LONG overdue update!

Life here is way too busy, and unfortunately I have really neglected to update this blog. So much has happened! Here is the content from our October, 2007 newsletter, which recapped our first year in Nigeria:

“The Gift Granted to us Through Many”

“...we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in [Africa]: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength… that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us... in whom we trust that He will still deliver us, you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

Both Bob and Meredith were individually struck by how appropriately this verse sums up our first year of serving the Lord in Nigeria. We know that we could not have made it through the many trials we have faced, without knowing absolutely that God would deliver us, and that YOU are praying for us.

In one year we have had two serious car accidents, an armed home invasion, malaria, dysentery, and other tropical illnesses; all while adjusting to life in a very different culture in a third world country.

In that same year we also saw thousands of persons respond to the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. Bible Clubs are exploding, especially in the Islamic state of Kaduna. God opened the door for Meredith to teach at Hillcrest, an international school for missionary and Nigerian children. Ryan and Sarah have had an active ministry of their own with young children, as an adjunct to Peter and Bette Verkaik’s Couples Fellowship ministry.

You were “helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.” The “gift” is not only the glorious things God has been doing, but the deliverance we experienced from all the times we were “burdened beyond strength.”

We are so thankful for that deliverance, and for all the wonderful things that God is doing.

Thankfully, things have been somewhat more routine in the last few weeks. But we are no less dependent on your prayers. Bob is traveling thousands of miles in the next few months, bringing the Bible Clubs ministry to every state in Nigeria. Ryan and Sarah are meeting the challenges of school and making new friends. Meredith needs wisdom, love and stamina to teach Kindergarten.

We trust that God will “still deliver us”, and that you will continue to be “helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given.”

We ARE giving thanks!