OT History; Bro. Andrew Adeolu is handling Godhead and The Pentateauch; Bro. John Makinde is handling Research and Writing-1 and NT Church-1; Bro. Silas Guda Mazi is handling Denominational Doctrines and OT Wisdom-1(Job & Ecclesiastes) while I (Bro.Makinde Ebens)is incharge of Evangelism-1(Personal Evangelism), Prison Epistles and Systematic Theology.

WEEKEND EVANGELISM

As scheduled, the year-1 Students and staff of the BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN embarked on what they love most, that is, weekend outreach in all the Saturdays and Sundays in the month of September. We were divided into five groups while our year-2 Students now attached with some young congregations within the Western States of Nigeria.

WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL FOLLOW UP TEAM

Our WBSFUW team continue in reaching more souls with the gospel of Christ through the WBS Correspondence Courses.

Bro. Kayode Eniafe and Bro.Dele Shotola visited four Schools in Osun State (Community High School, Ayepe; Orile-Owu Grammar School; Field Street and Smammah Comprehensive College, Apomu) and 114 enrollment was recorded.

Bro. Matthew Rowland visited two High School in Akure,Ondo State ( Fiwasoye Grammar School and Oba-Ile Junior High School) and 555 Introduction collected out of 600 distributed in the first week of September. And Bro. Akilapa Samuel enrolled 155 people for WBS Correspondence program in the city of Ondo in Ondo State.

All these were part of the parcel posted this month to World Bible School Tulare County, California under the directorship of Bro. Joel Coppinger.

NEXT PREACHING TRIP

Lord's willing, the Instructors of BVBIN-Schools in the Western States of Nigeria (Ibadan, Lagos and Ondo State) will be re-visiting the young congregation in Aramoko-Ekiti ,Ekiti State from October 19-24,2021.

The BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN will be represented by myself (Bro.Makinde) Bro.Kayode Eniafe and Seven of our year-2-Students. And on October 23, I will be visiting the Church of Christ in Oro, Kwara State with Bro.Kayode Eniafe to encourage the Church planted there by our foundation chairman (Bro.David Akinola) during his active service in Kwara State. One of our graduates (Bro.Akindele Joseph)is now ministering in Oro congregation.

COVID HELP FROM WORLD EVANGELISM TEAM

The one time Covid help from World Evangelism % Sister Betty Choate and associate will be shared with twelve brethren from ten congregations in Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ogun and Lagos States and for feeding over fifty children of the less privileged people in our South West Kiddies Academy located in Butubutu village, Ibadan from September through December 2021.

We deeply appreciate the kind-gesture extended by the World Evangelism Team,USA to those who are badly affected by this global pandemic. May the Lord of blessing continue to bless all you do for His name is our fervent prayers. Amen.

ABOUT ONE OF OUR STUDENTS

Bro. Daniel Salvation hail from Ogbe, Edo State, Nigeria. Born in the year 1996 to the family of Bro. and Sister Daniel Ayomide Goodness. His father is from Ogbe, Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State and mother from Otuo in Owan East Local Government Area of Edo State. He was added to the Lord's Church in January 2010 through the effort of Bro. Paul Ajeh (Minister of Church of Christ, Ogbe).

At the age of ten, he had his First School Leaving Certificate from Orukpa Primary School in Ogbe in the year 2006. He began his secondary school education in 2007 at age eleven. Due to the death of his grandparents In 2006,his family relocated to Igarra (a town in Akoko Edo Local Government Area of Edo State) where he started school at Universal Group of Schools. In 2009 his father took him to another school (Saint Paul's Anglican Grammar School also in Igarra town) where he obtained West African Examination Council (WAEC) results in the year 2012. During this time, he worshipped with Idiba Church of Christ Igarra. He was admitted into BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN in year 2020. His greatest desire in life is to serve God and win souls for His kingdom after his tertiary education.

CONCLUSION

We deeply appreciate you all for your moral and financial supports toward the growth of the Lord's Church in Africa most especially in Nigeria. May the great God keep on blessings all you do for His name is our fervent prayers.

I remain your fellow servant of God,

Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi

For & On behalf of the BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN

Posted on October 7, 2021 .

Meeting the challenge in Lagos, Nigeria

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE

AGEGE WEEK-END SCHOOL

LAGOS NIGERIA

QUARTERLY REPORT

PREAMBLE:

To God Almighty be all the glory for the successful completion of the activities of the third quarter of July to September 2021. We are very indebted to the Almighty God, and very thankful to you in the United States of America for your prayers, financial and moral support that had brought about the success recorded by the Agege Weekend School during the quarter under review. May God Almighty continue to bless you abundantly, in Jesus name.

CLASS ACTIVITIES:

The class activities progressed smoothly and as planned during the quarter, not minding the political instability experienced in Nigeria in resent time. The quarter started with the book of Hebrews taught by Mfon Etim in the month of June 2021.The class activities continued in the month of August, with Growing a local church which was taught by Samuel Oladokun. This was followed by Minor Prophets, which was also taught by Okoro Chinyere.

ADMISSION:

The door of the school is always open for new enrolment. During the third quarter of the year, 2021, the school at Agege admitted three new students in the persons of John Elijah, Gabriel Innocent and Victor Samuel David.

CAMPAIGN/EVANGELISM:

During the quarter, the Agege Weekend School organized campaign/evangelism outing within the Agege environment. The campaign was a combination of both open air and door-to –door methods. As a result, two souls (one is now a student- Gabriel Innocent) were added to the Lord’s Church.

STUDENT PROFILE:

May we present at this point our dear brother in the Lord, Nwoyi Azubuike. Brother Azubuike hails from Ebonyi State, Nigeria. He is single. He is currently worshipping with the Church of Christ, Ojodu. He recently completed the programme for diploma, and is currently studying for the advanced diploma here at the Bear Valley Bible Institute, Agege Weekend School, Lagos.

CONCLUSION:

We sincerely appreciate the efforts of Steven Ashcraft, Keith Kasarjian, the management of Bear Valley Bible Institute, the supporting congregations, members of staff of the school, and any other individual or group who contribute in sustaining this noble and divine work. We thank the Almighty God through whom all blessings flow. May He continue to endow you with more recourses and knowledge. On our part, we promise to continuously put concerted efforts in making sure that the good work is sustained, by the grace of God.

Emmanuel Chukwuka Odo; Bearvalley Bible Institude, Agege, Lagos, Nigeria

Posted on October 7, 2021 .

Evangelism in Liberia

It cannot be over emphasized how grateful we are to you all continually for your partnership with us in this great soul saving work given to all of us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20). Many thanks and appreciation for all your Prayers and supports that is keeping us going here in Liberia.

GOSPEL CAMPAIGNS IN THE MONTH OF JULY AND AUGUST

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 July and August, 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 Aschaft in the Beatuo and Ganaglay areas in Nimba county, were we had through the special grace of God the total of twenty nine (29) 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 in Beatuo Town.

We are happy to announced to you that another new congregation was started in Ganaglay Town through the help of an old member of the church who badly wanted the church in his home town. We spent four days on house to house evangelism and public preaching there and 19 persons responded to the gospel called in Ganaglay beginning and new congregation there. We had a great worship in both towns with an amazing attendence from the community. 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 AND PREACHING ASSIGNMENTS

We are never giving up on our weekend campaigns in Ganta and other villages where we have new congregations established. Our students continued to engaged the communities in every weekends in house to house evangelism and preaching for practical, since it has been made a requirement from the school to enable our students practice personal evangelism and working with local congregations for their future as trained gospel preachers. Meanwhile, to be able to accomplish these weekly task in the face of very serious rain falls and terrible road conditions in our country, provisions are made to sent out the students to their practical preaching points on Saturday morning so that there won't be any problem getting there on Sunday. We came up with this decision because they might have breakdown in the mud if leaving on Sunday morning to their assigned areas and this has been working very well for the passed two months, because when they get there on Saturday, they can used the evening hours to visit members and and people who are back from their farms encouraging them for church service the following day.

In these two months (July and August), their works in those different locations has tremendously help the work in Liberia especially in Nimba County. Sixteen (16) baptism was recorded from nine (9) congregations visited by our students and many falling brethren restored. 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. Please keep them in your daily prayers as the make these all important weekly trips on our very bad roads.

OUR DECISIONS TO DO MORE GOSPEL CAMPAIGNS

For the year 2021 we have planed to carried out ten additional campaigns with our four regular campaigns that is supported by the Bear Valley Bible institute, making them foueteen (14) campaigns in all. We (the students and staffs) have agreed to cut down our quarterly break from two weeks to one week so that we can use the one week for campaigns. This will help us do about fourteen campaigns a year. And not just that, it will help our students with all the practical experiences they will need in the future work for the Lord. But this can not be accomplished without your prayers financial help. Please help us rescue the perishing in this part of the word. If you cannot go, you can support us to go. It cost $500 to $600 to effect one successful gospel campaign. Anyone willing to help can kindly contact brother Steven Ashcraft on his Email- (samtnhome@yahoo.com). He is the regional coordinator for the Bear Valley Schools in West Africa. Thank you so much in advance for being part of this soul saving mission. May God richly bless you.

FIRE INCIDENT AT THE SCHOOL

On August 23, 2021, we experienced a very unfortunate situation at the school whiles classed was on going. One of the students room caught fire while we were in class and cause a lot of damage to the school and the students in that room belongings. The four beds, mattresses, flood mat in that room and lots of the students personal things got destroyed in the fire. If it was not by the special grace of God who took one of the student outside to use the bathroom and saw the smoke from the dormitory and shorted fire, then by this time, we would be in serious problem with the Landlord. The good thing is that the fire did not touch the zinc.

Meanwhile, we called on the electricity people and the came and found out that it was a short circuit caused by an extension coil left plug in the socket. We thank God this did not happen in the night.

PROFILE OF A STUDENT: Student Thomas B. Jimmy

I am very happy to introduced to you now, Brother Thomas B. Jimmy, once a denominational preacher who became a member of the Lord's church through the Radio preaching Program. Thomas followed the teaching on the radio for about two years and accepted the teachings of the one true church and started telling his denomination ( Spiritual Life Soul Stirring Ministry) about what he has heard and the need for them to change to the truth. Brother Jimmy was able to convinced most of his leaders to finally accept the truth and decided to turn the church to the church of Christ. Before the church got changed to the Lord's church, we were invited to teach their denomination for three days and by God's grace, 43 of them believed and got baptized into Christ including brother Thomas Jimmy who was the preacher, resulting in the change from Spiritual Life Soul Stirring Ministry to the Church of Christ!

Brother Thomas, so passionate to know and learn more about the Lord Church decided to leave his secular profession as a classroom teacher and and other benefits to attend the Bear Valley Bible Institute-Liberia. During the interview after the school's entrance examination, he said having suddenly come to Christ with his denominational congregation, they will be expecting more from him in terms of teaching the truth that he has made them come to. Therefore, to be able to do so, he wants to attend the Bible school(BVBI-L) so as to be prepared to teach and preach the truth of the one true church.

Brother Jimmy is married and he and his wife has four children. He was born and raised in unification town, lower Margibi county Liberia. The wife alone has to now take care of the children whiles he come to school. Your prayers, encouragement and support is seriously needed to keep this brother's family up to enable him focus on his Biblical education.

CONCLUSION:

We thank you so much for your continued supports for the work here in Liberia. We won't have gotten to where are if you have not partner with us in this great work of our Lord. Thank you so much very much. God bless you.

Your brother and co-worker in the Lord

Robert P. Dahn, Jr.


Posted on October 7, 2021 .

Lectureship in Tamale

OPERATING REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 2021

Greetings to all in the name of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. We pray the Grace and Mercies of Elohim that kept us through the month of August continue to be upon you all in Jesus’ name, Amen. The month of August has been a busy month for us in the Bear Valley Bible Institute, Tamale campus. It was a full academic month for us as our students were in school through into the month of September, 2021.

COORDINATOR

As part of his activities, apart from teaching and preaching for the Lord’s church and many other duties, he also oversees the smooth running of Bear Valley Schools across Ghana. Brother Kojo Acquah Beenyi, our Coordinator took time out of his busy schedules to visit us in Tamale in the tail end of July into August to help us put things in order. His presence was very inspiring to us, the staff and the students as well. He also came along with some edible trees to plant in the compound. We foresee that, some years to come, our compound will be filled with productive trees and flowers all over. The Lord Bless Him Greatly.

TEACHINGS / LECTURESHIP

The first course to be taught in the month of August was the Book of Acts, which was done by brother James Legend. This course was treated from the 2nd to the 6th of August, 2021. Brother Daniel Adjei came in to teach the Prisons Epistles from the 9th to the 14th of August, 2021. A visiting lecturer was supposed to handle the Book of James After the Prison Epistles, but due to some challenges, he couldn’t make it. This calls for the need for a resident instructor to come in. Brother James Legend, who was the immediate lecturer available, took it up and taught the Book of James. Brother James Continued after the Book of James, to teach Research Work. In all, four (4) causes were taught in the month of August.

EVANGELISM UPDATE

The South Kpalsi Church of Christ (The local Congregation in the School) is planning to organize a four days public preaching and door to door evangelistic campaign to support our consistent studies which we have been having within the community and its environs. We are leasing with the West Congregation and possibly with some of the congregations in town to join in this public preaching and door to door evangelism we intend to host.

Updates on the Denugu Congregation that was restored in the Upper East Region is very encouraging.  There are more baptisms which has brought a great numerical growth of the church. We pray and hope they grow spiritually as well.

SCHOOL LAND DOCUMENTS

The documentation work for the site which the school is built on has fully been done. We went for the completed documents this month which brought finality to the challenges we have been having since the purchase of the land. We give the glory to God for taking us through this difficult process successfully.

PERSONALITY PROFILE

We settled on one of our preachers who completed our sister school in Accra, but is working in the North. He happens to be one of the persons who benefitted from the motor Bicycles that were purchased to aid two preachers in the North. He is in the person of Francis Mbugri.

Francis Mbugri is 38 years old, from an idols family but grew to become a preacher of the Lord’s Church today. He was born at Poyamire in the Upper East Region, under the Binduri District.

He attended the Bazua R/C Primary school from the year 1994-2000. While in primary school, at the age of 16, the Gospel was preached to him by brother Jacob Arok, who was then preaching for the Poyamire congregation where Francis was born. He accepted the Gospel and got baptized into the church. He continued his Junior High School in the same school from the year 2000 to 2004. As it was the custom in Northern Ghana, they never saw the importance of education until now. Francis had to stop his education after the Junior High to help his father with his farming work.  He resurrected his educational journey when he managed to relocate himself to the city (Bolgatanga town) to live with his uncle. He went back to school in 2007 at Bolga senior High School. He completed his senior high school in 2009. Due to financial constraints, he had to drop out from school entirely. He returned back to Poyamire, and was worshipping with the congregation. Brother Jacob who had baptized him, in 2014 inspired him to get enrolled into the Bible School in Accra (SIBS). Francis went through the two years Diploma Course and graduated in the year 2016.

Francis came back to the North and got married to Steller Abaga in 2020. They currently have one daughter to the glory of God. He is currently the Preacher for the Poyamire congregation which has a membership of about 70 in number. Praise God.

These are the majority of the vital things that took place in the month of August, 2021.

God Bless us,

Bear Valley, Tamale

Posted on October 7, 2021 .

Great improvement in Sierra Leone

ACTIVITY OPERATION REPORT FOR AUGUST, 2021

To God be the glory that our infinite and merciful God has granted us another opportunity to meet again in proxy. Though we stay far away from one another, yet we are closer in the Spirit. This is another opportunity for us to share with you the report of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Sierra Leone for the past month of August, 2021. The month of August was a fruitful one for us. The school’s academic activities continued without any hindrance; some souls were being converted to the Lord’s church; Agriculture was as well embarked upon, and other exciting activities occurred as well. May you read with us through as we share the report based on the following subheadings:  

WEEKEND EVANGELISM AND CONVERSIONS

We have always informed you that we usually go out for evangelism (both staff and students) during weekends. And for the month of August, the Lord opened the hearts of six people and were baptized for the remission of their sins. Please may we pray for their spiritual growth.

AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES

KBVBI has created the Agricultural program in order to help her students learn some good farming skills so that even after their graduation, they would be able to put the skills into practice and produce certain foods for their consumption. Moreover, those who can produce a large quantity can sell and use it as a means of livelihood. Thus, in the month of August, we began to clear our farm land (basically on our school land) to be able to plant cassava. Some staff and the students were actively involved in the work.

STUDENT’S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Steven Sahr Ansumana

Steven is one of our newly admitted students who was born in Kono, Kono District in 2000. He was baptized into the Lord’s body in 2016. Brother Steve is a committed student who is so much desirous to preach the Gospel. Before coming to Bear Valley, he had been leading songs and sometimes teaching teenagers in his congregation in Kono.

CONCLUSION

On the whole, we continue to be grateful to God, our sponsors and all of you who are praying for us. Please continue to remember the work of God in Sierra Leone in your prayers. We look forward to sharing with you again our anticipated September report. 

Posted on October 7, 2021 .

Salvation for many in Guinea

Gueckedou BVBI Activity Operations Report for August 2021

Precious greetings to you all, our supporters and those of you who always wish us well at the Guinea Bear Valley Bible Institute in Gueckedou. As part of our responsibility, we have come again to report the events and or activities that transpired during the last month, August 2021 which were comparatively few, but especially successful in terms of soul winning.

Classroom: In addition to the permanent staff courses such as Hermeneutics II by Antione Fassa Tolno, short course instructors, Mr. Nestor Tonguino and Emmanuel Kamano also completed their lessons on “Marriage and Family Life and the Major Prophets of Isiah and Jeremiah respectively. These courses were started in the previous month, but assignments and other requirements could not be completed until August.  The final results of all these were good as all 14 students came up successfully.

Evangelism: Except that hearts are hardened by the enemy who most often than not “taketh away the word …lest they should believe and be saved”, evangelism – gospel proclamation is our business. In many of the areas where our students are stationed for weekend gospel work, preaching by different methods is being done and with some fruitful results. The month of August registered a total of 8 baptisms 3 of which were in the village of Fassaba.

Repair of Old Vehicle: While it is true that the first mission vehicle was worn off and that we had ask for a replacement and the request honored by a few benevolent hands as detailed in our previous report, we had not still completely given up with the old vehicle. It was at “such a time as this” when some ‘’special needs” were granted so that the request to at least once more repair the old vehicle was honored. Through our Coordinator, Mr. Ashcraft the minimum needed funds to upgrade it were provided and the repairs effected so that it is now available to satisfy certain rough road missions and transport of fire wood for the Institute’s kitchen.

Conclusion: We are truly thankful to God and grateful to you all for the tireless spiritual and material support which has kept the Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible Institute going. God is to be glorified for the men being trained and for the regular conversions here at Gueckedou and around.

Thanks

Posted on October 7, 2021 .

More souls saved in Cameroon

The joy of the Lord is upon His own. We bring greetings from Mbanga Balong. It's another back to school season and all the kids are busy going to school. Among those who took part in the public examinations this past year from the local assembly in Mbanga, all had a successful result. We want to really thank God on their behalf as they have done well. We took a moment to give thanks in the assembly.

Our work in the BVBIC-Mbanga and in the church is going on well. We want to use this media to appreciate all those who are in the support team for their marvelous contribution both spiritual and physical.

Time is flying and our students are growing. After a first class in homiletics, the presentations of students changed immediately. We could experience a new way and a more mature presentation from a good number of our students who are serious in their studies.

Growth is our goal. We have to attend maturity. We believe before the end of this batch, we are going to be proud of these men who will be ablet to preach the gospel. We expect to have men who are going to be serious in evangelism and men that God is going to use to add more souls into his kingdom. We give all glories back to God.

Weekend evangelism is in going very well and for the past 3 weeks we have been doing evangelism in another dimension. We now get into strategic places with the aid of a mobile speaker. One of our graduates brought his own while we were preparing for mission work to establish a new assembly in the locality of Bafia. 

Evangelism is our mission and our mission is evangelism. It was a good strategy that was implemented in Mbanga by brother Nanfack Pierre as he was here to teach the sisters and also to accompany our team to Bafia for a new mission ground. With this method, we could speak from our end and many people could listen from their very position and choose to come nearer if they really interested. It was a kind of public preaching without having organized a lectureship. We are bend on evangelizing the town of Mbanga. God, please help us. It's high time we invent modern ways of preaching. If Mbanga Balong could have a community radio program, it could be a great use in filling a need, by using all dimensions of preaching available in this modern world to reach lost souls. 

Our short courses went great with minister Simon Parfait from the Ngousso assembly in Yaounde taking the preaching students and minister Nanfack Pierre, one of our graduates from last batch, taking the women’s class.

It was really great to have these great men of God in our midst. A week of studies was excellent, and it was a blessing for them to be a part of our team in the BVBIC-Mbanga.  After this short course, it was time for mission work. Our students travel into 11 different areas.

They were ready to go and preach the gospel to other areas of duty where we have heard the Macedonian call. They went with beautiful smile on their faces as “we think souls” and accept the commission to " go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." We are still waiting for the s which will come in the next two or three weeks. God is showing the way.

Our graduates are also doing great work in the field but most of them are still having difficulty with a place of worship and also other difficulties in being able to maximize the work. The new assembly for example, that started some months ago in Koumra in Chad, is having difficulty to have a place for worship so far and thus are worshipping only where they can.

Even to get a place for baptism is really difficult and it is expensive to get there even with a bike as only bikes can easily go there. Also, the work is richly growing both in Chad and in French Cameroon. A new assembly at Balgong is also in need of a place of worship, in the hinterland, in Yaounde, and also in Banjock. We have been helping them to pay rent but most of the time we have been disturb by some landlords and neighbors. 

Upcoming events:

The congregation in Mbanga will be hosting the Francophone Zonal Sister’s Seminar, that will take place in the month of October. This seminar will help the wives of the student preachers that are in the school presently.

The annual seminar for the churches of Christ in Cameroon will take place in the month of November in Limbe South West Region of Cameroon.

Our evangelism campaign in the Moungo Zone also is at hand as well as the Western Region Lectureship this October. The students are requested to be a part of these activities.

Remain bless as we pray for the work in French Cameroon and French Africa in general. 

Yours faithful: the servant Ititi Benedict

Posted on October 7, 2021 .

More conversions in Lesotho

JUNE-AUGUST REPORT (Maseru, Lesotho)

Greetings brothers and sisters in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We would like to thank God for His love and mercies He continuously showers upon us. We are jubilant to report the following:

The School is still in the right direction of training competent and doctrinally sound preachers. We currently have 14 students who are dedicated to learn and spread the gospel. Despite the economic challenges the country is experiencing, these men and women commit themselves to study His Word and spreading the gospel. Out of their initiatives, the students are evangelising in Maputsoe about 100 km from Maseru and HaMmamathe approximately 55km from Maseru.

Maputsoe is the second largest town after Maseru, which used to have a congregation in the early 80s. BVBIL students are doing their best to evangelise the area with the hope of restoring the church in that town. Evangelism in HaMmamathe was fruitful, 4 people were baptised and as a result, a congregation was established. Some brothers are helping this new congregation with ministering every Sunday. The school long term plan is to establish a congregation in every town of Lesotho. Out of ten towns in this kingdom, only three towns have a single congregation each. Of all the eleven congregations in the entire kingdom, seven of them are in Maseru. Therefore, the school’s mission of training preachers is to equip them with Bible knowledge so that they can be labourers in the vineyard.

In June the students were equipped with Bible knowledge from First Corinthians which was taught by Tawanda. In July and August, Tawanda taught Life of Christ and First and Second Peter respectively. As of now, the students have covered more than half of their syllabus. Keep praying for the school, economic and political stability of Lesotho as polls will be cast next year. 

The school would like to thank you for the monthly financial support we get. This money helps to cater for administrative and evangelism purposes.

In His arms,

Tawanda

Posted on September 15, 2021 .