After eight years of hosting pastors’ conferences in Abuja, we have broken new ground as Dr. Mike Cox, the founder of our mission board, became our first American preacher to visit twice in the same year. He came in April for the national Soul-Winning & Leadership Conference and in September for the purpose of partnering with me to start two regional conferences in Port Harcourt and Ogbomoso [mealtime pictured]. The combination of three meetings has allowed us to reach 75% of the national pastors in the estimated 130 independent Baptist churches in Nigeria. With the overall goal to see more churches planted, we have a three-fold cause being promoted in these meetings: each congregation to start missions giving, every church to involve their youth in ministry, and all pastors to train their people for the Lord's work. Ultimately, several pastors committed themselves at the end of each conference to start a new church within the next year.
I have often commented to anyone
interested that the absence of malaria in our family for all these years has
been a “Red Sea miracle.” Only Brian and Noah had mild cases as infants. These
two months ended that “streak” as everyone except Noah and Victoria came down
with the fever carried by mosquitoes (I had it twice). Sabrina experienced some lingering effects
for weeks, but we are all well again and appreciative of your prayers for
continued health and strength.
The increase in our two churches these two months has
been significant. Grace & Glory had
its first visitors’ campaign in October, Days of Great Harvest, that saw 23
adult visitors in three Sundays culminating on October 18 with the first
baptism service for three adults. A
first-ever police appreciation day was held on October 25th at
Nyanya; Truth Baptist had 317 total (all-time high Sunday morning attendance),
welcoming over 30 law enforcement officers and nearly 80 total visitors [visiting officers pictured with Deacon Republic Dakum, an Inspector in the Nigerian Police Force, addressing the crowd].
Our church-planting efforts are persisting as two more
new works should be started by the end of the year. With more than thirty churches founded by our
graduates, there are recurring needs where you may be able to help. Five of our pastors could be greatly assisted
with a means of transportation, especially with three of them each overseeing
two or more churches. $600 is the price of a new motorcycle, the most common
means of transportation, especially in villages. Please pray about helping
these men to further their work.
Special greeting for the missions conference of Lighthouse Baptist in Theodore (Alabama), a supporting church for over a decade.
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