Friday 13 April 2018
The Maskeys in Nigeria
April 2018
Dear Praying Friends,
Laborers together with God…
We have seen some good results in the last two months as our people have been laboring in the fields. During the last week of February, we took about 40 of them to the village of Omagwa for a day of soul winning and inviting people to the church plant there. God helped us to see 84 souls saved that day, and the following Sunday (the church’s one year anniversary), they had a record attendance of 188, with 124 visitors! I had the opportunity to preach to them that Sunday and God really blessed in the service as 83 responded to the invitation and received Christ as their Savior. The Omagwa church is already outgrowing the building they are renting, and we are praying now that God will open a door for them to get some property for a larger building.
We did the same thing also in March in the village of Igwuruta for our church plant there. The Igwuruta church has had some setbacks in the last year, including the death of their pastor’s wife, but in spite of that, they had a wonderful service on Sunday, March 18 (their 6th anniversary), with 325 in attendance and 142 visitors! It was a great day for them, and I had the opportunity to preach in that service as well. Once again, God blessed as 81 responded to the invitation and received Christ as their Savior. Also, we were able to raise the money for them to get a new generator, which was a huge blessing and encouragement to Pastor Elvis and the church. Many thanks to those who gave towards this!
Through all of our ministries and church plants, we praise the Lord for 2,542 souls saved so far this year, and 73 baptized. We’ve also seen an increase in our discipleship classes as well, and we are thanking God for all these blesssings.
Other news and prayer requests…
1. The progress in Yenagoa. We are now in the process of drawing up the building plans and getting them approved. We need $500 more for that, then about $4,000 for the fencing of the property, and then about $10,000 for the building. This area desparately needs the Gospel and is ”white unto harvest”, so we really need your help and prayers to get this new church plant started.
2. Nigerian Ladies Spectacular. In May, we’ll be hosting our annual ladies conference in Port Harcourt with 250-300 ladies from all over Nigeria. Pray for Rose and our ladies as they prepare, and that it will be a great help and encouragement to all who attend.
3. Video of our Ministry. You can watch a video of our ministry by going to our website: maskeysnigeria.blogspot.com or YouTube: Maskeys in Nigeria 2017 Video .
Once again we thank you for standing with us in prayer and your faithful support of our ministry. Thank you for being a blessing to us!
Yours for His Service,
The Maskeys in Nigeria
February 2018
Dear Praying Friends,
"Welcome back to Nigeria!"
It was literally zero degrees on the morning of January 16th when we left to go back to Nigeria, and about 24 hours later, it was 85 degrees when we stepped off the plane in Port Harcourt. We were very happy to be back! Our people greeted us very warmly and it was great to see all of them again. Our first Sunday here was in the middle of our Anniversary Month at the main church in Port Harcourt, and we had 693 in attendance with 101 visitors and 49 saved. The next week, our 23rd Anniversary Sunday, we had 1,291 in attendance with over 500 visitors and 171 saved. It was a wonderful service and God really blessed. Our members worked very hard to invite people that day, and one person brought over 80 visitors!
They also did a great job of taking care of the church during our furlough, as the attendance held up well and over 4,000 souls were led to Christ by them during that time. Our other church plants did well also in spite of the hardships and struggling economy here. Pastor Elvis Ohwojero and the Igwuruta Church seem to be doing OK in spite of his tragic loss. Some of our supporters have sent him gifts and he has been encouraged by that, but continue to pray for him and the church. Their new church plant in Omagwa has been doing very well since one of our men, Botimi Koinyan, has been helping them over the last three months. He has been going there every Sunday to preach and his wife, Princess, has been a big help with the children and visitation. Their attendance has now risen to over 50, and the new church will be one year old this month, so we are encouraged by that.
Other things to pray for...
1. We are now preparing for the building program of our 6th church plant in Yenagoa, and we are going to need around $15,000 to do the fence around the property (that we purchased last year) and a building for them to get started in. Please pray with us for God’s provision and strength for this project.
2. Pastor Ohwojero has also informed us that their church generator has recently “given up the ghost” and will need about $1,200 to get a new one. This is a necessity since electricity here is unreliable.
3. Our son, Jonathon, and his wife, Jenny, need our prayers as they plan to take a survey trip to Nigeria later this year, as well as preparing to go on deputation, so we are excited about that!
4. Our daughter, Cayla, is now a freshman at Pensacola Christian College and doing very well, so that means we are just one child (Justin) from becoming “empty-nesters”!
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 & Justin Maskey
Saturday 3 March 2018
The Maskeys in Nigeria
December 2017
Dear Praying Friends,
Still faithful in spite of great loss...
In 2012, we started a church in Igwuruta (a suburb of Port Harcourt) with one of our faithful men, Elvis Ohwojero. We’ve often joked about calling it the “Graceland Baptist Church with Pastor Elvis”. Although the Igwuruta Independent Baptist Church has had its ups and downs, Bro. Elvis and his wife, Queen, have been doing a great job there and reaching many for Christ in that village of about 20,000 people. They’ve had as many as over 300 in attendance on special days. Earlier this year they started another church in the nearby village of Omagwa, and many times Bro. Elvis preaches in both churches on Sunday. The Omagwa church continues to do well with about 35 in attendance.
In their 15 years of marriage, Bro. Elvis and Queen had not been able to have children until this year, when she became pregnant with twins. They were so happy, but tragedy struck the Ohwojeros when Queen delivered in October. Both the twins died shortly after birth, and sadly, Queen also passed away a few days later from complications during the delivery. It was a shocking loss, not only for Bro. Elvis, but for all of us. However, God’s grace has been sufficient, and we are comforted by the promise that they are in a much better place. Even though it has been very difficult for Bro. Elvis these days, he continues to be faithful in preaching and serving God. His example has been a great encouragement to all of us. This Christmas season, please remember especially Bro. Elvis and the Igwuruta church in your prayers.
Furlough coming to an end...
We are excited that in a few weeks we’ll be going back home....to Nigeria! It was a long and busy furlough for us, but seemed to go by very quickly. We got to visit 40 new and supporting churches, and all of the meetings went well. Almost all of the additional support we needed has been promised, and we are so grateful for that. With God’s help, we are looking forward to starting at least two more churches this term. Please keep that in your prayers as well.
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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