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Campaign in Nikolaev, Ukraine
For more than a year, David and Galina Binkley have been teaching WEI
students in Nikolaev. This year, they invited us to join them in a WEI
teaching campaign. On June 10, Charles Chandler, Jon Rawlings, Mike Soto,
and I landed in Kiev and were welcomed by David and Galina at the airport.
After a rough, eight-hour van ride, we checked into our hotel in Nikolaev
around midnight. On Sunday, we worshiped with the wonderful little church in
Nikolaev and enjoyed food-fellowship afterwards.
Worshiping with the Nikolaev Church
On Monday morning, we launched one of the most meaningful short-term
mission efforts I have experienced. David and Galina had recruited about
twenty-four high-quality students. Three of them had PhD’s, and seven had,
or were about to earn, Masters Degrees. These students ranged in age from
seventeen to forty-five.
We arose at 5 o’clock each morning, ate breakfast at the hotel, and walked
uphill a mile and a half to the Culture Center where the church meets.
There, in the room next to the church office, we taught our students from
9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.daily, with a two-hour lunch break.
On Friday, June 24, Natasha Mishchenko, a pediatrician and teacher, was
baptized into Christ after studying with Charles Chandler for two weeks.
David Baptizes Natasha in the Southern Bug River
Most of the students worked hard to finish the course within three weeks.
My student, Larisa Golovko, spent four hours a day preparing for class even
though she had a fulltime job. As a result, she made marvelous progress in
her knowledge of English and the Bible.
On Friday morning, July 1, about thirty students, teachers, and friends
gathered for the graduation ceremony. Kesha Golovina said as he received his
diploma, “This study has changed my thinking about Christianity. For the
first time, I have seen what real Christianity is like.”
Thirty People Attend the Graduation Ceremony
At least six students were getting close to committing their lives to
Christ. Pray that God will bless David and Galina with a fruitful harvest.
Comments from Mike Soto
“This was one of my most exhausting and rewarding mission efforts in a
Russian-speaking nation. As we began our mission effort, several students
expressed distaste for the Bible, but just a few days into the course, their
focus on English shifted to the Words of God.
Mike Teaches One of His Students
The Word of God and the lives of the missionaries, David and Galina
Binkley, impressed them and moved the students to want more. “I have not
seen such a concise version of the Bible and its message from God as I have
seen in WEI. I plan to use these materials here in Portland, Oregon.”
Comments from Jon Rawlings
“Meeting my students the first day was intimidating because neither of us
knew what to expect of the other. After getting to know each other, I
discovered that the students had an immense desire to learn.”
Jon Teaches One of His WEI Students
“Many of my students could recite the Bible lessons almost verbatim. It
was amazing to see the students transform their thinking. Many of them came
to improve their English. However, by the end of the three weeks, many of
them had learned about God’s plan for redeeming us. As one of my students
said, ‘We came here to study English, but found out that the Bible is more
important.’”
A Church Is Planted in Brazil
One of Mike Hale’s WEI students in Brazil, Bene Ribeiro, is now our brother
in Christ. Bene had been an elder in the Pentecostal church. Immediately,
Bene started sharing with his family and friends what he had learned. He
wrote, “I visited my dentist today, who is a Pentecostal, and after our
appointment, I asked him for a few minutes of his time. I let him have what
I had found. He got very interested and asked me to send him these studies
by e-mail. I have translated the first nine lessons of the book, Introducing
the Church of Christ, and I have been using them to talk to people who are
in many denominations.”
On May 27, Bene wrote, “Some of my Pentecostal fellows have read the first
four lessons that I translated into Portuguese, and they could find nothing
written there that is not supported by the Bible. One of them has even
mentioned quitting his pastor position at a big denomination and following
what the New Testament tells us to do.”
L to R: Bene and Elza Rigeiro, Jacqueline & Bryan Bost
On Sunday, May 29, Bryan and Jacquiline Bost, longtime missionaries in
Brazil, visited the Rigeiros. Bene wrote, “My wife, Elza, and I had the
chance to ask them some questions, and we also prayed and praised the Lord
with some spiritual songs.”
On June 3, Bene told his Pentecostal pastor that he and his family were
leaving the church in order to worship God according to the New Testament.
Bene says, “Since then, I have been gathering with my family on Sundays. We
praise the Lord with our voices in songs. We pray, and then we study, and we
base everything on the scriptures. Then we pray again, and we partake of the
bread and wine. Some people have been invited to join us. We have a room at
home that we can use for gathering around 20 to 25 people. I think there
will be 16 people there this Sunday. If the Church of Christ brothers from a
small town nearby come, there will be around 20 to 23.”
God is at work in Brazil.
Baptisms in India &
Bangladesh
Prabhu Kumar continues to travel in India and Bangladesh, setting up WEI
“branches” and baptizing students into Christ.
In April, Prabhu made a three-day trip to the Prakasam district of
Andrapradesh and granted diplomas to eighty-two students. In three days,
eight students were baptized into Christ.
In Bangladesh, Prabhu attended two meetings in the district of Khgrachari.
He writes, “It was really the most fearful situation I have faced in this
country. Many local people are observing. Many police people are observing,
and many Army people are also observing. God only strengthened us to take
two young students of WEI to the canal and baptize them. Thank God for
giving us a great victory in this Muslim country.”
Bro. Emoan Baptizes WEI Student at Matirangga
Back at home in India on June 7, Prabhu reported that five more WEI
students had been baptized. “To baptize them, we faced more problems because
of the RSS people. They objected to our baptizing them in the nearest lake.
So we searched for one hour and found a baptismal tub which was constructed
by one of the denominational pastors.
But there was no water. So we went to the corporation people and
requested them to supply a mini water tank by paying Rs 500 at their office.
After 2 hours, they unloaded the water in the baptismal tub. Finally Bro.
Michael baptized those people in that baptismal tub at 5:30 p.m. I took the
snaps with my camera. God has strengthened our WEI teacher, Bro. Michael, to
save five of his WEI students.”
As of June 7, fifty-five WEI students in India had been baptized into Christ
in 2011.
Bro. Michael Baptizes WEI Student, K. Yesu Raju
Baptism in the Nile River
James Sokiri, of Juba, South Sudan, was surfing the Internet in 2010 when he
came across a link to World English Institute. He enrolled as an Internet
student.
James writes, “When I studied the Bible lessons, I realized that there is
more truth in the lessons than in the teachings I received when I was a
member of the Pentecostal Church of the Sudan.”
James visited the Church of Christ in Juba and was impressed by the plea,
“Speak where the Bible speaks, and be silent where the Bible is silent.”
James was baptized in the Nile River by Brother Isaya Jackson. His youngest
brother was baptized on the same day.
Isaya Jackson Baptizes James Sokiri in the Nile River
More Inmates Baptized at OSR
Larry Ware uses WEI materials in his prison ministry at Oklahoma State
Reformatory, and the Lord keeps blessing him with fruit. During the past two
months, Larry has baptized four inmates into Christ: Albert McElhaney,
Jessie Willis, David Garrison, and Wendell Tanner.
Internet Ministry
Bob & Jan Towell
When we cannot assign students within 72 hours, Internet ads are
suspended. This year, ads have been suspended 38% of the time and shown to
be only 4% of those searching for English study. Registrations jump
immediately when ads are resumed proving the effectiveness of English as our
bait and making it obvious we should ask the Lord of Harvests to send more
teachers, and tell others of this opportunity to bring souls to Christ.
Please help us recruit!
Is WEI’s teaching website
effective?
A new congregation in Brazil is worshiping as Christians did in the first
century. A student of Mike Hale’s, Bene, realized Pentecostal teaching does
not conform to the New Testament, and he and his family and friends are
meeting in his home. This is the second Pentecostal group that has become a
New Testament church through Mike Hale using the teaching website. The other
is on Crete where no congregation had existed for 850 years prior to John
Adesoye becoming a Christian in 2007. Mike, a retired cotton farmer with a
bad heart, has used and developed the talents the Lord has invested in him.
Gowri, a Hindu, taught by both Steve Foltz and Peggy Green, wanted to
meet “good Christians.” A contact was found, and he asked, “Why not now?”
and was joyfully immersed into Christ.
At least three churches in the Mid-East consist of only husband and wife.
One wrote, “When I found WEI, I becom interesting to read all lessons. I
didn’t time during the days, I was So busy in the office and field, So I
read during the night. Finally I found the rightness of Christianity. It is
important to meet and worship with others, but some time it is not possible.
So we worship alone. It is my duty to preach my family and friends. My wife
accepted, now I am working and praying for relatives and friends.”
Please consider Matthew 9:37, 38.
YOU can be involved in reaching the lost while there is yet time!
---Bob and Jan
Short-term Missions
Langley Family
Our WEI short-term mission schools are in full swing at the writing of
this column. WEI teachers from Connecticut, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon, and
other states are serving as ambassadors of Christ in teaching WEI students
and sharing the message of reconciliation to lost souls in several
countries. Mission sites in Romania, Albania, Peru, Ukraine, and Guatemala
are all using WEI this summer in an effort to reach the lost in their
communities. Many more countries of the world are using WEI on a full-time
basis to attract students and grow churches. WEI short-term mission teachers
are always needed.
Participating in a WEI short-term mission serves as a spiritual blessing
to both our teachers and students. Our students are blessed with the
opportunity to receive free personal daily English instruction, but most
importantly, they are blessed to read and study God’s word. It takes 5
minutes or less for our teachers to grade the students’ English grammar
homework. They spend the rest of the hour reading and discussing the Bible
lesson. Most of our students know very little about God’s word. It’s
exciting to watch their faith in God grow with each lesson as they slowly
learn and observe the plan of salvation unfolding through history and
scripture.
Our teachers are blessed by having the opportunity to share their faith,
read, and study the Bible for 6 hours a day with willing and open listeners.
There is also a close bond of fellowship that develops between fellow
teachers as they share the same thrilling daily experiences. These
experiences will often inspire our teachers to return to their home
congregations and become much more involved in teaching and evangelism.
Investing time, effort, and money into a WEI short-term mission can reap a
lifetime of eternal blessings for teachers, students, and sending churches.
May God richly bless all of you who support this amazing international WEI
teaching ministry. Angie and I are constantly in awe and humbled by your
generosity and passion for reaching the lost of the world. Financial
challenges continue. Please pray for WEI. We love you. ---Tom & Angie
Dick & Maudine
Ady is 80
I thought I would sneak off to Nikolaev, Ukraine and avoid all the
fanfare that goes with turning eighty. But, low and behold, they got the
word in Ukraine and surprised me with a party.
During our mission effort in Nikolaev, the teachers and a few students had
lunch together in a nearby restaurant each day. But, on June 22, I walked
into the restaurant and was escorted into the banquet room.
The banquet room looked like the dining hall in a king’s palace. Five
graceful pillars ran through the middle of the room, each topped with a
Corinthian capital. A long, beautifully decorated table was surrounded by
students and teachers. I was so shocked that I hardly remember them singing
Happy Birthday.
I have decided that turning eighty isn’t so bad after all.
David and Galina Binkley reported, “Dick Ady’s wife and daughter let it slip
that he was having his 80th birthday. So, we spoke to Alina who manages the
restaurant where we eat each day, and she opened up the large banquet hall
for us and decorated the table very nicely for Dick’s birthday celebration.
Almost all of our students took time out of their busy schedules to come for
this great time of fellowship. Most birthdays here are celebrated with
alcohol, and our students were pleasantly surprised that we had joy and
laughter by being filled with the Spirit and not spirits.”
When I returned home July 2, there were more than forty birthday cards and
110 e-mail birthday greetings waiting for me. I was overwhelmed and humbled.
Thank you.
But WEI is not about me. It is all about Jesus Christ. It is about getting
the Good News out to every man, woman, and young person on earth.
To keep this work going, we need your help. Please include the WEI Gresham
office in your budget and join us in making disciples of all nations.
Maudine and I are grateful for your love, and we love you back. We praise
God for you and the fellowship we have in Christ.
---Dick and Maudine
Oradea Mission Team
Katy Church Joins Oradea
Mission Ten teachers participated in this year’s WEI short-term mission effort in
Oradea, Romania, studying with 36 students. Five of those teachers came from
the Church of Christ in Katy, Texas. This was Katy’s first team of WEI
short-term teachers to be sent by that congregation. Katy has become very
dear to WEI. Many of their members have recently become Internet
correspondence teachers, and the Katy church successfully hosted our
first-ever fundraising dinner in Houston last fall. Teachers from Katy
include Noelle and Kaytlin Gonzales, Paula Taylor, Jeff Hilton, and Felicia
Vaughn. Other teachers include Dorothy Langley, Bill and Norma Taylor and
Sarah Dedmon. All of the teachers have done a wonderful job. The seed has
been sown, others will water, and God will give the increase.
Here are a few comments by two of the teachers: Paula Taylor writes, “I have
been working with six students per day. They include a 16-year-old boy, a
recent college graduate, two school teachers, a dentist, and a dress-maker.
Despite their various levels of education, age, background, and English
ability, the WEI materials are enjoyable and applicable to all of them.
Their English fluency improves with each lesson, and every lesson lends
itself to thought-provoking questions that prompt good Bible discussions. I
am so glad that I made the decision to be part of this effort.”
Felicia Vaughn writes, “I, too, have been working with six students per day.
The students span a vast array of generations. I have a 15-year-old, a
recent college graduate, a couple of young adults, and a married couple in
their early fifties. The WEI material content is very well thought out and
does an excellent job in weaving together the gospel message from beginning
to end. I would not have traded this experience for anything”!
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