In This Issue:
Give You Hope
Happiest People
Praise Notes
Prayer Requests
Encouragement
Opportunities to Serve
Praise and Thanksgiving
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
In several international surveys Nigerians have been labeled as the "happiest people on earth," usually ranking either first or nearly the first among surveys of scores of nations. Yet Nigeria also is a country with social and economic problems that can stagger your imagination. Maybe they have something to teach all of us:
The gift of being able to look on the bright side and to throw a party in the midst of difficulties is not a bad thing.
And especially for Christian believers there is always HOPE for a brighter tomorrow.
Michael Johnson put it another way: "Pressure is nothing more than the shadow of great opportunity." This year
has been a tough one for many working in missions, yet for the past three months, despite the continuing
challenges, there has been a pending sense of GREAT THINGS AHEAD at WATS. We are definitely at the right
place, at the right time, doing the right thing! The Christian Church in Africa is on the move, and training
of its leadership is the matrix of a very awesome future. Pray that God will help us to continue dancing.
- November was a busy month at WATS, starting out with a "Back to the Basics" spiritual renewal week focus, November 3 – 7. During the same week we were visited by a great pediatric medical team representing five different churches led by Maryann McLeod of Mt. Pisgah UMC in Alpharetta, Georgia who ministered to over 350 children. Both students and staff responded very positively to the spiritual renewal re-focus on the Christian basics of New Birth, repentance, confession, restitution, and sanctification. The teaching background, in the week prior to the spiritual renewal week, was on moving away from the popular default "other Gospel" of seeking God´s blessings without seek a relationship with God, which is being preached all over Africa with nearly fanatic fervor. We believe God has raised up WATS to encourage African Christians to move BACK TO THE BASICS.
- During November Ruth Veltkamp took our Masters students through her ever-popular module on World Christian Movement. Pastor Sola Ajibulu covered a Masters module on Church and State, while David Adeleke taught History of Islam, and Kalu Okechukwu taught Greek Exegesis.
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Wedding bells are ringing for several WATS staff members and students as we near the end of
another semester:
- A masters student and a sister working in the WATS library were wedded on November 29th.
- Victor Azubuike (a senior) is celebrating both his wedding and his ordination into the Anglican ministry (Ikwuano Diocese of the Anglican Communion in Umuahia Abia State);
- One of our women students from the Nigerian Army chaplaincy is wedding on December 13th.
- Praise God for successful lung surgery in Dallas, Texas, for Dr. Charles Osume, one of our WATS teachers. Keep praying for his continued recovery.
- We thank God for encouraging signs of financial progress after months of the pinch of hard times. In November Friends of WATS sponsored two well-attended fundraising dinners, in Atlanta, Georgia, and in Easley, South Carolina, as well as a smaller meeting in Memphis, Tennessee with seven key pastors. A special Guest of Honor at both dinners (November 17 and 18) was Most Rev. Dr. Joseph S. Ajayi, Archbishop of Lagos, Methodist Church Nigeria and a very active member of the WATS Governing Council. David Byrd represented his family and gave their gift of framed, antique first edition, 1611 King James Bible pages, to donors who sponsored scholarships. These donors became founding members of the David Livingston Society. Praise God for the $112,000 that was pledged for scholarships at WATS. (If you are interested in more information on the David Livingston Society and the Byrd family´s generous gift of Bible pages, contact Patricia Conlee at 678-226-4733.) Praise God for this progress! Pray that pledges will be redeemed ASAP! Response to other recent direct mail appeals has resulted thus far in another $25,000 toward urgent needs. Praise God!
- During November I had the privilege of challenging students and staff at two US Bible colleges to see what the Holy Spirit is doing around the world in the Twenty-First Century as the greatest change in global Christianity since the Reformation. The global epicenter of Christianity today is 10,000 to 12,000 miles south and east of where it was in 1800, and the US is now the largest missionary-receiving country in the world. WOW! Three days at Vennard College in Oskaloosa, Iowa, and one day at Kentucky Mountain Bible College made me eager to do more to help the next generation of Christian missionaries to see that old paradigms must change if we are to keep pace with what the Holy Spirit is doing in our world! Perhaps an indirect, though sad, testimony of the validity of what I shared was that Vennard College PERMANENTLY CLOSED ITS DOORS later in the month, after 98 distinguished years of history.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for our undergraduate students as they conclude another semester and leave for their year-end break on December 12. Final review and final exams are already getting underway!
- Pray for strategic Masters modules this month: Ruth Veltkamp teaches Beliefs and Practices of Islam. Pastor Sola Ajibulu teaches Principles of Evangelism. Dr. Zamani Kafang, provost of ECWA Seminary in Kagoro, in northern Nigeria, teaches Old Testament Prophets, while Dr. David Johnston (a new-comer to our adjunct faculty, from the University of Pennsylvania) teaches Hadith, Qur´an and Sharia.
- Pray for the peace badly needed in Jos, Nigeria - about 1,000 miles northeast of WATS. Jos is a key city, especially for missionary activities. During the final days of November violence erupted, with many hundreds killed. What was at its core a struggle for political power once again escalated into fighting along ethnic and religious lines, with many churches and mosques burned to the ground . . . AGAIN! Jos was once known as a peaceful and quiet city. Pray for scores of resident international missionaries, and that peace will return and reconciliation will be effected. WATS adjunct teachers living in Jos include Professor Danny McCain, Professor Oumar Danfulani, Dr. Randy Morphee, Professor Cyril Imo, and several others.
- Pray for our faculty and staff at WATS as they face the tough challenges of year-end activities without the normal financial resources they so urgently need. Our short-fall in major donations this year has been traumatic, even though we are deeply grateful for the significant rise in the overall number of donors and 75 new scholarships. Pray for our Friends of WATS efforts—as well as those going on in Nigeria - for a great year-end response. We strongly believe that God has answers that we ourselves cannot yet see!
- Pray that the much needed gift in kind of 250,000 air miles will be donated in December to support the necessary air travel for Gary and Patricia to meet the challenge of fund raising in the U.S. and Africa.
Thank YOU for being part of the WATS team! Your prayers and your financial support are the life lines that are answering the greatest need to further God’s Kingdom and we are ever grateful for each of you!
- WATS can use a wide range of tools, which can be carried over by work teams or shipped from Illinois: carpentry, masonry, painting, mechanical.
- We are excited to announce that we now have the ability to accommodate the many requests of our Friends of WATS for making donations by automatic bank draft. If you would like to make a monthly contribution to WATS, please contact Patricia Conlee, Development Director, at 678-226-4733 or via email at PJCafrica@aol.com.
- Check www.watsonline.org for giving online!
Yours for the African harvest,
Gary and Emma Lou Maxey
| Friends of WATS | WEST AFRICA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY | |
| 100 Crescent Centre Parkway, Suite 710 | PMB 003, Ipaja | |
| Tucker, GA 30084-7060 | Lagos, NIGERIA | |
| Ph: 678-226-4733 or 404-895-0018 | Ph: +234-1-898-1676 or 1914 | |
| Fax: 404-806-4433 | EM: GMAfrica@aol.com | |
For more information, check out our web site: www.watsonline.org