June 12, 2002
In our last newsletter, we announced that Tom Bonner had decided to move to Lushnja, Albania to help plant a church there. Tom had taken this leap of faith, not knowing who would sponsor him or where he would get the financial support he needed.
In this issue of WEI Update, we are happy to announce that the Metro Church of Christ in Gresham, Oregon has decided to sponsor Tom and partially support him. Metro will provide $1,500 a month, and Tom will raise another $1,500 a month for personal support plus $1,000 a month working fund.
Tom has just completed a month-long crash course in missions at Abilene Christian University and is eager to get on with the Lord’s work. He wants to move to Albania in early August, or as soon as possible.
Albanian church leaders are preparing the way for Tom’s arrival. Erik Qirjaqi and Artan Xhaferi are teaching WEI students in Lushnja one day a week. Men from the Tirana congregation will soon be conducting worship services in Lushnja each Sunday. A nice teaching facility has been rented on a main street. Tables, chairs, and booth dividers are in place. A telephone has been installed, and a computer is waiting.
Few missionaries have so much groundwork laid for them prior to their arrival.
Two WEI students in the Lushnja area have already been baptized into Christ. Bill Morgan and three other short-term missionaries will conduct a WEI summer campaign in Lushnja from July 15 to August 9. By the time Tom arrives on the scene, there should be several new Christians waiting to be taught and nurtured. These will form the nucleus of the new congregation.
God has opened a door in Lushnja, and Tom Bonner is marching through it.
Is God calling you to help supply Tom’s basic needs? If you or your congregation can include Tom in your budget, please let us hear from you. Let’s send this good man into fields that are “white unto harvest.”
