A new school doing well

Report of Bear Valley Bible Weekend School, Ondo State Between November 2021 - January 2022.

Glory be to God in the Highest for His blessings, protection, and divine provision we all received from the Lord's presence, we blessed the name of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, Amen. We thank God for another quarter in the life of the Bear Valley Bible weekend School in Ondo state. We have successfully concluded the first semester.

I want to especially thank our international director of Bear Valley Schools, Brother Keith Kasarjian for his wonderful visit to the School in Ondo State on the 4th of December, 2021. His visit has boosted our morale for competitiveness in promoting sound and Biblical education among the students and all the brethren in our state, Ondo State. We all in the School appreciate his visit. God bless you, Sir. He also provided the sum of $700 for the need of the School including naira cash of #14,000 only, for the purchase of a Computer Laptop, three in one scanner photocopier, a printer, and tables for the use of learning for the students. I have bought all the items for the good use of the school.

Evangelism: in pursuant of the goal of Bear Valley Schools, the school in Ondo State went out to propagate the gospel in our respective areas (Ondo City & Akure City). We were out preaching the gospel of Christ on the 29th of January, 2022. In Ondo City, we were 13 in number that went out preaching the gospel including 3 instructors in the Odosida area of Ondo City. We had more than 10 prospects that we will work on and gladly directed them to a nearly Church of Christ for further Biblical discussion. We are praying for a fruitful preaching exercise.

Also, Akure Study Center is not left out of the work of preaching the gospel. 11 students went out to preach the gospel including 3 of our instructors who worked with them in the field. Their prospects show a willing heart for more study of the word. We pray that our God works through their hearts in believing the gospel.

Classroom activities: we blessed God for the successful completion of the First semester in the history of the School in Ondo State. So far, we have had 6 courses. From November to January 2022. We have had 3 courses completed both in the two study centers ( Ondo City & Akure City) the courses are, (1) Life of Christ - 2 (Mark). (2). Life of Christ -1 ( Matthew). (3). Life of Christ - 4 (John).

In Ondo Study center, in November 2021, we had Life of Christ - 2 (Mark) by brother Philemon Ohaebuka as the instructor, while in the Akure study center in the same month of November 2021, brother Rowland Matthew taught Life of Christ -1 (Matthew). In December 2021, the Ondo study center had Life of Christ- 3 (Luke) by brother Timileyin Akilapa, while in the Akure study center, we had Life of Christ -4 (John) by brother Damilola Oke as the instructor. In January 2022, in the Ondo City study center, we had Life of Christ - 4 (John) by brother Damilola Oke, while in the Akure study center, we had Life of Christ - 3 (Luke) by brother Timileyin Akilapa.

Honestly, Bear Valley Bible weekend schools in Ondo State are blessed with serious and active students, one of such students is brother David Eniafe. David Knife is one of the students at the Akure study center. David Eniafe is a Ph.D. student at the Federal University of Technology, Akure. Brother David Eniafe said that the MLA style of writing research has opened his eyes to the high standard of the School. He is very humble and willing to learn the Bible in Class. He is a blessing to the school, my loving brethren. He is one of the active members of the Church of Christ, 13, Leo Street.

Miscellaneous: we have received support for the things we need as a school, when brother Keith visited us at the School on the 4th of December 2021. We are grateful for the support. God bless the Bear Valley School and the supporter of this noble work of training men for the service of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.

We are indeed grateful for the privileges given to Ondo State to be part of history with Bear Valley Bible weekend Schools. On behalf Of our instructors and students here in Ondo state. We wish to reiterate our commitment to actively do our best in promoting the frontier of the School to a greater height in our dear state.

Coordinator,

Fasonu Victor

Much progress in Zimbabwe

JANUARY 2022 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

We always give glory and honour to God who gives us the ability and zeal to advance the cause of His kingdom. With restrictions due Covid pandemic having been eased, there is greater hope that 2022 will be a great year at BVBIZ. Furthermore,  we are always grateful when we look back in the month and see the hand of God in a number of areas. To Him, we remain grateful. This report gives a glimpse to some of the issues that transpired in the month.

1.0 NEW TERM

A new term began on the 10th of January 2022. All students on the full time program returned to school. This class in now in its last year of study. Students had a well-deserved rest which they did not get since they commenced their studies.

2.0 CURRICULUM

The following subjects are being done this term; African Traditional Religion, Romans, Church Growth, Advanced Hermeneutics, Major Prophets, Hebrews, Biblical Counseling (including HIV & Covid Care & Counseling), Sign Language, Pastoral Epistles and James. Apart from these main subjects, horticulture and Strategic Management for Churches shall be taught as subjects.  Three subjects namely Advanced hermeneutics, Major Prophets and Sign Language dominated the month of January.

3.0 SIGN LANGUAGE

It is BVBIZ’s aim to communicate  God’s message to each individual in society. Sign language has been a key component in the school’s curriculum for a few years now. This year, our first session was done from the 24th-28th of January. After this session, BVBIZ products will be able to communicate to anyone. Great appreciation to Rutendo Foundation which has been a strategic partner in this endeavor and has taken one of our former graduates, Charles Muzambi,  to  further  his studies in Sign language and Interpretation. BVBIZ and ultimately the church will emerge stronger through this process.

4.0 PROJECTS 

One of the school’s strategic objective is to have a well-structured resource base. Viable projects being part of the mix.  In a small way, broilers have already made a contribution to this drive.  Besides the broilers, almost 2 hectares has been put under maize and the crop is doing well. In the first week of February, the school  shall be planting beans. About 2 acres are ready for this. These projects have provided students with skills that are necessary for their survival. In terms of broilers, students have been taking care of them on a rotational basis. We currently have two batches, one with 225 broilers and another with 120.

5.0 THE TEACHER’S HOUSE  

The teacher’s house whose progress was at a standstill since May 2021 received a boost during the final days of December through a donation of ZWL$36000 from Sister Nyahada of Marondera towards the purchase of a 3m hinged door. Around the same time, Woodland Oaks donated towards the structure. Most of the materials including roofing tiles, window frames, river sand, pit sand and outstanding timber were bought in January but their movement to the site got delayed because of a saturated road due to incessant rains. When rains subsided,  work then started during the last week of January with carpenters working on the roof. This has since been completed. The next stage shall be plastering of the inside wall and putting of a rough floor. By the end of February, we are hoping that plastering, flooring, electrical wiring, fixing of window frames and plumping work would have been completed.

KEITH’S VISIT

Keith Kasarjian, the BVBII director of international schools, arrived in the country on the 29th and left on the 30th of January. His mission was to explore the possibility of having another BVBIZ extension in Bulawayo. He had an opportunity of preaching at the Bulawayo Central congregation where he also explained the vision to the congregation. He also brought study Bibles for students in Gweru. Great appreciation to this visit and the gifts.

BOOKS

The school received over 200 boxes of books and tracts from Mission Printing. Great appreciation to Donnie Estep for sourcing the consignment and to Sakubva Relief Organization for receiving and sorting the boxes on our behalf.  Some of the boxes are for the schools in Zambia and Malawi.  The boxes were relocated to a different place in Mutare awaiting their movement to Gweru . These will need a 2-3 tonne truck to move them to Gweru.

EVANGELISM

Students are now ready for full scale evangelism. Though evangelism was being done in a small way, beginning in February, Saturdays and Sundays shall be days for evangelism till the class graduates. Congregations that may need this partnership are encouraged to contact the school.

CONCLUSION

We thank God for what he has been able to do through BVBIZ in January. Our appreciation continues to go to our sponsors for their unwavering support and to many others for their moral and spiritual support. May God continue to bless every one of you. To God be the glory!

Training preachers in Kumasi

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE, KUMASI

REPORT FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2021

INTRODUCTION

We are grateful to God Almighty for the far He has brought us almost to the end of the year. The Kumasi Campus in its extended programmes is undergoing a serious training of 10 faithful men who are able to teach others also.

ACTIVITIES

There has been an increase in our Door-to-Door gospel activities by the students. Again, one of the students (Isaac Agyen) help establish a church at Effiduase Sekyere. A recent follow-up on the members together with a one-week gospel campaign yielded extra fruit. The Lord through our message added 4 souls to the Church at Sekyere. The Courses that were taught through the period of September to December were; The Life of Christ (Matthew), Research & Writing and the Book of James.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The School has been able to engage the services of an administrator to help manage student results, draw suitable academic calendar, prepare budgets and a whole lot of stuffs. The Preacher of KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) Campus Church has been appointed as an instructor. This will go a long way to help the Bible School admit most of the University Students who love to combine Preaching with their course of study at the University. Finally, the introduction of the Research and Writing Course has help improve the exploration skill in the Students.

PLANS FOR 2022

·     Increase the number of students by advertisement

·     Taking proper records of Student attendance

·     Proper update of Student results and transcripts

·     Having a structured menu for Students

Classes resume in Accra

ACCRA JANUARY REPORT 2022

End of January report on activities carried on.

We are grateful to the Lord for this year. We also appreciate Him for the beginning of the year 2022 and the traveling mercies during the campaign Northern Ghana.

School Resumed & Campaign

The school resumed on the 16th January 2022 and on the 17th we traveled to Tamale, Northern part of Ghana to campaign at the villages of Songon #2 and other towns. We worked 7 days and night and joyfully baptized 18 and restored four (4) persons back to Christ.

Staff Meeting

Staff attendance were six (6) and met for a discussion on the teaching structure, introduction of new courses (i.e. hymnody, Elementary Greek), preparing of additional instructors, interviewing new students, and lead orientation.

During the discourse, we decided to begin the Research and Writing as a short course to enable students to write a research paper on the subsequent courses (i.e. first course for all students).

Class Activities

All instructors have been assigned with their courses for this quarter. Classes began with the first short course on Research and Writing which is being conducted by George Osafo.

Number of Students

Currently, we have 10 students taking the Diploma course in this year 2022.

We are still awaiting two students.

Reaching northern Ghana for Christ

OPERATING REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER, 2021

The author and finisher of our faith began, and also finished well with us the month of December, 2021 successfully. Students went on holidays immediately after the campaign at Sogon Number 1. We (the staff) continued to work on relevant things administratively to keep the School and the Church in order. There were activities that also took place both within and outside the campus.

STAFF MEETING

Our periodical administrative and staff meeting came on, on the 1st of December, 2021. This was to help us review the year 2021 in general and to make amends where necessary. Indeed, we realize we have a long way to go in meeting up with our responsibilities and tasks towards the work in Northern Ghana and the school. Some have to do with our strategy for recruitment of new students, farming to support the school, especially, how to put up the gardening system for the school on the school land. We realize, putting up a garden in the North, especially on our land, will need a heart resistant vegetable as well as a proper watering system. We concluded that we all needed to double our efforts in the year 2022 to bring much productivity.

SEMINAR AND BIBLE CAMP

Bazua Seminar: Brother James B. Legend had an invitation to speak at a two days seminar at Bazua on the 3rd and the 4th of December, 2021 which he honored. The event brought together preachers and church members both males and females across the length and breadth of the Upper East and the North East Regions respectively. The Theme of the program was “The Christian Responsibility”. It was organized by the churches of Christ around the Bawku area in collaboration with the Bazua Christian Mission center. Two topics were treated under the theme. “The Christian Responsibility in the Family and in the Church” were the topics that were taught. These topics were taught by brother James B. Legend of Bear Valley Tamale. At the end of the program, one soul was baptized to the glory of God. We also took the opportunity to sell the school to the participants as well.

Northern Bible Camp: Brother Albert Tamanja Malir also in the month of December 2021 Participated in the Northern Region annual Bible camp held at Salaga-Lolotu community on the 17th of December, 2021. The Theme for the event was; "Repackaging the Church to The Current Society." Topics treated were: "Christian Influence" by Salaga preacher (Ulanja Emmanuel and his translator was Albert Malir Tamanja), "The work of the holy spirit" by Preacher Dawuni Ishmael (from Zabzugu-Mbolado and his translator was Alex Jabado) and "Christian unity" which was also taught on the second day which was on the lord's day by Preacher George Talafor and his translator Ishmael Dawuni, whiles the Lord supper was led by Albert Malir Tamanja. 

Another topic covered was "The Responsibility of The Members to The Preacher" by brother and leader from Saboba Church of Christ namely Tilako Adolf. There were questions in every lesson and seasonal preachers like Owusu, Nipak, Alex, Dasah and the like helped with the support of scriptures. This camp was the ever successful one recorded according to participants and the enthusiasm one could behold.

The school sent Brother Albert Malir Tamanja to attend purposely to use the occasion to campaign for more students, I arrived on the very 17/12/21 and was also involved in every activity that took place for three. I announced the presence of the forms, one form was taken by Preacher Nipak before I went, he already told me that he has a prospective student. More assurance was given as members gave their concerns about the inadequate number of preachers.

Preacher Owusu reminded me about the leadership training in the Salaga area, he has had four more candidates.

Attendance for the camp was 364, and the Sunday giving was 638.00

The northern region annual Bible camp for 2021 was encouraging and inspiring thus the leadership met and proposed Saboba as the next year camp venue God's willing.

There were six souls added to Loluto Church of Christ in the course of the camp.

SOUTH KPALSI CONGREGATION

The roofing work for the Kpalsi South Church of Christ chapel was completed in the month of December. Indeed, it looks beautiful and very spacious for a good foundation or starting congregation like us. All thanks to God and Brother Steven and his wife, our dear mother and all the individuals who have contributed to bring this building this far. We can’t forget Brother Kojo who Nicodemusly added his efforts to push this work forward until now. The Lord bless you all.

We are in another stage and the local Church has seen all the sacrifices being done and we are equally standing up to the task to do what we can do as the Lord shows us mercy.  The congregation out of our giving has also taken steps to get a welder to make the burglar-proofs for the windows while we look for alternative measures to get the doors fixed as well as the screeding work done for the inner floor for us to move in there and start worshiping. We believe God has been graciously good to us by bringing men and women who understand and love the work of God around us as a congregation to sacrificially support us this way. All praises to Him alone. Amen.

We are also scaling out strategies to do a strong and effective door to door evangelism consistently, taking advantage of the students on campus to send the Gospel out to all the neighborhood again. We know we have a very hard ground here, yet, our God is stronger and harder than any ground being the creator of all things.

The Lord bless us all, Amen.

Thank you,

Bear Valley Tamale

A great year in Liberia!

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE- LIBERIA

GANTA , NIMBA COUNTY- LIBERIA

DECEMBER 2021 OPERATIONS REPORT

We are very grateful to God for His special grace that has brought us to another year. Let me take this time to greet you and extend happy new year to all of you as it is by God's grace that we have come thus far. The month of December started very well both in and out of the classroom. Our twenty two (22) full time students are doing very well and in high spirit as we all come to the close of the year. They all say hello. The year 2021 was a very successful considering the achievements realized by the help of God. Please Read how God bless His work through His servants in 2021.

SUMMARY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2021 WITH 22 STUDENTS, 5 FULL TIME TEACHERS AND 3 PART TIME TEACHERS

1. 16 Students Graduated with a Diploma in Biblical Students after two years of intensive studies.

2. In 2021- we had 7 successful Campaigns

3. 6 lectureships ( three men, leadership and Preachers lectureships , two women lectureships and one youth lectureship).

4. 590 Baptism Total in 2021

   a. School Campaign Team- 326 Baptism

   b. Present Students- 74 Baptism

   c. Staffs- 59 Baptism

   d. Radio Program- 67 Baptism

   e. Ganta Church Baptism- 64

5. 106 Restored

6. 6 New Congregations planted

7. 2 Congregations Restored

OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK AT OTHER CONGREGATIONS

In as much as we faithfully fulfilled Bear Valley curriculum, we also continued to help our students with first hand experiences in preaching and teaching at other congregations whiles they are still here at the school. We managed to arranged with sister congregations to accept our students to teach and preach at their congregation on Sunday and midweek services for practical future purposes and this is working very well for our students.

GOALS FOR THE UP COMING YEAR 2022

As we look up to a new year, the school has decided to set a target for the up coming year. Our operations will include all of us working together for equipping of the saints for God's service. The following are our plans for 2022:

1. Our training at Bear Valley Bible Institute- Liberia will continue through the Bear Valley rules, regulations and standard as been given to us by our Coordinator, Steven Ashcraft especially following strictly the curriculum given.

2. Secondly, we have planed to carry out 10 gospel campaigns in 2022 if we have the means to do so.

3. Our weekend evangelism and visitation program especially to local congregations outside Ganta will continue with reports from each work weekly.

4. We planed to host two (2) men seminars for all the men in the county that will bring together church leaders, preachers and other denominational preachers.

5. We have also planed to bring together all of our past students ( Graduates) to encourage and strengthen their works with some few days training.

6. The school will also be embarking on making a cassava farm to help with some food.

All these decisions or plans were reached agreed upon in a general meeting comprising of both the staffs and the student body.

USED CLOTHES DONATED TO THE STUDENTS

Two of our church sisters from the Ganta congregation bought some used cloths and donated them to the students for their Christmas gift. She said most of our students have been going to church with out good cloths on so they both noticed them and decided to surprise the future preachers with some good cloths for service purposes. Sister Evelyn Duo and Sister Sarah Garnett encouraged our students to do their best in their studies and promised them of their help if God continue to bless them. We appreciated them and pray along with them.

YEAR END VACATION

Our students left for the year end break (Vacation) on the 20th of December 2021 and are expected to return back to school on January 10th, 2022. Before the vacation, in a staff meeting, the faculty came up with a plan to keep our students busy while on the vacation. Each student is required to visit at least one congregation apart from their home congregation, work with them in either preaching or teaching and bring a comprehensive report of their work out there. Our students were also encourage to zealously work with their home congregations especially in the area of personal evangelism and house to house visitation. We are hopeful tat their work during the vacation will bring more fruits to the kingdom of God.

Conclusion:

We are doing all we can with the help and strength provided by God to save erring souls from sin and bring them to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so to avoid the wailing and gnashing of teeth at the end of our journey. May the God of Heaven, the shepherd of our souls, bless our relationship with you and may we all grow together in the grace as we walk and work together to the glory of Him who has commission us to work. You are always in our prayers. Thank you so much for all you keep doing for the sake of Christ.

Brotherly,

Robert P. Dahn, Jr

Making progress in Malawi

Bear Valley Bible Institute

Ekwendeni – Malawi

2022 Begins with Good news!

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well, thanks! As we all are aware that the first week of February, 2022 was our time to restart our classes after a 3 month holiday, but we have extended the holiday. We will open on the 7th of March, 2022. This is because we have had no rains in Malawi until the 3rd week of January. Therefore, knowing that our daily food comes from our subsistence farming, we thought it good to give extra time for our students to plant. However, the students are able to divide their holiday time that they spare time to preaching as well.

Baptisms!
Recently our students went to a funeral ceremony of one of our brothers in Christ in Ntchisi District. After the burial, the car they were in ended up involved in an accident but we praise God they all were protected. Some of the passengers recognized the students in the car that they were the once who were preaching and singing at the funeral and they asked them to share the good news about Christ. Mateyu Ching’oma preached and ended up with a voice that made people to cry and some obeyed the Gospel the same time. His words were “We have been saved in this car accident that we should lead some of you here if not ALL to Christ” – 3 souls obeyed Christ! Praise God. This is amazing story. God truly has his ways of helping people hear the gospel, no matter they situation involved.
My Fellow teacher Brother Clergynton also went to Chankhombo church of Christ last week to worship, he meet his son in-law who was preaching to 2 ladies and after the preaching the 2 ladies obeyed the gospel!

Construction work!
The construction work for the student’s hostel is still in progress, we are now plastering, window frames and door frames have been fixed in and also tubing has been done waiting for the electric wiring soon. It is good that before the year ends we will shift to our own land. We thank Bear valley Bible institute International for making this possible with the partnership with brethren in Neosho Missouri! God bless you!
Greetings!Ephron

Pray for Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters!  

Happy New Year! We hope to have new achievements and new plans in this new year which the Lord gives us. We resumed classes at the Bible Institute on the 10th of January. Our students had the winter break from which they returned with refreshed spirits. Currently, the students are covering the Old Testament history of Israel, the Book of Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The teacher is Sopelnik Dennis. Also, by the end of January the students would begin studies of the books of Samuel. The schedule is drawn up in such a way that in the first year the students are studying the Old Testament with all concomitant subjects. The second year is devoted mainly to the New Testament.  

This year we have also had a new female student, her name is Victoria.  She is 22 years old, and she is from the city of Kharkiv. So, now we have two students who are from the Kharkiv church of Christ. She is not married; she has a background in arts; she also loves children. Thus, we’re trying to help different congregations not only with preachers but also with potential ladies’ and children’s classes teachers. Our experience has shown how important it is to equip both men and women in the ministry of the local congregations.  

Next month we are scheduled to have two very important seminars. One is for the Western Ukrainian churches, while the other is for the Eastern Ukrainian churches. These are great opportunities for the spiritual growth of our Christians. Our Bible Institute is connected with both events, since our instructors will be teaching at those seminars. We are very grateful to our American partners who help us to conduct these seminars. I would like to repeat that because of these events the Ukrainian church is the strongest on the European continent.  

I would like to express my gratitude to all the sponsors of the Bible Institute. The inflation is rising very quickly every year, and it becomes more and more expensive to enroll new students.  However, we don’t give up and are using every opportunity to find help for equipping the future leaders of the church. The most important thing is that thanks to our mutual efforts many of the Bible Institute graduates are laboring in the vineyard of the Lord, in Ukraine.  

May the Lord keep you; thank you for your prayers.  

With Love in Christ, the director of the Bible Institute, Sopelnik Dennis

More conversions in Sierra Leone

Bear Valley Bible Institute Sierra Leone

Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, Colorado, USA

ACTIVITY OPERATION REPORT FOR DECEMBER, 2021

Full Time Program (A two-year Diploma Program)

INTRODUCTION

Happy New Year to you all our godly supporters, partners, brethren and our ardent readers. From the regional headquarter of the eastern province, Kenema, we send you our profound greetings. We are glad and delighted again to have come your way to share with you our exciting report for the last month of 2021, December. As December marked the end of 2021, the Lord enabled us at KBVBI to carry out the following activities: establishment of a new congregation, new academic endeavor (Part time Program of the Bear Valley Bible Institute), campaign for Christ, conversion of souls and restorations, and academic activities. We are joyous as we share our report with you. Therefore, may you continue reading as we give you the report in detail. 

RESUMPTION OF ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

In our November report, we informed you that our first quarter year one came to a close and our students went on break. To God be the glory, we resumed our second quarter academic activities on 1st December. All our twenty (20) full time students returned to campus and in good condition of health. We are grateful to God.

ESTABLISHMENT OF ANOTHER LOCAL CONGREGATION, CAMPAIGN FOR CHRIST, CONVERSION OF SOULS AND RESTORATION OF BRETHREN

Another local congregation was established by the Kenema Bear Valley Bible Institute team in December. We embarked on a one week campaign for Christ from 11th-18th December, 2021 at Potoru village. Potoru is located in Kailahun District, about 55 miles away from Kenema. The administration of KBVBI came to know about the dire need of the Gospel to be carried to Potoru community by one of the brethren, Amara Jumui who was also converted during one of our campaigns in Gondama. Interestingly, Potoru is predominantly a Muslim locality and yet the Lord opened the hearts of eighteen (18) people and were added to the Church through water baptism during our one week campaign.  Since the establishment of this congregation, some students and staff have been going there every Saturday to teach the new converts and to worship with them. We usually go there, sleep there and worship and return to Kenema every Sunday. For now, those new converts are worshipping under a thatch booth.  Additionally, our regular weekend evangelism at the Bear Valley campus has also been yielding fruit. As a result, seven (7) brethren were restored over the month of December. As we progress in this 2022, you shall be getting the update about the progressive growth of the congregation being established. Please brethren, may we continue to pray for these new converts so that the zeal which they have shown will enable them to grow more spiritually. 

PART TIME PROGRAM (Extended Program): Consistent Progress at the KBVBI

We want to begin this section again by being so grateful to God for making our dream come to reality. We have been working hand- in-hand with the local congregations in Sierra Leone and we have been encouraging so many brethren to enroll in the school to be trained to go and win more souls for Christ; build up strong local congregations; put in order a very effective biblical leadership, and to deepen their understanding of the scripture. Some brethren truly have been interested in studying in the school; and they have been saying, “Brother Peter, some of us truly desire to enroll in the KBVBI program but it is very difficult for us to go as full time students; It will be very tough for us to go and stay in the dormitory especially when we have our families to cater for. Therefore, if you would introduce a part time program for us, we will really appreciate it.” Then others have been contending, “As you already know Brother Peter, our country Sierra Leone is dominated by Muslims so this is an opportunity for us to study to be able to defend the faith. Some of us are preachers and leaders and we also want to enroll together with our wives, but a part time program will be the best.” Therefore, with the above comments and many more yearnings from the brethren, the administration decided to pray about it and to put it forward to our very committed and kind coordinator, beloved Brother Steve Ashcraft. As it is the will of God, Brother Steve approved it. And on the 11th December, 2021, we had our early entrance exam for the part time students. Twelve (12) brethren wrote the exam and were admitted in the program. Others couldn’t write the exam because they had traveled for December festival break. However, they will also write theirs when they return. We scheduled to begin classes on January 15, 2022.

STUDENT’S BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Justine Chokpelleh Jr.

Justine Chokpelleh Jr. is one of our committed and serious minded students. He worships with one of the local congregations in Freetown, Trade Center Church of Christ. Justine was born on the 2nd January, 1999 in Freetown. He is the last son of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Justine Fallah Chokpelleh Sr.  Justine’s father is the preacher at Trade Center Church of Christ in Freetown. Justine Chokpelleh Jr. was added to the Lord’s Church in 2013. Since then, he has been actively involved in the activities of the Church. He has been leading in songs, teaching in teenagers’ classes, cleaning the Church auditorium and many other activities. He is a very promising preacher that will bring many lost souls to Christ. He has been making requests to the administration to embark on an evangelism campaign at his congregation in Freetown, and we will honor his request by the special grace of God. Below is a photograph of Brother Justine Chokpelleh Jr.

CONCLUSION

As the Lord enabled us to have done the little in the past month of December, we pray and hope that January 2022 will even be more fruitful. We remain appreciative to our supporters, our coordinator, our African Director, Brother Keith Kasarjian whom we have not met face-to-face, and all our brethren who continue to pray and to be involved in the work here in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Until we meet in January, remain blessed and in the hands of God.

Lagos Island hosts Seminar

LAGOS ISLAND CENTER REPORT November 2021 - January 2022.

INTRODUCTION: We give God the glory for giving us the grace to pass through the last year and enter into another promising year 2022. Last year has been a challenging year for Lagos Island Center of Bear Valley Project as our number of students keeps dwindling. It was a great year too as we hosted the Median Edition of Lagos Schools Annual Seminar. We also thank Bro Keith Kasarjian for his visit in November which was a great encouragement to our work in Nigeria. 

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES: Our classes had been very successful in the last three months as usual, with Oluwafemi Adewuyi teaching Homiletics 1, Christian Ethics, and James Luka guiding the students through the Life of Christ 1 (Book of Matthew). From this weekend, Tim Iwe started the Book of Acts with the students. This makes 29 courses taken so far in our center. We had a new student start with us in November. His name is Onyedikachi Anya. 

CAMPAIGN PROGRAM/MARKET EVANGELISM: We hosted the Median Edition of three schools in Lagos who came together to have a Seminar. The Theme was “MOVING LAGOS CHURCHES TO THE NEXT LEVEL.” We looked into the ‘Simple Aids to Bible Understanding and Application’ by Solomon Usim. Also, Bro Joshua Otola Ogbu spoke on  ‘Synergizing the work of the church among Ministers and Workers in the churches in Lagos’. The feedback from participants was encouraging. 

 WBS ONLINE STUDY HELPER: I will ever be grateful to God for the Online WBS tools for evangelism. Kris Dille in answering the question about why he believes in creation stated that “This is a hard question for me. I grew up believing in the big bang (non-Christian household), but with my belief in God and reading Genesis (too many times to count), I believe that the universe was started by God We are happy to help somebody to come to this realization and even add that the work was done by God. The work continues. 

Active Students: 138

Under Follow Up: 2

Competed Lessons: 4682

Certificates Awarded: 1170

Baptism:  1

CONCLUSION: Despite the challenges in the present time, we give thanks to God for the school's progress in these few months. Without the constant support we've received, BV Lagos Island would not have gotten this far. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for your honest, spiritual, financial, and material assistance. We are eternally grateful to each and every one of you. The main gratitude belongs to God.

Thanks and God bless you. 

TIM IWE 

Lagos Island Center Director

Evangelism in Ikorodu, Lagos

Greetings from the staff and students of BVBI Ikorodu Lagos. Below is the report from the school:

The school here in Ikorodu is blessed with 18 students. They are all regular and punctual in the class as well as our teachers. The subjects treated so far from January to December are: World Religion, Marriage and Family Life, Preacher's Life and Works, Minor Prophets, Congregational Development, Revelation, Islam, Life of Christ- 3, John, Foundation Mission, O.T Prophets (Minor Prophets), Research Writing 1, and Life of Christ-4

Evangelism was conducted in the month of October on the first Sunday. This exercise involved the presence of staff and students and consisted of door-to-door evangelism. In the process, we discovered five lost members who have returned to the church, and three other souls were baptized into Christ

We had a one-day lecture on December 4, 2021. Theme: "Marriage without Problem". We had one hundred and eighteen (118) participants from fifteen congregations.

Conclusion

We are sincerely grateful to God and our American brethren for their support and motivation which enable us to study hard and prove ourselves as good Soldiers of Christ.

Yours in the Service

Mfon Etim Adeh

(Director Ikorodu Campus)

Uganda school continues classes

Greetings brethren.

With much joy, I take this opportunity to thank God for protection and guidance in each and everything we are doing. We thank Him most for the love and providence during this time of Corona. Our country is fully lifted from the lockdown issues.

I send you all the love and greetings from the students and teachers here at the Bear Valley school in Kampala. Special greetings from my family, especially my wife who has not been feeling well for a couple of weeks, but we have some hopes of her getting better soon.

The school was able to commence with studies on January 17. This is our fourth quarter. The students were able to come back although two of them were not able to report back. We currently have ten students and they are all doing well.

The first course taught by brother Muhyana was completed and Christopher is in for the second course unit.

Upon our arrival at school, through the evangelism our students were doing around the communities of the school, two souls were added to the church in the first week. The congregation is being established and we come to you asking for prayers that this congregation may grow.

More efforts of evangelism were being put in when our students were home during holidays. One man is calling us to go and meet him for baptism after studying with one of our students.

Another new development was that a congregation was planted and one of our students has been there working hand in hand in preaching with the preacher who they established that congregation with. This is a great achievement that the work is being done and our students are active.

May the almighty God bless you all!

Until all have heard,

Raymond

Wotutu school works to expand the kingdom

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from this part of the world and a gracious and happy new year to you. We do hope you all made it into 2022 with sound health and a great focus to keep serving the Lord. We are doing well, and by His grace we are into the new year without many challenges.

This year is full of promise, as we see God taking us into another dimension in His work. We are ready, and we are prepared to do well in our calling in Him. We call on God for His help. 

Last year closed with our students out for mission work. My wife and I were also involved in the mission work of visiting and nurturing congregations around the Meme division in Cameroon. It was a great time for us as well.

I was privileged again to introduce the theme of the year 2022 in the Wotutu congregation. I also analyzed the theme, and we are trusting that God will bring a new resolve into the life of many who are under our voices.

The students are all back in school and two of our students, Lyambe Francis and Fon Ndinsang got married in the course of the vacation. We are set, and we are rolling in the first quarter of the second year. We have great courses to study which include, “Intertestamental History,” “The Book of Romans,” ”Minor Prophets,” ”2 Corinthians,” and “World Religions.” Keep us in your prayers as we invest our time in teaching and in transferring knowledge to the students who are very much ready to learn.

Many Brightland Christian Comprehensive College students keep coming to our students at BVBIC-Wotutu to learn more from the topics they hear in Chapel. We are blessed to have many avenues for our student preachers to grow. Speaking during chapel and speaking in the Wotutu congregation are added advantages to their learning. The Brightland schools are a fertile land for the gospel.

My wife and I were out of Wotutu for one week of mission work in the Meme division . Its aim was to visit our graduates around that area. It was great to meet them, and to see them being active in their respective congregations. To this same light, I am still planning, and eagerly hoping, to be in the country of Chad with my wife for the work we started doing there last year with brother Ititi. The country of Chad needs more motivation and encouragement. It is very barren spiritually. That is why I wish to travel there with my wife who will be very active in helping the women so that they can start helping other women and children. There is no women’s class in the entire country as well as no children’s class in any of the congregations.

Our students were busy in different communities during the last field work as they were evangelizing and nurturing congregations. Many people suspended what they were doing to listen to the word. It is good for the students to have these opportunities of preaching and teaching in different communities.

Congregations without preachers are always smiling as they welcome a preacher from our campus to their congregation. It is always good to taste how sweet the gospel is when it is presented from a sound angle. Our students do us proud with their zeal and love for the Lord who died for us on the old rugged cross.

Congregations in areas that have been highly affected by the crisis and who had closed their doors are being revived now as our students are entering there, and our God is causing great revival. Three new congregations were established in December 2021 during mission work by our students.

Even with her disability and advanced age, our dear sister will cook for our students and make sure they are safe in her village as they preach the gospel. This is some of the great faith we see daily from God’s children. Keep her and others like her in your prayers.

One of the congregations established last month meets in a new convert’s house. She offered her sitting room for the worship of God and the study of the word within the week. Our students can go there weekly to conduct worship and Bible classes. The landlord is mad at the sister for this. Things like this are some of the challenges we face as we establish new congregations in different places.

The Wotutu congregation is growing rapidly. Because of this, we have demolished the walls that set my office in the church hall apart. Now I don’t have an office in the worship hall, so all of my counseling and praying for people is done from a bench in the hall. Glory be to God for growth!

This Brightland student, Anita Welle, obeyed the gospel. She is now a part of the Wotutu congregation. Keep her in your prayers. Her grandmother is a Christian who will encourage her to grow faster.

One of our preaching students, Prinslo, went to the northwest area and preached in the community of Dunga Matung. While there, he baptized 35 souls within 3 weeks. This was a very strong indication that the field is still very ripe, even after we have graduated 5 different batches of students. Even now it is still true that the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. Brother Denis baptized a soul in the newly established congregation in Kotto village. There is more work going on in many different places.

Sister Senge, our nurse who had a spinal surgery, is recovering. Please keep her in your prayers.

We will continue with our weekend evangelism every week. Keep our plans in your prayers.

APPRECIATIONS

Thank you very much for all that you do for us here. We are grateful.

Elangwe and family

By His grace director BVBIC-Wotutu

Cameroon school conducts mission work in Kotto

The Lord is good all the time. 

Evangelism is our mission and our mission is evangelism.

This is a report from the mission work in Kotto Mission. We are speaking of our mission of planting new congregations in French Cameroon.

It was on the 28th of December that we carried our luggage to Kotto Mission, a village located in the outskirts of Kombe, along the road leading to the Muyuka community in the southwest, English-speaking region of Cameroon.

We arrived in Kotto Mission with a 15-man delegation made up of some graduates from the Bear Valley schools in Mbanga and Wotutu. These were some students from both schools who were already on personal holiday after their fieldwork along with some sisters from the Mbanga and Kombe congregations. It was 12:30 PM when we got to the village and at 3:00 PM we went for our first outing as we had met with the chief of the village earlier in the day. He had given us a green light for the mission work and to preach in his community. The work was carried out for 3 days of serious door-to-door evangelism.

Come let us reason together! Tracts were distributed both in English and in French and almost 700 hundred tracts of various titles were handed out and about 200 people gave us a few minutes of their time for us to share the word with them. The community enjoyed our stay, and the military officers who were on duty also appreciated the way we were doing the work. 2 souls were added to the church, and 2 internally displaced Christians were discovered during our stay in Kotto and have been restored during the first Sunday of worship.

This young church needs our full-time support until we can get a graduate there in April of next year.

A nice number of people attended a meeting that was held in which we made arrangements to worship in Mami Mary’s residence, and how we shall be sending graduates, tenured preachers, and our student preachers on weekly basis. It was quite unfortunate that our school in Mbanga doesn’t have a bilingual French-English speaking student in this batch. Because of this fact, four different preachers were programmed to be rotating every week. The last one will be there next week. 

Future plan of the congregation: 

It is quite clear that the pillar of that church is our sister Patient, the wife of Asikpo Denis, who is a student preacher in Wotutu, whose daughter has been living in my home for the past few years so that she can go to school in the French zone. They ran away from the crisis but they are sure that by the end of this year, this brother shall carry his wife to the new place where he will decide to work. 

Things will be a bit difficult as all those in the church are still babes in Christ. The mother, in whose parlor we are worshiping, is the landlady to this sister. The opportunity to worship there is only due to the good relationship that they maintain. We must be thinking of what will become of the worship place when this sister will leave by December. We must be thinking about another place of worship. 

We will need to be sending men there to preach for a while. We need a long-term support commitment to be able to correctly nurture these young congregations. Benches, a table, and other items to create a worship area are also needed in this new assembly. 

Evangelism is our mission and our mission is Evangelism. We want to thank the support team for the great mission they are doing. God bless this dream.

There is also a Macedonian cry coming from Tobouro, a border town between Cameroon and Chad. It will cost us a lot, but it is expedient for us to listen. Another call is coming from Nvog. There are many calls and many dreams that need our attention and your support. May we continue to plant and water together as God gives the increase to His glory. 

 From your humble servant,

Ititi Benedict. 

Graduates return for a Bible Seminar

Reporting Letter for the month of January-2022

Respected International Director Mr.Keith Kasarjian,  the coordinator Mr.Mark Reynolds and all the prayer partners of BVBI Extension Centre at Tirupati-India, we greet you in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We pray that this reporting letter finds you in good health. We thank you so much for your continued prayers and encouragement for the smooth function of BVBI at Tirupati.

BVBI-Tirupati:- By the grace of God we have completed three semesters, thankful to our teachers and non-teaching staff for their hard work, and we appreciate all the students for their dedication to study well and follow the curriculum of BVBI. The students take good notes, they write daily examinations, they do memory work, and they write weekly examinations. After completing three semesters without any break we have given them a break and sent all the students for the practical work(Filed work) for the month of February. 

Our Coordinator Visit:-  We are thankful to our Coordinator for traveling to India and visiting our BVBI-extension center. He was with us from  January 9 to 13 (Saturday to Thursday). He taught prison epistles in our Bible school. All the students, teachers and guest students, and local preachers were able to attend the classes. We appreciate his wonderful teaching and encouragement. 

Benevolence:- In the month of January we have raised some funds and were able to distribute new clothes to widows and poor people in India. 

Bible Seminar:- In the month of January we conducted a Bible Seminar on January 7th and 8th. We studied the book of Acts, we invited 10 speakers to present 10 topics from the book of Acts. We are happy to report to you that our coordinator Mr.Mark Reynolds was able to present two lessons in our Christian Growth Bible Seminar.

Old batch students:- We invited all the first batch students for the Bible seminar to attend and enjoy the seminar lessons and had wonderful fellowship with one another. I invited one of the former students, Mr. Gopal Krishna to present one lecture in our Bible Seminar. He did an outstanding job.

Joint Service:-   The gospel has reached from our local church to different villages and local churches were planted. Every year in the month of January we conduct a joint service. By the grace of God, this year in the month of January 9th we conducted the joint service by inviting neighboring local churches. We are happy to share with you that Mr. Mark Reynolds was able to preach for this special service.

Home Bible studies:- We have started Home Bible studies in different families. We hope that shortly some people will be added to the body of Christ. Last Sunday 3 souls were baptized by our students , we request your prayers for their spiritual growth.

Thanking you.

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

Vijay&Swarupa, from BVBI-extension Centre-India.

Many good activities in Ibadan

Dear fellow soldiers of Christ Jesus.

Happy New Year in advanced and Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I can never forget those that have been there for us since the inception of this preachers training School in the city of Ibadan in the year 2003. Big thanks to all the American brethren who played vital roles in helping us to achieve our aim of recruiting more men into the Lord's Army. May the Lord keep on blessing all our work together in Christ Jesus, amen.

Here is the summary of our activities in the Lord for this month of December 2021.

OVERVIEW

i- BVBIN Bachelor's Degree program

ii- Weekend Evangelism

iii- Marriage ceremonies

iv- Second Semester Classes

v- Report from WBSFUW

vi- VOTI volume 111 freely distributed

BVBIN BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAM:

The second batch of BVBIN Bachelor's Degree program of November 29 through December 10 was attended by eleven Students in Butubutu village, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Bro. Isaac Olaniyan taught on Research and Writing-1 from November 29 through December 3, while I , Bro. Makinde Ebens taught on Advanced Fundamental of faith-1 from December 6 through 10,2021.

Next two classes is coming up on February or March 2022 , Lord's willing with Bro. Chad Wagner teaching on Greek-1 and Bro. Isaac Olaniyan teaching on Advanced Hermeneutics-1.

WEEKEND EVANGELISM:

According to our tradition, the students and staff of BVBIN & SWSE, IBADAN continue in their weekend outreach in in six centers on December 3 through 5 and December 10 through 12. We are graced in evangelizing Butubutu Village, Jago, Badeku, Ajia, Igbooloyin-Ibadan and Asejire in Osun State. Even though there is no conversion yet, nevertheless , we have many prospects who we believe will soon embrace the truth.

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES:

The legal marriage between my daughter, Sister Toluwalope Glory Makinde and Bro. Dennis Ojenomoh was held in Ibadan North Local Government ,Agodi Gate ,Ibadan, Oyo State on December 2 while the traditional ceremony and reception was held in Orebanjo Hall, Iyana Church in Ibadan on December 4,2021.

We deeply appreciate all the brethren, friends, relatives and all the graduates of BVBIN & SWSE , The SWSE foundation members and the representative of BVBIN Schools in Lagos State ,Ondo State, Abuja and Ibadan for their present.

Also, the traditional ceremony and reception of Sister Temidayo Shotola, the second daughter of Bro.Dele Shotola, one of the WBSFUW in Oyo State came up on December 18,2021 in ECOWAS Hall, Challenge Area of Ibadan City. To God be the glory and honor for the success of this two events.

SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES:

Second Semester Classes for 2021/2022 session continue till December 17 when we embark on three weeks break to enable our students participate actively in the end of the year program across the Western States of Nigeria.

All our year-1 & 2- males Students are now working with the Lord's Church across the Western States of Nigeria while the four female Students(three in year-1 and one in year-2) returned to their home congregations .

Our instructors for this semester are: Bro. Isaac Olaniyan who is handling Life of Christ-2(Mark) ,Evangelism-2(Church Planting) and The book of Galatians. Bro. Kayode Eniafe is handling ,Evangelism-2(Church Planting ) , OTP(Major) and The book of Bro. Makinde John is handling How we got the Bible and Basic Bible Doctrine. Bro. Adeolu Andrew is handling Acts of the Apostles and Hermeneutics-1(Introduction). Bro. Oladokun Samuel is handling Christian Evidences. Bro. Emmanuel Godwin is handling World Religious. Bro. Peter Ortserga is handling Cost of Discipleship while I, Bro Makinde Ebens is handling Homiletics-1(Introduction), Hermeneutics-2(In-depth Studies) and Ministerial Counseling. Classes will continue Lord's willing on January 10,2022.

REPORT FROM WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL FOLLOW UP TEAM

i- Our new man, Bro. Benson Balogun who is also one of our year-2- Students and a gospel preacher in Asejire town, Ondo State visited seven High School and share 1,000 WBS Correspondence Courses in which 634 were now returned by the students.

ii- Bro. Enefiok Archibong of Ikot Ekpene town in Akwa-Ibom State reported that the just concluded WBS seminar in his Area was attended by representative of 33 congregations with 170 participants and with a soul converted during the seminar.

iii- Another WBSFUW in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State named Bro. M.B.Archibong reported the conversion of five souls in the just concluded WBS/ LEADERSHIP seminar in his Area in which the just printed VOTI volume 111 was distributed to the representative of churches present.

VOICE OF TRUTH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 111 FREELY DISTRIBUTED:

Five thousand seven hundred and fifty (5,750) copies of VOTI volume 111 was posted/delivered by hand to brethren and friends of the Lord's Church across the country ,Nigeria between December 5 and 17,2021. We thank the World Evangelism crews for this great gospel material. May the Lord continue to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory is our fervent prayers.

ABOUT A STUDENT:

Bro. Matthew Rowland is one of our year-2- Students. A native of Ponyan in Yagba East Local Government,Kogi State. Born in 1975 and was converted into the Lord's Church in 1998. A graduate of Nigerian Christian Institute, ministerial department, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom. His mission is to become one of the able ministers of God in Africa starting from Nigeria.

END OF THE YEAR PROGRAM:

The staff and WBSFUW in Ibadan organized end of the year program in five communities in Ibadan and Asejire-Osun State from December 23 through 26,2021. Bro. Andrew Adeolu served as the moderator while I (Bro.Makinde Ebens), Bro.Kayode Eniafe and Bro. Dele Shotola served as the speakers.

CONCLUSION:

We appreciate you all for your great support toward the growth of the Lord's Church in Africa most especially in Nigeria. May the Almighty God keep on showering His abundant blessing on all our joint effort is our fervent prayers. Amen.

I remain yours in His Grace as a servant,

Makinde Ebens The Chief Servant of BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN & WBSFUW)

Lectureship in Cameroon

"No Cross No Crown," was our watchword for our last graduation and, "Total Commitment," was the theme for this year to move the church and the new batch of students to another level. It all went well. We now use this medium to congratulate all partners of this great work that is going on in French Cameroon. 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end, but they are new every morning. We greet all in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. We have gone through this year with a very big cross on our head but we can see the crown awaiting us in 2022. Our commitments were so great but we still see that even with the Covid-19 and other related crises, the supporting team has never relented their efforts.

Even though we have not had any missionaries here since the start of the crisis, we also want to thank God for the work that is going on inch by inch but there is still a lot to be done. We, the evangelists, are still in the field working endlessly. We appreciate you all for your prayers, your words of encouragement, and your finances also.

 The students will complete their first year of training at the end of March 2022. Their maturity in preaching and handling the word is coming in with enthusiasm. They came with little or no experience, but today, with a lot of courage and knowledge, they can do more and better things in the vineyard of the Lord. God is still sitting on the throne. Before it's graduation time, they will be doing things with a lot of wisdom.

  Students and staff also assisted greatly during the Annual Church of Christ Lectureship in Limbe. The director, the staff, the graduates, and the present students all took part along-side the general assembly of the churches of Christ that took place in Limbe, south west region, Cameroon. 

It was a pleasure to join all of our resources to make this lectureship a success. While the staff and director were taking an active part in the activities, such as preaching, round table discussion, translating from one language to another (French to English and English to French), the students on their part were active in the organization of the grounds and in preaching. The van could be seen taking people around to various preaching grounds. With the use of the speakers on the top of the vehicles, some students and graduates were preaching through these instruments to the whole city.  

  The lectureship recorded 3 baptisms as well as some restored persons. It was the 2021 edition of the annual lectureship. Tracks were also shared to the majority English speakers in that area but also to the francophone population in Limbe as well. Thanks to Richard Renfro with Mission Printing and Barry Baggot with French World Outreach as well.

Mission Printing tracks arrived in Mbanga via Wotutu. These tracts will help us to push the work along for a good while. Materials of different kinds came to us including WBS programs in French and the lessons which are so interesting. We are also sending some to the congregations in the French (or francophone zones) both in Cameroon and in Chad Republic. Bibles and hymnals were also included. 

It was time for short courses, and this time around we had missionary Bassay Louis and his wife Linda from the Bonaberi congregation in Douala teaching the students and their wives. It was great to have Louis teach the book of Galatian to the brothers and Linda teaching “The Holy Women of Faith,” to the women. 

 As weekend evangelism continues both in Mbanga and other communities, sister Tatiana was added to the church in Mbanga and some two other souls to Bafia and Kiboum. We would like to bring to your knowledge the establishment of the congratulations in Kiboum and in Bafia respectively. They also are a part of our newly created assemblies. We offered them a few benches and tables for worship.

The number of new congregations is quite motivating even though it is a timid start. Let's put these young assemblies in our prayers. Bibles were also sent to these young assemblies to be given to the new converts. The church also assisted sister Cecile during her grandmother's burial in Dikouma village. It all went well. Sister Cecile is a new convert and also very active in the church, but due to lack of work, she has decided to settle in Douala were she now worships with the Bonaberi church of Christ. Our prayers are needed. She is a young widow with four children who are still in primary school. 

Thanks so much for reading. Happy new year in advance and many more years to do the work of the Lord.  

Your servants Ititi Benedict and Mary

Prayers needed for Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters,  

During the last month the situation involving Ukraine and the Russian Federation's aggression was often mentioned in the media. Many politicians made loud comments about unavoidability of the active stages of the military conflict. And the fact is that the Russian Federation moved many of its troops toward the borders of Ukraine creating a lot of political pressure for the government, our population and the rest of the world. However, we keep praying for peace. God is still in control, He knows the times and seasons. There is no panic in Ukraine. Unfortunately, we have been used to living next to the military activities since 2014. For this reason, we plead you to join us in prayers and keep trusting the Lord. 

The classes of the Bible Institute follow the usual schedule, thank God.  The whole school semester we had classes offline. All Instructors found strength and resources to make the trip to Bela Tserkva and teach in the classrooms, right in front of their students. In November and the beginning of December the first year students had the Book of Genesis (Instructor Viktor Semikoz), Exodus-Deuteronomy (Dmitro Galiuk) and Godhead, Satan and Angels (Dennis Sopelnik). On Wednesdays we continue to have studies with Terry Harmon. This is an extra curriculum activity where students can raise questions for discussion and study subjects that are important to the church's growth.  

In January one more student wants to join the program. We pray for her being able to join us in 2022. We are currently looking for funds for a rental and stipend for her. If you have any helpful contacts or some information that can be useful please share it with our program's coordinator Terry Harmon.  

The church keeps doing well. We had some differences in opinions on the "Covid situation". As usual there people for and people against masks, vaccinations, etc. However, thankfully after many prayers and open dialogues we were able to resolve the tension. Those who love God will always find a way to come to an agreement.  The services are conducted offline and in spite of lots of limitations many Christians didn't miss the opportunities of fellowship.  

We are very thankful for your prayers and financial support of our ministry. Our graduates and preachers send their greetings. Life goes on. We still have a lot of plans we are aspiring to accomplish.  

In Christian love, Your brother Dennis Sopelnik

Pray for the teachers in Visak, India

Dear Brethren in Christ,  

I bring greetings from all the students, faculty and staff from Visakha Valley Bible College. God has been so merciful to us, rescued all the three faculty members from their health complications and giving me energy/strength to do all what I am responsible to be doing.

One of the blessing is visit of brother Mark Reynolds, who is the coordinator of the School. We are so pleased with his visit during this very difficult time, he knew that he has to go through lot of screening & testing, but he has chosen to come see us, certainly God has been with him for his successful visit. Certainly we were thrilled with his visit.

Let me update on the faculty members who were sick and recovering:

Bro. P. Mallesara Rao fell from his motor cycle while travelling with his wife, he had injuries on his face and shoulder, so as his wife had some wounds too. Because he hurt his brain when fell on the ground, he was unconscious for three days, after medication and prayer, he gradually becoming normal; couple of days ago he attended the Youth Program we held at Skinner’s Garden.

Brother D. Rama Raju, he had high blood pressure and taken to the hospital, took couple of days to find out the problem and also to find the right hospital, changed three different doctors, finally found the right one who can resolve the bleeding problem in brain caused due to High Blood pressure, it cost a lot of money to get the treatment done. He mortgaged his house to pay the hospital bills. Kindly pray for him as he is recovering, we is feeling perfectly alright because he is doing things on his own, however we do not know when he will be back in his full strength to get back to his responsibility.

 Bro. G. Vamsee Bushanam, he is having problems because of high creatine, as he is having problems with his Kidney. He had very difficult time on the 3rd of this month, after medication for one week, he started feeling better, on the 13th he attended the Youth Program and taught couple of classes to the young men attended. He is going to start teaching from this week onwards.

Unfortunately something has happed just today, my brother James Paul who is learning to take charge of the School, after rapid test for Cvoid-19, he found positive. Kindly pray that he would recover from it as he has begun taking medicine. Do pray for me as I will be trying to run everything smooth. Also pray as the number Covid cases keep raising every hour & every day, it is alarming something what we are not ready for, kindly pray for us as we pray for your safety as well.

Dear brethren, we really had a great visit or brother Mark Reynolds, also looking forward for the visit of Brother Keith Kasarjian in the third week of March. During the visit of Mark Reynolds, he taught our students one day and graduates on the second day. We are so happy that over 60 graduates are working full time in the mission field, thank you all so much for being part of that.

Tailoring Institute: This has been very productive and also giving us a great opportunity to show how much we care. Also, our students are getting stitching classes as part of Trade Education.

We appreciate you so much for help run the school, do appreciate the Elders of Lake Houston & Strickland church of Christ also Jerry & Paula Bates for their continue trust and confidence in the work. We are grateful to the brethren at Lake Houston for helping with some special needs, you have been so kind to us, God bless you all.

Thank you so much for your prayers, please continue as the Corona situation is kind of scary….greet your family and church family for us, we thank you so much for everything. We do thank brother Mark Reynolds to visit with us.

Thanking you,

In Christ,

John Dean M

An outstanding year in Port Harcourt!

END OF THE YEAR 2021 PROGRESS OF BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE RIVERS STATE NIGERIA, WEST AFRICA

The year 2021 can be described as a good year for the two centres of Bear Valley Bible Institute in Rivers State Nigeria. As at the time of this report which is December 2021 we have a total of 58 active students at our two centres.

STUDY OF TWO COURSES PER MONTH BEGIN JANUARY 2022

We are happy to report that from January 2022 we will begin to study two courses per month. When I first got the information from Brother Chad and Keith that we can upgrade to study two courses per month I received the news with joy. When I went to the students and the teachers at the two centres to shared the news with them and to sample their opinions, everyone received the news with happiness because since the two years of our existence we have been on one course per month scheme. The implication of the two courses per month is that we will cover 24 courses per year and with that scheme, we can graduate our students in two years instead of the 4 years scheme. We therefore thank the management of Bear Valley Bible Institute for the approval of the upgrade. We are now ready to begin the new scheme in January 2022. 

THE VISIT OF THE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (KEITH KASARJIAN) TO OUR TWO CENTERS ON NOVEMBER 27TH 2021

As we were concluding school lectures for the year 2021, the international director visited our school to see our progress. When he flew into Port Harcourt on November 27th 2021; he visited the students and the teachers at our two centres and interacted with them. We are very sure that he was impressed with what he saw at the centres.

LAST QUARTER OF THE YEAR 2021 EVANGELISM - OUTREACH

Students of Bear Valley Bible Institute in Rivers state Nigeria are very much active in evangelism in the state and beyond. Since we started we have been bringing the two centres together for evangelism outreach but in this last quarter of the year 2021 we decided to let each centre evangelize her immediate environment.

On Saturday 16th October 2021, the students and teachers at Ahoada centre went out for evangelism at Ahoada town. The students went to the streets and houses in the community and shared the gospel of Christ to the people. At the end, the students brought back the names of many prospects and the congregation at Ahoada town is following up the prospects. We hope that some of the prospects will be baptized as soon as possible.

On Saturday 30th October 202, the students at Rumuokwuta centre went out to Rumuokwuta town and conducted open air and house to house evangelism. At the end of the outreach the students came back with names of many prospects. A prospect among them visited and worshiped with the congregation at Rumuokwuta. The follow up of the prospects are ongoing and we hope that some of them will be baptized as soon as possible.

STUDENTS TWO WEEKS PRACTICAL FIELD WORK ON DECEMBER 2021

The students two weeks practical field work which we did on December 2021 was scheduled to take place on March 2022. We brought down to December 2021 because of the plan to start the study of two courses per month in 2022. We want the new scheme to run smoothly in 2022 without interruptions.

On December 4th 2021 we sent our 58 students into the field to work with congregations in Rivers State Nigeria and few other states around us. As at the time of this report, we are still gathering the report of the field work from our students and various congregations where they worked.

 At the field, our students conducted open air, house to house evangelism, Bible classes, visitations and prayer meetings. Our male students preached sermons during church meetings and taught Bible classes while the female students taught in the sister’s classes and participated in evangelism.

As at the time of this report, we are still being expecting more reports from the various congregations where our students worked. So far, we have recorded 2 baptisms and 5 restorations while more reports are being expected.

In conclusion, the year 2021 was a great year for Bear Valley Bible Institute in Rivers state Nigeria. We thank our sponsors and everyone who contributed to our success. We hope to achieve more in the New Year ahead.

Report from:

Anthony E. Oluria (Director of studies)