It is thrilling to watch God work in Nigeria. During the last quarter of 2023, Aniefiok Akpan, his wife Etang, and their crew of helpers prayed, planned, and participated in a unique evangelistic effort at the Campus Church of Christ and Rhema Christian Academy in the village of Uruk Otong.
On October 27, Aniefiok wrote, “All is now set for us to invade the entire Uruk Otong community and its environs with the gospel of Christ.”
They had scheduled a three-day World English Institute Conference for December 1-3. The theme of the conference was “Grammar and Lessons of the Bible” with emphasis on the parable of “The Boy Who Left Home” (Luke 15:11-32). The program included health talk, career talk, Bible talk, a family workshop, a drama, and a Bible Quiz.
With a stroke of genius, they had organized a football (soccer) tournament for young people under thirteen in Uruk Otong and environs.
The community’s response was gratifying. Boys and girls in thirteen villages around Uruk Otong formed four football teams and competed for the beautiful football trophy. The first match was played on November 10, and the other seven followed, week after week. The eighth and final match took place on December 1, the first day of the conference. Players, parents, and fans were encouraged to attend the conference.
That night, 300 people packed the church building beyond capacity. On the second night, attendance rose to 700, an all-time record in Uruk Otong.
When the Lord’s invitation was extended during the first session of the conference, twenty-five young people responded. It was pitch black outside, but all twenty-five of them, plus adults, walked down the dark road to the village stream, and all twenty-five were baptized into Christ.
Eight more young people were baptized on the second night of the conference. As the group walked down the dark road in the middle of the night, they were stopped by a gang of hoodlums.
Aniefiok writes, “A gang of notorious armed criminals blocked us on our way to the stream on the second night. They carried Ak-47s and other dangerous weapons. We were so frightened, but they let us go when they discovered we were from the church.”
Aniefiok continued, “The devil has stolen the hearts of our youths. We have what it takes to embark on the rescue mission. The gospel can heal our land. Some of the youths who will be attracted to the conferences [via the football tournaments] could be members of secret cults or armed robbery gangs. Such persons have attended our gospel events before, and we have converted many of them.”
On December 17, Aniefiok sent out an email saying, “The kingdom of Satan suffered another defeat [today]as a mother, Mrs. Josephine Joseph Akpan, decided to put on Christ [in baptism].
“Josephine is one of the parents who attended our WEI Youth Conference & Lectureship. Her son, Abraham Joseph Akpan was one of the three young men baptized on Sunday, December 3rd as we rounded up the conference. Josephine’s baptism has brought to 37, the number of souls who have obeyed the gospel as a result of the 2023 WEI Conference & Lectureship.” Josephine’s baptism put icing on the cake.
YOUR ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
More and more national preachers around the world are using WEI courses in their local outreach ministries. National preachers are our most efficient and productive partners in world evangelism. Your donations for printing and mailing these materials are appreciated
Aniefiok concludes, “The football program integrated into the WEI conference has helped to open a big door for the gospel. We anticipate over 1,000 participants and up to 50 baptisms in our next conference.”
If 1,000 participants show up for the football tournament next year, how can all of them attend the conference and hear the word of God proclaimed? The Campus Church of Christ is a growing church, and the congregation already has to worship under the trees on Sunday, weather permitting.
In the picture below, we can see the beginnings of a multi-purpose church building in the background. In a tropical climate, the building does not have to be completed to be functional. With only a roof over the floor, the church will be able to grow and flourish. At this point, Aniefiok is trying to raise enough funds to put up the roof. That will make it possible for the campus church to rescue the perishing and build up the kingdom of Christ in Uruk Otong, Nigeria.
Katherine H. has been teaching Muslim students in the Middle- and Far-East for thirteen years, and she has never had a woman convert who remained faithful to God following her baptism. Recently, two Afghan women became Christians within nine days. One was from Ghazni near Kabul, and the other was from Herat.
Katherine writes, “Things are really popping in Afghanistan—in a good way. Just today, I learned that our medical student convert who was afraid to join us in April, decided to do so today. She is now in Kerat to continue her education.
“Also today, Bob H. wrote and told me that the father of his convert in Ghazni is a Mullah, and he disowned her when she became a Christian. The Taliban knew where she lived, so she moved. Then, this weekend, the Taliban shot and killed marchers in a religious holiday. Bob’s student teaches girls secretly in her home. If discovered, she [too] could be shot.”
Katherine worships with her Afghan converts online every Sunday. She says, “Our Sunday worship is growing. The meaner the Taliban get, the more people they send rushing into the arms of Jesus.”
Kay Banta writes, “In 2023, I studied WEI with Misho. When the time came to ask about baptism, he suddenly said he had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.”
Kay contacted Misho and explained why it was a mistake to join the LDS church. Then she called Ron Pottberg of World Bible School and explained the problem. Ron referred her to Japhet Nyirongo, an outstanding evangelist in Malawi.
Kay reports: “Japhet met with Misho and gave him some books. Soon Misho was baptized and taught his wife, Dinacy, who was also baptized at the end of the summer. Both are faithful in separate places. Misho is in college while Dinacy plants and cultivates maize and soybeans. Misho asked me for materials to help him teach his fellow students.”
W.E.I. THANKS ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR
CONTINUED SUPPORT!
The contributions and donations you provide allow WEI to continue to reach people in all nations with the word of God.
Linda Banks, an active member of the Metro Church of Christ in Gresham, Oregon, has been a WEI teacher since the 1990s.
Linda says, “My role as a WEI teacher has been, and presently is, one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Each student I select represents a precious soul in need of hearing about Jesus and eternal life that he offers them. As a WEI teacher, I serve God and make a positive impact for Christ in the world.”
Linda says that “the rich learning that comes from having students from around the globe has enabled me to grow and expand my knowledge of the world’s many ethnicities and cultures. Over the years, I have taught students who live in China, Africa, Haiti, India, Mexico, South America, and the USA, to name a few.”
Linda comes from a long line of faithful Christians. At the end of the Civil War, Linda’s great, great, great grandfather started one of the first African American Churches of Christ in a one-room schoolhouse near Caldwell, Texas. That historical building still stands. Linda says, concerning her dedicated ancestor, “His actions spiraled and produced many in our family line who became missionaries, gospel preachers, Bible class teachers, elders, deacons, ministry workers and servants in the Kingdom.”
Linda is color blind. She loves people without regard to the color of their skin. She virtually shouts, “We need more teachers! I want to encourage members and leaders of predominantly Africa American churches, Hispanic churches, Asian American, Native American, all ethnicities and races to support WEI and get involved as WEI Internet teachers! Your life will become greatly enriched, and you will receive many abundant blessings!”
Our awesome God never ceases to amaze us. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever.
God blessed WEI with another fruitful year of teaching precious souls from all around the world in 2023. Thank you for being a vital, loving partner in what we believe is one of the greatest rescue ministries in the world.
815 teachers taught a new record of 73,116 students from 199 countries in 2023. Collectively, we taught a combined 298,065 Grammar lessons, and 479,597 Bible lessons for a total of 777,662 lessons. Praise God! Thank you so much for allowing God to work through you to open the hearts of your students, change their lives, and help save lost souls. To God be the glory!
In addition, God opened the door of opportunity for WEI to add the World English Bible to our website. All past, present, and future WEI students now have the wonderful blessing to read and study their own personal copy of the Bible without fear, harm, or persecution. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen!
Let’s raise the bar in 2024! Let’s go the extra mile like never before. Please continue to encourage and pray for your students daily. Know that most of them live each day in total darkness, discouragement, desperation, and hopelessness. They need a teacher who will be their friend and encourager. God has brought them to WEI. Just like us, God has a plan for the precious lives of our students. Please, please don’t under-estimate what God can and will do through you.
Whether you are a new teacher, a veteran teacher, or a prospective teacher, and you need help, please respond to this message. We want to equip you to be a blessed WEI teacher. [Contact Lee by email at lee@worldenglihinstitute.org.]
Please join me and pray daily for the ministry of WEI. In order for us to reach our goal of 100,000 students per year, we desperately need more WEI teachers. We would love the opportunity to share our WEI ministry with your congregation. Help us recruit more teachers. Please ask your church leaders to give WEI an opportunity to share our heartfelt mission that goes into all the world every single day to reach and teach lost souls.
I close with a few encouraging words from God.
“So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.”
“Be encouraged—God sees you. He hears you. He knows exactly where you are. And he cares deeply for you.”
I love watching God work through you.
Lee
Philippians 1:3
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 spite of political unrest in Myanmar, Colleen Busch of Keizer, Oregon and Sheila Yeager of Grand Junction, Colorado continue teaching WEI students in Myanmar via Zoom.
In a recent email, Sheila wrote, “Philip V. is the evangelist for the church in Yangon; therefore he leads the prayers and directs the WEI students to read the particular Bible lesson during each Thursday evening Zoom class. After the reading, he explains the spiritual lessons in English; he often uses illustrations that women in Burmese culture can understand. Sometimes, when the students have a quizzical look of misunderstanding on their face, I encourage him to explain the hard concepts in Burmese. Then, the students display an understanding with their smiles and nods. At the end of the class, he takes the students through the quiz and makes them think about the answers. He is particularly good about prompting the students to answer the thought questions with critical thinking skills.”
Praise God that He is using Colleen and Sheila in conjunction with Philip to introduce this group of Burmese ladies to Christ in a land that is predominantly Buddhist.
Several years ago, WEI teacher, Vickie Murphy, taught two young high school students in Southern Madagascar. After studying with her for a year, both boys decided to be baptized into Christ. Since the closest Church of Christ was hundreds of miles away, they baptized each other.
Soon after their baptisms, one of the young men returned to the Catholic church. However, the other boy, Eliakim by name, started sharing what he had learned with others. Before long, he had baptized a number of people into Christ and had established a small New Testament congregation in Toliari. Vicki writes, “Eliakim is not only converting others; he is teaching them to teach others. The young men he has taught are going out to teach others.”
Eliakim lives near the sea, and to support himself, he gives surfing lessons. After each surfing lesson, he has a Bible study with his student on the seashore. There is no way to know how many of his surfing students have been led to Christ in the sand and baptized in the surf.
One of Eliakim’s first converts was a sixty-two-year-old farmer from a nearby village, and the farmer has started a congregation in his home. Eliakim has been instrumental in establishing four congregations in and around Tolari.
According to Eliakim, most of the people who claim to be Christians in Southern Madagascar are still mixing Christianity with animism and ancestor worship. When Eliakim challenged people to worship God and follow Jesus only, he stirred up opposition, and opposition turned into persecution.
Vickie says that, in spite of persecution, Eliakim “worked tirelessly and used every opportunity to teach.” Like the apostle Paul, “Eliakim went through many ‘dangers, toils, and snares’ on his way to becoming the only [gospel] preacher south of Antananarivo.”
Through the years, Eliakim has baptized a number of “other WEI students for other teachers.” In an email written November 23, 2023, Vicki revealed that “Eliakim has just baptized another one of our students. He is a high school physics teacher who traveled 400 miles by bus to get to where Eliakim is. He stayed with Eliakim two or three days and wants to start a church in his home village.”
This is a prime example of what God can do through one man who dedicates himself, heart and soul, to sharing the good news about Christ with others.
An Invitation: We invite you to, please, consider including WEI in your 2024 church budget and join us in a concerted effort to lead the whole world to Christ
“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
Arthur Tatara, dynamic young preacher and college teacher in Lae, Papua New Guinea, has an unbelievable true story to tell.
The 6th Morobe Provencial Youth Camp was sponsored this year by the Indagen Church of Christ 43 miles northeast of Lae in the Kabwun District.
There is no road up to the campsite, so the fuel, canvases, food, cooking equipment/supplies, lumber, and construction tools had to be hand-carried up the mountainside.
The assembly tent and separate sleeping quarters for the speakers and male and female campers were constructed. All of this work was done for a youth camp that lasted five days (December 14-18).
How were hundreds of Christian young people going to get to this remote campsite? This is where the story gets almost unbelievable. Arthur said, “Participants will come from churches of Christ in all four corners of Morobe Providence, and they will walk seven days to attend camp.” That means they will walk seven more days to get home.
Hundreds of young people from churches of Christ throughout Morobe Province spent a total of fourteen days walking up and down mountain trails in order to spend five days together in Christan fellowship. Amazing!
Arthur later reported, “Over 500 young people from nine districts of Morobe participated in the camp. A total of 16 young people were baptized into Christ, and 27 young people were restored back to the church.”
In the last issue of this newsletter, we reported that Edwin E. Vicente’s personal support from American Christians has gradually declined as our nation’s economy has deteriorated. Consequently, Edwin was forced to seek employment to supplement his income.
At 60 years of age, Edwin was not able to find a job in San Fernando City, so he encouraged his converts to worship with the San Fernando Church of Christ where Dr. John Quiniones is the highly qualified minister. Then he said goodbye to his students and boarded a bus to Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, his former home town. Amazingly, Edwin was able to take the WEI chairs, speaker’s stand, teaching materials, air conditioner, and personal belongings on the bus with him.
At Tuguegarao City, Edwin was allowed to use the unused library/storage room in a local museum as a WEI Learning Center free of charge, He is now in the process of registering the learning center with local authorities. Let’s pray that he will soon have enough baptized blievers to use this room for worship.
One of Terry Hickerson’s WEI students writes, “I am sending you this message to show my huge satisfaction with this course. It is so complete, so perfect and fulfilling!
“It is true I have had some personal study of English prior to this course, which took me half a year to study English elementary grammar and two years and a half so far to practice listening, but this course really filled the gaps of knowledge. Each lesson you assign me is like a pleasant banquet. Thanks a lot.”
Have you considered including WEI in your will?
By naming WEI in your estate, you will accomplish two important things:
1. You will lay up treasures in heaven; and,
2. You will help others get to heaven, too.
Honorariums and Memorials
In Honor of Dick & Maudine Ady
Coalson, Connie & Greta
Head, Kenneth & Linda
Ogren, Al & Dale
Richards, Randy & Pam
In Honor of Tom Bonner
Starr, Jean
In Honor of Diane White
Allen, Lee & Jan
In Memory of Joy Bishop
Allen, Lee & Jan
In Memory of Betty Buford
Thurman, Rocky & Melissa
In Memory of Mr. & Mrs. Howard Burch
Bowman, Ann
In Memory of Bill Coleman
Reid, Elsie
In Memory of Gary Cox
Cox, Madonna
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Eppstein, Gala & Samuel
Mueller, Vickie
Tippitt, Charles & Sue Ann
In Memory of Joe Downey
Smither, Ken & Jean
In Memory of Donna Dunbar
Adams, John & Ginger
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Rick Farmer
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Gallaher, Roy & Carolyn
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Dave Hancock
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
In Memory of Ken Hasting
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Gallaher, Roy & Carolyn
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
Langley, Tom & Angie
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Ophus & Doris Jones
Jones, Edward & Judith
In Memory of Dorothy (Dottie) Jordan
Adams, John & Ginger
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Haynes, Rodney & Linda
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Margie Kafka
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Phillip Lawless
Lawless, Conel
In Memory of Dorothy Smelcer Laux
Allen, Lee & Jan
In Memory of Bobbie McClain
Thurman, Rocky & Melissa
In Memory of Marion Mead
Allen, Lee & Jan
In Memory of Mozelle Morgan
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
Samuels, Lawrence & Linda
In Memory of Lee Roy Phillips
Allen, Lee & Jan
In Memory of Larry Raburn
Raburn, Shirley
In Memory of Wanda Scarbrough
McClellan, Bruce & Brenda
In Memory of Don Seghieri
Seghieri, Kathy
In Memory of Bonnie Stevenson
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
In Memory of Bill Van Horn
Van Horn, Bev
In Memory of Shirley Walker
Edwards, Art & Bonnie
