2020, 1st QUARTER UPDATE MINISTRIES FROM PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA.

“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence” (Psalm 91:3ff).

INTRODUCTION

Our year started with many spiritual exercises, namely; prayers, teachings, fellowship, plans for the year, 2019 account balance and 2020 budget, reopening of the seminary with more new intakes, school and Sunday school reopening, church members transfer of names to the new year, reception of our 1st pastoral internship to serve a year with us with his wife, the continuation of preaching on the Golden Order of Salvation, proof reading of the Reformed Baptist Manual for use in our churches to be published this year and the wedding of one of our long standing sister- Chinyere Chinwo.

LANDLEASE PAYMENT 2020Our landlord is still troubling us about the rent. This year he demanded a two- year payment but we managed to pay a year. He is advertising the land for sale being annoyed that our church is poor compared to the new generation prosperity gospel churches. Pray that The Lord would provide for us before the next three years mark which he gave us to buy an exchange of land.

GRACE THEOLOGICAL CONFERENCEFebruary 10th-12th after the reopening of the seminary Dr Dan and Mrs Pat Hill of USA came for this conference. This conference is coordinated by Rev. Fred Abua in Nigeria for them.

Four years ago he came to Nigeria and later chose our church as the venue for his conference. Many were the attendances each day. He taught through the book of Ephesians while his wife, Pat, taught the women in a break away session on practical issues affecting women in the church

DR DAN AND MRS. PAT HILL WITH CONFERENCE ATTENDEES.

BIBLES AND LITERATURE DISTRIBUTIONWe are happy to testify God’s goodness in answer to our prayers. The Chapel Library Boxes which have been lost in transit since 2017 have now started coming. Through FedEx we have now received five boxes this quarter and the distribution is ongoing. Our hospital team now use them on hospital visitation and are well received.

We also received the Sword and Trowel, 2020 No 1 edition and shared them to our pastors and students. I gave an assignment to our 3rd and 4th

year theological classes from the articles on Roles of women by Dr Masters and Theological History by Dr Nick Needem. We received 40 copies of Evangelical Times International and distributed them also to our students and pastors. They testified of the wealth of knowledge they derived and the understanding of Biblical doctrines there taught.

We also distributed 10,000 Golden Thoughts 2020 calendars to our region from the TBS-London.

On 25th March, a day before the Governors of Lagos and Rivers State closed the borders as a measure to contain COVID-19, we received our Bible consignment from Lagos from the TBS.

244 boxes of assorted Bibles and leaflets were received in four pallets. The distribution has begun with the large print Westminister Reference Bibles to the pastors as their pulpit Bible. We are grateful to God for the TBS and the donors for this large grant received. May God bless His Word to our people as they read with understanding.

Boxes of Assorted Bibles and Leaflets

BIBLE/ LEAFLET DISTRIBUTION

CORONA VIRUS/ COVID-19When the news of the outbreak of this pestilence came to us from Lagos and Abuja, our Governor acted fast and closed the borders of the state on 26th March and all markets on the 28th. Since then we recorded only two cases, one having been treated and cleared. The Governor, Nyesom Wike pronounced some measures to help keep us safe.

Amongst the other measures put in place was that religious service should not be more than 50 persons. Since then, we have been having services and prayer meetings. We have turned our Bible studies into prayer meetings also to intercede for the world. Brethren we have been praying for you especially for the elderly which sometimes I call to ascertain their safety. We shall get over it by the Grace of God.

Since the markets were closed and some government workers asked to work from home, hardship became intensive among our members. The other day I sent an elder and a deacon to visit a family with a loaf of bread and some biscuits for the two children. The joy of the family was great, they even shared the loaf of bread with their neighbors. That made the leadership to plan a palliative for the members with our scanty resources. We bought half bag of rice, a family donated a half bag of rice and three boxes of indomie noodles, another member donated 15,000 naira which was used to buy more boxes of indomie noodles and sachets of tomato sauce. In the church on Sunday 12th April 2020, the distribution was made to hungry members. We dispatched the remaining parcels to our neighbors, and from the testimony of a member, her neighbor received it with joy and surprise explaining how her children were asking for rice and she couldn’t afford it, surprisingly it was made available through the hospitality package given to her from the church.

COVID-19 HOSPITALITY PACKAGE

We are grateful that we still have the freedom of worship together with the social and physical distancing measure. We wash our hands in the church premises; check our temperature with the thermometer and use hand sanitizers. We continually pray that it will not be too much on us as in; for if China, America, UK, Spain, Italy, Germany and France could not withstand it, how can we then in Africa with our very poor healthcare system. Pray for us as we are praying for you!

VISITORS’ HOSPITALITY (2019-2020)The Lord has been blessing us with visitors to our church since last year. For that we had a visitors’ hospitality to welcome them. We had Hilary Okpohworho come from England and discovered our church. She became an immerse help to us – she fixed our website, taught mathematics in our school, donated scientific calculators to our students and obtained 40,000 naira from her church in England for some scientific laboratory equipment for our school.

Sister Preye Cleopas from Christian Evangelical Church, Dubai, originally from Bayelsa state in Nigeria. She has been looking for our kind of church every time she visits Port Harcourt until late last year she discovered us on the internet. On her visit she worshipped with us for two weeks with joy.

John Alabi, a son of a Deeper Life Pastor in Lagos. He discovered the Reformed Church through a WhatsApp video of Paul Washer sent to him by a friend. He listened and searched for more of such messages and came across John MacArthur, Dr. Masters, John Piper, Conrad Mbewe, etc. he was forbidden by his parents not to go to any Reformed Church in Lagos. When he came to Port Harcourt to do his National Service, his first assignment was to sort out where he could find a Reformed Church. Being directed to us, he came in November and was very glad he discovered us.

Chinwe is a final year Masters student at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT). She also listened to Paul Washer two years ago and did not come to know that our church existed until she came by it through my phone number in a sermon audio in the web. She sent a note to me and I gave her direction. She was so happy the first Sunday she worshipped with us. Many others followed them. Praise God for this wonderful gathering.

BAPTISMVISITOR’S HOSPITALITY

We baptized five new converts this year. Two were from Assemblies of God Church, two were from Roman Catholic background and are now Christians, and one was a pagan, joining himself to occultic practices and was sick near to death when he met his landlord who is one of our pastors. After the gospel was explained to him, he came to surrender to The Lord Jesus Christ in Salvation and found peace.

PRAYER POINTS:

BAPTISMAL CANDIDATES WITH CHURCH LEADERS

BAPTISMAL CANDIDATES

1. Pray for all our ministries to continue to grow. Due to COVID-19, the seminary, school, and Sunday school are on recession until further notice.

2. Pray for our land lease payment that God will make provision in due course.3. Pray for wisdom in the distribution of Bibles and literatures for the good of our people.4. Pray that the purpose of God in allowing Corona virus/ COVID-19 may be realized by many

seeing His Hand and turning to God – 2Chron.7:14.5. Pray for my continued good health as I continue my diabetic drugs and my family to be upheld by

the good hands of God for the Glory of His name.6. Pray that our members will see God’s good hand in the affairs of His world in His sovereignty

and Divine Providence.7. That COVID-19 will come to an end that the church might resume its activities throughout the

whole world with renewed strength, energy, vision and witness to God’s glory.8. Pray that more believers who are longing and looking for a church home may locate us in

fellowship.9. Pray for the newly baptized, that they may grow in their faith through their commitment to the

means of grace and union with Christ.