Swallowed up in Books!

John Wesley with his Bible "Beware you are not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge".

John Wesley, 1703-1791, founder of Methodism

An old Latin proverb warned, "Cave ab homine unius libri" (be cautious of the man of one book), yet John Wesley described himself exactly that way: as a "man of one book." By that he meant that though he was a reader of hundreds of books the Bible was the one supreme authority in his life.

At the same time, Wesley warned against being consumed with many books. Perhaps today´s contextualization of his advice from over 200 years ago would read something like, "Beware you are not swallowed up with computers, Google, Kindles™, iPods™ or MP3s." The inundation of our minds with easy-to-access information has clear advantages which were unknown to previous generations, yet the fundamental importance of love outweighs it many times over. May God save us from our own sophistication and return us to Biblical simplicity!

Praise Notes

The clearing of one of our two long-awaited containers at the beginning of November (which we reported in our late news last month) got us off to a great start. Thanks again to our friends in Moline, Illinois!
The BEST NEWS in November was our never-to-be-forgotten intensive week with Dr. Henry Blackaby, accompanied by his second son, Dr. Thomas Blackaby. Though nearly 75 years of age, Dr. Henry Blackaby spoke with authority and vigor a total of nine times. The word of God took deep root, and especially on Thursday there was a dramatic mass move of deep conviction and seeking of God´s face. The ministry of Dr. Tom Blackaby was also God-anointed and effective. In addition to four times in the chapel pulpit he spoke in several classes. Praise God with us for the great impact made by these two men of God!
The WATS Governing Council meeting November 6 was a good success. The biggest news was the election of a new chairman. Rt. Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Gbonigi has served WATS faithfully for nearly ten years, and has been chairman for more than five, but informed the council of his resignation prior to the meeting. Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Ajayi was unanimously chosen as the new chairman. Dr. Ajayi is the Archbishop of Lagos, Methodist Church Nigeria. He has served faithfully for the past two years on the Governing Council, ably representing the Prelate, Methodist Church Nigeria, and in his own right proving himself a great friend of WATS both in Nigeria and in the USA. Congratulations, Archbishop Ajayi, for this new appointment!
Masters modules in November included Dr. Offiong Ibok (among our newest resident faculty members), handling Topics in Systematic Theology, and Kalu Okechukwu (making excellent headway on his PhD in New Testament) working students through Greek Exegesis. Thank God for these two dedicated men of God!
The visit of a mission team from First Baptist Church, Jonesboro, Georgia, was another great highlight. The team of eight was led by Marybeth Leavell, and focused energetic work in four directions: painting of offices (LOTS of painting), very crucial IT work (thanks to my cousin, Mark Leavell, for giving a HUGE helping hand to our student records people), library cataloging (LOTS of it, thanks especially to Joan Taylor), and medical (thanks to nurse Daniel Fawole). WOW! Every day saw forward movement, and the team took time to enjoy Nigeria, with excursions to the Badagry slave port, and opportunities to look around town and worship in local churches. Praise God with us for people like this!!
We were particularly blessed with the presence of the new Provost, who was in the country to engage with WATS and also to collect further material for his PhD dissertation. Thank God for Pastor William Udotong!
Finally, we thank God for the visit of Drs. Ronald W. Freeman (California) and Victor B. Cole (Nairobi, Kenya). These two long-standing friends produced a thorough evaluation of WATS, especially with respect to its governance and administration. Their report is already promising to be helpful as WATS charts its forward progress over the coming months and years. Join us to thank God for these dedicated men of God.

Prayer Notes

In late November, Mary Norene Zink, my dear ninety-one-year-old mother-in-law, suffered a massive stroke. By the end of the month she was on the verge of stepping into the eternal presence of Jesus. Early in her married life she and my father-in-law dedicated themselves to the Lord to raise a large family of children whom they offered to God for missionary service. Six of their nine children responded to that call and eventually went to various parts of the world, including my dear wife, Emma Lou, who gave herself to Africa. Join us to THANK GOD for a life well lived, and pray for Emma Lou and me as we have now flown to Idaho together to celebrate the life of this great woman.
We anticipate the release of our last container of the year by the end of the first week of December. Pray with us that it will go smoothly over the next few days.
November was a slow month with Masters modules at WATS, but not so in December. This month during the first and second weeks we are pleased to welcome to WATS one of our illustrious graduates, David Jatta, director of the Great Commission Movement (aka Campus Crusade for Christ) in his native Gambia, who will be teaching a module in World Christian Movement. Pastor (and soon-to-be Dr.) Sola Ajibulu will teach a module in Principles of Evangelism, Dr. Emmanuel Ogunyemi will handle a module in Educational Ministry of the Church, Kalu Okechukwu will teach Mastering Biblical Greek, Dr. Ola Adeogun (LIFE Theological Seminary, Ikorodu, Lagos) will teach a module in History and Criticism of the Old Testament, and Dr. David Johnston (University of Pennsylvania) will return to teach a module in Hadith, Qur´an and Sharia. At the same time, Oumar Coulibaly´s Hebrew students continue their multi-week introduction to Biblical Hebrew. WOW! Pray that with all of the construction going on we will find a place for all these great people and their students. And pray for a great December in the classrooms!!
Dr. Ira Pence (may God bless him richly!) arrives back at WATS from Atlanta on December 3, with tools in tow! He expects to spend two weeks or more to push our chapel flooring to a conclusion, as well as helping us in a few other crucial areas. Please pray with us that we will be able to complete the chapel flooring this month, and have all of our ground-floor classrooms back in commission for the beginning of next semester. May God bless men such as Dr. Pence who keep coming back to help us move forward.
Pray also for our expanding efforts to do better public relations and fundraising for WATS within Nigeria. We thank God for progress to date. Please join us to believe God for an increase in giving on both sides of the Atlantic, and that we will be able to end 2009 on a very positive note. To do so we will need a number of sizeable year-end donations, both in the US and in Nigeria! God is able. Pray with us that the forward progress we have seen this year will not diminish!

Thank you for being part of a great crowd of WATS supporters who faithfully pray and give to help us train great leaders for the bright future of the African Church. Blessings on you!!
BULLETIN:	(1) Go to www.watsonline.org for giving online using your credit card or checking account.
	(2) This is a fantastic time to plan for work teams at WATS in the coming year. Let us hear from you.
	(3) We need Bibles and other Christian books! See us about getting them to Illinois for shipment to Nigeria.


	Friends of WATS		WEST AFRICA THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
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Yours for the African Harvest,

Dr. Gary S. Maxey