The Latest Report from Brother Tom in Nigeria
REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER 2009 (TOM EKPOT JR)
Greetings to you all, who love God and wait for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We thank you all for your individual and collective sacrifices. Our hearts go to the family os sister Lucille, who recently passed on. She was of positive influence to us in Africa, even though we did not meet her. The few years we came to know, she was full of spirit for the work of mission. I know we all will miss her, but we are encouraged that we will meet with her in heaven. Your prayers are being answered in our lives daily.
Opportunities are coming our way to reach many people with the Gospel of Christ. Besides, working in a Bible work as well brings more opportunities to teach and preach the sincere Gospel of Christ. The month of November was filled with exiting activities. Being one but last month of the year, many things were really on the move. It was sometimes difficult to get people’s attention. However, the word of God was also on the move. Here in the school, it was very hectic as we took our first semester exams, ready to end the semester on December 4th. It is interesting to see young men who have dedicated their lives to study the Bible in order to save themselves and others. Most of them have to do this under very stressful conditions of hunger and lack of the basic needs of life. Their sacrifice always encourage and motivate me the Lord’s service.
During this month, the Lord took me to speak to Christians in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria. I spoke in the three day annual Gospel meeting of the Church of Christ, Gwarimpa, Abuja. It was well attended by congregations in the FCT. On Sunday Bible class, I taught the adult section. The elders asked me to deal with the deity of Christ. It was an educative class because I once again realized that I should not assume anything. I thought that the subject of Christ’s deity is not a controversial one in Nigeria. But I was mistaken. However, at the end of the class, many expressed their satisfaction with what the Bible teaches.
The Church at Toro is doing fine. We are trying to raise money to cement the floor, as the population of children is increasing, and most of them are sitting on the dust. As you can see in the picture, there are not enough seats, therefore, some people have to sit on stones, and some on mud bricks. We pray before too long, we should be able to cement the dusty floor to protect the children from sicknesses. At Foron Mission, we are planning for a three day Open-Air preaching and door knock from 24th-26th December. This is a time people celebrate Christmas, and we want to fill them with the message of Christ, as we speak to them about the New Testament Church. Please, pray 
for this congregation and the success of this program. We have to take permission from the local chief and the police to avoid interference by the Moslems. At Old Foron, the church has started casting block to erect a meeting place. For some years now, the Church has been meeting in a small room of 10ft 12ft. It has been difficult to invite people we study with to come and worship with us because of space. We pray God will enable us build a place that will accommodated the small population of the Church, and allow the privilege of inviting our prospects to worship with us. Come Sunday the 6th, I will be out to Benue State for two weeks. We will be going for an extension program of the School of Biblical Studies, Jos. This program is geared toward developing leaders, teachers, and preachers for the work of ministry. It is taking the training to those who cannot afford to abandon their farming and other businesses to come to school to study the Bible. Please, remember us in prayers.
Grace and Peace
Tom Udu Tom Ekpot Jr.
LAST MONTH'S REPORT
REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER 2009 (TOM EKPOT)
Greeting to you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose death has given us hope beyond the physical things of this world. It is another month, just one to the end of the year. You can’t imagine how the year has flown so fast. Well, all glory to God and our Savior. It has been a hectic period. As the field is ripe for harvest, so is that of that of Christ. We are taking every little opportunity God give us to reach the minds of people with the gospel message. It is more interesting in the villages, because people are more interested in God out there than the inner city. I guess it is the same in many places.
The Children of Toro Tom with the Children
The Church at Toro is a congregation located in the village, where everything are mostly in the natural forms, even the hearts of men are still in a very crude state. This congregation averages 40 in number, with children forming the majority of the membership, followed by women, most of them in their 60s and 70s. The children and the women, including some men are zealous for God. They come from far distances to meet for Bible study and worship services. The building is made of mud bricks, and the floor is still in its natural form, with dust blowing around. The building is surrounded by corn field. It is a nice place to meet for worship because there is nothing to distract attention.
The Church in Toro after Worship
This congregation is struggling congregation, despite all attempts by some denominations to cause them disaffection, they have remained resolute for God. Please, do remember these people in your prayers, even as some of them are struggling with sin. I have included some of their pictures.
I have included also a picture of some of my students who love going with me to teach these brethren. The two students were baptized a year ago. But they are very zealous to learn more and get back to preach in the local congregations. The two of them are the pioneer members of their home congregations. Since they became Christians, their relations rejected them. So while in school here in Jos, they rely on Christian charity for survival. We do try help them as we have opportunity. They hope to graduate next May with certificate in Bible. One of them has only one hand. You may not understand how life is with him, because Africa is not like US, where there are facilities for physical challenged people. Besides, this brother cannot see well. We are trying to see how we can provide him with a glass. His courage always challenge me.
The Church at Mazah is doing fine. We had one baptism there during the month of October. I am invited to come to the capital territory and present a two day lesson on the political influence of Christians and the deity of Christ. Keep praying for me. The program comes up on the 19-20th of November. We are planning for an outreach at Foron in December. The Church is doing fine. We are having some studies going on there as well.
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