Blessed & Happy New Year!
The Indigenous Mission, TIM Liberia
February,2022 Update on the LORD's Work in Liberia
Contents:
-Video from the Field
-Update from Lucas & Lois
-Update from Alfred & Musu
-Update on Duplex/Bible School
Linked below are updated PRAYER REQUESTS, if you would just like a list of prayer requests:
Click here for "Spiritual" Prayer Requests
Click Here for "Practical" Prayer Requests
Want more content? You can access ministry reports from 2017 to present through our website (link below). You can also watch videos on our YouTube Channel (link below), Get short periodic updates & Prayer Requests on our Facebook pages (links below), or feel free to Email us (link below) anytime you have questions, comments, or just to say hi! :)
Please Remember to Subscribe to our YouTube Channel to be notified when we post new videos. We will be endeavoring to post a new video from Liberia every month or so. There are 8 videos currently uploaded!
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Video of students of Grace Christian Academy (GCA) reciting their
Bible Memory Verses.
GOD's Word does not return void!!
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Lois and I are thankful for the partnership of GOD's people in HIS work in Liberia! We want to thank you for faithfully praying for the ministry of TIM! You have a direct hand in this work and will be rewarded as such at the Judgment Seat of CHRIST.
We are doing well and are indeed busy about The Master’s work. As I alluded to in our July report, we came back to the US in September (2021) for follow up procedures on my neck and back, as well as a booster shingles vaccine (following two shingles attacks in 2020 & 2021), and to get our COVID vaccines which are now required for entry to Liberia.
The treatments went well and thankfully were minimally invasive. However, the use of high dose/long acting steroids on my neck/back have led to an infection which I've been on antibiotics for since April, 2021, but the infection persists. Your prayers are much appreciated!
By the Grace of GOD, I’m on the mend! The LORD has faithfully demonstrated HIS power perfected in my weakness, and HIS grace is indeed sufficient, to HIS Glory!! We do have one more week of physical therapy in Roanoke, VA (with a Christian Physical Therapist), which we will do on our way up to New Jersey (CMML). Lois and I will be flying back to Liberia in Mid-March from Newark, NJ.
In the meantime, we have received invitations from Assemblies in multiple states to visit, minister from GOD’s Word, and to share reports on The LORD’s work in Liberia. We have had upwards to 17 meetings now, with 5 more before we head back to Liberia in mid-March.
Alfred & Musu Varney, our Liberian co-workers, are faithfully carrying on the work on ground as we keep in contact, coordinating the affairs of the local assembly, the opening of Grace Christian Academy (GCA) to the new 2021-2022 school year (opened 11/21), 7 children's outreaches (7 different communities) over Christmas time, and now preparations are being made for our first annual Conference over Easter, which we'll be hosting in Tahn. We will have Christians from all over our area and neighboring counties.
We are very excited to get back to Liberia! We will be working diligently to finish, LORD willing, our Duplex (plumbing, electrical, plastering, water/solar tower, solar system, etc.) in time for us to move in by June. This will enable us to open our Bible School Dormitories (where Alfred & Musu's family and Lois & I have lived for the past 4 years) to Believers from remote parts of our district to attend Bible School for 3 months during the height of our rainy season.
I am sorry for not being more diligent in communicating. We have decided to send out quarterly email newsletters, while posting short updates or prayer requests on our Facebook page in between. If you haven't already, please subscribe to our YouTube channel (link at the top of this email) for regular videos from the field, and friend us on Facebook.
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Alfred & Musu Varney-Serving among their own people
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Our team hosted a Christmas Gospel outreach at GCA facilities in Tahn (December, 2021). Kids heard The Gospel, sang Gospel songs, played games, and each received gifts and snacks. Please pray for the children in Tahn!
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Thank you for your prayers for Alfred and Musu Varney as they carry on the work on ground in Liberia! Alfred and Musu have both been very active in ministry while Lois and I have been in the US. Alfred is carrying on teaching and shepherding in the local Assembly; 9 hours/week of Discipleship Classes; the weekly Men of Legacy group; Regular Mid-Week Meetings; Radio Ministry; coordinating with Ruth for the day-to-day operations of Grace Christian Academy and other ministries of TIM, including the new church-plant in the nearby village of Jawajei. Alfred is also overseeing the ongoing work on our duplex, and now preparing for our first conference that will be hosted at our local assembly, Tahn Bible Church, in Tahn over Easter, and the opening of our Bible School in July, LORD willing. We are very much looking forward to returning in March!
Musu & Alfred and the team also conducted a series of children's outreaches in 7 villages over the month of December. Here is a brief Update From Alfred Varney:
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"Our children's outreaches targeted the villages of: Jenneh-Mana (04 Dec.) Jawajei (12 Dec.), Bobo (15 Dec.), Managodua ( 18 Dec), Nyaboi ( 21 Dec), Tahn (25 Dec), and 2 in Monrovia (Dec 29).
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These outreaches went very well, with an average of about 200 children in each location. We are thankful for our American brethren who partnered
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with us and enabled us to provide gifts, food, and prizes for the children's ministry in each of the villages.
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These opened doors for us to minister and preach the Gospel to the kids and adults in these muslim villages. Please pray now for the souls who heard the good news of God's gift to us in Jesus's sacrifice!
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We are also continuing the Discipleship Class with 10 faithful disciples. We recently gave each of these believers their first Study Bible! They are learning how to utilize the cross-referencing, outlines, maps, and study notes.
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We're also teaching on the Deity of Christ through the EPI course "Christ in the Old Testament." This is a help to the Christians who came out of islam and the secret societies.
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Grace Christian Academy opened the new school year in November, 2021. Present enrollment is about 250 students. Class schedules are now split into Two sections. Morning runs from 8am to 12:45pm (ABC to 3rd Grade). Afternoon section runs from 1:00 to 6:00 pm (4th to 7th grades). Thank you for your support and prayers for the work God has called us to among my people. Pray that God will bless the ministry efforts and bear much fruit!" -Alfred G. Varney
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TIM Missionary Housing Duplex
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Video Walkthrough of the TIM Housing Duplex (October, 2021)
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Please continue praying for our Missionary Housing Duplex. Though most of the plumbing and internal wiring has been completed; we still have yet to build the septic tank, Water/Solar tower for running water (similar to the one on the TIM Mission compound), install a Solar System for electricity, build & install doors and windows, lay floors and plaster the walls inside and outside. Once completely cement plastered inside and out, these cement-mortared clay blocks (molded on site) can last hundreds of years.
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In order to make plaster we have to use the pickup truck to go down into the river (once the water is low enough) and shovel fine "sugar sand" into the bed of the truck and haul it to the construction site. Two obstacles remain: One, our Toyota Tundra is broken down and repair has been difficult. Two, the water level in the Lofa river has yet to go down enough to access the "sugar sand." Please pray that The LORD would remove these barriers and enable us to complete all of the above before the opening of the TIM Bible School in July. As a our dear Brother, now in Glory, Mr. James Bonner used to say..."the Good LORD willing, and the creek don't rise." (quite literally in this case:)
We are naming our Bible School dormitory building in honor of Brother James Bonner (Needham, AL), who demonstrated godly love, service, wisdom, and virtue becoming of a disciple of JESUS CHRIST!
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New Shipment-a Pallet of Everyday Publications Bible Study Courses and Study Bibles for the TIM Bible School. This is the second of two shipments of EPI courses we've received from Everyday Publications, very generously, at minimal cost to TIM. Praise The LORD!
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Wondering who EPI is, what they're all about, and why we are using their courses? Learn more about the ministry of Everyday Publications, Inc. in this short video.
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It is now evident that our timing for finishing the Duplex and opening the Bible School last year was NOT The LORD's timing. We are thankful that GOD establishes our steps (Proverbs 16:9), humbles us if we move too far ahead or behind, and graciously accomplishes HIS will, ultimately to HIS Glory!
That said, we are close to finishing our Duplex, and plan to open the TIM Bible School in July of this year. We will be using the Everyday Publications Bible Study Courses in simplified English to take our Bible students exegetically through each book of the Bible (with courses for all 66 Books), while addressing foundational doctrinal and theological issues, and giving some attention to topical courses such as; "The NT Patterned Church," "A Call to Simplicity," "Women's Role in the local church," "Christ in the Old Testament," and more!
Please pray for our team as we make preparations to open the Bible School, and please pray that we will be able to house students from rural villages (ie. that we can move into the Duplex before July). More importantly, please pray for the believers who will be committing themselves to the intensive study of GOD's Word that they would indeed grow in the grace and knowledge of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, and be called and equipped to preach The Gospel and teach others also in their home villages. (2 Tim 2:2)
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These dormitory facilities are renovated and now have running water and solar electricity…they are ready to be used for their intended purpose. Alfred and Musu Varney, their children, and Lois and I currently live in these rooms.
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Folks have asked us how they can get involved in the ministry here in Liberia and how they can send support. Here is our contact and support information. Support for Alfred and Musu Varney may also be sent here, please contact us to let us know your designation:
-By check made out to "CMML, Inc." designated for
"TIM, Liberia / Lucas & Lois Richard" and sent to:
CMML, Inc.
P.O. Box 13
Spring Lake, NJ 07762-0013
*It is our policy that we do not advertize specific needs or ask for money. If you would like to know more about how you can practically partner in the LORD's work here in Liberia, please contact us via email by clicking here.
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Please Pray for the TIM Team-For unity, wisdom, protection, provision, and fruitfulness! But pray most of all that GOD be Glorified in this work!
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Grace Christian Academy Teachers and Staff
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Please pray for our efforts at Grace Christian Academy to teach GOD's Word faithfully to students who otherwise would not hear the truth. Pray that GOD would use this school to draw souls to CHRIST, disciple, and raise up a generation of godly, faithful, and educated believers who will make an impact for the Gospel and the socio-economic betterment of their community! Pray for our Principal, Ruth Harris, and for our teachers and staff.
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(From left to right) Alfred & Musu Varney; Lucas & Lois Richard; James Varney & (MaMarry is absent in this photo); Kollie & Ruth Harris
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The Believers from our local assembly,
Tahn Bible Church, meeting and singing on Sonday Morning.
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Please pray for the Assembly in Tahn and specifically for these 12 believers being discipled by Alfred and Lucas.
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Musu Varney with kids from her Children's ministry. Please pray for MaMusu and her ministry to the children in Tahn and in Monrovia.
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"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven."
-Matthew 5:16
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