June 3, 2010
This was the best quarter yet for WEI’s teaching website. An average of 1,132 new Bible classes started each month. Jonathan and Bruno rebuilt the website’s message system so it can handle the enormous number of messages generated by both students and teachers.
The problem we now have is not enough teachers. We suspended Google advertising in June for 4 days because some students had been waiting for a teacher more than 3 days. Two teachers in Maryville, TN, and one in Alabama have over 1,000 students each. Others have several hundred. Several people have undertaken to recruit more teachers. Pam and Pete Bogdanovic conducted a training session at Rancho Cordova, CA. Tom Gillson, Justin Speer, and Sean Blair of the Katy, TX congregation conducted a recruiting session with the Senior Saints at the Bammell Road congregation in Houston. Dick Ady and Tom Langley recruit teachers wherever they travel. What will you add to this drive to recruit more teachers?
In the last quarterly report, we wrote about targeting Muslim nations. 28.3 % of people who return the Introductory Lesson list their religion as Islam. During the 2nd quarter, Joey, our friend from Iraq, translated WEI’s Google ad into Arabic, and it has been shown in the Persian Gulf region since May 21. So far, 660 have registered. Sadly, 51% of Muslim students drop out after the Introductory Lesson. While these numbers can be disheartening, there are bright spots in teaching Muslims. One of Katheryn Haddad’s students in the Middle East placed his trust in Jesus and rented a hotel room with a hot tub, where his wife helped him in baptism although she herself had not yet made that decision.
Registrations from Mongolia are more than 200 times higher than the worldwide rate: 1,625 registrations per million Mongolians compared to 7.1 registrations per million people worldwide. Mongolia seems to be a place where the field is ripe, and we are hoping someone will take up the call to go follow-up and to reap the harvest.
The Great Commission has not expired. Will you “go” on the Internet with us.
—Bob & Jan Towell
