Jo Towell, a member of the Peninsula Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon, tells the following story about one of her WEI students in Ethiopia:
“My student Wariso Abesho was a teacher at the Catholic school in Zeway, Ethiopia. When he received the first packet of WEI lessons, the Head Master at the Catholic school opened the packet, discovered the Bible study materials, and immediately fired Wariso.
“Wariso was confused and very concerned for his family’s welfare. However, he completed the lessons and returned them to me, along with a letter telling me about being fired from his job for studying the Bible—which he thought was a good thing.
“I wrote and explained that sometimes we are persecuted for doing what God wants us to do, but God has promised to bless us when we choose to follow Him and obey his commands. I also suggested that he look up the Church of Christ. I mentioned some of the things the church in Ethiopia is doing.
“Wariso’s next letter was full of excitement. He had gotten a job teaching at one of the state schools in Zeway. He had found the Church of Christ in Addis Ababa and was so excited about it that he wanted to start a Church of Christ in Zeway. I gave the information to Art Hitt who contacted John Ed Clark, who then contacted Behailu Abebe in Ethiopia.
“Brother Abebe and others contacted Wariso and studied with him and his wife Hawa, a Muslim. They were both baptized into Christ on February 23, 2003. Brother Abebe thinks they will soon be able to establish a congregation of the Lord’s church in Zeway, a city of 30,000 people. Praise God.”
For more than a decade, the Church of Christ in Orangevale, California has been printing materials for WBS as a part of their mission outreach. More recently, they started printing some WEI materials as well.
In this issue of Update, we honor Jim McPeak and his faithful team of workers, and we thank the Orangevale congregation for its fellowship
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Jim says that WEI and the Orangevale Church of Christ are “partners.” When members of the Orangevale congregation became involved in campaign efforts in India and Africa, they saw for themselves the value of printed lessons in foreign missions. This increased their commitment to the printing ministry. Now, they print WEI lessons in English, Russian, and Spanish.
Jim says, “The Russian WEI lessons are available for use in the U.S. by sister congregations (i.e., Rancho Cordova, CA) who are reaching out to Russian immigrants in their communities. The Spanish WEI lessons are currently being field-tested. Once released, the Spanish WEI lessons should help meet a great need here in the U.S. as well as Central and South America.”
Standing by the high-speed copy machine below are the three men who currently print the lessons.
Jim says, “The lesson books are put together in a cooperative effort involving both the Orangevale and the Fairfield congregations.”
The following picture shows seven people collating the books in the Orangevale fellowship hall. Standing: David Douglass, Paul Rizzo, Ken Gehring, and Dave Grall. Seated: Bess Haymes, Bill Haymes, and Charlot Grall.
Printing, collating, and binding books can be arduous work. Yet, these steadfast workers keep producing Bible study materials that God is using to teach people all over the world.
Thank God for the Orangevale congregation and for its partnership in world evangelism.
Bob and Jan Towell, directors of the WEI Internet ministry, forwarded the following Email—written by Professor Gennadiy Postnov, a WEI student in Lipetsk, Russia who has been baptized:
“In March, Robert Knapp rang me up asking if I was willing to conduct Bible classes at the Lipetsk church. After a week or so, I accepted the offer. Since then, I’ve preached several times.
“Having been brainwashed forcibly by godless materialism propaganda, too many people in this country are pursuing material possessions—to no avail. I am sure the economic situation won’t improve until the nation starts taking heed to Jesus’ teachings. Having been robbed of heavenly bread and concentrating exclusively on their daily bread, people have neither—because they walk in darkness.
“I thank God for my American friends who have helped me see the Light.”
One of the highlights of my recent trip to Romania was the international fellowship in Oradea. Missionaries and national church leaders from Hungary and Romania gathered for a day of singing, praying, preaching, and table fellowship.
Tom Langley, missionary in Oradea, reports the following: “Our first ever Romanian/Hungarian church meeting went very well on Saturday, March 29th. We had representatives from Cluj, Arad, and Oradea, Romania, and from Miskolc, Solnok, and Budapest, Hungary. There were approximately sixty in attendance, and our hall was nearly full.
“Members of the Oradea church brought food for lunch, and we had enough to feed an army.
“We sang praises to God in Romanian, Hungarian, and English. Paul Henderson, missionary from Budapest, spoke twice on unity in the body of Christ. He spoke in Hungarian, and Romeo [a brother from Oradea] translated his lessons into Romanian. In this part of Romania, a large portion of the population is ethnic Hungarian. Both of Paul’s lessons were powerful and appropriate. We hope to continue this fellowship on a regular basis.”
The following week, Tom and I traveled in Romania and Hungary visiting missionaries and setting up summer campaigns. Five summer campaigns were scheduled for 2004.
Praise God for opening new doors.
Virgil and Jackie Jackson report that two young women have been baptized in Vlorë: Yllka Cela and Sonila Berdo.
Yllka, a schoolteacher in her early thirties, “comes from a strongly Muslim background. Many like her have a long and difficult journey to come to faith in Jesus Christ
“On the same afternoon, Sonila Berdo was baptized into Christ. Sonila, a 23-year-old college graduate, has been studying with us for several months. We were amazed at her Bible knowledge—the result of ten years of personal Bible reading. It was thrilling to learn that Sonila began her daily reading and prayer as the result of a study she had with Sherry Reeves in our initial summer effort in 1993!”
Pete Hodge, missionary in Elbasan, Albania, has good news to report: “Sunday 16th March will be a day to remember for 13-year-old Denise Millo. She was immersed into Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Denise has been Dulcie’s student for some time.
“Two days later, Blendi Yzeiri (30) was immersed. Blendi had been studying with Gene Banister and Koli.
“Please pray for these two babes in Christ as they begin their walk with the Lord.”
On April 21, Arjon Zhusti was baptized into Christ. Arjon, a student of Ellen Walker, lives in Tirana and works as an engineer.
April 27 was “Friends’ Day” in Tirana. Bill Wilson of Köln, Germany was the guest speaker. Two hundred and twenty people met for worship in the Historical Museum.
At 1:15, the youth group, directed by Ellen Walker, staged a drama production written by Brian Simmons, titled “Forgive Our Sins.”
Ellen comments, “The theme of this play is important and is something that has been looked down on in Albanian culture. The ‘honorable’ thing to do was, in earlier years, to revenge the wrongs done to you and your loved ones. The roots of these customs run deep, and years of tradition can’t be uprooted in a day, a month, or a year, or maybe even in a decade. We have seen that drama can touch hearts in a way that preaching never can.”
Lloyd Campbell writes, “Five young men of the Tirana congregation meet with me on Saturday morning for a class on Biblical preaching. The congregation encourages these young men to preach on Sunday evenings where they can make practical application of what they have learned.
On March 1920, Bill Morgan led the fourth annual missionary conference in Tirana. Fifty-five people attended—including 26 American and British missionaries and 29 Albanian church leaders from Albania and Kosova. It was the largest gathering of its kind to date.
Alfred Zikë writes, “It was so great to hear about the Lord’s work in many cities and villages all over the country. As I was listening to the reports that missionaries brought, my memory went back to the hot summer of 1992. In that summer, on July 10th, started a big campaign of evangelizing Albania. On August 2nd, the first congregation was established in Tirana.
“I am a witness of that time. As many others, I started studying English as well as Bible each day from Monday till Friday. I am grateful to God for my first Bible teacher, Yvonne Davis, a precious lady, who planted the Word in my heart.
“I cannot forget, too, our special day on July 21st, 1993, Diana’s and my birthday in the Lord. “It passed 10 years, and the church in Albania grew amazingly through God’s blessings upon missionary efforts and WEI in Tirana, Vlorë, Orikum, Durrës, Elbasan, Fier, Korçë, Lushnja, Shkodër, and beyond Albanian borders in Prizren, Kosova.
“Praise the Lord! Praise His name!”
Church leaders in Ghana have written to us about a tremendous opportunity for spreading the Good News in West Africa.
Outside of Accra, the capital city, there is a Liberian refugee camp. In a single day, the Ghana church leaders signed up 185 WEI students, and they say they can easily sign up 1,000 more. But they need teaching materials. The Ghana leaders want to teach the refugees themselves so they can follow up on them immediately.
The problem is this: they don’t have the funds for ordering WEI materials. Neither can WEI afford to supply the materials free of charge and mail them to Africa. We’re skating on thin ice as it is.
We need at least $5,000 in order to supply the Ghana preachers with the materials they need. Who will join hands with us in this evangelistic project?
May God Bless You
We are eternally grateful to you, our friends and fellow workers, who give and give and give to the cause of Christ through WEI. Thank you from the depths of our hearts. We love you.
At the same time, we are praying that God will raise up new partners in world evangelism. Red ink is beginning to flow again.
Put WEI in your church budget. Take up a special contribution. Send a check out of your mission contingency fund. Help us make disciples of all the nations. Together, with the help of God, we can spread the Good News to the ends of the earth.
—Dick and Maudine Ady
