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Good News from Cambodia
Julie Broyles’ reports are exciting. On December
10, she virtually shouted, “Piseth has a new birthday!!!!!!!” \
Julie is Director of the BEST Center (Bible English Study and Training
Center) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. With joy, she writes, “Piseth has been
one of the staff from the beginning of BEST Center. He answers Bible
questions, helps everyone else find scriptures, explains spiritual things to
students, sets up the classroom, sets up for parties, sets up for worship,
and prepares communion. But he never chose to commit his life to the
Lord—until this past Saturday afternoon!!!!! So thrilling!”
Piseth Is Born Again
On December 12, Julie sent out another blog saying, “Meet Srey Peou.
It has been exciting around here! It is always fun to see the fruits of
one’s labors. Here are some names of ‘sowers’ and ‘waterers’ in Srey
Peous’s life: Elizabeth Castleberry, Florence Franks, Asia Hollingsworth,
Charles Voyles, Polly Charlton, and Try. ‘Wow! It is fun on the mountain
tops!”
Srey Peou Smiles in the Baptistery
The Cost of Discipleship
Approximately one third of our new Internet
students are Muslims, and Katheryn Haddad has taught thousands of them.
Several have been baptized at great risk to themselves.
One of her students was a university professor who lived in a predominantly
Muslim city in the Middle East. After studying with Katheryn, he and his
wife baptized each other. He was so excited about what he had learned that
he posted WEI ads on the university bulletin board in an effort to recruit
more students. Four months ago, he lost his job as professor because “he has
too many western leanings.”
Katheryn also taught a twenty-two-year-old woman who lived in the Kurdish
section of Iraq. The student was so excited about the WEI Bible courses that
she wanted to translate them into Kurdish. She told her best friend about
them, and her friend became angry. Her parents warned her that talking about
the Bible was dangerous. Her brother was closely associated with radicals,
and she both loved and feared him.
After months of hesitation, she wrote the following message to Katheryn:
“Mum, I was baptized. I did it. Yes!!!!!!!!!! Now my soul feels
freeeeeeeeeeee.”
Katheryn has not heard from her student since August. Did this student die
for her faith?
A Typical Iraqi Woman
Katheryn just received an e-mail from one of her students in another
Muslim country saying that someone turned him in to authorities for
converting to Christianity. He has been ordered to pay $50,000 or go to
jail. He and his family are trying to get out of the country.
The cost of discipleship is high in the world of Islam. Please pray for our
students.
New Brother in Tanzania
William (Willy) Emmanuel Yudah, national
preacher in Tanzania, writes, “It is joy in heaven for the soul of Soja
Mwelekete who was baptized into Christ today! God bless our efforts and
strengthen us even more to enter 2013 faithfully.”
Soja Mwelekete completed his WBS studies early this year and became a WEI
student May 15. We commend Willy for a job well-done.
Willy Baptizes Soja Mwelekete in Tanzania
Short-term Mission in Myanmar
When Bill and Marie-Claire McDonough returned to
the states for a short medical visit this fall, they asked Dick and Pam
Haines (of Keizer, Oregon) to fill in for them.
On December 13, Dick and Pam reported, “We had a total of fifteen
students five days a week—nearly fifty hours of teaching each week.
“We invited students to attend church with us, and an average of two
students a week met us and rode with us. When we took one young lady to the
Eight-Mile Church of Christ [in Sheila’s home], she found out that Sheila
and her mother were from her tribe. They immediately started talking in the
dialect of the tribe. Brother Philip, the local minister, could not
understand them “We have planted the seed; God will give the increase. We
are very grateful that Partners in Progress has sponsored us.”
Dick & Pam Haynes with WEI Students in Yangon, Myanmar
Student Baptized in Vietnam
Jan Towell writes, “Rejoice with the angels
of heaven that Duong The Anh was baptized this week in Vietnam. He is the
student of Neil Adam in Maryville, Tennessee. Dennis Welch, who teaches at
Cambodia Bible College in Phnom Penh, arranged the contact.”
Dennis writes, “I am so excited to hear this great news!!! This man had
been leading a group of disciples in Bible studies already. He was excited
to be learning the truth from the Scriptures and the WEI lessons. Now he can
teach these disciples the way of the Lord more perfectly.”
Oregon
Church Reaches Out
Jim and Rhonda Vice and the Grant Street Church
of Christ in Lebanon, Oregon, have been teaching WEI students via postal
mail for five years, and God has blessed them with success.
Jim reports that the Lebanon church has sent out 8,000 to 10,000 WEI and
WBS courses. More than 20 members of the congregation have been directly
involved in teaching.
Jim & Rhonda Vice
Jim writes, “God’s word has not returned unto him void. We have
rejoiced that 50 baptisms have resulted from teaching these courses.”
Sergei Is Born Again
David and Galina Binkley, missionaries in
Nikolaev, Ukraine, write, “Yesterday, we devoted all our energies and
time to Sergei, who is now our brother in Christ.”
On the morning of December 19, David met Sergei and studied the Bible with
him. Galina stayed home to prepare their bathtub for the baptism by boiling
water on the stove. She also prepared sweets for the little celebration that
followed. Both rivers in Nikolaev were frozen over.
David Baptizes Sergei in Bathtub
New
Sister in Crete
John Adesoye, minister of the church in Crete,
writes: “We are rejoicing with the angels in heaven, because Sarah has
surrendered to the Lord in baptism on the 27th Oct. 2012. Now, she is happy
and rejoicing.”
Sarah Is Baptized in Mediterranean Sea
WEI’s
Ripple Effect
Twelve years ago, Ron Clark went to Albania on
the first of his three short-term mission trips. He learned to speak a
little Albanian, and endeared himself to Alo and Lindita Hoxha and their
children, Viola and Donald.
Currently, the Hoxha family lives in Portland, OR, and attends the Agape
Church of Christ where Ron preaches. On the Sunday before Christmas, Ron
baptized Donald Hoxha into Christ and led a prayer for him in Albanian as he
had done for Viola when he baptized her several years ago.
Ron says, “Thanks for taking me to Albania.” The ripple effect of WEI
moves on.
Ron Baptizes Donald Hoxha
Two New Sisters in Korça
Kevin and Allison Morrill, missionaries in Korça,
Albania report that two female students, Vasiana and Eglantina have been
baptized.
Kevin writes, “A few years ago, our family was trying to find the home of
one of Allison’s students on a rainy evening, and we got lost. We ended up
knocking on the wrong door, and a very kind woman answered. She explained
where Allison’s student lived, but also talked about her daughter who had,
in her opinion, very good English skills and was interested in studying
further. We explained where the course was and thought nothing of it. Her
mom followed up, and Vasiana Piu began studying with Kevin. She has been a
student for around three years now and has been attending worship and
participating in church activities for about 2 years. She is 17 years old.
On November 3, she chose to take the Lord on in baptism. She is a very sweet
girl, and we are so glad she is a part of our church.”
Kevin has been studying with Eglantina for five years. It often takes time
for seed to sprout.
Eglantina and Vasiana Following their Baptisms
Internet Ministry
Towells
During the 4th quarter of 2012, the Lord of Harvests answered the prayers
with 30 new teachers, bringing the number to 265. However, the number of new
students decreased from 1,000 per month in 2011 to 750. This means
projections on the number of teachers needed to achieve WEI’s goals in the
next 5 years is too low, so our plea still is “send more workers” (Matthew
9:37, 38).
If you are already teaching, we have a number of brochures and materials you
can use to recruit new teachers. Tom, Dick, and the Towells are all willing
to travel to your congregation if invited.
We are at the time of life when, as the song “Autumn Leaves” says, “the days
dwindle down to a precious few.” The parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
speaks loudly on what we should do when waiting for Him. We are not to let
our lamps run out of oil. What are our “lamps”? What is the “oil”?
Conclusions we’ve reached: Our “lamps” are our lives; “You are the light of
the world.” Think of the “oil” as our good deeds; “Let your light so shine
before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in
heaven.” Therefore, whatever your age, while you are waiting, don’t quit.
Don’t depend on good deeds of the past, but keep doing the good you can, for
he may come when your lamps are going out. 1 Timothy 4:4: “we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
As Lola Crouch’s student, Samuel, in Mozambique wrote after his recent
baptism, “You cannot imagine how happy I am today to be one of the
members of the kingdom of God! There is a lot to be done. I will not sit
back and see people being misled. I will teach the truth that I have found.
Thanks to God”!
We hope in 2013 you will consider joining teachers from 29 states, Canada,
Crete, Cambodia, Poland, St. Thomas, Thailand, and Ukraine in fulfilling the
Great Commission.
God is good, and we are ready to do the work of God no matter what.
---Bob and Jan Towell
Short-term
Missions
The Langleys
The summer short-term mission efforts are always one of the highlights of
each year for me and all teachers involved.
Below is a list of cities that have requested teams of teachers for next
summer. Please make your plans now to participate. Your life will be so
enriched and your relationship with God deepened.
Teams are being formed for the following cities:
(1) Oradea, Romania, June 24-July 5.
(2) Cluj, Romania, June 24-July 5.
(3) Debrecen, Hungary, July 8-Aug 2.
(4) Tirana, Albania, July 8-Aug 16.
(5) Korça, Albania, July 8-Aug 16.
(6) Guatemala City, July 22-Aug 16.
Cities asking for teams [but no teams have yet been formed]:
(1) Targu Mures, Romania,
(2) Sibiu, Romania,
(3) Arad, Romania,
(4) Verazdin, Croatia,
(5) Zagreb, Croatia,
(6) Jinotega, Nicaragua,
(7) Nicolaev, Ukraine.
Note: 2 weeks is the minimum time one must commit to teach. Additional weeks
at the same site will only increase the cost by $100 to $300 per week. For
more information, contact me: Tom Langley,
weimaryville@aol.com
865-803-2909 or 865-983-0945
---Tom & Angie Langley
Mary Shepphard, from Katy, Texas, writes: “What a wonderful experience I
had as a first year teacher for WEI in a foreign country. The materials are
student and teacher friendly. Getting to study with my students every day
for two weeks was interesting and invigorating. Leaving my students after
two weeks was so sad. I think of them often and pray that they are
continuing to study the Word.”
Mary Shepphard (right) Teaches in Oradea, Romania
Looking Back and Forward
Adys
My heart swells with joy and gratitude as I look back at 2012 and observe
God’s handiwork. He has worked through hundreds of faithful WEI servants to
teach multiplied thousands of people about Christ in every nation. Hundreds
have been baptized. Churches have been planted. New Christians have shared
their faith with others, often at great risk to themselves and their
families. God’s truth is marching on.
As I look ahead into 2013, I am excited about new possibilities. WEI and
WBS are joining forces to spread the gospel throughout the world, beginning
in China. We have given WBS permission to download our WEI courses
onto their web sites so that they can utilize the drawing power of the
English language. WEI and WBS are both in the process of upgrading
and expanding our web sites so that tens of thousands of Internet students
can study with us at the same time. The task of upgrading the web sites is
taking longer than expected, and we are behind schedule. WEI is trying to
raise $100,000 to cover the cost of the web site upgrade and to hire a web
site specialist to maintain the program. At this point, we are only $15,000
short of our goal. Praise be to God.
This joint-effort between WEI and WBS is a historic development. Never
before have so many Christians been able to teach so many people in so many
nations at the same time. We see the hand of God at work in these
developments.
The national headquarters of WEI is still in Gresham, Oregon, and the bulk
of the operational expenses are paid here. God was good to us in December.
We are grateful for your generosity. Now we are faced with the challenge of
making ends meet in 2013 as God continues to send new opportunities to WEI.
We are confident that he will continue to supply our needs as long as we are
faithful to him and to his great commission.
To all our friends and fellow-servants, we say, “Thank you for your
fellowship. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your encouragement and
your financial support. We love you, and we praise God for you.”
---Dick & Maudine Ady
God’s Harvest in India
Twenty-two souls have been baptized into Christ
in India since our last newsletter went to press. Prabhu Kumar and his
fellow-workers are doing a great job of spreading the gospel through WEI.
They taught and baptized 93 people in 2012. During the past five years,
Prabhu and his fellow-teachers have taught and baptized 418 people. Many of
these WEI students have come from Hindu backgrounds.
Rejoice with us as we trace God’s activity in India during the past three
months:
September 4: “I am so happy to inform you about the conversions done by
our WEI teacher from Narayanavanam, Chittor district. Recently he baptized 3
people from his class.” October 30: “Recently, our WEI teacher at Mantena,
Bro. Abraham, called me and said that 4 people are ready to go for baptism.”
Baptisms at Mantena
November 1: “Yesterday, we took two people to baptize them in the
nearest canal.”
November 12: “Last Wednesday, we went to Markapuram for a special meeting
conducted with WEI students taught by Bro. Prabhu Dass. Then, we went to the
nearest river to baptize three people.”
December 6: “I am happy to inform you that two of our WEI students from
the Punadipadu branch have been baptized by me.”
December 11: “I am so happy to inform you about four people who are
baptized into Christ.”
December 31: “Before entering into the new year on 31st, we baptized 4
local women at Inampudi Village where one of our WEI teachers, Bro Wilson,
is working right now.”
God is at work in India.
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