Our dearly beloved Mike Hale, one of the most effective WEI Internet teachers ever, has gone to be with his Lord after struggling with heart ailments for many years. But his legacy lives on.
Mike was a humble man. In life, he did not want his name mentioned in print lest he become proud. In death, we bestow on him the honor he deserves. We extend our sincere sympathy to Mike’s beloved wife, Genie, and their entire family.
Mike’s legacy extends around the world. He studied with Bene Ribeiro in Mogi das Cruces, Brazil in 2010, and Bene became a New Testament Christian.
Upon Mike’s death, Bene wrote the following e-mail to Bob and Jan Towell: “Brother Mike Hale was a precious tool in the hands of our Lord God. … In spite of the thousands of miles that separated us, I could feel him near me all the time, giving me strength and saying that I could start telling the truth here in my city and could gather people for God, baptize and teach them. … Well, today, to the glory of our Lord God, the small seed brother Mike planted has germinated into a tiny plant of 25 souls. Our Lord God has been giving growth.
“I am sure we all look forward to seeing him there someday! I do. Under the consent of our Lord God, I want to look into his eyes, hold him and thank him, as we both praise our Lord God for his love and mercy upon us.”
Mike’s greatest spiritual legacy is the amazing work in India. With the help of God, Mike’s Internet student, Prabhu Kumar, and Prabhu’s fellow-preachers, continues to teach and baptize WEI students in India. Nearly 100 people have been baptized thus far this year. To God be the glory.
In mid-May, Prabhu baptized four students who had been taught by Durai Raj at Tiruttani.
About the same time, R. Vinod Kumar baptized his student, P. Satish, at Ambajipet.
Earlier, Brother Parandhamaiah baptized three of his WEI students at Puttor—including the female student shown in the picture below.
On June 15, Prabhu reported that WEI teacher, Bro. Chakravarhthy, had baptized three more students.
In the picture below, Bro. Payani is baptizing one of his male students at Nagiri.
In last quarter’s newsletter, I announced plans to host a WEI reception in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. The purpose of this reception was to invite some of the many Internet students we have in that country into one location so as to introduce them to a team of Bible teachers and preachers, mostly associated with Bear Valley Bible Institute in Denver, CO. The teachers would then conduct personal studies with these students for three weeks.
On Saturday April 18, approximately 140 WEI students arrived at the banquet hall of the historic Ulaanbaatar Hotel in the center of the city. I shared a brief history of WEI, thanked them for being WEI students, and invited them to join us for some catered refreshments. They were then introduced to the six teachers and encouraged to meet with them after the reception to schedule personal Bible studies.
Before we were forced to leave the hall because our rented time had expired, most of the teachers’ schedules were completely full from morning till evening with Bible studies.
A little over two weeks later, 17 precious souls had been immersed in baptism and added to the kingdom of God. Praise the Lord!
An American missionary from Wuhan, China (Michael O’brian) remained to help with follow-up studies and to worship with these new Christians. He has plans to return to Ulaanbastar at least once a quarter for several weeks each visit to assist this infant group in study, fellowship, and prayer. The teachers also remain in contact with the Christians through many different electronic formats.
These new Christians in Mongolia need our fervent prayers as they begin their new walk with God. There currently is at least one man at Bear Valley who, together with his wife, are interested in locating and ministering in Ulaanbaatar after he concludes his studies. Please keep this exciting work in your prayers.
—Tom Langley
Sheila Spielman writes, “Many of you travel a distance of 25 miles or so in order to attend worship and Bible class. You do it because you think it is important. … We have several of our students who travel that far each day to study with us for an hour. It may be free English lessons they value, but over and over, our students have said that they like the Bible stories. They are meaningful to them and teach them important lessons for life.
One pair of friends, who are in the 10th grade, have been doing at least one lesson a day. They told Brian [Leavitt], their teacher, that they are so busy with school work. … But they spend time doing homework for us. These boys travel 25 miles (40 kilometers) on public buses to reach us. The buses are dirty, no air conditioning, crowded, the seats are just the frames—no seat or padding. The travel is slow as the bus stops for new passengers and lets others off. Then they must walk from the bus stop in Podgorica. It takes them an hour to get here and an hour to get back home. They are so eager and excited to learn.
There are also two 10th grade girls who travel about 40 kilometers to come for lessons. They take a commuter train part-way and a bus part-way. Yesterday, there was an automobile accident that was delaying traffic. So the girls got off the train and ran the rest of the way here so they would not be late. They are doing two lessons each day as well as their school work.
It is such a wonderful feeling for us teachers to see that light in a student’s eyes and to hear that “Ahhh” of recognition, when the student understands and realizes the concept of a Bible teaching. …
We wish you could watch the power of God’s word sink into a bright and willing mind like these students have shown us. The inconvenience and tiredness and aches of travel and being away from home become minor when compared to the smiles and sparkles in the eyes of these students.
And so we have completed over half of our teaching time here. It goes so fast. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement. You are our partners in teaching these students.”
Three short-term missionaries taught WEI students in Podgorica, Montenegro this year: Brian Leavitt, Jo Byrd Lively, and Sheila Spielman.
In the picture below, Jo and her student, Ana, are rejoicing together following Ana’s baptism into Christ. Three more students said they plan to be baptized. Slowly but surely, the kingdom of God is growing in Montenegro.
At the time of this writing, four of us are in Siem Reap, Cambodia teaching God’s word and English to a group of sweet, gentle, loving Khmer people. Our small team consists of Phil Gardner, Jim Gillihan, Tony Merritt, and me (Dick Ady). Since this is Jim’s first experience as an ambassador of Christ in a distant land, I have asked him to give us his impressions.
Jim writes, “The sights, sounds, smells, and impressions of my first mission experience have been overwhelming, yet so gratifying. I now realize more acutely the vast difference that exists between my life in the U.S.A. and the daily reality of my Cambodian brother. The Cambodian people are gracious, kind, and forgiving—which is amazing when considering their recent history of pain and sorrow and extreme oppression.
I knew this experience would be challenging and culture shock a possibility. Seeing the daily struggles of our students first-hand makes me humbled and challenged in my own faith. Maybe that is an underlying, unspoken truth of Christ’s Great Commission. We go, and we are changed by the experience and by the souls we come to love. And through it all, God receives the Glory.”
Jim has written these words from the depths of his heart. His experience as a soul-winner in a land where 90% of the people are Buddhists, has helped him see the world through God’s eyes. It has also made him aware of how much God has blessed us in America.
God is calling YOU to respond to the Great Commission, too. Please consider going with us on a WEI short-term mission campaign. If you will take this leap of faith, God will bless your life forever.
Willy Yudah, national preacher, reports that twenty-seven of the eighty-nine students who have studied at the WEI school in Mbeya, Tanzania have been baptized into Christ, four of them this year. The current class will have graduated by the time you read this newsletter. A new class of forty-five Intermediate students and a class twenty-seven Advanced students will have begun their studies as of July 14, according to the will of God.
WEI Short-term missions are in full swing at the writing of this column. WEI founder Dr. Dick Ady is concluding a mission in Cambodia with a team of teachers, and I am again in Romania doing the same. We both have a great passion and love for sharing the word of God and our faith with students through these WEI short-term mission efforts. It’s in our blood.
We are so blessed to have a great 1st team of very young teachers this summer in Oradea, Romania. I asked Auburn Terry to share her thoughts and feelings of the experience she is having teaching WEI for the first time on a short-term mission. She wrote, “WEI, from the time it was introduced to me at a Sunday night church service when I was a child, has always been a part of the person I am. I chose to teach with WEI as a service and a dedication to not only the program but to God. WEI is a teaching outlet that doesn’t just teach the students. I have learned things in the past two weeks I never knew for eighteen years, and I am fiercely grateful for the guidance WEI and its material gives me. The program teaches me that I did not become a Christian to be still, that I am commanded to go out into the world a spread the Good News. As a first-time, eighteen-year-old teacher, it brings me overwhelming joy to see how students of all ages are impacted by the grammatical and Biblical material. The lessons are so well-crafted that it is abundantly clear that WEI cares for its students and teachers on an impressively personal level.”
Two of Auburn Terry’s students, Mihaela Sarca and Gabriela Dovin also shared their thoughts and feelings about the experience they are having this summer studying WEI. “The WEI program is appealing because it’s composed from a grammar part, and a text part which presents biblical stories that are interesting and simple to understand and to talk about with our teacher. It has a part of speech freedom that gives us the chance to exercise and improve our language, and the homework is good for the same reason. The best portion of the WEI program is that it helped us to understand better what the Bible says.”
The WEI short-term mission is often a life-changing experience for both students and teachers. We are so grateful to all of you who support WEI through your prayers and gifts. We can be sure that God’s word will not return to Him empty. We love you and we thank you,
—Tom and Angie Langley
Mike Hale had an accounting degree but called himself a retired cotton farmer. He never accepted recognition from men, but now that he sleeps in Jesus, we can share something of his work.
John, a Nigerian, worked on the Island of Crete as a technician. A discouraged Pentecostal pastor, he was seeking the true church. When Mike showed him the scriptures teaching the necessity of immersion, he traveled to Athens to be baptized by Dino Roussos. As they continued to study, John led the congregation to take the Lord’s Supper every Sunday and to stop using musical instruments during worship. Within three months, all 18 in that congregation were immersed, and the church was revived on Crete after 850 years.
Because of the bad economy in Crete, John now lives in Bristol, England and is using WEI to teach immigrants. Others who left Crete are living faithfully in the five countries to which they scattered.
Bene was a Pentecostal elder in Brazil, but his heart was good soil, and Mike planted the seed. Bene, his wife, and their daughters started meeting in their home as their city had no congregation. They have taught and immersed others and now number 25.
Prabhu is an evangelist in India. With Mike’s help, he and others whom he recruited have used WEI to teach the Good News to 24 states in India and have immersed 531 people. Prabhu estimates around 48,000 people have heard the Word.
So because of Mike, who never even led a public prayer, thousands heard, and 574 obeyed in the last 10 years of his life. Only God knows where the ripple effect will end.
Dan. 12:2-3: “Multitudes who sleep will awake: some to everlasting life … and those who lead many to righteousness will shine like the stars forever and ever.”
Sleep well, Mike. Although small in your own eyes, God sees you like a star shining brightly in the night sky.
Rev. 14:13: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, … they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”
Bob & Jan Towell
As I write these words, I am in Siem Reap, Cambodia teaching at a hotel during the day and sleeping in an apartment at night. This apartment has been rented by Bill and Marie-Claire McDonough of Partners in Progress, and they have graciously allowed our team of four short-term missionaries to live here free of charge.
Outside the apartment, monsoon rains are falling. Lightning is flashing, and thunder is rolling in the clouds. The earth is getting a drink of water. Now, the farmers can plant rice in their paddies outside the city. The survival of the Khmer people in Cambodia depends on these monsoon rains.
Paul said we all depend on God for survival. “In Him, we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Without oxygen, we perish within five minutes. In frigid water, our organs shut down within thirty minutes. In a blizzard, we cannot long survive without shelter, and we live only two to four days without water. Air, heat, food, and water are all gifts from God.
At Lystra, Paul said that God “has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:15, 17).
The life-giving rains in Cambodia are a symbol of God’s spiritual blessings in Christ: “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he has lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7-8).
Since the world’s spiritual survival depends on God’s eternal blessings, it is urgent that we share the good news about Christ with every man, woman, and child on earth. We must not keep these spiritual blessings to ourselves while billions are dying in sin. Jesus has called us to preach and teach the gospel to the whole creation. He is depending on US to spread the word and draw people to him. He has made no other provision for the world’s salvation.
We praise God for the army of Christians who are marching with us in response to the great commission. We are grateful for your fellowship, your ongoing prayers, encouragement, and support. We love you with all our hearts.
—Dick and Maudine Ady
Tom Bonner, missionary in Lushnja, Albania, reports three WEI students have been born again in Lushnja: one girl, Luiza Kiptiu, and two boys, Egi Dhana and Franko Janku.
In the picture below, Luiza was the first person of any age or gender to use the new portable baptistery the Saturn Road church in Garland, Texas contributed to the work of the Lord in Lushnja.
Tom says, “Luiza Kiptiu became involved as a WEI student with us three years ago this past February, and she has been active in the services of the youth group. She has been regular in attendance to the worship services, as well. Her life story is one filled with difficulties and challenges, but she seems to genuinely love the Lord. She is fifteen years old, and we look for many years of fellowship and service together with her.
“Yes, we have two new brothers. … They have both been involved with us for three years or more, first as students of English/Bible, then as regular attenders. They are in their early teens, so the road will become difficult before long, in attempting to maintain the adherence to their commitments. Olti has been largely responsible of late for studying with them. …
“Both sets of parents have expressed appreciation regarding the positive influence they can easily see the church having had in the lives of their children.”
Please pray for Tom and Olti as they nurture these three new babes in Christ and lead them toward spiritual maturity.
God is using Brother Chann Lork, preacher for the church in Siem Reap, Cambodia in a wonderful way. After teaching and preaching at the church building on Sunday morning, he and his wife Sopha and a young man in the congregation who is training to be a preacher, drive to villages north of Siem Reap to teach Buddhist children Christian songs and Bible lessons. My fellow short-term missionaries and I were invited to join them one Sunday afternoon, and we were deeply touched by the experience.
I had the privilege of preaching at the church in Siem Reap on Sunday morning, June 28. Afterwards, we were thrilled to learn that Mon, the mother of Hout (a member of the congregation) was baptized into Christ following the worship service.
In his report July 5, Chann writes, “We are so excited for Hout’s mother that, after she studied the Bible with us for a long time, she finally decided to be baptized last week”.
