Around the world: A living memorial
BENONI, SOUTH AFRICA — Don’t let the name fool you.Administrators of the Southern Africa Bible College dedicated the Horne Memorial Library recently — even though its namesakes, Al and Donna Horne, are very much alive.The “Memorial” in the library’s name honors the Memorial church in Houston, which has supported the college throughout its 40-year history, missionary Jerry Hogg explained.Horne and Eldred Echols launched the school in 1966 at the request of fellow missionaries Tex Williams and John Hardin. Under apartheid, the school could train only white men. “That has now changed, and we teach all brethren,” Hogg said.Williams, former president of World Bible School, and his wife, Mary Jane, returned to Benoni for the school’s anniversary and annual lectureship. Other speakers included Milton and Sue Wilson, Keith Kesarjian and Neil Christians.“The winds of change have swept away the old political cobwebs,” Al Horne said. “We have greater freedom now to preach the unfettered gospel than ever before. God has set before us a door of opportunity that no one can shut.”
ALBANIA
XIXA
Forty-six men from 10 churches attended a workshop in the village of Xixa, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Bill Morgan, of the Maryville, Tenn., church, facilitated.
Classes included “Organizing the Work of the Church,” which focused on effective ministry before congregations appoint their first elders and deacons.
“None of the 14 active congregations in Albania are at the point of maturity to have elders and deacons,” said Erik Qirjaqi, a leader of the Tirana church, which organized the event.
BRAZIL
PORTO ALEGRE
About 50 women from congregations in the Porto Alegre area attended the third Ladies Retreat, missionary Kyle Klein said. Marly Latorre, a missionary from Sao Paulo, was the guest speaker. “Hearing the good news from a fellow Brazilian woman had a strong impact on the women at the retreat,” Klein said.
CANADA
NESKANTAGA
Four teenagers and seven adults from the Tintern church in Vineland, Ontario, traveled to the Neskantaga First Nation in northwest Ontario to host a day camp in this community of Canadian Indians.
Twenty-six children attended the week-long camp, which included singing, crafts, meals and Veggie Tales videos, project coordinator Marcia Camp said.
“We believe seeds were planted,” Camp said. “We believe a great need exists in Neskantaga, and we believe it is worth doing again.”
CONGO
KINSHASA
After graduating its first two-year class of 10 students, the Hilton Terry Bible School is beginning a second class of 12. The new students come from five locations in the massive African nation, said Doyle Kee, a missionary from Switzerland who recently spent several weeks in Kinshasa recently teaching at the school. The students were recommended for training by their congregations. Congolese Christians Andre Kabeya and Gabriel Nganza oversee the school.
“This is a good mission project in the context of training Africans to take the gospel to Africans,” Kee said.
COSTA RICA
SABANILLA
Visitors are filling the seats during Sunday morning services at the church in Sabanilla, near San Jose. “There are new faces just about every Sunday,” said Rachel Cortez, a member of a missionary team in Sabanilla. The church plans to host a Vacation Bible School the first three Saturdays in December. Cortez’s aunt, Cindy White, made costumes for the VBS during a recent visit.
The Signal Mountain, Tenn., church supports Cortez and her husband, Hector.
GUATEMALA
TECULUTAN
Workers with the Biblical Institute of Central America were excited after they baptized 56 people and established a new church in Teculutan earlier this year, said missionary George Hall. But the man charged with nurturing the young church “was not faithful in his work,” Hall said. Church attendance recently fell to six.
Workers with the institute returned to Teculutan recently for a campaign focused on restoration. “Forty-nine were brought back together. Four were baptized,” Hall said. “Things are in place to fortify this effort.”
GUINEA
FARANAH
Prayers around the globe were answered when Yancy Fariss recovered from a recent sickness. The missionary had exhibited symptoms of cholera, a water-borne disease that has claimed many lives in this West African country in recent months, said a member of the Minter Lane church in Abilene, Texas, which supports Fariss’ work.
Fariss and his wife, Sherry, are translating the Bible into the language of the people in Faranah. They work with Pioneer Bible Translators.
HUNGARY
DEBRECEN
After nine years of mission work in Hungary, Jeff and Beata McGlawn returned to the United States recently.
Before he left, Jeff McGlawn taught a series of classes on small-group ministries. Class members gathered for a send-off for the missionaries.
The College church in Searcy, Ark., is helping the couple relocate in the United States.
NIGERIA
UMUAHIA
About 30 inmates at the prison in this southeastern Nigerian city are studying materials from Texas-based New Life Behavior Ministries, “and more are willing to enroll,” minister Friday Adima said.
Assisting Adima in the prison ministry are Samuel Awa, minister for the Bende church, and Benson Nwadinobi, a church member from Umuahia. Nwadinobi was converted through a prison ministry and now is a student at a school of preaching, Adima said.
Dec. 1, 2006
ALBANIA
XIXA
Forty-six men from 10 churches attended a workshop in the village of Xixa, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Bill Morgan, of the Maryville, Tenn., church, facilitated.
Classes included “Organizing the Work of the Church,” which focused on effective ministry before congregations appoint their first elders and deacons.
“None of the 14 active congregations in Albania are at the point of maturity to have elders and deacons,” said Erik Qirjaqi, a leader of the Tirana church, which organized the event.
BRAZIL
PORTO ALEGRE
About 50 women from congregations in the Porto Alegre area attended the third Ladies Retreat, missionary Kyle Klein said. Marly Latorre, a missionary from Sao Paulo, was the guest speaker. “Hearing the good news from a fellow Brazilian woman had a strong impact on the women at the retreat,” Klein said.
CANADA
NESKANTAGA
Four teenagers and seven adults from the Tintern church in Vineland, Ontario, traveled to the Neskantaga First Nation in northwest Ontario to host a day camp in this community of Canadian Indians.
Twenty-six children attended the week-long camp, which included singing, crafts, meals and Veggie Tales videos, project coordinator Marcia Camp said.
“We believe seeds were planted,” Camp said. “We believe a great need exists in Neskantaga, and we believe it is worth doing again.”
CONGO
KINSHASA
After graduating its first two-year class of 10 students, the Hilton Terry Bible School is beginning a second class of 12. The new students come from five locations in the massive African nation, said Doyle Kee, a missionary from Switzerland who recently spent several weeks in Kinshasa recently teaching at the school. The students were recommended for training by their congregations. Congolese Christians Andre Kabeya and Gabriel Nganza oversee the school.
“This is a good mission project in the context of training Africans to take the gospel to Africans,” Kee said.
COSTA RICA
SABANILLA
Visitors are filling the seats during Sunday morning services at the church in Sabanilla, near San Jose. “There are new faces just about every Sunday,” said Rachel Cortez, a member of a missionary team in Sabanilla. The church plans to host a Vacation Bible School the first three Saturdays in December. Cortez’s aunt, Cindy White, made costumes for the VBS during a recent visit.
The Signal Mountain, Tenn., church supports Cortez and her husband, Hector.
GUATEMALA
TECULUTAN
Workers with the Biblical Institute of Central America were excited after they baptized 56 people and established a new church in Teculutan earlier this year, said missionary George Hall. But the man charged with nurturing the young church “was not faithful in his work,” Hall said. Church attendance recently fell to six.
Workers with the institute returned to Teculutan recently for a campaign focused on restoration. “Forty-nine were brought back together. Four were baptized,” Hall said. “Things are in place to fortify this effort.”
GUINEA
FARANAH
Prayers around the globe were answered when Yancy Fariss recovered from a recent sickness. The missionary had exhibited symptoms of cholera, a water-borne disease that has claimed many lives in this West African country in recent months, said a member of the Minter Lane church in Abilene, Texas, which supports Fariss’ work.
Fariss and his wife, Sherry, are translating the Bible into the language of the people in Faranah. They work with Pioneer Bible Translators.
HUNGARY
DEBRECEN
After nine years of mission work in Hungary, Jeff and Beata McGlawn returned to the United States recently.
Before he left, Jeff McGlawn taught a series of classes on small-group ministries. Class members gathered for a send-off for the missionaries.
The College church in Searcy, Ark., is helping the couple relocate in the United States.
NIGERIA
UMUAHIA
About 30 inmates at the prison in this southeastern Nigerian city are studying materials from Texas-based New Life Behavior Ministries, “and more are willing to enroll,” minister Friday Adima said.
Assisting Adima in the prison ministry are Samuel Awa, minister for the Bende church, and Benson Nwadinobi, a church member from Umuahia. Nwadinobi was converted through a prison ministry and now is a student at a school of preaching, Adima said.
Dec. 1, 2006
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