Dear Brethren,
Greetings from Visakha Valley Bible College to you in the name of Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. By the grace of God we are all doing fine and the school work is going on well.
We were thrilled to hear that the Elders at Strickland Church of Christ have come forward to oversee the Visakha Valley Bible School. We have known these brethren from a long time, in fact me and my father have visited this congregation several times. This congregation has been involved in supporting the Skinner’s Garden work under the oversight of the Elders of West Corinth Church of Christ from a long time. They helped us buy bicycles, lanterns, sewing machines, Bibles and other evangelistic needs. Their part in evangelizing the world is commendable.
It was my pleasure visiting with them in the summer 2010 when I was given an opportunity to give a work report. I took advantage of that and mentioned about our new school Visakha Valley Bible College and our association with Bear Valley. I didn’t have much to talk to them about any more than the presentation, but the later developments encouraged them to come forward to oversee the Bible School work. We appreciate Jerry & Paula for their part in encouraging the elders to take up this new responsibility. In deed we feel like it’s God’s providence. We pray that our relationships will be built up stronger for the betterment of the Lord’s work in India especially in the northeastern region of the state of Andhra Pradesh.
We are encouraged so much with the growth rate of the students, as it is well aware a few numbers of the students always stay little behind despite their hard work. However most of the students are up to date in completing their assignments and tests.
Preachers’ Fellowship Meeting:
We are very happy with the evangelistic efforts by our students. We have a student named Uday, who always wanted to attend the short classes, invited us for the preachers’ Fellowship meeting at their place. He wanted us to teach on the subject ‘The Work of the Church.’ He wanted the local congregation to understand about their responsibility towards the fellow Christians and taking the gospel to the lost community in their village. We had most of our graduates attend this Preachers’ Fellowship meeting. We praised God when 3 of those graduates who spoke on the subject encouraged the local congregation to seriously think about charity and evangelism.
Paul Raju’s health condition: Paul Raju, one of our old students had appendicitis pain and had to go through the surgery. By the grace of God everything went well, and he is recovering. He is working in the Viskhapatnam city only. He is one of those who registered for the new Master’s Class which shall be starting July 2012, if that is Lord’s will.
Special Bible Class on the Book of Revelation:
DVS Prakash, one of our graduates of the previous batch, is a zealous preacher. He never wanted to take a back seat if a situation comes where he has to deal with that. Denominational groups have been teaching about the premillennialism by misusing text from the Book of Revelation. So, he never wanted to delay approaching the school for help. Brother Vamsee Bushanam, who teaches the Book of Revelation in the school, came forward to help this graduate and the congregation. The local congregation decided to hold a 1 day Special Bible Class on the book of Revelation every month. By the grace of God the congregation is learning the true word as it is written while the speaker is rightly dividing the word of God.
Applications for the Masters Class:
We are blessed to have another term of Master Classes starting in July this year. We are anxiously looking forward for the start of new batch. We have a list of 16 students who shall be attending enrolling for the Master Class.
Short Class:
Brother Chuck Ramseur will be visiting with us for the next week. During his visit he shall be teaching the ‘Epistle to the Hebrews’ with the undergraduate students. We are excited about Chuck coming to Visakha for the second time which really helps us to work together for the betterment of the School. He is very mindful of the school in Visakha. We pray that his visit would be a blessing to all of us.
Brother Irven Skinner’s Visit:
Brother Irven Skinner has been a missionary to India since 1999. During his recent visit he arrived at Visakhapatnam Airport and wanted to spend a couple of days teaching the students at Visakha Valley Bible College. He really loves teaching the Bible. This time he encouraged the Indian preachers to live their lives like a light. One of the lessons he taught was, “ brethren, do not grow weary of doing good,” 2 Thess 3:13, encouraging the preachers to always abound in the Lord to do good things. Our students enjoyed class. Irven Skinner also taught for 3 hrs on the next day during the local congregations meeting we held on Saturday at VVBC facility. We had a great time sharing the Lord’s word. As a result, 3 came forward to be baptized. We
rejoiced with those who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Brother Irven said, regarding the Bible School work, he would like to come next time and spend more time with the students.
Thank you note:
We are thankful to the brethren at Strickland Church of Christ for choosing to be the overseeing church for the Bible School, to guide us spiritually for the betterment of the Church in India. We continue to strive for our common goal and purpose, which is evangelizing the lost millions. We appreciate all of your prayers for us and your financial support. Kindly write us back if you want to know more about the Bible School work. We appreciate brother Bob Turner, Ralph Williams and Jerry Bates for their encouragement in running 
the school successfully.
Thanking you in Christian love,
Sameul Raju & John Dean Muppidi
Visakha Valley Bible College
Church of Christ
Andhra Pradesh, INDIA