Missionary Isaac Adotey ‘called home’
‘How are you this morning?” Once, when Steven Moore asked…
Around the World: Growth in Honduras, health care in Niger 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].
Featured image (above): Rito Hernandez reads a Bible passage to his growing congregation in the community of Sabana Redonda, Honduras. Hernandez, 65, completed a two-year program at the 21st Century Global Missions school in Ojojona, Honduras, in December 2022.
He and his wife, Maria Rodriguez, worshiped with a Church of Christ in Ojojona and sold produce on the streets until April 2023 when they moved to Sabana Redonda. They rented a house and had Bible studies, launching a church with three adults and four children.
The church grew to 20 in attendance, so the couple looked for land on which to build a shelter for rainy Sundays. A farmer offered them a plot for about $11,000. But when he learned that the land was for a church, the farmer reduced the price to $2,837.
The preacher’s daughter and son-in-law, who live in California, used their tax refund and savings to help with the purchase, and the El Rio Church of Christ in Oxnard, Calif., covered the difference.
GUINEA-BISSAU
Abdou Sidibeh
BISSAU — Minister Abdou Sidibeh reported eight recent baptisms in this West African nation.
Sidibeh, a native of Guinea-Bissau, serves as a missionary to his Portuguese-speaking homeland, population 2 million, with support from Churches of Christ in Ghana.
HONDURAS
TEGUCIGALPA — The Baxter Institute, a training school for ministers and church members in Central America, welcomed a class of 21 first-year students recently, president Steve Teel said.
The students come from nine countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Cuba, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia. Two are brothers of current students and one is the son of a Baxter graduate. “One student is at Baxter because of the work of a 2015 Baxter mission team to Bolivia,” Teel said.
LIBERIA
MONROVIA — Nearly 300 people, online and in person, attended a recent New Life Behavior International workshop hosted by the Gulf Community Church of Christ. Churches use the Bible-based curriculum in prison ministries, recovery programs and in evangelistic outreach efforts.
Students stand during the New Life Behavior workshop in Monrovia.
The workshop resulted in 22 baptisms, said Prince Ugbe, director of the Darrell Memorial Bible Institute in Nigeria, who helped to coordinate the workshop along with Gulf Community church minister Edmund Borfay.
NIGER
SOURA — Women in this rural West African village must walk some 16 miles to reach a clinic for prenatal care and childbirth. Many choose to give birth at home, and five out of every 15 newborns die due to premature birth, disease or other complications, said Lee Hodges of Hope Springs International, a ministry supported by Churches of Christ.
A health center operated by Hope Springs in Soura treated nearly 5,500 people last year. Now the ministry seeks to expand the facility and hire a midwife and support staff. The ministry requests about $42,000 for the expansion and operating costs for the first year.
NEWSMAKERS
NAMED: Mike Yuhas as president of the Tennessee Children’s Home, which is associated with Churches of Christ. Yuhas is a graduate of Freed-Hardeman University and holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
HIRED: Ross Haffner as minister for the Fountain Head Church of Christ in Portland, Tenn. Joey Roberts as director of public relations for Christian Homes and Family Services in Abilene, Texas. Roberts previously worked as director of communication for Herald of Truth Ministries. Tim Wooldridge as advancement executive for Crowley’s Ridge College in Paragould, Ark., which is associated with Churches of Christ.
BAPTIZED: Torie Reed, Skyler Horner, Ralph Savage and his son, Jesse, at the North Terrace Church of Christ in Zanesville, Ohio. Hagen McNair at the Madison Church of Christ in Alabama. Avery Harris at the Estes Church of Christ in Henderson, Tenn. Everette Bolin at the Pinnacle Church of Christ in Little Rock, Ark. Carlynn Nowell at the Bartley Road Church of Christ in LaGrange, Ga. LaDonna Lang at the North Peoria Church of Christ in Tulsa, Okla.
