War in Ukraine: Links to The Christian Chronicle’s coverage
The number of Churches of Christ in Ukraine once rivaled…
Around the World: ‘wedding negotiations’ in Kenya, ‘God’s certainity’ in Poland and more quick takes
Our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ around the world.
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
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): Wedding negotiations commence in the village of Bomet, Kenya.
CÔTE D’IVOIRE
ZOUAN-HOUNIEN — A mission team of 27 women representing nine Churches of Christ in this West African nation conducted a campaign in four villages, resulting in 10 baptisms and two new congregations.
“We were supervised by two local evangelists who baptized those who accepted the Gospel,” said Madeleine Sétin, the wife of a preacher in the city of Soubré. The evangelists will provide teaching and training for the new congregations. Sétin said that 43 people attended the inaugural service of a congregation in the village of Douatoueu.
“Seeing the receptivity to the Gospel in this area, we are planning to go back there in January — with God’s help,” Sétin said. Barry Baggott, a longtime missionary to French-speaking Africa, published Sétin’s report in a recent newsletter.
KENYA
BOMET — In Kenya, marriages begin with commitments of love, promises of faithfulness and a fair bit of bartering.
Recently, members of a Church of Christ in the town of Kericho in western Kenya traveled to Bomet for “wedding negotiations,” including the determination of a dowry price as a young couple from the two towns prepared for their nuptials, said Kevin Koech, a minister in Bomet.
During the gathering “I had the opportunity to share love and the Word of God,” Koech said. “It was truly a blessed moment of fellowship.”
Wedding negotiations commence in the village of Bomet, Kenya.
NIGERIA
UYO — Aside from a few “hair-raising” road trips and a bout of malaria, Dan Goodyear’s 63rd mission trip to Africa was a good one.
After all, the 79-year-old missionary said, the visit to Ghana and Nigeria resulted in 27 baptisms.
Goodyear, a member of the Southwest Church of Christ in Tigard, Ore., has worked in Africa for 31 years. During his most recent trip, he preached and taught the Gospel in rural villages, prisons and schools, including Ghana Bible College in Kumasi, Ghana, and CAO Essien Bible College in Uyo, Nigeria. He also distributed hygiene kits and solar-powered audio players loaded with the Bible and hundreds of hours of Bible lessons.
Dan Goodyear does street preaching in Nigeria.
He taught a graduating class at the Essien college, which takes its name from one of the first Nigerians converted through a correspondence ministry that later became World Bible School. The Southwest church helped to launch the school. Goodyear said that the schools where he taught are partners of Texas-based Sunset International Bible Institute, which also coordinates the solar player distribution project.
“I attended three graduations of (Sunset) partner schools,” Goodyear said. “There were 71 graduates from the schools. This really helps the church to have more men available to preach.
“I believe it was a great trip,” he added, “although it was very tiring, which, I think, means this old body is catching up with me.”
POLAND
WROCLAW — This city in southwestern Poland has known uncertain times. During World War II the city endured Nazi occupation and a siege by Russian forces, which destroyed half of the city and resulted in 18,000 people freezing to death during an attempted evacuation. Eighty years later, 88 Christians from across Europe and locales including the Middle East discussed “God’s Certainty in Uncertain Times,” the theme of the 2025 European Vision Workshop. The annual gathering is a joint venture of Sunset International Bible Institute, Partners in Progress and Healing Hands International.
UKRAINE
MYKOLAIV — Nearly four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Christians continue to meet, pray and study the Bible in this southern Ukrainian city near the front lines.
Sergei Shupishov, a minister in the city of Irpin, near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, visited a Church of Christ in Mykolaiv recently to bring relief supplies. Shupishov also met with the church’s youths and participated in a time of prayer for a member whose husband recently was mobilized for military service.
“Some meetings took place during sudden power outages,” Shupishov said, “but the congregation continued to study God’s Word even with flashlights. This has become a reminder that the light of Christ does not go out under any circumstances.”
Christians study the Bible in besieged Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
