Africa needs disciples, not converts
BOM JESUS, Angola — Churches of Christ in Accra, Ghana,…
Around the World: Encouragement in Rome, flooding in Kenya and more quick takes
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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].
ITALY
ROME — Nearly two millennia after the apostle Paul came to the capital of the Roman empire in chains, Dr. Vittorio Vitalone and his wife, Tonia, serve Churches of Christ in this city of 3 million souls and congregations across Italy.
The couple recently traveled to Anzio, the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles, to encourage a Church of Christ there.
Related: Africa needs disciples, not converts
“This small congregation, 10 to 12 members, is doing their best to keep the flame of the faith burning,” the Vitalones said in a recent newsletter.
The Vitalones also visited congregations in the northern Italian cities of Pistoia, Prato, Vicenza and Bologna and spent time with members of their supporting congregation, the Lake Cities Church of Christ in Trophy Club, Texas.
In early summer, the Vitalones and Italian minister Franco Verardi hosted the National Retreat for Families in Italy.
“Compassion, Consolation and Comfort” was the theme, taken from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.
“Each year is a great opportunity to catch up, strengthen each other’s spirits and study the Lord’s Word,” the Vitalones said.
KENYA
NAIROBI — Minister Patrick Wanyama went to sleep amid pounding rains and was awakened about midnight by kitchen utensils clinking against each other — as they floated. Wanyama discovered knee-deep water in his home and took shelter on the third floor of a nearby building.
“When he went down in the morning, some of his household items had been washed away,” said Nyabuto Marube, a fellow minister in Nairobi.
A woman in rural Kenya receives food aid from Healing Hands International.
Nairobi’s poor communities have experienced a double dose of misery amid recent torrential rains and flash floods. In the Mukuru kwa Reuben slum, where Wanyama preaches, two people died in a recent demolition. The church’s building survived the flooding and the demolitions, Marube said, but several church members lost their businesses.
Marube’s daughter, Abigail, and her friends collected clothing and blankets to take to those affected by the flooding and demolitions.
Flooding across Kenya has claimed more than 200 lives, according to news reports. Healing Hands International, a nonprofit associated with Churches of Christ, is providing relief.
See hhi.org/disaster/kenya-flooding-response/ to contribute.
Students and faculty at South Pacific Bible College take a class photo.
NEW ZEALAND
TAURANGA — This South Pacific nation, which had some of the toughest pandemic restrictions on the globe, has reopened its borders.
The easing of restrictions allowed four new students from South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and India to move to New Zealand to attend the South Pacific Bible College, which is associated with Churches of Christ.
The college also has two in-person visiting instructors from Abilene Christian University in Texas, Richard Wright and Kilnam Cha.
Christians gather outside the meeting place of the Chkupi Church of Christ in Zambia.
ZAMBIA
KABWEZA — The 38-year-old Chikupi Church of Christ meets in a rural community in this southern African nation.
But nearly four decades after its establishment by missionaries, the church struggles with low attendance and other issues, said Dennis Sabelo, director of Daybreak Bible College, a ministry training school near Zambia’s capital, Lusaka.
Recently three instructors and 10 students from the school visited the Chikupi church and pledged to help the congregation.
