For 50 hours each Sunday, we remember
A few years ago, I was visiting the islands of Samoa…
Around the World: Prison ministry in Nigeria, Bibles for children in Macedonia 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): A cardinal myzomela checks out his reflection in the side-view mirror of the Lupelele Church of Christ’s van in American Samoa. “This little guy joins me as I pick up some people for church almost every Sunday,” said minister David Willis. The congregation meets on the island of Tutuila, the largest of the seven islands that constitute the unincorporated U.S. territory, which has a population of about 55,000. Willis, an elder of the Lupelele church, has served with his wife, Danna, in American Samoa for 18 years.
ANGOLA
HUAMBO — For the past five years, a ministry training school in this southern African nation has gone to its students. Now the school seeks a home of its own.
Launched in partnership with Churches of Christ, the Instituto Teológico Cristão de Angola (Christian Theological Institute of Angola) equips Mozambican believers “with a readiness to serve in God’s mission through deep engagement with his Word,” said Danny Reese, who has served in Angola with his wife, Katie, for 11 years. “Over 170 students in four provinces have studied with us so far, and enrollment continues to outstrip our capabilities.”
A student professor teaches in a borrowed classroom in Angola.
Teachers have traveled to meet their students, finding whatever classroom space is available. The missionaries recently launched an effort to buy land and build classrooms for the school. The Westover Hills Church of Christ in Austin, Texas, supports the work.
KIRIBATI
CHRISTMAS ISLAND — Just in time for Christmas, flights to this festively named island in the South Pacific (also known as Kiritimati) resumed in early December. That’s good news for missionaries Randy and Sharon English, who work with a Church of Christ here.
Christians on the island “have confirmed doubling the church’s land space, which is a growth project we have been working on with them for the past 18 months,” the couple reported in a recent newsletter. “Evangelism and attendance have also continued strong during 2022.”
Related: For 50 hours each Sunday, we remember
MALAWI
KAYEMBE — “The long lines speak for themselves,” said workers with the Malawi Project, a relief and development ministry supported by Churches of Christ, after a recent delivery of food to this village in central Malawi.
“First to come are the small ones, the orphans, and children whose households have little or no food,” the workers reported. “There is no pushing, shoving or crowding to get to the food truck, just quiet, well-behaved children waiting for something to eat.”
Food insecurity in the southern African nation is high due to recent tropical storms, drought and low crop production. Ministries including the Malawi Project are providing relief.
NIGERIA
Monday Akpakpan
IKOT EKPENE — Inmates gathered in the prison yard in this southern Nigerian town for a recent three-day evangelism program, said minister Monday John Akpakpan. He coordinates teaching and evangelism through the World Bible correpsondence ministry in this West African nation.
“The inmates were receiving physical and spiritual feeding,” Akpakpan said, adding that 39 were baptized.
NORTH MACEDONIA
SKOPJE — Eastern European Mission has answered the North Macedonian call for children’s Bibles.
The ministry, supported by Churches of Christ, recently delivered 225,000 of its children’s and teen Bibles to the Central European nation, whose government waived import fees. The ministry plans to deliver the same number during 2023.
“Here, the Gospel seed was sown first by the apostle Paul,” a government official said, referencing Paul’s supernatural summons to ministry in Acts 16, “but this country … has a need for the message of Christ to be continuously shared with each new generation.”
“Here, the Gospel seed was sown first by the apostle Paul, but this country … has a need for the message of Christ to be continuously shared with each new generation.”
UNITED KINGDOM
LEICESTER — It’s a good problem to have.
The Leicester Church of Christ “has grown to the point that our current premises are no longer able to safely accommodate our needs,” church leaders Paul Hill and Emmanuel Uwujare told Christian Worker, a publication for congregations in the United Kingdom.
“We have been prayerfully searching for a building to purchase and found one in the city,” the church members said. “It suits all our needs and even has a baptistry.”
Church members asked for prayers and funds to help purchase the facility.
