Merry Christmas from Hank

Another Christmas sweater???

Doesn't Hank's face say it all?

Merry Christmas from Hank the West Plains Church Dog and the Boggs Family!

Davy

Nigeria Update #12 Monday 12/10/12

Update #12

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 or see a list of Recent Posts to the left.

1:45 AM
Today is our last day in Nigeria. By midnight tonight we should be in the air pointed west across the Atlantic.

We rested a couple of hours and then visited with Bro. Lockwood while we were packing for the return trip. Kelly Jo is still hard at work pulling everything together.

Bro. Shobanke should be here about 10:30 in the morning. We plan to go to their Christian school and then one last trip to Chicken Republic.

We should be on the road by 3:00 PM for the exciting drive to the airport in Lagos. Lagos is huge and always hectic. It is our least favorite part of the trip but necessary to get home.

At the airport we will part with our Nigerian friends. It will be especially sad to say goodbye to Bro. Shobanke. I have loved getting to see him everyday. He is a special man in our lives.

It has been good to be here.

2:55 PM
Bro. Shobanke told me his vision for the Christian School when we were here in 2009. They were able to start in the fall of 2010.



Having a school here provides a great educational opportunity to families in the community and is an awesome evangelistic tool. I immediately knew it was something we wanted to support as much as possible.

We left an offering for the school in 2009 and committed to send support once the school was operational in 2010 and 2011. By the grace of God and the kindness of God's people we were able to do that.

We were also able to send an offering in the spring of this year and we added to that today. I really believe in this outreach. I know God is touching the lives of these children and their families.

Bro Shobanke's daughters run the school. Sis. Rebecca and Sis. Ruth have graduated from college and are fully equipped for the task. They are gifted to work with these children and obviously have a burden to do it.

Sis. Ruth, Kelly Jo and Sis. Rebecca


We were very moved by the whole operation. We visited each classroom and had a short service with all the students inside the church. They sang to us and I talked to them for a few minutes and prayed over them.

After prayer we passed out LifeSavers and a piece of chocolate for each child. Odie had secretly packed a bag of Hershey's Kisses for me that I have been enjoying since we have been here.

I really enjoyed them today! We had enough for every child and teacher to have at least one. The small children were trying to eat them with the foil so I HAD to demonstrate how to open one and eat it!

What a fun visit! I may come back to Nigeria just so I can visit the school! I left the school today with a huge smile on my face, tears in my eyes and thankfulness in my heart.

Then we went for our last visit to Chicken Republic. We had a lot of fun.

Bro. Shobanke spilled his soda so Bro. Gary offered to feed him. It was hilarious. We were pretty slap happy by then.

The workers were excited about Christmas and by the time we were finished eating there were no customers inside so I sang an impromptu Christmas carol and preached a little Jesus to them. It was pretty fun.

It will not be long and we will be on the road to Lagos and then home.

Davy

Nigeria Update #11 - Sunday 12/9/12

Update #11

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 or see a list of Recent Posts to the left. 

6:55 AM
In 2009 we went to the city of Ibadan and preached a Ministers Conference in one church and a Gospel Crusade at Landmark Christ Mission. Bro. Stephen Kuye is the Pastor at Landmark. We had a great visit that year in Ibadan.

We were able on that occasion to leave enough money behind to put a roof on a church building that Bro. Kuye's congregation was erecting. They had the trusses and roof on within three weeks.

The new church walls had been built around the existing small church building. They soon removed the old building, poured the floor and completed many other things in order to have church in the new structure.

We are excited about going back for another visit today. We are anxious to see the new building and preach for them again.

Bro. Kuye is a quiet and Godly man. He was converted to Christ under Bro. Shobanke's ministry many years ago. He is one of the first men that we met in Nigeria and we love being with him.

He is one of many men in this country that labor faithfully for God in less than ideal circumstances. They love God fervently and press right through adversity, poverty and opposition.

These good men make me want to do better and walk closer to God. I am so glad to be among them. I thank God for the privilege to know such men and call them brother and friend.

It is definitely going to be an exciting and memorable day for us.

6:50 PM
We left before 8:00 this morning and arrived back at the hotel in Abeokuta about 4:30. It has been a super day.

We were blessed to visit and worship with many friends today at Landmark Christ Mission in Ibadan. Pastor Kuye and his folks welcomed us with open arms. The worship service was great and we had a wonderful altar service. God moved among the people and I am thankful.

The church was full and the neighborhood and dirt streets were full of people too! I love that kind of preaching. I kept picking out people passing by on the streets and sitting on their porches and giving them a slice of Gospel preaching.

I about preached myself into a fit. I believe God was planting some Gospel seed in that Muslim society. Did I mention that I love to preach in settings like that?

This was our last service in Nigeria this visit and I was very thrilled to see people blessed. Thank you to all the folks that prayed specifically for this service. It worked again.

I was blessed and honored to be ask by Pastor Kuye to preach in the new church. It is beautiful and spacious. The old church was about 20x40 and the new one is 40x70+. The platform area is only slightly smaller than the old building.

The floor is poured, including a poured platform, the inside walls are finished and painted. They finish the block walls here in concrete like stuff and call it plaster. It has a smooth finish and looks nice.

Some of the windows are installed and there is a small study for the Pastor and a small room for the sound equipment. It really looks good and I am so happy for them. It would be neat to help them complete some more of the building project. I am praying about what to do and gathering information. I will let you know.

Here are a few pictures from Bro. Kuye's church and then some more news below.

Across the street

Pastor Kuye and Pastor Shobanke

Pastor Kuye

The Adelani family

We ate lunch in Ibadan at the new KFC! Can you believe that? KFC in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria! What will they think of next?

Just two weeks ago we ate at the original Kentucky Fried Chicken in Corbin, Kentucky and today we ate KFC in Nigeria. The world is getting smaller every day.

The chicken was very good and the prices were comparable to Chicken Republic. Now we know why Chicken Republic has started offering fried chicken. The Big Dog  Bird has arrived.

We visited outside with the hotel staff for a while when we arrived back at the hotel. We all had a lot of fun.

We were going to get cleaned up and work on packing but the water and electric are off. That means no air so we are laying across the bed trying to be as still and cool as possible. I figure we will have three or four hours awake in the middle of the night so we can work on pulling things together then.

God bless you all.

Davy