Dear Friends in Christ,

     February is upon us, and I find myself wondering where January went! We've had our Leadership Orientation, our ministry teams (committees) are gearing up to meet and set their agendas for the year, and we've just finished our financial brochure and will be mailing it out within the week. So to some degree, January has been a month to pray, organize, roll up our shirtsleeves, and get ready to find ways to more effectively "follow Jesus, make disciples, and transform the world."

     Some of you may remember my referring to my friend from Nigeria, Israel Ola Oyatunde, shortly after Linda and I moved here to Rehobeth. As we start to get busy, a part of his story can be helpful to us.

     When Israel was a young boy in Nigeria he lived in a village with his widowed mother and several siblings. One day, she gathered the children together and told them there would not be enough money to pay for them to go to school to get an education. All of them were going to have to get jobs and pool their money and pay for one among them to receive an education. Israel was a second generation Christian, his parents having been led to Christ by missionaries, and he had a burning desire to read what was in "The Book" for himself. But without an education, all seemed lost. So after he finished working his day job like his siblings, he went into the fields and set traps to catch small animals to sell in the market, and then kept those pennies aside to one day pay for his education.

     When his cache was discovered by his siblings, they beat him up, took his money, and put it with the other money they were earning.  That did not deter Israel.  He kept with his plan, and after having endured several beatings and repeated loss of money, his mother finally told the other children that Israel was doing his part, like the rest of them, and that he could keep his extra pennies.  The day came when Israel was finally able to pay to start school.  He started in the first grade at age 15!

     Always at the top of his class, he studied and read voraciously, and finally made his way to the United States to attend Greensboro College.  It was my privilege to attend the graduation ceremony and watch him walk across the stage to receive his diploma in Business Administration.  Why that field?  Because back home, he wanted to lead people to Jesus Christ, and lay people with business degrees talking about Jesus were viewed more credible than trained religious people talking about Jesus, and he wanted to be as effective as possible.

     Israel believed "Whatever you conceive in your mind, believe with all your heart, and surrender to the Lord, He will accomplish."  That's his way of quoting Paul, who said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Let that be your guiding principle as we move on into this new year, and I have no doubt, God will bless us all.

Yours in the Love of Christ,

Bob

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