January/February

2015 Report
Dear Ones,
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the
day.... What a beautiful thought, that close fellowship with the man and woman He had
created was important enough to God [because He knew its vital importance to mankind]
that He would come and walk and talk with them! They knew His voice; they knew the
tenderness and sweetness of the relationship. They knew that their Creator God was the
giver of everything they needed and of the perfect world around them.
Our world is no longer perfect, but the Scriptures are filled with statements that affirm
that we who are His new creation cannot go away from Gods presence, and the promise
of Jesus still resonates: ... I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew
28:20). What a blessing it is to know that anywhere we may be in this world, we can walk
in quiet meditation with God as our Father, with Christ as our Brother, and with the Spirit
as our Comforter. We are never alone.

Whats Happening Stateside?

We do ask your continued prayers
for Louis and Bonnie. Bonnie completed
the radiation treatments for her pancreatic
cancer but is now having chemo twice
a month. She is a dedicated worker and
comes to the office at least for awhile
most days, but weakness, nausea, and pain
are debilitating. Added to the challenge
was an emergency gallbladder surgery

(Continuing the work begun

by J.C. in 1962)
708 Burton Drive
Winona, MS 38967
662-283-1192
email: Choate@
WorldEvangelism.org
Web site:
WorldEvangelism.org
gospelgazette.com

Sponsor:
Liberty Church of Christ
689 Highway 25
Dennis, MS 38838
662-454-7362
Co-worker with
Wayne and Janet Barrier
Byron and Gay Nichols
Jerry and Paula Bates
Louis & Bonnie Rushmore
Allon Brumley
Robin Dunaway

Global
Harvest

As I have said in the past, Louis and Bonnie are vital for each other and for their children,
but they are also a very important part of the
work here in Winona and overseas. Because of

The Voice
of Truth
International

that Louis underwent the middle of January. He

seems to be fully recovered, and is able again to
take care of Bonnie. Their daughter, Rebecca,
comes from the Memphis area to be support, and
their son (Raymond) spent a week in January.
The Old Union church, with which they worship
whenever possible, continues to be a helpful and
compassionate part of the Family.

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Betty (Mrs. J.C.) Choate

3/4/15 1:49 PM

the recurrence of Bonnies cancer, their fall trip to Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India had to be cancelled, which was a blow.
In addition to the overseas work, though, is all the work they do in the office here. Among many other things, Louis and
Bonnie have done most of the layout work for the past several years of The Voice of Truth International, allowing me
more time for Global Harvest, book layout, and other parts of the work.
I also need to report that brother Loy Mitchell who is currently living in Big Spring, Texas, but who spent most of his
adult years in Zimbabwe as a missionary, has undergone surgery for cancer. Three lesions have been removed from his
brain and he is undergoing further treatment. Please be praying for him and for his family.
Jerry and Paula are well, thank God! We joke
about who is the boss among us, but the wonderful
thing is that no one even needs to boss! Each one just
naturally does what he or she is best fitted to do, and we
try to help each other remember responsibilities that are
coming up so that nothing will fall through a crack.
Jerry was in India for two weeks in January, teaching in preacher training schools in Chandigarh and
Visak. Both are scheduled to leave March 11, and to be
away for six weeks, in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India.
Knowing that 2 Corinthians 9:8 says, And God is able Earnest Gill, with his family and two of the men who are with
to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always the North India Bible College. You all provided funds for
having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abun- Benus (on the right) cancer treatments. She is doing well.
dance for every good work... I am looking back over
the six decades in which He has kept that promise for me, and I am sure that He will supply what [or who] is needed for the
future. I would ask those who are reading this report to look deeply and prayerfully into your own heart and life, to
see if you might be someone He would use to cover the growing needs in the office here and in the work overseas.

Work Days in Winona

As we have said often in the past, we welcome the help that comes in the form of volunteers when there is some
special work to do. During these past two months, about 20 from Collierville, TN spent the better part of a Saturday on
a variety of jobs. Some counted tracts and banded them into bundles of 25. Some assembled sets of the memory work
cards for the Bible class materials, and also the take-home sheets. Some helped Rebecca with the display books downstairs. Some prepared reports for mailing. One mother
brought her four-year-old daughter, and Paula even
found a job for her! During lunch break, when the
little one had finished eating, she jumped up, saying,
Weve got to get back to work!

A couple of weeks later some of the Huntsville,
MS church came over, bringing along a 10-year-old boy.
He kept pace with all the adults, and accompanied me to
be of help when I took the reports to the post office. The
middle of February, a group from Strickland (the Bates
sponsoring church) came down for about four hours.
After the fellowship during lunch, some of the boys/men
packed boxes to be shipped overseas, some assembled
sets of back years of the Freed Hardeman lecture books
that we had bought at the giveaway price of $1 each and some for .50, to share with preachers overseas who have very little
in the way of reference materials. They will think theyve found a gold mine when these boxes arrive!
Young people from the West President congregation in Greenwood came over the last Sunday afternoon of February to
pack some books for overseas shipping, and to make room for a printing shipment arriving the first week of March. Others
have expressed a desire to come when we can work out dates. Besides the great help in doing jobs the few of us do not have
time to do, visitors are able to see for themselves what is being done here and they all go away with greater understanding
about the work they are helping to support. Besides those benefits, the fun of working together is the best kind of fellowship!
So if you decide to get together a group of volunteers to come down one day and help us, dont think the trip will be a waste
of time!

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Freed Hardeman Lectures

For the sake of exposure about the mission program and the printing we do, we usually
have a display at the Freed Hardeman lectures. It is always a time of renewed meetings and
greetings. A number of students at the University stopped by and I was encouraged with
their vision and commitment. One brother, Windell Fikes with his sons, Caleb and Nathan,
are very excited about their plans to move to Fiji
Islands in 2016, to do long-term work. Caleb made
repeat visits to talk about their plans, and he promised to send me an article for publishing in Global
Harvest, telling of their first experiences from the
viewpoint of a 9-year-old. If he keeps his current
enthusiasm, he will be a worker for the future!
Another young man who visited our display is
from India, Elijah Sanamanda. He is currently a
student at Freed but is very concerned about the semester costs. He stated his desire to get a good Bible
education so that he can be more effective in teaching people in India. We pray to that end.
I was blessed to have the hospitality of Roy and Jan Sharp. Roy preaches for the
church in Henderson, and they are heavily involved in mission efforts in Haiti.

An Interesting Conversation
As I was leaving the auditorium at Freed on the last night of the lectures, I spoke to a couple in the aisle, beginning a
by-the-way conversation. They expressed interest in evangelism, saying that they considered foreign work but decided to
move to a town in Georgia to begin the church where none existed. The brother said that he followed conversions with
a thorough coverage of Bible Keys, a study by J.C. Choate. It was only after several other statements of praise for the book that the wife noticed the name on Jesus Christ the Eternal Sacrifice
and looked at me with questioning eyes. Yes, I am J.C.s widow! I laughed. After getting over the
shock of realizing the unexpected connection, there were warm hugs all around, and I encouraged
them to come to Winona and look into the work. We are needing zealous help! [On February 6, J.C.
would have been 83. I thank God that the writing he did continues to influence lives for eternity.]

Government Vs. Christianity in India

Following his trip to India in January, Jerry wrote this report: When I was in India in January,

I noticed an undercurrent of concern among the Christians. Officially, the government stance has
been and continues to be freedom of religion, but that is changing. The current ruling party is very
pro-Hindu, and they are proud to announce that India is a Hindu nation. Nowhere is this attitude more pronounced than
in the attitude towards Christians. Christians have often been the target of localized persecution and social pressure,
and little is done to the offenders, since Christians constitute such a tiny minority of the population. For example, recently
Philemon Rajah and several others were distributing tracts on a street corner, and several Hindus began harassing them.
The police came and arrested the Christians, but released them as soon as they were out of sight of the Hindu zealots.
When they questioned why they were being arrested, the police simply answered they were saving them from being
beaten or killed. However, nothing was done to the Hindu offenders. That illustrates the current situation in India, and the
fact that we must do all we can while we can, because one day soon, the door may close!

The Voice of Truth International

In addition to the use of radio, TV, and study books and monthly magazines in mass outreach, The Voice of Truth
International is one of our most important tools, world wide.
The Voice of Truth International in Nigeria
Jerry reported: We continue to print The Voice of Truth in Nigeria and in India, as well as here in the US. Makinde
Olefumi, a native Nigerian, is in charge of the printing and distribution of the Nigerian edition. He also directs the Southwest School of Evangelism, a school associated with Bear Valley. 3,000 copies are normally printed, but they had a big
nationwide preachers meeting in January, and he wanted extra, so we sent extra funds to print 6,000. In most countries,
it is cost prohibitive to print such a small number, but in Nigeria, the cost of printing is about the same as elsewhere. Furthermore, there is no shipping involved in the distribution, so this is a win/win situation.

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Color for The Voice of Truth!

Volume 83 of The Voice of Truth is with the printer in the US, and #84 is in the layout process. As you would know,
most everything printed commercially these days is in color, which has an enhancement appeal to readers. Thus far, in
checking about color printing in the States, the cost is prohibitive. Since we do Global Harvest in Hong Kong, and also
have begun to print some of the tracts in India, we have been checking on the cost of printing TVOTI in color overseas and
shipping it here. The great news is that we have found that we can do it in Hong Kong for what we have been paying for
black-and-white here! Volume 85 will be the fi rst of the full-color magazines, so be on the lookout for it as the third-quarter
issue and give us feed-back on what you think. Were excited!

Concerns

Looking through the list of individuals and congregations that currently support the work, I am always impressed with
thankfulness that so many have been a part of the work for years, even decades. That says some important things: it is testimony to your long-term commitment to ensure the continuation of the work; and it is also testimony to your confi dence in the
program of work we are committed to do. Some thoughts arise, though. I know that, if the work is to continue in the years to
come, we have to have other like-minded people to join us. And I cant help but feel concern when those who have helped so
many years leave this world. Who will take up your commitment? Please, I urge you to encourage your children or grandchildren to study this work and support it. And would you also consider putting us in your will, please?

A word to contributors:

Every day we say prayers of thanksgiving for each church and individual who makes our mission work
possible. Even though we do not typically give personal support for preachers, we do provide them with the
mass media tools that have been so critical for the spread of the Gospel throughout the country. As the work
has grown and the needs have grown, some of you send checks for different parts of the work for Hindi TV,
for literature, for Bibles, etc. We are very grateful for all that you do to help, and we would ask one other small
thing: could you write individual checks for the parts of the work you support, so that whoever is making deposits wont have to split the check and keep up with the cash to be deposited in another account? Especially when
Paula is not here, those who substitute will nd their job to be easier. Thank you for helping with this. BBC
We now have 112 titles, full-color,
pocket-sized tri-fold tracts that will
be extremely useful to you in your
outreach ministry. In packets of 25,
they are only 10 cents each. BBC
Do you receive The
Voice of Truth International, our 116-page teaching magazine that is published quarterly? Many
have proclaimed these two magazines to be the
best in the brotherhood! Four issues of TVOTI
are $15, 8 issues are $25; or the congregation
can enlist for a box of 35 copies of each issue for
$30 a month.
Fall 2014

The latest issue of Global Harvest

is available. Many will receive a free copy
because we are trying to make more brethren
aware of its existence. We do need you to
order the magazine ($10 for 2 issues), so that
its future publication can be secured. The
church needs this.

Dont miss out on these treasures!

Place Label Here

Change Service Requested
Mrs. J.C. Choate
World Evangelism
P.O. Box 72
Winona, MS 38967

Non Prot Organization

U. S. Postage Paid
Permit No. 12

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;
and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you (John 14:18).
[Angels are] ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation... (Hebrews 1:14).

The Gospel is our mission. The world is our home.

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