WCF Preaching Projects Summary
November 2008

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WCF-CBM Projects Report

WCF Semi-Annual Directors’ Meeting Arlington, VA, 1st Nov 2008

Figure 1: Locations of joint projects in the period: Nov 2005-Nov 2008, funded by the Williamsburg Christadelphian Foundation (WCF) and Christadelphian Bible Mission (CBM) groups. Previous projects = black; current projects = red (CBM UK); yellow (CBMA); and blue (ACBM). WCF solo project = green

Here are the relevant updates:

Africa

Asia

North America

Eastern Europe

Report on 2008 Zambia Bible School

Attendees at the 2008 Zambia Bush Camp

Held on 4th – 8th July 2008 at The Mulungushi Motel, Kabwe

Number of Zambian brothers and sisters attending: 90

CBM Visitors attending: Bro David Nicholls (CBM Zambia Linkman); Sis Lynda Nicholls

Bro Michael Ashton (Shirley Ecclesia, UK)

Bro Simon Sheppard (Wolverhampton Ecclesia, UK); Sis Sarah Stevenson (Handsworth Ecclesia, UK)

The annual Bible School provides a spiritual high spot in the year and a welcomed opportunity to enjoy fellowship with brothers and sisters who may live up to 1,000 Km away from each other in this vast country.

Bro Michael Ashton led the main studies on “When there was no King in Israel (Judges)”. Practical lessons and exhortations were drawn out from the record of these difficult times for the Children of Israel, particularly in regard to the need for faithful obedience and the danger of compromise. Bro Michael also led an interactivestyle Seminar on “Ecclesial & Inter-Ecclesial Procedures”. Bro Simon Sheppard led the young people in two discussion sessions on “The Man David” and Sis Sarah Stevenson gave an informal Seminar on “Health & Hygiene”. Sis Lynda Nicholls led a Sisters’ Class on the readings and organised a couple of sewing classes for interested sisters.

Another popular activity was ‘Mutual Improvement Sessions’ in which selected brethren had been invited to prepare 10-15 minute talks on first principle subjects. After each talk Michael Ashton and David Nicholls offered constructive comments on the content of the talks and the manner of presentation. It was encouraging to see the diligence with which the Zambian brethren had prepared their talks and their enthusiasm in delivery. The programme for the Camp was concluded with a Question and Answer Session in which questions from the School attendees were answered by a panel comprising Bre Michael Ashton, David Nicholls, Dennis Kombe and Kelly Simayumbula. It is always a sad day when goodbyes have to be said, but the parting of the ways was comforted by the expectation of our Lord’s return.

David Nicholls

CBM Linkman (Zambia North & North West)

Brief Report from P2P UK: Torquay, Sep 2008

The Prepare to Preach (P2P) training session in England was a magnificent week that was thoroughly enjoyable and strengthening! I hope to give a brief précis of the week in Arlington, God willing. Astonishingly the training week itself garnered a stunning return of four baptisms! P2P attendees do not have to be baptized and the week can be a strong incentive to do so, even though this is not necessarily a theme or directive of the training week. Stephanie Foley & Matthew Taunton both were baptized on the evening before the week started, Lydia Jones put in her request for baptism during the week and was baptized two days after the gathering finished. Ruth Andrews – who interestingly had already accompanied the first wave of British volunteers to RSA – put in her request for baptism on returning from P2P and was baptized two weeks later – see photo on page 3. Now only one P2P UK attendee, Joshua Dean, remains unbaptized. Two testimonials of the week are included on page 2 of this note and photos from the week are viewable at the ‘P2P Resource Pool’ Facebook group.

The volunteers were extremely inspiring and great pleasure to be around. Once again the demographics led to a predominantly youthful team, but the actual spread in ages was from 18 to 72, with almost no decade unrepresented. Encouragingly, the current intention of the group is for all 20 to follow through with preaching in RSA. The situation in RSA is equally encouraging, with now two new ecclesias in Durban townships and a total of new baptisms I believe ~ 30+. Lucas Scheepers can update us better on the scene on the ground there.

2009 Funding Request

A strong demand for a repeat P2P training week in North America prompts us to set up a training week in Portland, OR in August 2009. I have yet to send out the first advertisement but have 23 attendees tentatively signed up. I will probably set a limit of 35 attendees. A likely program of activity is shown on page 8.

1 Request grant for assistance to P2P UK graduates traveling to RSA in Apr 2009: $200.00 per student traveling to RSA, conditional on their securing matching funds from their ecclesia, for 20 students = $x 000.00

2 Request underwrite for P2P OR training week (I will explore other sources too): P2P OR 6 internal flights @ $400.00 + 2 Aus flights @ $1 500.00 = $x 400.00 P2P OR week long event, aiming for 35 attendees, based on 28 attendees in 2007 costing $10 000.00 and charging $100.00 per head as last year = (35 /28) x $10 000.00 – (35 x $100.00) = $x 000.00

3 Request grant for sponsorship assistance for P2P OR grads going to RSA in Jan 2010: A partial support of $1 000.00 per graduate for a max of 35 graduates = $xx 000.00

Total requested, partially an underwrite = $xx 400.00

Testimonials from P2P UK, Sep 2008

Roderick Malcolm (age 22) wrote:
at 11:13am on October 14th, 2008

Hey everybody! I was one the ones who attended the P2P UK training course in Torquay (SEPTEMBER 13TH) - it was an amazing week and very useful. Its really hard to describe how good the week was, but basically I’ve taking a lot from the course, the leaders, and the attendees -a really good mixture of people to be inspired by. It's obviously helped me to be more prepared to preach, but also has encouraged me to be more of an active preacher. So, i would hope this message will convince many more people to get involved with this P2P project - anyone who comes across P2P and doesn't really know what its about - pleasego out your way to find out more about it and help the team out to become mighty in numbers. God bless.

Hannah Wisner (age 20) wrote:
at 5:08pm on October 11th, 2008

P2P training was definitely worth doing, I was at Torquay P2P Training week and it was fantastic... We looked at our preaching styles and then looked at different ways and strategies of preaching. We had time for personal study and we had sessions on team work and tough questions that are quite commonly asked. We were shown what has going on in South Africa and the ongoing preaching work over there. It was really interesting watching the preaching efforts taking place over there then comparing it to our own preaching in our own country. We did loads and it was great fun and really beneficial in a spiritual way too...I was on a spiritual high after that week! It has helped me to develop confidence and I feel excited about the whole project, and the training will not only be useful in the trip to South Africa next year (God willing) but with any future preaching I do either abroad or here. We need to sow the seed...

Left to Right: Stephanie Foley, Matthew Taunton, Joshua Dean,
Lydia Jones, Ruth Andrews and Esther Abson.
Only Esther was baptized when signing up for P2P UK,
now only Joshua is not.

Proposed Schedule for P2P OR, August 2009, God Willing

Residents in the Kwamasinenge informal,
Margate, RSA (Kyle’s photo, Jul 2008)

Sierra Leone - West Africa - Link Man - Bob Fox
T : 44 (0) 121 430 2250 (evenings) – 44 (0) 121 603 2524 (office hours)
M : 07971 726 257 E : bob@foxonline.co.uk
A : 89 Mappleborough Rd, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands. B90 1AG. UK

Proposal for the building of a new ecclesial hall at Kenema and the refurbishment of the old hall to living accommodation for aid workers on long term visits

Background to the country

Sierra Leone is, according to the UN in 2007 one of the three poorest countries in the world, even in the capital city Freetown electricity and running water are only just becoming available 6 years after the end of a 12 year brutal civil war.

The Truth was established in S / L in 1994 but due to the war growth in numbers was very slow until the war ended in 2002. From 2002 to 2004 growth was steady.

Since 2004 we have been concentrating on the outreach approach to preaching with the aid of CBM, CMAD and Africrafts, these have been blessed by our heavenly father and the results have been amazing.

Background to CBM and CMAD’s work in the country

I have been the UK linkman for CBM, CMAD and Africrafts since 2002, in that time we, that is myself and one or two helpers have been able to advance the work of the truth In Sierra Leone with our Fathers blessing.

In 2002 we had three ecclesia’s:

In the last 5 years all three ecclesia’s have more than doubled in number and now have all three have CYC’s in excess of 50 children and Sunday schools of up to 80.

CMAD fund a nursery school in Freetown with over 100 children in 6 classes and a waiting list of over 50.

It is the cheapest private educator in Freetown with an annual charge of equiv £5 pa which includes 2 sets of uniforms, equipment, books and learning materials

Sierra Leone like many other African countries states that for a church to be recognised it must have a building that is owned and commensurate with its activities and so therefore over the last 4 years we have built a new halls:

The hall (bungalow) at Kenema cannot facilitate any more than 50 persons with the ecclesia now at 70 and growing we need to take some action

We have approx 50 persons (from non-Christadelphian backgrounds) at this moment going through the 40 week course and attending once a week for instruction they will be interviewed on my next visit in 1st quarter 2009

This growth has been as a result of outreach projects which are run from the 3 halls, in the form of: Adult literacy and sex education 2 / 3 evenings a week, preaching, CYC’s (very active) and Sunday schools

Talia Makia School project- the latest and largest outreach project

Our latest outreach project is in the form of another school about 8 miles from Kenema in a village called Talia Makia

Talai Makia was at the epicentre of the rebel activity during the war, the village was completely destroyed and its inhabitants either fled or were killed, many hands or feet hacked off by machete as a warning not to be an informer. The amputees camp is about ½ mile from the school.

The school had been run by a Muslim educational trust, but the manager had run off with the funds, as a result the teacher all quit as they weren’t being paid, and that’s were we were approached to take over the school during my visit in Jan 08

On my return to the UK I approached CMAD to see if they would be interested in taking over the school and as a bonus 30 acres of land, after consideration the answer came back - yes

The school consists for 150 orphans, and is now funded by CMAD and managed by a brother who is also the recording brother of Kenema ecclesia. The school employs 5 teachers a headmaster a cook and a caretaker 5 of which are brothers and sisters

Since taking over the school MAD have started a feeding programme, adult literacy and toilet building programme in the village and we are just about to build a surgery for the four surrounding for Talia villages, mosquito net programme CYC, Sunday school and this has resulted in 30-50 visitors a week to the B of B

Along with the school came 30 acres of land which we have cleared and now intend to organically farm. Africrafts have donated £3000 to get the farm started, so far we have cleared the land and are about to do some planting trials.

If the farm is successful it will mean that we can take up to another 150 children into the school (there are 6 classrooms with a capacity of 50 each, we already have a waiting list of 150). The major oncost will be addition to the daily feeding programme which is currently capped at 150 by CMAD funding.

We have full legal title to the school, land and buildings

The future G.W.

This growth whilst being an amazing blessing is putting a huge strain on the few brothers in the provinces that have the capability and experience to cover the amount of work that has to be done. The only help they are getting is a once a year pastoral visit from the UK by myself and a fellow brother although last year we took our two wives which was the first time a white sister has been to the country in over 10 yrs, something which needs repeating for the African sisters benefit, but for which there is no budget

Funding permitting, I now want to go to the next level which is to send out brothers and sisters with appropriate experience to help with the running of the ecclesias, farm, teaching and CYC’s on short to medium term stays

The problem with that, is that there is no suitable accommodation in Kenema where they could be based. My plan GW is therefore to build a new ecclesial hall on the site at Kenema with a capacity of 150 and convert the old hall ( bungalow) back to an accommodation unit to sleep 6-8 persons with kitchen and two shower rooms and a generator for electricity.

We would also need transport to get from Kenema to the school in the form of a hardy vehicle as it is a very difficult road particularly in the rainy season, this would also be used for transporting school supplies from Kenema to the school

I have attached copies of drawings for the hall and pics of the site and bungalow. The costs are as follows:

New hall build including perimeter security wall £xx,000
Refurbishment of old hall and conversion back to
accommodation with shower rooms, new roof £x000
Generator and water tanks £x000
2nd had crew cab 4 wheel drive vehicle £x000

To this end I have been doing many presentations around the UK with a DVD which I made during 2008 and have many interested young persons.

I have also been able to raise £x000 from the Brothers and sisters. This money is held by the CBM treasurer under an open Project Aid number

I do not handle the funds and nothing is in my name.

I am appealing to WCF for some help to raise the balance please

The CBM West Africa secretary Mike Green and the CBM UK treasurer Philip Tarrant are aware that I am making this appeal and have no objections, in fact Mike Green has been to the Sierra Leone with me and seen this for himself and would be happy to verify the facts, to this end I have copied the email to him.

With love in the Lord
Bob Fox

Freetown Hall before (L) and after (R). WCF donated ~$70 000.00 to this project in 2006
Kenema Hall
Plan for new Kenema Hall
Plan for new Kenema bungalow

Bulgarian Bible School, Sofia, 5th to 7th September 2008

Report to The Williamsburg Christadelphian Foundation

As in previous years the Bible School was held in Gorna Bania just outside Sofia. It was arranged again to be a weekend of fellowship for our small ecclesia in Bulgaria. This year four younger brothers and sisters from the UK were invited to join us to meet younger Bulgarians who had attended previous Bible Schools and to contribute to the weekend.

Friday

In all 28 were present, although for various family reasons they were not all present all the time. The hotel provided us with bed and breakfast accommodation and the other meals were taken at a restaurant about two minutes walk away.

We were very pleased to have with us Sis Magdalena Baeva, who lives near to the Black Sea , for the first time at the Bible School and Sis Eli Mincheva who has now moved back to Sofia from France. We were sorry that Sis Mimi Velikova and her husband could not attend owing to ill health.

At previous Bible Schools we have considered the first principles of our faith, the early church and Paul’s letters. This year the theme chosen was ‘Lord, teach us to pray’ After dinner Bernard spoke about the Lord Jesus in prayer as an example to us and his relationship with his Heavenly Father, the pressures he faced in doing his Father’s will, from the people and the religious leaders, and his need to retire to the ‘lonely places’.

Saturday

After breakfast Mike led us in a discussion on the reading from 2 Kings and then in the teaching of Jesus from the parable of the ‘Friend at midnight’ in Luke 11. A lot of lively discussion followed about the need for regular prayer, for persistence, and for developing a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Following a coffee break John spoke on the Lord’s Prayer developing the thoughts that Jesus had given to his disciples. Before lunch Mark and Steve discussed the Ezekiel daily reading, giving us some background to the prophet’s life and experiences and the power of prayer in his life.

After lunch the younger four from the UK were taken on a ‘whistle stop’ tour to see the principal buildings and the cathedrals in Sofia( plus two weddings) whilst the rest of us were able to relax

Before dinner Steve gave us a power point presentation about Jonah and his prayer to God. The daily reading from 2 Corinthians was presented by Assen and Milan (Bulgarian brothers)

After dinner we talked about the work of the Meal a Day fund showing the DVD about the recent work in Kenya. As in previous years we took a collection for the MaD Fund at the Breaking of Bread meeting on Sunday morning. Having individually photographed brothers and sisters Steve quickly produced a power point presentation emphasizing the priorities of prayer.

Sunday

After breakfast we were pleased to welcome again Bro Ivan and Sis Ivanka Minchev , who are in their late seventies/early eighties and very frail. They made a 3-hour taxi journey from their home in Veliko Tarnova, in temperatures above 30C, to share fellowship with us around our Lord’s table.

Sis Ivanka had made a wonderful decorated loaf, approximately 15 inches in diameter, to be used at the Breaking of Bread.

Mark continued our thoughts on prayer with some of his own personal experiences, telling us a of his upbringing in a loving Christadelphian home but rebelling at university. We were moved by the account of his coming to the Lord Jesus some years later and his willingness to share those experiences. We hope they were a great encouragement to both the young and old

Mike lead our thoughts in the Breaking of Bread, referring to the difficult experiences of many in Bulgaria in recent years and how they are now stronger in their faith, and reminding us all that the Lord, having begun a good work in us, will bring it to completion at his appearing.

After lunch we had a short farewell gathering. Milan on behalf of the Bulgarian brothers and sisters expressed their thanks to all who had contributed to the weekend. Bernard, closing in prayer, thanked our Heavenly Father for the blessings we had shared, for His kingdom to come and we prayed for His guidance and special care for the Bulgarian brothers and sisters who had been unable to be with us. Once again we had shared a time of friendship and fellowship with our brothers and sisters of like precious faith. The Bulgarian brothers and sisters said they are looking forward to a further Bible School in 2009 if our Lord delays his return.

Costs £

Air fares for UK brothers and sisters x354
Hotel accommodation ( bed and breakfast) x00
Meals at a local restaurant x56
Travelling for Bulgarian brother and sisters / taxis x20
Sofia ecclesial welfare and sundries for weekend x0
Total cost x980

Bernard Ford (CBM Linkman for Bulgaria)
30 September 08