Greetings in Jesus’ Name!

I hope this email finds you well. And thank you for faithfully supporting our students through scholarships and prayer.  It is so urgently needed and we are grateful.

The photo above is of Pastor Philip’s church building in Nigeria, destroyed on Easter Sunday by the same extremists who were actually hiding in their worship gathering waiting to kill them. The photo to the right is one of several heartbreaking photos of the Christians who lost their lives on Easter Sunday.

Just yesterday, Philip shared with our class that he has been personally targeted to be killed by the radical Islamic extremists in his village. He apologized for his tardiness to class, and explained that it was because he had to be smuggled out of the village to safety.  Thankfully, his wife and children were already moved to safety.   

What is the bright spot in all of this heartbreak? Answered prayer!!  God is hearing and answering our prayers for Philip and the persecuted Christians in Nigeria.  What Philip told us yesterday seems straight out of the New Testament!  Philip told us that God spoke to him, encouraging him to be courageous, and to speak clearly to the Muslims in his community, saying, “I AM has sent me to speak to you about His love for you.”  In continuing to love this community that wants him dead, God led him to pray over the chief’s wife (Muslim), who was ill and not responding to medical treatment.  She was miraculously healed, with the healing confirmed by her doctor!  As a result of her miraculous healing, the chief, his wife, and their family committed their lives to Jesus!  The chief has granted Philip permission to continue sharing the Gospel, and arranged for protection for him as well.  Philip’s goal is to see a substantial number of Muslims come to faith in Jesus, and then he intends to plant a church, find a pastor to shepherd the young converts, and then move on to the next village to start all over in sharing the Good News.  Philip is genuinely modeling his ministry after what he is learning about how the Gospel was spread in the New Testament, and it is remarkable to witness!

You have played a role in this miracle, and in the spread of the Gospel to Muslim communities in Nigeria.  Not to mention Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Indonesia, Liberia, Haiti, Botswana, Tanzania, and the list goes on.