April - May 2019
Miracles Still Happen
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Hidden and Protected by the Shekinah Glory
By Rev. Dennis Ajeh
Nigerian Superintendent of Open Bible Churches in Benue & Nassarawa States
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I will never forget the day of February 27, 2019. This was the day I escaped death along the Daubu- Gbajimba Roads.
At around 2:00 p.m. I set out on my motorcycle to visit one of our branch churches in Umenger. Upon reaching there, I met with the people and I shared the Word of God and prayed with them.
At about 4:15 p.m., I headed toward my next stop, another branch church. On my way to the church, I traveled through the village of Kaseya in Benue State. All of the sudden people started to run in every direction. I stopped and asked the people who were running past me what was happening, but no one stopped to answer me. Someone shouted “Fulani herdsmen!” The Fulani herdsmen are a group of radical Muslims who have launched many attacks against Christians in the north. Hundreds of Christians have perished at their hands. (Forty Open Bible churches are located in the North Central zone.)
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Suddenly I heard gunshots all around me. I didn’t know which direction the herdsmen were coming from and no one could tell me. I didn’t know which direction led to safety. I was just standing there with my motorcycle running underneath me when a voice came to me that said to go forward. I immediately gunned my motorcycle and went forward at the top speed my motorcycle could go towards the village of Tse Kaje.
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There I saw a thousand cattle moving towards me. I decided to go back, but there were even more cattle behind me. There was nothing I could do besides stop. I cried out to the Lord and told Him to remember His promises to me in Psalms 91:7, 10 which says,
Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you … these evils will not touch you.
No evil will conquer you.
I then asked God to remember what He said to me in Psalm 23:6, that
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.
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Immediately after I prayed these scriptures I became surrounded by the cattle and their horns were hitting my motorcycle left and right. The side mirrors and head lamp were broken. After a few minutes a thick dust covered everything. I had never seen such a thick dust before. I could not see anything around me. I just stood there believing God for a miracle. The cattle suddenly began to run off the street and into the bush.
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I was covered in dust. When the dust started to settle I saw four herdsmen in front of me armed with AK-47s. They had not been able to see me because of the dust! They began running in the direction I had been traveling. Thank you God for the dust!
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It was a bittersweet moment as the only other person they could see was a women. They shot her and ran into the bush after the cattle. I was left there, unseen. My motorcycle still ran so I rode as fast as I could to Agwa where we have an Open Bible church. I shivered for more than an hour at the church thanking God.
May God be praised for His mercy, grace, and glory. The Shekinah (personal presence of the Holy Spirit) glory of God is real! Praise the Lord!
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Open Bible’s primary ministry thrust in Nigeria is evangelistic campaigns. Many churches have been established as a result. The growth and dynamic nature of the church, in spite of the negative economic and political stresses, is cause for much praise. Okon Obot serves as the field director and president of Open Bible Churches in Nigeria.
For more information about the Obots' ministry in Nigeria
or to become a one-time or monthly donor,
click here
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MISSION HAITI
Haiti has suffered chronic instability due to dictatorships and natural disasters in recent decades leaving it as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
An earthquake in 2010 killed more than 200,000 people and caused extensive damage to the infrastructure and economy. This country continues to face multiple ongoing crises, such as food insecurity and malnutrition.
With an estimated 982,000 people facing severe food insecurity and more than 640,000 people in need of access to health care, Global Missions wants to build a new orphanage, an elementary school, and medical clinic in Williamson, Haiti.
Haiti is Global Missions newest Open Bible work and we want to impact Haiti for Christ by using funds raised through Mission Haiti to build a new orphanage for 50 children; an elementary school for 300 children in first through seventh grades; and a medical clinic that will serve hundreds of children and youth who have no way to receive any type of medical care or treatment for common illnesses and injuries requiring medication.
Join the Mission Haiti team by donating to impact the lives of hundreds of children from malnutrition, lack of health care, and poverty. The children's families and the community will also be impacted as the Gospel is spread through teaching and shown in tangible ways.
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By Linda Wilson
Missionary to India
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Our twelve days in India this past January were without a doubt the worst and ultimately the best trip we have ever experienced.
We were excited to meet up with India Field Director John Paul and his family again. Over the years we have developed a close relationship with the Pauls and worked on several projects together.
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On the day we arrived, Ron tripped on a suitcase and fell into a chair on his left side, reinjuring the spot where a few months earlier he had broken four ribs. His pain became excruciating, causing delirium. All his vital signs took a nosedive.
As the days blended one into another, Ron’s condition worsened. We finally had him admitted to the hospital where a cardiologist, pulmonologist, and neurologist all examined him. His body functions were failing fast. We were advised to “take him home [to the U.S.] now!”
We always travel with emergency evacuation insurance. I thought “emergency” meant NOW! To the insurance company it meant endless red tape. I filled out and faxed forms, as did the doctors. The insurance company wanted to fly a nurse into India from another country, which would result in a three- to five-day delay, with another two days for letters from the airlines concerning Ron’s oxygen concentrator.
It seemed as if God had prepared our team to face this event. Two days before we left for India I had felt compelled to purchase portable oxygen “just in case.” Dr. D’Jonna Sewell-Muehlbauer, a dentist from South Dakota, was part of our team as always, and this time she brought Jessica Hart, a nurse, so we had wonderful support. Yet it looked like red tape was going to let my husband die! I made preparations with my family and the insurance company for the possibility that Ron would not make it.
Ron rallied briefly and spoke to our children and grandchildren, telling them he was ready to go home to the Lord if it was time. He became delusional and then comatose. Dr. D’Jonna and Jessica prepared me for the fact that he would not live much longer. (I did not sleep for three days.)
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That being said, Pastor John Paul and the church members in India would NOT let Ron die. It was announced in church on Sunday that Ron was not well. The church and the Pauls’ residence are part of a big complex. By the hundreds, people began to file through our room and pray for Ron although he was not aware of anything. They came in waves. The children from the orphanage came. As they do not speak English, I told them to sing and “Ron Uncle,” as they called him, would hear them. They sang and he smiled, almost laughed. Group by group they passed and sang and prayed. Pastors drove for hours to come pray for him. Hundreds gathered in the Elida Girls Home and on the campus and prayed and sang well into the night. In a word they said, “HE WILL NOT DIE!”
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A precious young boy about five years old named Smith Wigglesworth had memorized Psalm 91. He told his mother he was going to pray it fifteen times so God would not “let Pastor Ron die.” I put him on the bed while he recited the chapter.
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Ron always drinks Diet Coke when we are in India as anything not bottled is unsafe to drink. On this trip we could not find Diet Coke anywhere. Every day Ron would ask if any had been located.
Jessica continued to monitor Ron and noted that his pulse was very faint and erratic. On Sunday night I lay with him waiting for his breathing to stop. My children lay with their phones waiting for a call. I did not call.
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Instead Ron’s breathing grew stronger. I called Jessica and D’Jonna and told them we were going to fight. Ron had had no food, water, or medication for several days and his body functions had ceased. (He is diabetic and takes medication for high blood pressure.)I asked them to help me get fluids and medications in him to sustain life. If my brothers and sisters weren’t going to give up, I would not either.
By early morning, Ron began to rally. His first words were, “Did they find the Diet Coke?” I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. In a few hours he got up with a lot of help. Leaning on a chair as one would a walker, he walked to the table where our team was eating. They greeted him with much joy and rejoicing!
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The rest is very fast-paced as all the pieces fell in place. As Ron and Jessica and I boarded a plane for the U.S., we thought we were on our way to a happy ending. Instead we faced another challenge. We began to run out of oxygen over the ocean. The power available on the plane would not run Ron’s concentrator. Airline regulations said they could not give us oxygen until we were over Greenland, so we had to stretch eight hours of oxygen into twelve. I began to pray over the oxygen concentrator, reminding God of His miracle with the loaves and fishes.
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I left to take a break while Jessica sat with Ron. When I returned I told her how I had prayed. She laughed, saying, “I just said the same prayer while you were gone.” The oxygen made it to Greenland. Afterward, the flight attendants brought us a new canister of oxygen every half hour until we landed in Newark. We proceeded to Chicago and then Des Moines, where we were met with an ambulance and eventually got cleared to go home. Full recovery will take some time, but God has spared Ron’s life for a time and for that we are grateful.
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I want to thank our team, the Paul family, the Open Bible family in India, my children and grandchildren for never giving up, and D’Jonna and Jessica for being by my side day and night through the entire ordeal. Jessica even flew home with us before returning to her home in South Dakota. It took a total of six flights to get Ron safely to our home.
For anyone who doesn’t believe in miracles, we watched one happen. When we raise our voices, beg our God for His mercy, and invoke the name of Jesus as we are instructed, God hears and honors His promise. Ron was prepared to go home to heaven, but he is at peace and says, “God will release me in His time.”
Thank you to all our friends in the U.S. and around the world. We knew you were in prayer with us and words cannot express how we felt.
“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (James 5:14-15).
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Missionaries Ron and Linda Wilson share: "All of our projects are used as evangelistic tools to lead people to Christ. When we build permanent buildings, provide water, food, and shelter for the orphan and destitute, we are showing Christ’s hand extended and His heart revealed.
"It is our goal to continue the work of the Great Commission and bring the Gospel to as many people as possible by aiding the pastors and members of the churches in India, Africa, and Cuba."
For more information about the Wilsons' ministry in India
or to become a one-time or monthly donor,
click here
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