Joseph Consford Missionary to West Africa PO Box TD 111 Takoradi, Ghana West Africa Pastor Keith Gomez Northwest

Bible Baptist Church 9N889 Nesler Road Elgin, IL 60124-8407

February 18, 2012

Dear Dr. Gomez, We sure do serve a great God! I want to thank you for being a faithful pastor for the last 30 years. You have been a great encouragement to me for as long as I can remember. I remember the first time I heard you preach and the testimony that your pastor, Dr. Bob Smith, gave about you right before you preached. I was just a young preacher boy from the Piney Woods of East Texas; your pastor was my hero, and that day I added you to the list of my heroes. Over the years, I have had to strike a line through the names of many of my heroes. Your name and Dr. Smith s name are still right up at the top of my hero list. Thank you for your faithfulness. Then, when I was in college, while working for Dr. Jim Vineyard, you were always such an encouragement to me. When you would come down to Oklahoma City to preach and I would get to spend time with you and Dr. Vineyard, you would always have time to listen to my questions and not act like I was an inconvenience to you. Thank you very much for being a friend to me. I have some fond memories of a fishing trip in Canada. You came pulling up to the island a day early, and everyone on the island was shocked that you could find us having never been there before. I told them as you were pulling up to the island that Lake Rufus was a little pond compared to the swamps where you grew up and that I would have been shocked if you could not have found us. Then, you got out of the boat and said the very same thing. I was just getting started on deputation in 2000 when your church started supporting me. I had never even been to your church to present our ministry, but you started supporting me anyway. I cannot tell you how that helped me at the very start of deputation when finances were so scarce. During these last twelve years, you have supported us so faithfully. Thank you for the opportunity to represent your church here in West Africa for the last twelve years! It is our prayer that much fruit will be added to your account in the years to come! Your friend and ambassador to West Africa,

Joe Consford