A Church of Christ on wheels
MOLEPOLOLE, Botswana — At once, he left his nets and followed…
Around the World: Baptisms, a gospel campaign, relief work and a roof collapse
Featured Image (above): Four teenagers (one off-camera) prepare to give their lives to Christ in the village of Bonyancha, Kenya. Minister David Marube, right, baptized the teens after conducting Bible class for a new Church of Christ in the village. Marube, a minister in Kisii, Kenya, invited Simeon Ongiri, minister for the Mogesa Church of Christ, to be the guest preacher.
One of the teens is the child of a man who was converted after studying the Bible through correspondence with the Grove Church of Christ in Oklahoma. “Studying the Bible with someone online, even from several miles away, can result in his baptism and cause others to be saved and the Lord’s church started,” Marube said.
GHANA
ACCRA — After a long break due to COVID-19, Churches of Christ in this West African capital hosted a gospel campaign in the Doryumu community. Christians conducted open-air preaching, taught Bible studies and baptized two people, said minister Willie Gley. Organizers included Ghana Gospel Chariot, Bear Valley Bible Institute International and a campaign team from World Bible School.
HONDURAS
“God bless all the people of Christ, the church,” says an aid recipient in Baxter Institute’s video.
TEGUCIGALPA — This Central American nation endured devastating, back-to-back hurricanes in late 2020. The storms, Eta and Iota, affected some 4.5 million people.
The Baxter Institute, a ministry training school associated with Churches of Christ, conducted two relief trips in 2020 and recently completed a third. Churches and individual Christians from multiple nations contributed to make the trips possible.
In the latest relief trip, workers with Baxter delivered 1,420 bags filled with food, hygiene supplies and medicine to people in need. The team also treated about 250 patients. See a video report on Baxter Institute’s YouTube channel.
SOUTH AFRICA
CAPE TOWN — It’s hard to find any silver lining in South Africa’s rapidly spreading variant of COVID-19, which has claimed lives and shuttered businesses across the nation.
But at least the restrictions meant that no one was in Portlands Church of Christ’s building when the 35-year-old facility’s roof collapsed recently, said minister Malvin Kivedo. Inspectors said that a truss supporting the roof failed.
The building was more than a meeting space for the 40-member church, now worshiping online.
“We are situated in the heart of gang land,” Kivedo said, and karate classes in the building kept kids off the street. “We fed the community through a soup kitchen,” he added. The church used the building to reach out to Cape Town’s Muslim community.
Post-pandemic, a church member who is a retired teacher hopes to use the building as a tutoring center. The church welcomes donations toward the repairs, Kivedo said.
