On September 5
th Dan’s father went home to be with his Lord and Savior. He passed at the age of 93. He gave his life to Jesus at the age of 15 and spent his life in faithful service. September 8
th we traveled back to Pine River, Minnesota for his memorial service. While we will miss him greatly we have the confidence that we will see him again in glory!
When we left Nigeria, Immigration told us we would not be able to return to Nigeria again as our temporary work permits, they gave us, had expired and they did not have our permanent ones ready.
While in the States we helped Dan’s mom, Elsie, with a number of legal, banking and other issues. We also stopped by and visited our friends at Global Health and received some medical equipment that will enable us to test for cervical cancer and a couple of other items. We met with a class at Bethel University that is doing a project on the efficiency of our clinic. In addition, we were privileged to meet with Bethel Students interested in missions and missionaries on furlough from Converge in a forum.
We visited three churches and a few partners, our children, and friends in the Pine River and Minneapolis area during our time in Minnesota and enjoyed the beautiful Fall weather.
We arrived back in Nigeria on October 1 and (with many people praying) got through immigration with just a small amount of hassle. The immigration officer that passed us through said he did so because of the work we are doing in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Thank you for those of you who were praying.
![]()
We arrived in Gembu on October 4 just a couple of hours before the AWANA missionaries arrived from Jos for our weeklong Seed Planters Conference. October 5 at 7:30 am we met in the hall, set all of the items needed in order and prayed. We had 40 participants from 31 different churches and denominations. Meetings started at 9:00 am and every morning, after the first day, participants were there before 8:00 am eager to start the day and discuss ministry with each other. We spent the week learning how to run an effective and fruitful AWANA program. From recruiting to Game Time; participants studied, worked together, and participated in learning how to run their own program in their own churches. On Thursday we had about 30 kids come for a couple of hours so that we could “practice” our AWANA skills on them. We then discussed how things went and what would need to happen for things to run smoothly in their own Clubs. Saturday morning, October 10 we waved goodbye to our AWANA missionaries as they packed up and took the two days journey back to Jos. Thank you to all who gave to help us host this AWANA training. Participants were encouraged, challenged, and empowered to reach children right where they are at. The money that you donated was enough to provide for the week of training and we have funds that will be used in upcoming meetings to purchase supplies to make things that will help leaders run their Clubs.
Our Staff person of this month is: Oladele Taiwo. Taiwo, as we call him, is our Director of Finance. He is Dan’s right arm when it comes to all things business. Taiwo’s lovely wife, son, and twin daughters currently live in Lagos. Please pray for Taiwo and his family as we move forward in making GECHAAN a sustainable outreach in our community.
