New Christians in Muslim
Country
At great risk to themselves, a Muslim student who has been studying with
Katheryn Haddad via the Internet is now our brother in Christ, and his wife
is our sister. Leaving Islam and embracing Christianity in his country is
like a capital offense. Consequently, he and his wife baptized each other
secretly.
The picture below is only suggestive of our new brother and sister and their
children. It is not their picture. For obvious reasons, we cannot show their
faces.
Typical of the Couple Baptized into Christ
On February 21, Katheryn wrote, “Praise God! My Muslim student in XXXX
wants to be baptized.” He wrote, “I am going to baptize as soon as possible.
Please tell me how can I do it and how I pray.” Soon thereafter, he wrote,
“I am very happy this morning. I have baptized with my wife. She helped me
baptizing. We baptized in the bathtub together.”
Katheryn traces the history of this study as follows: “Tariq” (not his real
name) is in his forties. Tariq was impressed with the lesson on the
prophecies of the Messiah that were fulfilled by Jesus, especially
prophecies in Isaiah.
“One week later, he wrote me, ‘I need your help and your special guidance to
my decision to become a Christian, but now it is dangerous for me in my
country. What can I do?’
“This is one of the most dangerous nations in the world to leave Islam and
become a Christian. Men have been imprisoned and put on trial for their life
for giving a Bible to someone. Women have had acid thrown in their face. I
encouraged him to try praying to Yahweh (the Great I AM). I continued to
encourage him to be baptized, explaining that it can be done in secret. He
asked how it is done. I explained what to say, and asked if his wife, a
brother, or a trusted friend could help him. Two days later, he and his wife
baptized each other in secret.”
On March 17, Katheryn wrote, “My newly baptized ex-Muslim wrote me today
that he wants to worship with a church, and could I help him find one. If
only people in America could see what people like Tariq go through, rather
than saying, ‘Do I HAVE to go to church?’”
Let us pray earnestly that God will protect this courageous couple as
they follow Jesus in a hostile environment. They are the third Muslim couple
to baptize each other recently.
Fruitful Harvest in India
Mike Hale reports that 45 people have been baptized in India during the past
three months.
Prabhu Kumar, the Director of WEI in India, is on schedule to establish a
WEI branch in every state in India by 2015. Following the principle of
multiplication found in 2 Timothy 2:2, he is training the students he
baptizes to teach and baptize others who, in turn, teach and baptize others,
etc.
On February 3, Prabhu reported that he had taught WEI students in Hyderabad
and had baptized four of them in a mountain lake.
Prabhu Baptizes John Paul into Christ
On February 4, Prabhu reported that teacher, Jyothi Babu, had baptized
three of his WEI students at Hammakonda at night.
On February 22, Prabhu reported that nine WEI students had been baptized in
Ajit Prakashpur.
Ajith Kumar Tandy Baptizes WEI Student
In March, nine more people were baptized into Christ as a result of
Prabhu’s work and the work of his fellow-teachers in India.
Prabhu Encounters Hostility
The rapid growth of Christianity in India has triggered a reaction by
radical Hindu nationalists. Church buildings have been burned. Missionaries
and national preachers have been beaten, robbed, and even killed.
Anti-Christian hate literature has been circulated, and many Christian
converts have been forced to return to Hinduism.
India is the largest democracy in the world, and the Indian constitution
guarantees religious freedom. But Indian authorities have been known to turn
a blind eye to atrocities committed by Hindus against Christians.
Eight Indian states have passed anti-conversion laws designed to prevent
Hindus from converting to Christianity.
It is not without risk that Prabhu Kumar travels all over India setting up
WEI classes and teaching Hindu students about Jesus Christ.
On Tuesday, March 22, Prabhu traveled to Kodad, Surypet, and Nalgonda to
inaugurate new WEI branches. Things went well at Kodad and Surypet, but at
Nalgonda, Prabhu ran into trouble. Arriving at Nalgonda at 6:00 p.m., Prabhu
gave the WEI materials to Bro. John Paul, the WEI teacher, and asked him to
arrange the materials on a table. Prabhu writes, “At the time I went to
bathe, many young people came and covered the area. They went up the stairs
where the [WEI] banner was tied, and they checked the books. Then they
understood that this English teaching is connected with the Bible. So they
became ready to beat us if we will inaugurate the WEI branch there. They
were all from RSS (Rsstriya Swyam Sevak Sangh which is the sister concern of
Viswa Hindu Parishad, India), and they were ready to catch us. They had
already warned our local teacher not to teach the Bible, but we were not
aware of this.
“So, in fear, the local teacher kept us in the room and served food. We were
there for two hours. The RSS people were not gone from the surrounding
places. Though our teacher was afraid, I decided to go out to reach the
Railway station. My train will leave at 12:30 a.m., so I need to catch that.
Even auto people would not come to that area because of RSS fear. Then, I
and Michael both started to go out by taking a daring step. I caught the
train and reached Vijayawada by 6:a.m.
“Please pray for those foolish people so that God may work on their hearts.”
Later, Prabhu wrote, “I have traveled to may areas in various states where
these Hindu people are quite against our Christianity. But I have never
experienced a fearful condition like this. Certainly it is the grace of God
which saved us on that night. Bro. John Paul called me and said that after
my departure, there was a big quarreling between his family and the RSS
people. They were almost beaten with long rods. When I heard that, I was
surprised by the seriousness of the Hindu opponents.” Please pray for Prabhu
as he risks his life to spread the gospel of Christ in India..
WEI Student Baptized in Kenya
Nkurunziza Jean De La Paix writes, “It is with great joy that I write to let
you know about the baptism of James K. Mutuku that took place last Monday,
21st March, 2011.
“James is one of my Bible and WEI students. One of the attached pictures
shows him being baptized by elder Duncan Irungu.”
James K. Mutuku Is Baptized by Elder Duncan Irungu
Aniefiok Akpan Reports in
Nigeria
In his February 2011 news report, Aniefiok Akpan writes, “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.”
Eno Watches and Awaits Her Turn as Unwana is Baptized
Aniefiok continues, “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 open 6 hours daily (between 9am and
3pm). With the help of the city office, 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 Cameroon and Sierra Leone. Before the end of the 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 of Christ of all
nations using WEI.
Prison Ministry Bears Fruit
Larry Ware, Prison Minister at Oklahoma State Reformatory, reports that
inmates Jeffrey Gardner, David Prince, Christopher McGinley, Blaine Berry,
and Justin Roan have been baptized into Christ after studying the WEI Bible
courses. Larry asks us to pray for these new brothers in Christ.
Pen Vannak Is Now our Brother
Julie Broyles is doing a great work as Director of the BEST Center in Phnom
Penh, Cambodia. Using WEI materials, she and her visiting teachers share the
good news with Khmer people year around.
Pen Vannak with His Teacher, Phil
In her March 17, 2011 blog, Julie writes the following: “The teachers
here spend hours planting and watering. Pen Vannak’s past teacher was Harold
Romine, and for the past couple of months he has been taught by Phillip
Gardner. What a joy to be God’s spokesman to the lost!
“Pen Vannak is an extremely polite young man with an
award-winning smile! He came having some prior knowledge of God from some
Korean and Indian missionaries. Through his studies with Phil, he came to
realize he needed to be baptized for God to forgive him.”
Amazon River Used as Baptistry
Bro. Julio Valverde, a WEI teacher in Peru, tells about an evangelistic trip
he and some fellow-preachers made to northern Peru in January and February
in the heat of their summer.
Julio writes, “From 14th January to 14th February, our preachers in Puente
Piedra, Carlos Perez, and Ignacio Pajuelo, were in Iquitos. They were
preaching there in a village close to the Amazon. Finally, one family of two
parents and two daughters obeyed the gospel in the Amazon River.”
Baptism in the Amazon
Internet Ministry
Bob and Jan Towell
WEI’s Internet program is a team effort, and many of the players are
unknown. There are the teachers who proclaim the Good News “into all the
world.” God knows them and has a rich reward awaiting those who use their
time to sow the seed! Others are making the teaching website better. Steve
Foltz helps teachers send Completion Certificates and works with Dick Ady to
add audio to the Advanced and Supplemental Lessons. Greg Holmes is adding
audio to the Elementary Lessons. Because mobile devices provide the same
access to websites at less than half the cost, people around the world are
buying these instead of computers. Jonathan plans to retool the website
making it compatible with these mobile devices this year. You who connect
with your “blackberry” or other mobile device will see a great improvement
in the way the website works.
When we obey the Great Commission, God will give the increase, as in the
following two messages:
From China: “I went to the Church which you recommended. Then I met such a
warm family that I loved in the first sight. After the meeting, I went to
another house with them for more teaching and decided to accept T’s advice
when he asked me, ‘Why not today?’ Praise God.”
From Sudan: “As a refugee in Uganda, I escaped death narrowly when the
brutal Resistance Army invaded the camp. I prayed God would rescue me and
escaped with my hands tied behind me. When peace was signed in Sudan, I
returned and applied for a job that required English. Exploring the
Internet, I found WEI. As I studied, I realized that there was more truth in
the lessons than in teachings of the Pentecostal Church. On 29 August, I was
baptized in the Nile. I imagined Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan and how happy
I would be with him in eternity. I felt energized, as though something
physical was removed from my body. As I look into the past and the future,
it is more than useless to own the riches of the universe and lose one’s
life forever.”
---Bob and Jan
Short-Term Missions
Tom, Angie, Bianca, & Brianna Langley
I was recently asked to describe my first contact with World English
Institute. As I recalled the story from 20 years ago, I reflected on God’s
ever-present personal involvement in our lives. Angie and I see more clearly
now how God was working powerfully in our lives by opening a door of
opportunity in 1992 to serve him through WEI.
While Angie and I were missionaries in Romania shortly after their violent
revolution, we wrote a Bible course to study with our daily students. The
course began with Genesis and took students systematically through the Bible
using the kingdom concept as the principle theme.
Later, Angie had a student who was studying WEI, and he asked her if he
could bring his WEI correspondence materials to class for her to help him.
She discovered that the WEI course was similar to the course we had written.
We were both impressed. That student was a devout atheist, and a very
contentious young student.
One day, just before Angie was about to give up on him, he came to class
after having read the final WEI lesson. With a big smile on his face, he
announced that he was no longer an atheist. He had come to believe through
the WEI study that Jesus was the Son of God and Savior of mankind. He asked
to be baptized into Christ so he could become a member of God’s kingdom. He
remains a faithful Christian husband and father today.
WEI became the principle tool that we used to make contacts and attract
students for Bible study in Romania for the next 15 years. So many precious
souls in Romania have come to know God and commit their lives to Him as a
result of WEI. To God be the glory.
Many of our short-term mission efforts this summer are on schedule, but
we are still lacking teachers in several sites. Honduras, Ukraine, Romania,
Nicaragua, and Albania could all use more teachers. If you are interested,
it’s not too late. Please contact me for more details. It’s very likely you
will have a student just like the student I described above.
We always want to express our deepest gratitude for the supporters of the
Maryville office. We covet your partnership. Thank you! We love you. ---Tom
and Angie
Feeling Grateful
Maudine and Dick Ady
In spite of the financial hole WEI is in due to the economic downturn, I
am feeling grateful.
I am grateful that God has called us to this worldwide mission ministry.
Nothing can compare with the joy that comes from leading others to Christ
and knowing that God is using us to help rescue the perishing.
One day, I said to Maudine, “I wish we could live on the mission field and
be fulltime missionaries again.” She wisely asked, “How many people could
you lead to Christ in a given year living on the mission field? Twenty?
Twenty-five? Thirty”? Then she asked, “How many people are you introducing
to Christ each year through WEI? Twenty thousand? Fifty thousand? One
hundred thousand?” Finally, she said, “You’d better be happy where God put
you.” It becomes increasingly clear to me why God gave me a wife.
I am grateful for my partners in WEI—my wife, Maudine and our daughter,
Debbie Henry, who work so faithfully in the Gresham office—for Tom and Angie
Langley who serve God in the Eastern Office in Maryville, TN—for Bob and Jan
Towell who give their time, energy, and money to keep the WEI Internet
teaching ministry going—for their grandson, Jonathan, who is responsible for
developing and maintaining the WEI teaching website—for Internet and postal
teachers who share their faith with people in every nation—for short-term
missionaries who raise their own travel funds and go to mission sites in
Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America—for Jim McIntosh for formatting the
WEI newsletter each quarter.
I am grateful to the Metro congregation in Gresham, OR for sponsoring and
supporting us since 1989—to the church in Maryville, TN for sponsoring and
supporting the Langleys—to Justin Speer and the church in Katy, TX for
sponsoring our first fundraising dinner last October—to Steve Merryman, Art
Hitt, Jo Towell, and the Peninsula congregation in Portland, OR for
sponsoring the most recent fundraising dinner.
I am grateful to God for putting this team of workers together to accomplish
his eternal purposes.
Finally, we are grateful to you, our friends, for your generosity and love.
Thank you. We love you. ---Dick and Maudine
Portland Fundraising Dinner
Thanks to Steve Merryman, Art Hitt, Justin Speer, and a host of others, the
Portland WEI Fundraising Dinner was a success. The venue (Johnson Center at
Cascade College) was provided free of charge by Oklahoma Christian
University. The catering service reduced the price of its services by 50%.
One hundred sixty-five people attended. A total of $6,728.59 was raised
above expenses, and eighteen people signed up to be Internet teachers.
Several people committed to making monthly contributions. All-in-all, the
fundraising dinner was a success.
Art Hitt served as Master of Ceremonies. Tom Langley related ways in which
the Lord is using WEI to teach people about Christ in every nation. Dick Ady
used bar and pie graphs to give a clear picture of where WEI has been and is
going financially. Artan and Rumira Xhaferi, formerly from Tirana, Albania,
stole the hearts of the people.
John Dale, the photographer, took dozens of beautiful pictures. The
following group picture shows people who have worked with WEI as short-term
missionaries, Internet teachers, postal teachers, and in other ways at home
and abroad.
God is sending us more students than our present staff of Internet teachers
can handle. We need more teachers.
We also need about $4,000 a month in regular contributions to keep this
worldwide mission effort going.
WEI Teachers and Workers
Praise God for blessing us with unlimited opportunities to seek and save
the lost through WEI.
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