Letter Of INtrfoduction and Request for involvement in the Works OF HTCHS

[Evangelist UChenna F. Bekee]

Dearly beloved in the Lord,

THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST OF NIGERIA GREET YOU!

Greetings to you, and to your family, with all the saints who gather with you.
May the peace of our Father who dwells in Heaven abide continually with
you. I count it all joy to come your way through this medium, though we
have not met or corresponded before. By way of introduction, I am
UCHENNA F. BEKEE, a gospel preacher with the Church of Christ that
meets at Oyigbo in the Rivers State of Nigeria. I have been working in
the vineyard of our Lord for eighteen years now, and am married with a
two-year-old daughter. I became a preacher of the gospel due to the
love I have for the souls that are living in darkness, as well as the
burning desire to be a part of the building up of the body of Christ. I
was born into a Christian family. My late father was also a minister of
the gospel before he died in 1992 after a protracted fight with
diabetes. I have desired to continue the work which my father left
behind and also to glorify God. Many souls have been led to be born
into the family of God in our ministry.
Brethren, a few years back the Lord ministered to my heart and opened my eyes to see the great
need which our African children have and the associated dangers and
setbacks they will face if Christian education is neglected. I have
noticed and discovered the great damage being done to Christian homes
here through a lack of Christ-centered education. From a population
study which I did, and from many spot experiences in Bible classes that
I have organized for our children, it was discovered that the devil is
using the public schools, which are meant to be tuition-free, to attack
the strength of the Church. Also, the so-called private schools, which
are mostly owned by denominational churches, eat on the fabric of the
behavior of our children and their faith.
It became obvious that the near-absence of Church of Christ schools in our State, which has
about 13 million people, is contributing to the absence of leadership
in almost all the congregations here. This happens to such an extent
that we hardly recover our children from falsehood. It also creates
separation, weakness, and unfaithfulness in the parents and guardians.
We have lost so many young people to drug abuse, promiscuity, rape,
indecent life styles, and doctrinal error that many are discouraged
from following the Lord. Some good families that are poor cannot afford
to pay for the education of their children, and resort to these schools
that offer free education and scholarships to them. As a result, they
fall away from the faith. Seeing these trends disturbed my soul, so I
began to think of what to do to salvage the situation. I discovered
that if we can begin to establish Christian schools where our children
can be trained and nurtured both academically and spiritually, we can
begin to save the situation. I believe this work is essential to the
growth of the kingdom of God in Rivers State, and in my country as a
whole.
HIDDEN TREASURE CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL was born as the fruit of a discussion I had in 2007 with Glenn Boyd, a brother from Searcy,
Arkansas, who oversees the work going on at a Bible school in
southeastern Nigeria. After that, God used my poor talents to begin
this school, which is now nearly a year and a half old. This school is
meant to offer a full curriculum education to the children born into
poor Christian families, and to serve the entire church family. It is
prayerfully designed to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of
these children. Part of our mission is also to serve the local
community, those children who are underprivileged, delinquent, and
neglected, by providing quality Christian residential education and
care. Many of these children have been neglected, rejected, and abused.
Through no fault of their own, they suffer from the ills of
dysfunctional families. Emotionally, they are torn apart. We want to
help them become useful to themselves, their families, and the
community of
believers. We seek to provide activities to assist the well-rounded development of each child or student, using Jesus' own
development in Luke 2:52 as our model. Here at HTCHS, intellectual
growth is stimulated through academic training, physical growth is
promoted through sports and other physical activities, and spiritual
growth is fostered through religious training and worship periods.
Students in Hidden Treasure are encouraged to always give their full
effort in these areas. Our moral philosophy rests on the moral
principles found in the Bible. Our overall educational goals seek to
help each student become the best person God created him/her to be.

Hidden Treasure
Christian High School has been established to provide both the
atmosphere and training most conducive for developing well-educated and
faithful Christians. Hence, every member of the administration, faculty
and staff is committed to live by and to teach the Bible as the Word of
God. We have seven teachers, including four females and three males, as
well as a minder who takes care of the younger children. The school is
intended to be a purely missionary Christian school, and which is why
this long letter has been prepared for you who also know the value of
Christian education and training.

I know of your faithful work in the Lord's vineyard and strongly hope that you people can help us
and as well as guide us toward congregations or individuals who could
help our great need.

Presently, we are using a leased apartment, and we lack many basic facilities to encourage learning and development
of the boys and girls under our stewardship. We are rapidly outgrowing
our space and need to relocate to a place we can call our own. We need
a minibus for the transportation of the children to and from school.
Public transportation is beyond the financial capabilities of most of
our families, and travel by foot is too perilous for young children. We
also seek funds for classroom books, library books, science equipment,
school desks, and a set of computers.

I have included an estimated monthly budget of the school with our immediate needs, and
pictures of the present children and staff. I am located on the far
right of the smaller children. The faculty and staff are Christians,
working on faith that their salaries will be raised.

An executive board of four Christian brothers has been set up to oversee
the school and its finances. More detail can be provided upon request.
We are praying that God will bless us with sponsoring congregations and
individuals. At present our income is about
$400/month, far less than needed .Of course, parents of students are expected to contribute
what they are able, but most are very poor. Some of the needs are
urgent.

The church in Storrs has supported the work here for many years, but it is small and can only provide a small amount. We
will appreciate it if you can be of help to us in this work we are
doing for our God.

Until I hear from you, remain blessed forever.

Yours in Him,
UChenna F. Bekee

CONTACT PERSONS:
Brother Glenn Boyd, of College Street Church of Christ in Searcy Arkansas.
E-mail: [e-mail]

Brother Jim Bell of Storrs Road Church of Christ.
E-mail; [e-mail].

MY MAILING ADDRESS IS:
UCHENNA F. BEKEE
P.O.BOX A 179 OYIGBO
Phone: [phone]

For enquiries through the board of Directores, you can write: [e-mail]