God is using WEI to teach people about Christ in 176 of the 192 nations. Our aim is to preach the gospel to every person on earth.

But, we must also fulfill the second part of the Great Commission by teaching new Christians to obey everything Jesus has commanded.

In the recent Global Missions Conference in Arlington, Texas, Rudy Wray said, “The fastest way to reach the world for Christ is to follow the principle in 2 Timothy 2:2, that is, to teach others to teach others to teach others.”

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, more than 1,100 Albanians have been baptized into Christ, and eleven churches have been established. Now, these churches desperately need trained leaders.

One by one, missionaries are leaving Albania. Already, one church has died from lack of leadership. If churches in the Balkans are to grow, thrive, and flourish, they must be led by trained nationals. Without leadership, the fledgling churches in the Balkan nations will all die, and the money, time, and effort invested in them will have been wasted.

We have a plan for training church leaders, and we need your help. In January 2006, Lord willing, International Bible Institute of Albania (IBIA) will open its doors and start teaching students. This school will be international in scope from the first day. Applications have already come in from Albania, Kosova, Romania, Africa, and India.

This will be a cooperative effort. Sunset International Bible Institute will oversee the school, assign a dean and teachers, and maintain high academic standards. The Adams Boulevard Church of Christ in Bartlesville, Oklahoma will sponsor Steve Stamatis as Dean and provide half of his support. As a representative of WEI, I am committed to raising $500 a month to cover operational expenses plus scholarship money for each full-time Albanian student.

In order to make this training affordable for all students, no tuition will be charged, and food and lodging will be provided for qualified students.

That’s where your help is needed. For $300 to $500 a month, you can provide food, lodging, and training for a future church leader and thus prepare him for ministry. Will you or your congregation provide a scholarship fund for one or more of these students for a period of two years? Will you help us teach them to teach others?

I would be happy to provide additional information, meet with you personally, or speak to your congregation about this new school. Call me at 503-661-0348 or e-mail me at weiady@aol.com.

May God bless you as you consider this opportunity to build up the kingdom of God in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.

You can make a difference! ---Dick

Two New Christians in Tirana
Bill Morgan did double-duty again this summer. On the one hand, he taught two training classes for members of the church in Tirana, Albania. On the other hand, he directed eleven teachers in a WEI short-term mission effort.

Bill reports, “The summer session this year was five weeks [long], which is one week shorter than previous years. Those participating felt it was a great session with a lot accomplished.

“In addition to teaching one-on-one with new students, and some return students, an emphasis was also given to special classes for members of the church. These classes were designed to help members in their personal growth and spiritual maturity.

“There were eleven teachers: Lee Allen, Art and Bonnie Edwards, Jim Fox, Bill Morgan, Stinn and Lindita McDaniel, Emily Pownall, Nancy Walker, Rosalie Waymire, and Alison Winstead.

“Sadete Hoxha [WEI Secretary] reported that seventy-five students were taught this  summer. There were two baptisms: Livia Themelko and Blerina Kruja.

Nancy Walker, Blerina Kruja, Artan Xhaferi

“Two graduation parties were given this year, one at the end of week three and the other at the end of week five. These parties serve several purposes: (1) to award diplomas to students who have completed their studies, (2) to give opportunity for all students to have fellowship with one another, (3) to give opportunity for parents to meet the teachers, other students, and the WEI staff, and (4) to serve refreshments, play games, and thus allow students and parents to see the value that comes from fellowship in the church.”

After returning to the U.S., Stinn and Lindita McDaniel came by our Gresham office for a visit. Lindita, an Albanian by birth, was unusually excited. She exclaimed that one of her former Albanian university professors had approached her on a street in Tirana and asked, “Will you teach my daughter, Livia, this summer?”

After studying with Stinn McDaniel and Jim Fox, Livia said, “I want to be baptized.” “I couldn’t believe it,” Lindita said. “My professor’s daughter is now my sister!”

Jim Fox, Livia Themelko, Stinn McDaniel

Lindita said, “After Livia started studying with us, she attended every meeting of the church.”
Praise God for these new sisters in Christ.

Hurricane Katrina Takes Heavy Toll
Early Monday morning, August 29, Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Louisiana and Mississippi coast leaving death and destruction in its wake. The storm broke through two levies that protected New Orleans and flooded the city streets with water up to twelve feet deep.

Thousands of people who had been unable or unwilling to evacuate prior to the storm were trapped. Some civic leaders estimated that more people have died in the path of Hurricane Katrina than died on 9/11. That remains to be seen. Most of the death and destruction were caused, not by wind, but by walls of water twenty-nine feet high, the highest ever recorded on the Gulf Coast.

Our hearts go out to those who have lost their loved ones and their possessions. Cathy Messecar writes a weekly newspaper column in Conroe, Texas. On September 2 she wrote, “Two statements coming from media coverage of hurricane Katrina’s aftermath have stayed with me: ‘We have each other,’ and ‘If you know God, pray.’

“Ann and Vernon’s Gulfport, MS home was leveled. They summed up their losses as significant, but not devastating by saying to NBC’s Lester Holt, ‘We have each other.’ “Mansions and mobile homes, bicycles and Chevys, clothing and canned goods are submerged in the toxic soup along the southeast Gulf Coast. Louisiana’s governor estimates that at least 500,000 homes were destroyed in her home state.

“The second statement is from Linda, interviewed by a Houston TV station. On Sunday, Linda’s husband stayed behind to protect their house, and she hasn’t heard from him since. She pled with viewers, ‘If you know God, pray for my husband.’”

Hurricane Katrina

Cathy has zeroed in on two important lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina: (1) Family and friends are far more important than houses, cars, boats, and earthly possessions. (2) When life gets out of control, PRAY.

Therefore, let us pray for, and grieve with, those who have lost everything in Hurricane Katrina.

Praise God that so many have given so much to help these hurricane victims get back on their feet.

The Dark Side of Missions
There is a bright side to missions, and it gives us pleasure to report the heroic deeds of those who lay down their lives for Jesus. But there is also a dark side to mission work. Satan sometimes enters followers of Christ as he entered into Judas.

My heart aches as I write this. I wish I didn’t have to tell you, but I MUST in order to maintain my integrity and the integrity of WEI.

For two years, Fred and Masi Ogara have been teaching WEI courses to high school seniors in private schools in central Kenya. Gene and Nancy Banister, Bob and Jan Towell and others have sent thousands of dollars to Fred for printing WEI materials. Fred has reported hundreds of baptisms and the establishment of several churches. We have shared some of those reports with you in our newsletters.

In May of this year, one of Fred’s military friends notified us that he was going to Libya on a military mission and would be able to take several hundred Bibles with him. This was exciting news. A number of people gave thousands of dollars out of their own pockets, raised thousands more from friends and churches, and sent the money to Fred. Fred sent pictures of himself wrapping Bibles, and he sent receipts from Bible bookstores in Nairobi and Kisumu. Two of Fred’s military friends sent e-mails saying they were in Libya, they had delivered hundreds of Bibles, and they had worshiped with several Libyan churches. It turned out that these e-mails originated in Kenya, and the attached pictures, purportedly taken in Libya, had been copied from a travel agency’s web site.

To make a sad story short, God used Mac and Marty Lynn, Bob Towell, Gene Banister, and missionaries and nationals in Kenya to expose Fred’s lies and deceptions. We now have proof that Fred has been deceiving us for two years. His reports have been full of falsehoods. He has impersonated people, sending e-mails in their names. Fred neither purchased large quantities of Bibles nor sent them to Libya.

The only good that has come from this ordeal is that baby Gene received treatment for his horrible burns. The Doctors in the U.S. have dismissed him saying that he will not need further treatment.

We tried over a period of weeks to bring Fred and Masi to repentance, but our efforts resulted only in increased lying and vicious letters to us and about us. Consequently, Fred was notified that he can no longer represent WEI in Kenya or anywhere else.

We know of at least four people in the U.S. whom Fred and Masi have approached with pleas for help. If either of them should approach you asking for money, please be aware that Fred and Masi Ogara are seasoned con artists. Weep with us, and pray for Fred and Masi.

The WEI Short-term Missions

Tom & Angie Langley

The WEI short-term mission efforts, organized by the Maryville, TN office this summer, were again successful and very fruitful. We praise God for this and are grateful to Him for providing us with 61 wonderful and talented teachers, and over 375 seeking students. The seeds of the kingdom were sown in four cities in Romania and three cities in Albania.
I’d like to share with you a few of the comments from some of the students. Some of their comments were so precious and heartwarming that I either jotted them down or committed them to memory.

The students’ first response was almost always about their teacher: “I just love my teacher. There is something deep in her soul that is very good. I must find this goodness.” “I think my teacher is very close to God, and he answers my questions always from the Bible. These classes are a blessing for me.” “My teacher is so gentle and kind, and I’m happy when she smiles.” “When I think about my teacher, I think to Jesus.” “I would stay here all day if I could.”

Many times, the students would comment on the WEI material. Immediately after one young lady in Constanta was baptized, she said, “I learned something much better than English. I learned more perfectly the way of salvation.”

Blessings, Blessings, Blessings
God is using WEI teachers to teach students all over the world through correspondence, e-mail, and short-term missions. The teachers are blessed, and our short-term teachers always want to return to the field. In fact, many of them come home to the States with ambitions to enter the mission field full time.

At the same time, the students are blessed through a study of the word of God and through the close relationships they form with their teachers.

Thank you for your support of WEI. Our budget always seems to be strained, and without your support, none of this would be possible. If you are not partnering with us in world missions, please give this prayerful consideration.

We love you, and we are grateful.
---Tom and Angela

Good Things are Happening

Dick and Maudine Ady

Lots of good things are happening. Virgil and Jackie Jackson, missionaries in Vlorë, Albania, report that two young women have been baptized into Christ: Fationa Bodo, 17, and Juliana Aliaj, 18. Fatiana comes from a Muslim family.

John Travis, WEI/WBS teacher at the Buduburam Refugee Camp outside of Accra, Ghana, reports that three more people have become Christians: Comfort Cherue, Miatta Rennie, and Helen Mengon.

By the time you read this newsletter, Enoch and Jeannine Thweatt will be in Taiwan conducting another WEI short-term mission campaign in the Taipei area. Keith and Lyn Farris, and others, will soon be joining them.

A WEI student in China has translated two of the three books of the Easy-to-Read Bible Course into Chinese and is ready to work on Book Three.

Did you know that the Easy-to-Read Bible Course has now been translated into Albanian, Romanian, Russian, and Spanish and is being translated into Chinese and Farsi.

Did you know that the Beginner’s English Course has been translated into Albanian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Spanish and is in being translated into Chinese and Farsi? God is opening new doors and is using WEI to reach lost people in China, Latin America, and the Middle East. To him be the glory.

At the same time, WEI is struggling financially. You will notice on page six that we were $5,410.34 in the red as of August 31. We are bleeding, and we need a transfusion. If you and/or your congregation have not yet partnered with us in world evangelism, we invite you to join hands with us. We are praying that God will stir your heart.

Thank You
To our loyal friends who are supporting us in this world-wide mission effort, we say, “Thank you.” You have been so generous with your resources and your time. Some of you have given thousands of dollars. Others have given thousands of hours teaching others. We are grateful for your fellowship.

May God bless you.