Re-building A Church In Nigeria

We received an email from Bro. Shobanke a few days ago with disturbing news. One of his branch churches in Abeokuta had to be torn down recently because it was about to fall down. The church that had to be demolished is the church where the GoodNews Christian School is located.

Our first visit to this branch church was in 2009 and we have been back many times.

We visited the church and school last November and I noticed the walls were leaning out. There had been a church collapse a few days before in Nigeria with dozens of people killed so I was paying special attention to the buildings. I made a mental note and mentioned the building would need to be repaired or replaced soon.

I was concerned about the church folks, the school children and even the school buildings a few feet away. A sudden collapse would have had tragic results. Bro. Shobanke told me on the phone yesterday that the church was in such bad condition that it had to be taken down by machine quickly. Thank God it did not come down with people in it!

I believe the building was about 40'  x 80'. They are hoping to rebuild it about 30' x 50'. That will give them a little bit more room on their property to build more classroom space and 30' X 50' would be big enough for the current congregation in the church. This is a huge unexpected expense and they will need a miracle to do it.

We know that God works miracles and we fully expect it to be rebuilt soon. They are currently having services in one of the classrooms of the school. Please pray for my friends in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Davy

Weekend Woundup and Weview #34

This was a beautiful full weekend with a big bunch of progress on the house Friday and a wonderful Homecoming day in Sharonville, Ohio. This post is heavy on pictures, as some Weekend Woundup and Weview's are, but I will jump in with color commentary along the way.

I told you Friday that my father-in-law, Danny Morgan, had spent a big part of Wednesday and most of Thursday working on the wood ceiling in the living room/kitchen area. By the time he left Thursday he had everything caulked.

I sanded some for him Thursday night and finished up Friday morning before he and Gran arrived. I had primed the wood before I put it up, but as you can see below, the rafters needed to be primed. 

The first thing he did Friday was jump in with his sprayer and get to that task.

As he applied the primer to the rafters we could begin to see how the finished product would look and we liked it!

While he was waiting on the primer to dry, he rolled primer on a few walls where the kitchen cabinets would be installed.

Once the ceiling was dry, he changed paints and sprayed the finish coat on the ceiling. Odie, KJ and I about cried because it looked so good.

The tall walls in that room are wood too. You can see in the picture above that there is a 20" x 20" cool air return duct in one of the walls.

Kelly Jo and Dad cut a piece of cardboard to keep the white paint from coating the inside of the duct. They cut it from a fan box and I put it in place with the picture of the fan pointing outward.

That fan is Odie's central air!😁

Here he is at the end of a super long day painting the last little bit of wood ceiling and wall.

While he was cleaning his sprayer and gun, Kelly Jo and I started cleaning up and getting ready for Bro. Rick Reed to arrive and set some cabinets in the kitchen. We picked up tools, shuffled stuff around and swept all the paint particles that had fallen to the ground as a fine dust. It was looking good in a few minutes.

Danny worked extremely hard Friday! In fact, he worked so hard that we were all tuckered out!

It looks like Danny and my Dad took a nap under Danny's truck!

Actually, Danny's truck ruptured a break line and they were trying to repair it or crimp it enough for him and Gran to get home. Unfortunately they had to have it towed to a shop in Hillsboro. So Danny had to ride home in a tow truck at the end of a very long, and difficult day.

Bro. Rick Reed and Levi rolled in Friday evening and in a few hours they made a huge amount of progress.

Here is the kitchen right before we closed the house up Friday night about 9:30.

Incredible!

It looked even better in the light of day on Saturday morning!

I know that it may be impossible to see the detail in the ceiling but Danny's painting really brought my vision alive for Odie's ceiling. She wanted a beach cottage look and I think we captured it and her Papaw Danny made it pop!

I did some measuring and some cleaning Saturday but it was one of the very few days all summer that I have been in Ohio and NOT worked on the house, with the exception of Sundays. I rested some and worked on book work and tried to prepare for preaching Homecoming Sunday.

Sunday we arrived at Sharonville Free Holiness Church about 10:00 and several young men helped us load the equipment in. We were there in revival two months ago and I had saved the settings so sound check went pretty easy. Soon it was time to shake and howdy as folks came in and then have church!

The church was full and as other churches arrived after their services they packed in around the edges and in the lobby. The singing was outstanding and the move of God's Spirit was excellent. The folks helped me preach and then people responded in the altar. Praise God for His touch in lives.

The building was full of our friends in the area and we had three special families that were there from afar. Bro. Joel and Sis. Amber Isham were there from Alabama.

Bro. Jimmy and Sis. Shauna Millikin are preaching in northern Kentucky this week and they came in after their service.

Bro. Iran and Sis. Pam Hillman were there from White Plains church near Sepastopol, Mississippi. Sis. Pam was speaking at a ladies retreat Friday and Saturday and they stayed over to be with us in service.

It was a super thrill to have all of these friends with us yesterday. It was a blessing to us to see them all!

If you have never been to Homecoming in Sharonville, you owe it to yourself to go sometime. Seeing the food laid out in the local recreation center is worth the trip!

Thank you Pastor Randy Brown for inviting us to be a part of your Homecoming celebration. We enjoyed it very much and we love you and your folks.

That wraps up another wonderful weekend. We have revival beginning Wednesday for Pastor Kelly Rogers at Dodds (next door to the barn) and then their Homecoming at 1:00 on Sunday.

Thank you for stopping in today.

Davy