Jeremy and Sandra Barker Prayer Letter: A Month of Blessings

Sandra and I want to thank all of you who donated extra during the month of December for Christmas and for the emails that were sent during this season. It means a lot to know there are people back in the U.S. remembering us. We pray for our supporters on a regular basis; if there is something that you or the church would like us to pray for, please reach out to us and let us know.

The church here had a Christmas Day service, with many in attendance. There were also 2 Christmas plays performed, one by the teenagers and one by the children’s department. Our oldest 4 participated in the children’s play, with Carina being Mary, Barrett being a Roman soldier, Henry being a shepherd, and Alex being a cow. They had fun and still sing some of the songs.

God blessed with many visitors in the month of December. On December 28 alone, we had 10 first-time visitors at the church, whom Sandra and I invited. One of the visitors for the month was Priscilla, a teacher from one of the schools I preached at. She came to a Wednesday night Bible study and said she enjoyed the service. Please pray that she continues to be faithful.

Pastor Maskey and I, along with 2 vanloads of soul winners from the church in Port Harcourt, traveled to Andoni to go soul winning in advance of their 4th anniversary service. Grace Haven Independent Baptist Church ended up having their biggest day ever, with 143 in attendance (previous high of 110), 70 first-time visitors, and 44 accepting Christ. This was amazing, as during the previous weeks, there were travel restrictions in place due to rival gangs fighting, resulting in some getting killed; however, it looks like God may have used that in order to have some come to Christ.

I also had the opportunity to preach at Omagwa Independent Baptist Church for Pastor Botimi Koinyan. It was my first time in their new church building that they are renting, and I saw how God is blessing them while the church building that is being constructed on their own land is still underway.

Thank those of you who have been praying. I am happy to announce that God has blessed us with a van. It’s a 13-passenger Toyota Hiace and should serve as both a fine personal and ministry vehicle. It’s in good condition; however, please pray about an issue we are having with the seller, who presented the vehicle as being 12 years newer than what it actually is. He is offering a small refund; however, we are in disagreement on the amount that should be returned.

Please continue to pray for our residency permits to be renewed soon, as it could greatly complicate things when we leave in February if they’re not finalized. On New Year’s Eve, we had to go to the hospital for Sandra’s health. Please pray for her and the baby; pray also that we can get answers on what is causing these complications. Please pray for the church’s 31st anniversary that is coming up on January 26.

Working hard to bring fruit to your account,

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