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I would also like to
thank the entire congregation of Grace Bible Church, near and far,
for the encouragement, prayers, and financial support to make such
a journey possible, and successful! And thanks for sending me
enough money to get home, even though some people here preferred
to buy sound equipment!
And I also want to thank our key contacts in Pakistan (we will
call them Rick and Tony), and Pastor Kingsley Emenike and Pastor
Solomon in Nigeria for their wonderful hospitality and their hard
work in arranging our events.
And I especially give thanks and praise to our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ! His wall of fire was around us for the entire 5
weeks, and He provided for us as Jehovah Jireh at every turn. He
opened all the doors and pushed us through them and I thank Him
for His selfless sacrifice and His never-ending faithfulness.
Nigeria Report – 2006
The Lord did amazing
things once more. We came prepared by His grace, and we left
looking in wonder at what He is allowing us to participate in.
Our events were all successful. We taught God’s Word to
unbelievers, believers, and pastors, and it was received with
clarity, despite a difference in English accents.
The first few days we
rested and got accustomed to the home we were staying in. It
was donated for our stay because we were missionaries. And thank
God because it saved us a lot of money we didn’t have for a
hotel. We want to thank Mrs. Ako in Nigeria for her
generosity.
But throughout Benue
state electricity is always going in and out, and as well the
water tank needed to be filled every couple days. We would
sometimes have no water or electricity on 95 degree days, so we
had some testing of patience and comfort the first week.
We began the 5 day
Pastors’ Conference on Tuesday and taught for 1 ½ - 2 hours each
day. We were always picked up late for our events due to what
they call “African time”. But we got used to starting late and
ending late. In their defense there was limited transportation
available.
Pastor Kingsley, our
doctrinal contact, did a good job planning with limited resources.
He has no transportation and his home is 700 miles away for our
location for the events, which were in a poor town called Gboko.
He utilized the services of the chairman of the Pentecostal
fellowship in Gboko, Pastor Solomon. Please keep him in your
prayers as it appears he has come around on the truth of Eternal
Security.
Pastor Kingsley is very
doctrinal but decided to use Pastor Solomon’s help. Pastor
Solomon became motivated about our program when God put him on
a serious sickbed just weeks before our arrival. He was therefore
very convicted that this conference would be very special from
God, so he aggressively promoted the events.
We had 200
pastors/church workers there each day on average. He said
normally they only get 50-100 people for events like this. But
God went ahead of us and set the stage, Deu 31:8. There were all
Pentecostal pastors who believe in a variety of false doctrines,
but especially that you could lose your salvation when you sin.
So we had our work cut out for us, or should I say God had His
work cut out for Him. But this was easy for the Lord.
We just presented the
doctrines we have been taught by Pastor McLaughlin for years. We
taught each day on a different doctrine of salvation and provided
them with copies of all the notes. But we weaved in principles
about eternal security, as the theme of the conference was “Secure
beyond our thoughts”. It worked out well, gradually teaching them
about the security of our salvation.
We used Isa 55:8-9 to
remind them how far God’s ways are above ours. This allowed us to
remind them what a small piece of God’s puzzle we know, and that
there is something greater beyond human thoughts, eternal
security.
In the end of the 5
day conference about 75% of the pastors and deacons had a change
of heart. They were very thankful for the clear teaching on
this doctrine and they said a lot of their questions were cleared
up. Some were so grateful and want more study materials to help
them, including materials to help them with original languages.
The Lord opened their
hearts and then filled them. Pastor Kingsley was right when he
said the people were ready and hungry for true doctrine. These
pastors are now going back to their villages teaching our
doctrines of Justification, Redemption, Reconciliation,
Propitiation, and Sanctification. We even had a Q&A session the
following week which sured up many of their questions.
That same week we
held crusades in Gboko, and a few hundred people came out for
that, mostly believers. The Pentecostal Pastors said there
were a lot of unbelievers there, but we later discovered they were
using their definition of an unbelievers: a carnal believer! They
meant carnal believers who they thought lost their salvation due
to sin in their lives. So when the people at this crusade heard
about the free gift of eternal life, I’m sure they were relieved
to say the least. Some pastors resisted this teaching to the
people because of fear of condoning sin, but it was taught and
largely accepted by church members and pastors alike.
We also held
childrens’ crusades and teachings and the children loved us
and wanted to hear every word. These consisted mostly of
believing children from local churches. We got them the accurate
gospel and you never know who believed in Jesus as their Lord and
Savior for the first time.
The second week in
Nigeria consisted of crusades in 2 villages. It started with
childrens’ crusades in the early evening while it was still light
out, then we had open-air crusades at night, for 3 straight nights
in the village of Adi, and then 2 more nights in the village of
Kusuv. This was a whole new realm! We were now in poor and
somewhat primitive African villages. The majority of people
in these villages were into the occult, voodoo, and idol worship.
There were true unbelievers there, waiting to be fished out from
the kingdom of darkness. They were slaves to false gods, and
didn’t yet know the good news about the Lord paying for their sins
on the cross, and offering them eternal life by faith alone in
Jesus Christ alone.
In the village of Adi,
approximately 2000 people attended the first night, then 4000
people the next night and 5000 people the third night. We
believe many came to Christ as we taught about the only way to
eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ. You can see samples
of this in the video clips. They received the clear message about
the Lord’s beautiful saving gift offered to all members of the
human race. They left those nights understanding that God had
come to save His people.
At each village we
had to first meet the chief of the village. This was for
official permission to preach the Word of God to his people, and
to exchange gifts. We gave them a New American Standard Bible
(they love anything American), and Pastor McLaughlin’s book on
Eternal Security. At one village they gave us a goat in return!
They said they wanted us to be well fed! This was actually a very
generous gift from a poor people. But the bottom line, we
received the chief’s permission to preach to the people of his
village.
In the village of
Kusuv we preached salvation to 1000-2000 people for 2 nights in a
row. And there too we believe many idol worshippers came to
Christ. Pastor Kingsley estimated that about half of the crowds
gathering were believers, and the other half unbelievers. The
fishing was good.
But I believe the
greatest thing to come out of our visit to Nigeria is our
confirmation of Pastor Kingsley as a man totally committed to the
truth found in Bible doctrine. We held 3 church services for
him on 3 consecutive Sundays at a temporary church location. We
even got the chance to hear him teach the final Sunday, and it was
beautiful to hear solid doctrinal teaching flowing from his
mouth.
Pastor Kingsley has now
found a location for his church in this new town. He is moving to
Gboko and leaving his wife and 2 children in the city of Port
Harcourt, about 12 hours away by bus. But this is where he feels
the Lord has led him.
Some things in Nigeria
are fairly expensive (such as technology products), but some
things are quite cheap compared to the U.S. (such as rent and
food). Pastor Kingsley has found a building that can serve as a
church and a place to live. It has 5 rooms and a good location
and he is renting it for only 800 American dollars per year. We
helped him secure this location, but there are still other basic
needs we’d like to help him with. He is in need of furnishings, a
good air conditioner, bibles, and transportation. We would also
like to financially support his ministry on a monthly basis to
help him and his family. Unemployment in Nigeria is about 50%.
Pastor Kingsley will
be operating as our point man, distributing doctrinal materials to
local pastors as well as running his own church, and evangelizing
in the villages! He is very focused on sharing the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and he is the most doctrinally sound
contact we have made to date.
I’d like to thank Pastor
Bill Wenstrom and Pastor Jim Rickard for introducing him to Bible
doctrine 2 ½ years ago. He is now studying under several
doctrinal pastors and is looking to get Pastor McLaughlin on radio
in the city of Gboko. Kingsley would also like to purchase loud
speakers for the outside of his church to play Pastor McLaughlin’s
tapes to the neighborhood! (this is legal in Nigeria, not
disturbing the peace!)
Another opportunity for
evangelism will be with the used projector we left him. In the
villages he will be showing Christian movies such as the Passion,
and this will attract thousands of people to come listen to the
gospel.
About one year ago
Pastor Kingsley left the only job he had to feed his family. He
was an associate pastor at a Pentecostal church, and was trying to
bring Bible doctrine teaching into his church. But it was largely
rejected. After much consideration and prayer, Pastor Kingsley
resigned. He could not stand being associated with the false
doctrines any longer. He has stepped out by faith, also now
leaving his comfortable city of Port Harcourt for a small poor
town called Gboko, where there is greater need for the gospel to
be spread. This man has been and is relying on the grace of God
for support, and I believe the Lord has led us to him, as a man
who really wants the unadulterated truth of Bible doctrine. And
we now have an opportunity to support this man, who is ready to do
the Lord’s work on a daily basis.
And then we took a
few flights to Pakistan!
Pakistan Report – 2006
(as you can see in this
pic there is actually 2 of me! The Lord did amazing miracles for
us and this enabled us to preach in 2 places at once)
Year 2 in Pakistan
included a different environment and different purpose.
Last year we established
relationships with “Rick” in one city and Pastor “Tony” in another
city. In fact many of you had the chance to meet Pastor Tony at
our NE Bible conference in August. This year we went back with
the primary objective of seeing the progress of Bible doctrine in
these churches.
The first 10 days in
Pakistan were with Rick and his family. Rick’s parents, as
known as Papa Jee and Mama Jee, are positive towards the Bible
doctrine that Rick has embraced. And this year was like a family
reunion with them. And it was wonderful to see the progress of
their church – Grace Bible Church Pakistan. Even without a church
building they continue to teach Bible doctrine in the street
meetings and in their home. And Rick’s mission as an
evangelist is to spread true Bible doctrine to pastors throughout
Pakistan. Rick currently has 15-20 villages that he visits, to
share doctrine with pastors, believers, and children.
Every month Rick and
his team translate 2 pamphlets, similar to our Tree of Life.
The title for their pamphlets is GRACE, and every
two weeks 3000 copies are copied and distributed among the
pastors, Christians, and anyone else who is curious to read them.
And recently Rick has translated and printed Pastor McLaughlin’s
book “Do you believe the Bible is the Word of God?”, and 1700
copies were distributed at no charge.
We also had dinner with
3 of the Christian teachers that we are currently sponsoring.
These 3 men are teachers in schools in Pakistan and they are there
to be lights to the world. Please keep them in prayer as what
they are doing is not an easy job. But they do get the chance to
spread the good news about Jesus Christ from time to time.
It is important to be
wise as serpents, and meek as doves. There are certain things we
can say, and others we cannot, for the safety of our friends in
Pakistan.
In Grace Bible Church
Pakistan, Mama Jee has also had a desire for years of opening an
orphanage, and maybe more than that. In fact, Carrie from
Chicago, who joined us on this trip, has the same vision for a
unique type of home, before coming on this trip. When Carrie and
Rick’s mother met and talked, Carrie discovered why God motivated
her to go on this trip. They both had the idea of opening an
orphanage/rest home; that could care for the very young and the
very old. And Mama Jee “coincidentally” lost her job a few
months ago, and she told her employer that fired her that God had
a different plan for her coming soon. They laughed at her. But
again God vindicated His faithful believer. Mama Jee had been
praying for years that God would use her to run an orphanage, and
now she is getting her opportunity.
The timing of God seemed
so right, as clear doors opened for this venture to begin. And
Carrie and her friend Carol Ann from Chicago decided they would
like to financially support the monthly needs to open a small
orphanage. Even then we were going to wait on it, but God
continued to open the doors! In a 3-4 block radius of their
Christian colony, a perfect building opened up for rent just days
later – and the orphanage has begun. 10-12 children will be
housed and sent to school and taught Bible class at night.
Mama Jee is getting to live her dream and will be running this
orphanage along with the help of at least one other Christian
woman. She currently has 4 children selected for the orphanage.
Rick’s mother is so
excited and her dream before God has come to fruition. And one
day she hopes to care for a couple of elderly people in their
area, who have no one to help them, and this will also allow the
elderly people to get involved in caring for and teaching the
children, giving them joy and a purpose in life, a way to serve
the Lord in their old age. And we want to officially thank Carrie
and Carol Ann for taking on this commitment and going forward by
faith! It is awesome to see God work through people with positive
volition.
Down the road there is a
bigger vision for Rick’s church called Grace Bible Church
Pakistan. We want to start a Christian Institution and Church
building. Papa Jee has been a school administrator for many
years, and we’d like to gradually develop a piece of land into a
church hall, orphanage, and a school. As Rick’s family may one
day lose their jobs and current home due to surrounding religious
pressures, this would be a good long-term solution to freeing them
from the bondages of religion, and to fulfilling their goals for
the Lord.
Rick also says that
Muslim students will join their Christian school for the better
quality education that is known to be offered in Christian
schools. So the Word of God will be taught to whomever will
listen. We would like to start a long-term building fund; to
first buy a piece of land, then lay a cement foundation, then one
day build a hall, and eventually a school and residences there.
And one day the current orphanage can be relocated to this
Christian Institution, serving many purposes in one building. One
simple hall the size of the prep school rooms can serve as an
orphanage, school, and church building. This is how things are
done in Pakistan. They make it work, and in fact it is a
prosperous situation to them.
We also had several
successful church meetings and crusades with Rick at various towns
and villages. In open air crusades, and inside small church
buildings, we taught about the grace of the Lord and the
accomplishments of Christ on the cross, and the messages were well
received by all who listened. These meetings usually consisted of
several hundred people.
Rick also visited the
disaster area at Christmas time, where the horrible earthquakes
were last year. He and members of his church brought gifts and
Bible teaching to the kids suffering there.
After our time with
Rick and his family, we traveled to stay with Pastor Tony.
After visiting our church in August at the NE Bible conference,
Pastor Tony was strongly convicted about the power of Bible
doctrine and the doctrine of Eternal Security.
Upon visiting his church
again, I could see the growth in his congregation members. The
believers in his church were more mature and more receptive to the
true doctrines of the Bible. They no longer had a preoccupation
with healings and prayers. It appears Pastor Tony is bringing his
people along and he has told us he often teaches directly from
Pastor McLaughlin’s notes.
We also had several
church meetings and crusades around the large city of Lahore.
Unfortunately we had a Pastors’ conference for several hundred
pastors get washed out, as it was to be held in an outdoor tent
meeting. But Pastor Tony did translate and print a booklet for
them on the doctrines of Salvation. And not only are the pastors
very receptive to it, but they want more copies of the booklet to
share with their people and other churches. Pastor Tony has
requested funds to print another 5000 copies of the notes on
Reconciliation, Redemption, Propitiation, Sanctification, and
Justification. He is very excited about the positive volition of
many pastors he knows.
The thing we are most
excited about is the cable television programming. As you know,
Pastor Tony put our crusades on TV last year. And this past
August we taped about 15 lessons with Tony translating myself and
Pastor John Farley. And while we were visiting we were able to
watch Pastor John on cable television while we were there!
Right now the
Christian cable channel reaches about 70,000 homes in the city
of Lahore, but next month it is expanding to reach about 2 million
people. There has been a delay on expanding this for a variety of
reasons, but they are gradually expanding the area of coverage.
The expansion should
take place in January and the monthly expense will increase from
$170 per month to $200 per month. And the cable program with
Pastor McLaughlin’s teachings is being shown at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.
every day! The Lord is working fast in these last days in which
we live.
We also now have a
chance to air Bible doctrine messages on TV in Rick’s hometown.
Pastor Tony is also
working on a Pastors’ conference for 2007, and this time Pastor
McLaughlin will travel to Pakistan to teach about 5000 Christian
pastors and church workers from all over Pakistan. He will also
set up a crusade for about 20,000 people. So please keep that in
your prayers! And keep Pastor McLaughlin’s health in your prayers
so I don’t have to do that one!
If you’d like to help us
help our missionary contacts in Nigeria or Pakistan, please let us
know. We trust these men are doing their best work for the Lord
in a biblically accurate way. Please keep these men in your
prayers as their work includes many challenges! Thank you
very much for your attention! If you’d like to review our current
Needs for these ministries, check out our Needs List. You can
email me for a copy at
info@freegiftministries.org.
IN CHRIST’S MERITS,
Scott Grande
If you'd like a copy
of our specific needs for different ministries, please email us at
info@freegiftministries.org
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