More souls saved in Liberia

OPERATIONS REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2022

INTRODUCTION

Another New year has come by the grace of God and met us in good health and sound mind to continue the Lord's work as He has instructed. Happy New year to you all. We are thankful to God for his grace and many blessing that he keep bestowing upon us daily. Many thanks also to all those making it possible through their selfless sacrifices for the sake of the kingdom. So far, all has been moving very well..

SCHOOL RESUMED

We wish to inform you that our students returned back to school on the 10th of January after a very successful Christmas and New year vacation. We are saying successful because of the many good work they were able to do back home at their congregations they went to during the period of the vacation. Since our returned from the year end vacation, everyone is in high spirit to play their own role very well to enable us complete the 1st year 3rd quarter. Students are playing students roles very well , whiles the instructors are also playing their instructing roles very well . Sadly, four of our students have not returned yet and from the look of things, they might not be coming back because of their many complains that the lessons are very intensive.

As part of our tradition, after vacation students are required to write on their vacations activities: where they spend it, what were they involved in doing, the results of their work and contacts of the preachers or church leaders they work with. Meanwhile, their reports are so interesting that we think you need to know. To summarized their vacation works and experiences, fifteen of them were involved into preaching and teaching at their different congregations, and deeply involved into houses to house evangelism and personal work. This resulted in eighteen (16) baptisms from all of them and 22 person restored We confirmed these information by placing a phone called to their congregations, I am so proud of the practical work out of the classroom done by our students. Please pray that these men continue to grow in the work of our Lord.

DEATH OF OUR FIRST STUDENT PREFECT

This is to inform you that the school and the county of Nimba has lost one of the pillar of the Lord's church here in Liberia west Africa. Preacher Harris Wonlay was among the first batch of student enrolled into the Bear Valley Extension Program in Ganta Liberia in 2016. He was a very matured Christian who was already teaching and preaching in the church. The quest to rightly divide the word of truth led him to the Bible school in 2016.

While in school, Brother Wonlah served as the students prefect and advisor at the same time because of his level of faith and maturity in the Lord. Harris was a very strong, sound and vocal Preacher who before coming to the Bible school and after his graduation from the Bible school preached the undiluted gospel of Christ without fear or favor. He brought thousands of lost souls to our Lord and planted over 20 congregations in the country. He leave to morn his old wife and four daughters with seven grand children. The school is really hurt with his passing but happy that he died in the Lord and as a great servant of the cross. Please pray for his wife and children he left behind.

3RD QUARTER COURSES AND INSTRUCTORS

Our 3rd quarter continued after the break with the follow courses and assigned instructors.

1. Old Testament -2------------------------- Robert Dahn

2. Life of Christ -2--------------------------Fester Lee

3. Old Testament – 3-------------------------Robert Dahn

4. English--------------------------------------O. D. K. Zakamah

5. Prison Epistles-----------------------------Joel Weah

6. 1Corinthians------------------------------- Calvin Jusu Johnson

7. Short Course ( World Religion----------Peter

8. Agriculture --------------------------------Meantor Bembo

9. Computer--------------------------------- Amos Dolo

CONCLUSION:

Without your love for God and your constant support towards His work, we won't have come this far with the huge work we have here. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for spiritual and financial assistance. We are eternally grateful to each and every of you. To God be all the glory, praise and honor.

With The Love We Share In Christ;

Robert P. Dahn, Jr

Director, BVBI-Liberia

Evangelism in northern Ghana

OPERATING REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY, 2022

The year 2022 started in a very positive mood for us in Bear Valley Tamale campus. The month of January started in a very highly spirited way for us as we had some positive things happening to us just right at the beginning of the month. We began the month with smiles as one of our major challenges was addressed successfully.

PA. SYSTEM FOR EVANGELISM AND MISSION WORK

The Lord Jesus continues to smile at us at Bear Valley Tamale campus. Our missionary journey to Sogon number 1 in the month of November 2021 encountered a lot of challenges, especially with our sound system. At some point, we had to rely on just one speaker to preach at the public preaching. All the same, the Lord still did His work successfully. Notwithstanding, having a listening and a God centered coordinators and men who care for the Kingdom of God, our cry was heard and this challenge has been addressed efficiently. We took delivery of a powerful sound system (two speakers and two horns, two microphones with cords and one complete cordless microphone). We give glory to God for the lives involved in solving this all-important challenge for us, especially Brother Kojo who is always working behind the scenes to get things done. We can never forget our hard and strong Brother, Steven, who has an unending sacrificial life and passion for the work of God across Africa and the world. The Lord bless all who made it possible for us to consistently have a smooth running of activities in Northern Ghana.

KPALSI SOUTH CONGREGATION

The Kpalsi South Congregation is indeed growing strongly in all areas that are concerned as we continue to teach the undiluted doctrines of Christ. One of the members (Brother Godson) presented a 43 inches television set to the Church to be given to the school for the students to have a current television to be able to watch news and relevant information as ministers of Christ. God bless him greatly.

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

Classes began for the year 2022 on the 10th of January, 2022 where Marriage and Home and Old Testament 5 were taught by Brother Daniel Adjei Mensah and Brother Albert Tamanja Malir before and after the joint campaign with our brethren from Accra Doboro campus. Apart from one student (Brother John Mbing-Wajah) who couldn’t make it back in January because of health challenges, all of them resumed back successfully. We also had a new student coming from the North-East Region by name Laar Fredrick.  We are working hard to add some few students to this batch so they can be a foundation for our next recruitment.  

JOINT EVANGELISTIC CAMPAIGN AT SOGON NUMBER 2

We left Tamale on the 17th of January, 2022 around 11:28pm to Sagon 2. We got to the location around 3:14pm. We rested and did the necessary protocols and prepared the grounds to begin the work the next day.

On the 18th of January 2022, as we were preparing in the morning to go for the door-to-door evangelism, the brethren from Accra joined us and together we went out and studied with many. In the evening we went for public preaching. After showing the passion of Christ movie a bit, Brother Emmanuel from Accra preached on “Sin and its effect.”

On Wednesday, 19th January, 2022, we continued with the door-to-door studies with the people of Sagon 2. God willing some were baptized and, in the evening, we did the public preaching on “The Plan of Salvation” by Brother Elijah Baba, one of past students who benefitted from the motor cycle support last year.

On Thursday, the 20th of January, 2022 dawn we went for dawn broadcasting and afterward continued with the door-to-door studies and in the evening, we continued with the public preaching where “The New Testament Church” was made known to the people by one of the Accra brothers (Brother Dominic). Some people also were baptized on this day.

On the 21st of January, 2022 which was Friday, after morning devotion and other preparation, we continued as usual with the door-to-door sharing of the Gospel. Later in the evening preacher Godwin from Accra preached on “Worship of the Church.”

On Saturday, 22nd January 2022, we went round to visit and encourage brethren who made the right decision and have been added to the church and also reminded them of our meeting on the first day of the week to worship God. We also discussed some of our prospects and invited them to the public preaching. In the evening public preaching, Brother James Legend spoke on “The Judgement of God”, bringing our public preaching to a close for Sogon number 2. Haven closed a bit early, we on that same night went to Nayeli, a village around Sogon number 2 where they were inviting us to come to them and we showed part of the passion of Christ to them and also shared the Gospel with them. And that brought our work for this missionary journey to a close.

On Sunday, 23rd January, 2022, after morning devotion we split ourselves into three groups such that, some worshiped at Chamba, others at Sogon 1 and the rest with Sogon 2. 

At the end of the whole campaign, twenty-one (21) souls were baptized within the week. Eight (8) other souls were restored.

At the point of departure, we saw the need to let some brethren stay behind to help set things in order as we search for a preacher for the congregation. Two of our past students who are preaching for Agatusi (Elijah Baaba) and Sanguli (Alex Mabi) stayed back to help strengthen the congregation. As at the point of completing this report, they had also baptized 20 souls in addition to the 21 we baptized on the missionary journey, making a total of 41 souls with 8 restored. Leaders have since been consecrated to help in the running of the congregation before they left. The chamba congregation and the preacher for Sogon number 1 are tasked to collectively help the leaders at Sogon number 2 to stand firm and to maintain the doctrine of Christ as we search for a permanent preacher for them.

By all standards, we had a very fruitful evangelistic journey.

 We give the glory to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Bear Valley Tamale

Tirupati conducts Back to the Bible campaign

Respected international director Mr.Keith Kasarjian , The coordinator Mr.Mark Reynolds and all the prayers partners of BVBI-Extension Centre  Tirupati-India , we greet you in the most holy and precious name of Jesus Christ.  We thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement .

BVBI-Extension Centre  Tirupati-India:-  By the grace of God and your prayers we have completed three semesters successfully. Today we have began the fourth  semester. It is our goal to complete these following courses: Personal evangelism (Church planting), 1 & 2 Peter, Jude, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Worship (principles, doctrine and Practice of N.T.Church),  Leadership (Short course). Galatians. According to the BVBI syllabus calendar we plan to complete these courses in the forth semester (March and April).  We are in need of your prayers for teaching faculty and all the students.

Back to the Bible Seminar:- We have conducted back the Bible seminar from February 21-25, 2022  (Monday to Friday) at Vidyanagar, Nellore-District, Andhra Pradesh-State. India. Each day 60 to 65 people were able to attend for the 5-day seminar. We have presented the following lessons: 1. Is there God? 2. Who is God,  3. Divinity (Father, Son, Holy spirit) , 4. The Bible is God’s book. 5. Rightly dividing the word of God ,  6. Instructions to the people who hear the word of God , 7. Instructions to the people who teach the word of God, 8. Why God created human beings 9. Truth about man ( Soul, Spirit and Body), 10.Natural desirs given to man and God’s law for fulfilling  , 11. Satan, 12. Fall of Man (Sin) 13. Scheme of redemption 14.Kingdom of God & N.T Church  14. Two spiritual Realms (In Christ  blessings & in the world curses ) 15. Redemption from Sin 16.Righteousness through Christ  17.. Baptism. We invited a few denominational leaders and brought their attention towards the New Testament Truth. We invited some of the untrained leaders from local churches so they too can train up others to win souls for Christ. All the teachers and students of BVBI have participated in the Bible Seminar. We got a few contacts from the denominational leaders who wish to study more about the New Testament doctrine.

Audio Bibles Distribution for Visually Challenged:-   We conducted a one day meeting at Hindupur town on Feb 7th, which is about 300 miles away from our city. Four people and myself from our Bible College travelled by road way. We conducted a one day meeting with the blind people and distributed audio Bibles . In the month of February we distributed 50 audio Bibles  for the blind people. We distributed 43 bibles directly and 7 bibles we sent by using Indian postal system.

Bible distributions:-  In the month of February we distributed 50 Telugu Bibles, 50 song books and 300 New Testaments. One of our older students, Mr.Jaykumar, works in the Araka Hill area. We provided him 20 bibles and 20 song books.

Baptisms:- in the month of February 4 souls were baptized and added to the body of Christ.

Staff meeting:-  Today we conducted a staff meeting at BVBI-College’s office room. We discussed several things for the success of the 4th semester. We appreciate teachers dedication to serve the students and help them to make true disciples of Jesus Christ by teaching them sound doctrine. 

We express our gratitude and thanks to the elders of Bear Valley Church of Christ for their love and compassion. We sincerely convey our thanks to our international director Mr.Keith Kasarjian  and  our  coordinator Mr.Mark Reynolds for their great efforts which they invest for the real success of the training program in India. We pray that God may richly blesses them and use them more and more. We are need of your continual  prayers and encouragement.

Thanking you.

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

B.Vijaya Kumar

Breaking news from Ukraine

Dear Brethren,

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!  As you are all aware, things in Ukraine have been wildly unstable for the past several days after the invasion of Russia.  While there was a lot of talk about a possible attack, many(including myself) weren’t sure if it was a reality, because it seemed like a sort of game for a couple of months.  The suddenness of all of this, though, took Ukraine and the world off guard.  Now we are trying to help our brethren to the best of our abilities.

First, it is wonderful to see that so many Christians are praying for the brethren and for Ukraine in general.  It actually seems that the whole world is behind Ukraine at the moment, which we hope to be the case.  The power of prayer cannot be underestimated.  We know that He hears us, and will answer favorably, if what we are asking is according to His will (1 John 5:14-15).  We thank you for your prayers and ask that they will not cease.

As for BVBIU, we are grateful to report that all seems to be well for the majority of teachers and students, with the exception of our dear brother, Viktor Semikoz, and his family.  Just a few minutes ago, he stated that there was a rocket attack in the town of Brovary where he lives.  He stated that some people died.  Please pray for them, as they have two small boys (ages 5 & 3).  Brovary is close to Kiev, the capital.

Dennis Sopelnik, Director of BVBIU, is located in Ternopil with other members from Bila Tserkva.  The Assistant Director, Stas Kuropyatnikov, and the team of BVBIU graduates who work in Lviv, have taken in a large number of Christians who were trying to flee to the west. Eight BVBIU graduates and their families are there. Another graduate and preacher, Sasha Rodichev, was attempting to get to Lviv with a group of 18, but they were not able to make it.  They did arrive in Chernivtsi, where the preacher, Dima Galuk serves as the minister (Dima is also an instructor at BVBIU).   Sasha preached the sermon yesterday. 

 Regarding the current BVBIU students, they were in Bila Tserkva (where BVBIU is located), but now are safe in Chernivtsi.  In Bila Tserkva, they helped another BVBIU graduate, Taras Danilenko.  Taras obtained funds and  purchased food for people and distributed it.  The students were able to help put the packages together. Even in times of difficulties, it is always best to serve others.

We thank the Lord that the brethren in Kramatorsk so far report that things are relatively quiet there.  The towns of Kharkov and Kiev seem to be the ones the hardest hit, with many casualties.  The rocket attacks are picking up and so we need to pray even harder! 

Today I discovered that we are able to send funds to the brethren in Ukraine.  If you want to help, you can send it to: Christiansburg church of Christ, 1250 S. Franklin St., Christiansburg, VA  24073 - Attn: Ukraine Relief Fund.

Thank you so much and may God bless!  

Terry Harmon

Bear Valley Ukraine Coordinator

A new school doing well

Report of Bear Valley Bible Weekend School, Ondo State Between November 2021 - January 2022.

Glory be to God in the Highest for His blessings, protection, and divine provision we all received from the Lord's presence, we blessed the name of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, Amen. We thank God for another quarter in the life of the Bear Valley Bible weekend School in Ondo state. We have successfully concluded the first semester.

I want to especially thank our international director of Bear Valley Schools, Brother Keith Kasarjian for his wonderful visit to the School in Ondo State on the 4th of December, 2021. His visit has boosted our morale for competitiveness in promoting sound and Biblical education among the students and all the brethren in our state, Ondo State. We all in the School appreciate his visit. God bless you, Sir. He also provided the sum of $700 for the need of the School including naira cash of #14,000 only, for the purchase of a Computer Laptop, three in one scanner photocopier, a printer, and tables for the use of learning for the students. I have bought all the items for the good use of the school.

Evangelism: in pursuant of the goal of Bear Valley Schools, the school in Ondo State went out to propagate the gospel in our respective areas (Ondo City & Akure City). We were out preaching the gospel of Christ on the 29th of January, 2022. In Ondo City, we were 13 in number that went out preaching the gospel including 3 instructors in the Odosida area of Ondo City. We had more than 10 prospects that we will work on and gladly directed them to a nearly Church of Christ for further Biblical discussion. We are praying for a fruitful preaching exercise.

Also, Akure Study Center is not left out of the work of preaching the gospel. 11 students went out to preach the gospel including 3 of our instructors who worked with them in the field. Their prospects show a willing heart for more study of the word. We pray that our God works through their hearts in believing the gospel.

Classroom activities: we blessed God for the successful completion of the First semester in the history of the School in Ondo State. So far, we have had 6 courses. From November to January 2022. We have had 3 courses completed both in the two study centers ( Ondo City & Akure City) the courses are, (1) Life of Christ - 2 (Mark). (2). Life of Christ -1 ( Matthew). (3). Life of Christ - 4 (John).

In Ondo Study center, in November 2021, we had Life of Christ - 2 (Mark) by brother Philemon Ohaebuka as the instructor, while in the Akure study center in the same month of November 2021, brother Rowland Matthew taught Life of Christ -1 (Matthew). In December 2021, the Ondo study center had Life of Christ- 3 (Luke) by brother Timileyin Akilapa, while in the Akure study center, we had Life of Christ -4 (John) by brother Damilola Oke as the instructor. In January 2022, in the Ondo City study center, we had Life of Christ - 4 (John) by brother Damilola Oke, while in the Akure study center, we had Life of Christ - 3 (Luke) by brother Timileyin Akilapa.

Honestly, Bear Valley Bible weekend schools in Ondo State are blessed with serious and active students, one of such students is brother David Eniafe. David Knife is one of the students at the Akure study center. David Eniafe is a Ph.D. student at the Federal University of Technology, Akure. Brother David Eniafe said that the MLA style of writing research has opened his eyes to the high standard of the School. He is very humble and willing to learn the Bible in Class. He is a blessing to the school, my loving brethren. He is one of the active members of the Church of Christ, 13, Leo Street.

Miscellaneous: we have received support for the things we need as a school, when brother Keith visited us at the School on the 4th of December 2021. We are grateful for the support. God bless the Bear Valley School and the supporter of this noble work of training men for the service of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ.

We are indeed grateful for the privileges given to Ondo State to be part of history with Bear Valley Bible weekend Schools. On behalf Of our instructors and students here in Ondo state. We wish to reiterate our commitment to actively do our best in promoting the frontier of the School to a greater height in our dear state.

Coordinator,

Fasonu Victor

Much progress in Zimbabwe

JANUARY 2022 NARRATIVE REPORT

INTRODUCTION

We always give glory and honour to God who gives us the ability and zeal to advance the cause of His kingdom. With restrictions due Covid pandemic having been eased, there is greater hope that 2022 will be a great year at BVBIZ. Furthermore,  we are always grateful when we look back in the month and see the hand of God in a number of areas. To Him, we remain grateful. This report gives a glimpse to some of the issues that transpired in the month.

1.0 NEW TERM

A new term began on the 10th of January 2022. All students on the full time program returned to school. This class in now in its last year of study. Students had a well-deserved rest which they did not get since they commenced their studies.

2.0 CURRICULUM

The following subjects are being done this term; African Traditional Religion, Romans, Church Growth, Advanced Hermeneutics, Major Prophets, Hebrews, Biblical Counseling (including HIV & Covid Care & Counseling), Sign Language, Pastoral Epistles and James. Apart from these main subjects, horticulture and Strategic Management for Churches shall be taught as subjects.  Three subjects namely Advanced hermeneutics, Major Prophets and Sign Language dominated the month of January.

3.0 SIGN LANGUAGE

It is BVBIZ’s aim to communicate  God’s message to each individual in society. Sign language has been a key component in the school’s curriculum for a few years now. This year, our first session was done from the 24th-28th of January. After this session, BVBIZ products will be able to communicate to anyone. Great appreciation to Rutendo Foundation which has been a strategic partner in this endeavor and has taken one of our former graduates, Charles Muzambi,  to  further  his studies in Sign language and Interpretation. BVBIZ and ultimately the church will emerge stronger through this process.

4.0 PROJECTS 

One of the school’s strategic objective is to have a well-structured resource base. Viable projects being part of the mix.  In a small way, broilers have already made a contribution to this drive.  Besides the broilers, almost 2 hectares has been put under maize and the crop is doing well. In the first week of February, the school  shall be planting beans. About 2 acres are ready for this. These projects have provided students with skills that are necessary for their survival. In terms of broilers, students have been taking care of them on a rotational basis. We currently have two batches, one with 225 broilers and another with 120.

5.0 THE TEACHER’S HOUSE  

The teacher’s house whose progress was at a standstill since May 2021 received a boost during the final days of December through a donation of ZWL$36000 from Sister Nyahada of Marondera towards the purchase of a 3m hinged door. Around the same time, Woodland Oaks donated towards the structure. Most of the materials including roofing tiles, window frames, river sand, pit sand and outstanding timber were bought in January but their movement to the site got delayed because of a saturated road due to incessant rains. When rains subsided,  work then started during the last week of January with carpenters working on the roof. This has since been completed. The next stage shall be plastering of the inside wall and putting of a rough floor. By the end of February, we are hoping that plastering, flooring, electrical wiring, fixing of window frames and plumping work would have been completed.

KEITH’S VISIT

Keith Kasarjian, the BVBII director of international schools, arrived in the country on the 29th and left on the 30th of January. His mission was to explore the possibility of having another BVBIZ extension in Bulawayo. He had an opportunity of preaching at the Bulawayo Central congregation where he also explained the vision to the congregation. He also brought study Bibles for students in Gweru. Great appreciation to this visit and the gifts.

BOOKS

The school received over 200 boxes of books and tracts from Mission Printing. Great appreciation to Donnie Estep for sourcing the consignment and to Sakubva Relief Organization for receiving and sorting the boxes on our behalf.  Some of the boxes are for the schools in Zambia and Malawi.  The boxes were relocated to a different place in Mutare awaiting their movement to Gweru . These will need a 2-3 tonne truck to move them to Gweru.

EVANGELISM

Students are now ready for full scale evangelism. Though evangelism was being done in a small way, beginning in February, Saturdays and Sundays shall be days for evangelism till the class graduates. Congregations that may need this partnership are encouraged to contact the school.

CONCLUSION

We thank God for what he has been able to do through BVBIZ in January. Our appreciation continues to go to our sponsors for their unwavering support and to many others for their moral and spiritual support. May God continue to bless every one of you. To God be the glory!

Training preachers in Kumasi

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE, KUMASI

REPORT FROM SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2021

INTRODUCTION

We are grateful to God Almighty for the far He has brought us almost to the end of the year. The Kumasi Campus in its extended programmes is undergoing a serious training of 10 faithful men who are able to teach others also.

ACTIVITIES

There has been an increase in our Door-to-Door gospel activities by the students. Again, one of the students (Isaac Agyen) help establish a church at Effiduase Sekyere. A recent follow-up on the members together with a one-week gospel campaign yielded extra fruit. The Lord through our message added 4 souls to the Church at Sekyere. The Courses that were taught through the period of September to December were; The Life of Christ (Matthew), Research & Writing and the Book of James.

ACHIEVEMENTS

The School has been able to engage the services of an administrator to help manage student results, draw suitable academic calendar, prepare budgets and a whole lot of stuffs. The Preacher of KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology) Campus Church has been appointed as an instructor. This will go a long way to help the Bible School admit most of the University Students who love to combine Preaching with their course of study at the University. Finally, the introduction of the Research and Writing Course has help improve the exploration skill in the Students.

PLANS FOR 2022

·     Increase the number of students by advertisement

·     Taking proper records of Student attendance

·     Proper update of Student results and transcripts

·     Having a structured menu for Students

Classes resume in Accra

ACCRA JANUARY REPORT 2022

End of January report on activities carried on.

We are grateful to the Lord for this year. We also appreciate Him for the beginning of the year 2022 and the traveling mercies during the campaign Northern Ghana.

School Resumed & Campaign

The school resumed on the 16th January 2022 and on the 17th we traveled to Tamale, Northern part of Ghana to campaign at the villages of Songon #2 and other towns. We worked 7 days and night and joyfully baptized 18 and restored four (4) persons back to Christ.

Staff Meeting

Staff attendance were six (6) and met for a discussion on the teaching structure, introduction of new courses (i.e. hymnody, Elementary Greek), preparing of additional instructors, interviewing new students, and lead orientation.

During the discourse, we decided to begin the Research and Writing as a short course to enable students to write a research paper on the subsequent courses (i.e. first course for all students).

Class Activities

All instructors have been assigned with their courses for this quarter. Classes began with the first short course on Research and Writing which is being conducted by George Osafo.

Number of Students

Currently, we have 10 students taking the Diploma course in this year 2022.

We are still awaiting two students.

Reaching northern Ghana for Christ

OPERATING REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER, 2021

The author and finisher of our faith began, and also finished well with us the month of December, 2021 successfully. Students went on holidays immediately after the campaign at Sogon Number 1. We (the staff) continued to work on relevant things administratively to keep the School and the Church in order. There were activities that also took place both within and outside the campus.

STAFF MEETING

Our periodical administrative and staff meeting came on, on the 1st of December, 2021. This was to help us review the year 2021 in general and to make amends where necessary. Indeed, we realize we have a long way to go in meeting up with our responsibilities and tasks towards the work in Northern Ghana and the school. Some have to do with our strategy for recruitment of new students, farming to support the school, especially, how to put up the gardening system for the school on the school land. We realize, putting up a garden in the North, especially on our land, will need a heart resistant vegetable as well as a proper watering system. We concluded that we all needed to double our efforts in the year 2022 to bring much productivity.

SEMINAR AND BIBLE CAMP

Bazua Seminar: Brother James B. Legend had an invitation to speak at a two days seminar at Bazua on the 3rd and the 4th of December, 2021 which he honored. The event brought together preachers and church members both males and females across the length and breadth of the Upper East and the North East Regions respectively. The Theme of the program was “The Christian Responsibility”. It was organized by the churches of Christ around the Bawku area in collaboration with the Bazua Christian Mission center. Two topics were treated under the theme. “The Christian Responsibility in the Family and in the Church” were the topics that were taught. These topics were taught by brother James B. Legend of Bear Valley Tamale. At the end of the program, one soul was baptized to the glory of God. We also took the opportunity to sell the school to the participants as well.

Northern Bible Camp: Brother Albert Tamanja Malir also in the month of December 2021 Participated in the Northern Region annual Bible camp held at Salaga-Lolotu community on the 17th of December, 2021. The Theme for the event was; "Repackaging the Church to The Current Society." Topics treated were: "Christian Influence" by Salaga preacher (Ulanja Emmanuel and his translator was Albert Malir Tamanja), "The work of the holy spirit" by Preacher Dawuni Ishmael (from Zabzugu-Mbolado and his translator was Alex Jabado) and "Christian unity" which was also taught on the second day which was on the lord's day by Preacher George Talafor and his translator Ishmael Dawuni, whiles the Lord supper was led by Albert Malir Tamanja. 

Another topic covered was "The Responsibility of The Members to The Preacher" by brother and leader from Saboba Church of Christ namely Tilako Adolf. There were questions in every lesson and seasonal preachers like Owusu, Nipak, Alex, Dasah and the like helped with the support of scriptures. This camp was the ever successful one recorded according to participants and the enthusiasm one could behold.

The school sent Brother Albert Malir Tamanja to attend purposely to use the occasion to campaign for more students, I arrived on the very 17/12/21 and was also involved in every activity that took place for three. I announced the presence of the forms, one form was taken by Preacher Nipak before I went, he already told me that he has a prospective student. More assurance was given as members gave their concerns about the inadequate number of preachers.

Preacher Owusu reminded me about the leadership training in the Salaga area, he has had four more candidates.

Attendance for the camp was 364, and the Sunday giving was 638.00

The northern region annual Bible camp for 2021 was encouraging and inspiring thus the leadership met and proposed Saboba as the next year camp venue God's willing.

There were six souls added to Loluto Church of Christ in the course of the camp.

SOUTH KPALSI CONGREGATION

The roofing work for the Kpalsi South Church of Christ chapel was completed in the month of December. Indeed, it looks beautiful and very spacious for a good foundation or starting congregation like us. All thanks to God and Brother Steven and his wife, our dear mother and all the individuals who have contributed to bring this building this far. We can’t forget Brother Kojo who Nicodemusly added his efforts to push this work forward until now. The Lord bless you all.

We are in another stage and the local Church has seen all the sacrifices being done and we are equally standing up to the task to do what we can do as the Lord shows us mercy.  The congregation out of our giving has also taken steps to get a welder to make the burglar-proofs for the windows while we look for alternative measures to get the doors fixed as well as the screeding work done for the inner floor for us to move in there and start worshiping. We believe God has been graciously good to us by bringing men and women who understand and love the work of God around us as a congregation to sacrificially support us this way. All praises to Him alone. Amen.

We are also scaling out strategies to do a strong and effective door to door evangelism consistently, taking advantage of the students on campus to send the Gospel out to all the neighborhood again. We know we have a very hard ground here, yet, our God is stronger and harder than any ground being the creator of all things.

The Lord bless us all, Amen.

Thank you,

Bear Valley Tamale

A great year in Liberia!

BEAR VALLEY BIBLE INSTITUTE- LIBERIA

GANTA , NIMBA COUNTY- LIBERIA

DECEMBER 2021 OPERATIONS REPORT

We are very grateful to God for His special grace that has brought us to another year. Let me take this time to greet you and extend happy new year to all of you as it is by God's grace that we have come thus far. The month of December started very well both in and out of the classroom. Our twenty two (22) full time students are doing very well and in high spirit as we all come to the close of the year. They all say hello. The year 2021 was a very successful considering the achievements realized by the help of God. Please Read how God bless His work through His servants in 2021.

SUMMARY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2021 WITH 22 STUDENTS, 5 FULL TIME TEACHERS AND 3 PART TIME TEACHERS

1. 16 Students Graduated with a Diploma in Biblical Students after two years of intensive studies.

2. In 2021- we had 7 successful Campaigns

3. 6 lectureships ( three men, leadership and Preachers lectureships , two women lectureships and one youth lectureship).

4. 590 Baptism Total in 2021

   a. School Campaign Team- 326 Baptism

   b. Present Students- 74 Baptism

   c. Staffs- 59 Baptism

   d. Radio Program- 67 Baptism

   e. Ganta Church Baptism- 64

5. 106 Restored

6. 6 New Congregations planted

7. 2 Congregations Restored

OPPORTUNITIES TO WORK AT OTHER CONGREGATIONS

In as much as we faithfully fulfilled Bear Valley curriculum, we also continued to help our students with first hand experiences in preaching and teaching at other congregations whiles they are still here at the school. We managed to arranged with sister congregations to accept our students to teach and preach at their congregation on Sunday and midweek services for practical future purposes and this is working very well for our students.

GOALS FOR THE UP COMING YEAR 2022

As we look up to a new year, the school has decided to set a target for the up coming year. Our operations will include all of us working together for equipping of the saints for God's service. The following are our plans for 2022:

1. Our training at Bear Valley Bible Institute- Liberia will continue through the Bear Valley rules, regulations and standard as been given to us by our Coordinator, Steven Ashcraft especially following strictly the curriculum given.

2. Secondly, we have planed to carry out 10 gospel campaigns in 2022 if we have the means to do so.

3. Our weekend evangelism and visitation program especially to local congregations outside Ganta will continue with reports from each work weekly.

4. We planed to host two (2) men seminars for all the men in the county that will bring together church leaders, preachers and other denominational preachers.

5. We have also planed to bring together all of our past students ( Graduates) to encourage and strengthen their works with some few days training.

6. The school will also be embarking on making a cassava farm to help with some food.

All these decisions or plans were reached agreed upon in a general meeting comprising of both the staffs and the student body.

USED CLOTHES DONATED TO THE STUDENTS

Two of our church sisters from the Ganta congregation bought some used cloths and donated them to the students for their Christmas gift. She said most of our students have been going to church with out good cloths on so they both noticed them and decided to surprise the future preachers with some good cloths for service purposes. Sister Evelyn Duo and Sister Sarah Garnett encouraged our students to do their best in their studies and promised them of their help if God continue to bless them. We appreciated them and pray along with them.

YEAR END VACATION

Our students left for the year end break (Vacation) on the 20th of December 2021 and are expected to return back to school on January 10th, 2022. Before the vacation, in a staff meeting, the faculty came up with a plan to keep our students busy while on the vacation. Each student is required to visit at least one congregation apart from their home congregation, work with them in either preaching or teaching and bring a comprehensive report of their work out there. Our students were also encourage to zealously work with their home congregations especially in the area of personal evangelism and house to house visitation. We are hopeful tat their work during the vacation will bring more fruits to the kingdom of God.

Conclusion:

We are doing all we can with the help and strength provided by God to save erring souls from sin and bring them to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, so to avoid the wailing and gnashing of teeth at the end of our journey. May the God of Heaven, the shepherd of our souls, bless our relationship with you and may we all grow together in the grace as we walk and work together to the glory of Him who has commission us to work. You are always in our prayers. Thank you so much for all you keep doing for the sake of Christ.

Brotherly,

Robert P. Dahn, Jr

Making progress in Malawi

Bear Valley Bible Institute

Ekwendeni – Malawi

2022 Begins with Good news!

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well, thanks! As we all are aware that the first week of February, 2022 was our time to restart our classes after a 3 month holiday, but we have extended the holiday. We will open on the 7th of March, 2022. This is because we have had no rains in Malawi until the 3rd week of January. Therefore, knowing that our daily food comes from our subsistence farming, we thought it good to give extra time for our students to plant. However, the students are able to divide their holiday time that they spare time to preaching as well.

Baptisms!
Recently our students went to a funeral ceremony of one of our brothers in Christ in Ntchisi District. After the burial, the car they were in ended up involved in an accident but we praise God they all were protected. Some of the passengers recognized the students in the car that they were the once who were preaching and singing at the funeral and they asked them to share the good news about Christ. Mateyu Ching’oma preached and ended up with a voice that made people to cry and some obeyed the Gospel the same time. His words were “We have been saved in this car accident that we should lead some of you here if not ALL to Christ” – 3 souls obeyed Christ! Praise God. This is amazing story. God truly has his ways of helping people hear the gospel, no matter they situation involved.
My Fellow teacher Brother Clergynton also went to Chankhombo church of Christ last week to worship, he meet his son in-law who was preaching to 2 ladies and after the preaching the 2 ladies obeyed the gospel!

Construction work!
The construction work for the student’s hostel is still in progress, we are now plastering, window frames and door frames have been fixed in and also tubing has been done waiting for the electric wiring soon. It is good that before the year ends we will shift to our own land. We thank Bear valley Bible institute International for making this possible with the partnership with brethren in Neosho Missouri! God bless you!
Greetings!Ephron

Pray for Ukraine

Dear brothers and sisters!  

Happy New Year! We hope to have new achievements and new plans in this new year which the Lord gives us. We resumed classes at the Bible Institute on the 10th of January. Our students had the winter break from which they returned with refreshed spirits. Currently, the students are covering the Old Testament history of Israel, the Book of Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The teacher is Sopelnik Dennis. Also, by the end of January the students would begin studies of the books of Samuel. The schedule is drawn up in such a way that in the first year the students are studying the Old Testament with all concomitant subjects. The second year is devoted mainly to the New Testament.  

This year we have also had a new female student, her name is Victoria.  She is 22 years old, and she is from the city of Kharkiv. So, now we have two students who are from the Kharkiv church of Christ. She is not married; she has a background in arts; she also loves children. Thus, we’re trying to help different congregations not only with preachers but also with potential ladies’ and children’s classes teachers. Our experience has shown how important it is to equip both men and women in the ministry of the local congregations.  

Next month we are scheduled to have two very important seminars. One is for the Western Ukrainian churches, while the other is for the Eastern Ukrainian churches. These are great opportunities for the spiritual growth of our Christians. Our Bible Institute is connected with both events, since our instructors will be teaching at those seminars. We are very grateful to our American partners who help us to conduct these seminars. I would like to repeat that because of these events the Ukrainian church is the strongest on the European continent.  

I would like to express my gratitude to all the sponsors of the Bible Institute. The inflation is rising very quickly every year, and it becomes more and more expensive to enroll new students.  However, we don’t give up and are using every opportunity to find help for equipping the future leaders of the church. The most important thing is that thanks to our mutual efforts many of the Bible Institute graduates are laboring in the vineyard of the Lord, in Ukraine.  

May the Lord keep you; thank you for your prayers.  

With Love in Christ, the director of the Bible Institute, Sopelnik Dennis

More conversions in Sierra Leone

Bear Valley Bible Institute Sierra Leone

Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver, Colorado, USA

ACTIVITY OPERATION REPORT FOR DECEMBER, 2021

Full Time Program (A two-year Diploma Program)

INTRODUCTION

Happy New Year to you all our godly supporters, partners, brethren and our ardent readers. From the regional headquarter of the eastern province, Kenema, we send you our profound greetings. We are glad and delighted again to have come your way to share with you our exciting report for the last month of 2021, December. As December marked the end of 2021, the Lord enabled us at KBVBI to carry out the following activities: establishment of a new congregation, new academic endeavor (Part time Program of the Bear Valley Bible Institute), campaign for Christ, conversion of souls and restorations, and academic activities. We are joyous as we share our report with you. Therefore, may you continue reading as we give you the report in detail. 

RESUMPTION OF ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES

In our November report, we informed you that our first quarter year one came to a close and our students went on break. To God be the glory, we resumed our second quarter academic activities on 1st December. All our twenty (20) full time students returned to campus and in good condition of health. We are grateful to God.

ESTABLISHMENT OF ANOTHER LOCAL CONGREGATION, CAMPAIGN FOR CHRIST, CONVERSION OF SOULS AND RESTORATION OF BRETHREN

Another local congregation was established by the Kenema Bear Valley Bible Institute team in December. We embarked on a one week campaign for Christ from 11th-18th December, 2021 at Potoru village. Potoru is located in Kailahun District, about 55 miles away from Kenema. The administration of KBVBI came to know about the dire need of the Gospel to be carried to Potoru community by one of the brethren, Amara Jumui who was also converted during one of our campaigns in Gondama. Interestingly, Potoru is predominantly a Muslim locality and yet the Lord opened the hearts of eighteen (18) people and were added to the Church through water baptism during our one week campaign.  Since the establishment of this congregation, some students and staff have been going there every Saturday to teach the new converts and to worship with them. We usually go there, sleep there and worship and return to Kenema every Sunday. For now, those new converts are worshipping under a thatch booth.  Additionally, our regular weekend evangelism at the Bear Valley campus has also been yielding fruit. As a result, seven (7) brethren were restored over the month of December. As we progress in this 2022, you shall be getting the update about the progressive growth of the congregation being established. Please brethren, may we continue to pray for these new converts so that the zeal which they have shown will enable them to grow more spiritually. 

PART TIME PROGRAM (Extended Program): Consistent Progress at the KBVBI

We want to begin this section again by being so grateful to God for making our dream come to reality. We have been working hand- in-hand with the local congregations in Sierra Leone and we have been encouraging so many brethren to enroll in the school to be trained to go and win more souls for Christ; build up strong local congregations; put in order a very effective biblical leadership, and to deepen their understanding of the scripture. Some brethren truly have been interested in studying in the school; and they have been saying, “Brother Peter, some of us truly desire to enroll in the KBVBI program but it is very difficult for us to go as full time students; It will be very tough for us to go and stay in the dormitory especially when we have our families to cater for. Therefore, if you would introduce a part time program for us, we will really appreciate it.” Then others have been contending, “As you already know Brother Peter, our country Sierra Leone is dominated by Muslims so this is an opportunity for us to study to be able to defend the faith. Some of us are preachers and leaders and we also want to enroll together with our wives, but a part time program will be the best.” Therefore, with the above comments and many more yearnings from the brethren, the administration decided to pray about it and to put it forward to our very committed and kind coordinator, beloved Brother Steve Ashcraft. As it is the will of God, Brother Steve approved it. And on the 11th December, 2021, we had our early entrance exam for the part time students. Twelve (12) brethren wrote the exam and were admitted in the program. Others couldn’t write the exam because they had traveled for December festival break. However, they will also write theirs when they return. We scheduled to begin classes on January 15, 2022.

STUDENT’S BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION: Justine Chokpelleh Jr.

Justine Chokpelleh Jr. is one of our committed and serious minded students. He worships with one of the local congregations in Freetown, Trade Center Church of Christ. Justine was born on the 2nd January, 1999 in Freetown. He is the last son of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. Justine Fallah Chokpelleh Sr.  Justine’s father is the preacher at Trade Center Church of Christ in Freetown. Justine Chokpelleh Jr. was added to the Lord’s Church in 2013. Since then, he has been actively involved in the activities of the Church. He has been leading in songs, teaching in teenagers’ classes, cleaning the Church auditorium and many other activities. He is a very promising preacher that will bring many lost souls to Christ. He has been making requests to the administration to embark on an evangelism campaign at his congregation in Freetown, and we will honor his request by the special grace of God. Below is a photograph of Brother Justine Chokpelleh Jr.

CONCLUSION

As the Lord enabled us to have done the little in the past month of December, we pray and hope that January 2022 will even be more fruitful. We remain appreciative to our supporters, our coordinator, our African Director, Brother Keith Kasarjian whom we have not met face-to-face, and all our brethren who continue to pray and to be involved in the work here in Kenema, Sierra Leone. Until we meet in January, remain blessed and in the hands of God.

Lagos Island hosts Seminar

LAGOS ISLAND CENTER REPORT November 2021 - January 2022.

INTRODUCTION: We give God the glory for giving us the grace to pass through the last year and enter into another promising year 2022. Last year has been a challenging year for Lagos Island Center of Bear Valley Project as our number of students keeps dwindling. It was a great year too as we hosted the Median Edition of Lagos Schools Annual Seminar. We also thank Bro Keith Kasarjian for his visit in November which was a great encouragement to our work in Nigeria. 

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES: Our classes had been very successful in the last three months as usual, with Oluwafemi Adewuyi teaching Homiletics 1, Christian Ethics, and James Luka guiding the students through the Life of Christ 1 (Book of Matthew). From this weekend, Tim Iwe started the Book of Acts with the students. This makes 29 courses taken so far in our center. We had a new student start with us in November. His name is Onyedikachi Anya. 

CAMPAIGN PROGRAM/MARKET EVANGELISM: We hosted the Median Edition of three schools in Lagos who came together to have a Seminar. The Theme was “MOVING LAGOS CHURCHES TO THE NEXT LEVEL.” We looked into the ‘Simple Aids to Bible Understanding and Application’ by Solomon Usim. Also, Bro Joshua Otola Ogbu spoke on  ‘Synergizing the work of the church among Ministers and Workers in the churches in Lagos’. The feedback from participants was encouraging. 

 WBS ONLINE STUDY HELPER: I will ever be grateful to God for the Online WBS tools for evangelism. Kris Dille in answering the question about why he believes in creation stated that “This is a hard question for me. I grew up believing in the big bang (non-Christian household), but with my belief in God and reading Genesis (too many times to count), I believe that the universe was started by God We are happy to help somebody to come to this realization and even add that the work was done by God. The work continues. 

Active Students: 138

Under Follow Up: 2

Competed Lessons: 4682

Certificates Awarded: 1170

Baptism:  1

CONCLUSION: Despite the challenges in the present time, we give thanks to God for the school's progress in these few months. Without the constant support we've received, BV Lagos Island would not have gotten this far. Please accept our heartfelt gratitude for your honest, spiritual, financial, and material assistance. We are eternally grateful to each and every one of you. The main gratitude belongs to God.

Thanks and God bless you. 

TIM IWE 

Lagos Island Center Director

Evangelism in Ikorodu, Lagos

Greetings from the staff and students of BVBI Ikorodu Lagos. Below is the report from the school:

The school here in Ikorodu is blessed with 18 students. They are all regular and punctual in the class as well as our teachers. The subjects treated so far from January to December are: World Religion, Marriage and Family Life, Preacher's Life and Works, Minor Prophets, Congregational Development, Revelation, Islam, Life of Christ- 3, John, Foundation Mission, O.T Prophets (Minor Prophets), Research Writing 1, and Life of Christ-4

Evangelism was conducted in the month of October on the first Sunday. This exercise involved the presence of staff and students and consisted of door-to-door evangelism. In the process, we discovered five lost members who have returned to the church, and three other souls were baptized into Christ

We had a one-day lecture on December 4, 2021. Theme: "Marriage without Problem". We had one hundred and eighteen (118) participants from fifteen congregations.

Conclusion

We are sincerely grateful to God and our American brethren for their support and motivation which enable us to study hard and prove ourselves as good Soldiers of Christ.

Yours in the Service

Mfon Etim Adeh

(Director Ikorodu Campus)

Uganda school continues classes

Greetings brethren.

With much joy, I take this opportunity to thank God for protection and guidance in each and everything we are doing. We thank Him most for the love and providence during this time of Corona. Our country is fully lifted from the lockdown issues.

I send you all the love and greetings from the students and teachers here at the Bear Valley school in Kampala. Special greetings from my family, especially my wife who has not been feeling well for a couple of weeks, but we have some hopes of her getting better soon.

The school was able to commence with studies on January 17. This is our fourth quarter. The students were able to come back although two of them were not able to report back. We currently have ten students and they are all doing well.

The first course taught by brother Muhyana was completed and Christopher is in for the second course unit.

Upon our arrival at school, through the evangelism our students were doing around the communities of the school, two souls were added to the church in the first week. The congregation is being established and we come to you asking for prayers that this congregation may grow.

More efforts of evangelism were being put in when our students were home during holidays. One man is calling us to go and meet him for baptism after studying with one of our students.

Another new development was that a congregation was planted and one of our students has been there working hand in hand in preaching with the preacher who they established that congregation with. This is a great achievement that the work is being done and our students are active.

May the almighty God bless you all!

Until all have heard,

Raymond

Wotutu school works to expand the kingdom

Dearest in Christ,

Greetings from this part of the world and a gracious and happy new year to you. We do hope you all made it into 2022 with sound health and a great focus to keep serving the Lord. We are doing well, and by His grace we are into the new year without many challenges.

This year is full of promise, as we see God taking us into another dimension in His work. We are ready, and we are prepared to do well in our calling in Him. We call on God for His help. 

Last year closed with our students out for mission work. My wife and I were also involved in the mission work of visiting and nurturing congregations around the Meme division in Cameroon. It was a great time for us as well.

I was privileged again to introduce the theme of the year 2022 in the Wotutu congregation. I also analyzed the theme, and we are trusting that God will bring a new resolve into the life of many who are under our voices.

The students are all back in school and two of our students, Lyambe Francis and Fon Ndinsang got married in the course of the vacation. We are set, and we are rolling in the first quarter of the second year. We have great courses to study which include, “Intertestamental History,” “The Book of Romans,” ”Minor Prophets,” ”2 Corinthians,” and “World Religions.” Keep us in your prayers as we invest our time in teaching and in transferring knowledge to the students who are very much ready to learn.

Many Brightland Christian Comprehensive College students keep coming to our students at BVBIC-Wotutu to learn more from the topics they hear in Chapel. We are blessed to have many avenues for our student preachers to grow. Speaking during chapel and speaking in the Wotutu congregation are added advantages to their learning. The Brightland schools are a fertile land for the gospel.

My wife and I were out of Wotutu for one week of mission work in the Meme division . Its aim was to visit our graduates around that area. It was great to meet them, and to see them being active in their respective congregations. To this same light, I am still planning, and eagerly hoping, to be in the country of Chad with my wife for the work we started doing there last year with brother Ititi. The country of Chad needs more motivation and encouragement. It is very barren spiritually. That is why I wish to travel there with my wife who will be very active in helping the women so that they can start helping other women and children. There is no women’s class in the entire country as well as no children’s class in any of the congregations.

Our students were busy in different communities during the last field work as they were evangelizing and nurturing congregations. Many people suspended what they were doing to listen to the word. It is good for the students to have these opportunities of preaching and teaching in different communities.

Congregations without preachers are always smiling as they welcome a preacher from our campus to their congregation. It is always good to taste how sweet the gospel is when it is presented from a sound angle. Our students do us proud with their zeal and love for the Lord who died for us on the old rugged cross.

Congregations in areas that have been highly affected by the crisis and who had closed their doors are being revived now as our students are entering there, and our God is causing great revival. Three new congregations were established in December 2021 during mission work by our students.

Even with her disability and advanced age, our dear sister will cook for our students and make sure they are safe in her village as they preach the gospel. This is some of the great faith we see daily from God’s children. Keep her and others like her in your prayers.

One of the congregations established last month meets in a new convert’s house. She offered her sitting room for the worship of God and the study of the word within the week. Our students can go there weekly to conduct worship and Bible classes. The landlord is mad at the sister for this. Things like this are some of the challenges we face as we establish new congregations in different places.

The Wotutu congregation is growing rapidly. Because of this, we have demolished the walls that set my office in the church hall apart. Now I don’t have an office in the worship hall, so all of my counseling and praying for people is done from a bench in the hall. Glory be to God for growth!

This Brightland student, Anita Welle, obeyed the gospel. She is now a part of the Wotutu congregation. Keep her in your prayers. Her grandmother is a Christian who will encourage her to grow faster.

One of our preaching students, Prinslo, went to the northwest area and preached in the community of Dunga Matung. While there, he baptized 35 souls within 3 weeks. This was a very strong indication that the field is still very ripe, even after we have graduated 5 different batches of students. Even now it is still true that the harvest is plentiful and the laborers are few. Brother Denis baptized a soul in the newly established congregation in Kotto village. There is more work going on in many different places.

Sister Senge, our nurse who had a spinal surgery, is recovering. Please keep her in your prayers.

We will continue with our weekend evangelism every week. Keep our plans in your prayers.

APPRECIATIONS

Thank you very much for all that you do for us here. We are grateful.

Elangwe and family

By His grace director BVBIC-Wotutu

Cameroon school conducts mission work in Kotto

The Lord is good all the time. 

Evangelism is our mission and our mission is evangelism.

This is a report from the mission work in Kotto Mission. We are speaking of our mission of planting new congregations in French Cameroon.

It was on the 28th of December that we carried our luggage to Kotto Mission, a village located in the outskirts of Kombe, along the road leading to the Muyuka community in the southwest, English-speaking region of Cameroon.

We arrived in Kotto Mission with a 15-man delegation made up of some graduates from the Bear Valley schools in Mbanga and Wotutu. These were some students from both schools who were already on personal holiday after their fieldwork along with some sisters from the Mbanga and Kombe congregations. It was 12:30 PM when we got to the village and at 3:00 PM we went for our first outing as we had met with the chief of the village earlier in the day. He had given us a green light for the mission work and to preach in his community. The work was carried out for 3 days of serious door-to-door evangelism.

Come let us reason together! Tracts were distributed both in English and in French and almost 700 hundred tracts of various titles were handed out and about 200 people gave us a few minutes of their time for us to share the word with them. The community enjoyed our stay, and the military officers who were on duty also appreciated the way we were doing the work. 2 souls were added to the church, and 2 internally displaced Christians were discovered during our stay in Kotto and have been restored during the first Sunday of worship.

This young church needs our full-time support until we can get a graduate there in April of next year.

A nice number of people attended a meeting that was held in which we made arrangements to worship in Mami Mary’s residence, and how we shall be sending graduates, tenured preachers, and our student preachers on weekly basis. It was quite unfortunate that our school in Mbanga doesn’t have a bilingual French-English speaking student in this batch. Because of this fact, four different preachers were programmed to be rotating every week. The last one will be there next week. 

Future plan of the congregation: 

It is quite clear that the pillar of that church is our sister Patient, the wife of Asikpo Denis, who is a student preacher in Wotutu, whose daughter has been living in my home for the past few years so that she can go to school in the French zone. They ran away from the crisis but they are sure that by the end of this year, this brother shall carry his wife to the new place where he will decide to work. 

Things will be a bit difficult as all those in the church are still babes in Christ. The mother, in whose parlor we are worshiping, is the landlady to this sister. The opportunity to worship there is only due to the good relationship that they maintain. We must be thinking of what will become of the worship place when this sister will leave by December. We must be thinking about another place of worship. 

We will need to be sending men there to preach for a while. We need a long-term support commitment to be able to correctly nurture these young congregations. Benches, a table, and other items to create a worship area are also needed in this new assembly. 

Evangelism is our mission and our mission is Evangelism. We want to thank the support team for the great mission they are doing. God bless this dream.

There is also a Macedonian cry coming from Tobouro, a border town between Cameroon and Chad. It will cost us a lot, but it is expedient for us to listen. Another call is coming from Nvog. There are many calls and many dreams that need our attention and your support. May we continue to plant and water together as God gives the increase to His glory. 

 From your humble servant,

Ititi Benedict. 

Graduates return for a Bible Seminar

Reporting Letter for the month of January-2022

Respected International Director Mr.Keith Kasarjian,  the coordinator Mr.Mark Reynolds and all the prayer partners of BVBI Extension Centre at Tirupati-India, we greet you in the matchless name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We pray that this reporting letter finds you in good health. We thank you so much for your continued prayers and encouragement for the smooth function of BVBI at Tirupati.

BVBI-Tirupati:- By the grace of God we have completed three semesters, thankful to our teachers and non-teaching staff for their hard work, and we appreciate all the students for their dedication to study well and follow the curriculum of BVBI. The students take good notes, they write daily examinations, they do memory work, and they write weekly examinations. After completing three semesters without any break we have given them a break and sent all the students for the practical work(Filed work) for the month of February. 

Our Coordinator Visit:-  We are thankful to our Coordinator for traveling to India and visiting our BVBI-extension center. He was with us from  January 9 to 13 (Saturday to Thursday). He taught prison epistles in our Bible school. All the students, teachers and guest students, and local preachers were able to attend the classes. We appreciate his wonderful teaching and encouragement. 

Benevolence:- In the month of January we have raised some funds and were able to distribute new clothes to widows and poor people in India. 

Bible Seminar:- In the month of January we conducted a Bible Seminar on January 7th and 8th. We studied the book of Acts, we invited 10 speakers to present 10 topics from the book of Acts. We are happy to report to you that our coordinator Mr.Mark Reynolds was able to present two lessons in our Christian Growth Bible Seminar.

Old batch students:- We invited all the first batch students for the Bible seminar to attend and enjoy the seminar lessons and had wonderful fellowship with one another. I invited one of the former students, Mr. Gopal Krishna to present one lecture in our Bible Seminar. He did an outstanding job.

Joint Service:-   The gospel has reached from our local church to different villages and local churches were planted. Every year in the month of January we conduct a joint service. By the grace of God, this year in the month of January 9th we conducted the joint service by inviting neighboring local churches. We are happy to share with you that Mr. Mark Reynolds was able to preach for this special service.

Home Bible studies:- We have started Home Bible studies in different families. We hope that shortly some people will be added to the body of Christ. Last Sunday 3 souls were baptized by our students , we request your prayers for their spiritual growth.

Thanking you.

Yours brother and sister in Christ.

Vijay&Swarupa, from BVBI-extension Centre-India.

Many good activities in Ibadan

Dear fellow soldiers of Christ Jesus.

Happy New Year in advanced and Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I can never forget those that have been there for us since the inception of this preachers training School in the city of Ibadan in the year 2003. Big thanks to all the American brethren who played vital roles in helping us to achieve our aim of recruiting more men into the Lord's Army. May the Lord keep on blessing all our work together in Christ Jesus, amen.

Here is the summary of our activities in the Lord for this month of December 2021.

OVERVIEW

i- BVBIN Bachelor's Degree program

ii- Weekend Evangelism

iii- Marriage ceremonies

iv- Second Semester Classes

v- Report from WBSFUW

vi- VOTI volume 111 freely distributed

BVBIN BACHELOR'S DEGREE PROGRAM:

The second batch of BVBIN Bachelor's Degree program of November 29 through December 10 was attended by eleven Students in Butubutu village, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Bro. Isaac Olaniyan taught on Research and Writing-1 from November 29 through December 3, while I , Bro. Makinde Ebens taught on Advanced Fundamental of faith-1 from December 6 through 10,2021.

Next two classes is coming up on February or March 2022 , Lord's willing with Bro. Chad Wagner teaching on Greek-1 and Bro. Isaac Olaniyan teaching on Advanced Hermeneutics-1.

WEEKEND EVANGELISM:

According to our tradition, the students and staff of BVBIN & SWSE, IBADAN continue in their weekend outreach in in six centers on December 3 through 5 and December 10 through 12. We are graced in evangelizing Butubutu Village, Jago, Badeku, Ajia, Igbooloyin-Ibadan and Asejire in Osun State. Even though there is no conversion yet, nevertheless , we have many prospects who we believe will soon embrace the truth.

MARRIAGE CEREMONIES:

The legal marriage between my daughter, Sister Toluwalope Glory Makinde and Bro. Dennis Ojenomoh was held in Ibadan North Local Government ,Agodi Gate ,Ibadan, Oyo State on December 2 while the traditional ceremony and reception was held in Orebanjo Hall, Iyana Church in Ibadan on December 4,2021.

We deeply appreciate all the brethren, friends, relatives and all the graduates of BVBIN & SWSE , The SWSE foundation members and the representative of BVBIN Schools in Lagos State ,Ondo State, Abuja and Ibadan for their present.

Also, the traditional ceremony and reception of Sister Temidayo Shotola, the second daughter of Bro.Dele Shotola, one of the WBSFUW in Oyo State came up on December 18,2021 in ECOWAS Hall, Challenge Area of Ibadan City. To God be the glory and honor for the success of this two events.

SECOND SEMESTER CLASSES:

Second Semester Classes for 2021/2022 session continue till December 17 when we embark on three weeks break to enable our students participate actively in the end of the year program across the Western States of Nigeria.

All our year-1 & 2- males Students are now working with the Lord's Church across the Western States of Nigeria while the four female Students(three in year-1 and one in year-2) returned to their home congregations .

Our instructors for this semester are: Bro. Isaac Olaniyan who is handling Life of Christ-2(Mark) ,Evangelism-2(Church Planting) and The book of Galatians. Bro. Kayode Eniafe is handling ,Evangelism-2(Church Planting ) , OTP(Major) and The book of Bro. Makinde John is handling How we got the Bible and Basic Bible Doctrine. Bro. Adeolu Andrew is handling Acts of the Apostles and Hermeneutics-1(Introduction). Bro. Oladokun Samuel is handling Christian Evidences. Bro. Emmanuel Godwin is handling World Religious. Bro. Peter Ortserga is handling Cost of Discipleship while I, Bro Makinde Ebens is handling Homiletics-1(Introduction), Hermeneutics-2(In-depth Studies) and Ministerial Counseling. Classes will continue Lord's willing on January 10,2022.

REPORT FROM WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL FOLLOW UP TEAM

i- Our new man, Bro. Benson Balogun who is also one of our year-2- Students and a gospel preacher in Asejire town, Ondo State visited seven High School and share 1,000 WBS Correspondence Courses in which 634 were now returned by the students.

ii- Bro. Enefiok Archibong of Ikot Ekpene town in Akwa-Ibom State reported that the just concluded WBS seminar in his Area was attended by representative of 33 congregations with 170 participants and with a soul converted during the seminar.

iii- Another WBSFUW in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State named Bro. M.B.Archibong reported the conversion of five souls in the just concluded WBS/ LEADERSHIP seminar in his Area in which the just printed VOTI volume 111 was distributed to the representative of churches present.

VOICE OF TRUTH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 111 FREELY DISTRIBUTED:

Five thousand seven hundred and fifty (5,750) copies of VOTI volume 111 was posted/delivered by hand to brethren and friends of the Lord's Church across the country ,Nigeria between December 5 and 17,2021. We thank the World Evangelism crews for this great gospel material. May the Lord continue to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory is our fervent prayers.

ABOUT A STUDENT:

Bro. Matthew Rowland is one of our year-2- Students. A native of Ponyan in Yagba East Local Government,Kogi State. Born in 1975 and was converted into the Lord's Church in 1998. A graduate of Nigerian Christian Institute, ministerial department, Uyo, Akwa-Ibom. His mission is to become one of the able ministers of God in Africa starting from Nigeria.

END OF THE YEAR PROGRAM:

The staff and WBSFUW in Ibadan organized end of the year program in five communities in Ibadan and Asejire-Osun State from December 23 through 26,2021. Bro. Andrew Adeolu served as the moderator while I (Bro.Makinde Ebens), Bro.Kayode Eniafe and Bro. Dele Shotola served as the speakers.

CONCLUSION:

We appreciate you all for your great support toward the growth of the Lord's Church in Africa most especially in Nigeria. May the Almighty God keep on showering His abundant blessing on all our joint effort is our fervent prayers. Amen.

I remain yours in His Grace as a servant,

Makinde Ebens The Chief Servant of BVBIN & SWSE IBADAN & WBSFUW)