Victory in Jesus
“The dream has come true. Thank you Lord. This short note is to let you know
that the first service of worship was held today, July 1, 2007, in the
presence of God at the new building. Praise him for what he provides. It’s
time to rejoice.” Erik Qirjaqi
First Worship Service in the New Building in Tirana
From its beginning in 1992, the church in
Tirana has moved from one place to another and has lost members with each
move. In 1996, it became clear that the church needed a permanent place to
meet for worship, Bible study, and fellowship. At that time, we started
talking about erecting a multi-purpose building that could be used for
church activities, for teaching WEI students year around, and for leadership
training.
By the providence of God and a lot of hard work, our dream is finally coming
true. Through the sacrificial giving of his people, the Lord has provided
the necessary resources. God has also brought together two skillful
architects, a gifted engineer, a winsome negotiator, and a group of skilled
workers. Satan has erected numerous road blocks in an effort to hinder this
building project, but God has prevailed.
On Saturday July 21, this new building will be dedicated to God and to his
Son Jesus Christ who died and rose again to liberate us from bondage to sin
and Satan. We praise him for opening the windows of heaven and showering us
with blessings. We give this building back to God and promise to use it to
honor him in worship and for sharing the Good News about Christ with others.
To God be the honor and the glory and the praise forever.
New Christian in Romania
Missionary Albert Cook reports that Laurentiu recently put on Christ in
baptism. Bogdan Reu, a Romanian member of the church, was honored to perform
the baptism.
Laurentiu, Albert, and Bogdan Reu
Tom Langley reports that “Laurentiu is a delightful man who has been a WEI
student for two years and was first introduced to the church through a WEI
short-term mission. Albert stated that it’s now important to be very patient
with our WEI Bible students. As opposed to the early years following the
Eastern Block revolutions, it now takes sometimes two or three summers of
Bible study and worship experience before students are willing to make a
commitment and become members of God’s kingdom.”
New Christian in Durrës
Çimi Kafexhiu, a minister of the church in Durrës, Albania writes, “A new
soul is added to the body of Christ in Durrës. On May 23rd, Greta Bejzo met
Jesus at the cross in baptism and became a daughter of God.
“Greta is a wonderful sister and a good student in her school. Sarah, one of
the AIM girls, taught her about Jesus, and now I’m teaching her from the
book of Romans. I consider the teaching after baptism very important to the
Christian walk. Sometimes, when we stop teaching the new converts after
baptism, they drift away from the Lord.
“I also continue to teach Bible classes with small groups, and my schedule
is busy during the week with teaching the WEI students.”
Greta Bejzo Is Baptized
Two New Christians in Crete
We just learned from John Adesoye, our new brother in Crete, that he has
baptized two more members of his formerly Pentecostal congregation. As you
may recall, John was born in Nigeria and is now working in Crete as a
computer technologist.
Until recently, John preached for a small Pentecostal church in Heraklio,
Crete, but he became so disillusioned with Pentecostalism that he was about
to give up on Christianity. On the verge of despair, John surfed the
Internet in an effort to find a church that followed the New Testament.
Providentially, he logged on to the WEI web site, enrolled as an Internet
student, and was taught by Mike Hale of Georgetown, Texas.
When John showed great interest, Mike contacted Dino Roussos in Athens,
Greece. Dino flew to Crete to meet John and to speak to his congregation.
The next day, Dino baptized him into Christ. Since then, John has baptized
several members of his congregation. The church has removed instrumental
music from its worship services and is partaking of the Lord’s Supper every
Sunday. Their goal is to restore New Testament Christianity.
In a recent email, John wrote, “This is to bring you good news of great joy
in heaven and on earth. Two more people surrendered to the gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ on the 24th of June, were immersed in water (baptized),
and were added to the Lord’s church.” --Your brother in Crete, John
Sponsoring Church Needed
A church is needed to sponsor a WEI Teaching Center in Abak, Nigeria. One of
the most promising evangelistic efforts in which WEI is involved is centered
in southeastern Nigeria. Aniefiok Akpan, Principal of Rhema Academy, and his
wife Etang are using WEI materials in a nationwide outreach effort.
In addition to their work at Rhema Academy, they are teaching 180 WEI
students—including denominational preachers and high school and university
students. Seven have already been baptized, and the evangelistic effort is
just getting under way.
The Akpans plan to mobilize preachers and church leaders throughout Nigeria.
To do that, they have rented office space in a building near the center of
Abak, a major city close to Rhema Academy. The Akpans are sponsored and
supported by the Bethlehem Church of Christ in Watertown, Tennessee, so
their personal support is guaranteed.
However, we are looking for a church that will sponsor the WEI Teaching
Center in Abak. Rent on the office space is $80 a month. Operating expenses
are expected to be about $120 a month. For $200 a month, your congregation
can fund a WEI Teaching Center that could lead many Nigerian people to
Christ.
If this new opportunity appeals to you, please contact us at the Gresham
office. For postal and email addresses and telephone number, see the front
page of the newsletter.
New Christian in Lushnja
Tom Bonner, missionary in Lushnja, Albania, writes, “I am pleased to share
with you that Oltion (Olti) Mezini was baptized in the Adriatic Sea on March
18, one day before his eighteenth birthday.
Tom Baptizes Olti in Adriatic Sea
Another Baptism in Kenya
Nkurunziza Jean de La Paix reports, “As I write this short email, I am full
of joy. As Good Friday is a day we remember when Jesus died for us, here
someone has decided to die with him and be resurrected with him in baptism.
He is called Titus Ileve. He is 39 years old. He enrolled with WEI two
months ago, and he is still going on.
“The wonderful thing is that he is the husband of Dodorris Leneh Kavae and
the father of Nicholas Ileve. If you remember, these two were baptized on
October 23, 06. Now, the whole family has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Church Worker Electrocuted
We regret to announce that Mira, a 26-year-old WEI teacher in Korçë,
Albania, died by electrocution in her home June 25. She was a successful
school teacher, a true servant of God, and a vital part of the Korçë
congregation. Please pray for Mira’s widowed mother and for the work of God
in Korçë.
Bob & Jan Towell
For almost a decade, Bob and Jan Towell have been heading up the WEI
Internet teaching ministry. As volunteers, they have worked night and day
and have supported the ministry out of their own pockets. Now, they need an
additional $300 to $500 a month to expand the ministry. You can contact Bob
at Bobtowell@aol.com or Jan at
JRTowell@aol.com.
Bob writes, “WEI’s Internet Program has grown from a curiosity to a
substantial part of WEI’s teaching ministry, so the Towells will report news
of the program as space allows.
“Since January 2007, the number of people requesting WEI’s Introductory
Lesson has doubled over what it was in 2006. The increase is due to the
Internet advertisement that WEI started purchasing in November 2006. As a
result, the number of new students has doubled, and WEI’s Internet teachers
have been stretched to the breaking point.
“This brings us to the second part of the exciting
news. The Lord has also increased the number of Internet teachers. We
attended the Red River Family Encampment June 23-26 and made an announcement
before one of the speeches. This resulted in 22 people seeking us out to
volunteer as Internet teachers, and we were able to show them the mechanics
of Internet teaching on our portables.
“WEI’s advertisement is the Internet equivalent of a Yellow Pages ad. An
anonymous supporter has been contributing $100 a month for the ads. In the
past six months, the ad has resulted in over 800 more people requesting
WEI’s lessons, twice as many as we have been reaching via search engines,
recommendations of friends, and local advertising, the only forms of
advertising WEI’s Internet Program has used previously.
“The $100 a month has proven that Internet advertising is effective. But
$100 a month is not enough to show WEI’s ad all day long—only 3 or 4 hours
each day. The registration rate could probably be doubled again if the ad
were shown 24 hours a day.” --- Bob & Jan Towell
Tom, Angie, Bianca, & Brianna Langley
Tom & Angie Langley
At the writing of this newsletter, six of the nine WEI short-term Bible
teaching missions in Romania, Poland, and Albania have begun. For the second
year, I had the privilege of introducing the entire course to each group of
students for each hour of classes at one of the Bucharest mission sites.
The students come with great anticipation, and most of the time, they are
adorably nervous to use their English. Most have formerly studied English
but have never had the opportunity to practice their skills with a native
speaker. The students all left thrilled after their first class as our
teachers set their minds at ease and began to build a new friendship with
their students.
During the introduction, a student asked me why we use the Bible as a
conversational text, and before I could answer him, another student said,
“Because it is the most known book and most sold book in human history. What
other book would you expect them to use as a conversational text?”
I agreed with him and proceeded to explain further that our teachers
volunteer and pay their own expenses, and that they make no money for their
time and effort. God bless our teachers!
I’m looking forward to visiting some of the other sites, meeting the
students, and also teaching a full schedule of students in Bucharest and
Oradea this summer. Please keep all these Bible teaching efforts in your
prayers as these short-term missions are the result of a year of
preparation.
Angie and girls were not able to travel with me this summer, and I do miss
them desperately. I am reminded, however, that the relatively few weeks I am
away from them is a very small sacrifice to pay for the enormous blessings
of serving in this powerful WEI Bible teaching ministry. We stay in touch
daily through all forms of technology, and I am thankful to God for their
support.
We are also thankful for all of you who support WEI. We love and appreciate
you.
---Tom and Angie
Dick & Maudine Ady
Dick & Maudine Ady
We write this column with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it makes us sad
to report that two of our finest teachers, Fred Uptagrafft of Huntsville,
Alabama, and Roseann Ekman of Brainerd, Minnesota, died this month. Fred had
been a supporter of WEI since the beginning in 1989. These teachers will be
sorely missed. Today, we honor their memory.
At the same time, God is doing so many amazing things in the world that I
can hardly contain my excitement. Earlier this year, Fred Uptagrafft
reported that Joseph Robin, one of his students in Haiti, had been baptized.
Jim and Rhonda Vice, who work with the
church in Lebanon, Oregon, sent us a copy of a letter they received from
Mike Siagayumu, one of their postal mail students in Lusaka, Zambia. He
wrote, “I am glad to announce to you that I have gained more spiritual
strength. Since I started studying your lessons, I am now equipped with new
information, and I am very much ready to preach the word to the lost.”
Bob Patterson, our WEI Web Master, reports that one of his students in China
has been baptized.
John Travis continues to baptize WEI students in Liberia.
Dan Ford and Philip Ganta continue to teach and baptize people in the Middle
East and to train preachers and church leaders.
God is at work in the world. Praise his name!
On a personal note, I have been recovering from hip replacement surgery
(left hip) since June 11. Thankfully, I am ahead of schedule in my recovery
and am walking without a crutch. Thank you for all the prayers that have
been offered on my behalf.
I had to cancel my trip to Albania this summer and will not be able to be
there for the dedication of the new building. The silver lining in the cloud
is that I have been able to read a lot and to write a book that should have
been written long ago.
Without your prayers and financial support, none of this would have been
possible. We thank God for you. You are loved and appreciated. ---Dick and
Maudine
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