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Matt 28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
NIV

John 20:10-16

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
NIV

Learn More
 

The Dawn of a Beautiful Ministry
The history of the present WEI campaign in Nigeria is an interesting & exciting story. Amazingly and by His providence, God used our new Christian school project, Rhema Academy to initiate and intensify WEI ministry & campaign in Nigeria. As this history unfolds, the Campus Church of Christ at Rhema Academy emerges as the first congregation in Nigeria to be planted directly as a result of WEI campaign.

The Search for Fishing Tool        
The vision of establishing a Christian school in our community began in 1996 when we acquired a parcel of land for the project at Uruk Otong. After classes began on a temporary facility in September 2005, we needed and prayed for good materials we could use to teach our high school students about Christ, his church and his offer of salvation.

God Answers Prayers
 A year later, God answered our prayers. The church at Chico, California responded to our request for teaching materials. Among the materials from Chico were sample copies of WEI courses from Judy Thompson. We discovered they were excellent materials we could use in our school. We began to use the sample copies to teach our students on a daily basis.

OPEN-AIR LECTURESHIP:
The theme for the lectureship was “Jesus & His Cross” with keynotes on the people, the events, and the words associated with the Cross of Jesus.

Faithful and dedicated local preachers were selected to work with me in delivering the keynotes as well as directing other activities of the night lectureship.

The night-Lectureship started at 7pm daily and lasted till 12 midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday May 1, 2, & 3 respectively.

Average attendance during the nights Lectureship was over 200 persons per night. Participants included elders, deacons, preachers, and other brethren from neighboring congregations; and the folks of Uruk Otong community.

All the visiting brethren and friends for the night lectureship spent the nights in our residence and had their dinner with us throughout the three days. Our young girls at the campus church assisted Etang in doing the cooking.

MARRIAGE & FAMILY SEMINAR:
Brother Ekong (NCBC driver) and I met Fielden & Janet Allison on Thursday April 30 at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar from where we brought them to the guest house at NCBC.

The Allisons conducted marriage seminar at NCBC on Friday & Saturday May 1-2, 2009. I was among the few persons (40-50 participants) who attended the seminar at NCBC while Etang took care of domestic affairs in preparation of our night lectureship.

Brother Ekong brought the Allisons to Uruk Otong on Sunday morning May 03, 2009 with NCBC vehicle.

The Allisons worshiped with us at Uruk Otong on May 03, 2009. Janet taught the ladies class. Fielden taught the men class and also preached the sermon while I did the translation so that our local worshipers could hear. Our church secretary, Akaninyene Ukanga interpreted for Janet.

Fielden & Janet Allison conducted the Marriage & Family Seminar at Uruk Otong between 2pm & 5pm on May 03.

A total of 520 persons attended the Marriage Seminar at Rhema Academy and received the blessings of listening to wonderful lessons from the Allisons.

Participants came from far distances such as Uyo, Abak, Ikot Ekpene, Ikot Abasi, Calabar, & Ukanafun to attend the seminar.

Uruk Otong Village Council gave us permission to conduct the Marriage Seminar and other activities of the Rhema Summit at the Village Council Auditorium.

A warm reception ceremony was held for the Allisons by Rhema Academy community following the Marriage Seminar.

The seminar was rounded up with a dinner fellowship for all persons in attendance. Our campus church ladies assisted Etang with the cooking.

Our friend Monday James helped Etang to prepare breakfast and lunch for our most cherished guests, Fielden & Janet Allison and the NCBC driver.

WEI GRADUATION SERVICE:
A total of 40 students of World English Institute who completed their studies were presented with their Diplomas during the brief WEI Graduation Service to bring the seminar to its climax.

Majority of the students who graduated came from Uyo, Ikot Abasi, Abak, and Ukanafun areas.

Etang assisted in presenting the certificates to our graduating WEI students while the Allisons and other guests watched with excitements.

Many of the WEI students who graduated last year and those who have not completed the studies also attended the seminar.

The WEI students who spoke through their representative made a humble request that they should be invited to attend all subsequent seminars especially the marriage seminar.


WEI STUDENTS BAPTIZED!
Rhema Summit 2009 was a harvest time. Four precious souls came to the knowledge of the truth, accepted Christ and were baptized into Him at different times during the Summit. Three of the four persons who got baptized are World English Institute students. The converts include Monday James Udo who is our family friend from a neighboring village called Ikot Idiaha. He is a cook. He has been helping us cook for our visiting missionaries. He enrolled in WEI last year. This helped to open away for us to discuss the Bible freely with him. We were so pleased and delighted to witness him come to Christ. Prior to his conversion, Monday James worshiped with a denominational group called Christian Holiness Church where he served the church secretary and a Sunday school teacher. The names of the other converts are Ima Linus Udondok, Godwin Thomas Umoh, and Idorenyin Sunday Akpan. Please pray for them that they grow in faith as they study God's word and worship the Lord.


AMAZING GRACE:
The Lord's hand was with us throughout the period of preparation and during the Gospel Summit. We had a heavy rainfall daily till Thursday April 30 when the rain stopped until Monday May 04. It never rained throughout the three days the Summit too took place. If it rained, it would have hindered most people from attending. It would also disrupt the whole event since the ladies did all the cooking outdoor. Another amazement was the multitude who came out to hear the gospel, and from whom four souls were won for Christ. We anticipate more baptisms in the coming weeks and months as usual. It gives us a great joy to be involved in all the effort to grow the church at Uruk Otong and other places.

We encountered series of problems ranging from lack of transportation to lack of sufficient fund to fulfill most of the significant obligations during the Summit, but by God's grace, we were able to work all of them and the Summit came out so successful. Thanks to all the brethren who prayed for us and those who assisted financially.


TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Yours & His,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

June 7, 2010

Dear Brethren,

Greetings! Welcome to this wonderful edition of our report of work. We hope you will share our excitement and joy over what the Lord has done through our ministries.

RHEMA SUMMIT 2010
1. Our annual conference at Rhema Academy has been named RHEMA SUMMIT.

2. Prospective participants include WEI students, unbelieving folks of our jungle community, and brethren of the churches of Christ.

3. The maiden edition of Rhema Summit in 2008 featured WEI Graduation Service.

4. The 2009 Rhema Summit featured Marriage & Family Seminar with Fielden & Janet Allison as guest speakers.

5. RHEMA SUMMIT 2010 on May 28-30 featured Open-air Filmstrip Lectureship.

6. Members of our campus congregation went from house to house on May 23 to invite the folks of the community to attend the summit.

7. We recorded a large crowd of attendance throughout the three nights the summit took place.

8. The folks of Uruk Otong and the surrounding villages came out in large numbers each day to hear the gospel during the summit.

9. The Filmstrip Projector donated to our mission by the Memorial Road Church of Christ helped to attract more people to the conference and also helped us to teach the multitude effectively.

10. Filmstrip lessons presented at the conference included “The Christian Age of Bible History”, “God’s Plan for Redeeming Man”, and “History of the Lord’s Church”.

11. The messages were so thrilling and exciting that all participants were kept awake till 12 midnight throughout the three days.

12. A total of 5 souls were won for Christ during the summit – 3 baptisms and 2 restorations.

13. One of the converts, Glory victor Okon is a WEI student of the Northside (Hanceville) congregation whose husband came to the Lord sometime ago.

14. The other 2 converts Etido Unyime Peter and Etim David Amos are WEI students we have taught personally for over a year now.

15. A couple Effiong & Mercy Ukpe got restored during our Morning Prayer meeting on May 31 shortly after they attended the conference.

16. The biggest problem we encountered during the conference had to do with public address (PA) system.

17. We will really appreciate it if any family, a Christian group or congregation could help us with the fund to purchase a set of good PA system for our quarterly open-air preaching ministry and in preparation for RHEMA SUMMIT 2011 in May.

DORCAS GARDEN (DG) PROJECT
With the recent donation from the Northside congregation at Hanceville, we have begun the construction of the first animal house for Dorcas Garden near Rhema Academy
.
The blocks used for the construction work were molded early this year with funds donated by the Northside congregation, Sister Eloise Spivy and the Bethlehem Ladies Class.

The farm-house project has been rounded up at lintel level. We look forward to completing the animal house and bringing in livestock for DG to start operation.
We are so excited about the opportunity to help our poor widows and their families earn their daily bread through DG.

We will appreciate anything your family or congregation could do to help us establish this farm settlement for our Christian community.

We believe that DG, if sufficiently funded will become a feeder project which will help us raise fund locally to supplement the support from our supporters.


OUR CASSAVA FARM
In order to boost our food security next year, we cultivated a small cassava farm.
We used the fund donated by Janice Kelley and her Ladies Class at Northside (Tennessee ) congregation early this year to work the land; purchase the cassava stems and cultivated the land.

The recent donation from the Kelleys and the Northside Ladies Class (TN) has been used exclusively to hire women workers to do weeding in the farm. Unfortunately, we do not have the fund to buy fertilizer and apply on the farm which is quite needful, but we still have the opportunity to do that between now and July. We thank God for the grace to open the cassava farm and pray for good harvest.


WEI MINISTRY IN NIGERIA
WEI Ministry has come to stay as a significant aspect of our outreach ministry.
With the help of American WEI postal teachers, we have succeeded in introducing WEI in different regions of Nigeria in fulfillment of our WEI Nation-wide campaign.
Our WEI Teaching Center at Abak which is located at a cross-road is the most important asset of our WEI Ministry in Nigeria.

The city office has helped us to co-ordinate the activities of WEI Ministry effectively rather than operating from our mission base in the jungle.

The Gladstone congregation had to stop their $200 monthly support for the operation of the WEI Center in July last year to enable them raise a three-year rent for a new WEI Center following the demolition of the previous center.

Since then we are not able to secure any form of support to help with the operation of our WEI center.

Etang and I have exhausted our personal funds in running the center during the past one year.

As it is now, we may have to close the center if at the end of this month no support is secured (this will be so devastating to our ministry and frustrating to our students).
If your family or congregation could help, please contact Brother Richard Ady, WEI President (weiAdy@aol.com) for details.

All of our mission effort efforts ( Rhema Academy , Dorcas Garden , and WEI Ministry) are directed towards winning souls for Christ. Thank you for your contributions to the success of our ministry and the rapid growth of the campus congregation at Uruk Otong. We appreciate your partnership and fellowship in the gospel. Thanks for your prayers.

In Christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
 

Dear Brethren,

Welcome to our recent news report tagged 'RHEMA NEWS'. It covers our new Campus Church of Christ at Rhema Academy and our three special ministies: World English Institute (WEI), Dorcas Garden (DG), and Rhema Academy (RA).

Campus Church of Christ - RA
Nse Aniedi Sunday attended worship for the first time last two Sundays. She is the wife of our recent WEI convert, Aniedi Sunday John. She was bitterly against her husband's decision to be baptized. Now she finds the gospel so interesting. We pray that she will come again this Sunday to attend our Indoor Bible Lectureship.

World English Institute
One of our WEI students in Nigeria, Etiene Aniefiok Okon took TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examinations on October 16, 2010. We spent extra hours to help her prepare for the exams. She has applied for admission in one of the universities in the US state of Alabama. She is one of the several hundreds of students we are teaching in the city office using WEI resources

Dorcas Garden
With the sacrificial gifts and support of the Northside (Hanceville) church, we have erected and completed a farmhouse at DG which will accommodate swines and fishes. We have also acquired a 5000 litre water tank for the farm settlement. Rainfall has ceased and dry season has set in. Thus, the garden can not begin operation until after a bore-hole has been drilled. We have over 300 plantains which require water supply too.

Rhema Academy
We are making a lot of progress in our academic work at Rhema Academy. The tables and writing desks we have acquired recently have been a great booster. Nancy is doing well in her nursey two class. Other pupils are also excited with their studies at the kindergarten. We look forward to a time in the near future when we will be able to complete our high school building so that we can teach the young people again for more harvest of souls.

Tragedy and Losses
I met Imo Michael Etokobot at Obong Christian High School. He was my classmate and friend. He became a member of the Garage Church of Christ where I served as preacher for over 5 years. Imo and his bride wedded at the Garage congregation on Sunday October 17, 2010. Just a week into their honeymoon, Imo and his wife died in a ghastly motor accident on Sunday October 24, 2010. They rode on their motorcycle and were knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. As we mourn the tragic death of these friends, we are reminded of God's grace in sparing the lives of my wife and daughter when they had a motorcycle accident sometime ago. Motorcycle accidents seem to have taken more lives at the present time than other agents of death.

Thanks for your prayers and continued support.

In Christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan


 

Dear Brethren,

Greetings! It pleases us in the Lord to write to you this afternoon after an exciting and inspiring morning worship service at our campus congregation here at Rhema Academy. We had a great indoor Bible lectureship this morning. Yesterday, Etang and I had a great time with the Christian youths in Uyo area who gathered at the meeting hall of Obio Offot church of Christ for a one day youth forum. I was the sole keynote speaker at the forum with the theme 'Spirituality & Sensuality'.

Here at home, drilling of borehole- and other phases of projects are going on at Dorcas Garden. The Garden has since commenced operation.

At Rhema Academy, we are making preparation for our upcoming end of year get-together and children rally called RHEMA CANNIVAL. In addition to other activities, we will use the occasion to introduce WEI to more young people of our community.

At our campus church, we are preparing for our Thanksgiving 2011 on January 02, 2011: Through the auspices of Dorcas Garden, we are planning to present food/relief materials to the widows of our community to commemorate that event. It will cost us about $25/widow to fulfil this ministry. Please send your donation through the Bethlehem Church of Christ if you are interested in helping with this benevolence ministry to the widows.

At the WEI Office, the distribution of WEI lessons from the Northside church and brother Ady is in progress. We are still awaiting the arrival of lessons from the Peninsula church.

Details of the ongoing and upcoming events will be published later.

Meanwhile, we are so excited to share with you our joy and excitement t as regards the recent development in our WEI ministry in Nigeria. We have been given a beautiful webpage at the WEI Website. We are grateful to our beloved WEI President for this kind consideration; and we appreciate brother Bob Patterson, the webmaster so much for his skillful design of the WEI Website.

Please click on the link below for our recent update and the background history of our ministry.

http://weiady.org/mission_reports/nigeria.htm

In christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

Concerts Presentations: Our pupils presented a total of 42 different concerts and plays at the carnival, in addition to the welcome songs and cultural dances. The concerts presentations were rounded up with a Drama by the pupils to demonstrate the devastating effect of alcohol among the alcoholics.

Presentation of Souvenirs: We recognized and honored babies born within the year 2010 whose brothers and sisters are pupils at Rhema Academy . Gifts were presented to a total of seven children. The twins, Goodluck & Victory emerged as the “Rhema Babies of the Year 2010” and received the grand prize.

Dinner & Gifts to the Pupils: The pupils and their parents were treated to a special dinner. The ladies of our campus congregation worked with Etang to prepare a delicious meal for all the participants. The pupils were also presented with chocolate and other special gifts.

Issuance of Examination Results: The carnival was rounded up with the issuance of examination results to our pupils. All the pupils who took first to third positions in the examinations were honored. Our daughter Nancy was among the pupils who were honored as she came out second in her class.

ANNIVERSARY THANKSGIVING
The Anniversary Thanksgiving in commemoration of the birth of our campus congregation will hold on January 02, 2011. Our campus church was planted on the first Sunday of January 2008. Every first Sunday of the year has been earmarked as Thanksgiving Day in memory of the birth of this wonderful God’s family. The third anniversary thanksgiving will feature some special activities like the dedication of Dorcas Garden and the commissioning of our water projects sponsored by the Northside congregation. Another special feature during the thanksgiving will be the presentation of special packages to our Christian widows called “Widows Baskets.” A special donation of $200 from Sister Patty Moon of Bellevue Church of Christ has well equipped us for this special ministry to the widows.

MISSION PROJECTS 2011
The thanksgiving on January 02, 2011 will give us a good opportunity to count our blessings, especially those which manifested during the year 2010. We have many things to thank God for: Rhema Academy , our campus church, the WEI ministry, the farmhouse & water projects at Dorcas Garden , our family, our sponsors and supporters. The thanksgiving will also help us to pray for our mission work and ministry in the year 2011. This will include our mission trip to Sierra Leone . As we approach the year 2011, the most pressing of our priority needs remain transportation and the school building at Rhema Academy . We pray that God will raise up sponsors for us who will help us secure a vehicle (a truck or evangelism bus) for our work, and sponsors who will help us complete the school building at Rhema Academy .

APPRECIATION
We are indebted by way of thanks to our sponsors and supporters who stood by us to make the year 2010 a successful and fruitful one despite the fierce persecutions and trials brought by the devil. We thank God that we survived the insecurity when we had to sleep in the bush with our little children at nights. We are presently enjoying a relative peace and security, but we need more prayers for absolute tranquility. Thank you for your prayers, material and financial support. Thanks for words of encouragement to those of you who had the time to write. We wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year 2011.

In Christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

PICTURES FOR FEBRUARY (click)

BAPTISMS
Eno Friday Thompson and Unwana Idorenyin Okon accepted Christ and were baptized on January 16. Eno is a widow from Uruk Otong. Unwana is a married woman from Ikot Ubo. Both women have been brought to Christ through the ministry of Dorcas Garden.

WEI in Sierra Leone
Our preacher friend, Editi Jeremiah Obot will be leaving for Sierra Leone soon. While in Sierra Leone, he will help to distribute the WEI lessons from the Northside church to the students there. He will also help to register new WEI students in Sierra Leone.

Editi was in Sierra Leone for the first time between August and November 2010. He planted a new congregation, Murray Town Church of Christ before he returned to Nigeria. He has decided to use WEI as evangelistic tool to grow the new congregation.

Editi worshiped with us and served as guest speaker at our campus church last Sunday, February 6. The church prayed for him and we gave him WEI materials for his work in Sierra Leone.

Editi had been a teacher at Rhema Academy and a member of our WEI campaign team in Nigeria prior to his call to serve in Sierra Leone. He will be sending the reports of his work in Sierra Leone through us.

WEI CITY OFFICE & RA
We have set up classes at Rhema Academy for our WEI students. The classes are held at 4pm-6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Our WEI City Office at Abak is opened 6 hours daily (between 9am and 3pm). With the help of the city office as a liaison center, we are able to extend our WEI campaign to other cities of Nigeria like Calabar, Odukpani, Uyo, Ikot Abasi, Ukanafun, Ekparakwa, Owerri, Ibadan, Abuja, Lagos etc. We have also introduced WEI in Cameroun and Sierra Leone. Before the end of this year, we hope to take the gospel to South Africa, Gambia and Liberia using WEI. We are so excited about the opportunity to make disciples for Christ of all nations using WEI.

MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES
Brethren in our neighbourhood have appointed me to be the Chairman of the Preachers' & Leaders' Forum of the churches of Christ in our area. The appointment was confirmed during the Leaders' Conference at Abat Obong Church of Christ last December. The churches of Christ in our area have been confident of my leadership during the past one decade, when I was actively involved in conducting gospel meetings, seminars, workshops, Lectureships, conferences, weddings, funerals etc.

Unfortunately, I am not able to continue most of these good works presently due to the problems we are having with transportation. James & Janice Kelley had helped twice with this problem in the past. Now, no one is able to help. I can vividly recall how effective I was in serving the Lord when I had a means of transportation. We have lost most of our WEI students because of lack of transportation to reach them in the jungles where they reside. The best help a congregation, a family, or an individual could render to our family, WEI, Rhema Academy, Dorcas Garden and our campus church at this moment is to donate a vehicle for our work. Please contact the Bethlehem Church of Christ if your family or congregation could help with this need. Our contact at Bethlehem includes Philip Poston (cposton@genesco.com).

BURYING OUR DEAD
The remains of my late uncle, Samuel Akananwan and my late father-in-law (Etang's father) who died last year will be laid to rest on February 26 and March 26 respectively. The date for the funeral and burial of brother Monday James Udo of our campus church has not yet been fixed. The financial implications of these funerals and burials are of great concern to us. We need your prayers.

OUR KINDERGARTEN
Classes resumed at Rhema Academy on January 31 following the Christmas holidays. Schools were originally scheduled to re-open on January 10, but were postponed due to the voters registration exercise in preparation for the general elections in April this year. Our son, Sediongde has started his pre-nursery studies at Rhema Academy. Nancy is doing well in her nursery two classes. She came second in the exams last term. We are determined to build this Christian kindergarten for our kids, but we are yet unable to complete the classroom-building at the permanent campus of the school due to lack of funding. We have only four rooms for classes in our residency, but presently, we have seven classes to accommodate. Our primary three pupils are forced to study under the sun. The number of classes will increase to eight by September this year.

PERSECUTIONS
Another wave of persecutions against our work has arisen in recent time. Satan is at work again using his agents - the enemies of the cross of Christ. This time around, someone has stolen our identity and has opened a misleading email and facebook page in the name of Aniefiok Akpan as a set-up to destroy our integrity and our work. The false facebook website has been used to send fraudulent letters to Joyce Anderson, Scott King, Richard Ady and perhaps others we are not yet aware of.

Please, we want brethren to know, as a matter of fact, that the fraudulent email messages were sent by someone unknown to us using an email and facebook page that is similar to ours, but evidently not ours. Our email is weinigeria@yahoo.com, whereas the fraudulent email used is weiinigeria@yahoo.com (please compare the spellings).

It is true that Etang was sick sometime ago and was treated in the hospital as we published in our previous report. We settled the hospital & medical bills after the Bethlehem church sent our January support fund, and we never sent any financial request to anybody to that effect.

We are writing this section of our report with our eyes wet with tears. The first notification about this fraudulent act came to us on Sunday night from Sister Joyce Anderson and we had a sleepless night crying and praying to God about this unfortunate situation. Yesterday, we informed the brethren about it during our devotion/prayer meeting. Our campus church brethren cried fervently to God about it and called for a fasting/prayer meeting to be held on Friday this week in order to pray about this in a more complete manner. The brethren are so concerned about the safety of our family fearing that whoever has perpetrated this evil scheme could be dangerous and destructive.

We have suffered so many persecutions in the Lord's work, but our campus church continues to witness a rapid growth by God's grace and power. Four baptisms within the first two weeks of the New Year is something the devil would not be happy about. Satan may fight against the progress of our work like restricting us from acquiring a vehicle for our work and trying to blackmail us before our sponsors and supporters, but he remains a liar. The victory is ours in Christ.

Finally, please pray for us that Satan may not succeed in using blackmail, deceit, falsehood or any other means to destroy our integrity and our work.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan.
Campus Church of Christ
Rhema Academy, Uruk Otong
Box 973, Abak
Akwa Ibom State
Nigeria, West Africa.
 

(b) Missionary to Sierra Leone
Our friend, Editi Obot finally left for Sierra Leone on Tuesday March 01. We held a send-forth ceremony for him at Rhema Academy on February 28. Editi served as a teacher at Rhema Academy prior to his call to serve in Sierra Leone. During his first trip to Sierra Leone last year, Editi helped to plant a new congregation in Sierra Leone, the Murray Town Church of Christ. We at Rhema Academy are proud of his achievements and the success of his work in Sierra Leone.

2) World English Institute
(a) WEI in Sierra Leone
Editi has called from Sierra Leone to inform us that the WEI materials from Cathy Gusek/Northside (Hanceville) church for our students there had arrived. He is going to follow up on the students and to help us register more students in Sierra Leone. We anticipate a great harvest as Editi uses WEI to grow the Murray Town church in Sierra Leone.

(b) WEI for Gambia, Liberia & SA
We have almost completed our plans to introduce WEI in Gambia, Liberia and South Africa. We will first of all send WEI materials to our prospects in these countries and then travel there to reap the harvests whenever God has opened the door for us.

(c) WEI Conference 2011?
Our annual WEI Nationwide conference in Nigeria scheduled for May may not hold for obvious reasons. Uruk Otong Council of Chiefs has turned down our request to use the Village Hall for the conference. The reason they have denied us access to the hall, according to them, is because the programme is considered to be disturbing to the denominational church (Qua Iboe Church) located opposite the Village Hall. We do not blame them because most of the chiefs are members of Qua Iboe. The only alternative is to hire a tent for the conference, but we can not afford the rent to hire a tent. Hence, we may not have any other option than to suspend the conference until our campus church worship auditorium is constructed.

(3) CAMPUS CHURCH OF CHRIST
(a) Brethren Call for Worship Auditorium
The brethren of our campus church have called for the construction of a worship Auditorium for the congregation. This decision was taken after we were denied access to the village hall for our WEI conference in May this year. If Rhema Academy had a permanent building with a hall, we would have had no need of a church building now. Presently, our campus Church has outgrown the temporary facility we are using, and we need a church building. After we complete the remaining phases of work at Dorcas Garden, we will initiate the auditorium project for our campus church and WEI conferences.

(b) Saturday Amos Preaches at the Campus Church
Saturday Amos & his family traveled all the way from Uyo on Sunday February 27 to worship with us at the Campus church and to assess the progress of work in our mission. Saturday is the Vice President of Friends of Rhema Academy in Nigeria. In 2009, Saturday gave us an interest-free loan of $5000 for the brick work of the school building at Rhema Academy. He loves us and our work so much.
 

(4) DORCAS GARDEN
(a) Livestocks Give Birth
Our goat at Dorcas Garden has given birth. We rejoice greatly and look forward to our first swine giving birth before the month of May this year. Sisters Dorathy Japhet and Love Udom are doing a great work at the farm.

(b) Harvest from the Vegetable Farm
We have made our first harvest from our little vegetable farm. The harvests include fruited pumpkin & waterleaf. These vegetables are used for soup-making and other food needs. Our ladies really enjoyed the vegetables. Our cucumber crops are doing fine too. They are expected to start bearing fruit by next month.

(c) Vaccine for Birds
Our Veterinary Doctor and Consultant to Dorcas Garden was in the farm on March 04 to administer vaccine to our birds. He also helped to de-worm our swine.

(5) FAMILY AFFAIRS
(a) Mummy Survives Snake-bite
Several diagnoses were carried out on my mother in the hospital. These include blood tests and x-ray. It was finally discovered that my mother was suffering from a snake-bite as well. A few months ago, my mother came out of the farm with a fresh little wound on her ankle. We did not know that she was bitten by a dangerous and poisonous snake. She also suffers from hypertension, ulcer and cardiovascular pains. She has been discharged from the hospital to continue taking her drugs at home. Although her blood pressure is still high, she has made tremendous progress towards recovery. Thank you for your fervent prayers. Thank you for approaching the throne of grace on our behalf to pray for the most wonderful person in my life. I was made to mistakenly believe that I was two weeks old when my father died. My mother told me while on her sick bed that my father died about two weeks after she conceived me. She bore the burden of raising me alone.

(b) Deaths & Burials
The remains of my late uncle Chief Samuel Akananwan Akpan were buried on Saturday February 26. The remains of my father-in-law, Etang's father, Chief Abraham Akpaneyen will be laid to rest on March 26. The funeral will be conducted by the churches of Christ in our neighbourhood. We have a crucial role to play at the funeral that requires a substantial amount of fund. We will appreciate your prayers and financial support.

(c) Reasons for Persecutions
We may not understand all the reasons why we are being persecuted, but some reasons are obvious. Firstly, leaders of the denominational groups in our area are afraid that all their children could be converted to the Lord's church through Rhema Academy. Secondly, the denominational groups are afraid of loosing their members to our fast-growing campus church. Thirdly, some people are jealous of the progress we have made in our WEI ministry. Furthermore, some people are very uncomfortable with my strong teachings and sermons against divorce and marital unfaithfulness. The reason is that many of our leaders including preachers have divorced their wives amidst controversies and have married a wife or third wife expecting the church to endorse such marriages. I will continue to preach against it because it weakens the Lord's church and deprive her of men who should serve as elders and deacons. Another reason why we face persecutions is because there are some wicked and crafty people who are looking for relationships to destroy. We feel that we are connected to the network of Christ, and that God has blessed us with wonderful families and congregations to encourage us in our work. TO HIM BE THE GLORY!

(d) Transportation
Lack of transportation has remained the most pressing of our priority needs. Each of the areas of our work demands a means of transportation. We are in dying need of a reliable vehicle to assist us in meeting the transportation obligations of our work. If your family or congregation can assist, please the Bethlehem Church of Christ in Lebanon, Tennessee. Our contacts at Bethlehem include brother Philip Poston (email: cposton@genesco.com).

Thank you once again for your prayers and continued support especially in this time of economic recession.

Yours & His,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

Chief Abraham Akpaneyen

God in His providence graciously provided all that was needed for the success of the funeral. We needed just a vehicle for the funeral, but God gave us two.
 

Sometime ago, we helped a young girl named Etiene (our WEI student) to prepare for TOEFL. She did very well in the exams and has gained admission to a university in Alabama, USA. Her mother Suzana so much appreciates our little contribution to her daughter's success in passing the TOEFL and gaining admission.

She donated her car and her driver for our use throughout the period of the funeral. Please keep it in your prayers that our relationship will help to bring Etiene and her mother to Christ someday.

Road Crossing

Our friend, Saturday Amos also offered his car and himself as driver as well. Both friends helped us to save a lot of funds we would have spent on transport. Saturday once helped with an interest-free loan for our school building construction yet to be completed..

The churches of Christ in our neighbourhood, our friends and relatives donated a large quantity of assorted food items to assist us with refreshment & dinner during the funeral. The ladies of our campus church assisted Etang with the cooking.

The churches did this in appreciation of our mutual fellowship. I am presently the Chairman of the PREACHERS & CHURCH LEADERS FORUM in our area.

WEI Fund-Raising Dinner in Nigeria
We have concluded plans to organise our first WEI Fund-Raising Dinner in Nigeria on Saturday December 10, 2011. The fund raised through the Dinner will be used to initiate our multi-purpose auditorium project at Rhema Academy. This plan has been made following the decision of Uruk Otong Village Council denying us access to the village hall for our WEI Conference in May this year.

The conference will now hold in December and will be rounded up with the fund-raising dinner. The auditorium when completed will harbour our campus church meetings, our school daily chapel services, our WEI study center and conferences etc. Please remember the Lord's house project in your prayers.

Mission Work Bears Fruit in Sierra Leone
Editi Jeremiah Obot, a missionary and our WEI contact in Sierra Leone, in a text message on March 29 wrote:

"Dear Minister Akpan,

"The trip to Makeni within Sierra Leone last week was quite successful. A denomination, " House of life ministry Int'l", formerly owned by a Nigerian has been converted to Church of Christ. Picture & details shall be sent to U by e-mail. A banner has been provided to replace the old name. A communion set has also been provided . We need more fund to help us care for the young church. Thanks for your efforts in supporting the mission work in Sierra Leone. The WEI lessons are very useful in reaching out to souls here.

Yours in His Service,
Editi Jeremiah Obot
(Sierra Leone)"

Harvests & Blessings from Dorcas Garden
God is already using Dorcas Garden to bless us and His people around us. Our Christian community now enjoys constant and reliable water supply from the bore-hole project. This often reminds us of the song "Open now the crystal fountain. Let the healing water flow."

We are also reaping more harvests from our vegetable farm. Our ladies now enjoy fresh waterleaf and fruited pumpkin used for soup making and other delicacies. click to see produce

Other crops bearing fruit presently include maize (corn), cucumber, watermelon and pepper. We used poultry drops to fertilize the vegetable crops and they are doing very well.

Mission Training School
(MTS) Programme
Classes for the mission training school programme of our campus church were suspended last week end because of the funeral activities. Studies will begin this weekend. Over twenty young people of our campus church have registered for the training. We will admit people from other congregations to the training school only after we have graduated the pioneers. The primary aim of MTS is to train our youths as potential vanguards in soul winning.

Teachers

Appreciation
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Thank you for your words of comfort and encouragement.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

BAPTISMS
A young girl, Idorenyin Friday Benjamin accepted Christ and was baptized at the eve of our recently concluded christian conference at Uruk Otong. She was led to Christ through WEI. Five students of Obong Christian High School accepted Christ and were baptized during my recent visit and ministry at the campus church there. Another group of five persons were baptized recently at Ikot Imo following the gospel campaign we conducted there.

Idorenyin Friday Benjamin

RESTORATIONS
An aged widow named Lucy Sandy Isuaiko was restored on Sunday November 6 prior to our christian conference that day. She was baptized about five decades ago when the Lord's church was planted at Nkek Abak. She left the faith about two decades later when her husband died and she returned to her father's house at Ikot Ekaide near Uruk Otong. She is bereaved of all her children and has no one to take care of her presently. Lucy was brought back to Christ by the benevolence & influence of Dorcas Garden through another christian widow, Cecilia who had been restored previously.

ANNUAL CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE
The christian conference at Uruk Otong on November 6 was very unique. It began at 12pm and ended at 6pm. It recorded a total attendance of 372 participants, most of whom were WEI students. It featured video Bible lectures by Chris Siedman & Rick Atchley. I presented the leading keynote "Making Disciples of all Nations." Emmanuel Essien of CAO Essien Memorial Bible College, Ikot Usen directed the chapel session. Dorcas Garden provided the "five loaves & two fishes" we used for refreshment and the multitudes were fed.

AUDITORIUM
The most significant assistance any individual, a family or a congregation could render to us presently will be to fund or help us raise funds for the construction of a befitting auditorium for our worship services and gospel events at Uruk Otong. We really need this help please.

DORCAS GARDEN
We have begun the construct of a poultry house at DG. This marks the beginning of the second phase of the DG project. The third and final phase of the project will be the construction of a permanent fishery. Our birds & fish are presently harbored within the piggery. We sold out our big pigs and used the money to initiate the poultry project. The piglets will be nurtured to replace the pigs.

TERRORISM
Recently, a three-week old baby was amputated at Uruk Otong by a young man who is mentally derailed. The right arm of the infant was completely chopped off. The baby is still receiving treatment at the teaching hospital in Uyo. The news of the sad incidence has been published by broadcasting media across the country including Global Concord newspaper from where I snapped the picture that is attached to this report. Unfortunately, the baby happens to be the last child of my close relative.

ARMED ROBBERY VICTIMS
A young police officer, Akaninyene Aniefiok Okon whose parents are our family friends was shot dead alongside other police officers and some staff of Equatorial Trust Bank in Uyo recently. They were intercepted by dare-devil armed robbers who killed all persons onboard their vehicle and made away with the sum of twenty million naira. His remains have since been laid to rest. His parents allow us to use their vehicle each time we are greatly in need of a car for special services like during our marriage ceremonies & the funeral of Etang's father. Please pray for this family.

OBONG UNIVERSITY CALLING
I have been selected by the Board & Management of Obong University to serve as a visiting campus minister of the university. The inaugural worship service of the university campus church with me as preacher will begin this Sunday November 13. I will be going there on Sundays (except the last Sunday of the month) and on Wednesdays for midweek studies. Consequently, the church at Uruk Otong, with their full consent has appointed two young people to serve as my assistant preachers of the congregation. The two young men are products of our mission training school at Rhema Academy. They will be teaching & preaching on the days I go to Obong Ntak. I will be serving at Uruk Otong on the last Sunday of the month when we have Indoor Bible Lecture in the morning and Video Bible Seminar (VBS) in the afternoon. I am going to use WEI resources as tool for evangelism within and outside the university community. Obong University is the first christian university associated with the churches of Christ in Africa.

MISSION TRIP
My mission trip to some of the countries of West Africa originally scheduled for this November has been postponed till early in the year 2012 when we hope we will be able to raise enough funds for the mission trip. Materials have been sent to Gambia, Senegal & Sierra Leone in preparation for our gospel campaigns in those countries.

SCREEN FOR VBS
We have acquired a 42inches screen for our monthly Video Bible Seminars at Rhema Academy. It is one of the most effective methods of teaching the young people nowadays since the youths are fun of patronizing cinema and viewing centres. We will appreciate sound teachings on video CDs for the seminars. Please see our postal address below for mailing information, in case you have materials to donate.

In christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
 

Anwana        and              Ima

LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION
What gives me the greatest joy is that I have succeeded in training others who could lead the church even in my absence. John Maxwell defines success as "the progressive realization of a predetermined goal," but he maintains that "success without a successor is failure." If it is true that the highest calling of leadership is people's development, then we have succeeded in our mission effort at Uruk Otong.

Aniefiok
 

"MACEDONIAN CALL"
I preached at a funeral in Utu Etim Ekpo on December 3. After the sermon, a man who identified himself as Elder Paul of a Pentecostal church invited me for a Bible study in his house. Yesterday, I spent two hours reasoning with him from the scripture. He confessed to me that he was touched by my sermon at the funeral and that he would love to be a member of the church of Christ, but his great concern is his wife who has been appointed to serve as an evangelist in the Pentecostal church. His second concern is that there is no church of Christ in his village, Utu Ikot Nkor and the entire area where he lives. He has eight grown up children. He has registered to study with us using WEI English & Bible lessons. I am planning to meet him again when his wife is at home for another session of Bible studies. We believe this to be another "Macedonian call."

SUMMARY OF MY MAJOR TEACHING APPOINTMENTS DURING THE 4TH QUARTER OF 2011

(1) Oct 8 WBS Seminar
Host - Church of Christ, Ukanafun Edem Inyang
Lecture - The Need for Salvation

(2) Oct 28
Annual Lectureship
Host - Church of Christ, Abat Obong
Lecture - Our Faith in these Terrible Times of Economic Depression, Kidnapping & Terrorism

(3) Date - Nov 6
WEI Annual Conference
Host - Campus Church of Christ, Rhema Academy, Uruk Otong
Lecture - Making Disciples of all Nations

(4) Nov 25
Annual Lectureship
Host - Church of Christ, Ikot Ubo
Lecture - The Values & Benefits of Love

(5) Nov 26
Annual Gospel Meeting
Host - Church of Christ, Utu Abak
Lecture - Evidences of Church Spirituality

(6) Dec 3
Funeral Service
Host - Township Church of Christ, Utu Etim Ekpo
Sermon title - We Ought to Live for Christ

(7) Dec 10
Founders Day Ceremony
Host - CAO Essien Bible College, Ikot Usen
Anniversary lecture - Supporting Ikot Usen as God's Chosen Center of Christian Influence

(8) Dec 11.
Church Leaders Conference
Host - Church of Christ, Abat Obong
Lecture: Servanthood Leadership

(9) Dec 14.
Annual Lectureship
Host - Church of Christ, Ette, Ikot Abasi
Lecture - Training Preachers for Effective Ministry

(10) Dec 15
Annual Lectureship
Host - Campus Church of Christ, Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo
Lecture: Contending for the faith
*I missed the opportunity to present this lecture because I arrived late due to transportation difficulties.

OUR DAILY/WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF WORK
(1) I conduct morning devotional service for the brethren of Uruk Otong church of Christ at 5am on Monday, Wednesdays & Fridays.

(2) I go to Obong University (over 30miles away) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays (except first & last Sundays) to discharge my duties as the university chaplain and campus minister.

(3) My wife attend to students and others at our WEI city office on the days I go to Obong University while I take my turn on Tuesdays & Fridays.

(4) On Wednesdays, I teach the midweek Bible class at the university at 5pm and return home to join the midweek service at Uruk Otong.

(5) On Saturdays, we serve at the mission training program for the youths of Uruk Otong congregation.

(7) Visiting and interacting with our WEI students in different places is almost a daily routine.

(8) At home, Etang and I work hard to grade WEI lessons for our students.

(9) With the help of other christian workers, we are running a christian nursery & primary school at Rhema Academy.

(10) We are also involved in running a christian farm settlement to assist the poor widows of our congregation at Uruk Otong.

With the help and co-operation of others, we enjoy doing the work without fainting. We pray that God may bless us with a good means of transportation in the year 2012..

THE YEAR 2012. IN VIEW
Our priority and focus in the year 2012 will be to develop our WEI ministry and strengthen our gospel campaigns throughout West Africa. Our present connection with Obong University, the first christian university associated with the churches of Christ in the whole of Africa is a great booster to our outreach ministry. We know that it would take the university campus church several years to develop to the status of supporting a full time preacher. Hence, we count on the continued support of our US sponsors as we serve the campus churches at Obong University and Rhema Academy.

We bring you greetings from our children - Nancy, Sedi & Ric.

In christian love,
Aniefiok Akpan

Dear Brethren,

Happy New Year!

Welcome to our first report of work in the year 2012. We hope you will find the report interesting and inspiring.

Thanksgiving 2012
We began the year with a Thanksgiving Sunday on January 1. It was time to reflect on the year 2011 and to thank God for His blessings. With proceeds from Dorcas Garden, gifts & relief items were presented to widows & orphans to commemorate the event. There was also a Thanksgiving Dinner for all members of our campus church at Rhema Academy.

WEI Campus Ministry
Five students of Obong University have registered to study English and the Bible using WEI lessons. We expect more students to register in subsequent weeks & months. Some of the students have said they prefer taking their studies online if they had access to a computer with internet connection. We are making plans to reach out to high school students in various public schools along Obong Ntak axis.

University Matriculation
The 5th batch of Obong University students were matriculated on Friday January 27 in a colourful ceremony. Four of the fresher students are members of the church of Christ. They will worship and serve the Lord with us at the university campus church. I am teaching the university students the Bible personally during chapel and privately on a daily basis.

Reception for Freshers
We had a reception ceremony and special dinner in honour of our four sisters among the fresher students at the university campus church on January 29. It was time to introduce them to the programmes, activities & services of our campus church.

Ebom Avenue Seminar
The Township Church of Christ which meet at #18 Ebom Avenue, Abak organized a seminar on the Christian Home on Saturday January 28. I and Ikobong Akpan were invited as guest speakers. I delivered a Bible lecture on "When Couples Disagree." It was indeed a great lesson. Ikobong is a faithful and an experienced gospel preacher and Bible teacher. He taught me the Bible in the high school 26 years ago.

WBSFU Workshop
This year's WBSFU Workers Workshop in Nigeria is held at the Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo. It began on January 28 and will be rounded up today February 3. Etang & I attended the workshop yesterday, eventhough I was not invited. It was great to see the WBS missionaries from the US - Doug Wheeler, Ron Pottberg & Ruth Orr along with other Nigerian preachers we had not seen for a long time like Friday Adima.

PTA Plans a Fundraising
Members of the PTA at Rhema Academy have planned to raise some money for Rhema Academy in May this year. The fund will be used to do some work on the school building under construction. It will be a great blessing to Rhema Academy if, at least, a section of the building is completed by September this year.

WEI Nigeria: A Success Story
The WEI ministry in Nigeria with Etang & I grading the lessons for students has been a great success. We have had no problem with students we attend to personally. However, using American teachers to teach some of the Nigerian students has been a huge failure. Materials are lost on transit. Those which sail through take a longer time to arrive. We observe that materials sent to us by brother Ady neither got lost nor delayed. We are wondering if we should grade all lessons and sent scores and reports to the American teachers.

WEI City Office
We are facing some pressing mission challenges which have threatened the progress and continuity of our mission work especially as regards our WEI ministry. Paramount among these is the need to keep our WEI teaching centre in the city. Our previous three-year lease funded by the Gladstone church has expired. We need to renew or find another facility, perhaps a smaller one, but Gladstone would not help again. Without the city office, we will loose contact with many students and preachers who help to co-ordinate WEI activities in other regions outside Abak. Please help us pray for a way out of this setback & frustration.


Transportation
We will be doing an injustice to this report if we fail to mention the difficulties we experience in the area of transportation. We have accepted the invitation to serve as chaplain of Obong University for no other reason than the need to use WEI in a more effective way and to serve the Lord faithfully wherever and whenever He has called us. Our work demands that we have a reliable means of transportation. We believe that someday, God will provide the brethren with the resources and love to help with this need.

Finally, thank you for your patience to read through this report. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Please continue to pray for us that security will continue to improve so that missionaries can come and work with us as it happened in the past.

In christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan


 

Dear Brethren,

There is one area of Akwa Ibom State where the gospel is yet to make any impact. The region is known as "Ekparakwa." Ekparakwa is a developing city surrounded by many large and highly populated villages.

There was no church of Christ in the entire neighbourhood. A christian widow by name Ime Titus Umoetor relocated from Ikot Okoro and moved to Ekparakwa in 2005 with her five children following the death of her husband in 2002. For three years, she traveled several miles to worship with the church at Afia Oko. After her two sons grew up and were baptized into Christ, she decided to plant a church at Ekparakwa using her sons as teacher and preacher.

She secured the permission of Community High School, Ekparakwa to use one of the classrooms as a meeting and worship hall. The inaugural worship service of Ekparakwa church was held in March 2009. I preached the first sermon of the congregation as a guest speaker. Since then, I could not visit the congregation until last Sunday when I worshiped and preached there. The church has grown to about ten members, but it is like a sheep without a shepherd. They have no money to hire a trained preacher.

We have decided to make Ekparakwa another center of WEI activities in addition to Uruk Otong and Obong University. This morning, the Principal of Community High School, Ekparakwa granted us approval to use the school as WEI Study Center. With the help of the Principal and other teachers, we issued introductory lessons to 100 of the 300 students in SS1. The Principal pleaded that we bring additional 200 introductory lessons to the remaining students in SS1. The school has about 3000 students, but we will only concentrate with the 300 students in SS1.

The Principal ordered that the quiz section of the introductory lessons should be detached and kept in her office. The students will have to study the introductory lessons. On Wednesday next week, I will be there to review the lessons with them after which they will answer the quizzes in my presence and return the completed lessons to me for onward despatch to teachers in the US.

We know that through the students, the gospel will find its way into every home in Ekparakwa city and the adjourning villages, and the entire neighbourhood will be completely evangelized in the shortest period of time. WEI will help us grow the church in Ekparakwa and will also help us plant churches in the surrounding villages. We have already added Ekparakwa to our list of mission fields.

We have a large banner of WEI displayed at the gate of the secondary (high) school in Ekparakwa. We need a congregation that will help us teach the truth to the people of this virgin area. Any church that will agree to do this will be asked to provide at least $100 a month to cover our transport and postage because we will use "Speedpost" to facilitate the program. The present support for our WEI ministry from the Northside church will not cover this new mission field.

Please bear with us. We are not able to send pictures from our digital camera until we are able to raise fund and buy a computer. We tried to do this at the public cafe, and viruses almost devastated our digital camera.

Yours & His,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

Dear Brethren,

Welcome to this report of the wonderful things God has done in our ministry through His Son Jesus. His grace is indeed amazing!

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28).

When we closed our WEI study center in the city because the Gladstone church could no longer renew the lease, we thought it was the end of the road for our WEI ministry. Little did we know that God closed the city office in order to open more doors for the gospel. We praise His holy name!

Presently, we have set up WEI study centers at three different locations. These include Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School, Utu Etim Ekpo; Obong University & Obong Christian High School, Obong Ntak; and the Community High School, Ekparakwa city where we planted a new congregation a few years ago. Out of the three regions, we will give more priority to Ekparakwa where the influence of the church is so insignificant.

Other study centers in Nigeria include Uruk Otong, Ikot Abasi, Uyo, Ukanafun, Okurikang, Calabar, Lagos etc. Outside Nigeria, we have set up study centers in Cameroun, Sierra Leone & the Gambia. Presently, we are working on taking the gospel to togo using WEI.

The greatest news regarding our ministry now is that we have been blessed with a reliable vehicle for our work. A christian couple who has insisted to remain anonymous made a special donation to us recently and requested that we used it for Dorcas Garden, transportation etc. With the fund, Dorcas Garden has reached a self-sustaining level. Hence, we no longer need the $200 monthly sustaining fund from the Northside church for DG.

The leftover of the fund provided the foundation on which we raised fund and solicited help to secure a used car for our work. We still have some outstanding bill to settle, but the vehicle has been released for our use. I am now learning how to drive and will soon secure a driving licence.

The car is a great gift to our family, the church at Uruk Otong, Dorcas Garden, Rhema Academy, WEI Nigeria, Obong University, and the churches of Christ in our area as we conduct gospel meetings, youth seminars & other activities for the churches in our area on a monthly basis.

The past couple of weeks had been a very busy moment for us as we were involved in various church related and mission activities. These included indoor Bible lecture & house-to-house christian fellowship at Uruk Otong; gospel meeting at Obong Ntak; funeral service at Minya in Mkpat Enin; and a wedding ceremony at Abak. I served as a speaker in each of these occasions.

Our upcoming events at Uruk Otong include the 2012. Rhema Summit (Annual Lectureship) on May 6, and the funeral service in honour of late brother Monday James Udo which will be conducted on May 26, 2012.

ACAC Conference
Registration for Africans Claiming Africa for Christ Conference at Zambia in August this year is in progress. I am told that the cost to attend the conference from Nigeria is $2000 per participant. I had wanted to represent WEI at the conference and to use the opportunity to set up WEI ministry in Zambia, but there is no way I can raise the fund required.

Finally, please join us to thank God for answering our prayers and the prayers of the saints for us. It is encouraging that our need for a reliable means of transportation and the needs of Dorcas Garden have been fulfilled with a memorial gift from a Christian family who cares so much.

We hope that someday, God will provide for the completion of the school building at Rhema Academy, and for the construction of a befitting worship auditorium for the church at Uruk Otong. These are the remaining projects which need to be completed for our mission to be fulfilled.

"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21).

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
PS: Please bear with us. We need a laptop computer before we are able to download pictures from our digital camera and send.
 

REPORT OF MISSION ACTIVITIES - May 2012

Dear Brethren,

Greetings! We welcome you to our recent report of mission activities in Nigeria. Please exercise patience and read through this wonderful report of the great things the Lord has done with us as instruments in his hands and with your sacrificial support.

Funeral Service at Uruk Otong
click for images

Restorations at Uruk Otong

On the day Monday accepted Christ, another young man from Uruk Otong Godwin Thomas Umoh was baptized into Christ as well. A few weeks later, Monday’s first daughter, Ekaette through the leadership of the father was baptized into Christ. But following Monday’s death, the young man and Ekaette left the faith and no longer worshipped. All effort to bring them to worship again proved abortive. Godwin’s wife Nduese who was converted through WEI studies continued to worship. Amazingly, the sermon at the funeral on Saturday touched Godwin and Ekaette. They returned yesterday and pleaded for restoration. They were joyfully restored. It was indeed an exciting moment as these two lost sheep returned to the fold like the prodigal son. Thus, Monday’s death has fulfilled a purpose.

Ekaette

Rhema Summit 2012

Our annual Bible lectureship at Uruk Otong identified as Rhema Summit on May 6 was well planned and well attended. But just as the lectures were about to begin, a heavy rainfall with windstorm devastated the whole process. The canopies were blown away and flood water took over the scene of the event. A few days before the event, windstorm had blown away the roof of the village hall at Uruk Otong which we used during the previous editions of the lectureship. It was a serious frustration when all the people who came to hear the gospel left without hearing the word of the Lord. What pains us most is that one of the unbelievers who were there at the lectureship died a few days after. We wish he heard the gospel before he died. We look forward to a time when we shall be blessed with a good worship auditorium at Uruk Otong so that our gospel events can go on uninterrupted all year round.

Evangelism at Ekparakwa

We have chosen Community High School, Ekparakwa as one of our WEI study centers following the closing down of our WEI office in Abak. WEI Banner is displayed at the school gate. On the banner, we publish our contact information which includes our mobile phone number, our email address and the ministry website. Since then, people have been contacting us to study with WEI. The most recent one is a denominational church preacher who gave his name as Pastor Gabriel John of Seventh Day Adventist from a village called Ikot Ntuen in Ekparakwa. We also received request for enrollment from different regions of Nigeria. Last week, three people from Ijebu-Owo in Ondo State requested for enrollment. One called me on phone. The other two sent emails. Their names are Obameso Olamiyo Olayinka, Ogunbodede Kehinde and Omotola Temitope. Three of them gave their postal address as Saint Patrick’s Anglican Church, P. O. Box 59, Ijebu-Owo, Ondo State. We also have some requests from Ukanafun and other regions. We need more postal teachers who could help us teach the growing number of WEI students in Nigeria and other West African countries.

NCBC Preachers’ Seminar

This year’s NCBC Preachers Seminar was held last week. Hillery Motsinger of NewLife Behavior International, Dallas, Texas and Friday Adima of Aba, Abia State, Nigeria were the resource persons. It was a wonderful 4-day seminar. Certificates were issued to preachers who completed the course of study during the seminar. Aniefiok was one of the preachers so honoured. The President of ACSF, Trent Wheeler, assisted by Goodnews Peter presented the certificates to qualified participants. During the preachers’ seminar, Godsgift Paul, a preacher from Ikot Abasi reported to us that he had baptized seven WEI students in Ikot Abasi since the beginning of this year. We lost contact with him when he had an automobile accident and lost his mobile phone. We reunited during the seminar and exchanged new contact information.

Elders

Obong University Lectureship

The first edition of Obong University Lectureship will hold on July 7, 2012. The lectureship aims at reaching out to students of the university who are not members of the Lord’s church. There will be a Bible quiz on the night of Friday July 6 with all questions drawn from Acts of the Apostle, the book we presently study at the campus church. Faithful preachers and Bible scholars from different parts of Nigeria are invited to present lectures at the lectureship.

Thank you for your patience to read through this lengthy report. Thank you for your sacrifices to support the preaching of the gospel in Africa. We will appreciate your continued prayers, material and financial support. With your support, God has taken care of our need for a residence, water and transportation. We hope that with your support, we will overcome the problem of school building for Rhema Academy, and a worship auditorium for the church at Uruk Otong, and for our Bible seminars, conferences and lectureships.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
 

Dear Brother & Sister Gusek,

Good morning! Please, you (the Northside church) and the Bethlehem church are still the most vital part of our WEI ministry. We are working hard for improvements. The completed lessons from your students in Ekparakwa are with us. If I am able, I will attach a picture we took with the students at Ekparakwa when they completed and returned the introductory lessons. On my way back from Ekparakwa, I developed cold which turned out to be a serious typhoid fever attack. Since then, I have been in the hospital. I am writing this letter to you on my sick bed in the hospital.

Students studying WEI Introductory Lesson

The Doctors at Cedar & Olive Clinic are working hard to save my life. Please pray for me and my family. It is the most trial time for us. Before I fell sick, my mother was sick. I took her to the hospital where I am receiving treatment now. After my mother was discharged from the hospital, we brought her to our home so that we can take good care of her. A week after, my step-father fell from the top of a pea tree. He broke his two hands and sustain internal breeding. He is presently receiving treatment at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo.

Now that I also land on the hospital bed, you can imagine the burden on Etang trying to take care of the children, my sick mother and visiting the hospitals on a daily basis. As soon as I recover, and get discharged from the hospital, I will mail to you the lessons from Ekparakwa. Please request the Northside church to pray for our recovery and for the grace to settle the exorbitant hospital and medical bills

In christian love,
Aniefiok & Akpan

PS: Please brothers and sisters Head & Poston, kindly communicate this info to the Bethlehem brethren and ask them to pray for us. If any member of the congregation could help with part of the fund to settle the hospital & medical bills, we will appreciate it so much.

OUR MISSION & AREA OF WORK

DORCAS GARDEN
A farm settlement to assist Christian widows. We raise pigs, birds & fishes. The proceeds from the farm are used to support Christian widows and their families. We also grow plantain for food supply.

RHEMA ACADEMY
A Christian school for the training of orphaned & less-privileged Christian children

WORLD ENGLISH INSTITUTE
An effective tool for evangelizing widows, orphans & others

CAMPUS CHURCH OF CHRIST, Rhema academy
A Godly family for fellowship, worship, spiritual growth, & harvests.

WEI CAMPUS MINISTRY
After the initial obstacles, our WEI campus ministry has become successful. It was easy to enroll the students of Obong Christian High School (OCHS) because it is a Christian school associated with the churches of Christ. Yet, we have to visit the school several times in order to retrieve the completed lessons in batches from the students before they left for their long vacation. It was not easy to introduce WEI to the students of Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School (NASCO) and the Commuinty High School (CHS), Ekparakwa because we had to obtain permission from appropriate authorities. With prayers, we had the permission. Securing the permission and distributing WEI Introductory Lessons to the students was easy, but retrieving the completed Introductory Lessons from the students was not. We used all resources at our disposal to get it done. These include frequent visits, phone calls, text messages and special meetings. Schools are now on long vacation and will not re-open until September.

WEI LESSONS MAILED TODAY
Etang and I were at the post office this morning to mail all the completed introductory lessons we have gathered from the students during the past couple of weeks. Three parcels containing introductory lessons of students from NASCO, Ekparakwa & Abak respectively were mailed to Cathy Gusek/Northside Church of Christ. A parcel containing lessons of students from OCHS was mailed to Bob Towell/Southwest Church of Christ. We are sorry for the delay in sending these lessons to the teachers in the US. One of the reasons for the delay had to do with the difficulties encountered in retrieving the lessons from the students. Another reason was because of my recent ill-health. I am yet to completely recover. Etang now follows wherever I go in order to monitor my health situation and to assist while I drive.

ARRIVAL OF MATERIALS
At the post office today, we received a box of WEI materials from Richard Ady. The parcel contains introductory lessons and the Basic English & Bible Courses which we suspect are those ordered by Bob Towell a couple of weeks ago. We also received a box of the Voice of Truth International Magazines Volume Seventy which we are going to share with the preachers, elders, deacons, Bible teachers and other Christian workers in our area. Materials are always a great blessing to our work. Please if your congregation could donate teaching materials and Bibles, we will always appreciate receiving them.

OBONG UNIVERSITY LICENCE WITHDRAWN
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has recently withdrawn the operating licences of seven private universities in Nigeria. Obong University is one of the seven. The reasons given for the withdrawal include inadequate facilities and insufficient operating funds. I resumed work as the chaplain & campus minister of Obong University in November last year. When the lease on our WEI office at Abak expired, and we had no money to renew, we moved our WEI office to Obong University which fast became the center of WEI activities. With the closing down of the university, we lost the WEI Office there and have to consider other options. The best option now is to secure at least a small office at Abak. P L E A S E,  C O U L D  Y O U R
C O N G R E G A T I O N   H E L P !

Appended report (September 4):

OBONG UNIVERSITY: THE TRUE SITUATION
Above is an extract from our last report. It has come to our notice that this has created some tensions. This is because, initially, we did not quite understand what the suspension order from the National Universities Commission entailed. It was later we discovered that it was a temporary suspension and a wake up call on the sponsors and financiers of the universities to work toward adequate funding the universities. As I am writing this email, the operating licences of six of the seven affected universities have been restored because the religious groups associated with the universities rose up to the expectations of the NUC. The only school left to be rectified now is Obong University, and there is just no reason why Obong University would not be restored. All that is required is for fund raising effort to be enhanced.

As the chaplain and campus minister of Obong University , I am fully in support of this first private university associated with the churches of Christ in the whole of Africa . During the past couple of months since I resumed work as chaplain of Obong University , I witnessed an exciting, focused and purposeful evangelistic effort. I am still in-charge of the office of the chaplain of the university, which also remains the contact point for our WEI ministry in that axis. I am also one of the brethren saddled with the responsibility of educating Nigerian Christians and congregations to see the need to support the university. The campaign is ongoing, and we believe that in the near future, there will be some privileged Nigerian Christians who will be committed to supporting the university.

The problem of Obong University has came as a result of lack of adequate financial support from the Brotherhood at home and in the U.S. Nigerian brethren are generally very poor and this can be seen as the average Sunday collection in many churches across the nation hardly exceed $10 (ten dollars) even in some township congregations. The Rivergate Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee has done a commendable job for overseeing the work of the first private University associated with the Churches of Christ in Africa. To alleviate poverty among the African brotherhood, and to reduce the mounting requests for U.S. support for African mission work, local leaders must be trained now so that the Church in Africa may expect to have leaders who can stand firm to support the church in the future.

We sincerely apologise for the inconveniences and misunderstanding that may have been created by our first report about our much needed and cherished Obong University. We humbly appeal to our brethren and friends in Nigeria and the US to please consider rendering a helping hand toward restoring our only Christian university in Africa .

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

TRIALS OF FAITH & PRAYERS
Some brethren of our campus church at Uruk Otong are facing great health challenges. A little child, the daughter of Effiong & Ndifreke Eshiet is critically ill. She is presently receiving medical care at Uduak Abasi Clinic in Abak. The husband to Sister Esther Monday Jonah is critically ill. This has kept Esther away from the church for several months now. My mother’s health continues to decline. She is presently living with us. My step-father broke his two arms and his ribs during the accident. He was discharged from the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital. He is presently being attended to by professional Bone-Setters. He may never be able to use his two hands again. In view of the present challenges, the brethren of the campus church in Uruk Otong called for a special fasting & prayer meeting last Wednesday. All members of the church gathered in our home where the church meets and prayed for our family and others between the hours of 6am & 12pm.

DORCAS GARDEN & WIDOWS
Recently, Dorcas Garden distributed foodstuffs to widows and other less-privileged members of our campus congregation. Items shared included plantains, vegetables & fishes from the farm, and rice, garri and other items secured with proceeds from the farm. The bulk of the fund was realized by selling off the old birds (layers) from the farm and parts of the materials were donated by some of the brethren. One of the beneficiaries of the food relief is an aged widow who depends on the church for sustenance. She has no child and no one to take care of her.

RHEMA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
The final year pupils of our primary school participated in the just concluded First School Leaving Certificate/Placement Examinations administered by the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Education. Our pupils were registered for the exams alongside the pupils of Government School, Obong Ntak since our school is not yet accredited by the education ministry. There is only one obstacle to overcome and get our school registered – completing the school building at the permanent site of the school. The Bethlehem church helped with part of the fund to secure the school land. We have erected a long classroom block there as required by the education ministry. We need some funds to complete the building so that our school can be registered as Rhema Christian Academy (RCA). After the building is completed, someday we will re-open our high school and begin again to teach our students the Bible on a daily basis using the WEI resources. Many were baptized into Christ through the process before the education ministry suspended our high school.

CONCLUSION
Thank you for your patience to read through this lengthy report. Thank you for the part you play in contributing to the success of our mission work. Thank you for your fervent prayers.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
PS: We have been having problems with our email account recently. Hence, we have set up a new email account weiAFRICA@yahoo.com which we will use from now henceforth. Please use it to communicate with us now.

 

December 2012

Dear Brethren,

Welcome to this brief but exciting report of our work. Kindly exercise patience and read through to share our joy. Please feel free to ask for details of any area of the report which is of interest to you. We will be glad to answer your questions.

HARVESTS
Two young men, Imoh Asuquo Akpan and Nsima Joseph Ebong accepted Christ and were baptized at the campus church in Uruk Otong on Sunday November 18. The immersion was administered by Akaninyene Ukanga assisted by Sifon Japhet Idiong. Akaninyene & Sifon are associate preachers who assist me in our mission effort to grow & develop our new congregation in Uruk Otong. Etang and I personally trained these young people and added them to our mission team.

GOSPEL MEETINGS
During the months of October and November, I participated and officiated in various gospel meetings across our neighbourhood. The most recent was a Bible seminar for Christian youths organized by the township church in Abak where I spoke on “Prerequisites for Developing the Qualities of a Future Leader.” I also preached at several funerals across the state. A total of over 20 baptisms were witnessed in all the events.

WEI CAMPAIGNS
With the arrival of materials from the South West and Northside churches, we intensified our WEI gospel campaigns. We held separate meetings with our students in Ekparakwa, NASCO and OCHS. The students in the three schools are doing well with their studies. They are expected to return their completed lessons for grading with effect from the first week of December. As soon as we receive their completed lessons, we will mail them to their respective teachers in the US. We are planning a Christian conference that will bring these students from different regions together for three days so that we can teach them personally. We pray that God will raise a family or a congregation who will sponsor that project in the year 2013. That could be the harvest time.

PRAYERS ANSWERED
Please join us in thanking God for answering our prayers healing our brethren who were sick. My mother’s health has improved greatly. My step-father has returned home from where bone-setters worked on him following his fatal accident. Although he can no longer use his two hands effectively, we thank God he survived the accident. Others of our brethren who were sick, including our children, have completely recovered. Thank you for your fervent prayers for us.

RHEMA CARNIVAL 2012
We look forward to some great events as we round up 2012 and begin the year 2013. The first is our Rhema Carnival 2012 on December 7. We expect our pupils and their parents/guardians as well as the folks of our community to attend this crucial end-of-the-year celebration. The carnival will give us a good opportunity to address our people about our Christian school project, our WEI ministry and the activities of our campus church in Uruk Otong.

THANKSGIVING 2013
Our Thanksgiving 2013 will be held on January 6. The thanksgiving service is held on the first Sunday of every year to mark the birth of our new congregation in Uruk Otong. One of the most remarkable activities of the thanksgiving has always been the presentation of relief materials tagged “Widows Baskets” to our Christian widows. During the forthcoming 5th edition of the thanksgiving, we plan to reach out to 20 widows. It will cost a minimum of $25 to prepare a widow’s basket for each widow. Please help us share the love of Christ with suffering and dying widows. Your gift of $25 will become a big blessing to a hungry widow and her family. Please let the Bethlehem church receive your donation before mid-December when our mission funds will be wired if you have the resources to help.

RAPID GROWTH
Our work has witnessed a rapid growth despite series of setbacks due to financial constraints. Rhema Academy has grown from 100 pupils to 160 pupils during the past three months. Part of the reason for the increase is effective mobilization with the use of our fairly-used Toyota car. With the help of this reliable means of transportation, we are able to reach out to many families, show love and care to our pupils, and respond to different needs timely. The facilities we have at our residency could not support 100 pupils, but now God has given us additional 60. This increase seems to suggest that God wants our Christian school to be sustained. Please, we need your support to complete the school building for the training of our leaders of tomorrow. It is necessary to catch them young.

APPRECIATION
Without the support of our US sponsors and the co-operation of our Christian partners, we would not have succeeded in our ministry the way we have done during the past couple of years. We are indebted to you by way of thanks for your prayers and financial support. It thrills our hearts that throughout this period of global economic meltdown, none of our supporters has officially withdrawn his or her monthly support except the Gladstone church which stopped paying the rent for our WEI city office. Yet, we are grateful to them for their pioneering role in establishing the WEI ministry in Nigeria & West Africa. We also thank God that we did not loose our faith and our ministry during the peak of insecurity and political instability in Nigeria. As we transit into a new dawn, there seems to be light at the end of the long tunnel. May God bless you all for your patience and faithfulness.

CONDOLENCES
Please permit us to share our grief with the families of Jimmy & Patty Moon and Nancy & Manuel Gonzalez and others for the great losses of their loved ones during the year. They are our pioneer sponsors and supporters, true friends, and wonderful Christian partners. They were there for us when no one else was interested. When others unveiled their love for us and our work, they did not withdraw. Now, 16 years later, their love is increasing.

May our partnership in the gospel continue to result in the saving of many souls. Thank you and God bless!

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

Dear Brethren,
Welcome to this brief report with the joy of the season!

WEI TEAM MEETING
Members of our WEI campaign team in Nigeria met at Rhema Academy, Uruk Otong on Monday December 10, 2012 to plan a way forward for our WEI ministry in Nigeria and other West African countries in the year 2013. Among the decisions taken at the meeting include the hosting of our biggest WEI conference in May 2013. The conference will bring together all our students from different areas for a more in-depth study of the Bible. We will make arrangement to provide each area with a bus which will convey students to and fro the venue of the conference. We really look forward to a great moment to share the gospel and the love of Christ with people who are hungry and thirsty for the truth. The one-hour (10am-11am) meeting was rounded up with a call for a renewed interest and enthusiasm in using WEI as an effective tool for evangelism. Team members in attendance were Aniefiok Akpan, Etang Akpan, Atauyo Akpaneyen, Akaninyene Ukanga & Dorathy Japhet.

PTA FORUM
Following the WEI team meeting on December 10 was a meeting of the parents, guardians and friends of Rhema Academy at 3pm. The meeting was pioneered and summoned by the PTA chairman. For the first time, the PTA members gathered to reason together on how to raise fund and complete the school building. The meeting lasted for three hours. Series of suggestions were made. One of the most significant decisions taken was that the parents will contribute money early next year for the moulding of the blocks which will be used to complete the building. It was also suggested that Etang and I should solicit financial assistance from brethren and friends in Nigeria and abroad to complete the school building early in the new year. In addition to the group donation expected from the PTA, the chairman, on behalf of his family, promised to donate two bags of cement for the work.

FUNERAL & WEI LESSONS
The remains of the late mother of brother Nse Inyang were laid to rest on Friday December 7, 2012. Nse Inyang is an English teacher working with Northern Annang Secondary Commercial School (NASCO), Utu Etim Ekpo. He is our WEI contact person in the school. He as so much occupied with the preparations for the funeral that he could not retrieve the completed lessons from the students before they left for the Christmas break. He has promised to retrieve the lessons early in January 2013 when the students return. Lessons from the Community High School, Ekparakwa and Obong Christian High School, Obong Ntak will also be retrieved and mailed to the US teachers early in the new year. We tried to get the lessons back before the students went on holidays, but it was not possible because they were so busy with their first terminal examinations. They requested that we give them enough time to work on their lessons in order to improve their performances.

THANKSGIVING 2013
Please remember to pray for the success of our thanksgiving on January 6. The thanksgiving is held every year in commemoration of the birth of our campus church at Uruk Otong. We always donate relief materials called “Widows’ Baskets” to our widows during the thanksgiving. The bulk of the food items to be donated this time will come from Dorcas Garden, our Christian farm settlement to assists poor Christian widows. Any donation to assist with this Christian project will be appreciated. All donations should be sent through the Bethlehem church please.

OBITUARY
Etieno Emmanuel Jimmy who fell down from a coconut tree sometime in August died two weeks ago. We sent a prayer request and asked brethren to pray for him and my step-father who also fell from a great height. God has answered the prayers by sparing and healing my step-father, but calling Etieno to eternal rest with Him. Etieno was about 15 years old, but he had already given his life to Christ. He died exactly one year after his baptism. He was the 4th son of Emmanuel & Mercy Udoaffia of Ikot Ubo church of Christ where I served for seven years before I returned home to plant the campus church at Rhema Academy. Emmanuel is a deacon in the church. Please pray for this Christian couple that God may console and strengthen them.

APPRECIATION
It is the decision of our entire family that we write to thank you for standing by us and supporting us throughout the period of our trials, especially in the midst of the global economic recession. We do not know for sure what we would have done in this life without your support. Our decision to serve the Lord full time was taken by faith without any clue as per how we would be earning our daily bread. It is amazing that God has provided our basic needs with you as worthy instruments in His hands. We have actually come to realize what it means to trust in God and in Jesus. Our prayers for you remains, Phi 4:19 “But my God will supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Regards from Nancy, Sedi & Ric.

H A P P Y N E W Y E A R !

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

Dear Brethren,
Greetings! We hope this report finds you doing well each day. Kindly exercise patience and read through so that you may have a good grasp of the nature of mission work we are involved in. We will be glad to answer any question you may have.

A NEW DAWN WITH WEI
We established a Christian school called Rhema Academy in 2005 to bring Christian education to the door-step of our people. After the school started, we were fervently praying for resources we could use to teach our students the Bible effectively. By God’s providence, WEI came to us in 2007. We used the WEI materials to teach our students both English and the Bible effectively. Within one year, many of our students were baptized into Christ that it became necessary to set up a campus church. The inaugural worship service of the campus church at Uruk Otong was held on Sunday January 6, 2008. The church grew rapidly with more students being baptized on a weekly basis. Following an aggressive house-to-house evangelistic campaigns by the campus church, many of the villagers were converted as well. In December 2008, our high school was suspended by the education ministry for inadequate accommodation and facilities – leaving us with only the nursery & primary arms of the school.

RESTORING THE PAST GLORY
We laid the foundation of our permanent school building since September 2006. Our greatest challenge now is to complete the school building so that we can restore our high school and begin again to teach our students English and the Bible on a daily basis using the WEI resources. This is the best way we can guarantee greater and regular harvests. We shed tears each time we recalled what a significant progress we were making in the ministry before the devil obstructed us. We recorded so much success in those days that brother Dick Ady remarked that we were involved in one of the most exciting mission works in Africa. We desire to return to that mode of operation. All we need is a roof over the school building and we will rekindle our fire of aggressive gospel campaigns using WEI as bait. Please share our concern with the Christians and churches around you.

WEI MINISTRY IN WEST AFRICA
In addition to using WEI resources to teach our people English and the Bible personally, we also use our network of Christian connections to introduce WEI ministry in other regions of Nigeria and other West African countries. With the help of American postal teachers, people are learning the truth in Cameroun, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Senegal. Presently, we are making effort to establish a link in Togo (another virgin ground very receptive to the gospel). We are making plans for a mission work in Togo in the near future.

MARRIAGE & FAMILY SEMINAR
We started a seminar on the Christian home some years back. Fielden & Janet Allison came all the way from Tanzania as the guest speakers of the inaugural seminar. Every year, we gather Christian couples and singles and teach them the biblical principles on marriage and family life. This year’s seminar was held in Uruk Otong on May 5. I personally delivered a keynote on “WHEN COUPLES DISAGREE.” It was indeed a great lecture and well received by the participants. The next edition of the seminar will be held on May 4, 2014, God willing!

WEI ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Another wonderful gospel event we conduct is WEI Conference. We could not organize the conference last year due to several factors including insecurity and insufficient finance. This year, the conference will be held on November 1-3. We teach Bible lessons only during the conference. In order to raise fund for the conference, we are planning to produce tickets and encourage Christians and churches to purchase the tickets especially for those who are not yet converted to attend the conference. By some doing, we will have the right audience and cut down on unnecessary expenses. We will encourage our US postal and internet teachers to work towards buying tickets for some of their serious students to attend the conference. Each ticket will cost ten US dollars ($10). This will cover seven meals and accommodation for the three days and conference materials.

WEI ZONAL SEMINARS
As a pre-requisite to the big conference in November, we have made plans to conduct monthly WEI seminars in Ekparakwa, and other strategic locations in order to reactivate our dwindling WEI ministry. Most of our students are discouraged because of the delay and loss of their materials through the postal system. We need to meet with them in their different locations and rekindle their interest in order to prepare them for their studies and the big conference ahead. Etang and I have conducted the zonal seminars with excitement in the past. It avails us the opportunity to meet new prospects and to interact with our WEI students. Reports of the seminars will be published in our subsequent newsletters.

NCA ANNUAL LECTURESHIP
In addition to our ministry in Uruk Otong, we are working with the churches of Christ in our area on a regular basis. We are involved in conducting monthly gospel meetings and youth Bible seminars which rotate among the churches in our area. I preach at a funeral, lectureship, wedding almost on a weekly basis. On Thursday April 25, I attended the Lectureship organized by the Campus Church of Christ, Nigerian Christian Academy (NCA), Uruk Ata Ikot Akpan. I delivered a lecture on RECONSIDERING & RESTORING THE PATTERN OF THE 1ST CENTURY EVANGELISM. It was nice to be at NCA, the Christian school I served as the principal teacher before I left for my BA (Religious Studies) Degree studies. It was great to meet Dr. Edu Okorie, my master in the faith after a while. He is doing fine and the school is growing.

RHEMA ACADEMY BEGINS
Please permit us to mention that Etang is now the Director of the nursery & primary arm of our Christian school, Rhema Academy. She is doing fine directing the school. School re-opened on April 29 for the final term of the 2012/2013 school session. We will vacate in July and return in early September to commence the 2013/2014 school session. We are doing our best to teach our pupils about Jesus, God and the Bible. We believe that it is the best to catch them young.

DORCAS GARDEN
Sister Dorathy Japhet of our campus church in Uruk Otong has been appointed the Manager of our Christian farm settlement to assist our Christian widows. She is a faithful and dedicated Christian worker. She is having a difficult time now that her husband who assisted her in the work at Dorcas Garden has gone blind. She has to work real hard to take care of her family of five children without the help of her husband. Yet, she is still very strong in the faith, and her faith encourages us. We have been at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital three times to see the Doctor about Japhet’s eye problem. We will be there again sometime this month. Please remember him in your prayers.

Thanks for reading through and remain blessed.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

Dear Brethren,

Greetings! Welcome to our recent report of work. Please exercise patience to read through this brief report. It will give you an idea of the nature of work we are involved in. My wife and I and our lovely children owe you gratitude for identifying with us, our mission work, our pains and our joy.

WORLD ENGLISH INSTITUTE
World English Institute remains our frontline ministry. We use it for our gospel campaigns. We have involved other preachers within and outside Nigeria in the ministry. Because we decided to share the opportunity of using WEI as an evangelistic tool, today the unbelievers are reached and souls are won for Christ in Nigeria, Cameroon and Sierra Leone. On Wednesday July 24, 2013, we had a meeting at Obong University to plan a way forward for our WEI ministry. At the meeting, we reached an agreement to host our WEI students from Ekparakwa, NASCO, OCHS and other locations in Nigeria in a one-day seminar before the year runs out. We will continue to do the best we can to keep our WEI ministry going until God grants us the sponsorship to secure an office facility for our WEI operations.

RHEMA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
An inspecting and assessment team from the ministry of education were in our school on Friday July 19 to assess our structures, facilities and academic performance. Our pupils were interviewed with questions specifically designed by the government for that purpose. Amazingly, we scored 98% in the academic assessment, although we failed in the other two areas. The government officials were so impressed with the academic standard of our school despite inadequate facilities. They appealed that we solicit for help and complete the school building in preparation for the next school which begins this September. Yesterday July 27, the last PTA Meeting of Rhema Christian Academy was held. It was massively attended by parents, guardians and well-wishers. Majority of the participants expressed their confidence in our leadership and pleaded that we keep the school for our children and generations to come. Results of the pupils’ promotion examinations were issued at the meeting. The meeting was rounded up with a group photograph of staff, pupils and their parents.

DORCAS GARDEN
Another area of our work is the farm settlement to assist our Christian widows. A very diligent, faithful and hard-working sister in Christ, Dorathy Japhet Idiong is working hard to keep the farm. Her husband, Japhet Udo Idiong who helped with the work has gone completely blind. Please he and his family of five little children need your prayers. Pray also for our Christian widows that God may continue to sustain them and their children, and that Dorcas Garden may become more flourishing in the near future to continue to render a helping hand.

RHEMA CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
Rhema Christian Academy, when completed and commissioned will become our centre of Christian activities. When the school building is completed, it will harbour classrooms, administrative offices, and a hall for the school daily chapel services, and the worship services of the campus church. Other gospel events like lectureship, WEI seminars, leadership training workshops and other Christian gathering will also be conducted with the help of the facilities of Rhema Christian Academy. We need Rhema Christian Academy for the sake of our kids, the kids of our campus church, and the kids of our community. Please we solicit your prayers and financial support to enable us completes the school building. If we put a roof on the building, we will use it like that to resume classes in September without waiting for flooring, plastering, painting and the rest of the finishing.

LEADERSHIP TRAINING WORKSHOP
As some of you know, I have been appointed a visiting chaplain and campus minister of Obong University – the first Christian fully licensed university to be associated with the churches of Christ in the whole of Africa. Presently, I am leading a planning committee for the first Obong University Leadership Summit – a leadership training workshop with the theme LEADERSHIP & RESPONSIBILITIES. The summit will feature singing workshop for song leaders, church budget & implementation workshop, special training for elders, deacons, church secretaries and other Christian workers. The three-day Christian workshop will take place on October 3-5 this year. Please pray for us as we lead and direct this great Christian workshop and other mission responsibilities entrusted to us.

APPRECIATION
Please permit us to conclude this report by thanking our sponsors and supporters who have been very consistent in supporting our work despite the fact that we have never been to the US and they have never met us in person before. Today, I have emerged a preacher considered worthy to serve as the pioneer chaplain and campus minister of our maiden Christian university and one of the choice speakers for lectureship, gospel meetings, seminars, workshops, funerals and weddings because of your prayers and support. Please permit me to mention that Obong University is still at the verge of development and has no money to offer me. My family and I still depend on your support for sustenance. I have grown from a single individual to a family with a wife and three kids. Thank you for not deserting us. We pray that God may grant you the grace to make an upward review of our support fund.

Thank you!
Yours & His,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

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