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Number 138 |
January - March 2013 |
Dick Ady,
Editor |
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WELCOME!
Home
PREVIOUS
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Proclaiming the Gospel
Throughout the World |
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Albanian Angel |
Seven
Baptized in Nigeria |
WEI Student Baptized in Nashville |
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Gospel Chariot rolls on in India |
Four New Christians Baptized in Bangladesh |
Faith
in the Face of Danger |
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Internet |
Short-Term-Missions |
Historic
Opportunity |
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Albania,
Crete, Tanzania |
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Put WEI in Your Will |
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Goal 10,000 New Studies per
Month |
Download Brochure For Your Church
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“Albanian Angel”
Have you ever wondered why WEI teachers get so excited about teaching their
students on the Internet? Ask Bob Hesselrode, of Smyrna, TN.
Bob writes, “In September, I began my study with Imena Kërpica, a
22-year-old college student from Berat, Albania. This study ballooned into a
relationship that has accelerated through the months to a point that now she
is like a daughter. She refers to Billie and me as second parents.”
Bob & Billie Hesselrode
“I am happy to say, she is our daughter in Christ. Imena’s thirst for
God’s Word was evident. Receiving her first lesson in September, Imena was
on lesson # 14 by the beginning of October, and she finished the
Intermediate lessons a month later.
“In October, she moved from Berat to Tirana to enter her last year of
college. This was a blessing. She met Ellen Walker, and they formed a close
friendship. Soon, she was attending the meetings of the Tirana church where
she met Bledi and Bona Valca. Many in the Tirana fellowship have had an
impact on Imena’s journey of faith.
“In December, Imena told me she was going to be baptized. Every few days she
said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Bob. I will be baptized. I just want to be certain
that I am ready for that commitment.’ She said, ‘I am trying not to think
about myself, what I want, but what God wants me to do.’ God was molding
some very soft clay into an angel. On January 26, with her twin sister, her
boyfriend, and several from the Tirana fellowship in attendance, Bledi
immersed this sweet soul into Christ.”
Bledi Takes Imena’s Confession
Bob concludes, “Since entering the kingdom, Imena has attended every
meeting of the church that she could. After studying with Imena, I feel like
I am running on nuclear power! You know, working with someone like Imena is
like watching a beautiful flower unfold from the bud under the warmth of the
Son.”
Seven Baptized in Nigeria
God has a dynamic new WEI teacher in Nigeria. His name is Ugoh Ray.
On February 2, the subject line on Ray’s e-mail was “Three WEI Students
Baptized.” He wrote, “ I’m glad to report that three persons gave their
lives to Christ and were baptized this Sunday through the WEI programme.
“I visited eight secondary schools in Imo State. Their principals indicated
their interest to involve their students in the WEI lessons to help prepare
them for junior and senior WASCE (West African School Certificate Exams) if
the materials are available. I am willing to coordinate any activity that
will help extend the WEI programme to various schools and colleges in the
State, should my vision attract your consent.”
Two weeks later, Ray sent another e-mail saying, “There is overwhelming
joy in the church today as four more WEI students were baptized. I also
believe there is rejoicing in heaven, and I wish to share that joy with you.
Ray Baptizes Four More High School Students
“I have started a WEI campaign in schools around Imo State, Nigeria. Out
of ten schools and seven churches visited, all are ready to study with us
except one. We can start with ten students from each school and church. So
you can send complete WEI study materials for two hundred students.
“The truth is that the academic value attached to the WEI programme makes it
attractive to youths in schools and churches. Looking forward to hearing
from you. Remain blessed in the Lord.”
Imagine the Potential!
Bro. Ray has presented to us a tremendous opportunity. The possibilities for
teaching and baptizing high school students in Nigeria are practically
unlimited. School principals are eager for Ray to teach the WEI courses in
their schools.
In less than three weeks, Bro. Ray has baptized seven high school
students into Christ and integrated them into local congregations. Can you
imagine the number of souls that can be saved if Ray and other gospel
preachers were to expand this pilot program to hundreds of high schools and
colleges in Nigeria?
In order to supply Ray with WEI materials, we must raise at least $5,000
to cover the cost of printing and mailing the materials. Is there a church
or an individual who would like to take this on as a mission project? Here
is an opportunity to save hundreds, perhaps thousands, of precious souls. We
must respond to the call while there is still time.
WEI Student Baptized in
Nashville
Every major university in America has international students on campus. A
mission field has come to us.
On February 9, we received the following email from Enoch and Jeannine
Thweatt in Nashville, Tennessee: “Just want to tell you that yesterday we
had a small part in baptizing a young woman from Columbia, Central America.
She was already a strong believer in God and had been attending church where
our friends, John and Patti Miller, work. Enoch has been helping her prepare
for the TOEFL, and of course, what other material would he use than the WEI
books?
“She zoomed through the Intermediate [course] and then started on the
Advanced lessons Thursday. These made her realize the importance of baptism.
So yesterday afternoon, the Millers, Sharon Short, and an elder and his wife
from the Paragon Mills church met with us. Enoch did the ‘talking’ and the
song leading, and John did the immersing. We all had time to talk to our
baby sister and share our hearts with one another.”
Later Jeannine sent pictures that were taken before, during, and after
Estefani Castro’s baptism. The picture below shows the joy on Estefani’s
face after John Miller had baptized her into Christ.
John Miller Baptizes Estefani Castro into Christ
O the unspeakable, indescribable joy of being born again of water and the
Spirit.
Gospel Chariot Rolls On in India
Almost every week, WEI teachers in India send pictures of students they have
baptized for the forgiveness of sins.
WEI teacher, Bro. Joji Babu, reports that he recently baptized two of his
students at Hanaman Junction, India. The woman pictured below is one of
them.
Joji Babu Baptizes WEI Student at Hanuman Junction
About the same time, we learned that Bro. Ratna Paul, a WEI teacher who
grew up worshiping Hindu idols, had taught and baptized a couple who had
come from a strong Hindu background. Ratna Paul has suffered great
persecution.
On March 7, Prabhu Kumar reported that three more students had been baptized
by WEI teacher, Bro. Tiruttani Tamilnadu.
Tiruttani Tamilnadu Baptizes WEI Student
Such reports keep coming in, week after week. The Gospel Chariot is
rolling, rolling, rolling in India. As of March 7, twenty-six people had
already been baptized in 2013.
Four New Christians in
Bangladesh
In spite of the difficulty and danger of leading people to Christ in
Bangladesh, WEI teacher, Bro. Emon, writes, “Today, four people took
baptism. Their names are Miss Jui, Miss Runa, Mr. Joy, and Mr. Subas.
Bro. Emon Baptizes Mr. Joy
“Please pray for Bangladesh. It is very difficult to convert.”
Faith in the Face of Danger
This former Muslim WEI student and his wife baptized each other in secret in
their bathtub two years ago. Since then, John Mark (not his real name) has
been personally responsible for some 40 Muslims signing up with WEI.
In January John Mark was threatened with prison if he did not pay a
$50,000 bribe "for spreading Christianity". He buried his flash drive with
the Bible on it in his yard, and sent his wife and four children to another
province where they changed locations every night. John Mark went to another
province to hide.
The Threat of Jail (Not John Mark)
Miraculously, two weeks after the threat, he and his family were able to
flee to another country. In February, they flew back to their Islamic
country. He hid his family in the crowd in a city of millions; then, he
returned to his home province, moving from place to place, avoiding his
home, and wearing a disguise to go back and forth to work.
In spite of the dangers, John Mark again went back to encouraging people to
study with WEI. One of the students said he wanted to be baptized as soon as
he gets the courage to do so.
In March God intervened again. John Mark’s close friend was selected
commander of the police force of his entire province. The commander promised
to protect him and his family. So he moved his family back to their home
town, but he rented a house far from their old home as a precaution.
John Mark’s 16-year-old son took our WEI course last year and said,
“Christianity is illegal in our country. If the government knows that a
person becomes a Christian, he will be at risk….Jesus suffered a lot for us.
We should follow him, and continue his way.”
In late March this year, John Mark baptized his son.
Written by WEI teacher, Katheryn Haddad.
In the last issue of WEI Update, John Mark’s life was in danger. We are
happy to report that he and his family have been spared by the hand of God.
Internet
Towells
The number of teachers using WEI’s teaching website increased to 284
during the first quarter of 2013. However, current teachers cannot always
continue to add new students, so the number of new students dropped from an
average of 750 per month last year to fewer than 500 per month.
Please help us continue recruiting new teachers! Souls are waiting to hear
the good news of Jesus. When new students wait as much as 48 hours for a
teacher, we must decrease Google advertising. Reaching more souls means more
advertising, which means more new teachers will always be needed.
What will we say to the Lord when we stand before him if we have failed to
carry out his commission?
One teacher sent the following comments:
“I’m having a wonderful experience – 81 and spreading the Word and don’t
have to put my coat on and walk out my door.
“At a Wednesday night home Bible study several weeks ago, before everyone
got their coffee, I took some time to promote Internet teaching. I told how
easy and rewarding the experience is and about the need for more teachers.
Would you believe every one got their treats, headed for the dining room and
talked ball scores and golf and not a word was ever said about the open door
to the world that lay open before them?!
“To this day, NOT A WORD! The group included five or six retired
Christian College professors and the prayer regularly includes ‘Lord, help
us…’ - you know the prayer. God never commanded Bible study on Wednesday
night, but He did have something to say about carrying the message of
redemption to the ends of the earth. We have clearly defined faithfulness as
‘attendance’ on Sunday AM, PM and Wednesday night. ‘Old Brother So-in-So is
a faithful soul, he’s here every time the door is open!’ These are nice
people and do good things, but we have institutionalized evangelism and feel
we’ve participated in the process when we drop our tithe into the collection
plate!”
Read Matthew 9:37, 38/
---Bob and Jan Towell
Short-term Missions
Langleys
This is an exciting time of the year! Our 2013 summer short-term mission
efforts are all shaping up nicely. It’s always a special joy for me to
introduce new teachers to WEI short-term missions. It truly is a life
changing experience and tremendous catalyst for spiritual growth, for both
the students and teachers. This year we have more new teachers than I can
ever remember. Praise be to God!
Late last fall we launched a fund raising campaign called Internet 40 for
$300, or ”I-40 for $300.” Our ambitious goal is to increase the number of
new Bible studies we start from 1000 to 10,000 per month within five years.
We need 40 churches or Individuals to commit $300 per month. The primary
purpose for this campaign is to raise enough money on a consistent basis to
significantly expand our Internet correspondence ministry by hiring a full
time staff, build an Internet website large enough to handle much greater
volume, recruit more Internet teachers, and increase our Google advertising
budget.
We are very pleased to announce that by the end of 2012 we had received
commitments from churches and individuals totaling about 25% of our goal.
This is very encouraging given the fact that we only had 3 months to promote
this campaign. We will continue promoting this effort through the end of
this year and possibly into 2014. Please keep this in your prayers as we are
now screening candidates to become our Internet specialist and begin the
second phase of this expansion.
I’m including in this column our I-40 for $300 logo and providing an
opportunity for you to consider partnering with us.
We are grateful to God for all of you who contribute to this Great
Commission ministry. We love you, and we thank you! ---Tom and Angela
CUT OUT AND SEND THIS COUPON TO:
WORLD ENGLISH INSTITUTE
P.O. BOX 5293; MARYVILLE, TN
Please indicate if you wish to partner with
us in this International Missions Ministry.
Church name_________________________________
Church address_______________________________
____________________________________________
Individual name________________________________
Individual address______________________________
Historic Opportunity
Adys
Never before have so many Christians been able to teach so many people in
so many places at the same time. This was made possible by the advent of the
Internet.
Never before have so many people in so many places been so interested in
studying English as a second language. Billions of people in today’s world
regard English as the language of upward mobility. Hundreds of millions of
the world’s brightest people are studying English with a passion, and WEI is
pursuing those people with a passion.
World English Institute is uniquely equipped to attract people to Christ
today by teaching English as well as the Bible. The WEI English courses
attract the students, and the WEI Bible courses lead them to Christ. God is
using WEI to introduce people to Christ in every nation on earth except the
Vatican. Our teachers are studying with Buddhists in Cambodia, Hindus in
India, Communists in China, and with people from every imaginable religious
background. Thousands of Buddhists, Communists, Hindus, and Muslims have
been baptized into Christ through World English Institute. Muslims in some
countries are converting to Christ at the risk of their lives.
WEI’s method of using English to attract Bible students is so effective that
World Bible School has borrowed our English and Bible courses and is
downloading them onto their teaching web sites. As soon as WEI and WBS
expand the capacity of our web sites and recruit more Internet teachers, we
plan to launch an all-out joint-effort to win China for Christ. This is a
momentous development in the history of world evangelism.
In order to grasp this unprecedented opportunity, we must expand and
maintain our WEI teaching web site and recruit an additional 800 Internet
teachers. Please consider being an Internet teacher. This is one way you can
respond to the great commission without leaving home.
Maudine and I are deeply grateful to our friends for supporting and
encouraging us as we continue to developed the WEI outreach ministry. May
God bless you and give you peace.
---Dick and Maudine
Albania, Crete, Tanzania
On February 12, Tom Bonner, Missionary in Lushnja, Albania wrote, “On Sunday
afternoon, we took our van, and hired another van, to travel to Tirana where
we utilized the baptistery of the church. The new member of the body of
Christ is named Sonila Xhilivoda. Her story is an interesting and
encouraging one. Nine years ago, when we moved into the current facilities,
she came as a student during a summer campaign, with Roxie Patterson from
Portland, Oregon as her teacher. During her high school years she attended
worship regularly with her cousin, but we didn’t see much of them when they
went off to university. But Sonila has been on a journey to find meaning to
her life. She began on her own to read the Bible, has read it all the way
through once, and is reading it again.
“For some months now she, along with a younger sister, have been attending
with us. Sonila came to me a couple of months ago with a request to be
baptized. After more study with her, it was clear that she has a strong
belief in God/Christ/Holy Spirit. So, on Sunday, she became our sister.”
Tom Bonner Baptizes Sonila Xhilivoda
The frustrating part of writing a quarterly newsletter is there is never
enough space to report everything God is doing through WEI.
Here are a few examples:
John Adesoye’s WEI student on the Island of Crete, was baptized at the
Omonia Church of Christ in Athens, Greece March 25. Her name, appropriately,
is Happiness.
Willy Yudah, a WEI teacher in Tanzania, wrote, “Hallelujah!!! Two souls
added today!”
Willy Yudah Baptizes WEI Student in Tanzania
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