Around the World is a monthly compilation of news summaries, links and quotes from Christian churches around the world.Have an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad [email protected].
Featured image (above): Lito Hernandez reads a Bible verse to a growing congregation in his community in Sabana Redonda, Honduras. Hernandez, 65, completed a two-year program at the 21st Century Global Mission School in Ohohona, Honduras in December 2022.
He and his wife, Maria Rodríguez, worshiped at the Church of Christ in Ohohona and sold their produce on the street until April 2023, when they moved to Sabana Redonda. They rented a house, studied the Bible, and started a church with three adults and four children.
As church attendance grew to 20 people, the couple looked for land to build a shelter for rainy Sundays. A farmer offered them land for about $11,000. However, when the farmer learned that the land was for a church, he reduced the price to $2,837.
The daughter and son-in-law of a California preacher used their tax refund and savings to finance the purchase, and El Rio Church of Christ in Oxnard, Calif., made up the difference.
Guinea-Bissau
BISSAU — Minister Abdou Sidibe has reported eight recent baptisms in this West African country.
Originally from Guinea-Bissau, Sidibe works as a missionary in his Portuguese-speaking homeland of 2 million people, with support from the Church of Christ in Ghana.
Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA — Baxter Institute, a training school for pastors and church members in Central America, recently welcomed a class of 21 first-year students, President Steve Thiel said.
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 of our students is coming to Baxter for the 2015 Baxter Mission Team to Bolivia,” Thiel said.
Liberia
MONROVIA — Approximately 300 people participated online and in-person at the recent New Life Behaviors International Workshop hosted by Gulf Community Church of Christ. The church uses a Bible-based curriculum in its prison ministry, recovery programs, and missionary work.
Prince Ugbe, director of the Durrell Memorial Bible Institute in Nigeria, who helped coordinate the workshop with Gulf Community Church pastor Edmund Beaufey, said the workshop resulted in 22 baptisms.
niger
SOURA — Women in this rural West African village must walk about 26 miles to get to a clinic for prenatal care and delivery. Lee Hodges of Hope Springs International, a service organization supported by the Church of Christ, says many people are choosing to give birth at home, and five out of every 15 newborns are born prematurely, sick or due to other complications. It is said that he died from the disease.
The health center run by Hope Springs in Sora treated about 5,500 people last year. The ministry is currently aiming to expand the facility and hire midwives and support staff. The department is asking for about $42,000 in expansion and operating costs for the first year.
press personnel
Name: Mike Yuhas as President of Tennessee Children's Home Associated with the Church of Christ. Yuhas Fried He graduated from Hardeman College with a bachelor's degree in business administration.
Hiring: Ross Hafner as pastor of Fountainhead Church of Christ in Portland, Tennessee, and Joey Roberts as director of public relations for Christian Home and Family Services in Abilene, Texas. Mr. Roberts previously worked as communications director for Herald of Truth Ministries. Tim Wooldridge, director of advancement at Crowley's Ridge College, affiliated with the Church of Christ in Paragould, Arkansas.
Baptized: Tori Reed, Skylar Horner, Ralph Savage and son Jesse at North Terrace Church of Christ in Zanesville, Ohio. Hagen McNair of Madison Church of Christ, Alabama; Avery Harris (at Estes Church of Christ in Henderson, TN) Everett Bolin (at Pinnacle Church of Christ in Little Rock, AR) Karlin Nowell (at Bartley Road Church of Christ in La Grange, GA) LaDonna Lang (in North Peoria) Church of Christ) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Filed under: 21st Century World Mission Durrell Memorial Bible Institute Guinea-Bissau Honduras Hope Springs International International Liberia New Living Actions International News Niger Top Stories