Greetings from the Ikpe Household – October 13, 2010

Thank you very much for your prayers! I know that God has been working powerfully over the last week in and through my life for His glory!

Gary and my short time on the radio in Accra went very well, and we shared about EMI, how to get involved, and the orphanage project we worked on in the north. God also provided opportunity for me to share some of my story–how I left my engineering job for full-time engineering missions work. Praise God!

After the team left on Wednesday evening, I spent some time around Accra with a man named Jesse. I learned more about his ministry to children and youth, training them to fear and honor the Lord. He desires to add to his existing structures so that he can host youth conferences.

I departed Ghana on Friday morning and landed in the crazy, sprawling city of Lagos, Nigeria. I had realized at the last minute when booking my flights that it was not going to be possible to have less that a one day layover in Lagos. Praise God for connections from my last time in Nigeria who were able to pick me up at the airport! My time at the airport included a period of feeling helpless and alone as I waited for my ride. God led me to some police officers who I waited with and was able to converse a little with. My friend John finally arrived and we started the tedious journey to his home using several taxis, trying not to over pay for their services.

After spending Friday night with John and his family in Lagos, a friend of theirs drove me back to the airport, where I waited 2 extra hours for my delayed flight to Akwa Ibom state. I have spent the past 3 days here with the Ikpe family who are storing supplies and equipment for the nearby Prayers Farm Nigeria project. Construction on this project that EMI sent a team to design last year will likely start in a couple months, as God provides.

I preached unexpectedly, with a couple minutes notice, on Sunday morning at the Ikpe’s church, and God used that message to encourage and challenge the body. The Ikpe family is so grateful for EMI’s work on the Prayers Farm report that I have shared, and everyone is looking forward to what God has ahead. Yesterday we spent time praying and fasting specifically for Prayers Farm and those involved. Today I will deliver the report to Chief Thompson, president of Prayers Farm Nigeria.
Praise the Lord for the time I have been able to spend with Jane and Vine (the eldest Ikpe children), and the rest of the family: Mr. Matthew, Sister Anam, Deborah, and Emmanuella. God continues to grow us closer together, and I cherish this time to overflow into their lives as we pray, sing, worship, eat, play, and share life together. Please pray especially for Jane and me as we prayerfully wait on the Lord for what He has ahead in our lives.

Also pray that God would continue working in and through me as I enjoy 5 more days in Nigeria, meeting with a national architect and everything else that God has planned. To Jesus be all praise and glory!

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
– Jude 1:24-25

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