Safely in Makeni and preaching there

We arrived safely in the city of Makeni on Tuesday and began our public teaching on Wednesday. The drive from Freetown to Makeni was a pleasant but exhausting drive. The countryside is dotted with a number of small villages most without electricity or running water.

We have experienced internet problems at the hotel on Makeni which has been frustrating. I apologize for not being able to post to this blog before now. It is finally working but is painfully slow.

We have had good attendance at our lessons during the late afternoon and early evening. On Wednesday we had around 40 and today the number exceeded 60. I have been preaching first principal lessons while Mike has dealt with the uniqueness of the Bible and Justin with the purpose of baptism and the one body. Many good questions were submitted for discussion indicating serious thought on the part of the audience.

We had a private study with some of the brethren this morning and I think we helped solve some long standing problems. Hopefully, the brethren will be able to work together more peacefully with patience and love.

If we are able to continue with internet access I will post more news tomorrow.

--John

We are here safe and sound

Mike, Justin and I arrived safely Sunday evening after a long couple of flights. I kept thinking that someone had moved Sierra Leone farther away. We have had a peaceful and relaxing day. We needed to recover from the flight and let some of the culture shock work through our systems before moving on to Makeni tomorrow. We visited with Christian and Theophilus and they filled us in on some of the challenges and opportunities in Makeni. It made us all the more ready to move up there tomorrow and get started.

John Kargbo stopped by to pick up some things Jimmy Lee sent him and we had a delightful visit. It will be good to have him with us in Makeni both as a brother support and a student to teach.

Mike Shields is adjusting nicely and not suffering from any culture shock or ill health, He is an impressive man and I look forward to working with home.


Lord willing I will write more from Makeni tomorrow,

Shields, Monts, Smith off to Sierra Leone

On March 1st, Lord willing, the three of us will travel to Sierra Leone. We will be there about 2 weeks. Mike, Justin and I will travel up country to the city of Makeni. The church thee has stopped meeting due to the loss of a meeting place. We hope to meet with an many of those wayward Christians as possible and persuade the to repent and start meeting together again. We will hold public lectures at the Northern Polytechnic Institute from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm each day. Each session will feature a question and answer session. The second week Mike Shields and John Smith will travel to Freetown to work with the small church that meets in the home of John Kargbo. They are a small struggling group in need of much encouragement and teaching. Justin and Jerry Kai-Lewis will travel to the village of Kailahun to work with some churches that are interested in studying themselves out of institutionalism. They have been very receptive and do seem very far from the truth,. Please pray for our efforts, our health and safe travel. Thanks --John

Saturday and Sunday updates

Please forgive the combining of these reports, but the reason for this will be made clear soon. Let me begin by saying it has been such a privilege for the three of us, John Smith, Jim Lee, and Jarrod Jacobs to be a part of this work of preaching the gospel in Sierra Leone. It has been a privilege afforded to us, and God's grace has truly seen us through these past several days. Saturday saw another morning session where the gospel was preached. The AM crowds are usually smaller than the PM, due to work schedules and the like in this country. However, this does not diminish the zeal and fervor these folks show for The Lord and for serving Him. What a blessing! Sunday saw a large crowd attend to worship God, and one more has been added to the Lord's kingdom this day! How wonderful to see #8 come and give his life to The Lord. In previous trips, there were more women than men be baptized, but this time the men are catching up, in that all 8 are young men. They are dedicated to growing in The Lord and serving Him in the days and years to come. What a blessing for us to witness how the gospel of Christ works in the hearts of folks still today when it is preached in its pure and simplest form (Rom. 1:16; Gal. 1:6-9). Now to the reason these updates are combined is because Jarrod's backpack was stolen yesterday. Someone came over and pulled it out of our vehicle when we were away from it yesterday afternoon. So, we had to spend most of Saturday afternoon and evening with the SL police, filling out forms, and explaining what happened and when. Many items were stolen, but the most pressing thing at the time is that Jarrod's passport was stolen. Thus, with our plane scheduled to leave on Monday (a holiday in SL) we are scrambling to do what is necessary to provide substitute identification (including a police report of the event). Thus, we ask you for prayers on his behalf that all can be remedied and Jarrod will be able to leave on the plane at the scheduled time. Brethren here say that this was an attack of satan because we have done such damage to his kingdom in these two weeks. we are so thankful that the God we serve is so much more powerful than Satan! Also, we ask for your prayers in general for a safe ride in the car to the boat, a safe boat trip to the airport, and a safe plane ride back to the States to our families and the brethren we love. In a way it is sad to leave our good brethren here that we have come to know, love, and respect in Freetown. However, we are excited for the return home. Please remember us as you pray.

Friday PM -- what a joy

Tonight saw a good crowd attending. Despite the Pentecostal's last couple nights attempt to drown out our preaching with their loud music and loud preaching, and their efforts to block Priscilla st from traffic, we have continued to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Not sure why, but they were some quieter tonight. The road was still blocked when we tried to leave Priscilla st., though. Some of our questions last night and tonight reflected the fact that people had attended the Pentecostal event before seeing us. We were glad for their attendance, and glad to answer folks' questions from the Bible. This is something the Pentecostals could not do. New visitors were here tonight, and we pray they will return tomorrow morning and Sunday for more study. It is a privilege to be here, and it is an experience that we three will not forget. Please continue to pray for us in our work, and in the planned trip home very soon, by God's grace.

A seventh soul....

A seventh has now given his life to The Lord. In our AM classes, Willie Priddy surrendered to Jesus, believing on Him as the son of God, repenting of sin, confessing Christ before our number, and then was baptized for the remission of his sin (Jn 8:24; Lk. 13:3; Rom. 10:10; Mk. 16:16). How grateful we are to see yet another make this kind of commitment to the Lord. Please remember him in prayer as he now grows in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How wonderful, that we were then able to sing together, "It was a glad day when I was born again." Just as the angels in Heaven rejoice, so we also rejoice on earth at the addition of a new brother in Christ. Please keep praying!! Pray also for those who are growing in The Lord. The questions asked before and after services are evident of searching and studying minds. Please remember this good group and their spiritual growth as you pray.

Thursday PM 3/28

We are so thankful for the grace of God that has given us this day to preach His Word. Tonight, there were no conversions as in the morning, but we did have visitors from the community (as this morning) who heard the truth of God. In fact, one man, Bass, who works at our motel, has attended twice with us since we have invited. He says he will come tomorrow PM after work again. He said that he was not used to going to church, but now he is getting used to it and likes it. What a thrill. We pray he will allow God's word to penetrate his will and he will obey the gospel soon. He seems like one who is very interested and he has asked us some good questions, both last night, and tonight on the way to services. Please continue to pray for Bass, Noah, and others who are not far from the kingdom. Pray for the speakers that we will have the heal, courage, and zeal to continue, and pray for the Priscilla st congregation that they will continue to stand firm as a beacon of God's light in Freetown, Sierra Leone.