Dearly Beloved,
I am blessed writing this letter. I am the pastor of
Ekhoe Community Church. I am married with two
children. I am age 64 and my wife 58. My occupation is
farming. Eight years after giving my life to Christ I
had a divine call from God to the ministry here in my
village. Initially I resisted but when God started
moving and dealing in my life,I obeyed.
Ekhoe is a rural village community of about
4,000 inhabitants. It is a typical traditional
community. In recent years the village has been greatly
stroked by the Aids epidemic which has killed many and
made many children orphans. Our fellowship is the only
church in this community. It started as a home
fellowship in my residence before others were converted
and joined. It was a real battle at the time this
fellowship started. The elders of the village never
wanted it and they did every possible thing to stop it,
they even tried to take my life to stop the preaching of the
gospel. But they failed. The Bible says in Isaiah 59:19,
"When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit
of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him." And I
John 4:4 says, "Greater is he that is in you, than he
that is in the world." When we recognize the reality of
Gods word in these chapters the devil is no match for
us. Today we have about 500 in our fellowship. The love
in our fellowship in another thing that made the elders
to relent in their fight against us, even some of them
have been converted. Three years ago we started an
orphanage home where children without parents and
support are cared for. We have 28 children in the home.
15 of these children's parents have died from aids. Our
love and support for these orphans is a surprising issue
to the elders. It is amazing the way God has met the
demand of the orphans and other invalid persons in our
midst. The financial statue of the people here are very
low due to unemployment. They do farming work not for
commercial purposes but for life sustaining using manual
labor and crude equipment like cutlasses and hoe. Only
the government and few wealthy individuals have
mechanize farming here.
I am writing to request for a K.J.V. study Bible. Either
a Thompson Chain Reference Bible or Matthew Henry Study
Bible for my use. It is helpful to study and research. I
also long to have a Strong Exhaustive Bible Concordance.
These items are expensive here. My wife needs a Giant
Print Bible due to her reading stress of small letter words.
On behalf of our converts we need about 18 Giant print Bibles
for our members who cannot afford to buy Bibles.and Christian
books, In our fellowship about 400 people have never had
a Bible to read on their own. Used Bibles will also be
helpful. In our orphanage home we need items like
clothes, shoes, and children toys. Children education
items are also necessary. We are also planning to send
some of these children at least to primary school when
God provides finances. "But ye, beloved, building up
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Jude 20:21.
Sincerely,
Pst Osahenoma Evans
MAILING ADDRESS
Ekhoe Community Church
C/o 73 Osarense Street
Off Erhunse street
Benin city
Edo State
Nigeria
