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Around the World: A new Bible institute in Malawi, an evangelism campaign in Romania and more quick takes
Our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe.
Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
Featured photo (above): Romanians listen to a quartet sing in the House of Culture community center in Cluj-Napoca.
CAMBODIA
PHNOM PHEN — Fifteen years ago, missionary Julie Hollingsworth Broyles opened a center for Cambodians to learn or improve their English using the Bible. Three or four teachers came from the U.S. each month to help out, using material from World English Institute. Soon the BEST (Bible English Study Training) Center had a wait list with more than 100 names.
Recently, more than 100 former students, teachers and supporters gathered at the BEST Center to celebrate its 15th anniversary.
The ministry can house up to 20 students, who sign a contract to stay for four years as they study the Bible for two hours per day, five days a week, in the Khmer language. Many are baptized and become active in Cambodian congregations, anniversary coordinators said.
COLOMBIA
BOGOTÁ — Responding to a request from Colombian Churches of Christ, Great Cities Missions hosted a pilot youth camp, inviting missionary families from across the South American nation. Teens and young adults served as counselors at the camp, which focused on discipleship. “We were able to see our older youth developing as leaders,” one participant said.
In the past year, two ministers for Churches of Christ reported nearly 900 baptisms through the New Life Behavior International curriculum.
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Stanley Shereni and Eric Mangisi visit 19 prisons and teach nearly 9,000 prisoners and prison staffers each month, said Mike Biggers, president of New Life Behavior. The ministers work in partnership with the Graham Street Church of Christ in Stephenville, Texas.
A recent “Family Week” at the prisons allowed relatives and ministers to visit inmates who aren’t otherwise allowed to have visitors. Shereni and Mangisi, along with Christians Donivert and Josephine Khata, counseled the inmates and provided supplies including toiletries and blankets.
MALAWI
SALIMA — After more than a decade of prayer and planning, the Malawi International Bible Institute opened its doors. The institute, a satellite campus of Lubbock, Texas-based Sunset International Bible Institute, graduated multiple classes of preachers before completing its facility.
More than 500 church leaders in the southern African nation gathered for a ribbon-cutting celebration in March.
Christians cut the ribbon for the Malawi International Bible Institute.
The institute grew from the efforts of Sunset, the Green Valley Church of Christ in Noblesville, Ind., which oversees the work, and a network of churches in Malawi’s three regions. The institute has a Malawian and American board
The institute has about 15 students. “Our goal is to double the next academic class size and offer a full bachelors degree in Bible as well as vocational training to help the ministers support themselves,” said Jim Dillinger, minister for the Rochester Church of Christ in Indiana. See mibisunset.org.
LIBERIA
VOINJAMA — A recent evangelistic campaign in Lofa County, the northernmost region of this West African nation, resulted in 31 baptisms and two new Churches of Christ, said minister Alfred Beyan.
Matthew Jaramillo, a student in Adventures in Missions, conducts a baptism in Liberia.
NEW ZEALAND
DUNEDIN — Ray Banting, a student at the South Pacific Bible College, traveled to New Zealand’s South Island to fill slots in the preaching roster of the Dunedin Church of Christ. The student said he was grateful for the practical experience.
ROMANIA
CLUJ-NAPOCA — Romanian Christians worked with a 10-member team from Arkansas to host a weeklong evangelism campaign in Romania’s second-largest city. Speakers included Claudiu Murtaza, minister for the Church of Christ in Sibiu, Romania, Marty Knight of Mission Evangelism, a ministry of the Levy Church of Christ in North Little Rock, Ark., and Knight’s father, Ted. About 45 people attended each evening. A quartet of Christians sang a cappella hymns during the campaign.
Romanians listen to a quartet sing in the House of Culture community center in Cluj-Napoca.
Church members hosted a Vacation Bible School at the Cluj-Napoca church building using supplies provided by the Robinson & Center Church of Christ in Conway, Ark.
In addition to the church members from Cluj-Napoca, “Christians from the churches in Sibiu, Oradea, and Pitesti have been invaluable,” Knight said. “I love the spirit of cooperation among these Transylvanian churches.”
