Dennis Spoelnik, the Director the extension in Ukraine has sent us an encouraging report on the progress of the school there. You will want to read it and you can by clicking HERE.
Graduation in Wotutu
It was my distinct honor to attend and address the commencement ceremony of the 2016 graduating class in Wotutu, Cameroon. This class of 22 men represents unlimited potential for the Kingdom of Christ in this country for many years to come. This school has now sent 61 fully trained men out into the filed in its 6 year history. The dedication of the staff and students is both impressive and inspiring.
One of the best stories to come out of this class relates to one of our students who was disowned by his family when he became a Christian. But he was not to be deterred and even enrolled in the preacher training school. Eventually his father became receptive to the gospel and was converted by his son. Isn't that wonderful?! But it gets even better, because the father is now enrolled in the next class of students and will begin his studies in January! (they are pictured above)
I am thankful for our brothers Elangwe and Ititi (also pictured above) for their service as the Directors for the 2 Bear Valley extensions in Cameroon. (Ititi in Mbanga and Elangwe in Wotutu). Also, many thanks to David Ballard who does a tremendous job as the Coordinator for both of these schools. Please continue to pray for them and all the other teachers as they fulfill the Bear Valley mission found in 2 Tim. 2:2.
Keith Kasarjian
Masters classes in Chimala
Report from Chimala, Tanzania
For the last two weeks we have been blessed to have 15 students from three different African countries on our campus for the Master’s program. Jerry Bates was the teacher and his subjects were “The Gospel of John” and “Advanced Hermeneutics.” In talking to the students it seems that all enjoyed the classes and were appreciative of this opportunity to increase their knowledge of God’s word. One of the side benefits of having the students here is to get to hear about the work they are doing back in their home countries and home towns. It is exciting to hear how God is working in other parts of Africa. But Friday came so quickly and soon we were saying our good byes as they headed back home. We look forward to seeing them again in May as they are back here for two more weeks of Master’s word.
This time they left with an added advantage to help them in their studies. Here at Chimala we have been blessed with many donations of books, and some of the boxes are cases full of new books right from the publisher. For the past few weeks my wife, Carol, has been going through all the boxes and we decided to make up a box full of new books and pamphlets for the students to take home with them. In addition to a box for each student, we made up two big boxes of books that we have duplicates of in our Chimala library and we sent them with the students – One to the new school in Mzuzu, Malawi, and the other to the preacher’s school in Zambia. We are excited to be able to share with our sister schools and help them establish their libraries.
Today, Saturday – November 19 – we had interviews for the new prospective students who will start their first year of training in January. We have both the Swahili and the English Bear Valley programs. While there are a number of Swahili students returning for their second year, this January will be the start of a brand new class for the English side of the program. Our student capacity is 50 students, so in a couple of weeks we should know how many we will actually have coming to start school in January.
With the completion of the Master’s classes things will be quiet around CBI for the next month and a half, but that does not mean the work will cease. In the last two weeks Chimala congregation here on the mission had had 11 baptisms. This comes from their active evangelism program in the town of Chimala. Some of the former graduates of the preaching schools here as well as some of the teachers are heading up this program. While I have been invited to go with them, it is exciting to see the work that they are doing.
As of this writing we have been in Tanzania just 6 weeks and we are excited about the work here and the opportunities we see, especially in the way that the Tanzanians are taking leadership roles and taking ownership in the work. This does not mean that there is not a lot more work to do, but it does mean that the work is headed in the right direction.
In Christ,
Richard Rogers
rogersafricanmission.wordpress.com
Campaigns and Classes in Nigeria
Beloved in Christ,
Greetings from BVBIN and SWSE, Ibadan, Oyo State.
ANOTHER LORD'S CHURCH PLANTED
As God would have it, we started the two day mass evangelism and evening open air Bible lectureship at Alapata-Ikoyi, Osun State on Friday, November 18 between 4:00pm through 7:30pm. One of our year 1 students, named Bro. Emmanuel Godwin, led the program in songs while I spoke on Friday evening on “The Unknown God.”
OnSaturday morning, we divided ourselves into five groups for house-to-house evangelism and the Lord crowned our efforts with three souls which was added to the Lord's Church. In the evening, I first spoke on “Scheme of Redemption” while Bro. Kayode spoke on “Worship of the New Testament Church.” Lord willing, Bro. Kayode Eniafe will be leading five of our students to worship with this new congregation at Alapata-Ikoyi, Osun State.
SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES COMMENCED
We commenced our 2nd semester classes as scheduled. Bro. Abiola Joseph Olusoji is handling Hermeneutics-1 and Denominational Doctrines. Bro. Isaac Olusoji is in charge of Life of Christ -2, Galatians and OT Wisdom -2. Bro.Kayode Eniafe, Hebrews and OT history -1. Bro. Abraham Idu will teach Acts of the Apostles and Prison Epistles while I (Bro.Makinde Ebens) will handle Homiletics 1 and 2, The Preacher's Life, NT Church -2 (Worship) and Evangelism Strategies.
Brethren, our end of the year program will commence on December 23,2016 through January 4,2017 to enable the students settle down for the remaining subjects.
Makinde Ebens
More good news from Chimala, Tanzania!
Lately, the good news from Chimala, Tanzania has been both consistent and exciting. Read the latest report (with pictures) HERE.
A good start in Fiji
Things are off to a good start at the new school in Fiji and you can read the good news HERE.
Shaken, but not hurt in New Zealand
A recent strong earthquake shook our brethren in New Zealand, but everyone we know fared well. You can read about it and other good news HERE.
A great start in Kenya
Dear Mike Reese,
Greetings from Kenya School of Preaching, we trust the Lord is taking good care of you as He is doing to us here.
The Gamma class if off to a smooth first quarter start. All the 20 students have been in class throughout the weeks and generally doing well.
Some students have had problems adjusting to hot weather in Kisumu, but that's normal they will get used to it with time.
For the first time we have two students who are Maasai from Maasai Mara region. They are average students in class and we trust they will be improve and be fruitful in evangelizing their community and beyond.
During the first quarter they studied; Homiletics I, Acts, Synoptic Gospel, English I, The New Testament Church and Personal Evangelism. Through the classes, they have shown a lot of determination and desire to go and share what they have learnt during the quarter with their communities and congregations.
During the first quarter, the students got great chance to visit the local congregation and the response has been amazing. They visited 13 local congregations, preached 36 sermons during worship, taught 23 bible classes, attended three gospel meetings which resulted into 9 baptisms and one church restored to New Testament worship.
As we break for December Holiday, it's going to be a busy month for most of us here.
I would have the honor to speak at the Kenya youths' meeting from Dec 7-12, Dominic a former KSOP graduate and Job a current student will be serving as organizers and speakers.
On Dec 16-19 I will be in Homa Bay County soul harvesting mission working with Benard Kagaga, Elias and two other former KSOP graduates John Bosco and Aloo.
I will also travel to Lung'anyiro to work with Joseph Omondi, Boniface and Lucas all KSOP graduates who are keeping the faith among others.
The second Quarter will begin on Jan 6 to March 6.
We thank you all for your love of souls and the trust you have bestowed on us to train men and evangelize. We are happy working together with God and you all.
Keep us in your prayers as do for you over here, we are looking forward to a fruitful December holiday.
Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!
Charles Ogutu
Campaign success in Cameroon
Greetings from Mbanga Church of Christ and the Bear Valley Bible Institute in Cameroon.
Great is thy faithfulness for He is worthy to be praised. We are happy to inform you of our recent development both in our school and the Church.The congregation is growing as our number has increased to 50 with the children. Please keep on praying for these assemblies in french speaking Cameroon.
Praise the almighty God for the students in the school of preaching who are doing their best to nurture and grow young congregations in our localities. We are preparing to begin with exams come December, then go through our last short course for the year 2016. You can't believe how time flies from 2015-2016 and very soon 2017, when, for the the very first time, students will graduate from the school of preaching in french speaking Cameroon. This will be a story to tell and encourage the work because we are really left behind but Gods time is the best.
We praise God for blessing our school with a school Van that will be transporting the students for evangelism and field work to some areas were we could reach. Also we have started with serious work in school land we are planning to get the orphanage ready before the start of the second batch. We pray for this project to be realized by this time and also for God to help us have the fundsfor this work.
Our trip to Garoua was a success! We visited some congregations like in Konne, Lagdo, Garoua, etc. It is good to think of souls than to have passion for money.
Up coming events
We shall be attending the next coming annual gospel lectureship in Wotutu come November 23th to the 27th and also planning to sent 2 students in the North for a 3 weeks campaign and also to help organized some congregations with no preachers most especially the one that was created some time ago by our brother and student Mamoudou Estephane.this will course us a lotof money.
We shall be looking forward to our graduation ceremony that we begin by sending invitation right now come and discover the another field full with a lot of work.
Your brother,
Ititi
More good news from Togo
You might remember the incredible report recently from Togo about the conversion of an entire denominational church. Well, the good news continues to spread in Togo. Read the latest report from Willie Gley HERE.
The students in Nigeria are busy
Beloved in Christ Jesus,
Greetings from BVBIN and SWSE, Ibadan, Oyo State. Our school van broke down last week Saturday on our way to evangelize Egbeda town of Egbeda, but thanks be unto the Lord thatthe van is now back on the road after a thorough repair.
WEEKEND CAMPAIGN :We evangelised Oriokuta area of Ibadan this weekend while I taught on Where are you? at this evening open air Bible lectureship.
SUNDAY WORSHIP :At Onikokoro /Gbongudu congregation, I spoke on What makes a strong church on Sunday, Nov. 6 while Bro. Makinde Emmanuel admonished the church from 2 Chro. 36:11-14. We were 47 in attendance.
SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES BEGINS: Lord willing, I shall return to BVBIN and SWSE Ibadan campus tomorrow afternoon with the students who did their vocational studies in Ibadan in preparation for 2nd semester classes that will commence on Monday.
SMALL CHANGES IN THE SCHOOL PROGRAMS: Due to several invitations from churches of Christ in Western states of Nigeria, the school now amend some of our programs. Planting of the church in village near Ikoyi and Asejire in Osun state will now come up on Nov. 18-20 while the school will be involving in a three day mass evangelism at Igbara Odo, Ekiti state from December 2-4, 2016. I will be speaking at a day Bible lectureship at Iyemaja congregation in Ondo town, Ondo state on Dec. 4 Lord 's willing. On December 16-18, our students will be working with churches of Christ in Ondo state in planting of the Lord 's church in one of the small towns of Ondo state while I will be speaking in a day Bible lectureship at Agric/Owutu congregation, Lagos. The seminar is organized by BVBIN and SWSE, ikorodu Lagos campus. Our December programs will commence on Dec. 23 through January 4,2017 Lord 's willing. Please, keep on praying for us(Eph.6:18-19,II Thess. 3:1-2).
IN CONCLUSION: We deeply appreciate you all for your moral and financial support for the Lord 's work in Africa most especially in Nigeria. May the Lord continue to bless our work together in Jesus Christ name, amen.
Yours in His service,
Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi
20 baptisms in Chimala, Tanzania
CHIMALA BIBLE INSTITUTE EVANGELISM REPORT
The following is an Evangelism report from one of our CBI teachers, Joseph Haonga. You will be blessed in reading this report. Chad Wagner
Greetings we hope that God our creator is with you all.
Here at CBI we are doing well and have finished the year of our school with great blessings from our heavenly Father. We have done a lot these few weeks in classes and evangelism as follows:
We had a wonderful seminar with the Form IV graduates at Herring Christian Secondary School with 58 students were taught about sin and it effects, the church, and God’s plan of Salvation. The students had a lot of questions; like, “if there is only one true church what are the conclusions of those denominations?” Really, they understood the truth although they made their heart hard to repent and being baptized. They just promised to do later. This seminar was organized by Remmy Mfaume (HCSS Bible Teacher), Lenkos Mkwama (Elder at Mission Church), and Alphonce Simion, one of our CBI graduates this year.
Second, we have several village trips with students, teachers and preachers at Mapangala, Tukuyu, Mabadaga, Mbalizi and other areas for preaching the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Fortunately, we had our practical evangelism campaignn for one week at Igurusi Church of Christ where our students attended accompanied with teachers, preachers and Christians from various congregations. It was wonderful for our students to have experience in public preaching, house to house and congregational seminars. As the results of this week of practical evangelism, five souls were added to the Lords church.
We had great time around the Chimala Mission as the efforts of the dedicated student results 5 souls have been added to the Kingdom of God. Also, we have 2 souls at Mbalizi and one soul at Ilongo.
It was a shocking thing at Tukuyu this last week after the devotion when three people received the Gospel and ready for baptism. When they were in the car to the river, one restored Christian died in the car. Really was a very hard time because this brother, Anthony Mwaihojo, attended the preaching school at Kitekelo in the 1960’s and he was back sliding for long time. But when we start the church at Tukuyu, we met with him and he was one of the members there for two weeks before his death. He left his family Sunday morning with the message that if anyone wants to worship God among of his family, they must be a member of the Church of Christ. We thank God for all because of his funeral. We had a great opportunity to preach about Christ and His church and many people was amazing the way Church of Christ teaching and doing. Some have already invited us for more teachings for Tukuyu. We had 5 Baptisms for a total of 20 for this month.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
Joseph Haonga and the Chimala Bible Institute Team
They're excited in Wotutu, Cameroon!
Dearest in Christ,
Greetings from Cameroon. We are doing great and God is blessing us with many good things. All our hearts and minds in Wotutu congregation now is tilted towards the upcoming events.
Students are better in health and all of them are back on campus after the 3 days given to them to go back home to discuss graduation plans and other things with families. Keep our students and staff in your fervent prayers as this period, that God will take us through to the end without any problem.
Last week went on well and we already have brother David Ballard and sister Jackie here in Cameroon, brother David will teach a short course while sister Jackie came to help many sick people as a nurse. After worship today, she started with our Christians to check their health conditions for free. The news about a medical person in Wotutu congregation attracted many unbelievers to come seeking their way to see her for health reasons. Keep them in your prayers as the serve in the capacities that God has called them to Cameroon.
All our plans are towards the end of year activities that is coming up in Wotutu. Pray for a smooth success.
Please pray for the many brethren who are preparing and planning to come to Wotutu for the events. God bless you all.
Your brother,
Elangwe
Campaign results from Arusha!
Greetings Everyone,
This week we are VERY happy to say that we finally have working internet!! We apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused. Thankfully now we should be more consistent with being able to send the reports. Thank you all for your patience in this.
Please keep in your prayers those who are our new brothers and sisters in Christ from the Arusha Campaign. It was very successful and all the glory goes to God! Please continue to pray for everyone involved in the follow up work from this campaign. It was a blessing to be a part of.
We are also very thankful to everyone who came with the Mt. Juliet group for this campaign. They were such a blessing to us and we pray that they will be able to return next year and many years to come, Lord wiling!
We apologize for not sending a regular report out last week, but we wanted to have the final and most accurate numbers and information to put in the report.
Thank you all for being a part of this great work. May God bless you for blessing others.
To see the full report with pictures, click HERE
In Him,
Mason and Hale
Exciting news from Zimbabwe!
One of the newest Bear Valley extensions is in Gweru, Zimbabwe and I could not be any prouder of these men than I am! They have hit the ground running and you will enjoy their latest report HERE.
An update from Ukraine
One of our teachers in Ukraine, Andrew, has sent us a very informative report about how things are going in Ukraine. The pictures he includes won't be seen on the news, but our brethren continue to need our prayers. See Andrew's report HERE.
More souls added in Tanzania!
More Souls Added to the church
For the past few weeks Arusha church family has been blessed to have 16 evangelists from various congregations to aid with the pre-campaign work going on at the Arusha church of Christ. These evangelists have devoted themselves to go out in the community and attempt to reach many with the Gospel. Over the past 9 days, 4 souls have been added to the Kingdom. We are so glad that brother Erick and his wife were baptized; we have been studying with these two for the past two months. Please pray for these new babes in Christ as they begin their spiritual journey.
This week in Arusha
Our brothers and sisters from Mt. Juliet church of Christ in Tennessee (USA) have join our effort since October 27th as we go out and begin studying. We had set up 87 classes and God is so good since 36 more souls have been added to His church. One baptism was a result of our radio program, Irene Hassan come from a Islam religion, she was following our studies in the radio since May 2016 and she was persuaded by the truth. She called us through our number and came to worship service for more studies, after answering all of her question about salvation and the church, she realized that she was totally lost. She was then baptized into Christ and she is very happy. She said “ I now came to the end of my searching the truth thank God”.
On Sunday we had a wonderful worship service, our average attendance was 154 including children. We had brother Daniel teaching a bible class on serving. Our brother David Burca taught a new convert class about the one true church. We had a very good sermon during the worship service by our brother David Shanon on the 1 Timothy 3:15. Truly we were blessed to have our brothers and sisters from USA. Keep the new converted souls in your prayer.
Thank you our brothers and sisters from abroad for your love and desire to serve our God. Knowing that your labor is not in vain.
In Him,
Godfrey Mngoma
Dean of Students, Andrew Connally School of Preaching
A Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver extension school
Arusha, Tanzania.
Great news in Chimala!
I’LL TAKE ONE!
We are so very thankful to God and His great mercy for all that He continues to do for us here at Chimala. We see the seeds of growth growing and taking root in many aspects of our work here in Tanzania. We are also seeing the fruits of hard work and perseverance at the school at Chimala. One of the great blessings of God lately is the huge number of students expressing interest in attending school at Chimala.
As of today, we have 10 students who would like to start in January in the English program and we have 20+ who would like to start in January for the Swahili program. That would mean we would have almost 50 students at Chimala! Many of these students have been waiting for a spot to open up to join the school. We have had to limit the number of students due to the lack of student support. However, we know that if God has brought them to us, He will bring us what we need to see it through. We know that you can help us meet the needs of these students and the church here in Tanzania. It costs $125 to train a preacher student here at Chimala. We know that God can work through you as you partner with us here at Chimala. Why not take one in 2017??!!
ROGER’S FAMILY BEGINS MINISTRY AT CHIMALA
We are very thankful to God for Richard and Carol Rogers coming to Chimala. We know that the Lord will bless them in their commitment to the work here at Chimala. They arrived a few weeks ago and have been fitting in nicely in the operation at Chimala. Willing to teach and preach, Richard has quickly become involved in everyday life here at Chimala. We are also thankful for his wife and her helpful attitude in the work at Chimala. May God continue to bless them in the work here.
GRADUATE INTERVIEW
CBI will soon have another graduation so we would like to share some of the thoughts of our students with you regarding CBI and the work in Tanzania.
Alphonce Simion is one of our English graduates this year. He comes from Kyela which is on the border with Malawi. He is married with six children. He came to CBI for “further studies of God’s Word.” He also has this to say about CBI: “After graduation, I would like to be a teacher of the Gospel of Christ. CBI is my favorite place. The cooperation which I had with the teachers and the classes influenced me so very much in my studies at CBI. Also, the work that the missionaries are doing has been a big influence on me as well.”
As you can see, CBI is a great place to be. We will be featuring more students and their comments in the coming weeks.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
May the God of all peace continue to bless us in our ministries and work. We know that He continues to bless the work at Chimala. We also ask that you continue to pray for the work at Chimala. We are enabled to do the work due to your prayers.
Thank you,
Chad Wagner
Finals and graduation approaching in Cameroon
Dearest in Christ,
Greetings from this end and join with us to appreciate God for the month of October which came with lots of blessings and challenges to us and the work in our hands.
We do hope this reports meets you in good health and a sound faith. Things are going on well here and lots of preparation for the end of year activities in Wotutu is going on in our congregation and the school of preaching.
The last week long course successfully came to an end with revisions from different instructors. Greek language was one of the courses that came up twice during our schedule , we sacrificed spare time to make sure the students gather good knowledge from Greek . Keep them all in your prayers as they will start long courses final exams tomorrow morning.
Examination fever is common with some students in different institution, but our students are not scared for the final exams. Some students will refuse to do any other thing in other to have enough time to prepare for their exams, but our students because they think souls and weekend evangelism is very important in the life of the school. They were on a rough road where our van and small car cannot make it, so we drove to a reasonable distance where our van is safe, stopped, and continued the journey to save souls on a motor bike to reach Bova village, which is behind the Cameroon mountain.
Annual Bible lectureship, graduation, matriculation and celebration of the 10th anniversary of the wotutu congregation is almost here. The program remains 23-27 of November 2016 and all roads leads to Wotutu. Keep these programs in your prayers as we are expecting close to 5000 to 6000 people all over Cameroon.
Your brother,
Elangwe
BVBI-Wotutu, Cameroon
The Director in India reports
Dear Brethren in Christ,
Greetings to you in the precious name of Lord Jesus Christ our saviour. By the grace of God and your prayers I have arrived in India safe and feel very glad to be back home. I was really excited to see my wife and daughters after a long time. However, it was a wonderful time to visit the brethren and share the progress of the Lord’s work in India.
I was delighted to meet brother Mark Reynolds other brethren during this visit, that makes my visit very special. It was pleasure meeting brother Mark Reynoldswho recently took over the responsibility of working as Coordinator for the Bear Valley schools in Asia. It was wonderful to talk about our future plans to work together in India in our first meet itself, this tells how much excited he is about the Lord’s work in India. We are looking forward to working with him soon.
I have been busy ever since I returned home. So many events have taken place during the time of my visit to USA. Even though these have happened in last four months time period, they absolutely convey the busiest schedule we had at our school.
Master Classes: We had two sessions of master classes conducted by brother Denton Landon and Jerry Bates. Brother Denton visited in the month of July and brother Jerry visited in the last September and first week of October. I really thought I would get to visit brother Jerry bates upon my arrival, unfortunately I missed my connecting flight to India from Newark so my journey was delayed for 24hrs, this made me to miss brother Jerry Bates, however I had the opportunity to talk to him about various issues of our school.
We are certainly privileged to resume the Classes for this Master Class batch, earlier batch was unable to fulfil required amount of work, due to which that class was cancelled. Brother Garry Fallis under his kindness has agreed to start another batch from this July. Brother Denton was the first person to teach this batch of students. We had an enrolment of 9 students for brother Denton’s classes and two others joined during the classes of Jerry Bates. According to what I heard from the students, they are very thankful to Bear Valley for conducting these Master Classes, they are very helpful not only for them personally but also very useful to teach their home congregations.
During the visit of brother Jerry his wife Paula visited with him. She almost wants to keep her calendar busy. We were able to hold classes for Women & Preacherswives at our school premises, sister Paula always does a great job of teaching these women.
Brother Denton Landon during the Weekend break has visited Skinner’s Garden and preached at couple of congregations and witnessed three young ladies being added to the Church.
Gospel Campaigns: During the last four months our students have done two Gospel Campaigns in two different districts. Our students certainly gets a hands on experience during these campaigns. Before they go out of the preacher Training school they would learn to speak to strangers about Christ our Lord. During these campaigns they conduct personal Bible studies, Bible Classes and Gospel meetings. As a results they witnessed 9 people being added to the Church. We do hear from our students time to time about the addition of souls to their congregations.
State wide Fellowship Meeting: Congregations in the state of Andhra Pradesh have decided to meet twice in a year at a certain place in the state to have a fellowship meeting. This is to help each other to grow in the faith and build up in unity. These meetings have been giving great results in the brotherhood, our students were privileged to attend this meeting travelling for 12 hrs on train. Director of the School M. Samuel Raju has lead our group for this special meeting. Our group has gotten the attention of the 600 preachers that represented various congregations in our state. In this way our school was well notice among the brotherhood.
Gratitude: We are very thankful to the brethren at Lake Houston for their kind support and much thankful to the brethren at Strickland for their continued Oversight. I really had a great time to visit with both of these congregations during this visit, this has helped increased our relationship and continued trust and confidence. We would look forward to keep up great relationship for betterment of the Lord’s work India, especially training the Men. If everything goes well a group of 14 students will receive their course completion diplomas in the month of April’17, kindly pray.
There are more to come in my next email with more updated information about our Preacher Training program in Visakha. All the staff, faculty and students of our school convey their heartfelt greetings to you all. Kindly pray for us that our efforts may be successful in rescuing the lost souls.
Please greet your family and the Church family for us,
In Christ,
John Dean M
Visakha Valley Bible College
Church of Christ, Visakhapatnam.
A.P - INDIA