News at ABWE
Christmas Projects for 2006
Perhaps you or your church is looking for a project to donate money or materials to this Christmas season.
We compiled a list of Christmas projects that are separated by the region and country of the missionaries. We had an overwhelming response from our missionaries around the world! You will see everything from collecting toys, crayons, pens, and pencils to the tsunami relief in Thailand .
To give to any of these projects, please go to the Give section where you may give online or send your gifts to:
ABWE Donor Services
P.O. Box 8585
Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585
Be sure to mark you gift clearly with the short description highlighted at the beginning of each project.
Merry Christmas from Donor Services at ABWE!
South Asia
For more information, please contact Jan at janr@abwe.org
People can buy candy on sale after a holiday for our school in Bangladesh to sell in their school store. The kids love to buy and eat American candy. Individually-wrapped packets of candy work the best, because then there is no hygienic problem.
Donors can also send small toys for children (up through 5th grade) in the International Church
Brazil
For more information, please contact Donna Knight at donna@abwe.org.
Bob and Karen Hamilton—Joy of Learning Construction
Funds are needed to finish construction of the Alegria de Saber (Joy of Learning) Christian School owned and operated by the First Regular Baptist Church of Benjamin Constant in the state of Amazonas , Brazil . Construction of an addition to the Christian school began a few weeks ago. The city of Benjamin Constant is helping with some of the supplies (cement, dirt, and masonry). The estimated cost for this project is around $5,000. Half of the money is already available from the Hank Scheltema memorial funds and the help from the city, which is enough to enclose the new addition. The classrooms can be finished and put into use as God provides the rest of the funds. Probably between $1,500 and $2,000 more will be needed to get all four of the new class rooms ready to use.
Al and Kim Yoder—Olivenca Bible Institute
Needed - $500 to $2000 to buy books for the Sao Paulo de Olivenca Bible Institute and library.
Roger and Marcy Smith— Koinonia Baptist Church
At Koinonia Baptist Church in Recife , Brazil , we started a children's church program and the volunteers have worked faithfully for the past two years to make it function. We are thrilled with the growth from about eight children to approximately 40. We have eight women currently working weekly to make lessons and visuals for the five age groups, using very limited resources. A gift of $1,500 (although ANY amount would be a blessing) would allow them to complete their project. When finished, we hope to have lessons that will give us a four year curriculum.
David & Dawn Spink—Children's Camp
Our camps in Natal, Brazil, are in January. We are working with children ages 8 through 14. Camp costs roughly $35 per child. Many children have a hard time coming up with even half of this amount. We do many things to try and subsidize that and getting a special offering would greatly help. It would be perfect timing for a Christmas offering.
Sue Lodico— Bauru MK School
The Bauru MK School could use a ceiling fan for our classroom. The value to buy it in Brazil is about $100. We could also use some new desks for the classroom. The ones we have are too small for the kids, but we are still using them, because we do not have the funds to purchase bigger ones.
Stephen and Lourdinha Veness—New Church in Bahia
Needs related to the new church building in Bahia:
- Sign informing those who see the church of times of services - $ 200
- Sidewalk around the building that will prevent rain from infiltrating into the foundation - $ 400
- Small sound system - $ 400
- Styrofoam or fiberglass in the attic area to deaden the sound of the rain on the tin roof - $ 1,000
- Fence along south side of church property - $ 2,000
Ron and Kathleen Weber
- A new congregation in Natal, Brazil, could use scissors, crayons, colored paper, pencils, pens, and colored pencils.
Please send items directly to:
Ronald Weber
Av. Rio Branco 245
St. Antonio
59619-400 Mossoro, RN
- Brazilian Library: Books for Brazilian pastors libraries needed - $1,000.
- The Bicycle Church : Ron spoke recently for a conference in a poor church. We call it the Bicycle Church because about 20 people come to church by bike and there is a large space where they park the bikes. Here is a list of needed items to equip three classrooms.
Primaries: need 12 small chairs at approximately $10 each
Juniors: need 15 chairs at $10 each, a table at $20, and a Tripod (easel) with white board at $30
Teens: need 15 chairs with arm rest for writing at $15 each
The real name of the church is Igreja Batista Hermon. The Brazilian pastor, Eliel Oliveira, has been there for 12 years, and his family lives in two rooms next to the church that used to be classrooms. The church doesn't have money to rent a house for them and still pay a salary to the pastor. They will be happy with any amount of help toward their Sunday school classrooms.
Bill and Susan Spoelhof—New Life Baptist Church
- Air conditioners: The weather here is hot pretty much year round, and we recently moved into a new building and we need three air-conditioners: one for the nursery, another for the children's classroom, and a third for a counseling room, which is also used during the week for our Bible-based English Second Language classes. $1500 needed
- Print fliers: For outreach in our church's new neighborhood, we are getting new fliers printed to distribute door to door. The ones we have are outdated and have the old address in several different places. The cost for printing the new pamphlets will be approximately $500.
Shane and Erin Latham — Chairs for Churches
In both our churches and our two church plants in Porto Alegre, we have run out of chairs. In one church, there are around 50 people standing each Sunday, the other has an attendance of 125 and they have no chairs of their own. They borrow them from the public school. In two other areas, we are trying to purchase chairs to help out with the same issue. Each of these churches and church plants has made financial improvements this year, but we need some urgent help with this area of chairs. We are purchasing the plastic patio-style seats, which cost around $15 each. We need 150 of them. We are excited about the growth and in a way this is a great problem to have. We could really use some help with this project.
150 chairs = $2250
Janet McClanahan—Construction at the Deaf School
We are trying to finish our library for the deaf school of Natal , so any gift would be appreciated. Funds are needed to pay workers and purchase cement. The deaf school has 54 students, and, praise the Lord, we are reaching out to their parents. We have the bricks for the library upstairs, now we need funds for workers and some cement! We would like to get this done before the rains in January or February.
India Sub-continent
For more information, please contact Julie Nelson at jnelson@abwe.org .
Funds are needed for Bible schools to build up their libraries with good, Biblically-sound materials.
GAP India : $10,000 for India
GAP Burma : $10,000 for Myanmar ( Burma )
Africa
For more information, please contact Amy Wheaton at amy@abwe.org .
Utawala Church in Utawala, Kenya
The total need is $100,000. We have no funds and still need to find the right property for a new church building.
Togo Airplane: Cessna 206-Togo
Total need is $37,700, and we have $23,692.32 on hand. This plane is being refurbished as funds come in for parts. The plane will be used in reaching the northern regions of Togo .
West Africa Daybreak Schools: Start up costs of $5,000
This money will allow us to initiate a program that will prepare many young men and women for effective church ministries.
Kpogandzi Church Building
$8,000 still needed to complete this starter building in Kpalime, Togo . This will open doors to impact the Muslim Communities in Kpalime.
Christian Camping in Cape Town
$210,000 still needed to complete this multi-purpose facility, home to church services and camps.
Spain
For more information, please contact Cheryl Shiflett at Cheryl@abwe.cc
Rich and Cindy Brown—Outreach Needs
Two missionary couples have a new facility they are using as a community outreach center as well as a church. It is regularly used for English as a second language classes, parenting classes, children's clubs, and youth activities. They presently have a need for some special items to facilitate ministry there:
- Video Projector: $1,000
- 4 Tables: $ 724 (4 X $181)
- 30 Chairs: $1,170 (30 X $39)
- Outdoor lighting installation: $300
- Bookshelves: $306
Total funds needed = $3,500
Melissa Baccaerlla—Computer Ministry
Missionaries are in the process of furnishing a room of their facility for an internet cafe outreach in Torino . They are trying to raise around $50,000 for computers and furnishings.
Asia / Pacific
For more information, please contact Julianne Beard at Julianne@abwe.cc .
Tsunami Ministry Project in Thailand
Since the 2004 tsunami, ABWE teams in the Asia / Pacific region have been responding to needs and seizing opportunities for the advance of the gospel. Our team in Thailand is closely working in joint partnership with Filipino and Thai partners in the southern peninsula. We have resourced Thai-speaking Christian workers with counseling training, gospel tracts, relief funding, strategic planning, and short-term ministry teams. Work has been done through the Romphrakhun Baptist Center (RBC) to counsel, provide ESL classes, and to send ministry teams to local communities, the Thai Naval Base, and resettlement camps.
In August 2005, the RBC became an official church plant of the Philippine Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (PABWE). In March 2006, less than 15 months after surviving the tsunami, eight Thai believers were baptized and formed the nucleus of a church plant. Among them were Winai and Koi, who are now studying at the Romphrakhun Baptist Bible Seminary in Bangkok .
The team has prepared a proposal to acquire property near our present location and to construct a facility to accommodate the strategic vision for the ministry. The proposal was approved by the ABWE Board and is projected to cost $200,000. We are challenging our Filipino and Thai partners to likewise promote and contribute to the project.
Missionary Housing Project in Papua New Guinea
The ABWE team in Papua New Guinea is growing! John and Kristi Huffman arrived in January, Melanie Shustack in February, and Dan and Amy Thyng in June. Joel and Rachel Prigge and Rob and Amy Wagner are nearing full support and will depart for the field before the end of the year. Aaron and Stephanie Thomas are on prefield ministry and two more couples were appointed to the PNG team from the Candidate Class of 2006 (Chad and Julie Feathers and Barry and Janell Yingling). That totals eight new units with five arriving this year. All of our missionary residences in PNG are owned by ABWE and located on mission-leased property.
Our plan is to:
- pursue land options
- raise funds to generate $200,000 and resource a revolving fund to build a couple houses per year
- encourage the prefield appointees to promote this project and raise funds toward the housing construction needs
- increase the monthly rent requirement to supply $200.00 per unit per month for new housing.
Additional Information: With 12 missionary units on the field, that will generate $2,400 per month designated toward new housing. At $50,000 per house, a new house could be built every 21 months. The projected cost to build a house is based upon a major renovation project of the River House in Goroka as well as a new house that was built last year on the Goroka Baptist Bible College campus. The $200,000 will enable the team to build four houses immediately until a pool is generated from rent funds to construct additional houses. Additional funds will be required to construct dwellings in remote destinations (like the Simbai) because of the cost to deliver supplies.