Post from Christian Asgill

Dear Brethren: We owe gratitude to the Almighty God through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the Great Work He has allowed us to do during the last fifteen days. We, (Theophilus and myself) have seen our brethren: Steve Niemeier, Mitch Johnson, Connie Niemeier and Cindy Hill off at the Pelican Water taxi terminal for a trip to Lungi airport as they journey home. Collectively, we had labored for the past days teaching in the morning and evening of every week day and a long session starting 9:30 am to 3:00 pm on Saturdays. The turnout had been impressive with willing minds ready to study the unperverted Word of God. To His glory, while we planted and watered, He caused an increase as twelve souls responded to His command and submitted in baptism. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!! The visiting brethren had been an encouragement to all here especially at Priscilla Street and we thank God for their lives especially our sisters: Connie and Cindy who demonstrated how excited they were in teaching fellow sisters and the children. MAY THEY ALL BE BLESSED A HUNDREDFOLD!!! Amidst the blessed time time that we were having, satan showed up in the form of an attack on the soldiers of Christ, but since our Lord leads in the battle, an accident that would have been otherwise ended in a manner demonstrating that He is always with us, The regular driver was absent and Moses, a one time driver of Steve and company offered to assist though he was not well. As they moved, he kept off the lane downhill and smashed into a pole causing a halt. Our brethren came out unhurt except for the shock and trauma. I zoomed to the scene from across town and caught up with the brethren at the hotel as staff from Kona Lodge had responded swiftly. We prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God for all He did. Nontheless, we resumed teaching the next morning with the brethren all set to save souls! Brethren, let us be united in prayers for journey mercies so that they can reunite with their families and saints of God. May the Almighty God bless us all as we strive to expand and maintain the Kingdom of His Dear Son, our Savior Jesus Christ! In Him, Christian

Day 14

Today was our last full day of teaching on this trip. We went to the Crown Bakery for a quick breakfast – we have become pretty close to Fadi who has roots back to Belize but was born here in Sierra Leone. His father started Crown Bakery 22 years ago and Fadi now manages the one we go to downtown and they have opened another one on the west side of town – he has a brother who runs that one. Hannah who has been our waitress for the duration since we first went there on the very first trip in 2009 took care of us each time we were there. In fact on the first day we walked in she just ran up and hugged me and said “it is good to see you Steve” she was glad to meet my wife and Cindy and Mitch. We are thankful that we had the Crown Bakery on this trip – we had our final “lupper” there this afternoon and told Fadi and Hannah goodbye. The day sessions today were very tough – the last classes with the children left Connie and Cindy sad and the children just held on to them and would not let them go – the children cried – Connie and Cindy had tears in their eyes – very emotional. In the last class I had for the older children we tried to stay upbeat – they participated well – I kept my sunglasses on – no need to tell you why! Then Mitch and I moved on to the hall – the students were back again and we had some great discussions – Mitch taught about eternity and I explained to them about Ephesus in Acts 19 describing the city like I did yesterday about Acts 17 and Paul at Athens. The trip to Turkey and Greece earlier this year proved to be great tool to explain these and other scriptures more clearly – they all listed to Mitch’s lesson and mine very intensely. During the teaching one of the women Mary Tu who has been attending the studies made it know that she wanted to obey the gospel. Christian took her confession and off to be baptized at Priscilla Street they went. We kept teaching and then they returned and we had prayer. Then off to Crown Bakery as I mentioned for our final “lupper” of this trip. Then on to the hotel for final packing and preparing the things that we will be leaving here for the brethren. All of us will be leaving articles of clothing – the 325 story boards that the ladies spent hours preparing will be left for use of teaching the children – Mitch and I each are leaving the notebooks containing our outlines and power point lessons and the flash drives that we loaded for the teachers over here to use. We also left shoes as some needed them – we have left songbooks – tracts – Bibles – and our luggage has gone from 11 pierces plus four carry-ons to four pieces of luggage and the carry ons. We will not sleep much tonight as all are keyed up about catching the water taxi early in the morning and the chaotic venture through the Lungi Airport. We will leave the hotel at 6:45 A.M. and the plane leaves at 11:35 A.M. We are to arrive in London early tomorrow night. We will then catch some much needed rest in London. We all saved our personal money for several months so we could have some time in London at the British Library and British Museum to visit the many Biblical artifacts that are in both of these places. I can tell you that this group is tired and yet so thankful for the opportunity to come and teach and then to have time to learn ourselves more about the artifacts that just confirm the places written about in the Bible. We all want to thank you for your prayers and your financial contributions to this trip. 12 precious souls have been immersed into Christ – the brethren at Priscilla Street are starting a new convert’s class that will be meeting Friday night at 6:30 pm and Tuesday evening at 6:30 pm. They have invited anyone who has been baptized in the last 5 years the brethren here seemed to have been strengthened and many have been taught the un-perverted word of God. Tonight they prayed that we would not forsake them or leave them – they are learning and need more teaching. A touching farewell to us! Tears flowed – children hanging on tonight to all of us – our brethren tired but sad – we left them with uplifting lessons from Acts 27 and I Corinthians 15 – we encouraged them to keep working and their work would not be in vain if they stayed steadfast. Thank you for following the blog – after resting and thinking about this trip with a fresh mind I will post a summary of the trip – please give me about 10 days or so to do that. God is good! All the time! Today was not an exception! May God Bless You!

Day 13

Well after the eventful evening we had yesterday today we hoped would be more of a normal day of teaching. We are glad to report it was! A quick breakfast at Crown Bakery – then to Priscilla Street for the children’s classes and then to the hall for the adult teaching. Today’s teaching was some of the best classes that we have had. We had the students back of Solomon’s. They listened well as Mitch taught about prayer and I taught about false teaching using Acts 17 as the bases. During the teaching two – Moses who is the son of Solomon – about 18 years old went out to talk with Christian – then they came back in – we stopped – Moses made the good confession – while he was ready to make the good confession Francis a young 19 year old who has been at all of our classes and stated he was a teacher at the Temple of Faith where his father was a “pastor”. Francis stated he also wanted to be baptized – his confession was taken and then off to Priscilla Street for the baptisms – Mitch and Christian went with them and Tejan baptized them while Theophilus stayed with me and we continued the teaching. Then on to Crown Bakery for a quick lunch – back to the hotel for an hour of rest and then a safe return to Priscilla Street for the night sessions. Mitch had a lesson on the church at Thessalonica – and one on the worship of the church – I had one on what we find in Christ if we obey Him – and the third part of why Satan wants to kill the Priscilla Street congregation and what he uses to do so. The ladies have taught the children and the ladies and you can tell the children have learned so much – the ladies have just performed wonderfully. Mitch has taught very good lessons about prayer and about congregations of the N T and about the Lord’s church. This has been a good teaching trip – also one with some exciting events – and one where the Lord has provided increase of 11 souls – all of them it seems are solid as they have either friends or family at the Priscilla Street congregation except for two. Tomorrow will be our last full day of teaching – we are tired – throats are sore –but so are our great brethren here at Priscilla Street. We had a good crowd tonight and they are wanting to do what the Lord wants them to do. God is good! All the time! Today – not an exception!

Day 12

Today started as any other day – off to Crown Bakery for a quick breakfast – however traffic was very heavy so it took twice as long to get there – some of us are struggling with the normal stomach issues that occur when Americans come to teach over in Freetown. After the quick breakfast on to Priscilla Street and the hall for the teaching. The fifteen students did come to the study at the hall and we taught them what they needed to know to obey the gospel and benefits such as prayer and peace if they are children of God. The ladies had good classes with the children. After our break Christian taught a very good lesson on Barnabas. It was a good day session of teaching. John Kabul and his wife did come to the morning session – he is frail – he is suffering from Asthma and the good news is he is still faithful but many hindrances have happened to him and he is meeting with his wife and 4 other members in his home – he remembered that some of the N T congregations met in homes – especially because of persecution – he has suffered persecution that I will deal with in the closing blog of this trip but not spend time now in doing so. After the session we went to Crown Bakery for our “lupper” - then on to the Kona Lodge to catch a quick hour of rest before the teaching for the evening sessions at Priscilla Street. Well, folks we never made it to Priscilla Street. Now – WE ARE ALL OKAY AND NOT HURT IN ANY WAY – our normal driver U K was not here when we were ready to go – so Moses – who had driven for us in 2011 was going to drive us – however the vehicle we have been riding in is a right hand drive vehicle. He just did not seem comfortable in handling the vehicle – as we left he kept going over to the right side of the road – it seemed he could not judge what he was doing – as we were in Tengbehtown going down a hill – he just could not get his bearings – he panicked – thought he was hitting the brakes and actually hit the accelerator and then pushed in on the clutch and would let it out and just panicked – heading right the whole time – I tried to get the gear shift into neutral and fortunately we did get it out of gear – however we sideswiped a truck and then hit a phone pole – the pole bent double and we finally came to a stop – Moses hurt his shoulder – but he was loose headed – he had some type of confusion to hit him – he is a good man but something happened to him. Mitch, Connie and Cindy were in the backseat of the SUV – all okay – just shook up – I was in the front seat – okay – AGAIN WE ARE ALL OKAY – JUST A LITTLE SHAKEN UP – Tengbehtown is not a good place to have an accident – we were immediately surrounded but God was with us and I told one of the first ones there we were Bible teachers – he made that known to others – Mitch took a group of those surrounding us and faked a leg injury to get their sympathy – I took another group and talked with them about that we had two ladies (who we kept in the vehicle) that were upset and Moses our driver was not well – we called Christian – and the Kona Lodge – within minutes Kona Lodge sent a whole force of people including the owner – then Christian came and I do not know how he got there so quick – but he was at the Kona Lodge when we arrived. When we arrived back at the lodge the wife of the owner met us – apologized – all the workers were out front – they apologized – the owner then came back and he apologized again – they could not have been nicer – It was decided that we should not teach tonight as our S L brethren were shook up also. AGAIN – WE ARE OKAY – WE WERE FORTUNATE THAT WE HIT THE POLE AND SLOWED DOWN AND WERE ABLE TO TURN THE VEHICLE OFF AND TAKE THE KEYS – our poor driver Moses was so disoriented. We folks that was our day – a little different than we thought it would be but at the end of the day we can still say – GOD IS GOOD! ALL THE TIME! TODAY – HE REALLY WAS GOOD TO US!

Day 11

After yesterday we were very tired – especially Mitch and I. The ladies are holding up fine – however the men have been dealing a lot with some pretty heavy teaching and question and answer sessions pertaining to the eldership as well as spiritual gifts and church finances. We of course are here just to teach and the brethren at Priscilla Street asked us to teach on eldership and church finances among other subjects. We have been doing that and doing it in a teaching way – allowing many questions and answers and comments. For those who teach you know that this can be the most challenging and yet the most beneficial for the students if done right. During the teaching yesterday morning it was stated that there were some who had objections against the men whose names were submitted for elders. As a result of this I believe I mentioned in yesterday’s blog about Tejan removing his name as he was told he was not fully capable of being apt to teach. He is very capable of teaching – he stepped down to avoid any conflict in the congregation. As a result of two individuals stating they had scriptural objections we asked them to write them down so the remaining two candidates could respond to them. They did this but did not talk with the candidates – they gave those objections to Mitch and I myself – we immediately just handed them over to Christian and then to Theophilus. After a sleepless night by both of them and some very long conversations with their spouses they were looking at what they should do. In talking with them it was decided that at this time they might remove their names (even though the objections proved to be unfounded as we will explain later in this blog). We started today with just a piece of toast for most of the group – I had nothing as the S L revenge that had a hold of Mitch earlier now found a willing candidate in me during the night. However, I was able to go and teach the Bible Class and worship and I am so glad I was. The Bible Study period for the ladies and children was very profitable as we understand. The ladies have been teaching the children and the ladies that they should love one another – this is not something shown in S L. No one trusts anyone including their brothers and sisters in Christ. However, that is now changing – to God be the glory on that! The men’s class was on relationship and trust – with God – Christ – apostles teaching and with our brothers and sisters. We tied that in to church finances and how we should trust one another and the ones that are keeping the finances and one keeping the finances should be responsible to all for record keeping. I used our wonderful deacon at Greenwood – Jeff Hendricks as an example of how to do the job. The worship service was very emotional – Mitch did a great job with a lesson about Peter and his transformation to a great apostle. Three young folks – around 15 to 15 came forward – one was Christian Asgill’s son. One young lady and two young men – all having ties with the congregation at Priscilla Street – bringing the total to 9 baptisms on this trip and all but one had ties (knew someone) at Priscilla Street – the one that did not is a jewel so far – Solomon who came because of the DVD’s. What a great experience – BUT God was not done showing us His power as of yet. First, Christian came and stated for the sake of the congregation at this time he was removing his name from being considered for the eldership – he no sooner than sit down than here came Theophilus with a statement centered on the song “Angry Words” and stated he loved the Lord and the congregation at Priscilla Street and was removing his name. They both stated that after a period of time they would like to study the subject again and move forward with appointing elders. About the time we were going to have prayer for their good hearts one of the young brothers who had made the objections against them came up front and stated he needed to make a confession of sin – he stated that he had gotten angry and caught up in the movement of not having elders and he had sinned and actually had no scriptural objections against either one of the men! He had tears flowing down his cheeks. We then prayed for all of them. This subject of elders will come back up in a more peaceful way in the future because of the teaching done on this trip about love and taking in the whole context of the scriptures and that an elder is not a perfect man and he may have been a sinner many years ago but was now a man who could meet the qualifications. WHAT A SERVICE! Unfortunately for the other three who are able to eat the Crown Bakery is closed today – we stopped by the store for more water AGAIN! Then to the hotel and they ate French fries and rice – then it was time to rest and all need rest – we have more days of long teaching ahead of us – tomorrow 15 older students from a school will be coming to our teaching at the hall. Also, more teaching the children and there is one young man – Daniel – age 10 that has won the hearts of all three of us – his parents are Baptist and yet he comes to all our services by himself and has questions – he is one of the smartest 10 year olds we have ever met – must stop on him as tears flow when I think what he will go through in his life. God is good! All the time! Today was outstanding!!!!

Day Ten

The day started like most days – up early – then a quick breakfast at Crown Bakery – then to Priscilla Street for our teaching. Today we started with the general teaching on elders where all the congregation could be a part of the class. It was a very intense session with many questions and answers. During the study one of the men whose name was put up for an elder made a statement that he needed to remove his name as he needed more time to prepare himself in the area of “Apt to teach”. This man can teach and has led others to Christ – he wants to learn more about how to convince the gainsayers. We had prayer for him – he has a great heart and set a tremendous example. It was very hot in the building and Mitch and I both were answering questions and teaching – we had a bed sheet chart up with all the qualifications and we wrote on the board to explain things. Whether elders or appointed is not up to us – we are just here to teach the Bible and in so doing we are trying to address issues about elders and their work and qualifications. Then we moved on to the hall for the men’s class and the ladies conducted the ladies classes at Priscilla Street. We taught the men a lesson from Acts 3 and 4. The ladies had more ladies than we did men and they had a great class going. We then went to Crown Bakery for our “lupper”. Then on to the hotel for some much needed rest. I have not mentioned this before but when we go to the Crown Bakery a man we call “the running man” runs down the road and clears traffic for us. He is very poor but he is such a pleasure to watch and enjoy – he has a big smile with not many teeth – we enjoy giving him a few Leones for his service – in return today he gave us a deck of coca-cola cards. He must have run 2 miles with us – that uplifted all of us. We definitely have a friend in the running man. Also, our driver is one we call U K – he is a very good driver and watches out for us. He is always on time and makes sure all is okay with us – all of us really like him. The hotel – Kona Lodge – is much closer to Priscilla Street than the Lighthouse – the restaurant is not as good but adequate – however, we are only 15 minutes from the Crown Bakery and that has helped. The staff here at the Kona is great – they have all gotten to know us and take care of us. We are tired! The intense schedule – the heat – the questions and answers have taken their toll. Connie and Cindy are hanging in there – Mitch and I both are having some voice issues but that is to be expected. We will make it to the end but we will be more than “wet dish towels” when we get on the plane to leave. Tomorrow we go to services and teach at Priscilla Street – then a little more rest. Monday – Solomon who just obeyed the gospel and who teaches at a school is bringing his 15 students to our teaching – he said “now that I am saved – they should be too!” We are excited about this opportunity. For all of those who have been keeping up with the John Kabul mystery – Augustine spent a lot of time and found him – I talked with John Kabul today and he promised he would come and see me on Monday. I do not know where he has been or what he has been doing – hopefully Monday I will learn more. God is good! All the time! Today was not an exception!

Day Nine

No Crown Bakery for breakfast today – a quick piece of toast with peanut butter and away we went to Priscilla Street to teach the children – Connie and Cindy downstairs with the small children first and then Mitch and I stay upstairs with the older children. Mitch spends this time talking with Theophilus about the work of the Lord in S L and I spend the few minutes in teaching the older children facts about the Bible. So far we have taught them about 12 writers of the Bible and what they did such as tentmaking – fishing, etc. They are so smart and so quick to learn. Also, we have taught them how to say “I love you” by touching your eye – crossing your arms across the chest and pointing at the individual or individuals you are talking with. They have taught this to the older members of the congregation in the evenings. Connie and Cindy are teaching kids but the kids are teaching them new songs also. It is great! The teaching at the hall was the best we have been able to do on this trip. The crown was very receptive with several non-members of the church attending and Mitch was on his game – I just tried to stay out of the way. We taught short lessons that they could remember and we taught several of them so they were able to learn many things in short and quick lessons. We then had a very good question and answer period – one older lady who is a non-member asked some great questions on the Holy Spirit and Solomon who obeyed the gospel last week (the one who saw our DVD’s) is asking some really good questions – he wants to learn so fast and quick – this is really encouraging to all. We then made a quick visit to Crown Bakery for our “lupper” and then to Mono Prix the store for some items for us and the church – we purchased them grape juice – it is so expensive for them yet they do not complain. We just wanted to help – they are so appreciative. Then a quick stop at the hotel to catch our breath and then on to the teaching for the evening sessions at Priscilla Street. Mitch taught tonight about the congregation at Ephesus and then his second lesson was on the work of the church. I followed with both parts of a lesson from an old bedsheet chart about the “Apostacy, Reformation and Restoration”. The audience was very attentive for the three hour session. We did have a surprise guest – a reverend in the Pentecostal church who is the national chaplain for the opposing political party running against the incumbent president. He stayed all the way until we got into the instrumental music question – that was about all he could take. After the studies a young lady came and asked Mitch for some passages to help her teach a Seventh Day Adventist friend. Mitch will take her some scriptures to assist her. During the study a young lady came forward – she is the daughter of one of the members at Priscilla Street – she wanted to be baptized – our new sister in Christ – Cecilia French. This is the sixth baptism and all of them have great potential to grow – all of them except Solomon had ties with members at Priscilla Street – Solomon found us through the DVD’s – he has been to every service since obeying the gospel and has taken so many notes of the lessons it is almost mind boggling. Tomorrow – a full day again – three hour study on the elders with the whole congregation – then the break out men and women classes. We are all tired – I can honestly say that this team is using all the energy they can “muster” each day and at night they are well spent. God is good! All the time! Today was a special blessing from Him!

Day Eight

Another day in Sierra Leone! Off to Crown Bakery for a breakfast – then to Priscilla Street for the children’s classes – Connie and Cindy have about 50 age 3-5 in a very confined space – then about 25 8 – 12 year olds after that. I am really enjoying teaching the older group for about 15 to 20 minutes before we leave for the hall – we are working on the writes of the Bible - who they were and something about each one of them so it will make it easier for them to learn – they are sponges! Also, some of them are coming to our evening services – some of them walk in the dark by themselves – they sing – listen – AND BEHAVE! There is the switch that is held by one of the men or women in case some of the smaller ones misbehave. This morning Mitch had a very good lesson on The Prophecies Concerning the N T Church. We are hitting this over and over to get the point across – we have some who are struggling to understand this and we are here to teach – so we go over and over things such as this. Then we talked about Christ – we gave them two more points about Christ and His name – He makes supplication – He was serving – we apply this then to our lives. Then the questions started and our charismatic friend was back and we had a very long discussion on spiritual gifts – it was intense but needed. Then to Crown Bakery for a quick “lupper” – on to the hotel for about an hour and then back to Priscilla Street for the evening/night sessions. Tonight a very long lesson on Drinking is what I presented – Sierra Leone is no different than the USA – a lot of folks drink – the full house took many notes as we went into great detail about Biblical wines. Then we talked about point number 2 of Why Satan Wants to Kill This Church – part of the “Reviving a Congregation Series”. Then more questions and answers. Then to the hotel just before the rain cut loose! It has rained about every night. Our good brethren here are tired – they are such troopers over here – they keep on coming and smiling. We are having a number of non-Christians at every study – the five who were baptized are attending regularly. Solomon – one of those baptized is asking questions and questions – it is so good as he is learning and learning! It is the middle of the trip – the teachers are tired! They are not giving up but you can see in their faces the tiredness – I am tired and I have done this several times. We pray for the second wind tomorrow as we have several more long days of teaching ahead of us. God is good! All the time! Today was another day of proof of that!

Day Seven

Our day started with good news that our regular driver U K was back behind the wheel. The driver we had yesterday was just about as “goofy” as they come. He backed into another car – of course he had the flat which was not his fault but he was only two blocks away from us when he had the flat and did not walk down and tell us – then he could not get back into the parking area (which is up a hill and very small) at the hotel. When we saw U K we knew the day was going to be better! It was – we made it to Crown Bakery as they were opened and each of us had a pretty good breakfast (Connie had toast but for her that is a pretty good breakfast!) Then on to the teaching – Mitch and I got to hear some of the teaching that Connie and Cindy did with the children before we went over to the hall to teach. WOW!!!!! They had almost 70 children eating out of their hands as they had all of them for awhile – ages 3 to 12 together!! What we heard just made Mitch and I excited – those kids are soaking it up and the two ladies are really working hard. It was hot today and Connie who never sweats – yes even she sweated!!! Mitch and I then went on to the hall and Mitch gave a great lesson on Shadrach – Meshach – Abednego. He is a very good teacher and I knew that – what I did not know is that he can preach with the best of them!!!! Then we talked about the Lord’s Supper and many other issues such as one church – we had 5 people there who were from 4 different denominations – and they started asking questions about the Lord’s Supper and about one church – we went that way for about an hour and a half – then we had to stop and they all stated they would be back tomorrow for more of this “teaching”! Also in the audience today was three of the new converts – the other two were there at the night sessions. After the session we made it to the Crown Bakery for our “lupper” - we feel so fortunate if we can get one meal a day – today we had two – it was wonderful. The restaurant at the Kona Lodge is just not very good – it is tolerable but they only have one or two things and that gets old five days in a row when it is the only meal you get. We are trying to get to Crown Bakery early in the morning and then in between sessions – we need the energy. The night session again brought out a full house – we discussed the spiritual nature of the church – the church at Corinth – Worldliness No. 5 which dealt with sexual immorality (a major issue over here and of course back in the states) and that Satan wants to kill the church at Priscilla Street by having division in it and people calling themselves after a man. Then questions and answers! A good night session. We just cannot get enough to drink - we are going through a lot of water – it is so important not to get dehydrated and we are really watching out that all of us drink enough. So far so good but we are like “waterholics” ! The four of us are really working well together – we are letting the ladies give us some feedback so we can adjust – Mitch and I are feeding off of each other and thinking as one in the heat of the question and answer sessions – for those who have been a part of the work here in Freetown you know how important that is! God is good! All the time! Today was not an exception!

Day Six

What a day! Toast and peanut butter to start. Our driver did not show up for work. The replacement driver did not know how to get to Priscilla Street and got lost! It was “Red Day” which meant it was a day for all the supporters of the present president to wear red and shout and blow whistles and pile on top of anything that moved and go up and down the streets yelling and screaming and playing loud music and act crazy! We finally arrived at Priscilla Street (I might as well of driven – I knew the way better than the driver did!) Connie and Cindy started the teaching of the children and I taught a short class of 15 minutes to the older children before going over to the hall for the adult teaching. Connie and Cindy continue to mesmerize the children as they teach them new things from the Bible. Also, they are teaching the teachers new things about the Bible. You know what is amazing? The children are soaking it in and remembering the things being taught – they even come to Mitch and I and tell us what they have learned – to all who helped to send the ladies over here – thank you!!!! Mitch and I spent almost 4 hours in intense question and answer session about who is a true Christian – the work of an evangelist – the work of an elder – how to remove the divisive brother or sister – how to show brotherly love – and on and on – we did not plan to do this but we had such a great group of hearts in the study we decided to let the questions determine our study – it was one of the best studies that I have been a part of over here in S L. During our study of who is a true Christian – a young man by the name of Johnathan Samura wanted to be baptized – Christian and Theophilus knew him and Christian and Taejohn took him and baptized him. At the end of the studies we were ready to go get something to eat – however we did not have a driver – he had a flat tire and was about 45 minutes late in getting to us –then there was so much confusion due to the political rallies that it was best for us to try and get back to the hotel – then the political rallye was growing and all were going to the national stadium (which Priscilla Street is only about 1 mile from) so the president could speak to them. Christian and Theophilus thought it best that we did not come back to Priscilla Street tonight due to the political rally. On our way back to the hotel we were amazed at how many people were out for the rally – when we got back to the hotel we were very hungry – all we had eaten was a piece of toast – that was 9 hours prior! The restaurant did not have very much food – so we ordered a type of chicken that when it came it was so spicy hot that Mitch could not eat it – Connie did not want it – Cindy and I ate part of it – so we had another piece of toast and portion of French fries! Tomorrow there is no political rally – back to our normal schedule – YEA!!!! What a day! Yet, God is good! All the time! Today was another example of His goodness!

Day Five

Today started with a very quick breakfast of toast and Mitch and Cindy had some scrambled eggs – Connie had something called “Vevetta’ – I had toast!!!! That was at 7:15 am – we ate again at 3:45 pm in between our sessions – we ate a pizza at Crown Bakery. Then we went quickly to the African market and saw my friend Mohammed who fixed up Connie – Cindy – Mitch with some things to bring home – they did the choosing – I did the negotiation – it went well – then on to Priscilla Street tonight for the session. Connie and Cindy taught the school children in two different settings – 3 yrs to 5 yrs of which they had about 50 of those – then about 25 or so of the 8 years to 12 year olds. The children are really taking to the teaching of Connie and Cindy – when they went down to start teaching the younger children about 8:30 am I had about a 20 minute class with older ones before we left for the hall to start our teaching session. The day progressed quickly and we adjusted our lessons to meet needs of the folks here. We decided to have them not pass out the question cards until after our lessons. That helped the quality of the questions and moved our studies on so we could address the needs. During the night session we had a young lady who came to the day session come tonight. Her name is Mary Dorcus Marion – she was interested and talked with Christian – then she was baptized! So far the baptismal pool has been used for four burials and resurrections – to God be the glory! Connie and Cindy are troopers! They have had to adjust to many different things and they just keep moving forward. Mitch is a seasoned warrior! He laid down a lesson on the church at Colossae tonight and applied it to Priscilla Street – he was bold and powerful and they got what he was saying. Tomorrow – we do it all over again! God is good! All the time! Today was not an exception!

Day Four

Today was a great day! We had a very quick breakfast and then off to Priscilla Street for Bible Study and worship. We had separate studies for the men – ladies and children. Connie and Cindy taught the ladies and children – they had a packed house – 42 children in the children’s class and several ladies in the ladies class. I taught the men’s class on church finances and the ladies were taught how to teach children – a great period of studies. Mitch spoke during worship on “Heaven and why I want to go there” – it was a very uplifting sermon. We sung from the song books sent over by the congregation at Greenwood – it was a very uplifting service – when the invitation was extended a young lady by the name of Facema came forward wanting to be baptized. Also, a young came forward who had just returned from training in India expressing the need for prayers for those in India who were not members of the Lord’s body – his statement was touching. Brother Abraham baptized the young lady and brother TaeJohn prayed for those in India. It was very uplifting to hear the congregation singing some traditional African hymns after the young lady was baptized – but they first sung – I have decided to follow Jesus. What a great service – by the way there were 112 people there – 70 adults and 42 children – the children absolutely love Connie and Cindy! As usual all the studying and preparation that was done before we came is helpful – but Mitch and I will be adjusting our lessons to meet some needed teaching on subjects that have been brought up. This is okay and we will do what we can to address these much needed subjects. Tomorrow the long days and nights of teaching start – we will leave at 8 am Connie and Cindy start at 8:30 am with the children’s classes at the school. Mitch and I start at Jarwlee Lewis Hall at 9:30 am. We will break somewhere around 3 pm or so and then start again at 5:30 pm and go until about 8:30 pm or so. This will be the schedule until we leave except for next Saturday which will be 9:30 am until about 5:30 pm and of course the normal service time next Sunday. God is good! All the time! Today – not an exception!

Day Three

A long day but a great day! We started out with just a quick breakfast of toast and a scrambled egg (Connie just had toast). Then to Priscilla Street for 3 and one half hour of teaching and answering questions on eldership. Then the men went up the street to Jarwlee Lewis Hall for their study. The ladies stayed at Priscilla Street for their study. The ladies did a great job of teaching according to Mary and Mabel and other ladies. Mitch and I never were able to get into our planned lessons – we had three non-members and one – Solomon who had been at the evening studies because of seeing the teaching of our DVD’s on TV had numerous questions and all the men then had questions about one baptism – Holy Spirit – one body, etc. For about three and a half hours we studied these things. Then all of a sudden Solomon asks “do you delay baptism?” Our answer was “no”. Well, folks he was ready to be baptized and we immediately moved to Priscilla Street to baptize him. We had to interrupt Connie who was in the last lesson – she understood of course – then Sarah who is 16 also stated she wanted to be baptized came forward. Christian took their confession of Christ and baptized them into Christ in the repaired baptistery at Priscilla Street – it was a glad day! We then came back to the hotel and cleaned up and ate at 7:30 PM – approximately 12 hours from our egg and toast. We were all very hungry – also Mitch and I ran out of water and when they brought us some I immediately recognized that it was water we learned from a previous trip to avoid. So we were very thirsty when we returned also. Tomorrow we look forward to worshipping with the brethren at Priscilla Street. Cindy and Connie will be conducting classes for children and ladies in the Bible Study hour while I will teach men about church finances. Mitch will present the sermon on Eternity and Heaven. It was a great day! God is good! All the time! Today was not an exception!

Day Two in Freetown

When we went to bed on Thursday night it was raining. Today was hot and humid! We tried to go to the African market and Crown Bakery but both were closed for a Muslim holiday. The Muslim believe this is the day that Abraham offered Isaac on the alter – think about that and try to figure it out! We did have the opportunity to take Connie, Cindy and Mitch out to the Lighthouse where we normally stay. Even on this holiday where traffic was very light it took another 35 minutes from the Kona Lodge which is 20 minutes in good traffic from Priscilla Street where we are teaching. The roads are all falling apart and for the third year in a row they are suppose to be under construction with help from the Chinese – well the Chinese must be watching their investments elsewhere because they certainly are not present here assisting in road improvement. Tonight we had another full house with some in extra chairs and a few younger ones sitting on the floor. Solomon was back – the Catholic that talked with Cindy last night. We took a Bible for him tonight and had Cindy give it to him – he was so excited. He talked with Christian and myself before the studies – we see him struggling as he is hearing truth for the first time and it is pricking his heart. Mitch had some real good conversations with some of the brethren before the studies concerning elders. Theophilus and I talked about the issues in Makeni and the need to have a congregation in eastern Freetown. Connie and Cindy have to adjust their teaching plans and they do not start teaching until tomorrow! Mitch taught about the church in Rome and how it could not have been the Catholic Church – he presented the material very well – he has quickly earned their respect as a teacher! I presented lesson 2 in the worldliness series – then we answered question after question – we answered all their questions before we stopped! Tomorrow the real work begins – we will start teaching at 9:30 AM and should be finished around 6 or 6:30 PM tomorrow evening depending on the questions. We ask for your prayers – the Lord has blessed us with packed houses so far and they are willing to be taught! God is good! All the time! Today is no exception!

Saafe Arrival!

We finally arrived in Sierra Leone about 5:00 pm Sierra Leone time Wed. evening. We had delays from Indy – meaning we had only 10 minutes to catch the London plane in of course a gate 20 minutes away. We walked with a great pace and barely made – Mitch was there but had also been delayed. Then we were held up on the tarmac for 40 minutes – this put us late arriving in London. Then we caught a bus to another terminal – back through tight security with only one checking lane open – we all made it okay except that terrorist looking guy from Arizona. They held Mitch up for 45 minutes. We made the flight to Freetown as they were ready to shut the door. Then the fiasco through the Lungi airport is just unexplainable. However, someone donated some old busses to them and instead of walking 100 feet to the terminal you now get the benefit of driving about a half mile out of your way packed like sardines with no air conditioning. We finally got to the Kona Lodge at 10:00 P.M. With 11 pieces of luggage (5 bags of song books and one bag of Bibles and one bag of equipment) we were surprised all the bags made it to Sierra Leone and equally surprised when two bags did not make it across the water on the water taxi. The two bags of course were Connie’s and Cindy’s bags. Well about an hour later they made it across. Our first teaching was tonight – I spoke on “What is worldliness?” Mitch spoke on “The church at Jerusalem”. We had many questions from the full house – The ladies did a great job of meeting the people and getting familiar with the conditions. They will start their teaching on Saturday with a 5 hour session. Already they are making an impression. Cindy helped Solomon – a Catholic who came because he saw us teaching on T V but did not have a Bible find scriptures. He asked some good questions and stated he will be back. We sung out of the song books the congregation at Greenwood sent over. The first song sung – “O worship the King”. Mitch was a natural – he fit right in answering questions and you would think he had been teaching in S L for years. With the ladies and Mitch – I am so excited as they are fitting right in. We went to Crown Bakery and had pizza today – all liked it. Tomorrow night – three more hours of teaching – then we will go to 10 and 11 hour days! God is good! All the time! Today – was not an exception!

Fall 2012 Trip Preview

Tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday 10/23) will be the time for departure for another trip to teach the gospel to our friends in the Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa area. Cindy Hill, Connie Niemeier, Mitch Johnson and myself will meet up in Chicago and fly to Freetown via London. We will arrive in Freetown Lord willing on Wednesday afternoon around 4:50 P.M. Sierra Leone time. This trip is going to be another historical trip in the work in the Freetown area. It will be the first time that two ladies have made the trip to teach ladies and children. Cindy and Connie will have about 48 hours of public teaching time during this trip not counting some private teaching opportunities that always come up. They have prepared 325 story boards for the teachers to use in teaching children. They will have about 5 hours a day of teaching in a school consisting of ages 6 through 12. Each Saturday they will have 5 hour classes for the ladies. Mitch and I will be teaching daily from 9:30 A.M. until 3:30 P.M. Then we will have a two hour break and conduct a three hour session each night at the Priscilla Street congregation. We each will have a lesson each night and have an open question and answer period. Then on each Saturday morning we will be having a three hour class on elders and then a five hour men’s class (while the ladies are having their class) on various subject centered on “Searching for Happiness”. We could not be making this trip if it was not for the support of many of you as individuals and the congregations you attend. Please pray for us that we will do the work the Lord has presented us with in a way that will be pleasing to Him. Also, check the blog routinely as we plan on posting a blog each day that we can – providing the internet service will allow us to do so. I want to thank John Smith for being our blog coordinator for us. God is good! All the time! And this trip will not be an exception!

Day "Something"

The days blend together. Justin Monts here blogging. Today was our last official day of public teaching, though John Smith will bring a lesson on Wednesday night before we leave. The day started off unappealing as David spotted a roach crawling through the bread at the breakfast bar and we chose rather then to have a smaller, more restricted breakfast. David and John went to Priscilla Street, and David preached. I went to Wellington and preached there. Afterwards, brother John Kargbo took me to see the Disabled Camp in Grafton. There is a church that meets here that is supposed to be a church of Christ but we were unable to find it. The one who knows about it, Peter Barnett, was not at the church in Wellington long enough to be able to assist us in locating it. I got to meet many victims of polio though and many were friendly and welcomed pictures being taken. John then took me to a Disabled House within Freetown. I was given a tour of the place and got to visit with many there. I finally got back to the hotel at 4 pm and was beat and dehydrated from having been out in the sun and on the dusty roads. It was a relief to be able to relax the rest of the evening. Tomorrow and on Tuesday and Wednesday we have studies scheduled with various men here at the hotel. It will be nice to stay within the cooler room to talk with them and encourage them in their faith. We are so looking forward to being done with the work and being back with our loved ones in the States. Please keep praying for this all-important work. Your servant in Christ, Justin

We have finished our lectures at Priscilla Street! John, Justin, and I were relieved to accomplish this. It has been a profitable two weeks and equally exhausting. Tomorrow John and I will worship at Priscilla Street. Justin will worship at Wellington.

We have Bible studies scheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week. We are hoping to spend some time with some of the men of the congregation to help them. We will study I & II Timothy and Titus. There are good Christians in this part of the world. They have good hearts and are capable of doing the Lord's work. We intend only to help stabilize them in the faith.

The baptistery is finished! The brethren at Priscilla Street have been repairing their baptistery since before we arrived. We have had to teach most mornings while work was being done behind us. When we got to the building today, three people were filling the finished baptistery one bucket of water at a time. Each bucket of water was filled from the public fountain and carried on their heads to the building. As soon as the baptistery was filled, Tommy Willis was baptized into Christ for the remission of sins. I cannot imagine a better way to start a Bible study!

Today, brother Theophilus Kartuche preached. He taught a lesson on the Fruit of the Spirit. Brother Kartuche presented a great lesson. He and brother Christian Asgill are excellent Bible teachers. Priscilla Street is greatly blessed by their diligent work. We were happy to work them into our lectures the past two days.

Tomorrow is our last day of lectures. John, Justin, and I will be preaching on the theme of "Choices."

Greetings from Freetown, Sierra Leone. Today seemed to be the hottest day we have experienced. It was about 91 degrees with 70 percent humidity. The building where we preach is essentially an open air auditorium. There are fans, but it is quite uncomfortable. The weather creates an additional challenge to each day.

We are nearing the end of our lectures at Priscilla Street. Tomorrow and Saturday will be our last sessions. Sunday, John and I will be at Priscilla Street and Justin will go to Wellington. Next week, we are planning to have private studies with some of the men of the congregation at our hotel. We are all starting to look forward to next Thursday when we start our travel home.

Today, we had one of the men of Priscilla Street preach: Christian Asgill. He preached about the struggle to bury the old man of sin. Brother Asgill is a knowledgeable student of the Bible and an powerful preacher. The three of us were encouraged to hear him preach. Tomorrow one of the other teachers of the congregation will speak: Theophilus Kartusche.

David Flatt

Angels Are Singing!

John Smith with a blog post:

Shush ... Be very quiet ... can you hear them? Angels are singing chorus of rejoicing as another precious soul has been added to Christ. Elijah Koroma was baptized into Christ this evening in the bath tube of our hotel room.

Elijah is a wonderful young man with a great story. He was raised a Muslim, but as a teenager left the Muslim faith because he saw the falacy of that faith. He did so even though his parents objected to it. Elijah said he had to obey God, not man. He later became a member of the Anglican Church and was sprinkled there thinking he had been baptized.

Last week Bro Jerry Lewis was walking near the house where Elijah lives and saw Elijah reading his Bible. Jerry asked him, "Do you understand what youare reading?" Elijah said no and Jerry began to study with him. Last week Jerry brought Elijah to our room for a study that went very well. Since that study Elijah has attended nearly every study at Priscilla Street (with the exception of when he was working and one day he was sick).

Elijah came to our room this evening for a study and brought a backpack with him. Being the perceptive individual that I am I never noticed the backpack. We studied for about 1/2 hour and I asked elijah if he was thinking of being baptized. He said,"No I am not thinking about baptism I want to be baptized." Thus, we wasted no time getting our tub ready and baptized him into Christ. As wigh the eunuch he went on his way to work, rejoicing!

It has been a great day. May the Lord be praised!!

Day 8 in Freetown

John Smith with a blog entry:

Another dear soul was baptized into Christ today. "David" is a very earnest and spiritually hungry young man. I do not have a picture of him as I left early having "hit the wall"and needing to rest.

David presented a great lesson on What Constitutes Scriptural Baptism. It was after this lesson that David asked if he could be baptized. It was a great lesson - presented in a very easily understandable way.

David is doing great work. His natural friendliness is making him a "fan favorite." All the brethren love him and gravitate to him. We are fortunate to have a young man of such great talent on the trip. His contribution is indespensible.

Justin spoke of Common Denominational Abuse of Scripture. It was an expose of Calvinism. The brethren wee introduced to some words they had never heard before, but listened intently. I can't say enough about Justin's courage in going to Kailuhn over the weekend. He has a genuine passion for evangelism.

I spoke on the Similitudes with a special emphasis upon encouraging the brethren to look beyond their own congregation to see where the gospel can be planted or watered. Tomorrow we will deal with sexual sin and divorce from the Sermon on the Mount.

Hope to write more tomorrow of spiritual victories in Sierra Leone.

Day 8 - Reflections on the trip to Kailahun

Greetings from Sierra Leone,

Justin Monts is writing this blog. I wanted to comment further on the trip to Kailahun. The trip was exhausting but spiritually rewarding. Jerry and I took a bus to Kenema and from there we hopped in a car with several others seeking to go to Kailahun. Jerry had me take the window seat in front. There was a woman sitting in between me and the driver and so I was squished against the door, sitting sideways with my bottom on the door itself. We rode like this for four hours. The roads were extremely bumpy and dust flew freely into the car. I kept the window down to avoid suffocating in the heat. The roads were narrow and tall grass and twigs whipped against my arms and face as the driver sped along. It was a huge relief to finally arrive and be greeted by brother Lansana! The first hotel they took me to was not really a hotel but what appeared to be a woman's house. She did not have air conditioning or hot water and I stressed that coming from the States, such would be extremely helpful, at least for the first day. (I wanted to see if my body could acclimate to the environment before risking complete exhaustion and fatigue under the hot African sun.) They then took me to another place where there was air conditioning. But this place wanted to charge extra for hot water. Brother Jerry was angry at them, for he knew they made that rule when they saw that I was a white man, but I told him not to worry and that the room with cold water would be fine.

The next day (Sunday) brother Lansana met us to take us to the radio station. He flagged over two boys on motorbikes to drive us. My mother would have had a heart attack if she saw me riding on the back of the motorbike on the dangerous roads, having no helmet available to put on. Along the way, little children would run out of huts and mud brick houses shouting, "Pomweh!! Pomweh!! Pomweh!!" I told the driver I had already heard that word before and asked if they were saying hello. He laughed and said, "No, they are saying 'White Man! White Man! White Man!'"

We got to the station but (sadly) they were having technical difficulties so we could not get any air time. That was unfortunate for I was hoping to bring a short talk about the One Body (Eph. 4:4). From the station we went to the meeting house where we greeted the brethren. They were so excited for our arrival and touched that we made a sacrifice to be there. Lord willing, I will be able to see them again next year with brother Jerry and be able to conduct preacher training sessions for them.

On the return journey we took a van back from Kenema. It was quite scary when a man got on offering Islamic prayers in exchange for financial compensation. Brother Jerry challenged him saying if you want to pray for people just pray for people but do not ask for their money. In a country of extreme poverty Jerry gets upset at such exploitation for he knows many of these people will pay for the prayers though they are struggling just to survive. The Muslim man got upset at Jerry and shouted at him but then continued with his appeal to the rest in the van. Then, he raised his hands up and started in song and quoted a prayer from the Koran in Arabic. All around me I saw hands going up as the people prayed with him. (It was a reminder that nearly 70% of the country is Muslim.) And sure enough, after his prayer he collected from the travelers. I was also surprised when two women got on with live chickens tied at their feet. One sat by me and on the long drive back I felt the chicken brushing up against my feet. (Jerry tells me goats have been taken on these vans.) In America a van like this would only hold nine (at most!) but I am sure there were about 40 on there. I could not move. Bags of rice and tubs of palm wine and palm oil were slid under our feet. I had to put my luggage on my lap and that killed the circulation in my legs. It was a very rough journey ... and I'm glad to be back in Freetown.

Signing off from Sierra Leone,

Your servant,

Justin

Day 7 - Return from Kailahun

Dear Brethren,

I just got back into Freetown tonight from a preaching trip out to Kailahun in Eastern Sierra Leone. The distance is about 300 miles but it takes 12 hours one way to get there. Brother Jerry Lewis of the Priscilla Street church accompanied me. We met with the brethren in Kailahun and preachers from various congregations in the neighboring regions joined us for worship Sunday morning. Jerry brought a lesson on Denonminationalism and I brought a sermon on Why I Left The Institutional Church of Christ. Both lessons were very well received. After the services we met with the various preachers to discuss the situation of the churches in Kailahun. The brethren here are very eager to have religious material and have expressed a desire to have preacher training sessions take place. I passed out material related to the work, worship, and organization of the New Testament church and told them I would work hard to see that more material could be brought in the future.

Now I am very tired so I will have to go to bed. We appreciate so much your prayers and support!

God bless you all and keep you!

Justin

Day 7

God is good...All the time...All the time...God is good! This is the call and response which begins each service at Priscilla Street. God certainly was good today. We were blessed with safety. More importantly, two people were added to Christ today. One was a young man who asked us several questions before making his decision. The other was a young lady who was nine months pregnant. We do not do the baptizing. This is due to the heath risks of getting into water. Maybe this is why Paul did not do much baptizing in Corinth.

All in all, it was a good day. We continue to get many questions from everyone. The question and answer session is probably the most important part of our work at Priscilla Street. It enables us to more directly discuss the concerns and any misunderstandings the people may have.

After the session, we had our driver, Abu, take us past the United States Embassy. The Embassy is located in the mountains. It is a fortress and is probably more elaborate than Sierra Leone's Presidential Palace. I told our driver I wanted to make sure he knew where to take us if there was any trouble. He laughed and said there would be no trouble. After a week in the country, he has been proven right. The people have been generally kind and welcoming to us. It has been a privilege to be in their country.

David Flatt

The Lord's Day in Freetown

Sunday, February 19, 2012

John Smith with today’s blog entry:

It has been a beautiful Lord’s Day here in Freetown. The temperatures are quite mild for this time of year and we have enjoyed sitting on our veranda watching the sunset. Supper is always eaten at the outdoor café of the Lighthouse Restaurant. I actually felt a faint chill as we finished supper. That is such a relief to the weather we have experienced in the past. If you move away from the beach to the city, weather conditions change rapidly and markedly. There is very little breeze in the city and the air quite stagnant. The smells cannot be described.

David went to Wellington to preach this morning. The east side of town is totally different from the west end. The poverty is greater, crime more pronounced and there is a stronger Islamic presence. The building at Wellington is little more than a thatched, dirt floor building, but it serves their purposes quite nicely, except during the rainy season when it floods with some regularity. Property laws are different that in the states. While the church owns the building they do not own the land on which the building sits. As a result, the land owner is evicting them as of April 1st. As of yet they have not found any alternative and are not sure what they will do. For most of them travelling into Priscilla Street is not an option because of distance and cost of transport.

David preached a sermon entitled, “When in Baptism Scriptural?” There were somewhere around 30 present and most of them are young. John Kabul does a wonderful work among the youth of his neighborhood.

After services David got to tour a typical Sierra Leonean house and gardens. To say the least it was an eye opening experience.

I went to Priscilla Street this morning. Attendance started off slow, but gradually grew till we literally had a packed house. I would estimate the crowd at over 80. Theophilus taught a lesson on the Victory of Faith which melded well into my lesson on the Road to Salvation. At the end of service two precious souls made the good confession and were baptized into Christ. One more is giving it serious consideration and a young man said he would be ready tomorrow. Let us pray for these two souls.

I have had my first Sierra Leonean accident. I was sitting on the veranda and turned to tell David the maid was coming in when the leg of a plastic chair broke sending me rapidly to the tile porch. My hip hit the tile and my head hit the sliding glass door. The door is not broken and no tile was broken in the fall. However, I cannot say the same thing for my hip. It appears to be bruised and is very sore. Tomorrow might be a challenge.

We have profited from and enjoyed our first Lord’s Day in Freetown and look with pleasant anticipation to the next one.

Day 5

Today, we conducted lecutres on the topic of the family. The congregation requested we do some teaching about the family. Yesterday, Justin taught about serving God as a single. Today I preached about serving God in marriage. John preached about serving God in your older years. Justin is single, I am married, and John is old(er). This was the first time the church held Saturday lectures. Saturday in Sierra Leone is much like Saturday in the states. People work around their homes. For this reason the brethren were unsure how many people would attend. However, the attendance was about consistent to what it was all week.

After the lectures, we went to a market. We kept calling it the African market, but our driver did not seem to know which market this was. This is because all markets in Africa are African markets. The official name of the market we visited was "the big market."

Tomorrow, we are planning to split up. John will be at Priscilla Street and I will be at the church in Wellington. Wellington is a small country church located on the east side of Freetown.

We appreciate everyone who has been reading our posts. Also, we are grateful for all the prayers that have been made on our behalf and our work. We have been praying for our brethren at home daily.

David Flatt

About the Poverty

Sierra Leone is an extremely poor region. This was explained to me before I arrived; however, nothing could have prepared me for what I have seen. There is virtually no infrastructure. The roads are extremely rough. They feel more like trails than roads. We spend on average about two hours driving. The drives are almost painful. The sewer water runs through open ditches. Water for cooking, bathing, and drinking is taken from a public fountain. One day during our lectures, I watched a man brushing his teeth next to the church building. Garbage is everywhere. The smell of burning trash is practically inescapable. The people live in houses made out of tin, garbage, and whatever else they can find. On the first day, I noticed a hillside stacked with a wall of trash. While I was looking, I saw people walking inside. As we drove closer, I found families living inside the walls of garbage.

The people of Sierra Leone are poor, but extremely resilient. If they were not, they would just die. They have survived a horrific civil war. To hear the locals talk about it is chilling. They continue to survive the challenges of poverty one day at a time. Even more impressive is the contentment and optimism seen in the Christians at Priscilla Street. I wish you all could hear them sing! For me, their singing has told me all I need to know about these wonderful people. They have taught me more than I could ever hope to teach them. Surely, Heaven will be filled with souls from Sierra Leone.

David Flatt

Day 4

Today started at 6:30 AM. We went back to the Broadcast Building. John was interviewed on Good Morning Sierra Leone. This is their version of Good Morning America; although, it is a much more scaled down version. John was asked about our Bible classes at Priscilla Street. The interview lasted about seven minutes. He was able to briefly talk about Jesus and the purpose of His teaching. While he was being interviewed, Christian was interviewed on the radio.

The lectures were productive. We are looking forward to tomorrow. We are scheduled to spend the day teaching about the family.

David Flatt

Day 3

Greetings from Sierra Leone, This is Justin Monts writing on behalf of John Smith and David Flatt. Every day has been filled with activities and today was equally exciting. Elijah, the friend of brother Jerry Lewis, came early in the morning to meet us at our hotel and drive with us to the Priscilla Street church of Christ. Elijah has been truly encouraging and he is not far from the kingdom. Jerry found him reading his Bible outdoors and asked if he understood what he was reading. Elijah said he did not and Jerry began a discussion with him about the Bible and the New Testament church. Elijah had come out of Islam, standing in opposition to his Muslim parents, and had been sprinkled to be added to the Anglican Church. He listened very intently in our Bible study last night and has come to understand that the Anglican church is not the church of Scripture. He is very close to being Scripturally baptized but we wish to have a few more studies with him to make sure he understands certain aspects of the kingdom (Acts 8:12). He is so eager to learn and grow and has such a tender heart at receiving the doctrines of Sctipture that it has been a true joy to meet him and assist him in his studies.

On the way to Priscilla Street church our driver Abu answered questions about life during the civil war of Sierra Leone. He talked about hardships that he personally witnessed that are almost too terrible to report. I will do so here only so that we can have a better understanding of what the people of Sierra Leone have come out of. He said that the rebels would take pregnant women and make a bet if the child they had was a boy or girl and then they would cut them open to settle the bet. He said that the rebels might force a son to have sexual relations with his mother. He talked about the senseless killing and atrocities. All the people were called out in Makeni (you had to come or you would be executed on the spot) to witness the deaths of those who had challenged the rebels. He spoke with great emotion about having to watch the rebels lock certain families in a building and then burn it to the ground. They were also called out to a field where hundreds were gunned down in cold blood. The rebels ruled by fear. But by the providence of God the nation is now healing and the violence is ended. We are very blessed to live in the country we do and have the safety and freedom we enjoy.

Our driver Abu is a Seventh Day Aventist but he has come faithfully to the studies to listen, learn, and grow in his understanding. My lesson today was on the Old and New Testaments and I stressed that the Sabbath observance was given to the Jews who had been delivered from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 5:12-15), had never been bound upon the Gentiles, and was not a part of Christian service today (Col. 2:16). He wrote down questions that we in turn answered and has shown promise in his ability to be open-minded and listen to reason and Scripture. Please pray for him. David brought excellent material on Islam. It is very much needed here since about 70% of the popluation is Muslim. David has a lot of talent in preaching the truth and has shown a great love for the souls of all who are out here. John continued his series on Christian living and the Sermon on the Mount and has a great personality in working with the individuals and churches over here. It is a true honor to be with these men.

We then went to the radio station to log a 10 minute presentation of the truth but the power kept going on and off (such is a common occurance out here), and finally went off for the whole day. Brother Asgill patiently reminded us that all things work together for good to those who love God (Rom. 8:28). We will try again early in the morning.

We closed the day with a study with brother Eric and helped him to prepare a lesson.

Signing off from Sierra Leone,

Your servant, Justin

Day 2

Today the lectures at Priscilla Street began. John was the first to preach. He began a series on godly character. He is using the Beatitudes to make each of his points. John is very effective in his presentations. His close relationship with the brethren add to his ability to present the truth. Justin presented excellent material on the Holy Spirit. Justin is very logical in his preaching. He took a complex subject and carefully explained the Scriptures in a skillful fashion. His study of the Scriptures is clearly evident in his preaching. I began a series on Salvation. I used Acts chapter two as an introduction to this topic.

The question and answer session was productive. We give them paper and pens to write their questions for us. The questions the brethren ask are impressive. We were asked questions like "What does it mean to be successful; What assurances can we have to know we are going to Heaven; How can one know he has the Holy Spirit?" They have a sincere desire to understand the truth.

After our lectures, we were driven back to the hotel. We took some time to regroup, discuss the lecture session, look over tomorrow's material, and had dinner. After dinner, we had a Bible study with one of the men of the congregation and a friend of his: Elijah. Elijah seems to have a tender heart. We discussed the Church and baptism. We plan to pick him up on our way to the lectures tomorrow. All in all, it was a good and spiritually rewarding day.

David Flatt

Day One

Our trip to Sierra Leone has gotten off to a great start. We are all healthy, safe and get along great with one another.

Today has been a slow leisurely day, by design. After the ordeal of 24 hours traveling we needed some time to catch our breath. We all help quite soundly last night.

This morning we drove (or rather rode) into town for a lunch at Crown Bakery and stop at Mono Prix market. The variety of items available has improved dramatically. Lunch was a Crown Special Pizza. It was wonderful!
Abu, our driver, has been helpful and friendly. His English is understandable and very expressive. He has taught me a new word. We were discussing marriage –vs- being a bachelor. He called a bachelor something like a “pile of poo.” Justin insists that I misunderstood what he was saying, but I know he called himself a bachelor a “pile of poo.” Can you guess what Justin’s new nickname is?

After resting this afternoon, we are to go to Priscilla Street this evening at 6:00. They have a song and prayer service planned. By their plan we will offer thanksgiving for our safe travel and ask God’s blessings on the work in the day classes. I look forward to this spiritual feast.

Just a few minutes ago David returned to our room with an air card provided free of charge by the hotel. Internet should be available all the time!!!!!

Arrival

Thanks to God and the prayers of so many, John, Justin, and I arrived in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Our flight began in Indianapolis, to Chicago, to Brussels, to Banjul, to Freetown. The airport in Freetown was as chaotic as John had described. However, our arrival went smoothly. The brethren made many arrangements which made our arrival as smooth as it could possibly have been.

After navigating the airport, we were taken by SUV down a horribly rough road to catch the water taxi. This was all done at night. The water taxi was an experience of a lifetime. We walked across a floating dock which was bouncing up and down from the waves. Thankfully, we all boarded without incident. The ride lasted about 45 minutes. The boat ride across Pelican Bay was rough and wet. I laughed to myself thinking how no one at home would ever believe me when I told this story. It was truly an adventure.

We met up with more brethren from the Priscilla Street congregation at the dock. Seeing them was an amazing experience. We estimated they had probably been waiting for us for at least three hours in the heat.

After another SUV ride down through the streets of Freetown, we finally arrived at the Lighthouse hotel.

David Flatt

Leaving Sunday, February 12th

Lord willing, Justin Monts, David Flatt and I will be flying out Sunday afternoon the 12th of February at 3:00. We will connect through Chicago and Brussels. We ask for your prayers for safe travel.

We have daily classes scheduled for Priscilla Street for the first two weeks. Then we will have small group studies in our hotel room primarily with those who are the most interested. On Saturdays, we will have day long lectures at Priscilla Street. The first week will deal with family related issues and the second will revolve around making wise choices.

At this point we do not know how often we will be able to get out to Wellington. They have lost their building due to some goffy real estate laws in Sierra Leone. They own the building but not the land it is on and the land owner wants it back. They hope to meet there until the first of March or April. They are still in the hunt for a new place to meet. I will up date you as more information is available.

The head of Global MIssions, an institutional organization associated with liberal churches of Christ, will be in Freetown at the same time we are there. He is wanting to talk with Christian Asgill who wants me to go with him. Bro. Asgill has invited him to present his position at Priscilla Street with either Justin or I answering what he has to say. Brethren, this may be a turning point for many churches in Freetown. They have never had the institutional and non-institutional positions presented side by side. Please make this an object of prayer.

Bro. David Flatt will present a series of lectures on Islam. Sierra Leone is over 60% Moslem. There should be no shortage of people who need these lessons. Please pray for David's courage and clarity as he addresses this false religion.

As long as internet access is reliable and available at the hotel, we will be posting daily or semi-daily reports.