Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:
As the Apostle John wrote:
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2)
We are doing well here as we continue to work to promote the truth, love, and the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Groups and Congregations of the Continuing Church of God
Jesus taught:
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)
Many have wondered where they can find groups or congregations of believers who are part of the Continuing Church of God.
Last month, a pro-Church of God website that posts news about various Churches of God asked me to supply a list of congregations of the Continuing Church of God so that list could be posted at that site.
Well, as we did not have that information all in one place, I responded that we had not done that, but it was something we had been planning to do.
Our original plan, which I announced in Kenya back in 2014, was to first put up the African congregations at a CCOG African website. Shortly after that announcement, we purchased the URL for that project. However, because of disputes between African governments and international internet authorities (which we had nothing to do with), the African URL still cannot be used (nor can similar domains that thousands of other groups are waiting on).
Since the African URL situation is still not resolved, we decided that there was no point in delaying putting together a congregational list.
So, the good news is that a comprehensive list of groups and/or congregations affiliated with the Continuing Church of God has been put together and is now available on the internet.
Here is a link: Congregations of the Continuing Church of God. We have 60 congregations/groups listed, including Ghana.
Though most of our congregations are in Africa, we have congregations and small groups scattered all around the world. Plus we have scattered individuals in many lands that are not close enough to attend with any group.
Note that in the link, Congregations of the Continuing Church of God, we did not include some groups in France, India, North Africa, and Myanmar that maintain a distant affiliation with us. With the exception of Ghana, we only included groups that fully consider themselves as part of the Continuing Church of God as opposed to some groups we have cooperation with (more on Ghana is later in this Letter).
African Reports
CCOG Pastor Evans Ochieng sent the following report in:
Pastor Dr Bob,
MONTHLY REPORT,
Greetings from Kenya,
We thank God for the great work which has been done in Africa mostly
in Kenya. When I was joining Continuing Church of God some 2 years
back, I did not expect the work which I have seen in Kenya right now.
The steps that Continuing church of God have moved in Africa is quite
far. We have 25 active congregations. Namely-
NDHIWA———-58 MEMBERS
MBANI————34 MEMBERS
ORIANG————18 MEMBERS
KISEKE————–16 MEMBERS
NYAKACH——–63 MEMBERS
LOWER NYAKCH—8 MEMBERS
KISII EBEREGE—–85 MEMBERS
KISII SENGERA—- 15 MEMBERS
KISII NYABIORE—–43 MEMBERS
OYUGIS—————-18 MEMBERS
RONGO—————-9 MEMBERS
MIGORI A———–30 MEMBERS
MIGORI B———-20 MEMBERS
MBITA—————-14 MEMBERS
CHILANI—————37 MEMBERS
MOTOSIET————28 MEMBERS
TAKITECH————-24 MEMBERS
KABOLECHO————18 MEMBERS
OSOTUA—————–35 MEMBERS
KURIA KIHANCHA -13 MEMBERS
SINDO—————12 MEMBERS
KEWET—————18 MEMBERS
NKOBEN————-25 MEMBERS
CHISOEN——————–16 MEMBERS
BOMET———————-50 MEMBERS
NAIROBI——————–14 MEMBERS
TOTAL———————721 MEMBERS
We thank the continuing church of God for helping most of
congregations in Kenya to get 9 meeting halls to help the brethren for
Sabbath services. Since Kenyans do not have big rooms to accommodate
brethren on Sabbath services, many congregations were gathered under
trees on services and it is a total problem when it is raining or when
the sun is hot. The CONTINUING CHURCH OF GOD has done a great work to
help in building these 9 halls to help the congregations of Eberege,
Ndhiwa, Nyakach, Nyabiore, Sengera, Oriang,Tackitech, Chilani and
Nyakach lower. Out of these halls one is permanent and 8
semi-permanent.
If we are looking the history of churches that came out of Worldwide
which are in Kenya, none has helped to build many halls like continuing
church of God. That means CCOG has moved more steps a head than
others.
CCOG has done a great work to help 5 widows to get houses in Kenya and
one widow in Tanzania. This is also a big problem in Kenya simply
because of poverty. Many widows in Kenya are really suffering because
many are being left without a proper house they can stay for long
after the death of their husbands. It is a great problem even to
Kenyan government. Now-a-days governors are also trying to help many
of them to get houses. We also have 4 orphans who we are helping to
pay school fees in higher education level. Also we have 6 total
orphans that the church is looking after their daily
living, schooling, clothes. So CCOG is doing a great work both
physically and spiritually.
CCOG is building a feast of tabernacles camp in Tanzania where the
brethren in Tanzania are going to keep the feast of tabernacles in 2016
in Tanzania. It was a big problem for our brethren in Tanzania when
they were crossing border to come to keep the feast in Kenya. They
were being arrested every time. This is the major reason why we have
decided to build a feast camp in Tanzania. We will expand it in future
because we need it to be a big place to help in future. Tanzania is
now growing very well.
CCOG is having branches in many African countries. We have members in
Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Mozambique. We
also have one family in Uganda.
CCOG has made steps a head in publishing magazines and booklets in
Africa. We are publishing 300 magazines in Kenya. I talked with the
publisher that we are going add more and produce 600 now. We also
published the booklet entitled “GOD’S HOLY DAYS OR DEMONIC HOLIDAYS.
So many people are really interested in this book. I published 300 but it
will force us to add more because of the demand. There is also a great
work that church has done in giving out lap tops to brethren and some
schools to eradicate computer illiteracy. No church has done such
wonderful works like the one which CCOG has done. I thank the ALMIGHTY
FATHER ABOVE who has given us more effort to do such a wonderful work.
I also thank our pastor Dr Bob Thiel and the brethren who have
contributed in helping the work in Africa to move. May God give
abundant life and daily bread.
TRIP
I am planning to travel to Malawi and Ethiopia this August. After that
I will go back to Tanzania also in August. In September I will travel
to Ghana to talk with Samuel about his travel to Kenya in February. I
will go and confirm if he is having passport. I am also planning to go
to Nigeria if possible in September.
Evans.
I emailed Pastor Samuel Ofosu Gyeabour in Ghana and asked him for a list of the congregations there. Here is what he sent me:
Dear Bob, happy to hear from you. These are the list of Branches I
have. Kumasi the Headquarters, Atwima Koforidua, Tepa, Achina, Duase
lake, Dadiease, Juaben, Asenua, Dome and Nungua at Accra, Asuofua
and recent infant Adumasa.
Pastor Samuel Ofosu Gyeabour also reports that the Ghanians are intending to hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss becoming more fully part of CCOG:
Dear Bob, after struggling to achieve the goal set before me and the
flock of The Creator, I am about to give you a comprehensive report of
your effort to bring Africa into the light of the a true Gospel of the
Kingdom of God. I will have General meeting on Sunday 7th August 2016
with all the Branches we have in Ghana. I need your Prayers as I share
your vision wholeheartedly . Best regards. Pastor Samuel. Ghana
Please pray about this.
Much has been going on in Africa.
Pastor Evans Ochieng came to the Continuing Church of God about 2 1/2 years ago with around 260 in Kenya (we also had some in CCOG in Kenya prior to him joining with us, as well as some in Tanzania). That has grown to over 700 in Kenya.
Furthermore, because of the internet reach of the CCOG, we were contacted by people in Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi and Nigeria (Mozambique came through personal contact of Sosten Libungwa in Malawi, and Uganda came through personal contact with Pastor Evans Ochieng). Pastor Evans Ochieng has since been able to visit leaders in all of those countries, except Nigeria (which he is planning to visit soon) and Mozambique (which he will likely visit some day).
Another part of the reason for the growth in Africa has been our literature in English as well as several other African languages (we do not have any of the Ghanaian tribal languages yet, but English is the official language of that nation).
We also have a YouTube channel called CCOGAfrica which has messages by African leaders in several African languages. While many Africans do not have the ability to watch them, some can as can some leaders there.
Considering our limited funds and resources, we have made significant strides in Africa.
As mentioned in an earlier Letter to the Brethren (see Letter to the Brethren: July 21, 2016), it is my plan to hold and attend a conference in Nairobi in February 2017 with CCOG leaders in Africa. While I have communicated with the top leaders of most of the African countries with us, I have only met leaders who are currently with us in Kenya.
Thank you all for your support and prayers.
Radio
Was again able to be on the Nutri-Medical Report on the Republic Broadcasting Network (RBN). This was at 1:00 pm Central Daylight Time on Wednesday August 3rd. The host and I discussed some issues such as Isaiah 3 and female leaders, as well as a study that came out that day related to obesity.
I am tentatively scheduled to be on the same program at 2:00 pm Central Daylight Time on Thursday August 11th.
World News Items
The group calling itself the Islamic State is making more threats and essentially feels it is entitled to kill and/or terrorize those that will not convert to its version of Islam (see Islamic State claims it is soon to launch a major attack and explains why it hates the West).
Pope Francis, who the Islamic State feels wants to water down Islam, spoke before millions in Poland on Sunday, promoting his ecumenical and interfaith agenda (see Pope Francis promotes worldly ecumenical and interfaith agenda at ‘World Youth Day mass’ in Poland). Pope Francis looks like a lamb to many in the world, but has words that Satan the dragon would be expected to promote in these end times (cf. Revelation 13:11; 12:9).
A new study came out confirming how much fatter Americans are becoming (see It’s official: Americans are 15 pounds heavier). The Bible teaches against obesity (Deuteronomy 32:15) and says to eat what is good (Isaiah 55:2). In the future, the USA will be subject to food shortages (cf. Ezekiel 5:16-17; Matthew 24:7-8).
Australia finalized its election results today and this may make for a shaky government over there (see Australia’s election finally official, and ‘One Nation’s’ Pauline Hanson gets more clout). One day Australia, as well as its American and Anglo-Saxon descended allies including the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand will lose their national sovereignty.
Suggested Sabbath Service
Here is a suggested Sabbath service for this week:
- 2-3 hymns (our songbook, The Bible Hymnal, contains the materials from the 1974Bible Hymnal from the old WCG with new covers, plus ten additional hymns; there is also some Choral Accompaniment online).
- Opening prayer.
- Sermonette, which for most who receive this letter via email will be a recorded one:Hillary Clinton, Theresa May, and Isaiah 3. Other sermonettes are available at the Bible News Prophecy channel.
- Announcements (if any; though for many it will be this letter) and one hymn.
- Sermon, which for most who receive this letter via email will be a recorded one. The one suggested for this week is: Matthew 8-10: Married Clergy, Faith, Coming Persecution, and the Ecumenical Agenda. Other sermons are also available at theContinuingCOG channel.
- Final hymn.
- Closing prayer.
Note: If you have a slow internet connection, you can watch these by starting the video, then below it (and towards the right) look for an outline of a gear–if you click on that, it will allow the YouTube video to be played with lower video quality, but at least it will not stop often–you can select a quality as low as 144p. If your internet connection is still too slow (as my home one is) and/or you prefer audio messages to audio-visuals ones, go to the YouTube link for the message, click on SHOW MORE related to the description. You will then see something that says, “Download MP3.” Below that is a link to an MP3 file. Most computers (and even some cellular telephones) will allow MP3 files to be downloaded and played. This is an option we have made available (but we are also looking into ways to improve that as well)–and, of course, we have written article options. Some people have found that if their internet connections are not fast enough, that they can simply listen to the messages that are found at the new Bible News Prophecy online radio channel.
IN CASE YOU DO NOT RECEIVE A ‘LETTER TO THE BRETHREN‘ FOR ANY WEEK, REMEMBER THAT THERE ARE MANY SERMON MESSAGES ON THE ContinuingCOGchannel AND MANY SERMONETTE MESSAGES ON THE Bible News Prophecy channel.
Concluding Comments
The Apostle John wrote:
3 For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 3-4)
Brethren, the truth is important. We are grateful that you value the truth as well as supporting our efforts to proclaim the truth to the world as a witness.
Sincerely,
Bob Thiel
Pastor and Overseer