Praise Notes

1. The first days of January are normally very quiet at WATS, but not so in 2010. With the arrival of Dr. Ira Pence in late December and of Tim Powell on January 1 a noisy race erupted to ensure that all classrooms on the ground floor under the new chapel would be finished before the January 13th beginning of undergraduate classes. And, . . . we made it! From late December faithful staff members came early and left late day after day: Engineer A. O. Aina, Gbenga Obasun and Kalu Egbe in particular went the extra mile. Final floor joists were installed and all 3600 square feet of OSB sub-flooring was screwed down. Only those who knew how difficult it was to correct problems with some of the huge ironwood joists installed earlier in the year will appreciate the final triumph when the last OSB was attached and the platform was built. The reinstallation of new ground floor wiring, fans, lights and ceilings completed the process for classroom occupancy. The building of the second concrete stairway and additional chapel windows gave everyone the first glimpse of what the finished chapel will look like. FANTASTIC! Praise God for His wonderful help!
   
   
2. In the meantime, other classrooms hummed with activity. Masters students arrived for the first 2010 modules on January 5, and undergraduate students began semester registration on January 11. Dr. Offiong Ibok took the helm as Acting Director for Graduate Studies, pending the return of Dr. Eraste Nyirimana later in the year. Masters modules included Christian Leadership and Church Administration, led by Dr. Emmanuel Ogunyemi; Pentateuch, with Dr. Charles Osume; Beliefs and Practices of Islam, with Ruth Veltkamp (now back from her one-semester sabbatical in the USA), and Apologetics for Missions, taught by Dr. Fyne Nsofor. Thank God for help from above for these classes!
   
   
3. We also welcomed forty top church leaders in the MA in Christian Leadership program. We again offered a double track due to growing enrollment. During Week #1, Life in the Spirit was taught by Dr. Robert Lang´at (provost of Kabarak University in Kenya) and Biblical Authority, Application and Interpretation was led by Prof. Danny McCain (University of Jos). During Week #2 Missiology for Church Leaders was taught by Ruth Veltkamp and Church and Society was led by Pastor Sola Ajibulu. The entire campus was ALIVE with activities during those two weeks — which are the academically most congested of our calendar year.
   
   
4. We were blessed with four other international guests. Dr. Robert and Janet Dann, UK citizens who have spent twenty-eight years in church planting and Bible translation in North Africa, were on campus for two weeks, especially to seek divine guidance about whether to come to WATS to fulfill their call from God to equip sub-Saharan Africans to go into North Africa for evangelization and church planting. (Thank God for their safety during a short visit to far-away Jos, which took place during the height of the Muslim/Christian riots there!) Jeff Olszyk, Missions Director for the Pillar of Fire Church, also paid a visit, seeking to reinvigorate their partnership with WATS. Toward the end of January, Dr. Mark Leavell returned to help bring our IT technology up to date. Dr. Leavell has God´s call on his heart as our International IT Coordinator. He has begun to draw together a cadre of IT enthusiasts, experts and funders who share that same vision. Hallelujah!
   
   
5. One very welcome WATS neighborhood sight in January was our new Massey-Ferguson tractor, complete with front-end loader, box blade and grading blade. Thanks to a generous donor in Texas, and after months of delays, the tractor is making a huge difference on campus and especially grading the roads around WATS. Join us to thank God for this great addition to WATS!
   
   
6. On January 20, at the close of our morning chapel service, after a challenging message from our guest speaker, Dr. Moses Iloh, everyone on campus marched upstairs to offer our first corporate prayer in the new chapel. EXCITING!! The 120 ft x 60 ft chapel will handle up to 1,000 people and will serve for many years to come. Thank God for seeing us through thus far, though there yet remains a significant amount of work to bring the project to final completion (lighting, fans, ceiling, flooring, final wall covering, etc.).
   
   
7. On January 29, our new high speed internet service was switched on for the first time! WOW! Thank God for a generous donor who made it possible, and for Engineer Sola Ogunsola who worked with Dr. Emmanuel Ogunyemi to oversee getting the best possible deal and service. Stand by for more IT good news in the future!
   
   
8. Finally, at the end of the month and the beginning of February Pastor Fred Luogon and I took off for Abuja, Yola and Jalingo to a meeting with the West Africa United Methodist bishops from Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d´Ivoire. It is exciting to see how God is expanding our impact within African Methodism!