Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! On top of the normal festivities this time of year, it was special for us to celebrate one year since we moved to Nigeria. We have enjoyed meditating on all that God has done and brought us through in the past year as we look forward to all that God is going to do this next year. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported and prayed for us. God definitely used you to help us reach this one-year mark.
At the very end of November, Emily and I were able to teach at a Deaf Teen Camp at our church. The deaf in Nigeria are often an overlooked group. Most people don’t know sign language and have little interest in learning. The attitude is often that it is easier to ignore a deaf person than to learn to communicate with them. So the fact that our church has a Deaf Ministry is a rarity and a great outreach opportunity. The camp ran for 2½ days and saw over a dozen people saved and many more decisions made to serve Christ more faithfully.
We then immediately kicked off December with a one-day Ladies’ Conference, which Emily organized and ran. There is not much in Nigeria that caters to a woman’s needs specifically, so the ladies of our church appreciated a conference that was dedicated just to them. It was a smashing success, with over 40 ladies in attendance and an awesome spirit of excitement. Please pray as we work towards hosting a larger Ladies’ Conference in 2023, bringing ladies and pastors’ wives from around the country.
We have an exciting opportunity this year to take part in several new Youth Conferences geared toward challenging young people to surrender to the ministry. There is a great need in this country for laborers that will only be satisfied by Nigerians themselves carrying forth the Gospel. There will be three regional conferences, the first being in February this year. We are excited to see how the Lord will use this to call young people to the Gospel ministry. We are praying that God would use these conferences to see at least 300 people surrender to full-time ministry. Please pray that God will use these conferences. If you would like to give towards putting on these conferences, it would be a big help, with returns for years to come.
This year, I have taken a larger role in our Bible college and in training our students. Please pray as we begin a new semester in our Bible college, with an increase of 13 new students. This is the largest single-semester increase we’ve ever had! It is so exciting seeing this increase and having the opportunity to teach our students. Please pray as we work to train these servants of Christ.
That all the world may know,
Caleb Christiansen
Our Bible college has 13 new students, the largest single-semester increase ever!
