First Update
February 06, 2009
Dear bothers and sisters,
It has been a good first day of ministry here in Niger. I got a good night’s sleep last night, and the swelling in my ankles went down a lot. We also had a good brisk run this morning, so we felt rejuvenated as we headed to the school.
The ministry here runs a discipleship school and a leadership school. The discipleship school trains believers in the basics of the Christian faith. Many of the students are newer believers, or are young men and women who have grown up in the church and are now becoming adults. During the school year they live at the school and go to classes 4 days a week. They take classes in Bible, and there are also literacy classes for those who still need help learning to read and write. They are also fed by the ministry while they are in the school, which for many of them is the best nourishment they have ever received.
The leadership school is for young men training to be pastors and leaders in the churches. Hey come back to the school for more intensive biblical training, and after they graduate they become leaders in churches, with the hope of one day becoming pastor of a church.
For the next 2 weeks, the 2 schools are being combined. Each day we will teach for 3 hours in the school. I am teaching a series on 1 John, Durant is teaching a series on David, and Ed is teaching on a few topics, including the Kingdom of God. The students were very receptive today and we had a wonderful time.
I was surprised to see that a number of the students remembered Tony and I from when we visited their village. It was encouraging to see that some of them are now training to be leaders in the church.
In the afternoon Durant preached in one village, and Ed preached in another. I was in the village with Ed. Both villages proved to be tough soil, but we pray that God will nourish the seeds that were planted. We did have three women come forward in Dogon Tudu, the village that I went to with Ed. We prayed for God to heal them, and they said that their foot problems and head pain was relieved, for which we thank God. We pray that God will use this and the continued efforts of the church to draw people to Himself.
Please also pray for a young man named Markus and his wife Amina. When Markus became a believer years ago, his life was threatened by his family and he had to move to another village. Eventually his family relented and he returned to his village. Amina converted last year and started to come to the discipleship school last week. However, her parents have ordered her not to go, and parents continue to wield great influence over married daughters. As a result, she is afraid to come back to the school. They are from the village of Dogon Tudu (where we did the evangelistic meeting today) and she did come to the meeting, but left near the end out of fear. Rebecca, one of our translators, went to be with her after the meeting, and talked with her and prayed for her. Please pray that Amina will return to the school, and that God will change her parents heart. Sadly, Rich said this type of situation is common here, and it is a great source of trouble and frustration for the ministry. Pray that God will break this spirit and draw many to Himself.
I am attaching a couple of pictures. The first one is of me preaching in the school. The second one is of Markus, standing near a tree in his village, with some of the village women who came to hear Ed teach yesterday.
It has been a good first day of ministry here in Niger. I got a good night’s sleep last night, and the swelling in my ankles went down a lot. We also had a good brisk run this morning, so we felt rejuvenated as we headed to the school.
The ministry here runs a discipleship school and a leadership school. The discipleship school trains believers in the basics of the Christian faith. Many of the students are newer believers, or are young men and women who have grown up in the church and are now becoming adults. During the school year they live at the school and go to classes 4 days a week. They take classes in Bible, and there are also literacy classes for those who still need help learning to read and write. They are also fed by the ministry while they are in the school, which for many of them is the best nourishment they have ever received.
The leadership school is for young men training to be pastors and leaders in the churches. Hey come back to the school for more intensive biblical training, and after they graduate they become leaders in churches, with the hope of one day becoming pastor of a church.
For the next 2 weeks, the 2 schools are being combined. Each day we will teach for 3 hours in the school. I am teaching a series on 1 John, Durant is teaching a series on David, and Ed is teaching on a few topics, including the Kingdom of God. The students were very receptive today and we had a wonderful time.
I was surprised to see that a number of the students remembered Tony and I from when we visited their village. It was encouraging to see that some of them are now training to be leaders in the church.
In the afternoon Durant preached in one village, and Ed preached in another. I was in the village with Ed. Both villages proved to be tough soil, but we pray that God will nourish the seeds that were planted. We did have three women come forward in Dogon Tudu, the village that I went to with Ed. We prayed for God to heal them, and they said that their foot problems and head pain was relieved, for which we thank God. We pray that God will use this and the continued efforts of the church to draw people to Himself.
Please also pray for a young man named Markus and his wife Amina. When Markus became a believer years ago, his life was threatened by his family and he had to move to another village. Eventually his family relented and he returned to his village. Amina converted last year and started to come to the discipleship school last week. However, her parents have ordered her not to go, and parents continue to wield great influence over married daughters. As a result, she is afraid to come back to the school. They are from the village of Dogon Tudu (where we did the evangelistic meeting today) and she did come to the meeting, but left near the end out of fear. Rebecca, one of our translators, went to be with her after the meeting, and talked with her and prayed for her. Please pray that Amina will return to the school, and that God will change her parents heart. Sadly, Rich said this type of situation is common here, and it is a great source of trouble and frustration for the ministry. Pray that God will break this spirit and draw many to Himself.
I am attaching a couple of pictures. The first one is of me preaching in the school. The second one is of Markus, standing near a tree in his village, with some of the village women who came to hear Ed teach yesterday.