More Fruit Harvested in Albania
Fred Jewell, Chairman of the Foreign Missions Ministry at the College Church in Searcy, Arkansas writes, “Those of us blessed to participate in face-to-face campaigns know that few of the students we teach will be brought to full obedience to God’s will. But we accept the reality of disappointment in the expectation that at least some of the seed sown will land on good soil and produce a harvest.
“For each of the past 5 years my wife, Alice, and I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the summer WEI campaigns in Tirana, Albania. . . . The relationships formed with our students and the local members were so satisfying that we were hooked.” Fred and Alice have been disappointed again and again when promising students have not followed through. Yet, other students have submitted to God and brought them joy.
Fred writes,
“When we left for Albania in August 2017, I was totally convinced that I would have the privilege of baptizing at least one on-line student, maybe two. Both had shown great interest and had made statements in response to thought questions which left no doubt that they were ready. The only problem was that the student in whom I had the highest confidence lived in a city about three hours from Tirana. I had told her that if she were not able to visit Tirana during our month-long stay, we would be happy to come to her city where no church existed. . . . She responded that she would be in Greece with her sister during those times; it turned out that that would be the last time I heard from her. . . This surely ranks as my biggest WEI disappointment, not only for the fact that she didn’t follow through on her stated convictions, but for the abrupt and unexplained end of our relationship.”
On the positive side, Fred inherited a young female student named Enkeleda (Ledi) Qokaj when he went to Tirana last August. Ledi had studied with Bob Hesselrode on the Internet. She had also studied with Harold Romine, Pete Bogdanovic, and Bob Hesselrode in person prior to Fred’s and Alice’s arrival. She was convinced that she should be baptized by immersion for the forgiveness of sins and for the gift of the Holy Spirit, but she hesitated because she knew her parents would object.
Fred studied with her further and prayed with her for three days. As a result, she was born again of water and the Spirit.
Armando Obeys the Gospel
Fred continues, “Armando had been involved in WEI since the beginning of the summer campaign. He was Alice’s student after studying with Ken Martin. He recounted that he had been baptized by an Orthodox priest at age 4, along with his entire family, shortly after Albania’s dictatorship was replaced and open religious activity was allowed in the early 1990s.
“His class time was the same as Ledi’s, so he was invited to witness her baptism. He remarked at the time that he would likely be the next one in the water. We had high hopes that he would carry through with that declaration before we left. It actually took three months of continued study with Ellen [Walker] before he finally carried through, but we were elated at the news that he had finally taken that step on December 13, the day before Ellen flew back to the States for her Christmas visit.
“That same day, Armando followed in the footsteps of thousands of fellow-Albanians and left for Germany to seek greater opportunity. Pray that he stays connected to the Lord and the Lord’s church in his new setting.”
One soul is more valuable than all the gold, silver, precious stones, and earthly possessions combined. Thus, one new birth overshadows all the disappointments experienced by a teacher.
If you are interested in going on a short-term mission,
contact Tom Langley at 865-803-2909 or e-mail him at
tom@worldenglishinstitute.org
Editorial
Imagine that you are on the Titanic sinking into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. The band is playing its final song. Terrified passengers are screaming, praying, and crying hysterically. Your time has come. What would you give for a lifeboat?
God has provided a lifeboat for people drowning in sin and dying without hope. That lifeboat is Jesus. One of the tragedies of our time is that so many drowning people are unaware of the danger facing them. They don’t realize that they need a lifeboat. God is using WEI to rescue the perishing by leading them to Jesus. WEI is supported by people like you who, by faith, are laying up “treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew6:20).
Satan is territorial, and he resents those who invade his kingdom of darkness. He uses every dirty trick in his book to keep us out of his territory. Yet, God is using WEI to lead atheists, Buddhists, Communists, Hindus, Muslims, and even Satan worshipers to Christ. Churches are being planted, and dead churches are being resurrected. Please partner with us as we seek to save the lost.
If God has blessed you financially, and you are willing to invest in eternity, the Lord can use your (his) resources to accomplish his eternal purposes. He does not want “anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
As we serve the Lord in 2018, let us march to the drumbeat of the great commission. Let us work together and love one another with pure hearts fervently. Thanks for being our partners in Christ.
Dick and Maudine Ady
Church Planting Opportunities Abound
Hopefully and prayerfully, in August of this year, we will be embarking on another church planting opportunity by following up on WEI Internet students. By focusing our advertising in regions of the world where the church of Christ is weak or non-existent, we are able to sow the seeds of the kingdom and prepare the soil before sending a team of teachers to personally study with these WEI students.
Many of you will recall that our first attempt at this was three years ago in the country of Mongolia in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar. Many were baptized by a team of teachers associated with Bear Valley Bible In-statute International and there is now an active church meeting in that city where there once was none. [The picture below was taken in Ulaanbaatar last year.]
We have recently chosen Moldova and Armenia as two additional countries on which to focus our advertising. Our student registrations and subsequent online Bible studies have increased dramatically. As far as we know, the church of Christ is weak or non-existent in these countries.
We are now making plans in August of this year to send another team of teachers headed by Brother Bill Stewart of Bear Valley to study with our WEI students in Chisinau, the capital city of Moldova. At some future time, we hope to do the same in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia. The Cassell Hills congregation in Dayton Ohio has taken a particular interest in Armenia. The preacher, David Edmonds, and his wife Arusik, (an Armenian national) are currently studying with scores of students from there in the hope of following up in person one day. With God’s blessings and the Spirit’s direction, a Church of Christ will one day be planted in
that city and country as well.
Planting new churches of Christ all over the world is just another way WEI can be an effective tool in fulfilling the Great Commission of our Lord.
We are grateful for all our WEI Internet teachers and for all supporters. Your generous gifts at year’s end came at a critical and needful time. We thank you and we love you.
Tom and Angie Langley
Overflowing in Thanksgiving to God
Our hearts are overjoyed with thanksgiving and praise to our awesome God. God has answered our many prayers and blessed us beyond our expectations. In 2017 our Internet teachers taught more students in one year than ever before. 727 teachers conducted 125,278 Bible studies with 20,433 students. To God be the glory!
We cannot begin to express how grateful we are for the wonderful generosity you have given to world evangelism through WEI. Thank you so much for investing eternally in saving precious souls. Especially, thank you for all the generous gifts given towards our year-end fundraising effort. Praise God! God bless you for helping lost souls wake up to the light of the world.
Lee Allen
Note: Bob & Jan Towell were ill and didn’t feel up to writing their column this quarter. Please pray with us that they will soon recover.
Five Years to Baptism
She is a brilliant scientist and doctor who travels the world for her work in global health. Her teacher [Katheryn]has given her the name, Sarah. Because she stays so busy with her work, it took her five years of studying on and off with WEI to become a Christian. In the beginning, she was an agnostic. Let’s follow her story…
2011: “I was born and raised in the Soviet Union where all politics was about atheism. When my elder brother was dead, I thought that God cannot allow his death. Then, I lost all my faith.” Her family is strong Muslim. She went to them for help with her faith. It did not help. Sarah did not know where to go from there.
2012: Sarah wrote: “I have a problem with worshiping God because Muslims must worship 5 times every day (women cannot worship when they have menses). I worshiping only that time when I want to say something to God. My father said to me: ‘I want to see you worshiping according to Koran`s rules.’ But I find about 100 cases for don`t do it. I think I can find power for a proper way for my life, and this course and you, my dear Mum Katheryn, can help me find the right way.” A little at a time Sarah worked her way through the lessons. She said, “Your training gives me the answers to many questions that troubled me all my life.”
In 2013, she only completed one lesson and one in 2014. During this time, her Muslim family put pressure on her to return to Islam and occasionally succeeded. But, once again, Sarah’s doubts of Islam returned.
2015: Sarah wrote, “I lost my way and now came near you. If possible, please forgive and forget my sin against your big work. I do not deserve your attention, but I like a son who wastes his father’s money and his time (lesson 1). I need to you my dear teacher for going to right way through study God’s rules. Please, forgive me.”
In 2016, she returned to her lessons again and finally began to understand. She said, “Jesus was the son of God. He sent us Jesus who love all people although the people wanted to kill him. We learn through our pain. The divine spirit of Jesus was great and his soul was so clean. Please teach me how I should pray.” Sarah wrote further: “I am looking for a mission in this world. I want to change my life and go through baptism. I don`t know what should I do (step by step) and what should I say when I go through the cleansing ritual
of baptism.” Her teacher explained to her how to be baptized, but did not hear back from her. Sarah’s life became busy
with her children and her worldwide health work. Her teacher finally heard from her a year later.
2017: Sarah said, “A long time I was far from you but part of my heart always is with you. I tried to find my way in this life and I hope I find it… I do not know why, but when I write to you about Christianity I enjoy it as a child… After immersion my soul is Christ, and I enjoy this condition for about one year. It is our secret…
About immerse: I have done one year ago in the summer in the lake. That moment I find out peace.”
God Gives the Increase in India
On October 17, Prabhu Kumar, Director of WEI-India, wrote the following in an e-mail: “By the grace of God, our WEI teacher Bro. V. Nagabhushanam baptized 11 people from the surrounding places of Visakhapatnam and Araku Valley on the 15th and 16th of this month. Among them are four from our WEI class and, the remaining older people are from the local villages.”
Wouldn’t you like to lead someone to Christ? Chances are you can. You can become a WEI Internet teacher by logging on to our web site and signing up at www.worldenglishinstitute.org/register/teacher
Denominational Pastor Is Baptized
On October 18, Prabhu sent another e-mail with an amazing story about a denominational preacher and his wife. Mr. and Mrs. T. Samuel were sincere members of a denominational church called Penuel Prayer House in Gannavaram. Mr. Samuel felt called to preach, but the pastor of his church would not allow him to speak. So he left that church and started a small church of his own called Jesus Christ’s Prayer House. He constructed a prayer-shed and preached there for four years—until the prayer-shed was blown away by a cyclone.
For three years, Pastor Samuel didn’t reach anywhere. He felt the need to study the Bible more thoroughly and to learn more about the doctrine of Christ.
At that point, he and his wife started attending a Bible class taught by Prabhu at the Kumar home. Mr.Samuel had many doubts and questions, but when Prabhu answered all of them to his satisfaction, Mr. and Mrs.Samuel came to the church in Punadipadu on Sunday, October 15, and Prabhu baptized them into Christ.
Following his baptism, Brother Samuel made a statement to the congregation. Prabhu says, “His statement was so powerful. He just quoted Revelation the 2nd chapter and said that he had examined many denominational pastors and so-called apostles. This happened in front of the members of the local congregation at Punadipadu after he had been baptized into Christ and before he took the Lord’s Supper. “Please pray for his future plans to serve the Lord by establishing two Churches of Christ in two places.”
