December 2010 Missions Update

Dearly Beloved,

Greetings in Jesus name. Thank you so much for your consistent partnership. Your prayers and sacrificial giving have kept us progressing in our effort at reaching the least reached people of our generation. In addition to our traditional mission fields where our missionaries reside among the unreached people, this year in particular has witnessed lots of outreaches which took us to several nations of the world covering several thousands of miles. Several persons came to Christ this year than many years put together. Several homes were restored. Many persons with incurable diseases were healed.

The devil is no doubt furious. In the last lap of our last trip, our last flight from Durban to Johannesburg almost crash-landed. There was no doubt that the Pilot momentarily lost control. Everyone in the plane went into prayers and God took control. The flight from Johannesburg to Lagos was more frightening. For over two hours after takeoff, the plane experienced turbulence. Again, God took control. Words are not adequate to express our appreciation for your standing with us in prayers.

Health Challenges and Foreign Missions

In answer to our prayers, Lucy was confirmed cancer free in 2007. Her physician, Professor Lydia Dreosti however recommended that she should return for medical check-up at least once every year. We have not been able to do that until November this year. We are glad that she was again given clean health bill. Join us to give God the praise.

I took advantage of my going with her to undergo my second medical check-up for the year. The result was alarming. It was obvious that being able to move around to do ministry work is a miracle. We continue to pray to God for divine intervention. We had planned to spend the rest of our time to rest with our Indian friends and partners at Verulam and Benoni but God opened door of ministry and we took advantage of it. We preached at the Peniel Missions International and also helped packaged some mission related PowerPoint for our friend and partner, Elsie Govender. The bulk of our work there were one on one visit to homes. Lucy and Elsie went shopping and it turned out to be another outreach. Several Hindus appealed for prayers. We counseled and prayed for many couples whose marriages were under affliction. The visit was very refreshing spiritually and otherwise. Partnership relationships were renewed. We are glad to be back home to face our primary assignment of providing pastoral care for our increasing number of missionaries in West and Central Africa.

Four of our kids at the Unreached Children Home were diagnosed with Hepatitis. My Secretary, Ogechi Nzeribe had a surgery. Mary Ojile had major struggle with rheumatism. Esther Itodo had a combination of Stomach ulcer, malaria fever and typhoid. Two of our missionary trainees, Happy Simon and Jonas were also sick. We are grateful to God that they are all recovering very fast. We continue to covet your prayers for sound health because we cannot be at our best with constant health challenges. Join us also to thank God for bringing back to life our very dear partner, father and friend, Professor Ron Meyers. He had very complicated malaria which almost cost his life. He was on respirator for several days. We called on many of you to pray along with us and God in His mercy spared him for us. Please, pray that God will perfect the healing He has started.

Local Fields

As part of our effort at conveying holistic gospel, we gave out wrappers, foodstuff, pomade, toothpaste, etc. to 30 widows and several orphans/vulnerable kids at Furaka. This annual event was sponsored by the Caring Hands, an arm of our Furaka Community Fellowship. We are glad that more indigenous people are beginning to identify with Christ.

At our various local fields, God granted us lots of testimonies. The Kamberi field leader, Sunday Musa reported that more souls were won to the Lord. Mrs. Bala and Magaji Godwin were both traditionalists before surrendering their lives to Christ. From the Dukawa field, we also received report from our missionary, Nuhu Karanbana that a young boy, Zuki who was very notorious accepted Jesus. Markus one of our convert who earlier went back to Islam came under serious attack by the devil. He is currently seeking for solution. The missionaries covet our prayer that God will use this period to bring him back to faith. Three of our converts gave birth safely. One of them gave birth to twins. Keep praying for the families to nurture the children in God’s way. Another convert, Philip had a fatal accident. Please pray for quick healing. At Lambu, our missionary Yohanna Musa requested for prayer for the salvation of Umar a Fulani boy who promised to give his life to Jesus and was cursed by his father. Since then he has been facing health challenges. The missionaries at Kubule, Barnabas and Fatima Haruna requested for prayers for the people of the land for deliverance from the spirit of immorality.

Ladi Ekpa and Benjamin Itodo reported from the Zullawa field that Jubilee Church youth headed by one of the Missions Supporters League (MSL)Directors, Mrs. Nosa Tukura visited the field for evangelistic outreach. They bought and played football with the youth on the field and used the opportunity to minister to them. One woman gave her life to Christ during the visit while some others like Maryam promised to give her life to Christ later. Six children were added to the primary school and two were withdrawn. One of them was withdrawn because a missionary spoke to him about Jesus and when the father was informed he stopped the boy from going to school. Pray that God will open their eyes to the true gospel. God provided N51,000 specifically designated for the windows of the church building at Tasha-Durumi.
There was no concrete fruit in the Dir work last month in terms of conversion but as our missionaries Musa Magaji and Mathew Ganu spend time to disciple the converts and go from house to house and village to village for evangelism, some people say that they will think about it. Some outrightly said that they should stop preaching to them while others said that they don’t need Jesus. The Church need to be re-roofed because it is leaking profusely and the wood are terribly damaged.

Needs

Two of our motorcycles have broken down so badly. Both of them require spare parts costing almost N20,000 each to get them fully repaired or alternatively we replace them with new ones. Five of our church building and mission houses are at various stages of completion. Over N500,000 are needed to bring them to completion. Four of the UCH kids need to be treated for Hepatitis and the others need to be vaccinated against it. The Christmas is here. They all need new clothes to wear on Christmas day. The holiday will be so short and they will be required to resume at school in January with their school fees.

We have need for staff at the headquarters to replace the outgoing ones. Pray along with us for full time mission minded workers and volunteers who will help take care of the kids at Unreached Children Home (UCH), book keepers and clerical staff as well teachers for the schools on Kamberi and Zullawa field. Our missionaries are constantly exposed to danger of the Boko Horam Islamic sect and more recently, some of the ritualist are using their demonic power to dispossess the villagers of their manhood. Their focus is on our missionaries and the convert. We covet earnest prayer for divine protection.

To Sum Up

Finally, thank you so much for your consistent partnership. On our part, we are praying earnestly for you. God will continue to replenish your source and empower you with all the resources needed to advance the partnership.