God was very good to us, and we got to move into our own place in the month of May. We are very happy for the opportunity to establish ourselves more in the country to which God has called us. As I was transporting belongings to our new place, the vehicle I was in got stopped by an officer, who tried to extort money from us, which is unfortunately a common thing in Nigeria. Please pray for our continued safety.

We had a number of health-related issues during the month. Joanna and I both came down with malaria. At only five months, she was limited in the types of medication we could give her, but we found something that would help. I also suffered a foot injury, and although I’m not exactly sure how it happened, it was painful enough to leave me limping for about a week. On one day, I had to stay completely off it, and another day, I used crutches to get around. Thankfully, I have completely recovered and am grateful for God’s healing. Please continue to pray for our health.

Peace had started coming to church, bringing her daughter Faith. Faith was 14 months of age but was so severely malnourished that she looked a small fraction of that age. The church did what they could for her; however, after four days in the hospital, Baby Faith transitioned to Heaven due to a combination of malnutrition and tuberculosis. I went with Pastor Maskey to a funeral service in the house of her parents Peace and Promise. I watched afterwards as they dressed her in a new outfit, placed her in a cardboard box, and paid to have her remains transported to the other side of the lake and buried. It was a sobering time, and the parents were very grateful for the church’s assistance.

The Lord opened the door for me to preach the Gospel in 4 schools in the month, resulting in a combined 224 young people accepting Christ. We are so grateful for the opportunity to reach the next generation of Nigerians for Christ. I also had the opportunity to teach Sunday school and preach the morning message on Mother’s Day for a Nigerian pastor who had been dealing with the aftereffects of a stroke for over a year. The Lord blessed; there were 20 first-time visitors in the service, and 9 trusted Christ. Later in the month, I was invited to teach Sunday school for a church in Ahoda during their 5th Anniversary Service. Pastor Maskey preached the service for Pastor Horsfall, and the Lord blessed with their highest attendance ever at 140, with 71 first-time visitors and 42 receiving Christ.

August 25-30 is our annual S.M.I.T.E camp. Last year, 16 churches attended, and 140 young people were trained to lead children to Christ and conduct Bible Clubs. Those same young people also conducted 22 Bible Clubs, which saw 1,039 saved and many young people make decisions for Christ. This year, we are hosting the regional Bible Quiz the week before in order to help boost attendance for it. Please pray for both of these upcoming events.

Working hard to bring fruit to your account,

Jeremy, Sandra, Carina, Barrett, Henry, Alex, & Joanna Barker