New Season!

June-July 2012

Spring, summer… many changes since we wrote in February and not just with the weather. 

Our Home in Jos... Looking Peaceful

A Season of Increased Peace. 

Fewer bombings, more quiet.  Increased security especially on Sundays and around our targeted church compounds here in Jos.  We enjoyed three weekends away from our house on a quieter SIM compound, only about a ten minute drive from home.  Very refreshing after the trials of the bomb attack just three weeks prior.

A Season of Special Guests.  Talk about answered prayer!

A Weekend Getaway!

The Kallows.  This U.K. couple came to Jos expressly for City Ministries.  Brenda demonstrated enthusiasm specifically for our sponsoring program.  She joined us with visits to different centers, interviewing and picture taking.  The Kallows were here until April and plan to make repeated trips each year, Lord willing.

Mrs. Alison Ajayi.  This is a new worker in Nigeria from the U.K. and skilled in office management.  Alison agreed to take up the SIM narrative reporting that John has been doing. 

Visitors from our home church.  Not often does our home church mission’s pastor visit Nigeria.  We were very blessed to have Pastor Tom Keppeler and Brandon Verbrugge come from Elmbrook Chruch.  They made the most of their few days: meeting many of our CARE kids and being an encouragement everywhere.

Jen Shares a Photo.  January 2012

Melissa and Jennifer.  Our older daughter, Jennifer, with friend, Scott, visited during dry season (Dec-Jan).  Melissa came during May-June for the mango/rainy season.  Both visits included work, fun and a warm up for the “big transition” (below).

A Season of Ministry Catch-up and Handover

Sponsoring, finances and recordkeeping tasks do not let up.  But our usual routine will soon take a turn.  Like many others at our age, it’s time for us to transition back to the home front.  Retire?  Actually, we will carry on parts of our work during the coming months along with our home assignment.  But we are in the process of handing our work over to others as we relocate to the U.S. and enter this new season of life.  The Kallows and Alison are already involved in this process. 

Melissa Helps Interview.  May 2012

How can we carry on some parts of our work after leaving the field?  The internet makes this possible.  Email is already a basic tool for all of us, and we will continue to take advantage of it.

A Season of Transition.

We will leave Nigeria in early September and begin being regular U.S. residents rather than “visitors.”  We have a small place where we will live in Wisconsin, and we have wonderful family members and friends to help us.  This should be an adventure!  Please pray for us and the home (our new mission field) that we will transition into.

Thanks for standing with us in prayer and with finances. Thanks, too, for continuing to support us through SIM.  Our membership does not suddenly “quit,” nor does SIM’s service to us (some medical, administrative and other help.)  For this we trust God and his further enabling.

Sponsoring Help from Kallows

Thank you!  You are a blessing to us.

John and Nancy

A Senior Boy Tells His Story

Pastor Tom and Brandon with New Stuff on Screen

Working the Finances with Tuhu

Dear Family and Friends,                                                                                          

February-March 2012

       Still Standing

Christians and many Muslims in Jos struggle for peace.  But overpowering headlines tell how badly these efforts have fallen short.  Especially in recent days.  You see, we had a suicide bomber show up about a block from our compound.  His target was a large church on Sunday morning, February 26^th.  Worshippers were all inside when a deafening blast went off.   The reverberations blew out two glass window louvers in our house and gave us a serious jolt.

The bomber wanted to terrorize or kill as many Christians as possible.  Later, the extremist Islamic group “Boko Haram” took credit for the job, their latest attempt to push their particular brand of religion.

The people in the church were a target but God intervened, only a very few were killed.  The bomber planned to run his carload of explosives up a wide approach to the door, but God provided a motorcycle to be in the way.  While the cyclist fled on foot to safety, his fallen cycle stopped the vehicle.  The explosion that followed did not reach the building interior.  Some inside said they saw a mysterious “giant” (angel?) protecting them.  The building (which was under construction) didn’t fall, only cracked.  As the dust swirled in the air, most worshippers did not panic.  And the church leadership remained confident, proceeding to hold the other services scheduled for that morning!!  These and other amazing things were told after the attack, real testimonies of the power of our great God. 

The intended targets became testimonies and they are still standing.

Another strange thing happened about a week later.  At two in the morning (according to my neighbor who awoke) some reckless speedster drove into the wall that surrounds our house.  We didn’t wake up and didn’t see anything until the next day, surprised that we could view passing traffic through a 3’x4’ hole.  Along with the new opening came some serious top-to-bottom cracks, but the wall was still standing.  I spent the afternoon making a patch with old roofing sheets and blocks so that uninvited wanderers would not find their way in.  Our work includes “bringing people in,” but this didn’t seem like a very good method.

After this second “shot,” with a car practically aimed at our house, I was challenged to think about our commitments.  Testimony?  Target?  The worshippers near our house on the 26^th were both, but they stood tall and were not deterred.  We all want to follow Christ with the same resolve.  Even in spite of our personal “cracks,” our heart’s desire is to be still standing even while tested.

         Please pray

1.  Give thanks for many who emailed us with reassuring verses and expressions of care.

2.  Give thanks for our experience of God’s protection at this time.  Our loss during the explosion was small, a couple pieces of glass and a piece of ceiling.  Meanwhile, not far away, lives were taken.

3.  Pray for those whose church was targeted on the 26^th.  Pray as they put in new security measures and continue construction.

4.  Pray for those in Boko Haram and others who resort to violence.  Pray that they would learn what Christianity really means and respond to Christ’s invitation.  A few already have!

5.  Give thanks for God’s protection over our orphans and needy children.  None of our centers were close to these acts of terrorism.

6.  Give thanks for God’s protection the night that our wall took a hit.  The mystery driver never showed his face afterward, leaving only his front “Honda” license frame and other broken pieces.  Workers repaired the wall five days later, including the entire section with cracks.  We were able to continue regular work and other activities and have lost very little sleep.

7.  Pray for clear leading from God, to be confident in Him alone and to take our stand when called upon.

 “Finally, be strong in the Lord 

and in his mighty power. 

Put on the full armor of God 

so that you can take your stand 

against the devil’s schemes.”

Ephesians 6:10-11

Love in Christ,

John (and Nancy) Sawyer                                                                  

nsawyer_cmjos@yahoo.com                

Please note:  Three photos were courtesy of our neighbor, Carmen McCain.

Power Failure!!

Nov-Dec 2011

Our brand new Mac laptop failed us when the power cord quit.  It had a slick cord with magnetic plug-in but the thing died.  Nancy kept it going for a while by applying an ever-so-slight bend to the left but it finally quit altogether.  As we write this we are getting along on one computer instead of two.

Then the other day the power went out in our house.  In fact, most of Jos and other large cities went black for one day plus.  We get regular black outs, but this time we were cut because of worker disputes.  Unhappy Nigerian power company workers went on strike.  So here we were running our generator about 6 hours a day.  That would keep our refrigerator up and other necessities.  Including the one laptop we were then sharing.

Our film outreach leader came by to drop off his camera card.  (A sample photo is shown above.)  What a guy!  We request pictures to assist our report writing, and he was the only one to respond in quite a few months.  As we looked over the pictures showing the village scenes and people, we kept seeing faces of ordinary Nigerians.  Many of them recipients of film or medical outreach and many looking disadvantaged.  Like the children pictured: happy but needy.  Not much concern for electrical power failure there!  Many of them hardly even had clothes much less laptops.

It made us stop for a minute and give thanks.  Thanks for conveniences.  Thanks for even part time electricity.  Even more so, a thanks for knowing the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.  Some pictures showed individuals making first time commitments to Christ.  We are thankful to God for dedicated staff (and portable “power equipment”) that made the outreaches possible.

Power Encounter

But the village scene is misleading.  What looks like “powerlessness” isn’t so.   For ages these people have tapped a traditional power source, unfortunately, a satanic one.

Even in places where churches and pastors successfully planted and watered biblical truth, old beliefs haven’t died out.  Our City Ministries organization recently sent a “power encounter” team to a pastor in Gombe State who needed help.  Sending a team of this sort was a new idea for City Ministries and it was carried out prayerfully with experienced leaders.  They returned telling how our faithful God responded to the need.  There was release from spiritual bondage and new decisions for Christ.  The team also returned with new names of orphans wanting a home in our ministry!

Christmas Encounter

But what was the first Christmas after all?  A sort of “power encounter” when Christ was sent to a dark world overpowered by evil.  An invasion where individuals learned about a loving God and the power of forgiveness.  And it all began with the arrival of a baby in a manger.  The New Testament account is amazing!  We are thankful that we can rejoice again this season over the good news.  And we pray for the many others who still need a personal encounter with this Savior.

Power Solutions

Power failures can be and are being resolved.  We are thankful for Christ’s intervention and ask you to pray along with us:

1.  Give thanks for a traveler who (if all goes well) will bring a new cord from the U.S. for our Mac!

2.  Pray for Nigeria and for dissatisfied workers: those under national power service and others. 

3.  Give thanks for the best-ever Christmas gift available to each of us personally: Jesus Christ.  Pray for those still held captive and without faith in the Savior.  Pray for new decisions even this Christmas.

4.  Pray for our ministry and the many needs.  Pray for our workers as they reach out to those in cities and to those in villages, like the one pictured.  Pray for finances in difficult times.  Contributions would greatly help City Ministries children, especially right now with the purchase of grains. (Please contribute to project 85550 at SIM.)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, …

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.”  From Isaiah 9:6,7.

“Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, …

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”  From Revelation 1:4-6.

Merry Christmas!

John and Nancy

Many Fires!

Fireplace fires in the depths of summer?  It’s true.  The photo shows one in our own living room from just a few weeks ago.  You’d be surprised at how good it felt, unless you also live at about 4,500 ft (like maybe Denver, CO) and experience a lot of rainy, wet afternoons.  With dampness that just seems to go right through.  Then you’d understand.

The ladies in the picture are a couple workers here.  On the left is Dee.  She is from Texas and is a long term worker here in City Ministries.  The other is Jessie, a short termer also from Texas.  Jessie stayed a few weeks to help our kids develop their jewelry making.  Back in San Antonio Jessie is a professional running her own shop.

On the evening of the photo we were together (they live not far away) and managed to drive away some of the damp and cool.

A Burning Fire for Jesus

The idea of “Keeping the Fire Burning” is an ongoing theme for Dee.  Her special emphasis is discipleship and she develops study material for our children and then trains our Nigerian workers who teach it.  She also instigated a monthly prayer emphasis that goes by that same name, “Keep the Fire Burning.”

Other Fires

But fires in a fireplace are not part of the routine for average Nigerians.  Wood fires used here are mostly outdoors for cooking and it is common to see them keeping guards company during the cool evening hours.

Unfortunately, fire hit our ministry this month as a weapon.  Our Lafia Gidan Bege and CARE Center (Lafia, Nigeria) came under attack when it was mysteriously set ablaze one night.  This caused only a small amount of damage.  But in the nights that followed fires mysteriously returned.  By the end of the week our property suffered fiery attack on five different nights leaving most everything destroyed.

Thankfully all of our children and adults escaped without injury.  Christians in Lafia responded immediately, taking in our people, providing housing and care.  Praise God too that this bizarre attack caught the attention of the governor.  He made a promise to help with the reconstruction and even the ongoing support of the center. 

Obviously, God is still in control protecting lives and City Ministries work.  He is also initiating something new between the ministry and the government. 

By the Fire.  In the Fire.

Looking back at our photo, it looks pleasant “by the fire.”  But when thinking about Lafia, we recognize that our world forces us to be “in the fire.”  As Christians we don’t have much choice in the matter.

Pray for each of us and about your own situation.  Pray that we are not so comfortable “by the fire” that we do not effectively “face the fire.”  Which fire? There could be many: opposition, doubts, or the fire of un-involvement.

Thanks for praying.  Thanks too for being a part of what’s happening here as well as in your own neighborhood.