It is difficult to include everything that happened in Mongolia in an article. It was an amazing ten days.
A team of eight Bible teachers led by the Church of Christ Plants ministry returned to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in April to study with our WEI online students. We sent hundreds of invitations to our best online students. Forty-two Mongolians attended the WEI reception. Almost everyone who attended signed up for daily one-on-one Bible classes.
Many of these Internet WEI Bible students came to their daily Bible studies with questions about God, Jesus, and the kingdom, about which they had already studied with their WEI online teachers.
From the very first day, precious souls gave their lives to Christ and were immersed in the waters of baptism for forgiveness of sins and became fellow citizens of God’s glorious kingdom.
The seed had been sown and watered through online studies. The harvest had been waiting for our arrival.
For nine days following the reception, teachers studied God’s word with these students from early morning to late evening. As a result, 12 precious souls obeyed the gospel and were added to the Lord’s kingdom. It was an exciting time for all the teachers. Every day, it seemed, another baptism was taking place in one of the hotel’s spacious bathtubs.
One late evening about midnight, I was just lying down to go to sleep when I was startled by a knock on my door. One of our WEI teachers, Luis Camacho, had been studying late into the evening with his student. The student wanted to be baptized immediately without delay. They asked permission to use my very large bathtub. I was overwhelmed with joy to invite them in and to witness this special moment.
The church was first planted in Ulaanbaatar in 2015 as a result of our very first WEI reception partnering with the Church of Christ Plants ministry led by our beloved late Brother Bill Stewart. Bill’s son, Murray, now leads this ministry. Three of us from the original teaching team again joined the effort this past April.
The church in Ulaanbaatar has experienced highs and lows since its birth in 2015, but a small group has remained faithful through the years. The addition of these 12 new Christians has more than doubled the size of the local congregation. We give all glory and praise to God for giving the increase. We also thank the Lord for the Church of Christ Plants ministry for partnering with WEI to obey Jesus’ Great Commission while there is time.
In 2019, a young Mongolian man, Eric Z. was sponsored by the Wynne Church of Christ in Arkansas, to Studentsattend Bear Valley Bible Institute in Denver and earn his Bible and ministry degree. He is now leading the church and ministry. Please keep Eric, the church, and these baby Christians in your prayers as they embark on this new journey of eternal life, worship, fellowship, and service in the kingdom of God.
Brother Obed Anthony has been teaching WEI students in Cameroon, online and/or in person, for more than a decade.
Anthony writes, “We have been able to set up a school for students in Cameroon, and our students from age 15 and above have been introduced to WEI . We had 30 baptisms last year even though our area is in [political] crisis, but we keep moving on. “We are beginning a Bible college in September, and we would like to use some courses from WEI.”
YOU’RE INVITED!!
You, your church leaders, and all mission-minded members in your congregation are invited to our first West Coast WEI Seminar on September 30, 2023!
God launched WEI in 1989 for the same reason he sent Jesus into the world—to seek and save the lost.
At this seminar, you will meet WEI staff members: Dick Ady, Tom Langley, Lee Allen, and Darrell Wallace.
If you cannot attend in person, the seminar will be live-streamed nation-wide. If you have questions, write to June Andersen at geneandjune@comcast.net. To register, go to www.metrocofc.org and click on the WEI Summit link.
We hope to see you Sept. 30! Circle that date on your calendar
Arthur Tatara became a WEI Internet student while studying at the Sunset International Bible Institute extension school in Singapore.
After graduating from SIBI, Arthur returned to his home in Papua New Guinea, and he has been using WEI as an evangelistic tool ever since.
Arthur says, “I love preaching and teaching the word. Last year, a brother from my congregation graduated from South Pacific Bible in New Zealand and came back to PNG. He is now helping me preaching and teaching the word.”
Their first mission together was a preaching trip to Tami Island east of Lae where one soul was added to the church.
They made their second mission tour in the Western Highlands during the July school break. Arthur’s friend has now joined him as a teacher at Melanesian Bible College. Together, they are training future evangelists for the PNG church.
Arthur writes, “Now I am teaching the three WEI books, Who Is God, Who Is Jesus, and The Spirit of God. I have six weeks to teach this course, so I am doing some translation work on the materials so I can teach the students in the Pidgin language.
“I have 16 students altogether in the class. They love the lessons on the Godhead. The first picture below is of my students at Melanesian Bible College.
“The second picture is of the small congregation at the Bible college where I am the minister.”
“In the next six weeks, I teach Christian Evidences using WEI materials. My dream of teaching the whole [WEI} material at the only Bible college in Papua New Guinea is coming to a reality.”
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” – Romans 10:14
On May 31, 2023, we received an email from Willy Yudah, an evangelist and WBS/WEI teacher in Tanzania.
Willy writes, “I am a former graduate from WEI. I graduated in 2012, and I have continued to teach WEI materials since then.”
Through the years, Willy has taught and baptized dozens of WEI students in and around Mbeya.
Brother Yuda says, “I have concluded the WEI six- month course with a seminar which was attended by the graduates. 12 were baptized.”
Joanna concludes, “This experience has helped me to understand the Parable of the Sower so much better. Many seeds were planted, but it took time for the plant to grow.”
Steven Prine, veteran WEI Internet teacher, has some exciting news to share.
Steven writes, “Peter Manut Lual is one of my students in South Sudan. I just found out through Robert Thurman that he [Peter] has accepted Jesus through baptism and is now our brother in Christ! I believe he is the man in the yellow shirt.”
Steven continues, “I taught Tristan Day almost two years ago in the Philippines. I asked Erben Gonzales and Christian Corpus to baptize him. Tristan stayed in touch for a while, and then I did not hear from him for a long time. I got word that he had gotten discouraged and had quit attending.
“Well, here is the good news. Chistian Corpus has made contact with Tristan and has been tutoring him, Now he is faithful again. But that is not all. He is now serving as one of the ministers in a church of Christ closer to where he lives and is very active. Isn’t God great! Tristan is in the blue shirt, and Christian Corpus has his arm around Tristan’s shoulder.”
WEI Internet teacher, Marcella Bailey, shares good news.
Bartholomayo, Marcella’s former WEI Internet student in South Sudan, is reaping a bountiful harvest of souls in his homeland.
At Uchan, South Sudan, Bartholomayo preached to a large crowd of people in a church building that was covered by a bamboo and thatched roof supported by the peeled trunks of small, crooked tree trunks.
Notice in the following picture that Bartholomayo is preaching to the people while using a box as his pulpit.w
The following picture demonstrates the power of Bartholomayo’s peaching.
Bartholomayo writes, “After our teaching in Uchan, thirty-nine people were added to the Lord’s kingdom
Shortly after Bartholomayo baptized these 39 people, he had a motorcycle accident and ended up in the hospital with a head injury. As soon as he was released from the hospital with a bandage still on his head, he helped conduct a three-day seminar in Aweil that resulted in five baptisms.
WEI Internet teacher, Mary McKinney, has had the joy of leading at least two of her students to Christ this year.
In our last newsletter, Mary reported that Austine Ntim, a nineteen-year-old man in Akpfu Odomi, Ghana, found WEI on the Internet and responded to the Google ad. Mary started studying with him November 20, 2022. Austine shared his lessons with his brother, and on April 4, 2023, both were baptized. Now, Mary reports that Austine is going to enroll in the preacher training school in the Volta region.
God is using WEI, not only to seek and save the lost but also to raise up preachers who will teach and baptize others.
Shortly after Austine’s baptism, Mary received an email from her twenty-nine-year-old university student, Leonard Razafindrajomahyg, in Tolaira, Madagascar. Leonard wrote, “I am baptized yesterday. Dear teacher, Eliakim did it.”
Following Leonard’s baptism by Eliakim, Vicki Murphy reminded us that “Eliakim and a friend of his were WEI students while they were still in high school. Since there was nobody to baptize them, they baptized each other.”
Now, years later, Eliakim is “the only preacher south of Antananarivo. He has worked to establish the church in Toliara and in some of the nearby villages. He has baptized three or four other WEI students for various teachers.”
Praise God! That is an amazing story!
Wouldn’t you like to lead someone to Christ?
Chances are you can. Become a WEI Internet teacher
by logging on to our web site and signing up at
www.worldenglishinstitute.org/register/teacher.
In recent months, civil war has raged in the State of Manipur at the far northeastern tip of India, and Christians have suffered greatly. Some of the injured need medication. Many are weak from malnutrition, and others have lost their homes by explosions and fires. One of our preachers died after escaping from the conflict.
Prabhu Kumar, Director of WEI-India, was in Manipur in June. He testifies that Christians there are in dire need. Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Manipur.
Joanna Martin Howard, an elementary school teacher and WEI Internet teacher tells an interesting story about Moses Kamwendo.
In August 2015, Moses Kamwendo’s name appeared on the list of prospective students on the WEI website, and Joanna claimed him as a student. Joanna says, “Moses continued with his lessons, though there were times when he was not able to work on them. He worked through the Intermediate lessons throughout 2016 and 2017.
“In March of this year, he started the Advanced Course. He worked on the lessons about baptism throughout this spring. In May, after completing the lesson on ‘The Purpose of Baptism,’ he came to the question, ‘What have you learned in this lesson?’ His answer was that he had learned he needed to be baptized to have his sins forgiven.
“That comment set in motion an amazing chain of events. I emailed Jan Towell to see if we could find a Christian contact in his area. In her nightly email message to the WEI teachers, she asked if anyone had contacts in Malawi. Sallie Rose Hollis, from Louisiana, knew of a preacher in Malawi named Gift Makwinja. Sallie sent Gift’s email address to Jan, and Jan notified Gift about Moses. The two men got in touch with each other and arranged to meet. Gift’s home is about five hours away from Moses’ home, but Gift made the long journey and studied with Moses. At the end of their study, Moses was baptized in the Mombeze River, almost three years after he started the WEI lessons.
Colleen Busch of Keizer, Oregon and Sheila Yeager of Grand Junction, Colorado are teaching WEI students in free countries via Zoom.
On June 7, 2023, Sheila Yeager wrote, “Our latest Zoom class for the [WEI] Advanced course began successfully on Tuesday, June 6. We had ten students in attendance: six ladies from Myanmar, two from India, one from Mexico, and one from Haiti.
“Getting everyone to understand how to log on at the same time when we were in five different time zones was a mind exercise. Everyone seemed to have a good time.”
Colleen Busch says, “The WEI ZOOM started the summer of 2020 as Richard Haines was moving [from Myanmar] back to Panama City. It began with lessons for students in Panama, then we connected with Philip V.[the preacher in Yangon] and began lessons with him in December 2020.
“We have taught the Intermediate courses 3 times and the Advanced courses 2 or 3 times, and I learn Buschsomething new every time. I enjoy preparing for the classes making up stories for the students to ‘correct,’ using break out rooms for the students to interact with each other and praying for them every morning with Sheila and Philip. “We use the Keizer Church of Christ’s ZOOM account and have the same link and passcode every time.
“We did not take pictures of the students [for security reasons], but several of them shared their joy from attending the classes. They have met many new people, including a monk, teachers, architects. We have endured electrical outages, food shortages, and COVID together. We find that God’s love endures forever!!! We can share in any language!!”
Prabhu Kumar, Director of WEI-India, reports that their third annual Global Online Video Conference was a great success.
This Zoom conference lasted five nights (June 21-25) from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm. Twelve men from Australia, Cambodia, Egypt, India, Sri Lanka, and the USA, took turns speaking and listening to one another speak via Zoom.
One of the speakers was our own Darrell Wallace, WEI Director of Teacher Recruitment and Training.
His picture is posted on the upper left-hand corner of the flyer.
Each of the male speakers recorded his sermon on a video at home, and his video was plugged into the conference allotted time slot.
Following the five-night series of sermons by male speakers, the women enjoyed their own Zoom video conference for two nights Katheryn Haddad, a long time WEI Internet teacher, was one of the speakers in this conference for women.
Honorariums and Memorials
Foster, Jim
In Honor of Dick Ady’s 92nd birthday
Henry, Dan & Debbie
In Honor of Marcela Bailey
Cole, David & Barbara
In Honor of Alice Jewell
Pittman, Charles
In Honor of Arjan Muca
Pittman, Charles
In Honor of Ellen Walker
Pittman, Charles
In Honor of Diane White
Harris, Randall & Judy
In Memory of Bonnie Anderson
Adams, John & Ginger
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
White, Diane
In Memory of Tina Autry
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Joy Bishop
Coleman, Steve & Brenda
Harris, Randall & Judy
Langley, Tom & Angie
Metzer, Robert & Cathryn
In Memory of Jimmy Bizwell
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of George Black
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
White, Diane
In Memory of Jimmie Ann Cliett
Adams, John & Ginger
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Gallaher, Roy & Carolyn
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Jo Reba Cope
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
White, Diane
In Memory of David Crouch
Ritchie, Lavera
In Memory of Janet Dale
Biszmaier, Bill & Mary
Smith, Jim & Alice
In Memory of Conward Farmer
Gallaher, Roy & Carolyn
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
In Memory of Rebecca Foster
Foster, Jim
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Sammie Hill Guild
Skinner, Ruth
In Memory of Lela Mae Johnnie Higgins
Hinds, Paul
In Memory of Jo Huddleston
Amy, Fanny
In Memory of Linda Hughes
Adams, John & Ginger
Harris, Randall & Judy
Langley, Tom & Angie
In Memory of Fred Jewell
Gray, Susan
Hesselrode, Robert & Billie Sue
Jones, Candace & Jason
Keevin, Justus & Caleb
Martin, Kenneth & Debbie
Pittman, Charles
Ritchie, Lavera
In Memory of Robert Earl Johnson
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Gallaher, Roy & Carolyn
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Jesse & Annette Lorren
Lorren, Kenneth & Charlotte
In Memory of Bill Nation
Davis, Doug & Barbara
In Memory of Mel Nilsen
Davis, Doug & Barbara
In Memory of Ivean Pack
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
In Memory of Jesse Phillips
Phillips, Virginia
In Memory of Larry Raburn
Raburn, Shirley
In Memory of Andy Ritchie
Ritchie, Lavera
In Memory of Judy Taylor
Langley, Tom & Angie
In Memory of Boyce Thelan
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Arley Turner
Sibert, LaVonne
In Memory of Bill Van Horn
Van Horn, Bev
In Memory of Dale Walker
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
White, Diane
In Memory of Nancy Walker
Pittman, Charles
