July 31, 2007
We write this column with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it makes us sad to report that two of our finest teachers, Fred Uptagrafft of Huntsville, Alabama, and Roseann Ekman of Brainerd, Minnesota, died this month. Fred had been a supporter of WEI since the beginning in 1989. These teachers will be sorely missed. Today, we honor their memory.
At the same time, God is doing so many amazing things in the world that I can hardly contain my excitement. Earlier this year, Fred Uptagrafft reported that Joseph Robin, one of his students in Haiti, had been baptized.
Jim and Rhonda Vice, who work with the church in Lebanon, Oregon, sent us a copy of a letter they received from Mike Siagayumu, one of their postal mail students in Lusaka, Zambia. He wrote, “I am glad to announce to you that I have gained more spiritual strength. Since I started studying your lessons, I am now equipped with new information, and I am very much ready to preach the word to the lost.”
Bob Patterson, our WEI Web Master, reports that one of his students in China has been baptized.
John Travis continues to baptize WEI students in Liberia.
Dan Ford and Philip Ganta continue to teach and baptize people in the Middle East and to train preachers and church leaders.
God is at work in the world. Praise his name!
On a personal note, I have been recovering from hip replacement surgery (left hip) since June 11. Thankfully, I am ahead of schedule in my recovery and am walking without a crutch. Thank you for all the prayers that have been offered on my behalf.
I had to cancel my trip to Albania this summer and will not be able to be there for the dedication of the new building. The silver lining in the cloud is that I have been able to read a lot and to write a book that should have been written long ago.
Without your prayers and financial support, none of this would have been possible. We thank God for you. You are loved and appreciated. —Dick and Maudine
