We have been trying new devices to see how they can be used in the ministry of StudyToBeApproved. The Kindle Papaerwhite has been our mainstay but it is limited to just books. We have been searching for new devices that can do multi media but are inexpensive and durable.

We have tested the recently introduced Amazon HD Fire 7 inch that can be purchased for $49.99 or $41.66  each in lots of 6. What is unique for a low end Android devices is the it has a SD slot. This allows the user to have easy access to additional media.

In testing this device we are able to take the Biblical Theology couse from Simeon Trust and put it on a 16 GB SD with room to spare. We were able to read the notes and able to play the lectures on the Kindle HD 7. For under $50 we can provide 400 books and access to many training courses. Each SD costs about $5. So a course can be made available for $5. We can create lending libraries for our Christian leaders in third world countries through the leaders we have in these countries.

We are considering providing the courses from Simeon Trust and Biblical Training. Any help for this ministry would be appreciated.

We spent a week in Haiti training Christian Leaders. I went with a team from my church, High Pointe Baptist of Austin, TX. This was my third year going to Haiti to teach.

Our team taught on how to do expositional preaching. We recently participated in a Simeon Trust workshop on one expositional preaching. We took what we learned in this workshop and taught it to the Haitians. They were really appreciated of the teaching we did.

We also had a ministry to the pastor’s wives on this trip. My wife, Linda, was able to participate this year with me in teaching the women. It was a blessing to have her come on this mission trip.

The mission trip would not be possible with out the faithful Haitians who helped translate our materials and who are translators for us while we are teaching. To do a ministry such as this require many working together for the furtherance of the Gospel.

Honduras is being blessed by 30 Kindles. I am working with two ministries on delivering Kindles to Christian workers in Honduras. These Kindles are going to pastors in remote areas of the country.

We were pleased to be shown a website with 80 theological books that are in Spanish. We were able to convert the PDF files to Kindles format. This gives our Spanish pastors 100 books with the ones we purchase. This gives these pastors a sizable library.

Please pray as these Kindles are distributed that the materials really bless the pastors. Also, we can see positive results for the Kingdom of God.

I spoke with one of my coordinators last Sunday evening. She had taken 5 Kindles last year to Kenyan missionaries to South Sudan. She ministers with these missionaries yearly. She gave them the Kindles last year. When she returned this year to Sudan the missionaries told her that when they came back to Kenya and had wi-fi access to their their Kindles they received many more books. There is a good possibility that their library went from 130 to over 300 books. They were really excited about getting more books. That is one of the unique services of our ministry in that we can update they Kindles at will and bless the Christian workers.

I have learned the organizations distributing the Kindles have implemented a process to determine if a person is qualified to receive a Kindle. The recipient has to be proficient in English and to show this proficiency they are assigned a book to read and then write a book report. Upon completing this assignment they are given a Kindle. This prevents others from being jealous because they know that a person must meet these qualifications.

We at this time are preparing for our yearly missions trip to Haiti. The pastors and other Christian workers have received Kindle HDs in July of 2014. We are hoping to supply additional materials for them on this trip. This year we will again video the conference and put the videos on the Kindle HDs so they can review the material during the year.

For purposes of training we are using Kindle HDs because we have more flexibility. These devices would not be good for general use because they are not as durable.

We started the New Year by shipping 30 Kindles for use by students attending Covenant College in Zambia. This is a college that trains pastors for ministry.

It is this type of ministry we want to support. They are training pastors for the ministry. We want pastors and church leaders to have the resources to assist them in the study of God’s word.

One of the purposes of StudyToBeApproved is to provide resources to those who are training future leaders in third world countries. We have the privilege to work with with African Christian University in Zambia. We sent 25 Kindle HDs for the students to use. Besides the 300+ books placed on the devices, we included the Olive Tree electronic Bible app. This will give them access to many more free books that are available through this app. We have also download other practical applications for them to use on these Kindles as listed below:

Jorte Calendar & Organizer by Jorte Inc.
Alarm Clock by Apalon
OfficeSuite 8 Free by Mobile Systems
SugarSync by SugarSync
OneNote by Microsoft Corporation
ColorNote Notepad Notes by Social & Mobile
Evernote by Evernote Corp.
textPlus Free Text + Calls for Android Phones, Tablets + Kindle Fire + Fire Phone by textPlus
HD Video Player by Turtlerun
Notepad by Pixatel
Adobe Reader by Adobe Systems
Sketch Guru – Handy Sketch Pad by Bejoy Mobile
Calculator for Kindle by Kevin Tydlacka
Whiteboard by 4DSoftTech
File Manager by Rhythm Software

This will give these Christian leaders the resources they need for ministry.

Jacob Lee has returned to Uganda with 50 more Kindles. The ministry of Reaching Africa’s Unreached is teaching pastors and Christian leaders. It is ministries such as this that we endeavor to work with.

Jacob and Carol Lee personally pick up the Kindles before returning to Uganda. We had  a meal together while Jacob and Carol gave us a report of their ministry. This the the type of accountability that we desire to have with those we minister with.

This is good example of what we at StudyToBeApproved seek to do. Covenant
College in Zambia requested our help. Here is an excerpt from their request.

Being in Eastern Province, Zambia, we struggle to get material into the students hands. It is very expensive to send books, so we only give them a little here and there as we are able. We will be most grateful for a donation of Kindles, as this will be a huge blessing to the institution and the students.

We are going to send them 30 Kindles for this schools year and send additional ones later. We want to bless these pastors with good theological books to help them in their study of the Word of God.