Dearest in Christ,
Greetings from the brethren here. The phrase Happy New Year is still sounding in the mouth of many here. We give it to you and we know this new year has come with lots of blessings and challenges along the line.
The Wotutu congregation is healthy as we entered the second Sunday in the new year. Our Christians are okay and expecting to do more in the Lord’s service this year. We today was great and our lesson today was the The Power of Determination.” We are making those in the worship hall and those that can hear us further away through our horn speakers to draw near and get the truth.
Over the weekend our students went to 4 locations for weekend evangelism. There was another mass evangelism in Tole village that involved some current students and some ex-students. It was amazing to see some of the brothers again and move around sharing from the word. The news in Tole is good.
Memories of my stay in Nigeria: This is very important for me as we look upon the history of the church this semester. I was in Nigeria in a village where the very first congregation of the church of Christ was established in Nigeria and the rest of west Africa.
The congregations in Nigeria are growing rapidly. One congregation is 12 years old, but they are growing in number and they are sound. I was asked to preach a sermon there. I saw love and they were eager to see if some of our students have the possibility of coming over to their community to evangelize and also see other brethren. That will surely be a welcome gesture, if the Lord wills.
Our current students and ex-students went to Tole village on house to house evangelism. The Lord added 4 souls to the church there.
The early Christians shared everything in common. Wow! It is just what we are practicing here, as we shared lunch all together. We are one in Christ. BVBIC-Wotutu has the spirit of sharing together and giving respect to whom respect is due.
A cross section of Wotutu congregation witnessed growth in number. Please keep our Christians in your prayers this 2016, for us to impact through the word, growth and more growth in all aspects of life. The population of children continues to increase as many enjoy the way they are taught in Brightland Christian Academy. Daily, the kids in Brightland continue to receive the truth into their young minds. Keep this school in your prayers as children are happy to be part, but most parents find it difficult to pay fees that help in the smooth running of the school.
Our students continue to grow as they have ample avenues that can help them grow. Our congregation is a good ground for them to put their training in class into practice where they are in front of many eyes that will give them correction if they slip off a little. Today, brother Abanda Edwin was teaching with his father in the pew who traveled all the way from their village to come and drop his application form. He told me in my office, “I am eager to study the word also, so that I will join with my son to reach out to many in our village.” It was amazing to me. Remember, brother Abanda is the young man who was sent packing from his uncle’s house because he obeyed the gospel. He said, “It is better for me to stop, even the circular education. My uncle was using it as a gift tied to a string, that if you failed to worship in my denomination, then you will go out of my house and I will not sponsor you again in school.” Edwin accepted to leave and not to study circular education because of Christ. Today, he is doing amazingly well in his Biblical studies. Our God has many ways He can call people to Himself.
God started with us. He added brother Ashu Leroy today as brother Lawson baptized him into Christ. The little brother is in Form 4 Secondary School and he said, “I am happy to have finally obeyed the truth.”
Brother Damasius baptized sister Elange Sylvia into Christ today in the Wotutu congregation. Keep her in your prayers. She is fortunate because the husband also obeyed the gospel today. I am saying that she is fortunate because most married women will always face persecution with their husband when they obey the truth and leave their husbands behind.
Brother Gladson baptized brother Elange Cyril into Christ today. They studied with us for the past three months and they also continue to benefit as they listen to the program, “Back To The Bible,” every morning. Keep them in your prayers to grow to maturity, so that many will come to know God through them. Our ideas for our new converts is “You have known Christ today, make him known to others in your life.”
Plans
1) Please pray for the following programs that will be our end-of-the-year program in Wotutu congregation and the Bible college: Third batch graduation, Fourth batch matriculation, Annual Bible Lectures of the Churches of Christ in Cameroon, and the 10th Anniversary of the Wotutu congregation. All of these will start on November 24th 2016, and go through November 27th. Please, if you desire, come show your interest. Let us know how we can fit you in one of the events. Pray and see how you can help us realize them. It is not going to be easy on us alone as we are expecting about six thousand people to be in Wotutu feeding. Accommodations and other logistics will be a target for us to make our guests all over Cameroon a bit comfortable.
2) We are finalizing our trip to Likomba for the establishment of a new congregation. We have many demands to come over and help. It is true that the field is ripe but laborers are few.
3) Lebialem mission is coming up in the months ahead. Last year we planted new congregations that started with 27 people in two congregations. This year, we deem it necessary to go back and nurture and spread the truth again. Our students go there on weekend evangelism, but not all weekends because of the cost to make it there from Wotutu.
Appreciation
God bless you. Thank you for all your help. If not of you we doubt this work would be possible. Please, as we plan for the future events, please, please, stand with us for the events to be successful for the glory to go back to the Author of all things.
I got a call from a village in Diongo regarding the tracts we sent to them. These tracts are helping them expose the truth about polygamy. Two polygamists came to the church of Christ in that village for proper explanation of the effects of what they did many years ago and what must they do now. Wow! It is great to see the power of God in the writing papers. They were told to go and assemble their wives and invite the leader there, who called me because he will not be able to handle the situation. He requested that I should either come or send a mature student to go there and help these families. This weekend we shall send students and we wait for the other part of the story in next week’s report. This is just the issue, as many congregations are dying because preachers are not there, people are not committed and devoted to serve in the capacity of a pulpit, and evangelize because there is no motivation. Pray for us here.
Do your best to share this report with others.
Elangwe and family
By His grace Director BVBIC-Wotutu