|
Ship of Life is Launched
In February, during the three weeks I spent in Phnom Penh, several
exciting things happened.
On February 4, about forty-five Americans and Cambodians gathered to
worship on the Ship of Life and to dedicate her to God. Five years ago,
Bill McDonough dreamed of building a ship that would sail up and down the
Mekong River providing free medical and dental care for people in isolated
villages, and teaching them about Christ. Now, his dream has come
true.
The Ship of Life – Now Docked at Phnom Penh
The Ship of Life is 110 feet long and contains
doctor and dental offices equipped with state-of-the-art equipment. The
waiting room, which seats fifty patients, has a wide-screen TV so that
patients can watch Christian videos or study the Bible with teachers while
they wait to see the doctor or dentist.
Dr. Rick Northen (Dentist) and his wife Gail live on the ship and oversee
the day-to-day operations. Medical missionaries will come and go. The ship
can house a medical staff of up to twenty plus the ship’s crew. Rick and
Gail plan to enroll all members of the crew in WEI and teach them daily.
May God use the Ship of Life to his glory.
WEI Students in Phnom Penh
During the month of February, eight of us lived at the
Partners-In-Progress Center in Phnom Penh and taught WEI students seven
hours a day. On February 11, twenty WEI Internet students met with us at
the PIP Center. Most of them stayed to witness the baptism of Au Sen Boury,
a WEI student of Doris Lohry and Russ Burcham.
Russ Burcham Baptizes Boury
Tom Tune
Uses WEI in Saigon
On Chinese New Year, I had the privilege of preaching to seventy-five
children, young people, and adults in Tom Tune’s hotel room in downtown Ho
Chi Minh City. During the past three years, while supervising the
construction of the Ship of Life on the Saigon River, Tom has been helping
street children. He has paid for their school tuition, supplied their
basic needs, and worshiped with them on Sundays. Consequently, many of the
teenagers and adults are now Christians. Three more were baptized
March 10.
Tom Tune with Phuc and Uyen, WEI Students
Three teenage girls (Ngan, Phuc, and
Uyen) have graduated from high school and have been accepted into Harding
University on the condition that they pass the TOEFL. Tom is using the WEI
courses to help them study English and the Bible.
Langley Represents WEI in
Haiti
In mid-February, Tom Langley traveled to Port au Prince, Haiti to
participate in the 2007 Annual Lectureship. Jean Robert Hilaire, pulpit
minister of the 2,000-member Delmas 43 Church of Christ, met him at the
airport and escorted him to his home.
Tom reports: “Following the 8:30 a.m. service, 20 people responded to the
message, and 13 were baptized. Approximately 75 WEI Internet students were
there on Sunday for the morning worship service and attended the WEI
meeting afterward. Many others came to visit me and attended portions of
the Seminar over the next two and a half days.
“After the second day of the Seminar, one
denominational preacher traveled back to his province and spoke to his
church about the things he had learned. He called Jean Robert that evening
and asked him to come to his home town and teach more on the things he had
heard. He said that all of his church members wanted to be baptized
according to the New Testament, and he also asked Jean to bring a Church
of Christ sign so he could put it on the entrance of their place of
worship. Amazing!”
Tom Meets with Haitian WEI Students
According to Jean Robert, “468 people at-tended the
Seminar including 203 denominational preachers. A total of 238 people were
baptized, and 64 of that number were denominational preachers.” Tom
concludes, “This trip truly was an experience of a lifetime.”
Four More Baptisms in Kenya
Nkurunziza Jean De La Paix, evangelist in Nairobi, Kenya, reports that
four more WEI students have been baptized in Nairobi: Antony Macharia,
Violet Owano Abuyeka, Joel Oduor Chodha, and Ronald Obuba Nyamweya. Praise
God.
An Inspiring Story from Crete
Mike Hale’s WEI e-mail student in Crete, John Adesoye, has been baptized.
John was the pastor of a Pentecostal church in Crete, but after studying
with Mike, he wrote, “When God’s light shined on my heart through the
teaching of the Bible, your letters, and the [WEI] book you sent to me, I
resigned from being pastor. I desire to please God.”
Mike called Dino Roussos, evangelist in Athens, Greece, and Dino went to
Crete to visit John and his group. The next day, John took the ferry to
Athens, and Dino baptized him into Christ.
Mike writes, “Things are working out very well over there, and I’m excited
about it. I am impressed with John’s sincerity. Hopefully, he will baptize
many of the other 20 members of his group.”
Tirana
Building Nears Completion
The multi-purpose building under construction in Tirana, Albania is
scheduled to be completed by early June. This new building will bless
Churches of Christ in Albania and throughout the Balkan region.
Erik Qirjaqi and Artan Xhaferi have done an excellent job overseeing this
construction project. Approximately $40,000 is still needed for purchasing
an air conditioning unit, furniture, and supplies for the building . Can
you help?
God’s New Building in Tirana
Towells
& Winhams to La Paz
On January 19, Steve and Suzie Winham and Bob and Jan Towell traveled to
La Paz, Mexico to set up an Internet Café program for teaching the WEI
Beginner’s English Course in Spanish.
Jonathan Towell and Colby Blaisdale, both recent graduates of Harding
University in Information Technology, are constructing the website needed
for Spanish Internet teaching. Lessons are being loaded onto the website
and tested, and it is hoped that students in La Paz can start using the
website soon.
Bob reports that “interest in the Beginner’s English
Course in Spanish is very great in La Paz. A total of 45 people attended
the WEI Beginner’s English course conducted in Spanish, while only five
people were ready for WEI’s basic course conducted in English.”
Presently, Steve and Suzie are WEI’s only bilingual teachers. The new
website will help them handle the La Paz students, but as we expand to
other cities, additional bilingual teachers will be needed.
Exciting News from Nigeria
Aniefiok Akpan, Principal of Rhema Academy in Nigeria, writes, “The WEI
ministry has started to create a great impact here in Nigeria through
Rhema Academy. Amazing things are happening to the Lord’s ministry here.
“The WEI English and Bible Courses really enhance our programme. We teach
WEI lessons every day.
“We have registered over 70 people in Nigeria to study with us using the
WEI resources. Many gospel preachers have enrolled in the WEI programme.
They also desire to use the WEI English and Bible courses to reach out to
others in their communities.
“Etang and I have advertised the WEI programme extensively using our
mobile phone network text features. In response, we have received requests
for the course from gospel preachers in many areas of Nigeria including
Lagos, Abuja, Calabar, Port Harcourt, and Uyo.
“What a marvelous tool God has placed in our hands by means of the WEI
resources for his great ministry in Nigeria!”
Brother Akpan recently baptized four students into Christ: (1) Etieno
Effiong Udo, (2) Abasiodiong Friday Johnson, (3) Imowo Effiong Sunday, and
(4) Amiekan Joseph Akpan. He also reports that “another WEI student, Ifiok
Abraham Akpaneyen, accepted Christ and was baptized at
Ukanafun.”
Aniefiok Akpan Baptizes WEI Student
Postal Teachers Desperately Needed
If you are willing to teach postal students, please contact the Gresham
office.
Tom, Angie, Brianna, and Bianca Langley
Tom & Angie Langley
What a busy and exciting couple of months we’ve enjoyed here at the
Maryville office. I had the privilege of visiting and presenting WEI to
several congregations and mission groups in West Virginia, Mississippi,
Texas, California, and Haiti. It’s such a blessing and inspiration to meet
our current and future teachers. These are wonderful, dedicated Christians
who take the Great Commission very seriously.
What a thrill it was to see first hand the fruit of our teachers’ efforts
in the country of Haiti. I met nearly 100 students on my recent visit to
Port au Prince. Many traveled from towns and cities all across the island
to meet with me. They all expressed deep gratitude for the WEI ministry
and to their teachers. They all very much appreciated the grammar lessons,
but more than that, they absolutely love the Bible lessons. Many have been
baptized. Almost all of these students are taking the course through our
e-mail ministry. God bless you e-mail teachers! You have touched and
eternally changed the lives of these Haitian students who live in a
physically hopeless situation. Bob and Jan Towell, who direct the WEI
Internet ministry from their home in Round Rock, TX, are two of the most
effective missionaries in the kingdom.
The good news doesn’t stop here. This summer, we have plans to send WEI
short-term mission teams to Cambodia, Burma, Poland, Romania, Nicaragua,
and Albania. If you are interested in teaching WEI in any of these
countries, please contact us here at the Maryville office. I also have
commitments to travel to several churches this year and introduce them to
our WEI English as a Second Language local outreach ministry. Many of the
Lord’s churches in America are discovering that they have a foreign
mission field in their own backyard.
None of this would be possible without the prayers and support you have
offered to WEI. We sincerely thank you. Expenses to operate this Maryville
office are ongoing; therefore, our fundraising must be as well. Please
give prayerful consideration to support WEI with your tax-deductible
contributions. We love and appreciate you all.
---Tom and Angie
Dick and Maudine Ady
Watching God work throughout the world is profoundly
moving. Last month, I had an opportunity to watch him work in Cambodia and
Vietnam. While I was in Southeast Asia, the Lord was busy in other places
as well.
Ellen Walker reports from Tirana, Albania that “Ola Stana was baptized for
the forgiveness of her sins. Last summer, Ola studied with Ervin Ballabani
and Dick Ady during the WEI campaign. Since that time, she has attended
quite regularly and has grown to faith.” It thrills my soul that one of my
former students is now our sister in Christ.
We also received some exciting news from Aniefiok Akpan, Principal of
Rhema Academy in Nigeria. He reports that “three inspectors of schools
from the Ministry of Education registered yesterday for the free WEI
correspondence course. They were on a routine inspection visit to Rhema
Academy. While in the office, they glanced through the samples of the WEI
courses on my desk and became interested.
“After I registered them, they promised to introduce the courses to
members of their families and to other schools that they would be visiting
in subsequent months. Please pray for these top government officials and
other WEI students in Nigeria.”
No one knows what God is planning to do in Nigeria and other parts of the
world. Thus far, he has given us students in 190 nations, and more
students continue to enroll. In order to meet the challenge and to grasp
the opportunity, we need more teachers. We are deeply grateful for the
teachers who are working so hard to lead people to Christ, and we would
warmly welcome you if you would like to join us in this worldwide
ministry.
Our hearts are full of gratitude as we think of all the churches and
friends who are supporting us with your prayers and financial resources.
We are humbled by the confidence you have placed in us. Thank you. May God
bless you for your sacrificial care. We deeply love and appreciate you.
---Dick & Maudine
|
