Letter to the Brethren: February 16, 2023

Dear Brethren and Co-Workers in Christ:

Greetings from Grover Beach, California.

Online Radio and Flipboard Statistics

Shirley Gestro Hickey sent the following report from New Zealand:

Bible News Prophecy Flipboard Page

https://flipboard.com/@ProphecyNews or on the Flipboard app on your mobile, search for Prophecy News or Bible News Prophecy.

Statistics:

As of 9 February 2023.

Followers: 4,400

Magazines: 23

Articles: 18,387

Views: 34,649

Page flips: 388,560

Bible News Prophecy Radio

https://www.biblenewsprophecy.net/

Radio streaming server statistics for Feb 7, 2022 to Feb 6, 2023

Total Listeners: 60,704

Average listening time: 34 minutes

Top 5 countries: USA, UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa

Analytics for this streaming server does not provide total countries, this is something they are working on.

Previous streaming server, prior to transitioning to the current radio streaming platform, statistics for June 2018 total countries: 185.

BNP radio website

Feb 1, 2022 to Feb 9, 2023

Pages views: 40,000

Some Top items of interest are:

• 2022-2023 Shemitahs Destruction/Reset – 6,430 views
• 5 Red Heifers and the Year 5783 – 2,450 views

BNP radio on Tune In App – 1,400 people added it to favourites.

BNP Radio Pinterest Page

https://www.pinterest.nz/biblenewsradio/

These are COGwriter news articles, radio content, CCOG literature, sermons, sermonettes. We have several boards some are titled Daily Bible News Updates, Bible Q & A, and Sermons, Christian Living. An article or item will be added to a board, these are called Pins.

Statistics for Nov 11, 2022 – Feb 9, 2023

Impressions: 37,190 (how often people see your pins, like views)

Engagements: 1,490 (includes clicks and saves)

Followers: 663

Top board: Bible Q & A, and Sermons – 16,150 impressions.

Top Pins:

• John 13-15: Footwashing and the Words of Jesus – 8,246 impressions
• Pope Francis ecumenical exorcism conference a Sign of the End? – 5,411 impressions

BNP Radio Tumblr Page

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/biblenewsprophecy

Articles: 2070

Followers: 177

Top item of interest, re-blogged (shared) or liked, a digital poster was created for this:

• Cashlessness and 1984, by Dr. Thiel and Mr. Steve Dupuie

BNP Radio MeWe Page

Nov 11, 2022 – Feb 9, 2023

https://mewe.com/p/biblenewsprophecyradio

It is a social media site, similar to facebook, but without the censorship, ads, or news feed manipulation. Content from the radio site, are added to this page, including any new literature.

Followers: 310

Posts: 84

BNP Radio Ello Page

https://ello.co/biblenewsprophecy

Ello is the Creators Network. According to Ello.co:

Ello is a community to discover, discuss, publish, share and promote the things you are passionate about.

I only add items on this page when I create digital posters, or for posting CCOG magazines and book covers.

Views: 74,200

Posts: 261

Top viewed items are:

• CCOG on European Gospel Radio – 8,600 views
• The Three Angel’s Messages – 4,800 views
• Is The European Beast Growing Horns? – 4,500 views
• Russian, Ukraine, Food & the Ride of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – 1,500 views
• These Signs of the Four Horsemen Have Begun – 1,200 views
• Great Tribulation: 2026 or 2027? – 701 views

Shirley was also the person behind the basic design of the Bible News Prophecy banner that we use as a backdrop for recording our weekly sermonettes now.

As far radio goes, in addition to the online radio, we are on commercial radio in Europe and Africa, and shortwave radio stations covering Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, North America, and the Far East of Asia. For more details, check out the CCOG Multimedia page.

As far as Shirley Gestro Hickey herself goes, she and/or her supportive role for the Continuing Church of God was in dreams that three of our members have had–for those details, check out Dreams, the Bible, the Radio Church of God, and the Continuing Church of God.

Radio Reach in Kenya and Tanzania

Deacon Ondigo Ochieng (not related to evangelist Evans Ochieng) sent the following radio report and photo:

RADIO HARVEST REPORT

May I take this opportunity to thank God and those who have taken the step of faith to support this program. Indeed, it is an open door for evangelism and for reaching out to the unreached. Many people listen to the radio in so many areas ranging from urban to rural areas.

So far, we have traversed several areas with the truth through the radio program. We have so far received a total of 388 phone calls and several messages from people who are following and keenly listening the radio program within four months.

We have also visited 7 places and taught in the “synagogues” and answered several questions concerning our faith ( 1 Peter 3:15) with humility. We have also faced spiritual warfare both from within and outside. From within the Church, there are those who think that through the radio program, there are some stuff attached to it or may be we are somehow benefiting. Satan uses those close to us to  create difficulties and doubt in whatever we are doing and such people he is using, many a times think that they can do it better than us. They connive with a lot of reasonings which from the outset look so very convincing but hold no water as Beyond the Work program is concerned. From outside the Church, we usually come across those who are strongly opposing the truth. Most of them are clergymen and women who pretend to be so godly but denies the truth with a lot of bitterness ( 2 Timothy 3:5).

Personally, through God’s grace, I have survived poisoning and other traps that some have laid on my way. I have also been so very ill several times after the spiritual warfare we faced while in Tanzania at a place called Serengeti-Mugumu.

So far, we have covered the following topics within four months:

1. Ten Commandments-Decalogue, Christianity and the Beast. This was covered within 6 sessions in Radio Togotane 88.3 FM.
2. The Gospel of the Kingdom of God has been covered in a four sessions in Milambo 13.8 FM with a lot of emphasis on the wonderful World Tomorrow and How it will be like.
3. When will the end of the age come? This was a recent program presented on KBC National station and it attracted 28 callers with different questions.
4. Rise of the Prophesied King of the North ( This is a discourse from CCOG video sermon) which was presented over KBC National station ( Pwani FM).
5. Who gave the World the Bible? The Canon. Why do we now have the books we now do? This has been covered over the Radio Togotane 88.3 FM. This has been handled in 4 sessions.

RESULTS OF THE RADIO PROGRAM AND THE FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES

Pastor Francis Gisiri from the Messianic Assembly of Yahweh, who agreed to work with us got a  phone call from one of their member who was listening to us from Serengeti-Mugumu in Tanzania. This man is called Yohana Mali who has so joined Francis but when he went back to their homeland in Serengeti in a small village of Machochwe, he heard more deep teachings from Radio Togotane 88.3 FM and decided to request Francis who had earlier baptized him to invite me and Francis for a four day seminar in Tanzania.

We went there last month from 11^th January 2023 to 15^th January 2023. We agreed to only teach two topics i.e The True and complete Gospel and the Biblical Baptism. Our host was called Pastor Francis Sabora, a brother to Yohana Mali Sabora. We travelled through the rough road from Sirare border to Mugumu town before we went by a motorbike that transported us to the interior part of Serengeti in a village called Machochwe.

Ondigo group being received at Pastor Sabora’s home (Sabora wearing the white cap)

What impressed us was the fact that the members of the Holy Spirit Church where pastor Francis Sabora pastors, agreed to board in the church compound for four days except some few who featured on the last day. The total number of the people who came on the last day were 240.

These people were amazed and cut to the heart ( Acts 2:37) and 6 of them insisted that they must be baptized. What could we do? Francis baptized 6 people who were fully convinced that they were sinners and have not been walking on the way. They confirmed their consecration by baptism and had hands laid on them by pastor Francis. We had no option of waiting for any person to do that because we knew that Satan will not allow these people to go any step if we leave them to wait for the normal protocol of sending Evangelist Evans to go and baptize.

The Gospel of the Kingdom of God was such a wonderful and at the same time a piercing truth to many who heard it for the first time. I have never in my life seen how concentrated the people can be when the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is explained in different perspectives. God gave us more courage and confidence to traverse the Scripture and answer several questions that were asked.

God’s grace and His Holy Spirit was before us. We went with transport only and also strained to stay in such a place for those four days. Our major happiness is that God intervened to provide for our transport in a way we did not expect. God always works things His own way when He wants His Will to be done. He breaks all the protocols and does things in an amazing way. We were so much welcomed and we ate the traditional Kuria dishes though a lot of meat was in their meal. That made all of us to be affected by Brucellosis after coming back to Kenya. I myself, has been sick all along not only because of the meal and conditions we stayed in during that visit but also because of the spiritual warfare after praying for several people who were delivered from the evil spirits that masqueraded in most of those people as the Spirit of truth. Some were also healed from different maladies.

We gave out booklets of the Kingdom of God in Swahili and they gladly received them. About 70 copies were given out to help understand the theme of our seminar and also to answer several of their questions.

We again met a fierce opposition emanating from pastor Sabora, our host which was triggered by his bishop who thought that we had gone to destroy their Church. Later on we heard that the 6 baptized members were chased out of that congregation and later 24 people followed them and they began a congregation near Mara River where one of the baptized member has given them land to built the hall of meeting.

It is great that we are reaching people in Tanzania and Kenya through the radio there. Fruits are being born.

The funds we received from our affiliates in France which have paid for this has basically ran out, and although they tried to send funds last week, American bank bureaucracy has so far stopped the funds from coming in, so we will try to provide some other funds for this for the time being.