Highlights
Scott traveled on mission trips to Ghana and Kenya.
The entire family traveled on a mission trip to Littleton, NH.
Alexis taught a class on Mary, mother of Jesus at Woodstock.
Scott completed pre-marital counseling with a lovely, young couple at Woodstock.
Alexis and the kids attended Polishing the Pulpit in Sevierville, TN.
Scott and Alexis were invited to speak at a new Christians class for one of our supporting congregations in North Carolina.
Logos Answers Statistics for August—September:
| Lessons Published | Visits / Views | Watch Time (min.) | Interactions |
English | 2 | 1,301 | 800 | 77 |
Tagalog | - | 45 | 34 | 1 |
Arabic | 1 | 22 | 14 | 1 |
Mongolian | 1 | 46 | 22 | 4 |
Khmer | - | 13 | - | - |
Ukrainian | - | 91 | 91 | 5 |
Swahili | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Ghana
In August, I left for a series of mission campaigns to Africa. One of our sponsoring congregations, Waterloo Rd., has been supporting preachers in Ghana and Kenya for many years now. The missionary they had been sending previously was unable to attend, so they requested that I travel along with their preacher, Darrell Edwards, to help ensure some continuity with the work. The invitation was a blessing that I was excited to accept!
In Takoradi, Darrell and I were invited to speak at a lectureship which lasted throughout the week. The purpose of the lectures was to remind the churches in Ghana how they are to remain Biblical and unique in comparison to the local denominations teaching foolish and outrageous things. One problem, which exists in the churches there, is that some factions have formed which want to appoint area bishops over many congregations. As far as denominations are concerned, many are entangled in charismatic confusion, greediness, and even witchcraft! Accordingly, our lectures addressed topics such as sound doctrine, false believers, and the one, true church. The lectures concluded with a Q&A session which was open to the entire community. Approximately 1,700 were in attendance on Sunday.
One attribute I was excited to see in Ghana was that the Takoradi Central church of Christ had several (seemingly) strong and faithful elders, two preachers, a church secretary, and one scholar in residence. In my overseas mission work, it is difficult to find one located evangelist for a congregation, and it is extremely rare to find a congregation with shepherds! So, it was a pleasure to see this strong and completely self-sufficient congregation in Ghana.
Kenya
Our trip to Kenya proved to be much different than our time in Ghana. In Kenya, we spent the majority of our time alongside one missionary, Julius Makombe, and his family. Julius is an interesting character. He was initially trained and converted after studying the World Bible School curriculum. He has since dedicated his life, along with his family, to evangelizing. He is a simple, hard-working farmer, and this dedication transfers into his fervent preaching of the gospel of Christ! On top of that he has adopted half a dozen needy orphans into his own house. This family gives it all to Christ and His people — love it!
While with Julius we travelled around southwestern Kenya, preaching the gospel at primary schools and secondary schools, in villages, and in homes. This was an exciting time. Everywhere we went, the gospel was proclaimed. Many had only a shallow understanding of the gospel. Kenya is a “Christian” country by tradition, but it seems like very few truly know Christ or even try to live a religious life. So, in many of our lessons, people were hearing for the first time about the deep riches that are in Christ.
One thing that was lacking, even among Christians there, (and Julius, himself admitted to this) is the lack of Bible knowledge. Preaching we heard from the natives consisted primarily of stories with very little Scripture. This also seems to be a contributing factor as to why many of the churches of Christ have divided and dissolved throughout Kenya. As Julius and I were discussing this, he expressed the need for an online Bible academy. When I told him that it was one of my goals for next year, to establish an online Bible academy for international students like him, he became incredibly excited and encouraging. He said that he knew of at least five Kenyan preachers ready to enroll now. This online Bible academy will give flexibility to those wanting to learn, but cannot step away full time from their home responsibilities. (Please pray for this effort of ours as we head into next year. More to come…)
New Hampshire
Once I returned from Africa, the family and I immediately drove to New Hampshire. One of our professors from Bear Valley, Wayne Burger, his wife, and another student, Mac Graham are working to plant a congregation there. We spent several days preaching and teaching, door knocking, recording a lesson and encouraging.
We got a small look at the enormous amount of work it takes to get involved in a new community enough to grow a new congregation. We also had the bonus of hearing Wayne teach again! He is a rare and excellent Bible teacher.
Love,
-The Ihle Crew
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