Hello {{alias | first_name | friend}}, 👋🏽
Wanna try saying hymnal and analytics 5 times very fast? Bet you can’t! 🤠
Well, those are just 2 of the things we’ll be addressing in this issue ✨.
Let’s dive in! 👇🏽
Life update
In the past month, I have increasingly learnt the importance of family!1 ✨ And I am grateful to God for the friend (you know yourself 🙃) that He used to nudge me to spend more time with them. It seems I have been a bit too eager to step off and build a family of my own, which doesn't seem bad. However, I am grateful for the time I get to spend with my family in this season. 🤗
Upon reflection on the past month and the learnings I had in it, I realised a recurring theme 🤔. From books I read and experiences I had, I was increasingly cautioned against doing God's work through means which He has not ordained ⚠️. As people who love autonomy, we run the risk of trying to obey or please God apart from Him. It's even worse when we have the notion of trying to "help" God, or perhaps to "spice things up 🌶️". Uzzah's try was just fatal and sad 😪. God doesn't need our "help". He's provided means and instructions for His work, and we'll do well to heed them 👌🏽.
I also had the privilege of reading George Whitefield's biography, as penned by J.C. Ryle 📝, and I started a deeper exploration of the history and culture of the Yoruba people ✨. I was glad to learn that the Yoruba Traditional Religion borrows a lot from Christianity 😲 - not many people are aware of this. I wasn't! 🤠
Ministry update
Seeing that we're nearing the launch of Whatchu Believe, I added an analytics layer to the web app 📊.
That way, we get to learn from how people are engaging with the platform to identify issues early and improve the platform ✨.
Analytics here is less about tracking "success" metrics 🏆 and more about identifying gaps to fill ✨.
WB Analytics Snippets
I updated the platform we're using for scheduling meetings, and realised that they removed Team Access from the free tier 😲. Essentially, this means that our users can only speak with a limited number of people, all of whom we'll be paying for, monthly 🥲. Well, that's not sustainable. Hence, I have started to work on a lightweight scheduling platform that will allow our users to speak with as many people as are willing to volunteer 👌🏽.
Speaking of volunteering, I also set up an onboarding flow for volunteers, and a proposal for church elders 📄. In the proposal, I encourage elders to nudge capable believers in their flocks to volunteer to engage our users when they are able 🗓️.
Just a few days ago, I also deployed an MVP for a hymnal ✨.
My church uses Grace Hymns Supplements sometimes, and when we're not in person, we have to share screenshots of an Android-only app 🤖.
I decided to build something that works for iOS users like myself as well, which also allows sharing the hymns in PDF format.
The New GHS web app ✨
I'm not sure I can share it publicly just yet, 'cause I think I need to get permissions from the original publishers 🫣. I will share it with us as soon as I do, Lord-willing 🤞🏽.
Changed Lives
Lately, a lot of things came up regarding prayer too.
I remember my pastor calling us out for not sharing prayer requests for our prayer meetings 🤭. I said:
...it almost feels like some sort of pride, and he said:
No - it IS pride -
"I don't want them to think...",
"I don't want them to say..."
but those things are true. Don't you just love a pastor who won't mince words even when calling out his flock! 🤠
The biggest one for me was an accountability partner pointing out that I skipped adoration in my last prayer request 🤠. I wasn't intending to include it, and that's telling on how I actually prayed sometimes 🥲. I didn't intentionally slow down to think of and worship the Lord for who He is 😭.
I'm grateful to God for the correction, and I'm more conscious of it now ✨.
Prayer requests
Here are a few specific ways you can pray with me 🙏🏽:
Adoration: Please praise the Lord because:
He knows the end from the beginning, and He is sovereign over everything in-between. 🙌🏽
Thanksgiving: Please thank God for 🙏🏽:
clarity on the scope of Whatchu Believe and future plans for it.
the current state of things in the UAE
Forgiveness of Sins: Please ask God to forgive me for:
every time I've tried to please Him using means He's not ordained, e.g witnessing primarily with logic, as opposed to God's word.
Supplications: Please pray that:
We’ll find favour in the sight of elders such that they’ll consider and respond to our proposals 📄.
Whatchu Believe will be used as a vessel in God’s hands for salvation and building up his people. ⛴️
Intercession: Please pray:
that we will have more solid churches planted in our local areas and worldwide 💒, so that more people are being effectively discipled in preparation for our King’s return. 👑
I pray intentionally for my partners regularly, and I'd love to know how I could be specifically praying for us. If you are interested, use the button below to share prayer requests, and I'd be happy to join you in praying for them.
Something to think about
This Wednesday, a brother and I were in a rural part of my city to evangelise ✨.
We stopped to follow up on a few kids we'd previously witnessed to, and it wasn't long before we started hearing beats, accompanied with singing and dancing. No, I'm not talking about EDM or techno beats - correct African traditional drum beats 🤠.
A few minutes later, the drumming stopped and the atmosphere was filled with the smell of burnt goat. It became clear that we had pagans performing rituals close-by 👌🏽.
When we wrapped up with the kids, we continued in the direction of the sounds we heard earlier, and there it was! A gathering of Ifa worshippers, seated before a goat being sacrificed (over some fire), celebrating God-knows-what 🥲.
I will pause here for now, and encourage you to put yourself in our shoes 🤠.
Would you have stopped to preach to these people?
Why or why not?
Here’s where we draw the curtains for now, {{alias | first_name | friend}}! ✨
May we increasingly love and worship God on His terms in this season. 🤲🏽
See you next month, Lord-willing 🤞🏽
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1 Not me sounding like Dom from Fast ‘n Furious 😅
