Thursday 6 October 2016
The Maskeys in Nigeria
God bless you all and thank you so much for standing with us in prayer and faithful support!
October 2016
Dear Fellow Laborers,
What’s happening in our ministries...
We’ve experenced some growth and success in many of our ministries lately and that has been an encouragement to us. Our bus ministry, for example, has had a good increase so far this year in spite of all the “bumps in the road” (and sometimes there are major potholes!). We are now averaging about 400 adults and children who come each week on our 15 bus routes from all over Port Harcourt. Many of our people are involved in this ministry and it has helped them to grow in the Lord. In fact, we have four of our former bus captains who are now pastoring churches, several of our bus riders who are now bus captains, and many others who are now students and graduates of our Bible institute. As a former “bus kid” and bus worker, I am rejoicing about that!
Our deaf ministry is continuing to do well, with about 30 deaf attending each week. Almost every Sunday we have deaf getting saved or baptized, and in the last five years, we have seen over 200 reached with the Gospel of Christ through this ministry. God is also blessing in our prison ministry, as we’ve seen over 250 prison inmates saved so far in 2016 and more of our people getting involved as well. Recently, in our village soul winning ministry, about 35 of our people went to Onne (about 45 minutes from the church) and led 159 souls to Christ in one day. We are praying for an open door to start a church there also. To God be the glory, we have recorded over 7,000 souls saved so for this year through all of our ministries and church plants! (Don’t forget to visit our website, maskeysnigeria.blogspot.com for pictures that can be downloaded and printed.)
Things to pray for...
1. Property for a new church in Yenagoa. We are still praying for the remaining $4,000 to come in so that we can buy this property for our 5th church plant. Perhaps 40 churches could send an extra $100 in the next few months. That would really be a blessing.
2. The Nigerian economy. The financial situation here continues to worsen, and now inflation is a big problem. Please pray for God’s provision and intervention, especially for our people who are suffering.
3. A new church in Ogoja. One of our fine young men, Royal Idakari, was recently married to one of our fine young ladies, Adekemi. With the help of Independent Baptist Church of Calabar, they started a new church last month in the town of Ogoja (about 9 hours from us), and on their first Sunday they had 25 in attendance with five souls saved. Pray that God will continue to bless them and the new church.
Yours For His Service,
David, Rose, Cayla & Justin Maskey
Friday 12 August 2016
The Maskeys in Nigeria
August 2016
Youth Camp!Recently, we held our 4th S.M.I.T.E. (Student Missions Institute for Training in Evangelism) Conference for our youth, and this year we had a team from the States to help us. Pastors Sonny McGuffee and Jared Decker, along with Missionary Mark Holmes and his assistants, were here throughout the week to conduct the sessions and preach, and even though we were super busy, it was a great blessing to all of us. S.M.I.T.E. is a unique 5-day meeting where our young people not only hear preaching, but also receive teaching that prepares them to reach others with the Gospel. There is daily morning instruction on the subjects of conducting Bible clubs, winning children to Christ, teaching a Bible story, showing a missionary story, memorizing Bible verses, leading a group in songs, and using soul winning tools. During the afternoons, every teenager puts into practice what they learned by conducting Bible clubs in teams throughout Port Harcourt, and each evening there is spirited preaching. This year we had 130 youth from ten Independent Baptist churches across the country attending the conference, and they held 27 Bible clubs during the week with a total attendance of 1,990 and 838 of them receiving Christ as their Savior! Also, during the evening preaching, many of the youth made decisions for Christ, including 8 young men who surrendered to preach. It was a great success, and we are thanking God for the results and praying that it will have a lasting spiritual impact upon our youth.Prayer Requests...1. The Nigerian economy. Things are still very difficult here lately and many of our people are hurting financially. We are all learning to trust in God more, but please continue to pray for our people and peace and stability in Nigeria.2. An open door for our 5th church plant. Thank God, there was some response recently and we are now down to $4,000 needed to purchase property for our next church. Many here have been pleading with us to start an Independent Baptist church in their community, and I wish that we were financially able to do more.3. Our Children. Cayla and Justin are doing just fine with us here in Nigeria. Jonathon & Jenny and our grandson, Russell, are doing great and still working at Granite Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, MD. Carissa is also doing well and will be returning to Hyles-Anderson College this fall to complete her masters/internship program. Joshua is in Michigan where he is working and planning to attend college this fall. Continue to pray for God’s intervention in his life, as well as God’s will for all of our chidren.
David, Rose, Cayla & Justin MaskeyOnce again we thank you for standing with us in prayer and your faithful support of our ministry. You are a blessing to us!Yours for His Service,
Monday 11 July 2016
The Maskeys in Nigeria
August 2016
Dear Fellow Laborers,Here is an update from our daughter Carissa concerning her missions trip to Brazil:
Hello! I would like to take the time to thank all of you for praying for me and the Brazil trip I was raising money for. Unfortunately I was just recently informed that the trip is now closed to ladies due to a lack of participants. I was made aware that only two men are now going on the trip to Brazil and I am not able to go. Thank you nonetheless for your support and prayers. The Lord has greatly encouraged my heart through your giving and prayers and I am truly grateful! To those who have given I am returning the checks as soon as possible. Thank you so much again! And God bless!
Sincerely, your servant in Christ,
Carissa Maskey
Psalm 73:26
Tuesday 21 June 2016
The Maskeys in Nigeria
June 2016
Dear Fellow Laborers,What’s been happening...On April 24th, the Grace Independent Baptist Church in Omoku, our fourth church plant, celebrated their First Anniversary with a record of 183 in attendance. We made the two hour journey to be with them that morning, and I preached in both the Sunday School and morning services. God blessed again in a great way as 57 souls responded to the invitation to receive Christ as their Savior. The church has been meeting in the living room of Pastor Osueke’s house and also in tents outside. However, that morning the crowd was so much and because there was not enough chairs, many were just standing or sitting wherever they could find a spot. Thankfully, they have already begun building the foundation for a larger building for the church. They are really going to need it now! Continue to pray for their provision, spiritual strength and growth.For over a year now, the financial situation in Nigeria has been deteriorating due to the falling price of oil, which is the mainstay of their economy. Jobs are few, and many are being laid off or not getting paid. It has affected many of our people as well, and some of them who were already living in poverty are really suffering now. We are doing our best to help them, but our offerings have also been affected and that is limiting what we can do. There has also been some unrest in some of the communities around Port Harcourt, and even some clashes between militant groups and Nigerian forces. Please remember to pray for our safety, provision for our people, and peace and stability in Nigeria.In spite of all this, we are also praying for an open door to start a new church this year. We have located some properties in the nearby city of Yenagoa where we’d like to start one, but still need to raise about $5,000 more to purchase any of them.In May we had our 7th Nigerian Christian Ladies Spectacular with 265 ladies attending from eleven Independent Baptist churches across the country. Rose and our church ladies worked very hard to make it a good success once again. This year they had the Holmes family from Abuja and Miss Shari House from Thailand as the special speakers, and they did a great job. From what we heard, the ladies had a wonderful time and received some very helpful instruction on the home, marriage, and Christian womenhood. We pray that God will continue to use these conferences to strengthen our Christian homes throughout Nigeria.We really appreciate your faithfulness in supporting and praying for our ministry here through the years. May God supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Amen!Yours for His Service,David, Rose, Cayla & Justin
The Maskeys in Nigeria
April 2016
Dear Fellow Laborers,Church Growth and MultiplicationWe thank God not only for the growth we have experienced over the years in our first church plant (now over 660 in attendance), but also for church multiplication. From that church in Port Harcourt, God has helped us to start three more churches, and it has been a blessing to see them experience church growth and multiplication as well. In 2005, our first Bible institute graduate, John Abili, started the Eagle Island Independent Baptist Church and they have grown to around 150. They also have their own Bible institute, and one of their first graduates, Augustine Okoye, is now going out soon to start a new church in his home town of Onitsha. This area is literally the center of Catholicism here in Nigeria and it will not be an easy place to start a church, so he will certainly need our prayers. What a blessing it is to see one of our church plants now planting churches! Another one of our graduates, Royal Idakari, is also planning to start a new church, with the help of Independent Baptist Church of Calabar, in the town of Ogoja in July. Please be much in prayer for him as well. On March 20th, the Igwuruta Independent Baptist Church (our third church plant) celebrated their 4th Anniversary with a record of 398 in attendance, 83 souls saved, and 14 baptized. I was invited to preach in that service and God blessed in a great way. Continue to pray for Pastor Elvis Ohwojero and this church. Also pray for Pastor Dennis Osueke and our fourth church plant, Grace Independent Baptist Church in Omoku, as they celebrate their First Anniversary this month. They have been doing very well and have grown to over 60 in attendance.Other News & Prayer Requests...1. We have raised about $10,000 towards property for our 5th church plant, but unfortunately, the places we have found are all demanding at least $15,000 now. Please help us in prayer for either a less expensive place to be found or for the remaining $5,000 to come in.2. In March, it was a blessing for us to meet with Pastor John Wilkerson from our sending church, First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN, for his first time to Nigeria. Our family and about ten of our church members attended the Soul Winning & Leadership Conference in Abuja, hosted by Missionary Mark Holmes, where Bro. Wilkerson was one of the guest speakers. We had a wonderful time with them, and the preaching was a great help and encouragement to all of us.3. Please be praying for our 6th Nigerian Ladies Spectacular Conference, 19-20th May. Rose and our church ladies will be hosting this as other Independent Baptist churches from all over Nigeria will be coming, along with special guest speakers.THANK YOU again for your prayers and for having a part in our ministry. God bless you all for your faithfulness!Yours for His Service,David, Rose, Cayla & Justin
Thursday 4 February 2016
The Maskeys in
Nigeria
February 2016
Dear Praying Friends,
“I shall come forth as gold”...
That’s what Job proclaimed while he was going through his firey
trial, and a similar experience happened to one of our faithful ladies last
year.
Mrs. Kai-ne Enyindah is a professor at the College of Education
here in Port Harcourt, and also a very faithful member of our church. In
May 2015, she suddenly became very ill with what the doctors here believed to
be a severe case of meningitis. Within a few days she was completely
bedridden, unable to walk, and in constant pain. According to her, the
pain was so intense at times, that she could not even cry out, but just had to
lay there with tears streaming down her face. Our church at once
began to pray fervently for her, and the doctors did everything they could, but
for three months she laid like that in the hospital, and it seemed as if she
would not recover or at least, never walk again. We continued
praying, however, and gradually she began to improve. Many times when
visiting her, she would encourage us with her good spirit and
the fact that she was trusting in God to get her through this. Mrs.
Enyindah continued to get better, and it was a wonderful day in October last
year when she was finally able to attend a Sunday morning service for the first
time in six months, and walking under her own power! She recently told us
that as a result of her experience, she has drawn closer to God, and she now
prays and reads her Bible even more than before.
On January 31st ,we celebrated the 21st Anniversary
of our first church plant in Port Harcourt, and we had encouraged everyone to
pray and invite everyone they could. God gave us a glorious day
with 1,258 in attendance, 383 visitors, and a total of 156 souls saved that
Sunday. However, the highlight of the day, I believe, was when Mrs.
Enyindah came with 47 first time visitors she had invited (many of them getting
saved), and won the visitors contest. She has truly “come
forth as gold”! You can see pictures of our Anniversary Sunday and
Mrs. Enyindah at www.maskeysnigeria.blogspot.com .
Prayer Requests:
1) A open
door to start our fifth church plant this year.
Thank God, some have responded and have given, but we still need about $5,000 more to purchase land for
this.
2) Our
upcoming Ladies Conference in May. We
haven’t had one in a while, and we are looking forward to a great conference this year. Pray especially for Rose as she prepares
for it, and for the guest speakers and ladies who will be coming.
Thanks again for your prayers, gifts and faithful support,
especially to those who have stood with us for the last 21 years. We
thank God for you!
Yours
for His Service,
The Maskeys in Nigeria
December 2015
Dear Praying Friends,
It was a great year!
As 2015 comes to a close, we are rejoicing in what God has done in spite of all the challenges we faced here this year. In January, we successfully celebrated the 20th anniversary of our main church in Port Harcourt, with a record attendance of 1,560 and 190 saved that Sunday. In March, the Igwuruta Church had a record attendance of 346 on their 3rd Anniversary Sunday and they continued to grow. In April, we started our 4thchurch plant, the Grace Independent Baptist Church in Omoku, and recently their attendance has been increasing to around 60 on Sundays. Our daughter, Carissa, graduated from Bible college in May and got to spend a few months with us here back in Nigeria. Our prison ministry also expanded this year, reaching more inmates, and having a total of 314 saved. Our Missions & Leadership Conference in September was a great success and a big encouragement to all who attended, as well as seeing an increase in our Faith Promise commitments. On October 18, we had a wonderful Children’s & Youth Day, with 850 in attendance and 42 souls saved. Recently in December, we had a special day for our deaf and had a record attendance of 127 deaf in our service that Sunday. The average attendance of our main church increased to 660 per Sunday, and to God be the glory, we saw over 10,000 souls trusting Christ as Savior through all our churches and ministries in 2015.
There are many difficulties we face here on the mission field (almost on a daily basis) that we don’t always share with you, but in spite of them, God continues to be faithful and do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. We are so thankful for the privilege of serving Him here in Nigeria, where so many are open and receptive to the Gospel.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are planning to expand our ministries and churches to see even more souls saved in the coming year, and praying for an open door to start our 5th church plant. Many thanks to all of you for your prayers throughout the year, your faithful support, and gifts that really help and bless us during this holiday time. May God bless you all and give you a wonderful Christmas and successful New Year.
Yours for His Service,
David, Rose, Cayla & Justin
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