Hello {{alias | first_name | friend}},
Having spent two months actively reaching out to people for partnership, I am finally getting to a much anticipated phase of the ministry - writing software! ✨
More on that in subsequent sections. 👇🏽
Life update
I have been able to establish a relationship with my mentor here, and I had my first visit to his home 🏡 on July 31 ✨. He happens to be the head of the tech team at my current church too, and he was keen to learn about my ministry and how the church could benefit from it.
We had a good time, and I believe it was just the beginning of a mutually edifying relationship 🎉.
Me, realizing I forgot to take a picture on that visit 🤦🏽♂️.
With the privilege of being a leader in our Teen Church, I got to curate topics for our Bible Studies for the year, following the theme for the year - “The Sheep of His Pasture“ 🐑. I’ve also been able to create one of those study outlines, and preach quite a number of times so far 🥳. We are trying to be intentional about teaching the true gospel 💝, as opposed to simply promoting behaviourism. We’d love for each child to be saved ✨, and salvation is not primarily about being well-mannered / well-behaved.
I have scheduled a meeting with a pastor 🥳, and God willing, we'd be talking through concerns I have and where the church stands regarding them this weekend. This will be crucial in deciding whether or not to leave the church, but I must say, I have a bias towards staying 🫣.
Olaoluwa, my youngest brother, is super-excited about coming to stay with me 😎. I am as well, and I pray the Lord uses the seasons to grow us both significantly in our love for Him 💗. He should be here in a few days, if the Lord permits 🤞🏽.
Ministry update
Towards the end of this season, I had a subtle transition of primary focus from financial support-raising 🏦 to engaging with volunteers who would be working on the first project 🙋🏽♂️. It seemed more like a 4:1 ratio, of financial support meetings to volunteer interactions. I found myself writing more of proposals and documentations for volunteers and financial partners who requested them 📑.
The registration of the NGO is taking longer than anticipated, primarily because I am giving board members time to think through the purpose of the NGO and explore necessary documentation before committing to anything. God-willing, we'd kick off legalities as soon as we're clear on that 🤞🏽.
Also, a representative from the African chapter of Pioneers followed up with me regarding being my sending organization.
David from Upstream had connected me with them. 🤗
I had a call with him, and we are looking to see what a possible partnership could look like. That also involves a lot of paperwork 😅
Pioneers Logo
With the phase of active support-raising over, I am more than excited to finally get to the projects! 🎉 I have been itching to get to this part for a while, and I am grateful to God, and to Samuel, my accountability partner, who helped restrain me as necessary. 🚦
…and I must say, “Respect!“ to all admins out there. Y’all are doing amazing! 🫡
Changed lives
I have still not formally started the software ministry yet 🙈, however…
I’m currently wrapping up a discipleship program with my immediate younger brother, Ipaoluwa. And I have been really pleased to see significant changes in his life, by virtue of better understanding the gospel ✨. I've had multiple proud moments 🥳 where he shared situations with me, and how he navigated them in light of what he was learning. I am indeed grateful to God that I am able to witness these changes first-hand 🙇🏽♂️, and I pray that He continues to use us to witness to many more people, till we all stand before Him. 🙌🏽✨
Prayer requests
Here are a few specific ways you can partner with me in prayer 🙏🏽:
Provision: Please thank God for provision of resources thus far, and for everyone He has used 🙌🏽. Also thank Him for the assurance of subsequent provision ✊🏽.
Wisdom and direction: As I commence active development, please pray that I continue to rely on the Lord 🙇🏽♂️ and not my own understanding or strengths, so that He is glorified even in the technicalities 🙌🏽.
🚨 The need for this has been emphasized a lot more since I wrote the first draft of this issue on 11th August.
I am committing to praying intentionally for my partners weekly, 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
I heard a pastor say recently "The moment you think you own money, it starts to own you" 🤔, and he went on to explain how all things (including money) belong to God. He only entrusts them to us as a stewardship.
This eventually got me thinking about my support-raising goals 🎯.
Am I supposed to go about stressing about not having resources in-hand 😨, or to trust that the Owner of the whole world (who has made all things out of nothing 🙌🏽) will provide what is needed for His work in due time?
I don't need to "own" anything. My Father is going to provide all that I need for life and ministry. Now, I can devote myself fully to ministry without worrying, as I trust Him to provide, as seen in Matthew 6:19-34.
This eased a lot of tension that had started to build up in my head, and I would like to invite you to consider with me:
how do I currently think about "my" money, and what are the implications? 🤔
will the real owner of the money be happy with how I spend it? 🤞🏽
do I even keep track of how I spend it? 🧮
how can I stay conscious of who the "real" owner is? 💭
how can I be a better steward of His resources, especially in light of our mission as believers? 🏦
Bonus: Is Sam saying this to guilt-trip me into financial partnership? 😲
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