Dear Prayer Partners,
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support!! The most recent weekend evangelistic campaign was in Shendam Government Girls’ Secondary School. Peter Verkaik spoke on purity and dating, AIDS and abortion, and a Hausa evangelist gave a clear presentation of the Gospel, to which 528 young people responded for salvation. We are thanking and praising the Lord that when the Word is preached, people are “born again to a living hope”! (1 Peter 1:3)
Equally important is the discipleship side of Word of Life’s ministry. Jesus said to “Go and make disciples” (Matthew 28:19). Bob has been very busy with that aspect! As you may know, the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) has asked that Word of Life help them to establish sound, fun, Christ-centered Bible Clubs in all 6,000 of their churches. Additionally, the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) has expressed strong interest. So every week we are meeting with pastors and denominational representatives, giving leadership training seminars (“Source One” workshops), and speaking at Youth Conferences, and always presenting the Good News and inviting people to know the Lord Jesus Christ.
The photo at the right shows us in front of our ministry bus. We have had the word “Missionary” painted across the front of the bus because have recently encountered some adversity in the form of harassment by the police– not for evangelizing, but for supposedly owing fees for registrations for our vehicles, for which as a ministry we are not liable. Some of these men simply are looking for a bribe, which Scripture forbids us to give (Exodus 23:28). Please pray that we would find favor with the police and not continue to encounter trouble.
We are very grateful that our support level is holding firm, and we thank all our supporters very much. We are also so very grateful for all those who are praying for us, God is answering and we are praising Him! Although we did not raise full support before coming to Jos, we have been able to make ends meet, and hope to fulfill our first term without financial constraints cutting it short.
Family News
Both of the kids are working very hard at home schooling and doing well in their studies. However, Ryan is really praying that he can go to Hillcrest, a private school in Jos, next year, as he misses the sports and other involvements. The tuition is very expensive and definitely not in our budget, but we know that if this is God’s plan it is no problem for Him to provide the need in answer to prayer. If you are led to help out with this, please let us know. We know this is a very big and special request, but want Ryan to see that we have a big and awesome God!!
Ryan and Sarah are really enjoying our pets, Shep and Lily, our guard dogs; and Splotch, our new kitten. They provide rich entertainment and discourage unwanted visitors of various kinds. Lily, seemingly not the brightest of the bunch, recently proved her worth in setting up an alarm at the presence of a scorpion in the yard!
Another recent “addition” has been an old, chartreuse VW Beetle for family use. Those who know Meredith well will not be surprised! Instead of calling them a VW “bug”, in Nigeria they are known as “kunkuru” or “turtle”, which is Sarah’s favorite animal.
Holidays are coming fast! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, complete with turkey and pumpkin pie. While Christmas will be different with no snow, evergreens, jingle bells or colorful lights, it will surely be more like that first Christmas long ago when Jesus came to earth. Surely the manger was dry and dusty; and the night was dark and smelled more of livestock than balsam. It is actually easier to focus on what Christmas really means in the absence of all the “usual” holiday cues.
In many ways we have really settled in and feel at home here. God is good! We are so thankful to be serving the Lord in Nigeria! And we thank all of you, and our God, who makes it possible.
May the Lord bless you!
