NO, WE HAVE NOT GONE BANANAS YET

Are we going bananas yet? No, but in a few weeks we should be enjoying these bananas and many more like them. Our backyard has about 15 bunches growing right now and when they rippen we will be feasting on them for awhile.


We are also enjoying feasting on the Word of God. The past two months have been very good for that as well as opportunities to share the gospel. We have gotten use to doing a lot more traveling just to get around the Abuja Zone. Jos city was easy to live in in many ways but Abuja is proving to be a big challenge in terms of travel.

We also have been making some good contacts. Judy has met some other expat ladies and they are even starting a study together. They are doing a study by John Piper called, 'Don't Waste Your Life'. I, Chuck, have also had the opportunity to share the gospel with some of the new contacts I have made. I have 3 men that I am meeting with now and several others I am following up. This past Thursday I was talking to one person and when asked, "What would you tell another person if they asked you how they can become a real Christian?", they said, "start doing what God says". A typical answer here. In continuing to probe they never mentioned anything about Jesus and being forgiven through Him. This is the problem we face here. Many claim to be Christians but are only religious, never fully understanding the gospel.

Of course not all claim to be Christian. Many follow aother religion and we are praying for open doors to share the love and forgiveness of Christ with them, especially during this time of the year when they are seeking and looking for forgiveness by another way and not "THE WAY".

The ECWA Leadership/Discipleship Conferences for Kaduna and Abuja Zones are just a few weeks away. Registration is going on in both places. We are expecting about 500 pastors, elders and other leaders in each location. Dave Dawson will be arriving at the end of this month and will be with us until mid October. I am anticipating that there will be lots of follow up to do after the Abuja conference. The theme of the conferences is "THE ROLE OF CHURCH LEADERSHIP IN THE BIBLICAL MODEL OF DISCIPLESHIP".