Midsummer 2009: PREACHING - TEACHING - MEETING HUMAN NEEDS
"...Go and make disciples of all nations, ...and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you...." Matthew 28: 19, 20a NIV
Articles contained in the Midsummer 2009 newsletter:
Update on the three month Discipleship Training Course and more
GHANA & NIGERIA – Good News Theological College and Seminary
Abuja, Nigeria campus officially inaugurated on May 31, 2009
Students return early to GNTCS in order to help move the shelves and books from the former library to allow it to be repurposed as a much needed additional classroom
Many of the computers on campus have broken down including the one in the library and those used by the principal and the secretary
Jehovah Shammah Children's Home
Special prayer requests from SH
REGARDING BOOKS - Thank you from a Bible School in Chennai, India
HAITI – Mission Evangelique du Nord d'Haiti (MENH) - Cancer strikes the 8 year old daughter of Pastor Alin Jean
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Dear Friends and Partners,
Thank you for your financial gifts and for your prayers for those we serve. You have enabled our partners overseas to reach more individuals with the good news of the gospel and to care for and to comfort those with urgent needs. Summertime is a slow time for all of us – we are no exception – and our coffers are low. Supplemental funds are needed at this time to aid those with special needs. Some are struggling to maintain their own families. Those who care for orphans face the prospect of having to let some children go. Students preparing for service may have to drop out of school. Your prayers and encouragement strengthen our commitment to serving those who serve in some of the hardest places on Earth. Because we share your desire to be good stewards of the funds God provides, we promise to use your gifts as efficiently and effectively as we possibly can.
Annette L. Jones
MYANMAR
The three-month discipleship-training (DTS) course which began June 1st is going well. Seventy people attended the opening ceremony. Your help enabled them to accept forty full-time resident students and twenty commuting students. The teaching staff includes one part-time and two full-time teachers from Myanmar as well as a short-term teacher who came from Canada to help for nine days.
Our contact person also reported that a seventh Burmese church has been established in a province of Thailand where over 300,000 Burmese live. 765 people came to Christ through their ministry in 2008 and 156 people were baptized.
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Because many EWI national partners are working in areas where Christians feel threatened, we do not reveal full information about them in our publications. |
GHANA & NIGERIA
Good News Theological College and Seminary
The Abuja, Nigeria campus of Good News Theological College and Seminary (GNTCS) was officially inaugurated on the evening of May 31, 2009 in a ceremony held at one of the local Nigerian African Indigenous Churches. Reverend Dr. Thomas Oduro, principal of GNTCS in Accra, Ghana, who spoke at the event, noted that they have been looking forward to this day for a long time and are so grateful to God for bringing it to pass. He credited many leaders, both past and present, for their part in making it happen. A local University of Abuja professor and member of the board of GNTCS' Abuja campus told the gathering that he looks forward to the day when this campus will be ranked as the best theological seminary in Nigeria.
The new campus will serve students primarily from four major African Indigenous Churches (AIC's) of Nigeria and will provide the students with a two-year course resulting in a Diploma in Pastoral Ministry. The primary reasons given for the establishment of this campus were:
1) the lack of quality seminaries or Bible colleges for students from AIC's in Nigeria, and
2) the need to train the next generation of leadership to be ready to take over from the current aged and aging church leaders.
Moving the library on the campus in Accra, Ghana to its new location has most likely been completed by the time you read this. A number of students returned early from their summer break in order to assist with the move. The priority need now is for completion of the unfinished portion of the new library before the start of the next term in order to avoid potential disruption to those who will be using the library. Funds have been disbursed to help accomplish this. Additional funds are needed for more shelving since lack of space in the former library had prevented many books from ever being shelved and some of the existing shelves are in danger of collapsing.
 Students returned early from their summer break to help with the move to the new library. Carrying the heavy shelves was hard work even for young men used to working hard. |
 Many trips were necessary to move all the books so that the space that had been used for the library would be available once again for use as a much needed additional classroom. |
 Additional shelving is needed in the new library. Many books had not been shelved and some existing shelves are in such poor shape that they require replacing. |
So far this year East West InterKnit has shipped GNTCS 550 books, nearly 100 periodicals and a number of DVD's and videos as well as some library supplies. In addition to these donated items we have been able to purchase and send some of the special materials they need for the study of African Indigenous Churches. The cost of shipping was approximately $700. Thank you for your continued support of our partnership with schools training Christian leaders. Our ministry in this area could not continue without that support whether it is through the donation of gently used books, funds for shipping or scholarships, or your prayers for East West InterKnit and our overseas partners.
INDIA
Jehovah Shammah Children's Home
The rains had not yet started when David, the president of the Jehovah Shammah Children's Home, wrote to us on July 1. Consequently it remained extremely hot and many were succumbing to fevers. The heat was so oppressive that the government restricted school hours to mornings only.
The ongoing challenge of current economic conditions is forcing the home to consider letting ten of their children go in order to reduce the number they must feed. This is a heartbreaking situation and they ask that we pray with them as they make the difficult decisions. Ten of the children are new admissions from tribal groups in the areas being served by two of the JSCH evangelists. Pray for the Lord's provision, for the health needs of both children and staff, and for safety as they work in areas which are hostile to Christians.
The 14 evangelists with whom they work continue to oversee local congregations and travel to surrounding areas preaching to those who have not heard. Five of the evangelists have had Bible training courses of 3-6 months duration. Only two of the 14 have bachelor degrees. Others have been discipled individually by JSCH leaders. We would like to help them meet the training needs of both current and future workers.
David traveled to a remote area during the last week of July to distribute tracts and other literature and to conduct evening meetings. Many in this area are members of tribal groups that have had little exposure to the gospel. David asks that we pray that the trip will bear much fruit. We were also asked to pray for their safety. Several friends, working in one of the cities nearby, were attacked earlier in the month by non-Christian fundamentalists while distributing tracts. Those who had been attacked were then arrested and have been imprisoned.
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"Relatively few of the 26,600 villages in this state have churches. Of the 33 tribal groups, 16 are classified as unreached. There are significant breakthroughs only among the Savara, Koya, Konda and Chenchu though Indian missions are working in 12 other tribes. Pray for the success of their outreach to these tribes." (http://www.strategicnetwork.org/wiki/Andhra_Pradesh%2C_India) |
Special Prayer Requests from SH
SH in South India, an effective Bible teacher, evangelist, and ministry leader, is often harassed and threatened by non-Christian religious fundamentalists. His computers have been compromised so he dares not send much specific information but he values our prayers for the work and for those who have been exposed to the gospel or have recently become believers. He asks that we please pray specifically regarding the following:
- SH's team continues to have a good outreach in the local hospitals. Pray that those who accept literature will understand and seek to know more.
- Pray for a believer who recently accepted baptism. This is a huge step representing a break with his former religion and perhaps with friends and family as well.
- The Sunday School conducted by his team is doing well now following a low point when children were afraid to come. Some children who had been prevented from coming have now been allowed to return. Pray for those who have not yet returned.
- SH's team launched a high school ministry on July 1st that will meet twice a month with about 120 students.
- SH conducts weekly Bible studies, weekly evangelistic outreaches, and two Sunday gospel meetings. In addition, he is often asked to preach at other churches. He asked that we pray especially for those who attended a large youth meeting held in August.
REGARDING BOOKS
Thank you to all those who have donated your gently used books so that we could provide library materials for individual pastors and other Christian workers as well as Bible schools, seminaries and other institutions.
From a Bible college in Chennai, india:
"We are very much grateful to you for the sacrificial service to develop our library through your contributoin of books. Our faculty and students are much benefited. Our new academic year started and we have 100 students from the 22 provinces of India. Thank you for the partnership in mission."
HAITI
Mission Evangelique du Nord d'Haiti (MENH)
The 8 year old daughter of Alin Jean, Pastor of the Mission Evangelique du Nord d'Haiti church at Lassuisse, was diagnosed with suspected abdominal cancer and was rushed to the Dominican Republic for surgery. East West InterKnit sent the funds to enable them to pay for blood transfusions which were needed before the doctors could do surgery. We received word on July 16th that they believed the tumor had been successfully removed. They praise the Lord for this outcome and for her anticipated recovery. She was sent home to Haiti for a few days to recover. Pastor Thony Paul sent us an email on the 26th filled with his joy at seeing her that day. He also said that her father needed to take her back to the doctor in the Dominican Republic on Monday, July 27th. We have since learned that the tumor was indeed cancerous as had been feared. This means frequent return trips to the Dominican Republic for treatment.
Pastor Jean was an EWI scholar who completed his seminary training in May of 2007 and is serving one of the Mission churches in northern Haiti. The pastors draw little or no regular salary and struggle to meet the needs of their families. Consequently Pastor Jean will not be able to pay the medical bills and it will fall to the mission to raise what is needed to clear the debt.