New Horizons for WEI Internet

An Appeal from Tom Langley

Tom Langley writes, “We are more than excited to announce the hiring of Justin Acuff as the full-time Technical Director of the WEI Internet Ministry.

“Justin is married to Lisa, and they are both mission-minded Christians who worship with the Laurel Church of Christ in Knoxville, Tennessee. They met at the University of Tennessee while working on their respective degrees.

“Justin’s primary responsibility will be to work on technical issues related to the teaching web site, to get the site up and running smoothly again, to maintain it, to implement new ideas to help our teachers more effectively bring their students to conversion, and to expand the capacity so that we can reach more and more people for Christ.

“We are able to open this office, in large part, due to a new partnership we have formed with the Laurel congregation in Knoxville. Laurel is an extremely mission-minded church, and we consider it an honor and privilege to join with them in this effort. Many of their members are active WEI teachers, not only through the Internet, but also in short-term mission efforts, particularly in China.”

Justin writes, “I would first like to thank God for this opportunity to serve as the Technical Director of the Internet Ministry of WEI.”

Justin is highly qualified for the job. He graduated from the University of Tennessee (UT) with a double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. During his senior year, he was an undergraduate assistant in the Imaging, Robotics, and Intelligent Systems (IRIS) Laboratory. For the past 12 years, he has been the IT Administrator for the IRIS Lab.

While in college, he got involved with the Christian Student Center at UT and met Lisa there. They were married in October 2011. Justin says, “The CSC also furthered my passion for missions through doing domestic trips to Seattle, WA and Dilkon, AZ as well as five trips to Brazil.”

Lisa grew up in Ohio, graduated from Harding University in 2003, and has earned a Master’s degree in Information Science at UT. She is currently working toward a PhD.

Lisa has gone on one WEI short-term mission campaign in Taiwan with Enoch and Jeannine Thweatt. She says, “Being used by God to love people is the greatest joy I know, and I find great delight in encouraging people and teaching one-on-one.”

“The Laurel congregation truly appreciates what WEI has done in the past, and we look forward to what will happen in the future as we work together to spread the gospel in such a unique way. We are grateful that our congregation financially supports WEI and that more of our members are signing up as WEI teachers. I am especially thankful that many college students in Knoxville are signing up as WEI teachers. It is exciting to see how our young Christians are making an impact for Christ in China and throughout the world.”

Editorial Comment:

We praise God for leading us to Justin and Lisa Acuff and to the Laurel Church of Christ. The future of WEI just got brighter.

Katheryn Haddad writes, “Another Muslim student in Iran was baptized last week. He knew that, if he were discovered being a Christian, he would be publicly hanged. Then his body would be strung from a crane and hoisted into the air 30 or 40 feet above the street for all to see as a warning.”

Public Hanging in Iran

Prior to his baptism, Philip (the Christian name of Katheryn’s student) wrote, “I’m very interested in Christianity, but if someone changes his/her religion from Islam to Christian, the penalty is death in our country. I want you to know that I am Muslim because my father and grandfather and their fathers were Muslims too, and this is not my choice. I am a Muslim just in words. But Christianity is something different, and I do believe it by my heart.”

As this student progressed through the WEI lessons, his faith grew. When he completed his survey of the Bible, he asked about baptism.

A week later, he wrote, “I did it! I baptized finally! Thanks Mum. I owe you because the one who influenced me to become Christian is just you yourself. When I saw your message indicating ‘special inner peace you never knew before,’ I just cried and could not stop crying because from the very moment after finishing the baptism, I felt a relaxation and a special peace that I did not experience before. That was very strange to me at first, but when I read this part of your email, I understand what had happened, and I realized that my sins were vanished and purged completely, and now I am innocent like an infant.”

Why was Philip baptized? Listen to his testimony: “I lived with Muslims for about 49 years till now, but I realized that when anyone goes deeper into Islam, the results are not good. LOVE and happy life are two items that they do not know anything about. As you can see in any place, when Muslims settle down and live, the war starts there. The one who becomes a pure Muslim acts like Satan, not God!!!”

Since his baptism, Philip has downloaded the Bible from the Internet, and he reads it at least three hours a day. He is especially kind to his wife so that she will see that life is better as a Christian.

Katheryn has taught nearly 3,000 Muslim students, and many of them have come to Christ. Please keep Katheryn in your prayers as she mourns the death of her husband Richard.

Prabhu Kumar reports that God has added twenty-five more people to the body of Christ in India in the final months of 2013.

In late September, Prabhu traveled 3360 kilometers up and down Manipur in an effort to save the lost. For six days, he ate nothing but one pickle and white rice. At night, he was alone in the dark, without electricity and without a fan. There was no cell phone signal, so he couldn’t talk to his wife. During this mission trip, he developed a severe cough, body pains, and a fever.

In spite of his discomfort, Prabhu baptized five WEI students in a fast-flowing river. One of the young men found WEI while surfing the web in search of a free English course. Prabhu says, “While he was studying our lessons, he was inspired very much and discussed with all his family members. He tried to teach them all the things he had learned. Then, by the grace of God, all of his family members got ready to take the baptisms. So I went there, taught two special classes, and baptized all five of them into Christ. I am so happy to announce that a new worship service was started in the Nagas tribe.”

Since then, four more WEI students have been baptized in the Satravada, Chittoor District, three in the State of Tamilnadu, eleven in the Prabhakar District, all of them Hindus. And Prabhu has baptized two more people at his home church near Vijayawada.

WEI Teacher, Duraira, Baptizes a Student

God is using WEI as a unique evangelistic tool to bring Hindus to Christ.

Jonathan Rawlings, WEI teacher and short-term missionary, wrote saying, “The congregation where I grew up now has 7 Internet teachers! One lady there, who is in a wheelchair due to her health conditions, was extremely excited about the opportunity to teach people around the world. How exciting is that?”
The Christian woman Jon had in mind was Shelly Hendricks, a member of the church in Doniphan, Missouri. Shelly is a 39-year-old wife and the mother of two children. She attended Harding University in 1997 and graduated with two degrees in education. Since then, she has been a public school teacher, a librarian, and a Bible School teacher; and she has written a curriculum for preschool and school-age children.

Shelly Hendricks

In 2009, Shelly was struck with Intracranial Hypertension, a rare condition that causes the brain to produce more spinal fluid than the body can absorb. Shelly underwent surgery to install a VP shunt in her brain. She is now learning to walk and function again.

Throughout her ordeal, Shelly has prayed that God would enable her to do His work. She says, “He carried me through every storm, and He continues to sustain me. In spite of my difficulties, my life is full of joy and hope because of the Lord, and I long to share my faith with others. The opportunity that WEI provides me is a blessing and an answer to prayer. The opportunity to teach again has been a boon for my soul.”

Shelly has started a daily blog designed to spread hope and the message of Christ to people with chronic illness, pain, and disability. You can read her messages at http://reneweddaily.com. Shelly says, “I truly want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity that WEI provides to both teachers and students. It has been a blessing in my life, and I hope to continue teaching for many years.”
May God bless Shelly Hendricks and lift up more champions like her.

In our last newsletter, Lola Crouch told us an amazing story about the conversion of Samuel, one of her WEI students in Mozambique. Now, here is the rest of the story

In August, Samuel wrote Lola an e-mail saying, “You cannot imagine how happy I am that Matias has been baptized today. Matias is not only a friend now, but a brother in Christ.”

Samuel Baptizes Matias

Matias, like Samuel, stepped into Satan’s snare. He agreed to kill his firstborn son and give his son’s blood to a witch doctor in exchange for riches.

But Matias changed his mind. He says, “God hooked me from the evil hands of the devil. During the night, my late father appeared in a dream looking at me with an angry face and sadly asked what I was looking for at that place.” When Matias woke up, he rescinded his agreement and went home.

Two years later, Matias walked into Satan’s trap again. This time, the richest man in town invited him to be his partner in buying and selling precious stones. The rich man took him to a different witch doctor who gave him a charm and two small horns, each wrapped in a white and red cloth. He was told that the white cloth represented the spirit of luck, and the red cloth represented blood and riches. Matias took these things home that night and placed them in a private room.

The next morning, Matias had an experience that was so terrifying that he took the charm and the horns and threw them into Zambezi River. There, he confessed his sins and the sins of his ancestors and prayed with all his heart, crying so loudly that passers-by stopped and stared.

It was then that God used Samuel to bring Matias into the light. Samuel called Matias again and again telling him about Jesus. Then, he invited Matias into his home and taught him about God and his Son. Then, Samuel took Matias down to the river and baptized him into Christ. At that point, Matias enrolled in WEI and is studying with Lola Crouch. Matias says, “I am happier than ever before. I will continue to be God’s friend.”

Bob and Jan Towell

WEI’s lessons have proved their ability to effectively present the Good News so people understand and obey it. And WEI’s website has proven to be an effective way to both recruit and teach. Nearly 200,000 from every nation have viewed WEI’s Introductory Lesson.

These results made obvious the need for a full-time webmaster to maintain and expand WEI’s website, and Justin Acuff has been hired for this position. Previously, this work was done on a part-time basis by Jonathan Towell as an offering to the Lord. We look forward to working with Justin as we seek the lost while there is yet time.

Here are two examples of what happens when the seed is sown in good and honest hearts:
In November, we rejoiced when Polly Scott received word from Vicki Funk (of Gospel Chariots) that Dimpo, a preacher of the Downtown Pretoria (South Africa) church had baptized her student, Michael.

Dimpo Baptizes Michael in South Africa

We were also thrilled when Vicki Murphy received word that Milson, her student in Madagascar who was baptized last May, had baptized Monista, another one of her students. Monista said neither of them had a camera, but “don’t worry about it. God saw us.”

Monista is only 19, but he is already teaching others. He says, “I am determined to multiply and teach others like you taught me. I want God to use me according to his will.”

---Bob and Jan Towell

Tom, Angie, Bianca, & Briana Langley

Dear WEI friends and supporters,

I trust you have read the front page of this newsletter. We are embarking on an exciting and momentous time for WEI! Our Internet ministry is effectively spreading the Gospel message in EVERY country of the world. Many lost souls have been baptized, and churches have been planted. As a result, we MUST invest more resources into the WEI Internet Bible-teaching ministry. The web site has incurred many serious glitches over the last year. For some time now, it has become increasingly obvious to the WEI board of directors, and to Bob and Jan Towell, that WEI needs a full-time web site programmer and engineer.

The Lord has blessed our fundraising efforts in 2012 just enough that we are now in a financial position to open a new Internet office in partnership with the Laurel church of Christ in Knoxville, TN. Though we have the money in place to initially make the hire and open this office, funding the ongoing operation will continue to be a major challenge in coming years.

With regard to this new long-range fundraising challenge, as President, I would like to use this column space to make an appeal to all our WEI friends and supporters. The expense of this new office will require us to raise an additional $75,000 each year. We’re asking that you please give prayerful consideration to helping us reach this goal. We’re asking all our 200+ Internet teachers to simply pledge $100, or $8.33 a month to this need. If you have the ability to give this amount, or more in 2014, we would be most grateful.

We know that many of you are already giving generously to the WEI ministry. We would like to take this opportunity to express our deepest gratitude for your partnership in this “Great Commission” ministry. THANK YOU! We love and appreciate you more than you know. If you can assist us in this ministry, we would be most grateful. Please send your tax-deductible contribution to WEI, P.O. Box 5293, Maryville, TN 37802. Thank you, and may the Lord bless you in 2014. ---Tom & Angie Langley

Dick & Maudine Ady

The other day, I read that all great leaders have three things in common. They know why they are doing what they are doing. They know what they are doing. And, they know how to do it. Jesus is the greatest human leader of all time, and he has provided answers to all three of these questions.

Jesus makes it possible for everyone involved in WEI to understand WHY we are doing what we are doing. We are marching to the drumbeat of the Great Commission. The Great Commission is not a great suggestion. It is a command, and we are following orders.

Our orders from heaven make it possible for us to know WHAT we are doing. We are making disciples of Christ in ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded (Matthew 28:19-20a).

Moreover, God has, in his providence, shown us HOW to take the gospel to the whole world. He is using WEI to attract students by offering them English, and he is leading them to Christ by exposing them to the scriptures. This he is doing through postal mail, the Internet, short-term missions, long-term missionaries, and national preachers. Thousands of Atheists, Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims who had no interest in the Bible but a strong desire to learn English, are now Christians.
 
In this newsletter, you have seen evidence that God is using WEI to draw Muslims, Hindus, and even Satanists to himself. Buddhists are coming to Christ in Cambodia as Julie Broyles and her guest-teachers use WEI as a curriculum at the BEST Center in Phnom Penh. To God be the glory, honor, and praise forever.

Maudine and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your friendship, your generous support, and your encouragement through the years. We hope you enjoyed a Merry Christmas and were surrounded by loved ones. We pray that God will bless you with love, joy, peace, and a sense of purpose throughout 2014. We love you.

---Dick and Maudine

Aniefiok Akpan, national preacher in Nigeria, writes, “When God placed WEI materials as an evangelistic tool in our hands several years ago, we never knew to what extent we would go in reaching out to souls with these resources. Today, many persons have had the opportunity to hear the gospel through World English Institute as preachers from different regions of Nigeria embrace the ministry. Outside Nigeria, gospel preachers in Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Senegal, and other countries of Africa are using WEI materials in their evangelistic outreach. Presently, I have the grace to serve as the chaplain and campus minister in Obong University, the first private university associated with churches of Christ in Africa. Many students of the university have enrolled in the WEI programme.”

Perry Taylor, a WEI teacher who worships with the Cloverdale congregation in Florence, AL, writes, “World English Institute is one of the greatest tools the church has to reach the world—especially the Muslim world.”

Don Wright, former missionary, writes, “It is my opinion, after a lifetime of teaching in four countries (Vietnam, Ireland, Russia, and China) that WEI is the most effective method available, both for individual and group teaching.”

Doyle Kee, missionary in Switzerland, writes, “One of the most impressive evangelistic tools around the world . . . is World English Institute (WEI).”

David Binkley, missionary to Russia and Ukraine, writes, “We are still amazed at how many friends and prospects we have established here in Nikolaev that are connected with the English language. Dick Ady agreed for us to use the WEI materials in our efforts.”

An Islamic Imam, after studying WEI lessons, wrote, “It is very fantastic for me to know about the real Christian opinions. I’m Muslim. I have studied about six years at Islamic schools and became an Islamic imam. I thought that Christians have three Gods, but now I find that they have only one God, and they have many other beautiful and respectable opinions.”

Steve Foltz, a WEI teacher, writes, “I thank God for the WEI Internet work which gives so many people a chance to fulfill the Great Commission.”

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