November 20, 2020
WEI Reaches Beyond the Internet
As Tom Langley has pointed out, the WEI Internet ministry is a powerful world-wide soul-winning tool that God is using to spread the good news about Christ in every nation on Earth.
However, we should point out that billions of people do not have access to the Internet and cannot understand English. These people can be reached most effectively by English-speaking national preachers who can translate the WEI lessons and teach them in their local outreach ministries. Moreover, without the help of national preachers, it would be virtually impossible for WEI Internet teachers to follow up on some of their students who have come to faith and have requested baptism.
I can think of national preachers in Albania, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Romania, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Ukraine who are using, or have used, WEI materials in their local outreach ministries. National preachers who have studied the WEI courses on the Internet and are teaching others what they have learned are baptizing untold numbers of people who are not included in our reports. Only God knows all of their names.
Through the years, our WEI newsletters have been filled with stories about people who have studied the WEI Bible courses online and then used what they have learned to lead their friends and neighbors to Christ. The front-page article in this newsletter is a case in point. Now, let us look at two more examples.
Example 1: Edwin E. Vicente
Edwin E. Vicente has been featured in the last four issues of this newsletter. Edwin was born into a Catholic home in the Philippines. He spent twenty-four years teaching ballet dancing and training teams of ballet dancers that won international awards. Yet, Edwin felt empty and unfilled. It was not until he enrolled in WEI and studied under Rocky Thurman, that he found what his heart had craved.
Edwin wrote, “In the end, I found that it [WEI] was not only an English course but a road to meet God and become closer to him—something that was missing in my spiritual life.”
Edwin had an insatiable spiritual appetite. After completing all of the courses on the WEI website, he studied Blessed Assurance with me by email. He also studied with Steven Prime while he was in the Philippines on a short-term mission. On February 7, 2020, Edwin was baptized into Christ.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Philippines, Edwin lost his job, but he did not remain idle. He gathered a group of thirty children, teenagers, and adults in his community and started teaching them the WEI Elementary English and Bible courses. He is now teaching his second group of students in San Fernando with the assistance of two volunteer coordinators and his daughter, Amerah Claire “A.C.” Perez. He has also expanded his ministry to a village outside the city where children and young people are too poor to pay school tuition.
Since Edwin has practically no income, his friends are providing food for him, and he is living in a cheap one-room apartment that leaks when it rains. Yet, he dreams of renting an inexpensive house in San Fernando that will provide living quarters and space for teaching students. That is his mission.
Edwin has found a house near the center of San Fernando that is affordable and perfectly suited to serve his purposes. The owner is totally in favor of what Edwin is doing, and he has offered to lower the rent substantially.
According to Edwin, $300 a month will cover the rent and pay for utilities and living expenses. He is praying that a church or mission-minded individual will join him in this effort to lead people to Christ in the Philippines.
Example 2: Arthur Tatara
In 2016, Arthur Tatara (a native of Papua New Guinea) was studying to be a preacher at the Singapore branch of Sunset International Bible Institute. He was also a WEI Internet student and was being taught by Brad Forgy.
Arthur wrote, “My intention was to study English, but instead, I learned something more precious than English. I don’t want to keep this wonderful knowledge of God to myself. There are many young folks out there like me who need to hear this awesome story. That’s why I really want to introduce this material in Papua New Guinea. It has had a huge impact on my life. Praise God Almighty.”
When Arthur completed his studies at Singapore in 2017, he returned to Papua New Guinea and began teaching WEI lessons in a local high school. This high school ministry continued until the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the school and robbed him of his income. Athur and his family have suffered privation during the pandemic, but their faith in God has never wavered.
In our last newsletter, we posted a photograph of a large group of young people who had invited Arthur to be the guest speaker at their Youth Camp. Arthur’s powerful Bible lessons stirred their hearts and resulted in 20 baptisms.
Arthur was also invited by churches of Christ in the Waria Valley (some 100 miles south of Lae) to preach in a valley-wide gospel meeting.
Following the meeting, Arthur returned home and reported, “There were 400 participants in the gospel meeting. Twenty Christians turned back to the church. . . I love preaching and teaching the word to lost people in Papua New Guinea.”
Once again, a WEI Internet student has become a WEI teacher and an effective gospel preacher.
W.E.I. NEEDS YOUR ASSISTANCE!
More and more national preachers around the world are using WEI courses in their local outreach ministries. National preachers are our most efficient and productive partners in world evangelism. Additional funds for printing and mailing these materials are needed.
