My First Newsletter for the Makoko Project:

 


Dear Friends in Christ

I am leaving this next week for Makoko, Nigeria.  Makoko is a slum city built over a polluted lagoon.  Some people there are sick from the poor water quality and poverty. 

Isaiah 41:17

“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, the Lord, will answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.”

I am writing to you because I need and seek your prayers as I work in Makoko for the next 3 months.  Will you pray for me?  And will you pray for the following five work goals that I have set out for myself?

1.     Build clean freshwater cisterns in the kitchens of houses.  These cisterns will catch and store rainwater and will be built in a way that other poor people can easily copy.  The excess water (it rains like Seatle in Makoko) will then be available for the poor to sell in order to supplement their income.  If this catches on, we could positively affect the health of thousands of poor people who need to know that God loves them. 

2.     Build both brackish and fresh water aquaponic and aquaculture food systems.   These systems are made from cheap materials and can be copied by all in the community to supplement their food supply and food sales. 

3.     Create a platform for other short term missionaries to come and work with the people and the orphans of Makoko.

4.     Make friendships with the “Jesus movie” as a common spiritual journey point. 

5.     Teach at the orphanage which is also on the lagoon.  I plan to use the above water projects as science lessons for the kids. 

Nancy will be staying home to manage the grandkids and email updates on the mission progress.  She doesn’t feel the same calling to short term mission trips as I do – so we work together in this way. 

            At Corn Bible Academy in 1980, I took a Bible class and I gave a book report about CT Studd.  CT was a wealthy and famous Englishman who found out that God expressed his love for him through forgiveness and new life.  CT dedicated his entire life to sharing this love of Christ to some of the poorest areas in the world.  After reading about his life, I felt called to become a missionary.  Ironically, Nancy typed the report for me.  We had not even started dating yet. 

            My intention over the years was to always honor that calling to missions.  I became a teacher and a minister with thoughts that those vocations would someday prepare me for missions.  By the time my kids had grown up, I fell into depression because I thought my window of opportunity had closed on an old man. 

            But then God opened this door to go to Makoko.  And sure enough, all the things I did over the years have prepared me to go.  Except that I still need prayer support – in order to go.  So, I am calling on my oldest friends and acquaintances to pray for me (and to forgive me if need be). 

Will you be my prayer warrior in this project?  If so, please pray for these things:

1.     Pray that I would continue to love Jesus more so that He would displace my distractions

2.     Pray for the beautiful Makoko people, that they would see God’s love more fully in all that we do

3.     Pray for my health, my heart isn’t what it used to be

4.     Pray for my friend Prince Taiwo and his father the chief

5.     Please pray that all obstacles and traps would be removed.

My ultimate goal is to repeat this style of missions in poor places all around the world.  The food systems I build are highly productive and only requiring a small area to operate.  And they can be made from scraps and cheap parts.  I want to build models for other poor people to copy.  My goal is to repeat this in the poorest places on Earth that I can find.  It’s my version of Johnny Apple Seed 😊

            I have a tent ministry of teaching online while I do missions.  But my goal is to have enough support someday to dedicate all my time to feeding the poor with food systems. 

Perhaps God is calling you to join me in storing “… up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal…”  The treasure Jesus is talking about is simply the compassion and love we extend toward the needy and poor.  And somehow that love further blossoms when entering heaven in eternal terms! 

Here is my blog in which you can follow my journey and work:

Makoko's  Christ's MISSIONS TO THE POOR

If you would like to give financially with a card – go to the following page and find the heading called:

·      Christ's Missions to the Poor (CMP)

If you would like to write a check, write the check to:

·      Cross Connections of KC

·      PO Box 901945, Kansas City MO 64190

·      This is the non profit that takes care of my accounting and gifts Cross Connections is a NonProfit with the EIN 45-4548192 for your records. They enable small mission projects like this Makoko Project.   

·      please leave the memo blank and add a posted note with either my name or (CMP)

·      Cross Connect will send you an annual report of giving for your taxis

Please pray about forwarding this to others who might be interested in praying for this work…

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