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“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Rom 12:1)

Part I. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” John 14:1-2

1. New House Church

Thank God for his grace and mercy upon our life. The Lord delivered us from our difficult and fearful state into a joyous mood as we began this year with a wedding preparation. God established a precious house church between Shep Samuel and Sister Tobi on the 18th of January, 2014. The wedding was officiated by Msn Andrew Yoon. The ceremony took place at our center. We thank God for co-workers and your prayer support.

2. Bible study and Message

We studied John, Acts, and Romans. Messages were delivered by five messengers: Msn Timothy Lee, Shep Duke, Joseph, Benjamin, and Samuel. Msn Timothy studied weekly with shepherds while Msn Anna studied with shepherdesses.

3. 2014 Easter Bible Conference

Early January, Msn Peter Park met with indigenous leaders, whereby the 2014 joint Easter Bible conference was proposed to be held on April 25 -27, 2014, with the title, "WE SHALL SEE JESUS IN HEAVEN."

We were refreshed through the conference. Two shepherds delivered messages from Yabatech chapter. Shepherd Duke’s message was entitled, "A Spirit of Power, of Love and of Self discipline." Through the message we learned God’s Spirit in us helps us overcome all our fears. Shep Joseph Fabian delivered his message on 1 Cor 15:1-34, entitled "The Resurrection of the Dead. His message reassured us of the resurrection of the dead and boosted our faith in Christ. Shep Benjamin, Samuel, Shps Maria and Tobi led group Bible study. Sister Bisola and Mercy shared their life testimonies and prayed to forgive others. Brother Samuel shared how he lived an immoral and wayward life. He prayed to be raised up as Jesus' disciple.

Yabatech had 21 participants with three sheep that attended. During announcements, MSN Peter Park commissioned all chapters to pray to double their ministry and raise new teams. After prayer, our new team was named Vast Army. A week after, we had a recitation competition on 1 Cor 15 in our chapter. Shep Samuel emerged with first position; Brother Samuel took second position while Brother Emmanuel took third. Through the conference, God brought new spirit into the ministry.  God blessed our 1:1 co-working spirit with many sheep who though not faithful for S.W.S were faithful to Bible study and team meeting.   Our Bible study increased to 60-65 weekly, while SWSA is 23-30.

4. 2014 Christmas Bible Conference

Yabatech Chapter also had a three days' Christmas Bible conference entitled, "The Good News of Great Joy." Four messages were delivered by (1) Shep Samuel: "For to Us a Child is Born" on Isaiah 9:1-7; (2) Main message 2 was delivered by Shep Duke on Matthew 1: 18-25 entitled, "Immanuel, God With Us"; (3) Shep Benjamin’s message entitled, "The Visit of the Magi," on Matthew 2:1-12; and (4) Main message 2 delivered by Shep Joseph Fabian on Sunday entitled, "Good News of Great Joy," on Luke 2:1-14. Sheps Maria, Sister Bisola, and Mercy led group Bible study on both main messages, while Msn Anna led JBF Bible study. Sister Bisola shared her life testimony. She prayed to overcome anger and forgive. Sister Tobi was raised as a shepherdess. We had 47 participants. Among these, 21 are new sheep.

Shep Collins' wife gave birth to a baby boy named Elnathan the same day we ended Easter conference. God also blessed our ministry with another baby boy named Bethel through shep Samuel's family.

In the beginning of this year, God gave my family John 14:1. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." God helped us to overcome our financial and future security challenges. I considered doing business to get an additional source of income but God gave me a direction to devote myself to the study of his word and go to campus daily. Though I did not know why, because lecturers were on strike but I simply obeyed. In his own way, he provides us our daily bread. God used my family to serve the ministry faithfully this year. God used us to plant his word in the hearts of his flock on campus and to our brothers and sisters through morning devotion and 1:1 Bible study. He blessed us with many Bible students who were faithful to 1:1 on campus and team meetings, even though they weren’t consistent with Sunday service. I thank God for bringing Shep Joseph’s family to the center. They help in taking care of brothers and sisters. He also joined in serving morning devotion.

5. Struggles

a. Distance. Bringing students from campus to center has not been easy because our bus completely broke down. But thank God that Msn Timothy Lee gave us a car even though, most of the time, I have to make two or three trips to bring students for S.W.S and team meetings, and as a result, I often come late for service. We pray to get a bigger vehicle.

b. Centre building: Due to the flat nature of the roof as designed by the original owner of the building, there is a serious leakage of water into the rooms each time rain falls. In addition, the water level from the lagoon is much higher this year and is entering the center. We are praying either to modify or to sell the building and move closer to Yabatech which seems to be a big mountain to climb.

Part II. Vision and Mission for 2015

New Year Key Verse for 2015 : “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” Rom 12:1

 In this coming year, we want to offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice through daily repentance and submission to God's will, that we may lay aside our own desires to follow Jesus daily, putting all our energy and resources at his disposal and trusting him to guide us. In this way, we may be a source of blessing to ourselves, Yabatech and our country. May God make our campus and country a kingdom of priests and holy nation. Our target is to raise 12 disciples. Our goal is to maintain 60 1:1 and 40 SWA weekly.

Personally, I want to hold on to Joshua1:8, devote myself to the study of God’s word and continue to go to campus daily in this coming year. I want to read, at least, three chapters of the Bible daily and read one godly book each month. I am praying to have at least 12 1:1 weekly. I pray to raise 5 disciples next year. I pray for active coworking for my family. I pray God may bless my wife with a suitable source of income.

Prayer topics for 2015:

1. We are praying for each leader to study the Bible faithfully with, at least, one student
2. To raise 12 disciples through our Vast Army Team
3. To establish two house churches in 2015
4. We pray for Yabatech campus to have a stable academic calender
5. We pray for peaceful and successful elections in Nigeria in February 2015