Good Morning Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Attached is and update of some of what the Lord is doing in Nigeria, and how he is answering your prayers for us. Our Lord is also teaching me so much with the current class, Discipleship, I am taking through Liberty University. This class will put me half way through with a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry.
Rejoice with us
Bob & Meredith DeVoe
Dear Prayer Partners,
I needed to send out a quick prayer request as we head for Southern Kaduna to a village for Evangelism. We are taking a church group from my Neighborhood, there will be at least 16 of us. We provided training for sharing your faith over the last 2 days for those going. Pray for good travels along with the equipment and vehicle to not disappoint us. Also pray for those that we will share the truth with that even now the Holy Spirit is working in their heart. I apologize for not letting you know the results of the last trip but hope to get a quarterly update out next week.
Part of His Workmanship,
Bob
Good Morning Brothers & Sisters in Christ
Our team is headed out for Evangelism this weekend to Langtang South in Plateau State. Please Pray for the Lord to work in hearts, safety and for all equipment to function well.
Also, with the upcoming elections on Feb 16th and Mar 2nd pray for free and fair elections to take place with no trouble.
Finally, rejoice with us for the great results of urban evangelism in January which we are calling Target Evangelism. Our teams trained 167 young people to reach others with the message of God’s love. On the streets of Kaduna, Suleja, and Jos, we had 506 gospel conversations, 87 prayed to accept Christ as savior and 102 rededicated their lives to God.
Part of His Workmanship
Bob DeVoe
Greetings my Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,
Meredith and I can not thank you all enough for all the prayers and concern for us. I would say we are both back to 100 percent health wise and Meredith agrees with me. When I was in Nigeria I didn’t realize the seriousness of the drug-resistant malaria, double pneumonia and meningitis. However, after talking with the doctors here, I am amazed that the Lord has allowed me to fully recover, and so quickly. The Infectious Disease Specialist gave me a clean bill of health this past week after a final round of tests and believes I am healthy enough to return. Meredith has also been able to heal up after her pelvic floor surgery, able to run again and free from pain.
I have to brag on God a bit: before the Doctors in Nigeria really understood what was wrong with me they provided all the right treatments. God provided housing, transportation, finances, meals & rest through our many brothers and sisters in Christ here in the USA. Our visas and green cards have arrived from Nigeria allowing us to return. The Youth Workers training program in Nigeria successfully winds up today. The violence in Plateau State has settled down and we hope and pray there can be long term solutions to this ongoing problem.
Prayer points:
Greetings Brothers & Sisters,
We are so thankful for the many prayers along with the outpouring of love and concern for us. We are in the States and I saw my primary physician on Tuesday in Binghamton, NY. After a long explanation of all that had gone on, he ordered lots of test and plans to send me to a tropical medicine specialist. The doctor’s opinion was that I had a malaria that was resistant to medications, pneumonia in both lower lobes of lungs, and possibly viral meningitis. His opinion is that I am on the mend but cannot give further evaluation until tests are concluded and he consults with specialist. I am feeling the best I have in weeks and regaining strength every day, even going for a walk this morning. Meredith is also still recovering from a recent surgery, trying to be patient with the process, and has also been easing back into exercise.
I am sure that some of you have noticed that Plateau, Nigeria has been in the news. Please pray for God to intervene in a violent and complicated situation where hundreds have been killed, and a curfew had to be put in place just this past weekend. The conflict is between farmers who are predominantly Christian and nomadic cattle herders who are predominantly Muslim. The city of Jos is in mourning and tensions are high: there was a Christian demonstration yesterday that reportedly became a problem and a potential Muslim demonstration slated for today.
Please also pray for an upcoming Youth workers conference in July 18-21. We are hoping to equip and empower youth workers for more effective youth ministry in an environment that provides little support, leaving them isolated and confused. We have planned for 5 facilitators from USA, Canada, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa to come and help with this event.
Thanks again for your prayers and encouragement.
Bob & Meredith
Greetings,
As always there is a lot going on and I know many have questions about our health at this point. I have attached an update and ask that you pray for wisdom for us and Doctors to fully determine what is going on.
We are so thankful for your concern and prayers
Bob DeVoe
Good Morning from Nigeria,
We are headed out for an evangelism weekend in Kaduna and are excited to go an share the Good News and hold an Easter Son Rise service in a village that has no Church. The security situation has been closely examined and it is determined that we can go, Meredith included. However, we would also love for you to pray for us that the equipment functions as we hope and that even now the Lord is preparing hearts.
This past month has been crazy with planning for camps, working with clubs and occupied with the EMS kids so that almost 300 of them could receive a new Bible from memorizing 21 verses. In addition to our regular visiting & involvement with Bible Clubs, here is a list of a few more things that we have coming up to pray for. When we get back from this trip I will fill you in and explain a little more of what’s coming.
April 2 Pastors training in city of Kaduna
April 7 Staff member wedding in Kaduna
April 19-21 teens camp in Suleja
April 21 Pastors training in Lafia
April 22 Pastors training Nassarawa
April 23 pick visiting family of 5 people at Abuja airport, spend the night in Abuja
April 24 drive back to Jos
April 27-29 Evangelism in Plateau
May 3 drive to Abuja for 10pm flight of visiting family
May 6-12 Internally Displaced Teens Camp
We love you all
Bob DeVoe
Good morning from Nigeria
I hope I didn’t give anyone the wrong impression about some of our challenges but desire to give you greater insight in how to pray for us. Just to be sure everyone knows, Meredith is fully recovered from malaria and is back at school teaching. Keep in mind, the challenges that we face, also come with incredible opportunities.
Our trip to Baganje, Gombe was one of the many incredible opportunities that we look forward to in the coming year. Our partnership with Jordan Eye Clinic resulted with our team speaking one on one about Jesus Christ with 997 individuals and 147 of them trusting Christ. The pharmacy provided medication to 741 people and 399 were also provided with eye care. Some of those that had eye care received glasses and 15 individuals had cataract surgery that restored their vision.
People waiting to be seen on our first day. Talatu, trusted Christ as her Savior. The Pharmacy dispensing medication.
Being fitted for glasses as part of eye care. 15 individuals had cataract surgery. Abare, still needs prayer to trust Christ.
I believe the photos will help to add faces to the numbers mentioned above. Although we can rejoice about all those that have trusted Christ, we need to continue to pray for them to grow and that the seeds of the Gospel planted will take root. Talatu is a widow and farms to make ends meet, she is looking forward to having more conversations with us about Christ. Abare, listens to a daily Christian radio program, but is not ready to leave Islam. The 15 individuals that had cataract surgery all reported that they could again see again and were so thankful for Gods intervention in their lives. There will be 3 more of these Medical outreaches coming up: 3rd of March in Jos, 19th to 23rd March in Taraba State and 12th to 14th of April in Jos.
Thank you so much for your prayers
Bob DeVoe
PS I attached a copy of this in PDF if you need to print and share.
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We have been home in Nigeria for a month now and have settled back into life and ministry. There have been a few challenges with plumbing, Meredith having malaria and the wires from the utility pole to the transformer being cut and stolen, leaving us with no power for over a week. We are so thankful that all these situations are resolved to God’s glory.
We are headed out today for an Evangelistic/medical outreach in the State of Gombe and will be gone until Saturday. Please pray for Meredith as she will remain in Jos, busy with School. Pray that the vehicle and all equipment will function as we need and hope. Also for safety as we travel and the time we spend in Gombe. Pray that all those we come in contact with, will come to know the love of Christ and that His kingdom will grow through our efforts.
We Love you and are thankful for your love and support.
Bob & Meredith DeVoe
Good Morning Brothers & Sisters,
Just finished up training some leaders for a new Bible Club on Sat, was on Evangelism last weekend and in Abuja doing follow-up of a school who buys our Quiet times and has clubs on Saturday, the weekend before that. Also busy with clubs here in Jos. But had to slow down yesterday and begin thinking about furlough and traveling to the US. Ryan & Sarah both graduate and we will be coming for that and continue our time in the US for Furlough. Look forward to seeing all of you and hope you are encouraged by the prayer letter update.
God Bless
Bob & Meredith DeVoe
Greetings to our Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
As your weather is changing towards winter, we have left rainy season behind and have moved into the dry season. October is usually my favorite month: the rains have stopped, everything is still green and the harmattan has not started. However, like most things this past year that was not the case. We had some very heavy rains and already there are many days the sky is full of dust. Regardless of the departure from the normal weather we are now in the dry season and that allows us to begin evangelism outings. We are headed this weekend to a village in Northern Plateau near where we were earlier this year and had incredible results. The village is farther in than we were last time (details omitted for security reasons). We have also discovered that our survey trips require more of us. We used to get permission from the village heads but now we are required to also write seeking permission from the police or military depending on the area we are going.
Please Pray for:
Security over the weekend and as we travel.
That the vehicle and equipment will not disappoint us.
For open hearts and minds of all those we minister to and that many will come to truly trust in Christ.
Please also pray for me as I am the guest speaker next week at the local seminary, JETS, for the youth ministry week. Also pray for part of our team that will remain behind in Jos to provide Bible Club training at the seminary church to begin Word of Life Bible Clubs.
Thanks in advance for your prayers.
Bob
Traveling in Jos
Greetings from Nigeria,
Historical our rainy season is a slower time for us, but it has been a different story this year. Evangelism trainings, clubs, a VBS at the church we attend and camps. This is the 4th year we are doing the camp within the larger community we live in, Bukuru.
Last Mon we only had a little over 60 campers registered so we guessed we might reach 100 even during the troubling economic times we are in. We held camp training for the 18 counselors we had interviewed and chosen last Thursday to Sat. We also cleaned & converted a school to be our camp Venue. By Friday evening we learned the registration had doubled during the week up to 120.
This morning as I reached the school we are using I discovered 5 campers already there at 9 am by noon we already had over 30 kids with us and registration was not until 1 pm. At this point we are over 130 registered and have set a limit at 160.
Pray for all of us for strength & wisdom and that all that we do at camp is to Gods glory. Pray also that all campers, counselors & staff will grow spiritually and that all those who have not personally trusted Christ will be drawn by the Spirit & convicted of their need of a Savior.
Bob DeVoe Eph 2:10
Clean up & conversion to camp Counselors & some staff
Unloading mattresses Campers
PS. I am using face book as internet here allows; to try and let everyone see more of what is going on. Look for Bob Devoe with a picture of Meredith & I.
Dear Prayer Partners,
I ask that you rejoice with us over the birth of LucPhilip Stephen Bahago to the parents of Stephen & Eglah, our National Director. Stephen took Eglah for a general checkup yesterday afternoon as the baby was past due. During the course of the examination the Doctor became concerned for the baby and scheduled an immediate operation to deliver. It was after 11pm that both mother and baby were out of the operating theater. I am asking that you would pray for recuperation, rest and strength for Eglah as well as LucPhilip to grow strong and healthy.
After leaving the hospital this morning I was confronted by a National Labor protest that has asked all workers in Nigeria to go on strike in objection to the federal governments increase in the price of fuel. We have been enduring the scarcity of fuel for some time now as a result of problems with the governments subsidy of fuel and the lack of foreign exchange in dollars to purchase it. Pray that these protest across the country remain peaceful and that labor and the Government can quickly come to a mutually beneficial conclusion.
On top of the fuel situation the power generation for the Nation has dropped to 1,400MW for the whole country leaving us with no electricity for the last few days and not good prospects for seeing any in the near future. Inflation is now over 13% and is really hurting the working class that already struggles to make ends meet. Pray for the nation of Nigeria to look to the Lord for rescue from the increasing troubles that we are facing.
This weekend, Lord willing, we will have our last Evangelism outing for the season in the village of Tunkus, Plateau State. Pray that the rains or the many other troubles that we face will not prevent us from going out on this last Evangelism outing for the season. Also pray that all that is going on will not affect the visit of our previous director, Peter Verkaik, who is visiting Nigeria for several day.
Thanks for your faithful Prayers.
Bob
GOOOOOD MORNING FROM NIGREIA,
Rejoice with us as we woke up this morning and had electricity at full current, after 5 days without. I was also able to get our water situation straightened around so we have running water again, after 3 days without; a new pump, some plumbing work and lots of running around on sat. Saturday also brought some relief as I was also able to get 10 gallons of fuel after only 2 hrs. wait for a little less than $6/gallon.
Our Ministry trip last week was incredible, yet not totally what we had expected. As I had asked for prayer to do the Lords will and not our own, it was immediately answered when we arrived at Bachi, Riyom local gov. Plateau St. We had planned to set up and do our typical evening evangelism program, but because of security issues outdoors and evening activates could not be allowed. This community has been attacked several times in the last 2 years, resulting in Loss of life and property. We prefer to not hold programs inside churches as it tends to limit it to whatever denominations building we use. However, God had different plans for all of it. COCIN, ECWA, Anglican & Catholic Pastors, leaders and members all came together under one roof. The Hands of Mercy Ministry did an incredible job of teaching how to make: dish soap, shampoo, room freshener, disinfectant cleaner and a perfumed vaseline. After teaching the skill each individual that registered to learn received some of the product they had watched and were educated on how to make. Any of these products can become a home industry for these people as the closest shops are at least half an hour by car. There was also a full day of medical tests and free medications, seeing hundreds of individuals that may have never seen a Doctor.
Our Work was to do Discipleship training as well as something specific for the youth. In our Discipleship training we broke everyone up in to groups of 8 individuals with a leader. We would teach for half hour to forty-five minutes then have 20-30 minutes of group discussion that they would be required to teach others. We used a discipleship series from Word of Life called “Where Do I Go From Here?” We were able to get through the first 6 lessons and left behind 3 additional books with 6 lessons each. Those that received the books had to commit to teach the remaining lessons and be willing to be accountable and committed, which we will follow up on. All This went incredibly well and really provoked the community to think how they were each now going to try to teach someone else. Our time with the youth was focused on Who they are in Christ to try and help them wade through some of the confusion they face in this day and age. One of the group leaders said “I have had a great desire to be discipled and grow but had no idea where to begin, your teaching has really helped and now I must go out and let others know”. Another individual said “I now realize I must live in such a way that others can see that I am following Christ so they can follow my example”.
The attached pictures shows what I can-not fully describe.
God Bless each of you and thanks for your support
Bob DeVoe
Dear Prayer Partners,
I have been allowing the tyranny of the urgent to rule my time as of late, and believe lack of prayer is only contributing. I took a breath after helping to load the bus this morning and decided I was not doing anything else until this prayer request went out. A team from Lagos “Hands of Mercy” as well as some of our volunteers are headed out this morning for an evangelism, discipleship & skills acquisitions program here in Plateau. Will give more details once back. Between vehicle repairs, fuel scarcity & no light there have been a lot of challenges just trying to get ready to go.
Please pray for safety for the 14 of us going and that we will do the Lord’s will and not our own. That the vehicle and equipment will give us no problems. That those in this community that we are going to minister are open and receptive to the Holy Spirits prompting.
Thanks
Bob DeVoe
Dear Prayer Partners,
With Thanksgiving on everyone’s mind I wanted to send out an update of some of the things we have to be thankful for as well as some prayer requests.
Our Evangelism outing at the beginning of the month on the 6th to the 8th of November, in Yashi, Southern Plateau State was amazing. There was over 650 individuals that we were able to share the gospel with. 61 of them trusted Christ, 7 received assurance of their salvation and 3 rededicated their lives to Jesus Christ.
We continue to be so grateful for our many volunteers and had an incredible time with them last Saturday. We brought together almost 40 Bible school students that help us with Bible Clubs and over 20 individuals that help us with Evangelism outings. We broke up into small groups and shared about our Quiet times, had a time of testimony and enjoyed food, fun and Fellowship.
Last Nov. we visited the village of Lu-Tinghen where we saw many trust Christ, but their remained a serious problem with alcohol and a lack of education. We challenged the village chief and elders to work towards correcting this situation and offered to help with one bundle of roofing. Over the last year the Church had to be enlarged to accommodate the many new believers and the School building has been completed by the community. The local Government provided chairs for the school and the National Youth Service Core is providing teachers. You cannot even imagine how excited I am to go visit them next Thursday and celebrate with them all that God is doing in their village.
We had asked for prayer for the funds and printing of the Gospels of John for a 21 day challenge that we hoped to reach thousands of individuals with. Although we hoped to begin this before the year ended God has answered your prayers and the funds came through and the printing is under way. Please do continue to pray for the 8 cities in 6 different states where we will provide training to volunteers to challenge Nigerians with the Word of God.
We are putting the finishing touches on a camp that will hold Jan 3-6 in Southern Kaduna, with counselors training Dec 6-7. We are anticipating 300 campers with evangelistic evening programs open to the smaller villages around. We are so thankful for all of the amazing opportunities God gives to us here in Nigeria.
Meredith’s mom’s health continued to deteriorate last week and on Thursday she passed away after a prolonged and courageous battle with cancer. We originally planned for Meredith to try and visit her during Christmas break, but later changed plans and made arrangements for Mere to travel on the 22nd of Nov. Meredith, thankfully, arrived safely in the US and I Lord willing I will join her in CT on the 9th of December for a few weeks. A memorial service has tentatively been scheduled for the 11th of Dec.
Please continue to pray for strength, wisdom & perseverance in all that we do to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Bob & Meredith DeVoe
Nigeria
Dear Prayer Partners,
As we are headed out today for a weekend of evangelism, I wanted to ask for you to pray for safety, that the equipment and vehicle would not disappoint us and most of all that the Lord would use this weekend to bring many to Himself.
Our first outing last weekend was in Southern Plateau State in the village of Karbang and we were able to minister to 366 individuals with 19 of them trusting Christ and another 12 receiving assurance of their salvation. Please pray for this community as they have a problem with alcohol and marital faithfulness. The picture is of last week’s team headed out.
I had also asked for prayer about a project to distribute and challenge thousands with the Gospel of John before the year ending. There have been many difficulties we have faced with this project, however the biggest right now stems from new banking regulations which makes conversion and access to funds a much more trying task than it has ever been.
Please also pray for Meredith’s mom who is experiencing poor health.
Thanks for your faithfulness
Bob & Meredith DeVoe
Greetings my Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
I know from my sister in NY that some of you have already had snow, which is hard for me to even think about with 80 degree weather here. Meredith is staying very busy with teaching and working on her Masters. While I will try to fill you in a little with the attached prayer letter, I am headed to Kogi State tomorrow to speak at a conference for national missionaries from that area. I love spending time with the national missionaries, they are some of the most hard working humble servants of God that you could ever hope to meet. When I meet The zonal coordinator who invited me to Kogi, he was managing a small church and 2 additional church plants in Plateau, one of which he had to cross a river on foot to reach. So his entire day on Sunday was spent preaching and moving from one church to the next. Although it will be a full day of travel tomorrow it will all be by car and crossing rivers on bridges, we hope and pray.
Thanks for your prayers and support
Bob & Meredith DeVoe
Hey Meredith,
Attached is the grant letter that came to WOL, look at the address it has Susan’s old street address on WOL PO Box???
