Beloved in Christ Jesus,
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ, the hope and strength of the saints.
Brother Ebenezer Udofia of Healing Hands International arrived at the Ibadan airport on Monday around 10:45 am for the two day Agricultural seminar of January 12-13, 2016 and was picked up immediately by me and the driver of a chartered car to the venue of the seminar, BVBIN/ SWSE campus Butubutu village via Badeku / Jago, Ibadan.
Brethren began to troop in from different towns and villages of Western Nigeria for this Food Security workshop / Poverty Eliminated workshop. On Monday evening, January 11, and by 9:00 pm fifty-eight brethren and friends registered for the seminar that commenced on January 12 by 9:00 am through 5:30 pm. By 12:30 pm on January 12, our records indicated 101 people as participants: twenty-three woman and seventy-eight men. Over 60% of are graduates and undergraduate students of SWSE / BVBIN, while the remaining were brethren, friends, community people, and three agricultural officers from Oyo and Ondo state.
Brother Ebenezer Udofia taught us about compost manure on day 1, and brother Ayobami Ogunjimi served as his interpreter. He taught us on the drip irrigation system-water conservation on day 2, and brother Abiola Joseph Olusoji interpreted into the Yoruba language to make the lessons clear to all participants.
101 participants from 14 congregations of our Lord Jesus and from nine states (Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti, Edo, and Abia) of the Republic of Nigeria witnessed this two day agriculture seminar initiated by Bear Valley Bible Institute International of Denver, Colorado aimed to alleviate poverty among the brotherhood in Nigeria.
The participants were fed twice daily with Nigerian food. We also fed the fifty-eight participants that arrived in the evening of January 11, 2016. At the close of the exercise on January 13, 2016 brother Ebenezer Udofia, our guest instructor presented the Certificate of Achievement to the one hundred and one (101) participants assisted by the director of the school, myself (brother Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi)
Beloved, the two major problems we all encountered during this two-day seminar were insufficient water for the participants to bathe and watering the garden. We were heavy hit during the afternoon session since we are yet to have a way to cool the Doug Wheeler event hall. We, therefore, humbly request for financial supports for digging a water bored hole on the school compound and cool the roof before March 2016 to make the hall a comfortable place of learning.
We need the sum of N1,200,000 ($6,200) for digging the water bored hole, plumbing materials, and the sum of N600,000 ($3,100) for cooling the hall.
We deeply appreciate you all for your support over the years and we always wish that godly people, such as you, would come to our aid and lessen our burden, help save lives, and give hope to the hopeless.
In conclusion, we appreciate Healing Hands International for sending brother Ebenezer Udofia to come over here and teach us more on how to eliminate poverty through food production. We also appreciate brother Steven Ashcraft and the Bear Valley Bible Institute International for organizing this program for us in this tough time. We also appreciate brother Bill Pennell for his great concern for African churches and Christian schools. We appreciate brother Doug Wheeler (SWSE Patron) for his great dedication for the cause of Christ in Nigeria. Lastly, we deeply appreciate you all for your partnership. May the Lord of blessing keep using us for His glory is my fervent prayer in Jesus Name, AMEN.
Your fellow laborer in Christ,
Brother Makinde Ebenezer Olufemi (Minister)