Around the World is our monthly rundown of news briefs, links and quotes from Churches of Christ all over the globe. Got an idea for this column? Email Erik Tryggestad at [email protected].
Featured image (above): Stern-faced young athletes march before a Christian school-sponsored soccer match in Nigeria.
AUSTRALIA
SYDNEY — More than 80 people attended the annual Youth Day hosted by the Warringah Church of Christ. Joel Johnson of the Holland Park Church of Christ in Brisbane was the guest speaker. “The Warringah congregation, together with Bob and Lynne Marks, have hosted the annual Youth Day for almost 35 years now,” said participant David Mowday, a member of the Gosford Church of Christ. “They are to be commended for their enduring commitment to our young people.”
The Cotton Tree Church of Christ worships in Guyana.
GUYANA
COTTON TREE — A Church of Christ meeting in Guyana’s eastern Berbice region recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Minister Dharmendra “Don” Ramgobin has been with the Cotton Tree congregation “since its birth,” he said. About 25 people worship with the church. Guyana, a South
American nation of about 826,000 people, has a mix of Caribbean, Indian and indigenous influences. Hinduism, Islam and Christianity are the major religions, Ramgobin said, adding that the Cotton Tree church would welcome evangelistic teams.
“Our people are very open-minded to the Word,” he said. “We are very hospitable people.”
Stern-faced young athletes march before a Christian school-sponsored soccer match in Nigeria.
NIGERIA
URUK OTONG — “Football evangelism” is the name of the game in this rural West African city.
Rhema Christian Academy, a primary school associated with Churches of Christ, turned a flat area on its campus into a soccer field and invited area youths to form teams and compete.
Recently, the school hosted a month-long tournament. Teams marched proudly through the community before the final match, which drew hundreds of spectators.
“A popular musician in our community volunteered his services … at the final match to spur both teams to victory,” said school administrator Aniefiok Akpan. “This creates a moment for us to advertise our school programs.”
Following the championship game, young athletes, their parents and friends attended a session of the Rhema Youth Summit. “Four souls were baptized after hearing the Gospel that night,” Akpan said. “The first participant to accept Christ was Etimbuk Sunday John, a skillful soccer player with one hand. That was the first time we used our new baptistery.” The next night, 14 more people were baptized after hearing Akpan speak in the school’s David and Lola Crouch Building.
Christians in the Philippines discuss the “Sword Method,” a Bible study tool used in Gospel Chariot’s Four Fields Discipleship Training.
PHILIPPINES
BACOLOD — Three hundred Christians from across the island of Negros, the fourth-largest and third-most-populous island in the Philippines, learned how to plant churches that plant churches.
Gospel Chariot Missions presented a workshop using the Four Fields Discipleship Method. The ministry’s founder, George Funk, thanked the team from local Churches of Christ who organized the event. Funk and fellow Gospel Chariot workers also visited nearby islands and worshiped with a new Church of Christ in Guba on the island of Cebu.
“Let’s all pray that God continue to use us as we multiply disciples and churches everywhere,” Funk said. See gospelchariot.org.
ZAMBIA
LIVINGSTONE — More than 400 young adults from 17 Churches of Christ attended a recent “youth meeting” — which, in Zambia, can mean anyone from teenager to 35 years old — in this tourist city near the edge of Victoria Falls. The Mukuni Church of Christ hosted the event.
Dennis Sabelo traveled seven hours from his home in Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, to speak about Daybreak Bible College, where he serves as director.
