Dear Prayer Team,

Preparations for Nigeria

Praise the Lord! I received my Nigerian visa. I have been asked to speak at several Bible schools and to minister to a good group of pastors on the godly living. It has been my burden to pray for revival around the world, and I see this as an opportunity for God to refresh those serving the Lord in full-time service. Last year in Malawi I discovered how shallow the teaching of God’s Word was. I suspect that with more training schools that the situation is not as serious in Nigeria. On a positive note I am really looking forward to God giving these men a vision of being godly–so close to God that they have His heart and live like their Heavenly Father.

Building up the character of men in the ministry is of high importance. Just think of the pain and consequences that happen when one pastor falls into sin. Without a vision for godly character, men seek for other things to live for. We will need your prayers. (Start praying now for these pastors!). We do not want just messages but life transformation. This is what we seek from the Lord.

I almost went to Nigeria last year. In the end, I did not go at the request of the Bible school coordinator. It was during elections and the political scene can turn ugly quickly. We remember all too clearly how a good country like Kenya could turn into a horrible bloodbath over election issues. Although I will not be there very long, I have a busy schedule. Each morning at 8 am I will be in a different Bible School. Then I will return to the main venue for a series of meetings on The Godly Man.

I will fly into Lagos and stay largely in Benin City close to the Gulf of Guinea (see middle /bottom of map). In the evening I will speak to pastors again but then in the villages. Rev. Godstime will be coordinating these meetings. He is a busy man trying to pull in as many resources as he can for the sake of the Gospel in Nigeria. For example, he will tell you on his website how he is collecting used Bibles and Christian books, fixing them up and distributing them to those who want and need them. They speak English in Nigeria.

“Our goal is to distribute 100,000 Bibles into the hands of 100,000 people
who are without Bibles. By the end of October 2008.” (Rev. Godstime)
http://spreadthewordministries.org/

They do not care what shape the Bibles are in. The people do not have money for Bibles, but they can repair them. You have to pay for shipping but sounds like a good project for a church or a youth group.

They have asked me for Christian training materials for these pastors/evangelists or pastors/evangelists-to-be. This is the problem. In India, printing prices are low. We can do much more with less. In Africa they lack resources so these materials are expensive even if produced there. For the most part, they do not have computers and printers (and the supplies) so it is not easy to download and print.

BFF is contributing contributing 100 copies of The Godly Man. Even this would have been prohibitively expensive if I did not reduce the book down from over 500 pages to over 300.

The lack of good training materials is a problem in many parts of the developing world where the church is actively growing.

I will share more at another time, but I am seeking wisdom from the Lord on how to supply Christian leader training centers with mini-printing stations: a place they can print out the copies they need for their ministry training programs. Although I send Cds and Dvds overseas, costs go up dramatically for heavier printed materials.