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| Clearing the land for the new church plant in Yenagoa. |
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| Digging the foundation for the fence. |
Tuesday 11 April 2017
The Maskeys in Nigeria
April 2017
Dear Praying Friends,
A “Royal” Blessing
As a missionary and pastor for many years here in Nigeria, it has been interesting to see how God uses different people in the church. Sometimes the person you think will go far doesn’t go very far, and the one you think won’t do much ends up being the one God really uses. Such was the case with a young man in our church named Royal Idakari. We remember him as a tall, skinny teenage boy who used to live across the street, often peering over his gate and watching us, but never attending our church. Eventually, he became friends with our oldest son, Jonathon, as they would play soccer together in the street with the other neighborhood boys. Royal finally came to our church for the first time in 2006 after Jonathon invited him for “Friend Day”, but he didn’t get saved until about three years later in a Sunday morning service and was also baptized. After that, he was very faithful to church and later that year when Jonathon left to go to Bible college, he thought, “Somebody has to take his place and stand in the gap”. So he did, and became more involved, working in a boys Sunday School class, the bus ministry, and soul winning. In 2011, Royal joined our Bible institute, then later transferred to Providence Baptist Seminary in Abuja where he graduated in 2016. Soon after that, he was married in our church to one of our fine young ladies, Adekemi. In September, 2016 he started a church in Ogoja with the help of Independent Baptist Church of Calabar, and they are now averaging about 35 in attendance. We recently had the blessing and privilege of ordaining Royal into the Gospel Ministry. Little did we know back then that someday God would use this tall skinny boy who lived across the street and refused to come to our church, to be an ordained pastor in one of our churches! Please continue to pray for Royal & Kemi and the Ogoja Independent Baptist Church.
Other News & Prayer Requests...
1. We are now getting ready for our furlough: May through December, 2017, and if you’d like us come and give an update or a presentation during that time, you can contact us at drmaskey@yahoo.com. We are praying that God will use us to be a blessing in your church and also hoping to gain some extra needed support.
2. We finally purchased some land in Yenagoa for the new church plant, and recently had a work day there with two van loads of our members working to clear the land and start building a fence (to see pictures visit our website, www.maskeysnigeria.blogspot.com). Please pray for God’s provision for this new church to start soon.
3. Our Soul Winning & Leadership Conference in March was a great success with 13 other independent Baptist churches represented. There were many decisions for Christ during the four day meeting, and we believed God used it to give a spiritual boost to all attending. On Sunday morning of the conference we had 744 in attendance with 47 saved.
THANK YOU again for your prayers and for having a part in our ministry. God bless you for your faithfulness!
Yours for His Service,
Thursday 2 February 2017
The Maskeys in Nigeria
February 2017
Dear Praying Friends,More growing and multiplying...2016 was a very tough year financially for Nigeria and for our people, but in spite of that, we’ve seen some encouraging results in our churches in recent months. Last year in Eagle Island here in Port Harcourt, the government forced out many people who were living in illegal structures, and as a result, our church plant there lost over half of its members in one week. They almost lost their building as well, but God intervened and since then, the Eagle Island Independent Baptist Church has been making a come back, and their attendance now is almost back to normal. I preached for them recently, and they had 222 in attendance that Sunday. They are also planning to start a new church soon in the city of Onitsha, where one of their Bible school students is from. The Igwuruta Independent Baptist Church, another one of our church plants, also had some set backs last year, but is now doing very well. They also plan to start a new church this month in the nearby village of Omagwa. The main church in Port Harcourt celebrated their 22nd Anniversary on Sunday, January 29th with 1,406 in attendance, 503 first time visitors, and 158 souls receiving Christ as their Savior. It was another glorious day and God greatly blessed in the service. Our people really worked this year to bring in the visitors (see pictures at maskeysnigeria.blogspot.com). We are also excited about starting our fifth church plant this year in the city of Yenagoa. Enough money has come in now to purchase the land, and we are praying to get this new church started soon. It’s a blessing to see these churches grow and multiply!Our upcoming furlough...This is the year of our scheduled furlough and, Lord willing, we will be in the States from May until the end of this year. We’ll be glad to come and give an update or presentation of our ministry, if you’d like us to come for a meeting during that time. We haven’t been to some of our supporting churches in a long while, and we’ll try to visit them, plus pick up a little more support in some new churches. Please contact us at drmaskey@yahoo.com.Prayer Requests:1) Our Soul Winning & Leadership Conference is March 19-22, with some visiting pastors from the States preaching for us this year. We are praying this conference will be a great blessing and help to our people and other churches attending.2) Continue to pray for the spiritual and numerical growth of our church plants, and for open doors to start more. Also pray for God’s strength and provision for our pastors.Thanks again for your prayers, gifts and faithful support, especially to those who have stood with us for the last 22+ years. We thank God for you!Yours For His Service,David, Rose, Cayla & Justin Maskey
The Maskeys in Nigeria
December 2016
Dear Praying Friends,A “Simon Experience”...On October 16th, we had our annual “Youth & Children Sunday”, and nearly 900 were in attendance with over 550 teenagers and children that day, plus 49 were saved. Earlier that week, Rose was out for ladies’ soul winning and stopped to invite some children, not knowing that their father was the community “native doctor” (juju priest or witchdoctor). That Sunday the children came, and about two weeks later when some of our lady soul winners went to follow up on them, they realized who they were and asked the parents if they could talk to the children about salvation. “Because of your pastor’s wife, you have my permission”, the father said. As they witnessed to the children the parents also listened, and when they were finished, one of the lady soul winners turned to them and asked, “Did you understand what we just explained to your children?” The native doctor father said, “Yes, I understood, and I also want to be saved.” So they prayed and received Christ as their Savior as well! As the ladies were about to leave, the father told them, “I want to stop being a native doctor and become a Christian. Can your church help us?” It reminded us of the story in Acts chapter 8 about Simon the Sorcerer who also believed. Please pray that his heart will be “right in the sight of God”, and for their spiritual growth as we continue to follow up on them.Other Praises & Prayer Requests...1. Blessings of 2016. For the Nigerians, it was a very difficult year financially and economically, and it continues to get worse. However, in spite of that we saw over 8,500 souls saved through all of our ministries, and over 200 were baptized. Our average attendance in the main church rose to 670, and we saw good increases in our other church plants as well, so we are thanking God for all of that.2. Property for our 5th church plant. Praise God, all of the money needed to purchase the land for a new church in Yenagoa has come in! We especially want to thank Faith Baptist Church of Berne, IN, First Baptist Church of Hammond, IN, and Cornerstone Baptist Church of Crossville, TN for their part in helping us with this. We now need your prayers that the process for obtaining the land will go smoothly, and that we can get the new church started as soon as possible.To all of our supporting and praying friends, we wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a very fruitful and Happy New Year. Thank you so much for having a part in our ministry and for your sacrificial giving throughout the year. God bless you all!Yours For His Service,David, Rose, Cayla & Justin Maskey
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