Around the World, February 2014
Sanita, age 6, enjoys a beverage at the annual Jesus Banquet. PHOTO BY TREY MORGAN TEGUCIGALPA — About 40 members of Churches of Christ across the U.S. gathered in a trash dump in this Central American capital. The Christians hosted a “Jesus Banquet,” feeding nearly 1,000 people, many of whom scratch out a living collecting recyclable material at the dump. Honduras Hope, overseen by missionaries Marc and Terri Tindall, coordinates ministry at the dump.PAPUA NEW GUINEA
AROBA — A team of Christians from Australia traveled to this remote village in the South Pacific to preach, teach and heal.
Tom and Rens Bunt, missionaries from Australia, lived in the village and helped plant a church there, said team coordinator Steve Collins, a member of Warwick Church of Christ in the Australian state of Queensland.
The team conducted Bible classes and health clinics for the villagers and witnessed several baptisms. Many villagers confessed sins and repented after team members presented a lesson on the parable of the prodigal son.
“To see people come forward with tears streaming down their faces in repentance is very moving,” Collins said.
Australian Christians speak with villagers in Papua New Guinea. PHOTO VIA INTERSECTIONS MAGAZINE/WWW.KLESIS.COM.AU
TANZANIA
CHIMALA — The Church of Christ that meets at Chimala Mission, Hospital and Schools reached a long-awaited milestone recently when it appointed its first elders.
Tanzanian Christians Boaz Kasiba and Venace Mwanjelile were named elders, and the church also appointed three deacons, said Bill Stinson, U.S. coordinator for the mission.
“This is something that we have been working toward for the last six years,” said Stinson, who presented lessons on the role of elders during a recent visit to the church. About 400 people worshiped on Sunday, he said, and nearly that many participated in the Bible classes.
“The congregation and elders were very excited to hear the lessons,” he said, “and they seemed to be on fire to go out and fulfill the Great Commission.”
THAILAND
MAE HONG SON PROVINCE — In March 2013, a fire devastated the Ban Mae Surin refugee camp, near the country’s border with Myanmar. The camp, launched in 1992, houses thousands of refugees who fled ethnic conflict in Myanmar. The fire claimed 37 lives and destroyed 200 homes.
Robert Reagan, a member of a church-planting team in Chiang Mai, Thailand, traveled to the camp to assess needs.
The refugees didn’t ask for food or clothing, but for help for their school, which meets in a bamboo classroom with a dirt floor. Reagan now teaches English classes one week per month in the camp.
“I thought I was going to teach, serve and be a blessing in Jesus’ name,” Reagan said, “but God has used these people to bless my life more than I ever imagined.”
UKRAINE
MARIUPOL — Dino Roussos, minister for the Omonia Church of Christ in Athens, Greece, was reunited with Christians baptized in Athens during a recent visit to this city in southeastern Ukraine.
“This church is growing, and brother Sasha Pilesky is doing an amazing work preaching the Gospel of Christ,” said Roussos, who preached for the congregation during his visit.
The Greek minister also taught classes at the Ukrainian Bible Institute, a church-supported ministry training school in Donetsk, Ukraine.
