Around the World, January 2012
PHOTO BY ANNETTE WHITTAKER
Going Masai way? - Women and children of northern Tanzania's Maasai people crowd into a land cruiser for a ride back to the main road after a Bible study with Annette Whittaker.
Going Masai way? - Women and children of northern Tanzania's Maasai people crowd into a land cruiser for a ride back to the main road after a Bible study with Annette Whittaker.
Missionaries heal sick, teach Bible, give rides in Tanzania
Annette Whitaker conducts Bible studies in rural northern Tanzania while her husband, Dr. Robert Whittaker, fills in at the Tanzania Christian Clinic for physicians Danny and Nancy Smelser.
The Whittakers formerly worked at Nigerian Christian Hospital. Searcy, Ark.-based International Health Care Foundation supports their work.
About 30 to 40 Maasai attend the lessons, Annette Whittaker said, and at least 20 of them insist on climbing into the land cruiser for a ride. “The people seem very interested” in the lessons, she said, “and the men have asked for Bibles and where the church meets.”
BRAZIL
SALVADOR — Church members are mourning the death of Irla Sany, 17, who was killed in an act of gang-related violence, said missionary Valerie Quirey.
“She had been part of our congregation since it began in 2006,” Quirey said, “and her stepfather Fernando rented a van to bring as much of his family as he could to church. ... She had grown up in the roughest of neighborhoods but never developed the hardness that often comes with it.”
After an abbreviated worship service, members of the Church of Christ gathered in the Sany’s home to pray with her family.
Fellow missionaries Randy and Jennifer Porter have been ministering to the family and the church, said Quirey, who is in the U.S. on furlough with her husband, Russell.
CHINA
BEIJING — Thirty-three women from four congregations in Beijing participated in a recent retreat. The retreat featured classes for single women and talks on marriage enrichment for married attendees, said Danita Jackson, a church member in Beijing.
GHANA
TAKORADI — Cheryl Bode, a Christian nurse living in this West African nation, conducted an HIV and Hepatitis B screening clinic for students at the Outreach Africa Vocational Institute, a church-supported school.
Bode and five Ghanaian nurses conducted 226 HIV tests and 220 Hepatitis B tests and administered 180 Hepatitis B vaccines.
“The students and staff were so excited about receiving this service,” Bode said. “It was truly amazing to me how receptive they were.”
INDIA
GUWAHATI — Daniel and Kathy Hamm, longtime missionaries in Thailand, will travel to this city in northeastern India to teach at the Northeast Bible Institute, which has 28 men and seven women enrolled.
The school’s goal is to produce self-supporting ministers, said administrator Jim E. Waldron.
The school seeks U.S. preachers to teach in the school for one or two months, Waldron said. The Main Street Church of Christ in Crossville, Tenn., oversees the work.
NIGERIA
OYUBIA-ORON — An annual youth forum in this southern Nigerian town brought 1,169 participants, representing 96 Churches of Christ, to the campus of the Christian Secondary Technical School.
“The most impressive feature ... was seeing hundreds of youths braving the tropical storms and heavy rain that drenched them from head to toe,” said Eno Otoyo, a Nigerian-born Christian who works with Nigerian Mission, a ministry of the Normandie Church of Christ in Los Angeles.
The Nigerian youths’ “smiling faces and bright eyes were filled with excitement over being able to attend and participate in this year’s lectureship,” Otoyo said. Many of the participants brought their own food and kerosene stoves. When the school ran out of beds, “they simply slept on the floors without complaint.”
Fifty-six attendees were baptized.
THAILAND
BANGKOK — Thailand’s worst floods in a half-century have created stagnant ponds of water across this city of 12 million souls and forced thousands from their homes, said Kim Voraritskul, a minister in nearby Khon Kaen.
“Trash is building up and floating. Dead animals abound. ... Food and drinking water have to be taken to the masses by rowboats,” the minister said. “We have six Churches of Christ in Bangkok with about 700 Christians. Many need our help. They need drinking water, dry and canned food.”
The Silver Spring Church of Christ in Maryland is collecting funds for relief. Contact www.silverspringchurchofchrist.org or call (301) 585-8727.
Annette Whitaker conducts Bible studies in rural northern Tanzania while her husband, Dr. Robert Whittaker, fills in at the Tanzania Christian Clinic for physicians Danny and Nancy Smelser.
The Whittakers formerly worked at Nigerian Christian Hospital. Searcy, Ark.-based International Health Care Foundation supports their work.
About 30 to 40 Maasai attend the lessons, Annette Whittaker said, and at least 20 of them insist on climbing into the land cruiser for a ride. “The people seem very interested” in the lessons, she said, “and the men have asked for Bibles and where the church meets.”
BRAZIL
SALVADOR — Church members are mourning the death of Irla Sany, 17, who was killed in an act of gang-related violence, said missionary Valerie Quirey.
“She had been part of our congregation since it began in 2006,” Quirey said, “and her stepfather Fernando rented a van to bring as much of his family as he could to church. ... She had grown up in the roughest of neighborhoods but never developed the hardness that often comes with it.”
After an abbreviated worship service, members of the Church of Christ gathered in the Sany’s home to pray with her family.
Fellow missionaries Randy and Jennifer Porter have been ministering to the family and the church, said Quirey, who is in the U.S. on furlough with her husband, Russell.
CHINA
BEIJING — Thirty-three women from four congregations in Beijing participated in a recent retreat. The retreat featured classes for single women and talks on marriage enrichment for married attendees, said Danita Jackson, a church member in Beijing.
GHANA
TAKORADI — Cheryl Bode, a Christian nurse living in this West African nation, conducted an HIV and Hepatitis B screening clinic for students at the Outreach Africa Vocational Institute, a church-supported school.
Bode and five Ghanaian nurses conducted 226 HIV tests and 220 Hepatitis B tests and administered 180 Hepatitis B vaccines.
“The students and staff were so excited about receiving this service,” Bode said. “It was truly amazing to me how receptive they were.”
INDIA
GUWAHATI — Daniel and Kathy Hamm, longtime missionaries in Thailand, will travel to this city in northeastern India to teach at the Northeast Bible Institute, which has 28 men and seven women enrolled.
The school’s goal is to produce self-supporting ministers, said administrator Jim E. Waldron.
The school seeks U.S. preachers to teach in the school for one or two months, Waldron said. The Main Street Church of Christ in Crossville, Tenn., oversees the work.
NIGERIA
OYUBIA-ORON — An annual youth forum in this southern Nigerian town brought 1,169 participants, representing 96 Churches of Christ, to the campus of the Christian Secondary Technical School.
“The most impressive feature ... was seeing hundreds of youths braving the tropical storms and heavy rain that drenched them from head to toe,” said Eno Otoyo, a Nigerian-born Christian who works with Nigerian Mission, a ministry of the Normandie Church of Christ in Los Angeles.
The Nigerian youths’ “smiling faces and bright eyes were filled with excitement over being able to attend and participate in this year’s lectureship,” Otoyo said. Many of the participants brought their own food and kerosene stoves. When the school ran out of beds, “they simply slept on the floors without complaint.”
Fifty-six attendees were baptized.
THAILAND
BANGKOK — Thailand’s worst floods in a half-century have created stagnant ponds of water across this city of 12 million souls and forced thousands from their homes, said Kim Voraritskul, a minister in nearby Khon Kaen.
“Trash is building up and floating. Dead animals abound. ... Food and drinking water have to be taken to the masses by rowboats,” the minister said. “We have six Churches of Christ in Bangkok with about 700 Christians. Many need our help. They need drinking water, dry and canned food.”
The Silver Spring Church of Christ in Maryland is collecting funds for relief. Contact www.silverspringchurchofchrist.org or call (301) 585-8727.
From the January 2012 Print Edition.
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