Jeremy and Sandra Barker Prayer Letter: Our Life in Nigeria

Other than the day I was saved, the happiest day of my life was on March 23, 2019. That was the day I married the most wonderful woman in the whole world. Sandra and I celebrated our 6th anniversary by taking a walk together and getting some ice cream. The happiest years of our lives have been together, and we are grateful to be in the will of God together here in Nigeria.

Sandra and I arrived here on March 7 after a rather eventful 30-plus hours of traveling and waiting at 5 different airports across 3 different continents. There were several interesting events and delays, ranging from our passports taking close to an hour to be read in North Carolina, the luggage scanners not working in Washington, D.C., causing an hour’s delay, and a passenger needing a doctor on our German flight (thankfully, there was a veterinarian on board). In Abuja, Nigeria, we were only supposed to land and let passengers off and then continue to Port Harcourt; however, the landing was rough, and the plane got a flat tire, requiring 2 hours to replace it while everyone waited on the plane.

Thank you to those of you who prayed, as there were times during the flight that I was able to put Alex in an empty seat beside me. Also in answer to prayer, we were able to get our residency permits, which allow us to stay until December of 2025 before we need to renew, and we can renew that while still staying in Nigeria.

Usually, the government schools in Nigeria are difficult to get into, with the private schools being much easier; however, the Lord opened up a door for me to preach the Gospel in a government school, with over 350 students present. We were able to get the names of those who received Christ, along with many of their addresses and phone numbers. Glory to God, there were 206 names written down professing that they had accepted Christ that day!

I have been teaching a Sunday school discipleship class going over the basic doctrines of the faith and have had as many as 24 in class. I met Peter while out soul winning and was able to lead him to Christ. He then came to church, where Pastor Maskey baptized him, along with his wife Chuma, who got saved at church that day. I was thrilled to baptize our oldest son Barrett that day since he had accepted Christ a few months prior. We also had the opportunity to attend the 13th anniversary of one of Pastor Maskey’s church plants, Igwuruta Independent Baptist Church.

Please pray as we continue to search for housing and for the civil unrest here, as the President of Nigeria has declared a state of emergency for Rivers State, as well as suspending both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor for 6 months and appointing the former Vice Admiral of the Navy to be temporarily in charge in order to restore order. We are safe; however, there is a lot going on with the local government here right now.

Working hard to bring fruit to your account,

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