A shining light in Ukraine

Dear brethren and congregations,

In the beginning of the new year I'd like to thank all of you who sacrifices finances and personal time to create more opportunities for the successful ministry of Bear Valley Bible Institute in Ukraine. We have been in cooperation with you for several years now and the results of our joined efforts are visible. At this time, I'd like to briefly sum up the events of the last year.

Many congregations of Church of Christ in Ukraine have our graduates as their preachers now. To be honest with you, it makes me exceedingly glad.

During the year of 2019 we've handled the sizeable amount of work load in partnership with local congregation. First, we established good contacts and received the official permission to work with the local children’s' home. There are more than 80 residents there from dysfunctional families of one kind or another, or completely orphaned. The local congregation was given a real opportunity to take care of orphans. It's a new challenge and a new ministry.

Secondly, the congregation obtained an opportunity to openly preach in the places of incarceration (Bela Tserkva maximum security prison). We encourage our students and graduates to participate in this evangelical effort. It takes special zeal and some experience, of course, so for starters we wanted to follow the lead of the more experienced brothers.

Last year we graduated three students and two of them are full time Ministers now. Oleg Fofanov preaches in Konstantinivka. Sergey Khovrich is very active in prison ministry. Taras Danilenko is a youth minister in Skvira Church of Christ.

At the end of the current school year we are to graduate 8 of our students. One of them will resume the courses in February after a full year of sabbatical. Alexander Reviakin had to take a year off and go back home to help out his mother who had a lot of health problems.  Now he is able to return and after successful passing of all the finals in May he'll be able to receive the Diploma.

During last year we acquired yet another Instructor who had successfully graduated our Institute in the past. His name is Valentine Tsopa. Also he will be in charge of evangelical efforts of the local congregation.

Our students are back to school after the holidays. Most of them had very busy time off. Christmas time in Ukraine makes more people willing to hear about Jesus Christ and most of our students used their holiday break for preaching the Gospel.

In March our Bible Institute and the local congregation plan to host a seminar for leadership and ministers of the Church of Christ in Ukraine. We'd like to invite the maximum amount of people. We are currently involved in planning the seminar making the list of events and recruiting the additional speakers.

Our students and our Instructors send their greetings and appreciation of your support and willingness to help the Church in Ukraine. Together we accomplished a lot but there is a long and interesting journey ahead that we will walk with the Lord.

Your brother and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard,

Dennis Sopelnik

Outstanding graduates in Fiji

We had four graduates from our program in 2019: Alphonsus, Kitione, Asher, and Samuela.  These men have successfully completed the program and are serving the Lord in their respected congregations.  

• Alphonsus came to us from the Solomon Islands and was our top graduate for 2019.  He is now back home serving as one of the evangelists of the Honiara Church of Christ on the island of Guadalcanal.  Alphonsus shares the pulpit with Lency, a 2018 graduate of the school.  They plan to work with the Honiara congregation for two years to build it up and then return to their home islands to establish the church on them.  Alphonsus is from the island of Malaita and Lency is from the remote island of Lata (4 day boat ride from Honiara).

• Kitione is a leader in the church in the Naila village just out of Naisori.  He was converted while in prison many years ago.  After getting out he entered the military and served faithfully until honorably discharged.  After that, he served the Fiji government until he retired again.  He has a heart for prison ministry and has been involved for several years now.  Upon graduation, he has started a weekly Sunday prison ministry.

• Asher comes from the Federated States of Micronesia from the island of Pingelap.  10% of the population on this island is totally color blind.  Not only does Asher have this condition, he is extremely nearsighted and super sensitive to light.  He is legally blind.  In spite of this handicap, Asher did very well and earned the "heart of a servant" award for the 2019 graduating class.  He has returned to Micronesia where he is working on the island of Pohnpei assisting with preaching, translation work, and passing out tracts in the community.

• Samuela lost his wife about 5 years ago leaving him with 6 girls to raise from age 3 to 13.  Samuela is a former Olympian swimmer and commander of the Fijian army.  While in school, Samuela had a full time job, preached for the 10 Miles Church of Christ, and took care of his six girls.  Samuela has a heart for the work and continues to serve as the evangelist for the 10 Miles congregation.  

These four graduates are representative of the caliber and character of the students we have enrolled in our program.  We praise God for blessing us with this opportunity to serve!  We continue to thank Him for your interest, words of encouragement, prayers, and support of this good work.  May God reward you for your kindness!

Rocco

Director of the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa

So much good in Mbanga!

Our God is able to do what no man can do. He took us through 365 days with joy, favor, good health, and above all, love that binds us together.

We pray for a happy and prosperous new year to the big Bear Valley family. It has been quite some time that you haven't received my report out there. But,I am pleased again this morning as I report to you on how the work is going on in Cameroon and in Mbanga in particular. My family sends special greetings to you all over there. The staff of the BVBIC-Mbanga also send their greetings and appreciation for your partnership in the year 2019. The students send greetings and appreciations also. This photo was taken during the meeting held with the instructors and the students as we begin this 4th quarter of the 1st year with our 3rd batch of students. The Mbanga Balong assembly also send salutations.

Let me beginning with the work of BVBIC-Mbanga. We ended with the last quarter successfully. Both students and student’s wife had their short course after the main part of the quarter. During the short course, we had brother Evaristus and brother Nicanor teaching the sisters while brother Desire was teaching one of the short courses to the students on the book of Galatians. It was great to have the alumni coming back to help their own alma matter. 

God accompanied us through this period and next on our scheduled was the long-awaited annual lectureship of the churches of Christ in Cameroon that was to be hosted by the campus church of Christ here in Mbanga. Both BVBIC- and all were involved both the BVBIC-Mbanga and the Mbanga congregation were involved in the planning and hosting of the lectureship.  

It was a great gospel lectureship. About 600 persons were present all together and God added 5 souls during the 5 days of lectureship and evangelism in Mbanga. Our next rendezvous will be in Bangante.

My beloved brethren, the field is vast but the laborers are few. God has blessed us this year with a big number of students to facilitate the work in our institution. The newly created congregations are experiencing rapid growth in some areas such as Loum and Banjock. The brothers are ready to sacrifice all their time just to go and preach and struggle to come back by Monday morning and continue with studies that same morning even after a sleepless night.

About 15 souls have been added to the church in these new areas as well as 4 restored brethren. Bibles are handed over to all of these converts some in French and some in English. Some are given to prospects who are in need. May God bless you as you put these assemblies into your prayers.

Here are the results of the third quarter field work for the students in Mbanga. 16 brethren went out to 14 assemblies and spend 2 weeks with each before they went for holidays for 10 days. Our students went as far as to Tchad republic and to the far north regions of Cameroon. Actually 2 were programmed to go to the far north but as the demand became high, I finally send 3. The third was out of my sponsorship as God blesses me. Our students all together had 35 baptisms, 5 restoration and the restoration of another big family that had abandoned the worship of God in favor of a denomination. One newly assembly was established in Tchad during this field work and many souls listened to the gospel in one way or another.

The school of preaching in Mbanga is doing her best to reach all the corners of the earth. If we could also have a “Gospel Chariot” for evangelism, it would help us to get into the interior of some new areas that I, Ititi Benedict, the director has seen to be fruitful for evangelism.

Up-coming events: 

The school is preparing for her first evangelistic campaign of this year to Santcho next weekend. We are praying to our God for it to be a success. 

News Break:

Our morning radio program is moving on well every day as from 5 am from our campus. Thanks so much for the equipment and the prayers. We receive this new year with some increased amount of seriousness in our work due to new opportunities like this one. 

Yours in the service,

Ititi Benedict and wife, my mission partner

Success in Kasoa, Ghana

KASOA EXTENSION SCHOOL

QUARTERLY OPERATIONAL REPORT

Oct, Nov, Dec, 2019

The Lord has been good to us. So soon the school at Kasoa is passed through a year of teaching of the Gospel message of Our Lord, the Christ. We thank God, Bear Valley Institute and the financiers. May the Good Lord richly bless you, your work and that for Him.

STUDENTS

Currently we have 14 students, two have applied and will start schooling when the school resumed in the second week in January in the New Year with us. We have one lady who is a Sunday School teacher for the Children. She also teaches in the Ladies’ Bible Class. Averagely, we have 13 students attending weekly. All are leaders in their congregations and they all preach as fill in, whereas 8 of them are working as preachers in their congregations.

ACADEMIC WORK

We have done 10 courses of the 48 for the school. All the students participated and all have so far passed all the exams. Whereas Kojo Acquah Beenyi is the director and has also taught two courses, Roger Asante is the other instructor and he has done much work in the School. He comes from Eastern Region, takes three different transportation in one and half hours on the road to get there weekly to teach. He is the product of the School in Accra and is currently doing his Masters.

CAMPAIGN

There was one campaign in the last quarter. It was done in a village called Akorle New Town nearer to Kasoa. There is a church in this village and the campaign was a kind to grow this congregation. This campaign and the other works of the students resulted in 44 baptisms and 6 restorations. 

Praying that God will to be kind to us, guard us, guide us, bless us, protect us and keep us safe for His Use in the coming Year and the years ahead.

27 students in Ikorodu, Nigeria

Greeting from the staff and students of BVBI Owutu Ikorodu Lagos State. God bless you. Here is our summary of September to November 2019 activities.

The school is growing rapidly with the total number of 27 students. Four sisters and twenty three brothers, ten out of the twenty-three brothers are preachers in various congregations of the Lord's Church. Our lecturers are actively carrying out their assignment, with all our students present in the class.

The subjects treated so far are:

1 Corinthians- lecturer Bro Abiola Joseph Adesoji,

Leadership- lecturer Bro Lucky Uzoyare

Church History: Lecturer Bro Okoro Chinyere

Public Speaking 2 (Practical Homiletics) ; Lecturer Bro Makinde Olufemi.

The Life of Christ to be treated December 2019 by bro Ezekiel Okorougo.

2019 Campaign had been carried out on 9/2/2019, which three souls were saved and one soul restored.

EVANGELISM: All of our students participated in outside evangelism. This took place on October 13th sunday evening. seven souls wee converted, although, we have no restoration. It was a blessed outing.

* On 24th of November 2019 by 3pm, all of our students embarked on house to house evangelism with open air.

* Ikorodu students are planning to plant the Church of Christ at Isiwu Arana Ikoodu. on February next year (2020).

* on 22nd December 2019, Bear Valley Bible Institute Ikoodu Campus held  her 4th annual bible lectureship.

 Theme: study to show thyself appoved (2tim 2:15) Bro Makinde Ebens and Mfon Etim were the teachers.

 The attendance was very encouraging with the total number of 150 members present. We had three baptism

OTHER COMMITMENT

     One of our student by name israel Tayomovwo preached at owode ibeshe Church of christ in her indoor lectureship. TOPIC: "The CHURCH of CHRIST".

    Additional Information:

   One of our student (Gospel Odulaja) has been engaged as a preacher in Church of Chist Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.

    The last lecture for 2019 is taken by Bro Ezekiel Okorougu on the book of mark (Life of Christ II) He wil round up on Jan. 2020

APPRECIATION:

We have received gifts of Desktop computer, printer and mattress. Gift of tables was sent to us. our students can write conveniently.

 We pray that GOD will continually bless the BVBI management immensely. we also receive the support of our 4th Annual Lectureship. we say a BIG THANK YOU to the management.

CONCLUSION:

Ikorodu staff and students deeply appreciate your GOD given love to us and your support to Africa countries and beyond. May the Lord keep on blessing all your joint effort in CHRIST Name. Amen.

I remain your fellow soldiers of Christ

Bro Mfon Etim(Minister)

More evangelism success in Guinea

Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible Institute Activity Operations Report for Dec 2019

This December is the close of activities at the Gueckedou, Guinea Bear Valley Bible Institute for the year 2019. Therefore this report though brief will be a summary of not only the events of the month under review, but a briefing of the year 2019 which has been a year of great success in terms of conversions and I am excited to  report.

Classroom: December was not only the climax of classroom work for the year 2019, but also the close of course study for the first batch of students at the Gueckedou Bear Valley Bible School. There were 19 students who started the course, but 1 student was expelled in August 2018 for indiscipline while the other 2 dropped in June 2018 and in August 2019 due to inadequate health conditions. A lot of sound academic excellence and great practical results were obtained especially by certain dedicated students.

Evangelism: We converted 23 souls this December 13 of which were the beginning of a new assembly in Sayanin, another quarter of Gueckedou. During the year our reports have shown that a total of 145 souls were converted as a result of evangelism. This figure include 7 souls converted in December 2018 after our “Year-end Numbers” were submitted on the 18th. Our public preaching exercise has taken a high level of attraction! This is due to the quality evangelism equipment – amplifiers, etc. which the Niceville, Florida church purchased for the Institute in July.

Campaign: We had one last gospel campaign to close the year and by His grace converted a total of 30 souls, 18 of which were the beginning of another assembly in the Sou-prefecture of Tekoulo. During the year, we had one gospel campaign per quarter plus an extra one financed by our Coordinator. The 5 campaigns resulted to a total of 89 baptisms.

Needs / Response to request: Land for Agriculture field- Of the $2,500.00 stated in our last report needed to complete the cost of at least 5 parcels of field plus survey cost for the Institute’s Agriculture program, the church at 9th Ave, Alabama has responded with a check of $2,000.00 and the purchase has been done! Great of you at 9th Ave, thank you! Now it’s only the documentation that remains -$500.00 to complete the cost. We need your contributions to finish this!

Personal Profile: Two students, Niouma 2 and Francois are to be commended not only for their high academic performance, but especially because of their dedication to winning souls for Christ. These 2 young men were always found ready to go out on any evangelical or gospel mission. More than that, they would propose and seek administrative support to explore new areas where good results often came.

Students Niouma 2 and Francois were the ones who would always stay on campus during the holidays to ensure visits to new congregations while others were on break. They have kept the lights burning! Indeed most of the conversions during our evangelism were the result of their dedication to the practical!

Conclusion: The month of December was another of great success both in the classroom and out there on the field of evangelism. Our December evangelism and gospel campaign resulted to a total of 53 baptisms – 2 congregations planted!

We are pleased to inform you that 16 students have successfully completed their various biblical courses at the GBVBI. In advance of a former letter of invitation soon to follow we wish to inform you that the graduation ceremony will be held in March this year.

Thanks and appreciations to you, the Bear Valley administrative body and to all of you who have one way or the other supported this great cause. May the Almighty continue to strengthen you again in 2020 and the years to follow.

Your humble servant, Francis

Productive holiday break in Tamale

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE, TAMALE

DECEMBER REPORT 2019

We are this point in time thanking Almighty God for how far He has brought us to the door step of yet another New Year. He has kept us saved from: sicknesses, road accidents and other unfortunates situations, although there might be some irregularities as life is concern but He stood on our side and defended and made us triumphant over all these predicaments.  We shall forever remain gratitude for your diverse support and prayer to keep this noble Institution and the churches of Christ in the three northern Regions alive in order to continue to preach the same Gospel that was preached in the first century; may God replenish you all for your generosity and unconditional love you have for us.

 STUDENTS ON VACATION

The students have gone home for Christmas break to partake in the festivities programmed to bring together and strengthening the members and also thank God for grating them the opportunity to see yet the New Year. They also use this opportunity to harvest their farm produce and prepare lands for farming again. We wish them happy and prosperous New Year. May God continue to keep them save in whatever activity they find themselves. God’s willing they will come back to school in the month of January 20th, 2020 to continue their academic work as they are left with one year to finish the remaining courses proposed by Bear Valley to enable them secure a certificate of completion.

CLASSES

The remaining two courses as reported in the last month were treated by Brothers; Francis Ayine for Old Testament 3 and Albert Malir for 11 Corinthians and the performance of students were encouraging as class work and tests were conducted respectively.

ADMINISTRATION

There is a vast improvement in the administrative work ever before. There has being a collaborative effort in the school management hence, the school is elevated from better to best since we resumed the office. The administration has started intensive campaign for students for next batch 2021/2022 academic year and prospective brothers are contacted and few admission forms taken. On this note brothers Albert and James attended the regional Bible camps hosted at Bawku and Chamba. Albert went to Chamba, Northern region and James went to Bawku, Upper East Region.

The office is accessing its work for the year 2019 in the school as our encouragers; Steve Ashcraft the extension coordinator and Kojo Acquah Beenyi the coordinator/Ambassador continue to inspire and encourage us to stand for Christ and His Church. May grace, peace and love of Christ abound in us all and happy New Year in advance.

BIBLE CAMPS

The Northern Region Bible camp was held at Chamba in the Bimbilla District from

19th to 22th December 2019. Brother Albert Malir Tamanja led the team to the camp. Some topics taught were the “effect of Christians watching pornographic films” by Brother Andrews from Yendi Church of Christ and “Christian’s responsibility in the church” by brother Evans from Kpandai. There were series of questions raised from participants and answers were provided by some folds. On the Lord’s Day Brother Nipak Laari from Saboba Church of Christ led in Bible studies on “Importance of Christians Marriage Dowry” Brother Stephen Morogo from Yendi led in the Lord’s Supper and giving, Dassah from Tamale offered the closing prayer. The attendance was 315 and giving amounted to ¢586.60.The school admission forms were given. One form was taken by a brother from Zabzugu-Tatale. Two were taking by preacher Owusu from Salaga, he had two prospects who are interested.  There was reconfirmation of two prospects from Bimbilla district of their interest to attend the college when I visited them the next day.

BAZUA BIBLE CAMP (UPPER EAST REGION)

It was highly necessary as we make preparation and arrangements for students for the next academic year for us to be part of programs that present us with the opportunity to make recruitment for students. As results of that, management decided a team is send to participate in a Bible Camp at Bazua, which is a District of its own just close to Bawku in the Upper East Region. Kusal is the dominant language. It was a three days program; Brother James Bisong Legend led the team.

The program location was a Church of Christ School at Bazua. It began on the 19th to the 22nd of December, 2019. We were there on the 20th through to the 22nd, and left on the 23 rd dawn. The Theme was “HOLINESS.” Some topics treated under it are: ”Being Holy as a Christian (Jacob Nikyama – Preacher for Koka Congregation)” and “Holiness in the Family (Brother James Bisong Legend-BVBI)”. Preacher

Francis Amale of Azum-Sapeliga taught the Sunday Bible Class on the topic “Our Responsibility to the Society,” whiles Brother James Bisong Legend of Bear Valley Tamale gave the sermon on the topic, “The Christian Life.” Attendance was as follows: Men were 69, women 121, children 118, making a total of 308.

Two people took forms, hoping to be part of the next academic year with one person wishing he could join immediately. Many who were undecided on their coming took our contact. In all, our being there was very necessary.

76 baptized in Liberia!

Greetings Brethren,

It has been a great privileged and blessings to be part of God workforce in teaching the truth in His kingdom here in this part of the world. My are so very grateful for this opportunity to serve. Many thanks to all those making it possible through their selfless sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom. So far, all has been moving very well.

CAMPAIGN

As part of the efforts by the grace of God to reach many lost souls with the Gospel of Christ, the school and some ministers undertook another extra campaign in Saclepea City, Nimba. Saclepea is one of the major city in Nimba county with an estimated population of about 46.000 inhabitants but do not have the Lord's church. Through the Radio preaching program, many people who have been following the preaching via radio from Saclepea have been calling for the establishment of the church of Christ there.

On November 11, the team of evangelist and the students move into Saclepea for a whole week houses to house and public preaching both day and night and by the help of God, great work was done in that part of the country. In all, Seventy Six (76) persons responded to the gospel message and were baptized. We also came across seven (7) persons who are members from other congregation that have relocated to Saclepea. A new congregation got started in Saclepea city with over 135 persons in worship on the very first Sunday .

We came back safely and by His grace we are continuing our academic work. Our instructors are all doing their very best to carry out their instructing responsibilities as appointed. Thanks be to God for everything.

CONCLUSION:

We are truly grateful to everyone who supports the work of the Bible school here in Liberia. We are sincerely thankful for every dollar you continued to sacrifice for the sake of Christ in Ganta Liberia. Thank you very much.

Your brother and co-worker in the Lord

Robert P. Dahn, Jr.

Director- BVBI-L

An incredible first year in Abuja!

INTRODUCTION:

The official inauguration of the Bear Valley Bible Institute – Abuja on 2nd February 2019 signaled the beginning of the school in Abuja and its environs. A total of Fifty-One (51) students (44 brothers and 7 sisters), with Eight (9) faculty members, in two (2) study centers of Kado and Nyanya were inaugurated, with the inaugural speech delivered by Bro Chad Wagner (BVBI-A Coordinator) and was witnessed by the Elders of the Church of Christ, Kado Abuja.

EVANGELISM CAMPAIGNS;

·       The students and faculty organized the first Evangelism Campaign of the school in a remote village of Tunga Madaki, Gaku village, behind the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, on the 1st June, 2019, with three (3) baptisms recorded during the program. A total of Fifty-Two (52) brethren participated in the campaign, described as follows; students (37), faculty (6), World Bible School Abuja Team members (5), Church of Christ, Iddo-Sarki, Abuja (4). The campaign was organized to strengthened the newly established congregation (a month old congregation).

·       The students of the Nyanya center were engaged in a house-to-house evangelism on 23rd August 2019 at Mararaba Central, Nasarawa state, and open air campaign on 24th September 2019 at Aku village, Nasarawa state (where a newly established congregation is located). Note, the preachers of the two congregations are students of BVBI-A.

·       The 2nd Evangelism Campaign of the Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja was organized as a support and follow-up exercise for the newly established congregation at Kpaduma, Asokoro extension, Abuja. It is a denominatonal church, converted and changed to Church of Christ, Asokoro, Abuja. The former pastor turned preacher of the church was a listener of the 'Let the Bible Speak' program of the Church of Christ, Kado Abuja, for over seven (7) years, which motivated his conversion in June 2019. The campaign featured students and faculty of Bear Valley Bible Institute Abuja and members of the Churches of Christ, Asokoro and Kado, with a total of 51 participants, consisting of 32 students, 4 faculties, and 15 members of the Churches of Christ Asokoro and Kado. The crew of the Nigeria Gospel Chariot was around for the Open-Air evangelism in the evening.

ACCOMPLISHMENT(S):

Office Equipment: The school received support from Bear Valley International, for the purchase of office equipment, among which are;

·       Laptop Computer.

·       Printer.

·       Book Shelf.

·       Office supplies.

·       Student’s tables (30 pieces for Kado and 15 pieces for Nyanya Center).

·       Office table.

Public Address System (2): The school purchased a 12inch and 16inch multi-purpose, rechargeable and movable Public Address System, for evangelism purposes. It has inbuilt rechargeable battery that can last for five (5) hours or more, two (2) wireless microphones, USB for songs, etc.

Printing of Exam Paper: The school exam paper was printed for the school use during examination period. This was done through the contribution of the faculty.

OTHER ACTIVITIES:

·       The school organized a one-day Interactive session for the students and the faculty in the month of June (June 12, 2019). The objective is to get feedbacks from the classes held and a review of student’s understanding and comprehension of the courses undertaken so far. This will enable the faculty to improve on the existing plan of work.

·       The students of the Kado center participated in a 1-day Leadership Seminar organized by the World Bible school Abuja team, with the theme “Pulpit Management”. Topics such as ‘The Pulpit and who manages it’ and ‘Content development for effective Pulpit management’ were treated to the understanding of the participants by seasoned teachers and preachers; Osita Onuora and Mike Udam.

·       A general meeting of the school was organized on Sunday, 8 December, 2019 for both students and faculty. The objective was to discuss issues affecting the school and the students. While a Faculty meeting was held same day to discuss on the upcoming plans and schedules of the school in the next academic year.

CONCLUSION:

We (students, instructors, churches etc) are more excited about the opportunity Bear Valley Abuja offers them and the church, because of the exposition of the courses offered so far, and the quality of the teachers handling the courses. They are more committed to the study and activities of the school.

We have received inquiries from more students who are interested in enrollment into the school program.

We appreciate the partnership and support of the Bear Valley School in building capacities of preachers and members towards the growth and development of the church in Africa, especially Nigeria.

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU

Guest instructor in Sierra Leone

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE KENEMA, SIERRA LEONE

Operation activities in the month of November and December with Bear Valley Bible Institute are as follows with a summary of major events.

CLASS ROOM ACTIVITIES

Arrival of Students for the 3rd Quarter session begins in November and ends in December 2019 with 14 students. This quarter involves seven courses. In this we have 2 short courses. We were bless to have Brothers in the persons of Bro. Osman Sheke who teaches on the subject... The life of Christ II and Bro. Steven Ashcraft handle..... Bible Geography. This subject Bible Geography was very interesting as we went through the studies of Bible lands and places. I was privilege to be part of the class for that week. Five weeks was meant for regular courses. These are 1. Old Testament Two; 2. Wisdom Literature; 3. World Religion;  4. Prison Epistle and 5. 1st Corinthians were all climax of the 3rd quarter session. Lecturers on regular courses were as follows.....

Gabriel Abu, A .B Lansana, Joseph G. Bash, Alfred Koyama, Joseph Messalie

Unfortunately one of our students was hospitalized in the middle of November. However, we thank God for his recovery.

Classes are now shutdown for the 3rd Quarter and students sent home for holidays. We are expecting them back on the 1st week of January 2020 for the begining of the 4th Quarter of the First Year, God willing. Kindly remember our students in your prayers 

EVANGELISM

Evangelism being the heart beat of the Church is what we have not be able to execute effectively. We enjoyed a house to house 3 days Evangelistic campaign before the closedown of school for the quarter. We were grateful to our students for their commitment in that direction. We look forward for better days of performances to come.

CONCLUSION

On this note we pledge our commitment in doing what we are doing to further the cause of the Gospel. We continually thank all those who are putting their resources to empower men in training for the sake of Christ Jesus. May God Almighty bless you all. On behalf of Management; Staffs and Students of Bear Valley Bible Institute Kenema, we wish you all a better year and prosperous 2020 In advance.

Kindly keep us in your prayers and we always do for all.

Yours in Him,

Jacob Sesay

Admin /Director – Bear Valley Bible Institute Kenema

Sierra Leone

Ending the year well in Nigeria

Dear fellow workers in the vineyard of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace, peace and blessings be multiplied unto you all in the name of our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ.
We always appreciates God for all of you, our supporters and well wishers,mentioning you one by one in our daily prayers. We continuously remember before our God and Father your wonderful work expressed by your support for the Lord's work in Africa, particularly in Nigeria and BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN and your contribution toward the growth of the Lord's Church throughout the world.
Below is the summary of our activities for the month of December 2019.

                       OVERVIEW
* Birth of the Lord’s church in Ajia town.
* 2nd Semester classes and instructors.
* BVBIN-Ikorodu 4th Annual Bible Lectureship.
* VOTI volume 102 aid in conversion of souls into Christ.

BIRTH OF THE LORD’S CHURCH IN AJIA TOWN:
As the Lord would have it, the one week Gospel Camp in Ajia town, Ona-Ara L.G.A. Oyo State of Nov.24 through 30,2019 resulted into the conversion of one of the sons of the soil (Omo Onile/an indigene), Bro.Agunbiade Idowu’s shop on December 1st, 2019 with 4 people and our collection was N1,830. On Dec. 08,we are worshipped at the rented Hall in Apata compound, Ajia with 6 people and collection was N1,050.
Bro.Dele Shotola is now working with two of our students, Bro. Jude David Canox and Bro. Oviri Iruo-Oghene Careson at this young  congregation on weekend and Wednesday Bible Classes.The Church is now meetings at the rented uncompleted building in Apata Compound,Ajia near Akanran and Egbeda town.

SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES AND INSTRUCTORS:
Second semester classes began as scheduled on Nov 18 through Dec. 20, 2019 and will continue Lord’s willing on Jan.6,2020 through 31 to enable the students continue their vocational studies for another one month on February and also gives time for the Instructors to participate in the annual Great Workshop for Gospel ministers & WBSFUW in the Seventeen Southern States of Nigeria and Abuja that is coming up on February 2020 in Abuja, FCT.
In this 2nd Semester , I ( Bro. Makinde )is handling Research Method, Homiletics-1&Ministerial Counseling. Bro Abiola J. Olusoji is handling Hermeneutics 1&2, Bro Isaac Olaniyan is handling World Religions and Galatians, Bro Ebenezer Ojo is handling How we got the Bible and Life of Christ-2(Mark), Bro Silas Guda Mazi is handling Acts of the Apostles while Bro Adeolu Andrew is handling Cost of Discipleship & Christian Evidence and Bro Kayode Solomon Eniafe, OTP (Major) & Evangelism- 2.

BVBIN-IKORODU ANNUAL BIBLE LECTURESHIP:
With the help of the Almighty God and the support of N50, 000 from BVBIN coupled with voluntary donations from both the students and instructors of BVBIN- Ikorodu, the 4th Annual Bible Lectureship organized by the Ikorodu School was a big success. The lectureship was attended by order 120 brethren across the churches in Ikorodu L.G.A & Kosofe of Lagos State. I spoke on How to apply the word of God in difficult situations and Bro.Mfon Etim spoke on Evangelism Strategies.

VOICE OF TRUTH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 102 AID IN CONVERSION:
According to the message I received from one of the recipients of VOTI volume 102, Bro. Enefiok Archibong (min.),Church of Christ, Nkwot Edem Edet, Ikono, Akwa ibom State, the 2 pack of VOTI Volume 102 sent aid in the Bible Lectureship of this month which resulted into the conversion of eight (8) precious souls into Christ’s Kingdom. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

ABOUT A STUDENT:
BRO ADEGOKE TIMOTHY ADEMOLA is one of our year 2 students. Born in June 2001 by the preacher Bro Ogunleye Samuel of Church of Christ, Off Greater Tomorrow Road, Agbaluku Quarters, Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State. His mission is to be an evangelist in Akoko Area of Ondo State after his tertiary education. He is presently serving as one of the Bible teachers in Akure town congregation, Ondo state.

APPRECIATION AND CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, we the entire staffs and students of BVBIN  & SWSE IBADAN and SWKA give all praises and adoration to Almighty God who in His mercy and love made year 2019 a successful year for us and for you our supporters.
We also express our profound gratitude to you, our supporters and our well wishers for your moral and financial supports toward the growths of the Lord's Church in Africa and the world as a whole. May God bless you wonderfully and gloriously in the year 2020 and beyond in Jesus Christ name, amen.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL !
I remain your fellow labourer in Christ's Vineyard,
Bro.MAKINDE, Ebenezer Olufemi
(The Chief Servant of BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN and WBSFUW)

Lectureship in Lagos

NUMBER OF STUDENT: 30

LECTURESHIP
The school at Agege hosted a one day lectureship on November 30, 2019. We recorded an attendance of 60 that day. Bro. Makinde E. Olufemi spoke on "CHURCH AUTONOMY, TO WHAT EXTENT" while Bro. Emmanuel Odo spoke on the topic "CHURCH DISCIPLINE, TO WHAT EXTENT". The programme went well and was sucessful. We hope to host a better one next year.

EVANGELISM:
The school went on evangelism on two occasions with two local congregations (Agege and Iyana Ipaja) a soul was converted and added to Agege congregation.

ROTATIONAL TEACHING:
Olusoji Joseph Abiola started his teaching on 1 Corinthians from 28/9/2019 to 19 / 10/2019. Okoro Chinyere taught on "Church History" from 26/10/ 19 to 16/11/19. The last instructor was Ezekiel Okorougu who took " THE LIST OF CHRIST II" from 23/ 11/19 to 14/12/19. All students wrote their tests and examinations on various subjects.

Guest instructors in Philippines

BVBI- Philippines is privileged this quarter to have two brothers from the US teaching our students more about the Epistles. Brother LT Gurganus of Jasper, Alabama taught a class on the Prison Epistles last October while brother Brandon Evans from Delano, California shared a wonderful lesson on James this month. Both of these teachers had done a great job teaching and our students learned a lot from them.

Our students used the weeks in between our classes to teach and preach what they learned. Brothers Michael Parilla (wearing white shirt) and Ronel Romano (wearing green shirt) shared the fruits of their evangelistic efforts. Both of them have 2 baptisms each after our class this month.

We rejoice with these men as they reap what they have sown. As we face a new year this 2020 we pray that God will open more doors for us here in the Philippines.

1 Cor 3:7 “God will give the increase.”

In His Service,

Neil Emperado

Good things in Togo

We give glory to God for his blessings and thank him for the lives of our sponsors. We pray that heaven will grant us health and above all, to accompany our Bear valley coordinator for all the Bible Institutes that operate under his and the almighty's supervision.

BVBI-Kpalime:

Evangelist OMOU Kokou Jean-Marc who graduated from BVBI-Kpalime by his bravery we won three souls following a meeting of three assemblies at president-cope. He is single with one child, he has a motorcycle from the center which he uses for his evangelism ministry. He teaches the students in Saturday's classes. In relation to his work, the diplomas of the Bear Valley Bible Institute in Togo are progressing very well. Our prayer for them is that they will have a fund to get better and better.

 Agriculture and livestock:

There are 40 of them and they attend classes from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. They also take part in the evangelization campaigns organized by BVBI.

Saturday's classes:

Very soon they too will join the Bear Valley Institute. More than half is already earned to the lord. It is only those who deserve it, that is to say those who will be converted: the Christians who can speak and write French well. As people are interested in Saturday's classes, we want to have a class in every big city in Togo, if it is possible.

 Evangelization:

 The evangelistic campaign organized by the Bear Valley Institute will be in December for the 5th time this year and twice by the Centre. Keep this project for us in your prayers.

Final exams in Wotutu

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from your brothers and sisters here in Cameroon. We are doing better in health and other things. We do hope you are doing great in all that you do for family and for the Lord. Last week went on well in all of the ministries from the congregation, to the Bible school, to the orphanage, and also the Christian schools.

Students were busy during last week writing their final exams which marked the end of their first year of intensive studies here, The Exams went on well and marking is on now.

The students are done with their final exams. They were presented in the congregation for the church to thank God for a successful finish of their first year. A special prayer was offered for them as we wished them well in their next field work that will start on the 8th of December after the annual Bible lectureship.

The students will always amaze the Wotutu congregation whenever they have the opportunity to preach. Brother Pride Clinton did a good job today preaching the sermon. Keep them in your prayers as they grow.

We also preach as staff. As we preach, it is also a moment for the students to learn. As I taught a class today on our yearly theme, we evaluated how far the church have benefited from theme. It was a great Bible class from Psalms 23.

Brother Kunda is a member in Wotutu. He is an agronomist and whenever he has opportunity to teach, he will do his best to give advice on farming to our Christians as we are all peasant farmers. He teaches vocational training on Agriculture in the Bible college to reduce the gap of dependency as they get into full time preaching.

PLANS

On Wednesday the 4th of Dec we shall travel to Mbanga for the annual Bible lectureship. It will be a time to evangelize the Mbanga community and also to have fellowship with brethren all over the country of Cameroon.

APPRECIATIONS

Thank you very much for your prayers and support. They are the wheels that made this work move smoothly. Share our report with others.

God bless you.

Elangwe and family

Graduation in New Zealand

Joziah Townsend has officially graduated! On the first of December, we held a graduation at the Wellington church building. Todd O’Donnell came down from Foxton and delivered a lesson on the impact even one Christian can make on the world for Christ. Trevor Major from Auckland also flew down and shared in the keynote speech. In addition to Joziah, we also honored our two new full-time students: Monique Knopert and Michelle Stretch. Joziah plans to attend university next year and study psychology. Pray for him as he continues to use his knowledge and skills for the kingdom of God. Monique and Michelle hope to graduate next year.

Reaching out in Zambia

Hello brethren,

Greetings in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We victoriously report the activities that took place in the month of November with Joy in our hearts. It has been a busy month for instructors Fred, Cephas and Kennedy who dedicated some time to visit some congregations in three Provinces. Luapula, Muchinga and Northern provinces were targeted for these visits. 

Fred visited Luapula Province, Kennedy went to Muchinga while Northern Province was visited by Cephas.Fred had an opportunity to visit  Mansa, Samfya and Milenge districts. During this tour he also met with Joseph Musonda one of our graduates who is stationed in Mansa. Joseph has been given the opportunity to serve as a preacher at Mansa Central church of Christ. He conducts Bible studies both in the homes of Christians and also at the congregation. He is now married, well respected and has since baptized five Souls. Fred also linked up with Fredrick Mwansa  one of our former students, though he only spent nine months at the Institute and went back due to his family problems. Fredrick is a vibrate Preacher and a well-respected church leader at Monokola church of Christ. He has continued to be evangelistic in the Monokola area and has converted 41 souls since his return of which two young men are now prospective students for the 2020-22 intake. It is worthy noting that Fredrick's home congregation has grown remarkably within the last twelve months. At the beginning of 2018 the congregation had 15-20 members. This number has grown to a regular membership of 80-90 brothers and sisters. He shared that sometimes the Sunday attendance exceeds 100.

Milenge District is the most southerly district in the Luapula Province, and was carved out of Mansa district. It is very rural and undeveloped. Its southern boundary is the Luapula River which divides it from DR Congo. Most of the population of the district lies along the shallow valley of the Luapula River. Gilbert Mulubwa attended BVBI-Zambia but dropped out of school due to hunger that had stricken his house during his absence; he just could not continue his training. Gilbert is a native of Milenge District. He comes from a village called Kafwanka within Milenge. He is a deacon at Milenge Central church of Christ. Milenge church of Christ has a membership of 130.

As indicated earlier, Milenge borders with the Democratic Republic  Congo (DRC). We are proud to report that Gilbert has spearheaded in the establishment of six churches cross the border. These churches are within walking distances from Milenge. In fact, these six congregations in the DRC use Bemba, a popular Zambian language, as the language of communication. 

Kennedy Mukuka had a great tour of duty in Zambia's Muchinga Province. His journey was targeted at visiting some churches in the province and was privileged to hook up with  representatives of the churches in Isoka and Nakonde  districts where we have two congregations. He shared the dreams of Bear Valley Bible Institute Zambia with them and encouraged them to partner with us by participating in our training programs. He spent   three days in Nakonde and then moved to Mpika District where he spent another three days and was given the opportunity to share not only about BVBIZ but also the word of God. 

The church in Muchinga is quite small numerically but vibrant spiritually. On Sunday the 24th they had two sisters baptized Eleanor Mushili and Exilda Lumba Mulenga. This also happened to be brother Kennedy's birthday. Additionally, he managed to five names of prospective 2020-22 BVBIZ students. 

Cephas is still on his tour of the Northern province and he is expected to cover four districts before the end of December; his exploits will be covered in our December report.

In His Service

Cephas and Fred

Also in Fiji...

THE THIRD TERM OF THE YEAR IS FINISHED!

The third term is finally completed and in the books! We had another outstanding term at the Bible Institute of Raiwaqa. This term, I was able to teach three courses: Old Testament History 2, Hebrews, and Biblical Foundation of Ethics. I truly enjoyed teaching all three of these courses! The students seemed to relate well to all of them. In the Old Testament History course, we survey the books 2 Samuel through Esther. Much of this material is completely new to the students, because many of them have only had a very basic introduction to the study of the Old Testament books. Since teaching the course, several of our students have preached lessons from these great Old Testament books! My favorite book of the Bible to teach, however, is the book of Hebrews. I love teaching it especially because most of my students have never really studied from this book. One of the students told me after the course, “Brother Jason, before I took your class, I was not really looking forward to studying the book of Hebrews. I did not think it was relevant to us today. Now, it is one of my favorite books to study!” He confided in me that the biggest reason he was not interested in it is because he had never really been able to understand it. Since taking the course, this same student has now preached a couple of excellent lessons from the book of Hebrews.

The Ethics class is one of the most challenging courses for me to teach. This is primarily because we have so little time for it. Rather than focusing on a bunch of specific moral issues, I choose to approach the class in a more general way by giving them a better understanding of things that shape our values and understanding of morality, teaching them why we look to God as the source of our ethics, and helping them to understand the Bible’s role in teaching us ethics. In the class, students are then given a specific moral dilemma to study. They have to research the topic and write a short paper on it. Then, at the end of the course, they have to sit down with me for three minutes and try to convince me to do the proper moral thing in their assigned scenario. The students will often tell me that three minutes with me seems like an hour! But they all did an outstanding job with their assigned topics.

In addition to my three courses, Dad taught two courses this term: Paul’s Epistles and Scheme of Redemption. Brother Emosi taught a course on Denominational Doctrines. All of these classes were well received. I am truly blessed to work alongside of both of these great men!

STUDENT CAMPAIGN TO NADI

Each term, we do our best to schedule some kind of evangelistic campaign to give our students some practical experience with ministry and evangelism. This term, we were invited to host a campaign with the Nadi Church of Christ. The Nadi congregation is a smaller congregation who has recently been going through some struggles. We wanted to do something to encourage them while helping them to reach out into the community.

To encourage the local members, we decided to have a series of short lessons just with the students and the members of the Nadi congregation on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. These lessons were all taught by our students. On Wednesday and Thursday nights, we actually split up into men’s and women’s classes, so that our female students could get experience teaching a ladies’ class. Afterwards, we would all spend time having tea together and fellowshipping with the members to encourage them.

To help with evangelism, we spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday out making visits and door-knocking. Most of the group went door-knocking in various neighborhoods to hand out tracts. I worked with brother Jone (pronounced Johnny) Koro, who does most of the preaching for the Nadi congregation. We took a couple of students with us each day and went to visit members who had become unfaithful, were new converts, were shut-in, or were study contacts made from previous outreach efforts. Many of those visits proved to be very fruitful.

Our big evangelistic effort was to host an outreach seminar on Friday night and all day on Saturday. We handed out fliers to invite people to come to our seminar which was on the topic of the family and the home. When out visiting, we would ask people if we could pray for them. Nearly all of them asked for the same thing – please pray for my family. So, the topic we had chosen was one that we knew would be meaningful to them. All of the lessons were delivered by our students or faculty, who did an outstanding job. We had one visitor from another congregation in the area to observe, “I have been a Christian for 30 years, and this is the first time I can remember having lessons that are specifically on the topic of the home. We need more of this!” All in all, we were very pleased with the turn-out for the seminar.

One of the great things about a local evangelistic campaign is that we are close enough to help do follow-up work. One of the things that our students have been doing is going back to Nadi a couple of times each month to spend a weekend helping with the work. The students will go up on Friday, spend Saturday with some of the local members making visits, and then the male students will help with teaching and preaching at the Sunday morning worship services. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Nadi and stopped in to visit for Sunday worship. Two of our students were there. They had been out all day on Saturday making visits. On Sunday morning, one of them got up early and went to the local prison to deliver a message and study with some of the prisoners. The other student preached the morning’s sermon. The congregation also asked me to teach the Bible class. Please pray for our students as they continue to make efforts to encourage the Nadi congregation.

A new program in Fiji

Bula vinaka from the beautiful Fiji Islands,

On Monday, November 11, we started a new program at the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa.  Our normal program is a day program for full time students and it consist of 48 classes over two years.  Since starting this program we have had men interested in attending, but were prevented because of having jobs in the daytime.  At their request we began this night program.  

This program is designed as a leadership program for men and their wives.  Emosi has been placed over this program and he was successfully recruited 9 students.   This program consists of 12 course over three years.  Each class will go for three hours on Monday evenings for eight weeks.  Emosi's first class is on the Life of Christ and they just had their Mid-Term exam on Monday night December 9, 2019.  

Students who score a B or better will be able to transfer those hours to our day program should they choose to enroll at a later date.  We are excited about the potential for this program.  Please keep it and Emosi in your prayers.

Your servant in Christ

Rocco Pierce

2 Tm 2:2  And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Good news from Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I'd like to share with you some of the latest news from the Bible Institute and a few local congregations about the events that took place during the last month.

First of all, the great news to share with you.  Beginning of June next year, we are to resume the Masters' Program. It will be the first Master Students recruitment in the last few years. About 5 different people contacted me and they were looking forward to the resuming of the program. Personally, I'm extremely happy because the graduates of the program join our permanent Instructors' pool.

Secondly, one more congregation contacted me looking for a full-time preacher. There's a very high probability that one of our next year graduates will be ministering in the congregation. It demonstrates that our Bible Institute does a very valuable work training new ministers qualified to preach the Lord's truth. Looking at the map of Ukraine one will see that geographic location of the Churches of Christ with our graduates as Ministers is getting a wide spread.

And yet another great news of the last week. The Department of Education of Ukraine gave us an official permission to work with orphans at the Children's Home. It opens the door for our local congregation for active social work with the teenage orphans who reside there. Sometimes God closes one set of doors but opens a different one.

Last month the first year students had Genesis (taught by Viktor Semikoz) and Exodus - Deuteronomy (by Dmitry Galyuk). The second year students had 1 and 2 Thessalonians (Dennis Sopelnik) and The Book of Acts (Vladimir Paziy). In the end of the month our students will go back to their home congregations. The classes will resume on the second week of January.

We send our Season's greetings to all. May God bless you with wisdom in making important decisions!

Your brother in Christ and co-worker in the Lord's Vineyard,

Dennis Sopelnik.