Graduation in Zimbabwe

OCTOBER 2021 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The month of October was a very busy month for BVBIZ. More time was taken in preparing for some of the major events that were going to take place in the month such as the official opening of the site, the school’s first Annual General Meeting and graduation. These and more are covered in this report.

1.0 CURRICULUM PROGRESS

The following subjects are being done this term; Music, Sign Language, Advance Homiletics, Introduction to Computers, 1,2 &3 John, Community Development and Poverty Alleviation, Marriage and Family Development, Greek, Christian Spiritual Formation, Church Leadership, Church History and Research Methods. Some of these are short courses. The following subjects have so far been completed; Music, Introduction to Computers and Poverty Alleviation and Community Development.

2.0 SPECIAL EVENTS IN OCTOBER

October was a memorable month in the history of BVBIZ. This is because of the events that took place on the 16th of October, namely an Annual General Meeting, Graduation and Official Opening of the site.

2.1 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The school held its first ever Annual General Meeting. This was the first event on the 16th of October. It was led by the schools Board of Trustees. The following reports were given to the stakeholders who were in attendance;

The Director’s Report

The Board Chairman’s Report

The Treasurer’s Report

Great appreciation to both the Board and management for making this event possible. It is expected the school’s AGM shall now be taking place every year.

2.2 GRADUATION

The school’s second graduation took place on the 16th of October. Two classes (the conventional program and the parallel program) graduated together. The total graduates were 25. Those on the parallel program took almost 4 years to complete their program. The guest speaker was Professor Chetsanga, an elder at Avondale church of Christ and the Vice Chancellor at the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University. This was a great day to remember in the history of the school. Many from far and wide, came to witness this historic event. The following are the graduates;

2.3 COMMISSIONING OF THE NEW STRATEGIC PLAN

The school’s new strategic plan which shall run from 2022-2024 was also commissioned. The document was signed by the school director, the board chairman and the director of SPED (Pvt) (ltd), a company which facilitated its designing. This blueprint is also available to stakeholders who may want to see it. The following are the strategic objectives;

By 2024, the following should be achieved;

· A preferred, preeminent college of excellence that produces holistically empowered, highly qualified and competent servants of God through a robust training and development program relevant to the community we are operating in.

· To be an institution of a highly structured and empowering programs (aligned to Education 5.0) for human capital development and robust administrative systems that will drive the core business of training and developing servants of God

· BVBIZ to have a well-structured resource base anchored on assets based community development approach (ABCD) that steers the training and development of servants of God.

· To be an institution with the state of the art structures and equipment that will aid the institution to achieve her vision.

· To have effective and efficient ICT processes compatible with current technological changes so as to ensure the achievement of the school’s objectives.

2.3 OFFICIAL OPENING

The school’s new site was opened on the 16th of October, moments before the graduation ceremony. The guest speaker for this event was Dr. D.M. Gwini who eventually opened the site officially. The event was graced by many, far and wide, in the church and beyond. The BVBII regional Director for Southern Africa who was to jointly open the site together with Dr. Gwini had flight challenges and therefor, could not make it. The surrounding community also came to grace the occasion. This was an event which shall remain in the memory for the school for long.

BVBIZ got the land in September of 2018 and since then, several developments have taken place. The school moved to this site in May of 2020 when most of the structures were yet to be completed.

3.0 INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

Due to the graduation and official opening ceremonies that were to take place, it became necessary to finish some of the outstanding infrastructure developments.

3.1 Septic Tank

A cottage whose construction started last year and got finished early this year was yet to be used due to the lack of a septic tank. The tank was also dug early this year but no further development were done. However, construction of this tank began in October and was completed just in time for the graduation ceremony. Outstanding window panes were also fixed. Some guests were eventually accommodated in the cottage as it was now usable

3.2 Ablution Block

One of the first structures to be built at BVBIZ was the ablution block. Its progress, however, was stopped along the way due to the lack of funding. With the school going to receive many guests on the 16th of October, it became necessary to sacrifice part of the fund which was slowly being reserved for the teachers house. A small adjustment was made to the structure so as to lessen the costs. Plastering, roofing, fixing of doors and painting (still to be completed) were done. Students did the painting but the available paint was not enough to complete the job.

CONCLUSION

We end this report with Paul’s words in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (RSV).” Great appreciation to every one of you for making October one of the best months for the school. The events covered in the report could not have been possible without you. Your financial, material and moral support is always highly appreciated. To God be the glory!

A new school in Nigeria

Report of Bear Valley Bible Weekend School, Ondo State between August - October 2021.

To God be the glory for His unsearchable riches in Christ Jesus. I want to thank God’s instruments like Brother Keith, Brother Chad, Brother Steven, Brother Makinde, and Bear Family for granting Ondo City via Ondo State access to Biblical training through Bear Valley Bible institute, international. We are indeed grateful and mindful of your kind consideration and inclusion into Bear Valley Schools. We say thank you.

Evangelism: as part of the mandate of the Bear Valley Schools to inculcate evangelistic fervor in the heart of the students, we all went out to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people on 30 October 2021. We had two centers in Ondo State, Ondo City, and Akure City study center.

In Ondo City center, 11 students went out for preaching with two instructors. We were able to reach out to residents of Araromi Street and Araromi Close in the Yaba area of Ondo City, With 8 prospective names wanting more serious studies after the preaching exercise. We give God the glory.

Also, in the Akure center, 12 students went out for preaching the gospel with two instructors. They had open-air preaching and house-to-house evangelism in the Leo area of Akure city. The preaching exercise went well to the glory of God, with some prospects to follow up.

Classroom activities: The School in Ondo State started classroom activities on the first Saturday of August 2021. Already, we had two centers. In Ondo center, Fasonu Victor taught Research and Writing 1, For August Classes, while in Akure center Godwin Emmanuel taught Pentateuch for August Classes as well. By September 2021, I, Fasonu Victor went to Akure center to teach Research and Writing 1, while Godwin Emmanuel taught Pentateuch in Ondo study center in the same September 2021. In October 2021, Rowland Matthew taught The Life of Christ – Matthew in Ondo study center, while in Akure study center, Philemon Ohaebuka taught The Life of Christ – Mark. These courses were an eye-opener for some of our students.

The student’s body at Bear Valley weekend School in Ondo study center is 11 in number namely; (1) Felix Sani (2) Adebayo Ayo (3)Sunday Odiagbe (4)Bolaji Adegbulegbe (5)Nwekoyo Chinedu (6) Ebenezer Samuyiwa (7) Joseph Bamiwo (8) Owhofasan Diamond (9)Adebayo Ebenezer (10) Micaiah Miyendegha (11) Raji Mutiyat (A sister).

Bear Valley weekend School in Akure study center has the following student’s body; (1)Ogundare Oluwatosin (Brothers) (2) David Eniafe (3)Kayode Monday (4) David Meshack (5)Ekun Temidayo (6) Phillips Iwere (7) Oluwatobiloba Oke (8)Isaac Imoukhuede (9)Awoyelu Grace (Sisters) (10)Olagbeji Mercy (11) Awoyelu Victoria (12) Akinola Motunrayo (13)Akinmola Moyinoluwa (14)Adebiyi Adetutu (15)Florence Jesutofunmi

Statistically, the two centers have 18 brothers, 8 Sisters, making the total of 28 students in the Ondo State Bear Valley weekend program.

Worthy of note is one of the students by name of Felix Sani. This brother is very active, attentive, and ready to learn in the classroom. His eagerness to learn proves beyond a reasonable doubt. His age is around 63 years old with a large family of 8. He never missed classes since the inception of the Bible training Class. He is a substance farmer by profession with little income, but he continues to learn the Bible with great joy. All the instructors attested to his apt attitude toward learning. He is a member of the local church where l ministers the gospel of Christ. I hope he will become a minister of the gospel after the training.

Conclusively, We are indeed thankful to the Bear Valley family for their continuous work and support in the field of training men for the Master’s use. Thank you for allowing us to be part of the Schools in Ondo State. We will continue to play a glorious part in fulfilling the mandate of the School in our dear State.

Fasonu Victor, Coordinator Bear Valley Bible Weekend program, Ondo State

Graduation in Fiji

Bula vinaka to the friends of the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa, Fiji,

SCHOOL UPDATE: We have come to the close of the 2021 school year at the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa. This year has presented us with many challenges. For example, we have not been able to have in-classroom instruction since 22 April 2021. Since that time, we have recorded videos, produced textbooks, workbooks, and exams for our classes. These courses were supplied to the students on Micro SD cards which were played back on school furnished tablets. The students were assigned two courses at a time and were required to report their progress each Saturday morning before 10:00 AM. At the end of the course, assignments and exams were retrieved and new videos and assignments were delivered.

We also utilized FaceBook Messenger to interact with our students where we encouraged questions and discussion. We received some really good questions from our students, answers from our instructors, and positive feedback. Overall, the students rose to the challenge and demonstrated through their questions, assignments, and exams that they were getting the material that they need to prepare them for greater service in the kingdom.

(Note: We had looked into hosting the classes live via Zoom, but this was not practical due to inconsistency and expense of the current internet service available on the island.)

One of the benefits that we derived from this year’s challenges is that we now have video courses recorded for 14 classes. These videos, with their textbooks and workbooks, can be used to teach students remotely, enable students to retake a class they failed, or make up a class they missed. The video courses recorded so far are:

1 Church History, 2 New Testament Church, 3 Genesis, 4 Exodus to Deuteronomy, 5 God's Plan of Salvation, 6 Peter and Jude, 7 Romans, 8 Joshua to Esther,
9 Godhead, 10 Psalms to Song of Solomon, 11 Denominational Doctrines, 12 Hebrews, 13 Prison Epistles, and 14 Church Leadership.

2021 GRADUATION: We had three to graduate this year from the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa. Petelo and Moana, from the neighboring nation of Samoa, and Asenaca from Naila Village here in Fiji. Because of covid19 restrictions, it was necessary to split these graduations into two events. One was hosted at the school for Petelo and Moana, the other was hosted in Naila village for Asenaca. We were fortunate to have three guest speakers for our graduation exercises who recorded their encouraging messages in video. They were Dr Denny Petrillo, president of Bear Valley, Keith Kasarjian, director of the international schools, and Terry Pafford, a good friend of the school and an elder of the Lord’s church in Midland, Texas.

Lord willing, Petelo, Moana, and their son Jimmy, are scheduled to return to Samoa on the 3rd of December. They plan to work with their home congregation at Vaimoso, in the capital city of Apia, for about 6 months. It is then their plan to move to their home island of Savaii to establish a congregation of the Lord’s church in their home village. Petelo has demonstrated a heart for preaching and evangelism while a student here in Fiji. During the lockdown, Petelo started a Bible study group with his neighbors in the settlement across the gorge, behind his house. He also has been a weekly speaker on the Talofa Bible Readers FaceBook group in American Samoa where he preaches to a Samoan audience in his native tongue.

Asenaca (Ase) is a second generation graduate. Her father, Kitioni, graduated in 2019 and is one of the leading men at the Naila Church of Christ. Kitioni currently serves as one of the preachers at Naila and heads up a prison ministry. Sister Ase has demonstrated herself to be a diligent student, consistently making A’s in her classes. Following graduation, she sent me this note via messenger:

Good evening Brother Rocco

I would like to personally thank you for everything that you have done in the school – the lessons and the values that you teach.

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

May God give you a long healthy life. Vinaka, Ase

Ase currently has plans to enter the university to study law. She is a fine young Christian woman and will be a positive influence wherever her travels take her.

Please pray for our graduates and the work they will be entering into! We look forward to keeping up with their progress as they seek to serve the Lord with their lives.

THANK YOU! Let me close by saying, vinaka vaka levu (Fijian: thank you very much) for your interest in, your prayers for, and your support that makes this work possible. May God credit the fruits of our labor together to your account.

Rocco Pierce

Director and Instructor for the Bible Institute at Raiwaqa, Fiji

Many good activities in Nigeria

I will extol thee, my God,O King; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:1-2 KJV) Greetings to you all from Students and staff of BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN. Below are report of our activities for the month of October 2021.

OVERVIEW

1. Students have resumed Vocational Training
2. Aramoko Ekiti Outreach
3. Report from some of our graduates
4. Report from South West Kiddies Academy

STUDENTS HAVE RESUMED VOCATIONAL TRAINING : Our year-1-Students are now in a month Vocational Training across the Western States of Nigeria while the year-2-Students are now engaged in Preaching work with some young congregations across the Southwest States.

ARAMOKO-EKITI OUTREACH: Nineteen brethren graced the just concluded six days Outreach in Aramoko town in Ekiti State. BVBIN-Lagos Island was represented by their 3 instructors, BVBIN- Ikorodu and Ondo State were also represented by two Instructors each and ten from Ibadan (3 instructors and 7 Students) plus two WBSFUW from Osun and Oyo States (Bro. Amos Olusegun and Bro. Dele Shotola). Even though, there is no conversion, but we are blessed with more than 20 prospects who are true seekers that by God's grace will be added into the Lord's churchin the near future.

REPORT FROM SOME OF OUR GRADUATES/ WBSFUW

1. Bro. Kayode Eniafe and Bro. Matthew Rowland reported the recruitment of about 300 Students through the WBS Correspondence Courses in three days High Schools in Osun and Ondo States respectively.
2. Bro.Obey Rimamskwe reported the expansion of the sound doctrine from Kpakpya town in Taraba States to other villages around the watersides in USSA L.G.A.
3. Bro. Akinrinade Sunday Hezekiah, one of our year-2- Students and the present minister of Church of Christ, Aramoko-Ekiti reported the conversion of one of our May 2021 prospects on October 15,2021.
4. Bro.Peter Orterga and Bro.Adedoyin Rotimi reported their involvement in Ilisa-Remo mass evangelism of October 9,2021 hosted by one of our Alumni named Bro.Emmanuel Nwaorji and the Lord's Church in Ilisa-Remo, Ogun State and the conversion of two souls in each of the congregations where they are ministering.
5. Bro. Johnson Godwin reported the expansion of his work from Ode-Aye,Ondo State to some towns along the river side of Okitipupa and Igbokoda Area of Ondo State with brethren residing in the rivers side.
6. Bro. Andrew Adeolu, the evangelist working with the Lord's Church in Ajia town, Ona-Ara Local Government ,Oyo State reported that he and his wife extended the daily morning campaigns to Egbeda and other nearby villages and also conducted chapel on every Wednesday and Friday noon in two High Schools along Akanran road in the month of September and October,2021.

ABOUT A STUDENT: Bro. Benson Balogun is one of our year-2- Students. Born in 1977 in Ondo, Ondo State. He was converted on January 2006 in Ikorodu town, Lagos State. Happily married and blessed with four children. He is presently preaching in one of the congregations the Lord used us to plant in Asejire town via Ore in Odigbo L.G.A Ondo State along Ore /Benin Express Way.

OUR ACCOMPLISHMENT: With the financial supports from our supporters both in Nigeria and United States of America,we were able to work with the Lord's congregations in Ilisa-Remo ,Ogun State on October 9, Aramoko ,Ekiti State on October 20-24, Oro, Kwara State on October 23 and 24 and Felele-Ibadan on October 29,2021 in their house-to-house evangelism and gospel campaigns.

COMING EVENTS:

1. The school here in Butubutu village ,Ibadan shall be working with some preachers from Lagos and Oyo States on November 26 through 28 in Felele rab, Challenge Area in the restoration of the Lord's Church in that part of the City of Ibadan. The proposed program will cost the school between N90,000 and N110,000 for transportation, feedings and accommodation of our staff and students.
2. Lord's willing, the BVBIN Degree program will commence on November 29 through December 10 under the new BVBIN Schools Director, Bro. Chad Wagner. Bro. Isaac Olaniyan will be teaching on Research and Writing-1 from November 29- December 3 while I, Bro. Makinde Ebens will be teaching on Advanced Fundamental of faith-1 from December 6-10,2021.
3. Our daughter, Sister Tolulope Glory Makinde will get married to Bro. Dennis Ojenomoh on December 4,2021 in Ibadan, Oyo State

CONCLUSION: We appreciate you all for your great contribution toward the growth of the Lord's Church in Africa most especially in Nigeria. May you be blessed forever is our fervent prayers. Sincerely yours in His Grace as a servant, Makinde Ebens(The Chief Servant of BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN and WBSFUW)

35 students in Abuja

Dear Beloved,

The year 3 of the school began in April with orientation on the various plans and activities lined up of the school.

Students:

The school has an average of Thirty-Two (32) regular students in both centers (Kado 17 & Nyanya 15), even though the total number of students is Thirty-Five (35). A total of eight (8) students were newly admitted into the school (6 for Kado center, while 2 for Nyanya center) for the year.

Courses and Instructors:

The followings were the courses undertaken and instructors for the period under review:

· The Book of James – Domic Dakup

· The Book of Romans – Kenedy Abrotu

· The Book of II Corinthians – Abiodun Adegoroye

· World Religions – Rupert Kukwa

Evangelism Campaigns:

There are three (3) evangelism campaigns in the period under review. A general campaign in Bwari in conjunction with the Abuja Preachers’ Forum, while there are two (2) campaigns by the centers (Gidan Zakara and Ando-Kasa).

Baptism(s):

During the newly introduced congregational visit by the students of Nyanya center to Mararaba-Lokotie, this visit recorded one baptism in person of Bro. Ndifreke Frank.

Congregational Visitations:

A total of Four (4) congregations were visited, they includes the followings;

· CoC Gidan-Zakara

· CoC Keffi

· CoC Mararaba-Lokotie

· CoC Jewun Masaka

We thank God for the grace given to contribute to the development of the church, as well as appreciation to the Bear Valley Bible Institute, the Elders, the faculty and congregations who have plans to key into the vision. God bless everyone.

Thank you

Sowing the seed in Tamale

OPERATING REPORT FOR THE MONTHOF SEPTEMBER 2021

There weren't many activities in the month of September 2021. With our students still on holidays, we had some few days off classroom activities to redirect our focus fully on administrative activities and that of the school farm and other things.

SCHOOL FARM

Visitation was made by brother James B. Legend to Sanguli, a community under the Sanguli Tatale District to monitor the school's soybeans farm. They look very encouraging. We are hopeful that, by the grace of God, all the natural conditions should continue to favor them. We believe we will have a very good harvest. We praise God for blessing the land where these crops are cultivated.

This year, many people are lamenting for farming soya beans, due to the rain pattern. We thank God that He guided us and also helped us in all our decision making concerning the farm at Sanguli.

MECHANIZED WELL

The wiring system of the mechanized well had some problems and we had to rewire it. The wires that were buried were not properly done. This created some damages on some parts of it. So, we had to rewire it all together to have it properly done. Glory to God, it was successfully done in the month of September.

STAFF MEETING

Team work is very necessary for any serious institution like Bear Valley Institute of Biblical Studies to progress and succeed. Based on that, we saw it important to have regular meetings to deliberate over relevant issues that need much attention. We had a meeting on the 20th of September, 2021. Participants were Daniel Adjei Mensah (The Director), Albert Tamanja Malir and James B. Legend. Evangelistic campaigns with the students were one of the major issues that we looked at. The location and the appropriate date were discussed. We settled on Sogon which is around Chamba. Brother Albert Tamanja was suggested to go and survey the area well, which he went and did. We will be going to Sogon in November for an evangelistic Campaign. We also had discussion on the school farms. It was realized that there is encouragement for the soya beans, and not so good news for the maize farm. In the meeting, we were optimistic that we weren’t going to run at a loss based on the performance of the soya beans.

PERSONALITY PROFILE

Mabi Alex is a 25 years old young man who graduated from Bear Valley Institute of Biblical Studies (Tamale). He graduated on the 28th of January, 2021. He was in the 2019/2021 batch of students.

Brother Alex was born in 1996 by Mabi Doo and Mapal Magutal in Tatale in the Sanguli Tatale District of Ghana. He was baptized into the Church in September 2010. Nine years later after his baptism, he saw the need to attend the Bible College to come and help the Sanguli and Nkpani congregations which both had no preachers. Haven had financial challenges with his circular education, he took the opportunity to join the Bear Valley Tamale campus. He graduated successfully with a Diploma Certificate. Alex was one of the most respectful students in the 2019, 2020 batch.

While in the Bible college, he consistently persuaded his mother and with the help of some of the instructors that consistently visited the Sanguli congregation and added their voice, his mother got baptized in May 2020. Glory to God. His father however is still yet to obey the gospel.

Since his graduation, he has been working with the Sanguli and Nkpani congregation till date. He has been an instrumental figure in the school getting land to farm the soya beans this year. We praise the Lord for the life of this young preacher of God’s Kingdom.

We give God the glory for the grace He continually pours upon us as we progress as an Institution and the Church as well in Northern Ghana.

Thank you,

Bear Valley, Tamale

Marketplace evangelism in Lagos

LAGOS ISLAND CENTER REPORT August - October 2021.

INTRODUCTION: Greetings from Lagos Nigeria. As you read this report from Lagos Island Part Time Extension Programme, we extend our hand of fellowship to all of you in different parts of the world benefitting from the great work of our mother school. May God's strength be with every one of you as you work hard to achieve your set goals in the kingdom. Thanks to God for finding all of us worthy as veritable tools in His hands for the work of the kingdom.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES: The last three months had been a very successful one in our classes as Christian Evidence was taught by Oluwafemi Adewuyi, James Luka took The Book of Job while Tim Iwe guided the students in the Scheme of Redemption. Adewuyi will be teaching Homiletics 1 from this weekend.

We need your devotional prayer for Lagos Island church for Lagos State Government is indiscriminately demolishing buildings in Obalende and its environs. A newly completed four-story building opposite the church hall was demolished last week Monday. Even some who have their complete documents were affected. We pray that God guides the church hall from the eye of these government officers. The school's door is always open to new students at the beginning of each course. Two new students were admitted to our center in this last quarter of 2021.

We will be having the 1st Lagos State Study Centers Combine Seminar in Lagos Island church Hall on the 13th of November 2021. We hope that teachers and church leaders in Lagos will be in that meeting to discuss how to synergize in working for the Lord. Aids to Biblical Hermeneutics will also be part of our focus.

CAMPAIGN PROGRAM/MARKET EVANGELISM: We thank God as schools in the West of Nigeria are developing a working force in evangelism. For the second time, we all put forces together to visit and evangelize Aramoko in Ekiti State. Some of us spent 5 days and 3 days respectively. All the Instructors in Lagos Island Center were part of the team that did the work in Ekiti. The Market Evangelism program which involves some of our students is ongoing.

Our goal is to visit and work in new places two to three times yearly in the West of Nigeria. Pray with us that God leads the work.

WBS ONLINE STUDY HELPER: Thanks to God for the Online Study Helper work as it yielded to the conversion of a soul in Port Harcourt, Nigeria last month. Bro Anthony Oluria helped in following up with the young lady that got baptized.

On the Online Work: Am having the following records

Active Students: 259

Under Follow Up: 3

Competed Lessons: 4568

Certificates Awarded: 1040

Two souls also obeyed the gospel in my congregation last Sunday.

CONCLUSION: We will be perpetually grateful for your partnership in the Lord and the financial support that Stoney Point Church of Christ and their minister in the person of Terry Stinson has continued to provide for the work in Lagos Island.

Thanks and God bless you.

TIM IWE

Lagos Island Center Director

15 more baptisms in Ghana

BVBI, KOFORIDUA EXTENSION SCHOOL

THIRD QUARTER (JUL to SEPT) REPORT, 2021

It continues to be a pleasure serving the Lord through this medium of teaching men to go out and preach the gospel.

CLASSES

By the grace of God brother Paul Larbi Young taught three courses: The Book of James, Hermeneutics II, and Old Testament (Major Prophets)

PUBLIC PREACHING

Everything is set for our forth coming public preaching. Lord’s willing from October 26th to 31st all the speakers for the five days are going to be students from the school. There is a small congregation at where we will be having this programme so all the students will be worshipping with the church. All the appointment is going to be held by the students. Pray with us for a good weather as we go out there to sow the seed.

STUDENT

A new student, Ahiaba Agbenyegah Yaw has been enrolled. The total number of our students are 15.

STUDENTS ACTIVITIES

Most of the students are effective members of their local congregations. Their effectiveness has yield effective personal campaigns out of which 15 baptisms are made to the Lord.

APPEAL FOR LIBRARY AND A PROJECTOR

We would be glad if provision is made for Library and projector. This would enable our students to do their research assignments and to project our presentation for class and during campaign activities.

PROFILE OF BROTHER MARTIN AGYIRI

Brother Martin Kwabena Agyiri is a student at Koforidua weekend school. He is a man of 61 years of age. Martin is married to Dora Oye Agyiri and is blessed with six (6) children. Dora is a member of the church and a seamstress by profession. Formally, Brother Martin was a teacher by profession and currently, a pensioner. Martin has been in the faith since 1981 (i.e. 40 years now) and very strong.

Brother Martin worked effectively with other seven members to plant the Lords church at Asuoyaa Tei-Nkwanta in 2019. As at now, the membership of the congregation is 40 including 12 children. Martin is the evangelist of this congregation.

We say glory be to God that the gospel is moving to all corners of the world. Praise be to God. Let all remember him in our prayer that the word will keep growing effectively.

Good in Guinea

Gueckedou, Guinea BVBI Activity Operations Report for Sept 2021

We bring you greetings from the Gueckedou, Guinea Bear Valley Bible Institute in the name of Christ.

After another 30 days of classroom and outdoor activity, we feel compel to give you an update of events that took place here during the month of September 2021. On the overall it was well with all 14 students going through their courses and with a good result of a 10 days “special evangelistic campaign” in 3 different areas. Here are the details below.

Classroom: During September our students completed the required courses bringing up good results with the least of them being on average. There were some students who reported a little late from their second quarter break for which reason they were assign some extra work to cover up. To this date we still have 14 students on roll.

Evangelism: Our evangelistic effort did not yield as much fruit this month as in the previous except that we were encouraged by the warm reception of some prospects and that is what gives us hope for the future.

Special Campaign: Our failure to convert souls during September-evangelism as compared to previous months was the occasion to invest more energy into a special evangelistic campaign supported by certain ones who invest uniquely in this area of gospel work for soul saving. It was in the month of July when our Coordinator wired some amount of funds for “special needs” one of it being this special campaign. A 10 days period was allocated and planned to visit some 4 villages, 2 of which were new areas. In the later, we succeeded to start 2 congregations by 7 and 4 baptisms. Then 3 baptisms in each of the other 2 villages with existing congregations. In all this “special evangelistic campaign” resulted to 14 baptisms.

Conclusion: There were not many activities during September and results in some of the areas did not fully meet our expectations. However, with your prayers and support we were able to accomplish the above including the 14 souls converted during the month under review.

Thanks to you all.

Francis

Saving souls in Mbanga

The world is a place of transit, and children of God are called upon to live in it as pilgrims, believing that someday we shall be with Christ in our celestial home. We bring salutations from the country-side of Mbanga from where the gospel is going to French Cameroonians and to other parts of French Africa. We are glad to be a part of this great work that is going on in the world and in Cameroon in particular. It is clear that the work of God is a noble vocation which brings people from one end to another. Today we bring you another report from Mbanga Balong and the BVBIC-Mbanga school of preaching. We also bring you a report from our various mission fields.

Firstly, we are happy to bring to you information that our students are doing well with their studies even though some of them are going through serious health crises. Our school nurse is doing his best. With some cases, he will refer them to the hospital. Never-the-less, we are already in the third semester and by December, it will be time for internship and visitation. Prayers of the faithful are needed to accompany our brothers who are student preachers to the end.

Mission work and internship in the month of September was great as our twenty students went into thirteen different fields for campaign and evangelism. The field is ripe but the labourers are few. Even though our terrain is a difficult one, we want to reassure you that our God can do what no man can do. Within the space of 2 weeks, and 3 for those who decided to spend their resting week in the same village or town and to continue with the work of God, about 152 persons heard the word of God on one to one evangelism and the door to door evangelism methods.

It was great as about 12 souls were added into the Lord’s church, and 3 were restored, making a total of 15 souls. Let the name of the Lord be glorified! We also used our graduates to work with them in their congratulations and in their new fields of work which yielded the establishment of a new congregation in Bafia town. The sound-system was also used in public to send out the sound message in Mbouda during this mission trip.

Immediately upon the return of the students on the 8th of September, we went out with the students again for another mission trip which gave birth to 4 new souls that were added to the kingdom of God.

It was also a great joy as I was able to preach the gospel to these women in the village of Kotto where a sister who ran away from the Matoh assembly due to the ongoing crisis invited us for church planting. I thought it wise to go and visit the area for visibility studies. I have found that the land is spiritually fertile and is ready to host the men for implantation. We are still doing our best to see that the work grows.

We are now putting up a temporal building in Loum after a long struggle with a place of worship. God is blessing our few Christians over there. We praise God almighty for blessing us.

Up-coming events.

**- Moungo Zonal Lectureship, (Kake Douala)

**- Francophone Zonal Sister’s Seminar, (Mbanga Balong)

- Annual Gospel Seminar, (Limbe New Town) **

Thank you all for reading this report.

Your fellow servant.

Ititi Benedict

Great classes in Nsawam

BVBI, NSAWAM End of Third Quarter Report July, Aug., Sept.2021 Introduction

This is to report the various activities that were carried out and completed in the third (3rd) quarter - July, August, and September respectively.

Course Schedule & Instructors other relevant activities

To begin with, a recap of courses scheduled were Denominational Doctrine, Leadership, and Epistles of 1 & 2 Peter. To bring to the notice, the first two courses were taught by Brother E. O. Larbi and the Epistles of Peter were being taught by Brother Kwabena Gyan-Mante. There was a weekly campaign organized and accomplished successfully.

Class Activities

The courses above were taught successfully as scheduled above with their instructors. Contact hours were met as required. The instructor, who is not able to attend up class as scheduled, normally reschedules to meet the contact hours. Exams were conducted at the end of each course and marks were recorded.

Campaign & Other Activities

A follow-up campaign activity was scheduled at Obeyeyie Congregation in Accra. This church was planted by the 2nd Batch students of Bear Valley Bible Institute Accra and is handled by one of our students by the name Emmanuel Yaw Asiaw Aidoo. This was organized in such a way that all the students took part in the campaign (i.e. weekly).

A Visit to Adoagyiri Church Evangelist

As we train faithful preachers, we get good outcomes. As part of the ministry, the students organized a visit to check on a sick evangelist by the name of brother Frank John Ntim, who has been ill for about one and half years. He is the evangelist for the Adoagyiri congregation for more than 30 years. This congregation is where the weekend school is currently residing. The students visited him, exhorted him, sang some hymns, prayed, and presented gifts and money for his upkeep.

We, therefore, request that you remember Brother Frank in your daily prayer that the Lord may grant him the strength to further his work.

The library has been provided

As I reported in my previous report on the need for library and study books for children, we are grateful to have you informed that our requests have been attended to. Now, students and instructors can visit the library for their studies.

Student’s Profile

Emmanuel Yaw Asiaw Aidoo is a student at Nsawam Weekend School. He is married to a beautiful lady by the name of Shtina Ampofoa Baidoo just last year and is blessed with one newborn baby. The wife is a believer. Emmanuel has been in the faith for a long time. He is counted among the brilliant students. He loves to debate, writing articles, he strongly stands against false doctrines when some members of the church intend to post on the media and defends the truth with necessary facts. He is currently helping the preaching work at the Obeyeyie church we recently followed up on for the campaign. Currently, the members are about sixteen (16). He loves to do the work of the Lord as much as he can offer.

We are grateful to the Lord that we have faithful men in the school and help the church in diverse ways. It is our prayer that the Lord will grant them the needed understanding to defend against false doctrines and help the progress of the school.

Next Quarter Time Table

In our next academic quarter class and other activities, it is scheduled that in October we shall study Research and Writing in the MLA Format, Instructor: George Osafo; November – Elementary Greek: Samuel Sasu Ntim; December – Campaign at Obeyeyie Congregation.

Conclusion

We shall always thank our God Jesus Christ who has been making everything necessary and successfully completing activities in this quarter.

To God be the glory.

Kasoa needs an additional school

KASOA 3rd Quarter Report July August September 2021

So soon we are left with three months to see another year. The Lord Has been good to us as none of our students nor anyone we know is affected by the virus. As we continue to observe the necessary protocols, we pray God to continue to guard and bless us. We also thank God for the love of our spiritual partners as they continue to support the Lord’s here in Ghana and particularly in Kasoa.

SCHOOL IN KASOA

Kasoa is densely populated town and we have over fifty congregations of the Lord’s Church in this town. So, the school in this location is timely as we need more workers for the Lord. The School started with nine students is now having nineteen with five more waiting to be admitted.

The school currently meets in the church premises of Papaase Number 2 congregation where their average attendance is 200. This vicinity is six miles north of Kasoa and we have secured a place in the middle of Kasoa to have a second school.

STUDENTS AND ACADEMICAL WORK

We have an average of 17 students out of the total of 19, meeting weekly for classes and all have done their work assigned to them and also the class work. All of them are leaders in their respective congregations. The one lady among them is the women’s teacher in the congregation she worships. These men are better preparing themselves to take up the responsibility of being preachers for the congregations they are members of, some having been leaders for many years.

The following are the regular instructors for the school in Kasoa: Kojo Acquah Beenyi, the director, Roger Asante, Amo Gyimah. Daniel Adjei Mensah, the director at the Tamale school has also taught a course for us.

CAMPAIGN/EVANGELISM

The second campaign for this year was held at Kasoa Ofaakor. It was a week-long from Monday to Sunday. Several Gospel materials from Mission Printing and Bobby Dockery were freely given out and the great message of Christ was proclaimed. Day time Bible studies were done daily and open air preaching were done each night. Daily dawn preaching was also done. Eleven (11) souls were won for the Lord. There were many prospects who signed our forms for follow up, hopefully some more will respond to the call of Christ to be His disciple. The students’ body also reported of 13 baptisms for the months of July, August and September in their work in their congregations.

STUDENT OF THE QUARTER

Daniel Kwadwo Nkrumah is one of our students in Kasoa. He is the students’ leader and keeps the records of the class. Daniel is 44 years and he is married with five children. Daniel has been a Christian for the past 26 years and has been a leader in the Lord’s church for many years. He has also been the Evangelism leader as well as a Songs leader.

He works as a Metal Fabricator and owns his business that helps feed his family as well as makes a living. His helped with the metal works when the church he fellowshipped with was putting up the meeting place.

Currently he preaches for Ofaakor congregation with is four miles north of Kasoa. Ofaakor congregation has an average attendance of 66. This is a small but is a vibrant congregation that has existed for the past eleven (11) years.

Daniel thinks the School in Kasoa is a brilliant idea as that has helped him as a worker to be able to work and be in school at the same time to better his knowledge in the Lord and also better equip himself for the Lord’s work and also to save soul.

Sad news from Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, congregations and families,

I will start my September-October newsletter with the sad news. On October 13th our brother, the Minister of Brovary Church of Christ and Bear Valley Bible Institute in Ukraine Instructor Andrew Zhuravlev passed away. He had been one of the first students in the program in the end of 1990s, later he completed the Masters' program and had been educating our students for over 20 years. He was my close friend. His son Iliya graduated from the program this year and now serves as a youth minister in that congregation. On the one hand, it was a tremendous loss for the Church in Ukraine, on the other hand, he is in the house of our Heavenly Father. The official records stated that the cause of death was coronavirus that damaged his lungs in a couple of weeks. We believe that the doctors did everything they could have but God had His own plans. We ask you to pray for Andrew's family, his wife Veronica and his son, as well as the congregation in Brovary.

The school year at the Institute started in September. I will briefly remind you that we have 4 students. All of them are quite young and as we hope will become the future of the Church. The first course was Homiletics, taught by our Instructor Stanislav Kuropyatnikov. Later we enjoyed the visit of Terry Harmon, the Bear Valley Ukraine coordinator. He taught Christian Evidences. In the end of the month Jim Sherman arrived and taught two courses - Family Life and the Plan of Salvation.

In the end of September, we had a very nice gathering of the Bible Institute graduates. It was splendid, with about 30 guests from all parts of Ukraine. We had great lessons on the Church's Growth, a lot of fellowship and encouragement. During the most recent years the world's changed noticeably and this kind of event was extremely needed as we have not had any meetings for quite a while.

Currently the active covid cases are on the rise in Ukraine. Some regions have been declared red zones again. It means that the certain restrictions will be implemented. So the visits of our American Instructors were very timely. Both Terry and Jim made it home safely and are getting ready to come back next year.

There is a very uplifting news from our Instructor Stanislav Kuropyatnikov who just had a newborn son. Stanislav is a very faithful brother who ministers in the city of Lviv and helps us too in many ways. His family is a blessing for us all and we request prayers on their behalf.

May God bless you! Thank you for your support and continuous prayers. The Church in Ukraine needs leaders trained in the sound doctrine. We all work towards the strengthening and growth of the Church.

Your brother in Christ,

Dennis Sopelnik

Mission Printing appreciated in Cameroon

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from this end. We are doing good and we do hope you are doing good as well. I am sorry for the break of sending reports as I used to do. The internet was down in my area and there was no way to travel to another town to get my reports going.

For the weeks that have passed, the students were on mission work and vacation for the third quarter which was like a break to me too. But as I write this report now, all is back in place. The students are all back on campus and life and training are back to normal.

Our students went through difficult earth roads to make it to different mission fields during the last outing from Wotutu. Welisane John went to a village called Lokando 2. We received the “Macedonian call” about that dying congregation. He was there even during his vacation to encourage and to bring the Christians back to the fold so that they can start worshipping again.

In spite of the difficulties faced on the road, God granted journey mercies to all the students and they arrived at their different destinations safe and sound. They went to work with house-to-house evangelism, and house-to-house encouragement for the Christians. They go everywhere with our tradition of opening the Bible so that the prospect will read the word live and direct.

After all of the hurdles in the field, students are all back to school, and the training continues. But, many of them came back sick because of the climatic and other conditions they faced there. Our nurse is still not completely well from her back surgery, so they are not looked after in the school, but have to see doctors in town for medical attention to keep them feeling well.

We were blessed again with another ocean container from Mission Printing with selected tracts and with many other materials for the work here. We send forth many appreciations to Mission Printing and all the volunteers who made this possible. We have arranged them according to their kind and we are ready for distribution which will have a different format from the previous times. God bless Mission Printing!

In the container, elder Richard Renfro always makes special boxes for preachers. Each box contains books and many other good materials that the preacher can use to build up his personal library. This time our current students benefited first while the rest of the boxes will go to other preachers who have never taken a preacher box from our previous shipments.

The distribution is already on and it will go far and wide from our new Mission Printing to our new tract building in Wotutu Cameroon to towns and villages all over the country of Cameroon. Some French tracts will be shipped from Cameroon to Tchad as well. Please keep our efforts in your prayers.

PLANS

We are invited for a mass evangelism in Kake congregation in the French speaking area by the end of the month.Weekend evangelism continues every week in Bear Valley Bible Institute Cameroon - Wotutu.

Thank you very much for all the prayers and support that helps to keep this work going amidst all of the trouble in the world. God bless you all. Please share our report with others around you.

Classes resume in Kenya

We at KSOP have resumed classes for the fourth quarter as from 25th of October 2021. The number of students as at now is 16 including Kefa Guto who didn't get to finish the last intake but came back to take the courses he skipped and also replaces Gerald whom we dismissed due to misconduct.

This time round we have 4 local teachers who'll teach 7 courses in total. Joining Charles and Elias will be Nixon Ochieng and John Paul. Courses to be taught are: Old Testament Four (study of the historical books), I Samuel - II Chronicles, Church planting, I & II Peter and Jude, Life Of Christ Four (The Gospel According to Luke), Old Testament Five (Study of Historical Books, Ezra - Esther), World Religions, and Church History. During the holidays our current students served 15 local Congregations, went to 12 evangelical trips, attended 7 Gospel Meetings organized by local Churches, restored 11 individuals, helped plant one new local congregation and baptized 18 new converts.

This time we pray, that despite the Covid-19 effects in the whole world, that God will still open doors and bless us with funds to send the students to the local Congregations for the service of the Lord. More so, we pray that if possible, we may get funds to conduct at least one gospel meeting every quarter, where all students can be involved in evangelizing, and teach in the seminars. This will help them to put into practice what they have been learning in class hence promoting their spiritual growth. We give thanks to God almighty who has been our stronghold up to this far, and all the brethren who have contributed generously to this endeavor. God bless you all!

Your Brother, Elias Owana Omollo

A new school campaign

BVBI, NIGERIA-WARRI EVANGELISM REPORT, OCTOBER, 2021

With gratitude to our father the Almighty, and to the Bear Valley Bible Institute International for giving us this great platform to be of service to the Lord, we use this opportunity to give a brief report of the maiden evangelism outreach carried out by the students of the Bear Valley Bible Institute, Nigeria-Warri.

On Saturday, 9th October, 2021 the Bear Valley Bible Institute, Nigeria-Warri students, went for their maiden evangelism outreach at Ovwor-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State. After the preaching exercise, we worshipped with the very small rural congregation on Sunday 10th October, 2021 and three (3) souls were baptized to the glory of God. Please commit the students, the very small congregation and the young converts to God in prayer.

Osita Daniel Onuora Director

Improvement in Peru

Greetings from Lima, Peru

We hope that all of you are doing well with God´s favor. May the grace of our Lord be always with you.

Last month we have finished the life of Christ IV with brother Abraham the students were very encouraged and asked for titles of the books to continue learning about Jesus' last days. They were given a list of textbooks for them to buy and they were shared some pdf articles.
We had a webinar as we always do to present the new course, Hebrews, in charge of brother Juan Abanto.

Churches are starting to gather together and as part of that, some of our students are doing some evangelistic work as well as some preaching and teaching in their local congregations while some others are still attending church meetings through zoom or Facebook.

As you all know we have been facing difficult times here the good news is that nowadays most of the adults and young people are already vaccinated which makes people more receptive to get involved in activities for that reason we have decided to return to our face to face class starting in January. We have great expectations for next year. We will have a couple of meetings this Saturday and the next one to talk about the school, the students, new prospects, and the goals for next year. We will inform you about the plans for next year.

Keep us in your prayers

Student activities in Zimbabwe

SEPTEMBER 2021 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This commission remains alive at BVBIZ as all efforts are geared towards equipping faithful men and women for this cause. In the month of September, BVBIZ continued to advance this agenda in a variety ways. These are covered below;

1.0 TERM BEGINS

A new term began on the 13th of September. All students came back from the short break that they had. This term marks the second year for this intake. The following subjects are going to be taught this term

Sign Language

Church History

Computer Studies

Marriage and Family Life

Community Development and Poverty Alleviation

Church Leadership

Homiletics II (Advanced Homiletics)

1, 2,3 John

Christian Spiritual Formation

Research Methods

Greek 1

Following the purchase of some laptops and desktops for students in August, computer studies commenced in September. Great appreciation to one of our board members, Hailey Mhlangeni for working flat out so that this subject becomes a reality. He blessed the school with Nathan Kuchena, the Technician at Amazon in Filabusi to take students through part of the subject for a whole week.

2.0 GRADUATION AND OFFICIAL OPENING UPDATE

BVBIZ’s 2018 class shall be graduating on the 16th of October. This class was supposed to graduate last year in October but the Covid pandemic derailed all plans. This class will be joined in their pass out by the students who were in the school’s parallel program (part time). These had reached their 4th year of study.

The festivities shall commence with a brief Annual General Meeting at 9am and then followed by an official opening of the site and finally the graduation ceremony.

3.0 FIELD PROGRAM STATISTICS

The field program has come and gone. Students worked under difficult conditions induced by the covid pandemic. A lot of creativity was demanded from the students in the various areas that they were posted to. Great appreciation goes to the various congregation that accommodated, transported and fed our students. Great appreciation also goes to Nashville church of Christ for chipping in with foodstuffs and toiletries for the students who were at  Plasworth and Lot 64.

3.1 What they said

Whilst we greatly appreciate the sacrifices made by the hosting congregations in feeding, some meeting transport costs and providing accommodation, a lot of feedback came to the school. In this report we include only three;

Much thanks to the school for the job well done through what we witnessed in the students who were attached at the Mashava congregation. They are well equipped for the work and we appreciate. We will be happy to have them again (by Isheanesu Masvaya, the preacher at Mashava).

Marenga church of Christ would like to thank you for the services provided by the two student preachers, Thomas Musongora and Carlos Chandipa. They did evangelism, baptized and even moulded bricks for the church building. We liked their stay and also hope that they learnt and enjoyed (from Wellington Makumbe Matsveru, a deacon at Marenga).

We are deeply grateful and indebted for the sterling work done by the student preachers during their 40 day attachment. They achieved so much and made impact within this short period (From Tawanda Chimedza, the preacher at Chiware church of Christ).

4.0 APRRECIATION TO A WORTHY SERVANT

Since May 2020 when the school moved from its rented facility to the permanent site, there is one man, a 2018 student, among others, who worked hard for BVBIZ. He moved to the site even when some basic amenities were not there. His vision was to be a preacher cum farmer. We allowed him to stay as long as he wished till his desire to enrol in an agricultural college is fulfilled.  He became the man on ground since there are no houses to accommodate the teachers. Everything that needed to be done, he was a call away. His was a sacrifice for what he believes and  for the school he loves. When the Plasworth congregation began at the school site, he became its minister. He was not being paid for his services. It was for God.  Furthermore, he ran the schools poultry project since its inception last year to the present together with general maintenance of the site. In this report, we give him tribute. His name is Gray Ndoro. He left for Rio Tinto Agricultural College on the 19th of September whilst the school and church made a farewell ceremony for him on the 18th. BVBIZ wishes him well.

5.0 PROJECTS

BVBIZ continues to advance itself in projects. The intention being to gradually resource the school and at the same time empower and inculcate life survival skills in students.

5.1 POULTRY

Currently, there are three batches of broilers in the school.  Two students are allocated a batch to work with.  This is done on a rotational bases. This method is intended to inculcate life survival skills within them. Together with other life  survival skills being made, each student will, therefore, graduate with hands on experience in many areas.

5.2 LAND PREPARATION FOR PLANTING SEASON

Preparation for this coming planting season is underway. Almost a hectare of land at the school’s site was worked on. Disking will be  done soon. This is was a virgin area full of rocks and trees. This brings the total tilled land to two and half hectares. The hope is to plant maize, beans, sweet potatoes and a bit of sunflower. Great appreciation to brother Donnie Estep for providing the funds to work on this virgin land.

6.0 LEADERSHIP WORKSHOP

One of BVBIZ’s greatest strengths is leadership training and development. The school welcomes congregations who wish to benefit from this. Kadoma congregation took the step and came for a training workshop on the 17th of September. Several topics that impact on the leader and leadership were covered in the workshop.

CONCLUSION

BVBIZ remains grateful to our partners far and wide for their unwavering support. With this support, students continue to be trained and souls won to Christ whilst efforts continue to be put in to keep the saved saved.  The next report you shall be reading from us shall be focusing on the graduation, AGM and official opening ceremonies that shall take place on the 16th of October 2021. To God be the glory.

New students in India

Reporting Letter for the month of September-2021

Respected International Director of Bible Studies Mr. Keith Kasarjian and our Coordinator Mr. Mark Reynolds and all the prayer partners we extend our greetings to you in the most holy and precious name of Jesus Christ. We pray that this reporting letter finds you good health.

Students Field work:- In the month of September our students were in the field for the practical work learning. India church leaders just admire the BVBI system in sending the students  from the  class room learning into the filed work learning for every two months (each semester). For the sake of field work we have connected the students with different local preachers in different places for their out door field work , we instructed the students to submit their filed reports when they come back to the college.

New Souls:- We are happy to report you that from January to September 38 souls were baptized, in the month of September 9 souls were baptized . The old student Mr. Ramanapadal has reported that he has baptized one soul , he lives in hills side and working among the tribal people, the other  student Mr.Kranthikumar has converted two souls. we request you to pray for the new souls that they may grow in the image of His son Jesus Christ

Bible Camp for the Blind People:- In the month of September 18th  we have conducted a special camp for the visually challenged people.  By the grace of God we have provided 50 audio bible to 50 visually challenged people. Two blind people were baptized and added to the body of Christ.

Teachers day:- We are happy to report you that KGBV Girls school has invited us for the teachers day on September  5th . We have encouraged them to train up the children and cultivate  school children with quality of character . We have distributed small gifts to the school staff and encouraged them.

Preachers meetings:- In the Month of September 25th we have conducted local preachers leadership class. We encouraged them to reach unreached souls and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Vidyanagar Church has provided afternoon lunch to all the preachers.

Visiting Prakasam District:- We have travelled about 900 K.M and visited other district on September 13th,  one of the local preacher  has invited  for his son’s marriage. I was given opportunity to lead the wedding event, our students could able to lead few songs, on the way we have visited Kavali and preached in their thanks giving meeting.

Newly planted local church :- we have conducted five days back to the bible classes in the village called Poolathotamitta, this is the native place of my wife Swarupa.  In this village we have planted local church, each Sunday 30 to 35 people are gathering for the worship service.

Women Bible Seminar:-  We  are praying and planning for organizing Christian Growth Bible Seminar for Women on 15th and 16th of this month . We have invited 12 sisters who are preachers wives for this seminar to preach the word of God. We have selected The Theme from Galatians 5:22 “Fruit of the Spirit”. We are thankful to Dr. Damon Vincent for his encouragement and generosity to provide the material freely. We expect 150 ladies for this two days Bible Seminar. We request you to pray for the seminar.

Second semester for the second Batch students:- We have began our second semester for this second batch students. We have prepared every things for the smooth and success of the their class room work.

A.G.Gardens:- We have established Agricultural Gardens at BVBI, Poolathota-Village, KGBV-School. One more will be under construction at D.V.Sathram.

Covid-19 situation :- The Covid-19 problem is still hunting the Indian people, there are  few children in the KGBV-school have been infected , many more people have been infected in our city. We request you to pray for our students, teaching faculty, non-teaching faculty and members of our local church.

We are thankful to our International director and coordinator for their dedication  for the establishment of BVBI-extension centre in India. We praise God for the great opportunity given to us to serve for the cultivation of young people India for purpose of   great commission of Jesus Christ. We express our gratitude and sincerely thankful for all their efforts and encouragement.

Thanking you.

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

Vijay&Swarupa, Behalf of BVB-extension Centre , Tirupati-India

Alumni doing well in Zambia

Introduction

We send greetings to you brothers and sisters in the lord, we wish you God’s blessing as you labor in His vineyard. We are as delighted as we send this report for the activities in the month of September.

As the students continue learning from the courses that given to them at Bear Valley Bible Institute- Zambia, we can see the evidence of their spiritual growth. The fourth quarter’s courses include the one on “Personal Evangelism 2” which is being taught by Cephas Mwamba. In the first quarter they were taught “Personal evangelism 1” which had an emphasis on how to conduct a Bible study one on one. This quarter the emphasis is placed on church planting. Hence, courses like these become vitally important because they will eventually help them in their life of preaching once they graduate.

I.        Major Activities

A.      Evangelism

i. The students have continued with their personal evangelism practical. They have paired themselves to do door knocking and reach out to people on the street and the surrounding communities. These practical are only done during the weekends because during the weekdays they are busy with studies and other school assignments.

ii.       Bible studies

We are very happy to report that that each pair of these students have managed to set up some Bible studies with some people they have preached to.

Boyd Kalaba and Daniel Kapata, students of BVBI-Zambia have continued conducting Bible studies on Thursday afternoons at one of the members of the church near the campus.

B.      Baptisms

i. We have recorded twenty-one (21) baptisms in the month of October and one (01) congregation established. We are working extra hard to establish another new congregation next month in Masaiti district on the Copperbelt province.

C.      Restorations

i.  We have also recorded seventeen (17) restorations, six on the Copperbelt Churches of Christ, three in the Luapula province, and four in Lusaka’s Mtendere where Simon Nkhazi our former student is currently preaching. We have also recorded two in Kabwe Central province.

II.  Statement on covid-19 in Zambia

i.  We have a very encouraging report on covid-19 status by the Africa center for Disease control and prevention. Their report implies that Zambia is experiencing low covid-19 transmission. Encouragingly, Zambia has also been removed from high risk status by some countries and we are confident that soon others will follow suit.

ii.  Following the reduced transmission of covid-19 in Zambia, government has decided to lift the restrictions for the next one month which started on 2nd October 2021.

iii. With the situation above, we will continue to do more evangelism whenever we have opportunity. We will always adhere to the prescribed covid-19 public health measures.

III.   Goals for the upcoming month

As we knock the doors, preach on the streets and reach out in our communities our goal is to reach out to as many people as possible. We believe that the “world” Jesus Christ was talking about starts next door. We have planned to go for a four days gospel campaign trip at Chibwe Church of Christ. This place is about 18 km (11 miles) from Luanshya town. We have also received invitation to go the Northern Province and North-western province where brother Cephas Mwamba recently visited in the village to lay the foundation for our preaching. We have continued to have quarterly leadership meetings at BVBI- Zambia in Luanshya district to coordinate the work

IV.   Reports from our alumni

We continue to receive very impressive reports from all our former students.

A.  Clive Kabika (2017 graduate) reports that he is working with Mwanshi church of Christ in Kabwe district of Central Province of Zambia.  He regularly preaches on Sundays and also teaches adult Bible studies on Wednesdays and Sundays. He also features on Kabwe FM radio with a religious program every week. This radio station covers most of the areas in Kabwe district and some of the areas of Chibombo and Kapiri Mposhi districts of Central Province of Zambia.

12 people have so been baptized and two souls have been restored back to the Lord because of the efforts that this brother doing. And numerous people have been accorded an opportunity to hear the gospel and respond to it.

B.   Hornbye Mupengu (2019) working hand in hand with our Institute here in Zambia, he is being helped to establish a new congregation in Masaiti district of the Copperbelt Province. His native home happens to be Ndola district but he spends most of his time at the farm in Masaiti district. He has reached out to other farmers in the area with the gospel. Together with his dad, Hornbye Mupengu senior, they regularly conduct Bible studies and church services at their farm. They have planned to have an evangelistic campaign on October 31st, 2021 around Masaiti district. Hornbye’s efforts and that of his father have really made tremendous impact in Masaiti.

We have no doubt that Hornbye, Clive and other former students are men who are dedicated to preaching and teaching others how to live the word.

Our hearts are truly and forever indebted to Woodland Oaks Church of Christ for financial support and indeed to everyone supporting this good work in any way. You are always in our prayers!

Brotherly,

Cephas and Fred