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Matt 28:18-20

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
NIV

John 20:10-16

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
NIV

Learn More
 

The Dawn of a Beautiful Ministry
The history of the present WEI campaign in Nigeria is an interesting & exciting story. Amazingly and by His providence, God used our new Christian school project, Rhema Academy to initiate and intensify WEI ministry & campaign in Nigeria. As this history unfolds, the Campus Church of Christ at Rhema Academy emerges as the first congregation in Nigeria to be planted directly as a result of WEI campaign.

The Search for Fishing Tool        
The vision of establishing a Christian school in our community began in 1996 when we acquired a parcel of land for the project at Uruk Otong. After classes began on a temporary facility in September 2005, we needed and prayed for good materials we could use to teach our high school students about Christ, his church and his offer of salvation.

God Answers Prayers
 A year later, God answered our prayers. The church at Chico, California responded to our request for teaching materials. Among the materials from Chico were sample copies of WEI courses from Judy Thompson. We discovered they were excellent materials we could use in our school. We began to use the sample copies to teach our students on a daily basis.

OPEN-AIR LECTURESHIP:
The theme for the lectureship was “Jesus & His Cross” with keynotes on the people, the events, and the words associated with the Cross of Jesus.

Faithful and dedicated local preachers were selected to work with me in delivering the keynotes as well as directing other activities of the night lectureship.

The night-Lectureship started at 7pm daily and lasted till 12 midnight on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday May 1, 2, & 3 respectively.

Average attendance during the nights Lectureship was over 200 persons per night. Participants included elders, deacons, preachers, and other brethren from neighboring congregations; and the folks of Uruk Otong community.

All the visiting brethren and friends for the night lectureship spent the nights in our residence and had their dinner with us throughout the three days. Our young girls at the campus church assisted Etang in doing the cooking.

MARRIAGE & FAMILY SEMINAR:
Brother Ekong (NCBC driver) and I met Fielden & Janet Allison on Thursday April 30 at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport, Calabar from where we brought them to the guest house at NCBC.

The Allisons conducted marriage seminar at NCBC on Friday & Saturday May 1-2, 2009. I was among the few persons (40-50 participants) who attended the seminar at NCBC while Etang took care of domestic affairs in preparation of our night lectureship.

Brother Ekong brought the Allisons to Uruk Otong on Sunday morning May 03, 2009 with NCBC vehicle.

The Allisons worshiped with us at Uruk Otong on May 03, 2009. Janet taught the ladies class. Fielden taught the men class and also preached the sermon while I did the translation so that our local worshipers could hear. Our church secretary, Akaninyene Ukanga interpreted for Janet.

Fielden & Janet Allison conducted the Marriage & Family Seminar at Uruk Otong between 2pm & 5pm on May 03.

A total of 520 persons attended the Marriage Seminar at Rhema Academy and received the blessings of listening to wonderful lessons from the Allisons.

Participants came from far distances such as Uyo, Abak, Ikot Ekpene, Ikot Abasi, Calabar, & Ukanafun to attend the seminar.

Uruk Otong Village Council gave us permission to conduct the Marriage Seminar and other activities of the Rhema Summit at the Village Council Auditorium.

A warm reception ceremony was held for the Allisons by Rhema Academy community following the Marriage Seminar.

The seminar was rounded up with a dinner fellowship for all persons in attendance. Our campus church ladies assisted Etang with the cooking.

Our friend Monday James helped Etang to prepare breakfast and lunch for our most cherished guests, Fielden & Janet Allison and the NCBC driver.

WEI GRADUATION SERVICE:
A total of 40 students of World English Institute who completed their studies were presented with their Diplomas during the brief WEI Graduation Service to bring the seminar to its climax.

Majority of the students who graduated came from Uyo, Ikot Abasi, Abak, and Ukanafun areas.

Etang assisted in presenting the certificates to our graduating WEI students while the Allisons and other guests watched with excitements.

Many of the WEI students who graduated last year and those who have not completed the studies also attended the seminar.

The WEI students who spoke through their representative made a humble request that they should be invited to attend all subsequent seminars especially the marriage seminar.


WEI STUDENTS BAPTIZED!
Rhema Summit 2009 was a harvest time. Four precious souls came to the knowledge of the truth, accepted Christ and were baptized into Him at different times during the Summit. Three of the four persons who got baptized are World English Institute students. The converts include Monday James Udo who is our family friend from a neighboring village called Ikot Idiaha. He is a cook. He has been helping us cook for our visiting missionaries. He enrolled in WEI last year. This helped to open away for us to discuss the Bible freely with him. We were so pleased and delighted to witness him come to Christ. Prior to his conversion, Monday James worshiped with a denominational group called Christian Holiness Church where he served the church secretary and a Sunday school teacher. The names of the other converts are Ima Linus Udondok, Godwin Thomas Umoh, and Idorenyin Sunday Akpan. Please pray for them that they grow in faith as they study God's word and worship the Lord.


AMAZING GRACE:
The Lord's hand was with us throughout the period of preparation and during the Gospel Summit. We had a heavy rainfall daily till Thursday April 30 when the rain stopped until Monday May 04. It never rained throughout the three days the Summit too took place. If it rained, it would have hindered most people from attending. It would also disrupt the whole event since the ladies did all the cooking outdoor. Another amazement was the multitude who came out to hear the gospel, and from whom four souls were won for Christ. We anticipate more baptisms in the coming weeks and months as usual. It gives us a great joy to be involved in all the effort to grow the church at Uruk Otong and other places.

We encountered series of problems ranging from lack of transportation to lack of sufficient fund to fulfill most of the significant obligations during the Summit, but by God's grace, we were able to work all of them and the Summit came out so successful. Thanks to all the brethren who prayed for us and those who assisted financially.


TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Yours & His,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

June 7, 2010

Dear Brethren,

Greetings! Welcome to this wonderful edition of our report of work. We hope you will share our excitement and joy over what the Lord has done through our ministries.

RHEMA SUMMIT 2010
1. Our annual conference at Rhema Academy has been named RHEMA SUMMIT.

2. Prospective participants include WEI students, unbelieving folks of our jungle community, and brethren of the churches of Christ.

3. The maiden edition of Rhema Summit in 2008 featured WEI Graduation Service.

4. The 2009 Rhema Summit featured Marriage & Family Seminar with Fielden & Janet Allison as guest speakers.

5. RHEMA SUMMIT 2010 on May 28-30 featured Open-air Filmstrip Lectureship.

6. Members of our campus congregation went from house to house on May 23 to invite the folks of the community to attend the summit.

7. We recorded a large crowd of attendance throughout the three nights the summit took place.

8. The folks of Uruk Otong and the surrounding villages came out in large numbers each day to hear the gospel during the summit.

9. The Filmstrip Projector donated to our mission by the Memorial Road Church of Christ helped to attract more people to the conference and also helped us to teach the multitude effectively.

10. Filmstrip lessons presented at the conference included “The Christian Age of Bible History”, “God’s Plan for Redeeming Man”, and “History of the Lord’s Church”.

11. The messages were so thrilling and exciting that all participants were kept awake till 12 midnight throughout the three days.

12. A total of 5 souls were won for Christ during the summit – 3 baptisms and 2 restorations.

13. One of the converts, Glory victor Okon is a WEI student of the Northside (Hanceville) congregation whose husband came to the Lord sometime ago.

14. The other 2 converts Etido Unyime Peter and Etim David Amos are WEI students we have taught personally for over a year now.

15. A couple Effiong & Mercy Ukpe got restored during our Morning Prayer meeting on May 31 shortly after they attended the conference.

16. The biggest problem we encountered during the conference had to do with public address (PA) system.

17. We will really appreciate it if any family, a Christian group or congregation could help us with the fund to purchase a set of good PA system for our quarterly open-air preaching ministry and in preparation for RHEMA SUMMIT 2011 in May.

DORCAS GARDEN (DG) PROJECT
With the recent donation from the Northside congregation at Hanceville, we have begun the construction of the first animal house for Dorcas Garden near Rhema Academy
.
The blocks used for the construction work were molded early this year with funds donated by the Northside congregation, Sister Eloise Spivy and the Bethlehem Ladies Class.

The farm-house project has been rounded up at lintel level. We look forward to completing the animal house and bringing in livestock for DG to start operation.
We are so excited about the opportunity to help our poor widows and their families earn their daily bread through DG.

We will appreciate anything your family or congregation could do to help us establish this farm settlement for our Christian community.

We believe that DG, if sufficiently funded will become a feeder project which will help us raise fund locally to supplement the support from our supporters.


OUR CASSAVA FARM
In order to boost our food security next year, we cultivated a small cassava farm.
We used the fund donated by Janice Kelley and her Ladies Class at Northside (Tennessee ) congregation early this year to work the land; purchase the cassava stems and cultivated the land.

The recent donation from the Kelleys and the Northside Ladies Class (TN) has been used exclusively to hire women workers to do weeding in the farm. Unfortunately, we do not have the fund to buy fertilizer and apply on the farm which is quite needful, but we still have the opportunity to do that between now and July. We thank God for the grace to open the cassava farm and pray for good harvest.


WEI MINISTRY IN NIGERIA
WEI Ministry has come to stay as a significant aspect of our outreach ministry.
With the help of American WEI postal teachers, we have succeeded in introducing WEI in different regions of Nigeria in fulfillment of our WEI Nation-wide campaign.
Our WEI Teaching Center at Abak which is located at a cross-road is the most important asset of our WEI Ministry in Nigeria.

The city office has helped us to co-ordinate the activities of WEI Ministry effectively rather than operating from our mission base in the jungle.

The Gladstone congregation had to stop their $200 monthly support for the operation of the WEI Center in July last year to enable them raise a three-year rent for a new WEI Center following the demolition of the previous center.

Since then we are not able to secure any form of support to help with the operation of our WEI center.

Etang and I have exhausted our personal funds in running the center during the past one year.

As it is now, we may have to close the center if at the end of this month no support is secured (this will be so devastating to our ministry and frustrating to our students).
If your family or congregation could help, please contact Brother Richard Ady, WEI President (weiAdy@aol.com) for details.

All of our mission effort efforts ( Rhema Academy , Dorcas Garden , and WEI Ministry) are directed towards winning souls for Christ. Thank you for your contributions to the success of our ministry and the rapid growth of the campus congregation at Uruk Otong. We appreciate your partnership and fellowship in the gospel. Thanks for your prayers.

In Christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
 

Dear Brethren,

Welcome to our recent news report tagged 'RHEMA NEWS'. It covers our new Campus Church of Christ at Rhema Academy and our three special ministies: World English Institute (WEI), Dorcas Garden (DG), and Rhema Academy (RA).

Campus Church of Christ - RA
Nse Aniedi Sunday attended worship for the first time last two Sundays. She is the wife of our recent WEI convert, Aniedi Sunday John. She was bitterly against her husband's decision to be baptized. Now she finds the gospel so interesting. We pray that she will come again this Sunday to attend our Indoor Bible Lectureship.

World English Institute
One of our WEI students in Nigeria, Etiene Aniefiok Okon took TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examinations on October 16, 2010. We spent extra hours to help her prepare for the exams. She has applied for admission in one of the universities in the US state of Alabama. She is one of the several hundreds of students we are teaching in the city office using WEI resources

Dorcas Garden
With the sacrificial gifts and support of the Northside (Hanceville) church, we have erected and completed a farmhouse at DG which will accommodate swines and fishes. We have also acquired a 5000 litre water tank for the farm settlement. Rainfall has ceased and dry season has set in. Thus, the garden can not begin operation until after a bore-hole has been drilled. We have over 300 plantains which require water supply too.

Rhema Academy
We are making a lot of progress in our academic work at Rhema Academy. The tables and writing desks we have acquired recently have been a great booster. Nancy is doing well in her nursey two class. Other pupils are also excited with their studies at the kindergarten. We look forward to a time in the near future when we will be able to complete our high school building so that we can teach the young people again for more harvest of souls.

Tragedy and Losses
I met Imo Michael Etokobot at Obong Christian High School. He was my classmate and friend. He became a member of the Garage Church of Christ where I served as preacher for over 5 years. Imo and his bride wedded at the Garage congregation on Sunday October 17, 2010. Just a week into their honeymoon, Imo and his wife died in a ghastly motor accident on Sunday October 24, 2010. They rode on their motorcycle and were knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver. As we mourn the tragic death of these friends, we are reminded of God's grace in sparing the lives of my wife and daughter when they had a motorcycle accident sometime ago. Motorcycle accidents seem to have taken more lives at the present time than other agents of death.

Thanks for your prayers and continued support.

In Christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan


 

Dear Brethren,

Greetings! It pleases us in the Lord to write to you this afternoon after an exciting and inspiring morning worship service at our campus congregation here at Rhema Academy. We had a great indoor Bible lectureship this morning. Yesterday, Etang and I had a great time with the Christian youths in Uyo area who gathered at the meeting hall of Obio Offot church of Christ for a one day youth forum. I was the sole keynote speaker at the forum with the theme 'Spirituality & Sensuality'.

Here at home, drilling of borehole- and other phases of projects are going on at Dorcas Garden. The Garden has since commenced operation.

At Rhema Academy, we are making preparation for our upcoming end of year get-together and children rally called RHEMA CANNIVAL. In addition to other activities, we will use the occasion to introduce WEI to more young people of our community.

At our campus church, we are preparing for our Thanksgiving 2011 on January 02, 2011: Through the auspices of Dorcas Garden, we are planning to present food/relief materials to the widows of our community to commemorate that event. It will cost us about $25/widow to fulfil this ministry. Please send your donation through the Bethlehem Church of Christ if you are interested in helping with this benevolence ministry to the widows.

At the WEI Office, the distribution of WEI lessons from the Northside church and brother Ady is in progress. We are still awaiting the arrival of lessons from the Peninsula church.

Details of the ongoing and upcoming events will be published later.

Meanwhile, we are so excited to share with you our joy and excitement t as regards the recent development in our WEI ministry in Nigeria. We have been given a beautiful webpage at the WEI Website. We are grateful to our beloved WEI President for this kind consideration; and we appreciate brother Bob Patterson, the webmaster so much for his skillful design of the WEI Website.

Please click on the link below for our recent update and the background history of our ministry.

http://weiady.org/mission_reports/nigeria.htm

In christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

Concerts Presentations: Our pupils presented a total of 42 different concerts and plays at the carnival, in addition to the welcome songs and cultural dances. The concerts presentations were rounded up with a Drama by the pupils to demonstrate the devastating effect of alcohol among the alcoholics.

Presentation of Souvenirs: We recognized and honored babies born within the year 2010 whose brothers and sisters are pupils at Rhema Academy . Gifts were presented to a total of seven children. The twins, Goodluck & Victory emerged as the “Rhema Babies of the Year 2010” and received the grand prize.

Dinner & Gifts to the Pupils: The pupils and their parents were treated to a special dinner. The ladies of our campus congregation worked with Etang to prepare a delicious meal for all the participants. The pupils were also presented with chocolate and other special gifts.

Issuance of Examination Results: The carnival was rounded up with the issuance of examination results to our pupils. All the pupils who took first to third positions in the examinations were honored. Our daughter Nancy was among the pupils who were honored as she came out second in her class.

ANNIVERSARY THANKSGIVING
The Anniversary Thanksgiving in commemoration of the birth of our campus congregation will hold on January 02, 2011. Our campus church was planted on the first Sunday of January 2008. Every first Sunday of the year has been earmarked as Thanksgiving Day in memory of the birth of this wonderful God’s family. The third anniversary thanksgiving will feature some special activities like the dedication of Dorcas Garden and the commissioning of our water projects sponsored by the Northside congregation. Another special feature during the thanksgiving will be the presentation of special packages to our Christian widows called “Widows Baskets.” A special donation of $200 from Sister Patty Moon of Bellevue Church of Christ has well equipped us for this special ministry to the widows.

MISSION PROJECTS 2011
The thanksgiving on January 02, 2011 will give us a good opportunity to count our blessings, especially those which manifested during the year 2010. We have many things to thank God for: Rhema Academy , our campus church, the WEI ministry, the farmhouse & water projects at Dorcas Garden , our family, our sponsors and supporters. The thanksgiving will also help us to pray for our mission work and ministry in the year 2011. This will include our mission trip to Sierra Leone . As we approach the year 2011, the most pressing of our priority needs remain transportation and the school building at Rhema Academy . We pray that God will raise up sponsors for us who will help us secure a vehicle (a truck or evangelism bus) for our work, and sponsors who will help us complete the school building at Rhema Academy .

APPRECIATION
We are indebted by way of thanks to our sponsors and supporters who stood by us to make the year 2010 a successful and fruitful one despite the fierce persecutions and trials brought by the devil. We thank God that we survived the insecurity when we had to sleep in the bush with our little children at nights. We are presently enjoying a relative peace and security, but we need more prayers for absolute tranquility. Thank you for your prayers, material and financial support. Thanks for words of encouragement to those of you who had the time to write. We wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year 2011.

In Christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

PICTURES FOR FEBRUARY (click)

BAPTISMS
Eno Friday Thompson and Unwana Idorenyin Okon accepted Christ and were baptized on January 16. Eno is a widow from Uruk Otong. Unwana is a married woman from Ikot Ubo. Both women have been brought to Christ through the ministry of Dorcas Garden.

WEI in Sierra Leone
Our preacher friend, Editi Jeremiah Obot will be leaving for Sierra Leone soon. While in Sierra Leone, he will help to distribute the WEI lessons from the Northside church to the students there. He will also help to register new WEI students in Sierra Leone.

Editi was in Sierra Leone for the first time between August and November 2010. He planted a new congregation, Murray Town Church of Christ before he returned to Nigeria. He has decided to use WEI as evangelistic tool to grow the new congregation.

Editi worshiped with us and served as guest speaker at our campus church last Sunday, February 6. The church prayed for him and we gave him WEI materials for his work in Sierra Leone.

Editi had been a teacher at Rhema Academy and a member of our WEI campaign team in Nigeria prior to his call to serve in Sierra Leone. He will be sending the reports of his work in Sierra Leone through us.

WEI CITY OFFICE & RA
We have set up classes at Rhema Academy for our WEI students. The classes are held at 4pm-6pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Our WEI City Office at Abak is opened 6 hours daily (between 9am and 3pm). With the help of the city office as a liaison center, we are able to extend our WEI campaign to other cities of Nigeria like Calabar, Odukpani, Uyo, Ikot Abasi, Ukanafun, Ekparakwa, Owerri, Ibadan, Abuja, Lagos etc. We have also introduced WEI in Cameroun and Sierra Leone. Before the end of this year, we hope to take the gospel to South Africa, Gambia and Liberia using WEI. We are so excited about the opportunity to make disciples for Christ of all nations using WEI.

MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES
Brethren in our neighbourhood have appointed me to be the Chairman of the Preachers' & Leaders' Forum of the churches of Christ in our area. The appointment was confirmed during the Leaders' Conference at Abat Obong Church of Christ last December. The churches of Christ in our area have been confident of my leadership during the past one decade, when I was actively involved in conducting gospel meetings, seminars, workshops, Lectureships, conferences, weddings, funerals etc.

Unfortunately, I am not able to continue most of these good works presently due to the problems we are having with transportation. James & Janice Kelley had helped twice with this problem in the past. Now, no one is able to help. I can vividly recall how effective I was in serving the Lord when I had a means of transportation. We have lost most of our WEI students because of lack of transportation to reach them in the jungles where they reside. The best help a congregation, a family, or an individual could render to our family, WEI, Rhema Academy, Dorcas Garden and our campus church at this moment is to donate a vehicle for our work. Please contact the Bethlehem Church of Christ if your family or congregation could help with this need. Our contact at Bethlehem includes Philip Poston (cposton@genesco.com).

BURYING OUR DEAD
The remains of my late uncle, Samuel Akananwan and my late father-in-law (Etang's father) who died last year will be laid to rest on February 26 and March 26 respectively. The date for the funeral and burial of brother Monday James Udo of our campus church has not yet been fixed. The financial implications of these funerals and burials are of great concern to us. We need your prayers.

OUR KINDERGARTEN
Classes resumed at Rhema Academy on January 31 following the Christmas holidays. Schools were originally scheduled to re-open on January 10, but were postponed due to the voters registration exercise in preparation for the general elections in April this year. Our son, Sediongde has started his pre-nursery studies at Rhema Academy. Nancy is doing well in her nursery two classes. She came second in the exams last term. We are determined to build this Christian kindergarten for our kids, but we are yet unable to complete the classroom-building at the permanent campus of the school due to lack of funding. We have only four rooms for classes in our residency, but presently, we have seven classes to accommodate. Our primary three pupils are forced to study under the sun. The number of classes will increase to eight by September this year.

PERSECUTIONS
Another wave of persecutions against our work has arisen in recent time. Satan is at work again using his agents - the enemies of the cross of Christ. This time around, someone has stolen our identity and has opened a misleading email and facebook page in the name of Aniefiok Akpan as a set-up to destroy our integrity and our work. The false facebook website has been used to send fraudulent letters to Joyce Anderson, Scott King, Richard Ady and perhaps others we are not yet aware of.

Please, we want brethren to know, as a matter of fact, that the fraudulent email messages were sent by someone unknown to us using an email and facebook page that is similar to ours, but evidently not ours. Our email is weinigeria@yahoo.com, whereas the fraudulent email used is weiinigeria@yahoo.com (please compare the spellings).

It is true that Etang was sick sometime ago and was treated in the hospital as we published in our previous report. We settled the hospital & medical bills after the Bethlehem church sent our January support fund, and we never sent any financial request to anybody to that effect.

We are writing this section of our report with our eyes wet with tears. The first notification about this fraudulent act came to us on Sunday night from Sister Joyce Anderson and we had a sleepless night crying and praying to God about this unfortunate situation. Yesterday, we informed the brethren about it during our devotion/prayer meeting. Our campus church brethren cried fervently to God about it and called for a fasting/prayer meeting to be held on Friday this week in order to pray about this in a more complete manner. The brethren are so concerned about the safety of our family fearing that whoever has perpetrated this evil scheme could be dangerous and destructive.

We have suffered so many persecutions in the Lord's work, but our campus church continues to witness a rapid growth by God's grace and power. Four baptisms within the first two weeks of the New Year is something the devil would not be happy about. Satan may fight against the progress of our work like restricting us from acquiring a vehicle for our work and trying to blackmail us before our sponsors and supporters, but he remains a liar. The victory is ours in Christ.

Finally, please pray for us that Satan may not succeed in using blackmail, deceit, falsehood or any other means to destroy our integrity and our work.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan.
Campus Church of Christ
Rhema Academy, Uruk Otong
Box 973, Abak
Akwa Ibom State
Nigeria, West Africa.
 

(b) Missionary to Sierra Leone
Our friend, Editi Obot finally left for Sierra Leone on Tuesday March 01. We held a send-forth ceremony for him at Rhema Academy on February 28. Editi served as a teacher at Rhema Academy prior to his call to serve in Sierra Leone. During his first trip to Sierra Leone last year, Editi helped to plant a new congregation in Sierra Leone, the Murray Town Church of Christ. We at Rhema Academy are proud of his achievements and the success of his work in Sierra Leone.

2) World English Institute
(a) WEI in Sierra Leone
Editi has called from Sierra Leone to inform us that the WEI materials from Cathy Gusek/Northside (Hanceville) church for our students there had arrived. He is going to follow up on the students and to help us register more students in Sierra Leone. We anticipate a great harvest as Editi uses WEI to grow the Murray Town church in Sierra Leone.

(b) WEI for Gambia, Liberia & SA
We have almost completed our plans to introduce WEI in Gambia, Liberia and South Africa. We will first of all send WEI materials to our prospects in these countries and then travel there to reap the harvests whenever God has opened the door for us.

(c) WEI Conference 2011?
Our annual WEI Nationwide conference in Nigeria scheduled for May may not hold for obvious reasons. Uruk Otong Council of Chiefs has turned down our request to use the Village Hall for the conference. The reason they have denied us access to the hall, according to them, is because the programme is considered to be disturbing to the denominational church (Qua Iboe Church) located opposite the Village Hall. We do not blame them because most of the chiefs are members of Qua Iboe. The only alternative is to hire a tent for the conference, but we can not afford the rent to hire a tent. Hence, we may not have any other option than to suspend the conference until our campus church worship auditorium is constructed.

(3) CAMPUS CHURCH OF CHRIST
(a) Brethren Call for Worship Auditorium
The brethren of our campus church have called for the construction of a worship Auditorium for the congregation. This decision was taken after we were denied access to the village hall for our WEI conference in May this year. If Rhema Academy had a permanent building with a hall, we would have had no need of a church building now. Presently, our campus Church has outgrown the temporary facility we are using, and we need a church building. After we complete the remaining phases of work at Dorcas Garden, we will initiate the auditorium project for our campus church and WEI conferences.

(b) Saturday Amos Preaches at the Campus Church
Saturday Amos & his family traveled all the way from Uyo on Sunday February 27 to worship with us at the Campus church and to assess the progress of work in our mission. Saturday is the Vice President of Friends of Rhema Academy in Nigeria. In 2009, Saturday gave us an interest-free loan of $5000 for the brick work of the school building at Rhema Academy. He loves us and our work so much.
 

(4) DORCAS GARDEN
(a) Livestocks Give Birth
Our goat at Dorcas Garden has given birth. We rejoice greatly and look forward to our first swine giving birth before the month of May this year. Sisters Dorathy Japhet and Love Udom are doing a great work at the farm.

(b) Harvest from the Vegetable Farm
We have made our first harvest from our little vegetable farm. The harvests include fruited pumpkin & waterleaf. These vegetables are used for soup-making and other food needs. Our ladies really enjoyed the vegetables. Our cucumber crops are doing fine too. They are expected to start bearing fruit by next month.

(c) Vaccine for Birds
Our Veterinary Doctor and Consultant to Dorcas Garden was in the farm on March 04 to administer vaccine to our birds. He also helped to de-worm our swine.

(5) FAMILY AFFAIRS
(a) Mummy Survives Snake-bite
Several diagnoses were carried out on my mother in the hospital. These include blood tests and x-ray. It was finally discovered that my mother was suffering from a snake-bite as well. A few months ago, my mother came out of the farm with a fresh little wound on her ankle. We did not know that she was bitten by a dangerous and poisonous snake. She also suffers from hypertension, ulcer and cardiovascular pains. She has been discharged from the hospital to continue taking her drugs at home. Although her blood pressure is still high, she has made tremendous progress towards recovery. Thank you for your fervent prayers. Thank you for approaching the throne of grace on our behalf to pray for the most wonderful person in my life. I was made to mistakenly believe that I was two weeks old when my father died. My mother told me while on her sick bed that my father died about two weeks after she conceived me. She bore the burden of raising me alone.

(b) Deaths & Burials
The remains of my late uncle Chief Samuel Akananwan Akpan were buried on Saturday February 26. The remains of my father-in-law, Etang's father, Chief Abraham Akpaneyen will be laid to rest on March 26. The funeral will be conducted by the churches of Christ in our neighbourhood. We have a crucial role to play at the funeral that requires a substantial amount of fund. We will appreciate your prayers and financial support.

(c) Reasons for Persecutions
We may not understand all the reasons why we are being persecuted, but some reasons are obvious. Firstly, leaders of the denominational groups in our area are afraid that all their children could be converted to the Lord's church through Rhema Academy. Secondly, the denominational groups are afraid of loosing their members to our fast-growing campus church. Thirdly, some people are jealous of the progress we have made in our WEI ministry. Furthermore, some people are very uncomfortable with my strong teachings and sermons against divorce and marital unfaithfulness. The reason is that many of our leaders including preachers have divorced their wives amidst controversies and have married a wife or third wife expecting the church to endorse such marriages. I will continue to preach against it because it weakens the Lord's church and deprive her of men who should serve as elders and deacons. Another reason why we face persecutions is because there are some wicked and crafty people who are looking for relationships to destroy. We feel that we are connected to the network of Christ, and that God has blessed us with wonderful families and congregations to encourage us in our work. TO HIM BE THE GLORY!

(d) Transportation
Lack of transportation has remained the most pressing of our priority needs. Each of the areas of our work demands a means of transportation. We are in dying need of a reliable vehicle to assist us in meeting the transportation obligations of our work. If your family or congregation can assist, please the Bethlehem Church of Christ in Lebanon, Tennessee. Our contacts at Bethlehem include brother Philip Poston (email: cposton@genesco.com).

Thank you once again for your prayers and continued support especially in this time of economic recession.

Yours & His,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

Chief Abraham Akpaneyen

God in His providence graciously provided all that was needed for the success of the funeral. We needed just a vehicle for the funeral, but God gave us two.
 

Sometime ago, we helped a young girl named Etiene (our WEI student) to prepare for TOEFL. She did very well in the exams and has gained admission to a university in Alabama, USA. Her mother Suzana so much appreciates our little contribution to her daughter's success in passing the TOEFL and gaining admission.

She donated her car and her driver for our use throughout the period of the funeral. Please keep it in your prayers that our relationship will help to bring Etiene and her mother to Christ someday.

Road Crossing

Our friend, Saturday Amos also offered his car and himself as driver as well. Both friends helped us to save a lot of funds we would have spent on transport. Saturday once helped with an interest-free loan for our school building construction yet to be completed..

The churches of Christ in our neighbourhood, our friends and relatives donated a large quantity of assorted food items to assist us with refreshment & dinner during the funeral. The ladies of our campus church assisted Etang with the cooking.

The churches did this in appreciation of our mutual fellowship. I am presently the Chairman of the PREACHERS & CHURCH LEADERS FORUM in our area.

WEI Fund-Raising Dinner in Nigeria
We have concluded plans to organise our first WEI Fund-Raising Dinner in Nigeria on Saturday December 10, 2011. The fund raised through the Dinner will be used to initiate our multi-purpose auditorium project at Rhema Academy. This plan has been made following the decision of Uruk Otong Village Council denying us access to the village hall for our WEI Conference in May this year.

The conference will now hold in December and will be rounded up with the fund-raising dinner. The auditorium when completed will harbour our campus church meetings, our school daily chapel services, our WEI study center and conferences etc. Please remember the Lord's house project in your prayers.

Mission Work Bears Fruit in Sierra Leone
Editi Jeremiah Obot, a missionary and our WEI contact in Sierra Leone, in a text message on March 29 wrote:

"Dear Minister Akpan,

"The trip to Makeni within Sierra Leone last week was quite successful. A denomination, " House of life ministry Int'l", formerly owned by a Nigerian has been converted to Church of Christ. Picture & details shall be sent to U by e-mail. A banner has been provided to replace the old name. A communion set has also been provided . We need more fund to help us care for the young church. Thanks for your efforts in supporting the mission work in Sierra Leone. The WEI lessons are very useful in reaching out to souls here.

Yours in His Service,
Editi Jeremiah Obot
(Sierra Leone)"

Harvests & Blessings from Dorcas Garden
God is already using Dorcas Garden to bless us and His people around us. Our Christian community now enjoys constant and reliable water supply from the bore-hole project. This often reminds us of the song "Open now the crystal fountain. Let the healing water flow."

We are also reaping more harvests from our vegetable farm. Our ladies now enjoy fresh waterleaf and fruited pumpkin used for soup making and other delicacies. click to see produce

Other crops bearing fruit presently include maize (corn), cucumber, watermelon and pepper. We used poultry drops to fertilize the vegetable crops and they are doing very well.

Mission Training School
(MTS) Programme
Classes for the mission training school programme of our campus church were suspended last week end because of the funeral activities. Studies will begin this weekend. Over twenty young people of our campus church have registered for the training. We will admit people from other congregations to the training school only after we have graduated the pioneers. The primary aim of MTS is to train our youths as potential vanguards in soul winning.

Teachers

Appreciation
Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Thank you for your words of comfort and encouragement.

In Christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

 

BAPTISMS
A young girl, Idorenyin Friday Benjamin accepted Christ and was baptized at the eve of our recently concluded christian conference at Uruk Otong. She was led to Christ through WEI. Five students of Obong Christian High School accepted Christ and were baptized during my recent visit and ministry at the campus church there. Another group of five persons were baptized recently at Ikot Imo following the gospel campaign we conducted there.

Idorenyin Friday Benjamin

RESTORATIONS
An aged widow named Lucy Sandy Isuaiko was restored on Sunday November 6 prior to our christian conference that day. She was baptized about five decades ago when the Lord's church was planted at Nkek Abak. She left the faith about two decades later when her husband died and she returned to her father's house at Ikot Ekaide near Uruk Otong. She is bereaved of all her children and has no one to take care of her presently. Lucy was brought back to Christ by the benevolence & influence of Dorcas Garden through another christian widow, Cecilia who had been restored previously.

ANNUAL CHRISTIAN CONFERENCE
The christian conference at Uruk Otong on November 6 was very unique. It began at 12pm and ended at 6pm. It recorded a total attendance of 372 participants, most of whom were WEI students. It featured video Bible lectures by Chris Siedman & Rick Atchley. I presented the leading keynote "Making Disciples of all Nations." Emmanuel Essien of CAO Essien Memorial Bible College, Ikot Usen directed the chapel session. Dorcas Garden provided the "five loaves & two fishes" we used for refreshment and the multitudes were fed.

AUDITORIUM
The most significant assistance any individual, a family or a congregation could render to us presently will be to fund or help us raise funds for the construction of a befitting auditorium for our worship services and gospel events at Uruk Otong. We really need this help please.

DORCAS GARDEN
We have begun the construct of a poultry house at DG. This marks the beginning of the second phase of the DG project. The third and final phase of the project will be the construction of a permanent fishery. Our birds & fish are presently harbored within the piggery. We sold out our big pigs and used the money to initiate the poultry project. The piglets will be nurtured to replace the pigs.

TERRORISM
Recently, a three-week old baby was amputated at Uruk Otong by a young man who is mentally derailed. The right arm of the infant was completely chopped off. The baby is still receiving treatment at the teaching hospital in Uyo. The news of the sad incidence has been published by broadcasting media across the country including Global Concord newspaper from where I snapped the picture that is attached to this report. Unfortunately, the baby happens to be the last child of my close relative.

ARMED ROBBERY VICTIMS
A young police officer, Akaninyene Aniefiok Okon whose parents are our family friends was shot dead alongside other police officers and some staff of Equatorial Trust Bank in Uyo recently. They were intercepted by dare-devil armed robbers who killed all persons onboard their vehicle and made away with the sum of twenty million naira. His remains have since been laid to rest. His parents allow us to use their vehicle each time we are greatly in need of a car for special services like during our marriage ceremonies & the funeral of Etang's father. Please pray for this family.

OBONG UNIVERSITY CALLING
I have been selected by the Board & Management of Obong University to serve as a visiting campus minister of the university. The inaugural worship service of the university campus church with me as preacher will begin this Sunday November 13. I will be going there on Sundays (except the last Sunday of the month) and on Wednesdays for midweek studies. Consequently, the church at Uruk Otong, with their full consent has appointed two young people to serve as my assistant preachers of the congregation. The two young men are products of our mission training school at Rhema Academy. They will be teaching & preaching on the days I go to Obong Ntak. I will be serving at Uruk Otong on the last Sunday of the month when we have Indoor Bible Lecture in the morning and Video Bible Seminar (VBS) in the afternoon. I am going to use WEI resources as tool for evangelism within and outside the university community. Obong University is the first christian university associated with the churches of Christ in Africa.

MISSION TRIP
My mission trip to some of the countries of West Africa originally scheduled for this November has been postponed till early in the year 2012 when we hope we will be able to raise enough funds for the mission trip. Materials have been sent to Gambia, Senegal & Sierra Leone in preparation for our gospel campaigns in those countries.

SCREEN FOR VBS
We have acquired a 42inches screen for our monthly Video Bible Seminars at Rhema Academy. It is one of the most effective methods of teaching the young people nowadays since the youths are fun of patronizing cinema and viewing centres. We will appreciate sound teachings on video CDs for the seminars. Please see our postal address below for mailing information, in case you have materials to donate.

In christian love,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan
 

Anwana        and              Ima

LEADERSHIP SUCCESSION
What gives me the greatest joy is that I have succeeded in training others who could lead the church even in my absence. John Maxwell defines success as "the progressive realization of a predetermined goal," but he maintains that "success without a successor is failure." If it is true that the highest calling of leadership is people's development, then we have succeeded in our mission effort at Uruk Otong.

Aniefiok
 

"MACEDONIAN CALL"
I preached at a funeral in Utu Etim Ekpo on December 3. After the sermon, a man who identified himself as Elder Paul of a Pentecostal church invited me for a Bible study in his house. Yesterday, I spent two hours reasoning with him from the scripture. He confessed to me that he was touched by my sermon at the funeral and that he would love to be a member of the church of Christ, but his great concern is his wife who has been appointed to serve as an evangelist in the Pentecostal church. His second concern is that there is no church of Christ in his village, Utu Ikot Nkor and the entire area where he lives. He has eight grown up children. He has registered to study with us using WEI English & Bible lessons. I am planning to meet him again when his wife is at home for another session of Bible studies. We believe this to be another "Macedonian call."

SUMMARY OF MY MAJOR TEACHING APPOINTMENTS DURING THE 4TH QUARTER OF 2011

(1) Oct 8 WBS Seminar
Host - Church of Christ, Ukanafun Edem Inyang
Lecture - The Need for Salvation

(2) Oct 28
Annual Lectureship
Host - Church of Christ, Abat Obong
Lecture - Our Faith in these Terrible Times of Economic Depression, Kidnapping & Terrorism

(3) Date - Nov 6
WEI Annual Conference
Host - Campus Church of Christ, Rhema Academy, Uruk Otong
Lecture - Making Disciples of all Nations

(4) Nov 25
Annual Lectureship
Host - Church of Christ, Ikot Ubo
Lecture - The Values & Benefits of Love

(5) Nov 26
Annual Gospel Meeting
Host - Church of Christ, Utu Abak
Lecture - Evidences of Church Spirituality

(6) Dec 3
Funeral Service
Host - Township Church of Christ, Utu Etim Ekpo
Sermon title - We Ought to Live for Christ

(7) Dec 10
Founders Day Ceremony
Host - CAO Essien Bible College, Ikot Usen
Anniversary lecture - Supporting Ikot Usen as God's Chosen Center of Christian Influence

(8) Dec 11.
Church Leaders Conference
Host - Church of Christ, Abat Obong
Lecture: Servanthood Leadership

(9) Dec 14.
Annual Lectureship
Host - Church of Christ, Ette, Ikot Abasi
Lecture - Training Preachers for Effective Ministry

(10) Dec 15
Annual Lectureship
Host - Campus Church of Christ, Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo
Lecture: Contending for the faith
*I missed the opportunity to present this lecture because I arrived late due to transportation difficulties.

OUR DAILY/WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF WORK
(1) I conduct morning devotional service for the brethren of Uruk Otong church of Christ at 5am on Monday, Wednesdays & Fridays.

(2) I go to Obong University (over 30miles away) on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays & Sundays (except first & last Sundays) to discharge my duties as the university chaplain and campus minister.

(3) My wife attend to students and others at our WEI city office on the days I go to Obong University while I take my turn on Tuesdays & Fridays.

(4) On Wednesdays, I teach the midweek Bible class at the university at 5pm and return home to join the midweek service at Uruk Otong.

(5) On Saturdays, we serve at the mission training program for the youths of Uruk Otong congregation.

(7) Visiting and interacting with our WEI students in different places is almost a daily routine.

(8) At home, Etang and I work hard to grade WEI lessons for our students.

(9) With the help of other christian workers, we are running a christian nursery & primary school at Rhema Academy.

(10) We are also involved in running a christian farm settlement to assist the poor widows of our congregation at Uruk Otong.

With the help and co-operation of others, we enjoy doing the work without fainting. We pray that God may bless us with a good means of transportation in the year 2012..

THE YEAR 2012. IN VIEW
Our priority and focus in the year 2012 will be to develop our WEI ministry and strengthen our gospel campaigns throughout West Africa. Our present connection with Obong University, the first christian university associated with the churches of Christ in the whole of Africa is a great booster to our outreach ministry. We know that it would take the university campus church several years to develop to the status of supporting a full time preacher. Hence, we count on the continued support of our US sponsors as we serve the campus churches at Obong University and Rhema Academy.

We bring you greetings from our children - Nancy, Sedi & Ric.

In christian love,
Aniefiok Akpan

Dear Brethren,

Happy New Year!

Welcome to our first report of work in the year 2012. We hope you will find the report interesting and inspiring.

Thanksgiving 2012
We began the year with a Thanksgiving Sunday on January 1. It was time to reflect on the year 2011 and to thank God for His blessings. With proceeds from Dorcas Garden, gifts & relief items were presented to widows & orphans to commemorate the event. There was also a Thanksgiving Dinner for all members of our campus church at Rhema Academy.

WEI Campus Ministry
Five students of Obong University have registered to study English and the Bible using WEI lessons. We expect more students to register in subsequent weeks & months. Some of the students have said they prefer taking their studies online if they had access to a computer with internet connection. We are making plans to reach out to high school students in various public schools along Obong Ntak axis.

University Matriculation
The 5th batch of Obong University students were matriculated on Friday January 27 in a colourful ceremony. Four of the fresher students are members of the church of Christ. They will worship and serve the Lord with us at the university campus church. I am teaching the university students the Bible personally during chapel and privately on a daily basis.

Reception for Freshers
We had a reception ceremony and special dinner in honour of our four sisters among the fresher students at the university campus church on January 29. It was time to introduce them to the programmes, activities & services of our campus church.

Ebom Avenue Seminar
The Township Church of Christ which meet at #18 Ebom Avenue, Abak organized a seminar on the Christian Home on Saturday January 28. I and Ikobong Akpan were invited as guest speakers. I delivered a Bible lecture on "When Couples Disagree." It was indeed a great lesson. Ikobong is a faithful and an experienced gospel preacher and Bible teacher. He taught me the Bible in the high school 26 years ago.

WBSFU Workshop
This year's WBSFU Workers Workshop in Nigeria is held at the Nigerian Christian Institute, Uyo. It began on January 28 and will be rounded up today February 3. Etang & I attended the workshop yesterday, eventhough I was not invited. It was great to see the WBS missionaries from the US - Doug Wheeler, Ron Pottberg & Ruth Orr along with other Nigerian preachers we had not seen for a long time like Friday Adima.

PTA Plans a Fundraising
Members of the PTA at Rhema Academy have planned to raise some money for Rhema Academy in May this year. The fund will be used to do some work on the school building under construction. It will be a great blessing to Rhema Academy if, at least, a section of the building is completed by September this year.

WEI Nigeria: A Success Story
The WEI ministry in Nigeria with Etang & I grading the lessons for students has been a great success. We have had no problem with students we attend to personally. However, using American teachers to teach some of the Nigerian students has been a huge failure. Materials are lost on transit. Those which sail through take a longer time to arrive. We observe that materials sent to us by brother Ady neither got lost nor delayed. We are wondering if we should grade all lessons and sent scores and reports to the American teachers.

WEI City Office
We are facing some pressing mission challenges which have threatened the progress and continuity of our mission work especially as regards our WEI ministry. Paramount among these is the need to keep our WEI teaching centre in the city. Our previous three-year lease funded by the Gladstone church has expired. We need to renew or find another facility, perhaps a smaller one, but Gladstone would not help again. Without the city office, we will loose contact with many students and preachers who help to co-ordinate WEI activities in other regions outside Abak. Please help us pray for a way out of this setback & frustration.


Transportation
We will be doing an injustice to this report if we fail to mention the difficulties we experience in the area of transportation. We have accepted the invitation to serve as chaplain of Obong University for no other reason than the need to use WEI in a more effective way and to serve the Lord faithfully wherever and whenever He has called us. Our work demands that we have a reliable means of transportation. We believe that someday, God will provide the brethren with the resources and love to help with this need.

Finally, thank you for your patience to read through this report. Thank you for your continued support and prayers. Please continue to pray for us that security will continue to improve so that missionaries can come and work with us as it happened in the past.

In christian love,

Aniefiok & Etang Akpan


 

Dear Brethren,

There is one area of Akwa Ibom State where the gospel is yet to make any impact. The region is known as "Ekparakwa." Ekparakwa is a developing city surrounded by many large and highly populated villages.

There was no church of Christ in the entire neighbourhood. A christian widow by name Ime Titus Umoetor relocated from Ikot Okoro and moved to Ekparakwa in 2005 with her five children following the death of her husband in 2002. For three years, she traveled several miles to worship with the church at Afia Oko. After her two sons grew up and were baptized into Christ, she decided to plant a church at Ekparakwa using her sons as teacher and preacher.

She secured the permission of Community High School, Ekparakwa to use one of the classrooms as a meeting and worship hall. The inaugural worship service of Ekparakwa church was held in March 2009. I preached the first sermon of the congregation as a guest speaker. Since then, I could not visit the congregation until last Sunday when I worshiped and preached there. The church has grown to about ten members, but it is like a sheep without a shepherd. They have no money to hire a trained preacher.

We have decided to make Ekparakwa another center of WEI activities in addition to Uruk Otong and Obong University. This morning, the Principal of Community High School, Ekparakwa granted us approval to use the school as WEI Study Center. With the help of the Principal and other teachers, we issued introductory lessons to 100 of the 300 students in SS1. The Principal pleaded that we bring additional 200 introductory lessons to the remaining students in SS1. The school has about 3000 students, but we will only concentrate with the 300 students in SS1.

The Principal ordered that the quiz section of the introductory lessons should be detached and kept in her office. The students will have to study the introductory lessons. On Wednesday next week, I will be there to review the lessons with them after which they will answer the quizzes in my presence and return the completed lessons to me for onward despatch to teachers in the US.

We know that through the students, the gospel will find its way into every home in Ekparakwa city and the adjourning villages, and the entire neighbourhood will be completely evangelized in the shortest period of time. WEI will help us grow the church in Ekparakwa and will also help us plant churches in the surrounding villages. We have already added Ekparakwa to our list of mission fields.

We have a large banner of WEI displayed at the gate of the secondary (high) school in Ekparakwa. We need a congregation that will help us teach the truth to the people of this virgin area. Any church that will agree to do this will be asked to provide at least $100 a month to cover our transport and postage because we will use "Speedpost" to facilitate the program. The present support for our WEI ministry from the Northside church will not cover this new mission field.

Please bear with us. We are not able to send pictures from our digital camera until we are able to raise fund and buy a computer. We tried to do this at the public cafe, and viruses almost devastated our digital camera.

Yours & His,
Aniefiok & Etang Akpan

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