Disappointing News-Nigeria

We have disappointing news to share today. It looks as if we are not going to be able to go to Nigeria in December as we had planned. We have hoped and planned this trip for over a year and it is heartbreaking not to be able to follow through.

I wrote about the process and deadline in August and you can read the details HERE. The deadline for us has come and gone and we are no closer to a resolution

The problem is with the Visas necessary to travel as USA citizens to Nigeria. It is a complicated and expensive process and is made more complicated by inconsistencies lately at the Nigerian Consulates in the US.

We have always gone through the Nigerian Consulate in Washington DC, but for some reason, only the Nigerian Consulate in NYC can issue Visas since COVID and they have not been issuing Visas since early July.

They say that COVID has nothing to do with the delay. It is kind of refreshing to encounter a problem that is NOT blamed on COVID, but that does not make the situation any better.

The Nigerian embassy recommends applying for a Visa 90 days before the trip and we have always held to that timetable. We are now 60 days from our departure date and they are still not issuing Visas.

Even IF the situation changed today, we would be very reluctant to send our passports to the Nigerian Consulate in NYC less than 30 days from when we need our passports in November and only 60 days from departure. UGH!

I sent Bro. Shobanke a lengthy email 10 days ago explaining everything to him. He called a few days ago and we talked it over. He knows that our heart is to be there with him and his precious people in December and he understands that our hands are tied. There is nothing we can do.

There is one bright side. Since we will not be spending so much on Visas and plane tickets, we should be able to send a better offering than we would have been able to take personally. We will miss our friends terribly and we know they will miss us, but maybe we can be more help this time from a distance.

I know that some of you have been praying about this and I suspect many more of you have been praying than I am aware. I wanted to give you an update so you know how to pray. Thank you.

We will now pray for a better time to visit our adopted homeland and our wonderful friends. We have some idea where we are supposed to prepare to be instead. We will let you know more if/when our plans become solid.

Thank you for spending some time with us today.

Davy

Approaching A Deadline

We have not been to Nigeria since December 2018. We had a visit planned for September 2020, but a worldwide pandemic got in the way. Eventually, we set our sights on December 2022.

That is still our goal, but the vision is a little blurry at the moment. It is not possible, as a US citizen, to purchase a plane ticket and go to Nigeria on a whim. The airlines will not even let you board without a valid visa because the Nigerians would send you straight back home!

 

The Nigerian government has a few consulates in the USA, but only the consulate in NYC has been issuing visas for travel from the USA to Nigeria. Since July, even the Nigerian consulate in NYC has not been issuing visas. 

The process for obtaining a visa to travel to Nigeria is completely complicated at best. First, you wade through a tangled application process for each person online and then pay the various fees associated with the visa. 

Then you must print each receipt, print the completed application that has already been finished AND accepted online and then walk all of that into the consulate with your passport and cash.

You leave it there (including your passport) for several days and then go back and get it, hopefully, approved and the Nigerian visa affixed to your passport.

This would require a ten day trip to New York or two trips ten days apart. Instead, we pay a company to walk our printed information, money and passports into the embassy and then go back and get it all. We have used the same company for 15 years.

When I called that company in early July, they said the Nigerians had run out of visa stamps to insert into our passports. In late July, they said the consulate was completely revamping the computer systems and they would begin issuing visas to US citizens the second week of August.

I waited until the third week of August and called. They are now saying the person over the consulate in NYC is traveling to Nigeria and should be back in New York soon. Once they arrive, the consulate will be able to issue visas.

All of this would almost be funny, except it is not. I have been trying to guide an acquaintance that needs a visa for travel in about two weeks and it looks like he will not be able to get it. He has been trying for a couple of months. Ugh!

All of that to say, IF we are going to Nigeria in early December as planned, we need God to work this out. The Nigerian consulate recommends applying for the visa 90 days before the trip and not purchasing airline tickets until the visa is approved. 

90 days is this weekend. We are nearing the deadline and we will need to make a decision by mid September at the latest. Would you help us pray about it? We greatly desire to go, but we are completely content with God's guidance.

Thank you!

Davy

A Word For Wednesday-Are We Winning Souls-James Chalmers

It is time again for A Word For Wednesday. This morning, I am posting A Word for Wednesday on our YouTube Channel. Please give it a listen and leave us a comment here or on YouTube.

Are we winning Souls?

Today I am sharing a little bit of the story of missionary James Chalmers, hoping to inspire us to be hungry to win others to Christ and never give up the effort!

I hope you enjoy this Word For Wednesday. Please consider sharing it with others. Thank you.

Davy

Three Pictures From Nigeria!

I received a phone call from Bro. Shobanke early this week telling me about the progress in building the new church for one of the branches of Christ Ambassadors Holiness Church in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. I was thrilled to hear about it.

Yesterday, we were even more thrilled to receive a few pictures by email!!

As far as we know, we have not been called to full time missions in Nigeria, but we love to come alongside Bro. Shobanke and his precious people in trying to further their work for the kingdom of God in Nigeria.

We believe it is an amazing privilege and honor to assist them in small ways. We have been blessed to be able to help in this church project and with the GoodNews Christian School and a few other places this year and we hope to do more.

Here is a portion of Bro. Shobanke's email and three pictures. I will write more of our plans for this year below.

Dear Evangelist Boggs,

Praise God, nine doors of the church have been fixed and ten windows out of fifteen windows of the church were also fixed. The church is now coming out more beautiful,

I attached the pictures of the church. We really appreciate you. Thank you from your friend across the ocean.

Pastor E. Ade Shobanke

You can see pictures from April HERE.

The new church is so beautiful!

By God's grace, we hope to be able to help more in 2022 on this construction and we hope to be able to visit Nigeria. Kelly Jo and I have not been there since December 2018, since our September 2020 visit was canceled due to Covid. We have never been away from Nigeria for this long since we first went in 2007.

Nigeria has recently removed some of the entry restrictions that were prohibitive to us. IF that trend continues, we hope to be able to go back for 10-14 days in December 2022. It is definitely in our hearts to go! 

Good flights with proper routing are running nearly twice what we usually pay, but that seems to be the pattern in nearly everything. We will probably bite the bullet and pay the inflated price if it comes right down to it. 

The visa process is more complicated and more expensive every time we go. If a December visit seems likely, we will begin the visa process near the end of August. We are excited to see our friends again.

Thank you for stopping by today. May God bless you all.

Davy

Progress Building A Church In Nigeria

I mentioned in November again that we were trying to help Bro. Shobanke build a new sanctuary for an existing church in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. We were blessed and privileged to preach an outdoor crusade at this church in the past and we are thrilled to help with the construction cost as much as possible. 

We sent a good offering to help. We are able to do that because of our regular commitment to missions in Nigeria AND because of churches and individuals that help us to give.

Two weeks ago I received an email from Bro. Shobanke with pictures of some progress. I want to share some of them with you.

I am so excited to see the plaster applied. They still have a long ways to go, but they have already come a long way. 

This is the text from Bro. Shobanke's email.

Dear Evang. Boggs,

Calvary greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,

Praise the Lord, the work has been done.

The last money you gave for our new church was used for the plastering of the new church building and the whole church building has been plastered.

Thank you very much, we appreciate you greatly.

I attached the pictures of the plastered church building.

Thank you, greetings to everyone.

Please tell your wife I say hello and sister Odie.

Pastor E. Ade Shobanke

Praise God for helping us to be a blessing to our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. By God's grace, we plan to send more very soon.

We would also like to visit Nigeria before the end of 2022, IF the restrictions for entry are such that we can and IF it is God's will. We long to return. It has been way too long because of the pandemic. We are praying fervently for direction and the open door from the Nigerian government.

Thank you for praying with us and thank you for reading today.

Davy

Selfless And Kind

We have been blessed for many years by the GoodNews Christian School in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. I think it was 2009 when Bro. Shobanke shared with me his vision to begin a Christian school. He had wanted to do it for years and at that point, his daughters were educated properly to run the school. It was time.

In that first conversation about starting the school, I pledged at least $1000 from Boggs Family Ministries each year for three years. By God's grace, the kindness of God's people and through our personal and ministry commitment to missions, we have been able to give many thousands through the years to GoodNews Christian School.

We have helped build buildings and provide supplies and we have tried each year to supplement the salaries of Bro. Shobanke's daughters, Ruth and Rebecca and Ruth's husband Samuel. These three are in charge of the school now.

Several churches, individuals and family members have helped Boggs Family Ministries with these school commitments and we are extremely thankful for that. 

In the last three years, we have received help from an unexpected source. Ellisville First Assembly Academy in Ellisville, Mississippi has been sending a sizable and sacrificial offering to support GoodNews Christian School in Nigeria. 

I am sure they do not have a huge budget and are dependant on donations for a portion of their budget, yet they see the value and even necessity of helping another school. I love that! What an amazing act of selflessness and love.

Pastor Andy Stringfellow works under Pastor Kenny Morris and has been running the school along with his wife, Sis. Tina Stringfellow and their loyal staff for many years. I am positive they could use every single dollar they can get to operate the school, yet they have a heart to help a school in Nigeria. God bless them!

I have thanked them over and over, but yesterday I received emails with pictures and videos of the school children thanking the staff and students of Ellisville First Assembly Academy for their support.

May God bless you, friends. I want to see all of them face to face soon!

Davy

A Word For Wednesday See That Ye Be Not Troubled

It is time for A Word For Wednesday. A Few minutes ago, I posted A Word for Wednesday on our YouTube Channel. Please give it a listen and leave us a comment here or on YouTube.

See That Ye Be Not Troubled

Jesus was detailing some of the events and signs leading up to the end of time in Matthew 24. He tells us of false prophets, wars, earthquakes, pestilences and several other things the world will see and experience before and during the end.

Notice what Jesus inserts in one of the key verses.

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

In the middle of all the turmoil and uncertainty, see that ye be not troubled. Wow! With wars and rumors of wars and nation against nation and famines and pestilences and earthquakes and so much more, see that ye be not troubled. 

How in the world can we keep from being exceedingly troubled when everything around us in falling apart. It can not be done in this world. It requires steady assistance from another world. With God's help, we can hold together when the world is falling apart.

Russia is invading Ukraine. I should say Russian leadership has ordered its army to invade Ukraine. It seems there is lacking a groundswell of support from the Russian people. The Ukrainian people are suffering horribly from this unprovoked attack.

Yet, Ukraine is putting up a brave, courageous and amazing defense of their nation and their people. It has been incredible to read the accounts.

There is no telling what the Russian dictator may do. He has threatened to use nuclear weapons and it is nearly certain he intends to expand his reach into other eastern European nations. He is breaking longstanding international rules and upsetting world peace in ways not seen since WWII.

No wonder people are speculating that this may be the build up to the beginning of the end. I have no way of knowing. But I know one thing for absolutely sure. Jesus said when you see all of this, see that ye be not troubled.

The end of days will not slip up on God unaware, friend. God is still in control. Please help us pray for the Ukrainian people, the Russian people and for thousands fleeing the area.

Bro. Rick Bradley and his family are missionaries living in Ukraine. They have narrowly escaped with their lives and are now in another country. They are on their way to an American Embassy to get their paperwork in order to come back to America for now.

Please pray for them. They need God's help and I am sure they need financial assistance too. We have helped them and I will list a couple ways to get money to them below.

Pray, friends and see that ye be not troubled. Thank you for reading.

Davy

By Mail:

Rick Bradley Ministries

P.O. Box 388

Golden, TX 75444

By PayPal

ricky@charitymissions.org

Building A Church In Nigeria Update

I mentioned HERE and HERE, that Bro. Shobanke is building a new sanctuary at one of his branch churches in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. They have outgrown their current building and this structure will give them much more room.

We sent them as much help as we could in August and Bro. Shobanke had them send more pictures last week of the progress. 

The roof is now complete. Although they have much work to finish the new building, they are able to have church inside, protected from the weather. We are thankful for the progress and we hope to help them with this project more in the near future.

As I mentioned before, we have preached at this church before and we look forward to going back to Nigeria in the future and preaching in this new building. We are praising God for the growth that required a bigger place to gather and worship! Hallelujah!

If you feel like you want to help with this project financially, you are welcome to do so. If you like, you can send it to Boggs Family Ministries, marked for the church in Nigeria and I promise you that every cent will be forwarded to this specific project and will be used for that purpose only.

Thank you for reading today.

Davy

A Short Mission Update

I mentioned on August 3 that Bro. Shobanke was building a new sanctuary for one of the branch churches in Abeokuta. You can read that post HERE if you like.

Before we left home near the end of August, we were able to get a substantial offering into the hands of someone that was visiting Bro. Shobanke in September. 

Along with a good offering for the building program, we were also able to help with the salaries for the leadership of GoodNews Christian School. We try to help supplement those salaries each year and we were happy to get the money in their hands.

Bro. Shobanke called me last week to let me know he had received the money and it was already being applied to the intended uses. Praise God!

Although we budget money from our income for missions each month, there is no way we could send the amount we do without help. Certain churches and individuals have been faithful to help us help our brothers and sisters in Nigeria. We are so thankful for that.

We believe that God is aware of how all of us spend and how we give. Sometimes He may direct us to give and sometimes He may allow us to give as we are able or as we desire. What a blessed joy it is to give into His kingdom and to His people.

The people in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria, West Africa thank you.

AND we thank you!

Thank for reading too.

Davy

A New Church In Nigeria

I was so glad to receive an email from Bro. Shobanke last week with pictures of a new church building that is going up. One of the branch churches in Abeokuta has outgrown their current building and they are expanding. Hallelujah! That is super good news!

I preached an outdoor meeting at this church several years ago and we are blessed to be in service with these folks every time I am in Abeokuta at the main branch. I am happy to see them winning souls for Christ and needing to expand.

The current Pastor is Bro. Matthew Erinola. He is a good man and my dear friend. He has interpreted many, many sermons for me and preached right along with me. It is a joy to work with Him and I love that his ministry is being effective.

Bro. Matthew interpreted for me in the outdoor meeting at that church years before he was the pastor.

This is the current church.

This is the church under construction.

Thankfully, we already have some mission funds in reserve and we will be helping with the new church construction within the next two weeks. I love investing in the work of God and His kingdom.

Thank you for joining us today.

Davy

50 Years A Missionary In Kenya

50 years a missionary. Wow!

We had the privilege recently of meeting a man who has been a missionary to Kenya for 50 years. His name is Evan Erickson.

He and his wife and first child moved to Kenya as missionaries in 1971. I think he said his daughter was one year old at the time. For 50 years they have raised their family and ministered in Kenya.

They have stayed in Kenya for four year terms and then came back to the states to reconnect with family and supporters for the fifth year. That is an amazing life!

They have planted churches, built churches and trained local leaders in Bible schools in Kenya. Many of the students they trained are Pentecostal leaders all over Africa and the world.

He is part of the missions program with the International Pentecostal Church of Christ and when we met him, he seemed to be going strong. They helped him to the platform, but when he took the mic he was a dynamo.

50 years as a missionary to Kenya! His passion for souls to be able to hear the Gospel was inspiring and I hope I do not soon forget it. May God give him many more years of useful ministry!

I can not imagine doing anything for 50 years. I guess I have been walking and talking for over 50 years, but not much beyond that.

This Week

We have been working in the barn during the day this week and going to church at night. We were not in church last night, but after a break for supper, we worked in the barn until time to get ready for bed. I am anxious to show you some pictures of the barn project, but I will wait until a bit more is completed.

Thank you for stopping by today. We plan to be at home church tonight and have service online Friday at 7:00 PM Eastern. I hope you will join us.

Davy

Wonderful News From Nigeria!

I am happy to report some great news from afar. Yesterday I received an email with pictures from Nigeria. The new addition to the GoodNews Christian School is finally completed, including a much needed bathroom.

This building was originally two rooms that we helped construct a few years ago. In this current building process, there was another room added below and rooms above. I am so thrilled to show you the pictures.

So many people have helped us with this project and we appreciate it so very much. Our latest round of money sent was made possible by the students of Ellisville First Assembly Academy, Bethany Revival Center and my brother Steve and his wife Karen.

May God bless these folks and all of you that have helped with this project in the past.

These rooms just barely keep pace with the needs of the school. In order to build more, we are probably going to have to purchase unfinished buildings next door. I do no even know the feasibility of those options, but help us pray for guidance.

Educating these children, many of them from non-Christian, even Muslim homes, may be the greatest impact we can have for Christ on Abeokuta and the nation of Nigeria. Thank you for helping us do that!

As a regular part of our support for the school, we try to pay the salaries of Bro. Shobanke's daughters and son in law that run the school. Thank you for helping us do that too.

Thank you for dropping in today. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Davy

Six Months-Davy Olamiposi Jesudunisn Bamidele

Note From Davy:

My Dad, Eugene Boggs, is in need of God's touch physically. We know that God is able to heal. An old, ongoing health issue has flared up this week and he needs a miracle. Thank you for praying

Six Months-Davy Olamiposi Jesudunisn Bamidele

Today is the first day of the last month of 2020 and gaining ground on 2021 very quickly. None of us know if the next year will be better than 2020, but we are hopeful AND prayerful!😁 As I mentioned before, there have been some great things in 2020 and I refuse to let them lie forgotten in the dark shadows.

Here is a bright spot in 2020.

Davy Olamiposi Jesudunisn Bamidele

I told you in May about a precious little baby being born to our Nigerian family. He was born May 5, 2020 to Bro. Samuel and Sis. Ruth Bamidele. Sis. Ruth is the daughter of my dearest friend, Bro. Shobanke. They gave their new baby boy the name Davy Olamiposi Jesudunisn Bamidele. 

We were delighted to hear the news of this baby boy and I am honored, thrilled and humbled for him to bear my name in his life.

Because of the pandemic, we were not able to travel to Nigeria in September as planned to visit our friends and to meet little Davy face to face. We hope and pray that day comes soon.

Recently we received pictures of little Davy taken last month to commemorate his six months. I was thrilled to see the pictures and I am thrilled to pass them on to you.

Little Davy, you were born into a troubled year, my small friend, but your smile brings a huge amount of joy to all of us!

That is a handsome young man if I have ever seen one!

Here are the pictures I received in May of his dedication one week after his birth.

Thank you for stopping in for a few minutes today. Please take time to pray for our friends in Nigeria.

Davy