Jeremy and Sandra Barker Prayer Letter: From Classrooms to Calvary!

The school ministry here continues to see fruit. I’m happy to report that as of the end of June, we have seen over 1,000 souls saved through preaching in the public schools so far this year. Glory to God! In early June, I was scheduled to preach in 3 different schools on the same day, and the taxi I was in got a flat on the way to the first school. Fortunately, I was still able to make it to all of the schools, and many decisions were made. We pass out decision cards after the preaching and give them to the bus captains in the church if the address is on their route (although, locating addresses here in Nigeria is much more difficult than in the U.S). We have had some attend church as a result of the school ministry, including Victor, who teaches at one of the schools, and his wife Queen, who both attended a Wednesday Night Bible Study.

On Father’s Day, I had the privilege of teaching the adult Sunday school class and preaching the morning service at Eagle Island Independent Baptist Church. The church decided to honour Pastor Abili for his years of service, and it was a heartwarming event. I was recovering from a pretty bad eye infection, though, so all of the pictures of the day have me either squinting or having one eye completely closed. Later in the month, we had a Groundbreaking Service and ditch-digging work day for Omagwa Independent Baptist Church, as they started constructing a building on their own land. June was also Visitors’ Month, and as a whole, we had 431 first-time visitors visit during the month of June, which is the best Visitors’ Month the church has seen since 2019. It was special for me to see another one of my converts (Saturday John) start to bring his own visitors to church during this time. Over a 12-week period starting in July, I’ll be teaching in II Timothy and Titus during the Wednesday Night Bible Studies.

We got a few pieces of furniture in the month of June: a dining room table and chairs and bedframes for the children. Sandra is very happy not to have our meals be on the floor anymore, and the kids were overjoyed to have their very own beds. There is no 911 in Nigeria, so most people who can afford to do so get a dog for protection. We decided to get a German Shepherd puppy that we named Milo (pronounced Me-Lo). It’s the name of a popular chocolate-malt-style powdered drink mix here in Nigeria, and his color was about the same. Unfortunately, 2 weeks after getting him, Milo died. We had a funeral of sorts to help the children grieve and buried him in the back yard. After giving it some time, we got an older puppy, who is bit of a black German Shepard mix named Shadow. We have all taken a liking to him, although he is very fearful and shows signs of abuse from a previous owner. We are hoping that with patience, love, and attention, he will become an excellent family dog/guard dog.

The ceiling collapsed inside a bathroom at the house we are renting. No one was inside at the time, and thus far, the owner hasn’t tried to charge us for the repairs. However, he originally tried to blame us for the situation. Repairs are still ongoing, so please keep this a matter of prayer. Also, please pray for our upcoming S.M.I.T.E and Bible Quiz August 22 -30.

Working hard to bring fruit to your account,

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