Nigeria Update # 3 - Saturday 12/1/12

Update #3
We were not able to post from Nigeria as we had planned. This is an update that I wrote while there. Please scroll down for additional updates.


5:50 AM
Our sleep has been a little restless tonight but we did sleep some and that is good. Thank God for rest.

We laid down about 10:40 and about 5:25 they turned off the generator to let it "rest." It is 5:50 now and it just came back on and the air conditioning came back with it! Wow! It gets warm in here quick.

Speaking of warmth, I believe that two summers of tent revivals have prepared me well. I was hot preaching last night but my body handled it better than it used too.

The weather is warmer than it was during our last visit but it is not unbearable at all. As I said, tent revivals may have helped with that. The forecast was mid nineties for this week but we do have the option of retreating to the air conditioning. That is an option that most here do not have.

11:45 AM
We rested better this morning. Of course morning here is middle of the night for us so no wonder we rest good then. Lol.

I went out for a walk this morning. I took some pictures and interacted with workers in the motel and people passing by.

The front door of the Hotel.

The gates from the street.

Streets around the motel.

When walking around the neighborhood, a white man of my size in African clothes is hard to miss in Abeokuta. Their curiosity gives me a chance to tell them why I am here and invite them to the meetings. It is usually very easy here to turn the conversation to Christ and what He wants to do in their lives.

The whole society is more open to religion and I rarely get a complete brushoff that is common in the states. I want God to help me win as many as possible. Western culture is invading here at a rapid pace so the openness may lessen with time.

It is imperative to live for Christ rather than self. Our dreams, our desires, our ambitions are so empty. Life lived for money, things and stuff is so vain.

It is vain at home and vain in Nigeria. It is vain to live for much stuff and it is vain to live for much less stuff. It is vain and worthless to live to please self.

O, God, help us to live for you and your glory. Help us to turn men's attention from self to you. Help us to win men and women to Christ.

3:00
Bro. Shobanke picked us up about 12:30 to go eat lunch. We requested Chicken Republic so that is where we went. It is very close to the hotel we are staying in.

Chicken Republic is the only restaurant the we have visited in Nigeria besides the hotel restaurants. It is very good roasted chicken and we enjoy it very much.

Bro. Gary made friends fast with candy.

After a great meal and fellowship Bro. Gary and I walked around the neighborhood looking for opportunities to witness.

We talked with one family quite a bit and invited them and several others to church. It would be great to win them and some of the hotel guests and workers to Christ.

We are leaving for church about 5:00 so I need to make sure I am ready to preach.

10:50 PM
Church tonight was at a second branch of Christ Ambassadors Holiness Church. Bro. Isaiah is the pastor at this branch.

We were also there in 2009 so this is our second visit. The Christian school that has operated since 2010 is located at that branch.

The Christian school is a very needful endeavor here and a great evangelistic tool. We have helped with the finances in the school as we have been able so we were glad to see it. Hopefully we can see it in operation this week.

We had an excellent service tonight. I ran, danced, jumped up and crawled on the floor while I was preaching.

I know that none of that is necessary in order to preach. But I was the one preaching tonight and it felt necessary and good to me!



The response in the altar was wonderful. God touched many that came to the front. Bro. Shobanke was anointed as he prayed for the sick and the people felt it.

The back corner of the church is in the right side of this picture and the school is behind us.

Pastor Isaiah is the second from the right.

Thank you to everyone that determined to pray for service #2. God certainly answered your prayer in a mighty way.

Tomorrow morning we will be in the main Christ Ambassadors Church. I am looking forward to being there again.

God bless and goodnight.

Davy

Nigeria Update #2 - Friday 11/30/12.

Update #2

We were not able to post from Nigeria as we had planned. This is an update that I wrote while there. Please scroll down for additional updates.

Praise God! We slept great last night. I stayed in bed from 2-9:00 and got up feeling refreshed. I still feel like somebody beat me up but at least I am rested. Lol

Kelly Jo was able to nap a little more while we are waiting for Bro. Shobanke.

Bro. Shobanke is coming about 1:00 to visit for a while then we have our first service this evening around 5:00.

4:40 PM

We had lunch in the hotel restaurant. It was our first meal here and I forgot to take pictures.

Bro Shobanke came and had the tailor measure me and Bro. Lockwood for some African clothes. We visited some with him afterward and had prayer too.

Bro. Lockwood getting measured by the tailor.

I had hoped to be able to skip a nap this afternoon so I can adjust to the right time zone but the power went out about 2:45 and off went the lights.

I was already fighting sleep and since I could not see to read I laid across the bed and went out like the lights. The way I feel right now, the nap will not hinder me an ounce tonight.

10:20 PM

We had church tonight in one of Christ Ambassadors Holiness church branches. Bro. Lawrence is the pastor and Bro. Stephen is his assistant.

It was so good to be with them again. They have completed a lot of work on the church and it looks so nice.

The church is so beautiful. The crowd kept coming in until is was packed and many were sitting outside.

Who is that pretty girl playing that Yamaha keyboard?

The kid's choir sang us a welcome song.

Pastor Lawrence is the first one on the left.

The folks received us with open arms and made us feel so welcome. They always make us feel special but we know the truth. It is our distinct honor and privilege to be here in such wonderful company.

I preached from Jesus miracle of feeding the multitude with the lad's lunch in John 6. Several young people and children surrendered their lives to Christ in the altar.

Afterward I called for folks that needed a miracle and asked Bro. Shobanke to pray over them.

It was beautiful. Thank you for those of you that prayed and fasted for service #1. There is no doubt you made an eternal difference in somebody's life.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we are supposed to preach in a second branch church. We were blessed to be in that church as well in 2009. It should be a great night.

Thanks for praying for us.

Davy

Home Update: We are adjusting back to eastern time zone and rested several hours over the first 24 hours we were home. My parents and Odie picked us up at the airport and we stopped at Skyline Chili on the way to the BoggsMobile. Odie had purchased some groceries for us so we would not have to think about food the first few days. Isn't she sweet? I think we may decide to keep her. Lol

We had a great meal at Acapulco Wednesday. The salsa is still good enough to drink!

Nigeria Update #1 Travel Day - Waynesville, Ohio to Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Update #1
We were not able to post from Nigeria as we had planned. This is an update that I wrote while there. Please scroll down for additional updates.

We left Waynesville about 11:30 AM and flew from Dayton to Atlanta.

We finally left Atlanta about 2:00 AM Thursday morning. The flight from Atlanta to Lagos is 10 1/2 hours but it seemed so much longer with the delay.

The flight from Atlanta to Lagos was completely full.

There is not much Delta could have done to make things any easier. Both flight crews and the ground crew were great. The flight really was very smooth.

Whatever the problem was with the plane, I am glad they found it on the ground instead of over the Atlantic. I did not see one place to pull over.

The picture below was taken just as we were passing over the coast of Africa.

We landed at 12:40 PM eastern which is 6:40 PM here in Nigeria. The lines for Customs here can be long and slow but we breezed right through.

Bro. Clement Okoh attends Bro. Shobanke's church in Abeokuta and is an immigration officer in Lagos. He met us at the front of the line and walked us right through to baggage claim.

While I was getting our carts and Bro. Gary was watching for our bags, Bro. Clement took our passports, visas and immigration forms and processed of all that for us.

It was a huge blessing to us. Thank God that Bro. Clement was working in the right place at the right time on the night of our arrival.

We waited at baggage claim over two hours on our bags but thankfully every bag made it through. That's a blessing in any airport.

When our bags were on the carts we went through a couple more check points and then met Bro. Shobanke and the brothers outside. It was so good to see them all.

By 3:20 PM eastern we were loaded up and ready to leave the airport. The drive from Lagos is always exciting but by 5:20 we had arrived at the hotel in Abeokuta.

It is 7:30 PM eastern time now and we have been up 36 hours. That means it is 1:30 AM here and time for a long, long nap.

We usually wake up at 3:00 AM for 2-3 hours our first several days but we are hoping to do better tonight.

In future posts when I refer to time I will be referring to the local time here in Nigeria. It is six hours ahead of the eastern time zone in the USA.

We do not have WiFi in the motel so posting maybe infrequent, sporadic or nonexistent.

Friday night is service #1. Thanks for praying for us.

Davy