Pray for the Persecuted Church

We are very much aware that the topic of the persecuted church is not popular today especially among those who live in ease and freedom. Among those of us privileged to enjoy freedom today, we are more comfortable focusing people to the material things of this life than to eternal things. Let prayers be raised in our churches for those that remain. Let our prayer vigils and family altars be moments of raising cries to God for our brethren. It could have been you. "Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Heb 13:3 NIV.


Pray for Li Jiangong whose wife, Ding Cuimei, was buried alive while trying to prevent their church from being demolished by bulldozer on 14th of April, 2016. The building actually collapsed on both of them but Li was able to dig his way out but his wife was suffocated.

Pray for the family of Shunil Gomez who was hacked to death in Bangladesh just because he was a Christian. Pray that they will tangibly sense the loving comfort of our Lord Jesus as they grieve during this difficult time. Ask Him to protect the leaders and all the other Christian believers in Bangladesh. May they be filled with wisdom and power as they continue to obey the Great Commission despite the threat of persecution. See more here.

Remember the family of Bridget Abahime who was killed in Kano in June. The noise and dust is over but the pain of loss will remain with the family except we pray for them.

Updated 11/07/16
Remember the family of Pastor Olawale Elisha whose wife was murdered in Abuja on Saturday during morning cry (Early morning preaching). They are going through enormous pains not just because their wife and mother died but the manner in which she died. Just say a few words to God concerning the family that God may give them the comfort which no man can give nor take away. Pray that He will give them perspective in this situation. Pray that the perpetrators may be brought to justice and that they will embrace the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Pray for revival in the Body of Christ.

Please pray.

The Upcoming Persecution of Christians in the West

The Christians in the west have enjoyed liberty for centuries because of the JudeoChristian foundations most of their societies were built on. That liberty will soon be gone.

Currently, there are legislation that are forcing Christians to shut their mouths on certain things. There are certain areas of the Bible you cannot boldly preach if you are in certain places in the west. It is as if all the other religions have rights and enjoy the protection of the law while the rights of Christians are eroding every waking of the day. Many Christians have compromised. Many leaders no longer discuss issues like homosexuality, bestiality, and fornication. Many of them cannot preach from passages like John John 14:6-7
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
NIV. They are more comfortable avoiding those absolute statements in the Bible which incidentally are what make Christianity unique and attractive. Unfortunately, those are the things that most Christians avoid. Persecution is not happening now in mass because of these compromises and so called 'wisdom' of Christians. But nobody can run away from it if he wants to remain a Christian. A time is coming when Christians cannot hide any more.

All over the world, Christians are persecuted and killed, some in most cruelest ways. Just google about Christian persecution and you will be amazed at the volume of news you will find. Most of the fiercest occur in the Islamic world. For many in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China, Sudan, Eritrea, Northern Nigeria, etc, persecution has become part and parcel of their lives. You count the cost if you want to become a Christian. But for the west, America and Europe, persecution of Christian will earnestly start soonest.

In the coming days and years, there will be more Anti-Christian legislation that will surprise many of us. We shared about Kim Davies several times. However, what happened to Kim is a child's play to what Christians will soon begin to go through in the US. How soon it will be, I do not know yet.

Now, is this a strange thing? NO! It is normal for a Christian to be persecution. 2 Tim 3:12-13 says
"In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" NIV.

But for many Christians in the west, it will be a strange thing. Let's begin to pray for His church to be ready. The Bride must prepare herself for the soon coming Groom. No matter what happens, make sure you are ready.

Christian killed for ‘Blasphemous’ Facebook Post in Niger State, Nigeria

Why do we share these information?
We share these so as to enrich our prayer moments. 
We share to widen our perspective.  If you are living in areas where there is no Islamic persecution, you may not know that there are brethren who stake their lives just to be identified as Christians.
We share so as to stir our hearts to help where we can.
We share as part of our ministry to the persecuted. Today it is Emmanuel, tomorrow it can be near us.
Finally, we share so as to keep us at alert. 

On Sunday, 29/05/16, 24-year-old Methodus Chimaije Emmanuel, a trader in Pandogari, Rafi Local Government Area in Niger State was “attacked and killed by a mob in the town on allegation of posting a blasphemous statement about Prophet Muhammad on the social media.”

According to Morning Star News, a church building, a house and a shop were burned, and rioters blocked the Lagos-Kaduna Road, a major artery connecting the northern and southern parts of the country, army spokesman N.C. Agwu said in a press statement. On Monday (May 30) 25 other shops were looted, he said.

“Three other persons including a personnel of the NSCDC [Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps] also lost their lives,” Agwu said.

Also as noted by Release International , just two days later Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed three Christians in their home in Jema local government area in the north-central Kaduna state.

Zakka Kagoma, aged 40, and two others as yet unidentified are believed to have been killed while they were sleeping at about 2am. As a result of the attack Christians in other villages have fled.

 Please pray for our brothers and sisters in central and northern Nigeria.

1. Ask God to comfort all those affected by these latest violent incidents. 
2. Pray for an end to extremist and Fulani attacks on Christians.
3. Pray that God will intervene to protect His people and that those responsible for the violence would be brought to justice.
4. Pray that the persecutors of the church would be convicted of their sin and turn to Christ in repentance.
5. Pray for a spiritual awakening in the church.

The controversial Sharia Bill in the House of Reps and the Church response

Our attention has been drawn to the Bill being sponsored by Abdullahi Salame, the lawmaker representing Gwadabawa/Illela federal constituency, Sokoto State. The bill is titled, “a Bill for an Act to alter Sections 262 and 277 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to increase the jurisdiction of the Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory and the Sharia Court of Appeal of a State by including Criminal Matters of Hudud and Qisas and for other related Matters.

According to Wikpedia, Hudud (Arabic: حدود Ḥudūd, also transliterated hadud, hudood; singular hadd, حد, literal meaning "limit", or "restriction") is an Islamic concept: punishments which under Islamic law (Shariah) are mandated and fixed by God. While in the case of murder, Qisas means the right of a murder victim's nearest relative or Wali (ولي) (legal guardian) to, if the court approves, take the life of the killer. Qisas is one of several forms of punishment in Islamic Penal Law.

The proposed bill was briefly discussed on the floor of the House Thursday May 19, 2016 before it was referred to the Committee on Constitution Amendment.


The sponsor claims that the bill is designed to protect Christians from wanton attacks in Northern Nigeria. He equally said in his interview with PREMIUM TIMES that the insinuation that the bill will be implemented in other parts of Nigeria apart from the Northern Nigerian States is false. But the critical questions remain:

1. Does it means that if the law is not put in place that Christians will be prone to attacks in Northern Nigeria? Why is that? Does it not sound like Dhimmi status kind of living where non Muslims live as second class citizens under the protection of Muslim overlords as long as they pay Jizya tax?
2. Why the zeal to expand the powers of the Sharia Courts when already there are complaints all over the place that non Muslims are often taken to these courts especially when matters involve them and their Muslims neighbors?
3. What is the priority of this bill in our national life when the citizens are living in serious hardships because of the challenges we are faced with? The oil price is down and responsible leaders are running helter-skelter on how to fix their economy, what is utmost in the mind of Mr. Salame is how to enlarge the powers of the Sharia courts.
4. Does this not show the components on Political Islam which intends to subjugate every other person under Islamic law?
5. Is this not a pretentious and deceptive step to sneak in the total Islamic law through the back door that will ultimately subject the nation to Islamic laws?
6. Is it possible to operate two codes for the administration of criminal justice in one country? Is it not a journey towards anarchy to define crime in different ways for different people within the same country?

Many questions! No wonder everybody is reacting, especially non Muslims. The truth is that this bill will not stand because God has not finished with Nigeria. Nigeria cannot be subjugated by any man. It is also instructive to read in between the lines the response of Hon. Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi when he was reached for comments:

"The Bill came up on the floor and was automatically referred to the ad-hoc committee on constitution review.

There was no debate on it either for or against because the House is a democratic representatives chamber of the Nigerian people

Even if five people only have an issue with any section of the Constitution, the House will give it a listening ear.

The ad-hoc committee on Constitution review has one member per state and women and other representation.

The precedence is that it is in this committee that these kinds of matters are thrashed out.

Any bill that has potentials to divide the country into religious or tribal lines or to reopen settled constitutional issues will most likely fail in the committee.

It should be noted that constitutional review bills are special bills that undergo many stages, unlike an ordinary bill.

These include committee stage, the plenary stage for voting by 2/3rd of the House, 2/3rd of all the state Houses of Assembly before it comes back again to the National Assembly for voting again and finally it must receive presidential assent.

We are still at a very early stage in the process and Nigerians should not worry about bills of this nature as the House has shown over the years to be the protector of Nigerians’ national unity and interest."

Signed:

Hon. Jonathan Gaza Gbefwi
Deputy Chairman
House Committee on Media and Publicity.

The Church Response
The Church will have to wake up to live up to her responsibility. Church leaders will have to review the way we see these ones in political leadership. Instead of seeing them as avenues for money, we should see them as God's ministers deployed to the area of political governance. The church leadership should be influencing the political and judicial leadership to make sure that there is righteousness and justice in our street. Some practical tips include:

1. Make a list of the members of the House of Reps and the Senate who are in your church or Diocese or Ministry. Get their contacts.
2. Make a list of those within your sphere of influence that can help you reach to members of NASS.
3. Make that phone call to explain to them the implication of these bills including the Grazing bill and others for that matter. 
4. Depending on your sphere of influence and the number of those who listen to you, organize a meeting of all the NASS members and politicians who hear you. Teach them and explain these bills and their consequences to them. Sincerely pray for them and their work and let them know that you look forward to their progress and success. All these you do without asking them for money except for willing partners with the same vision. Let them just know that they are God's Ambassadors in those chambers. This meeting can be organized in Abuja where it will be easier for them to attend and the hotel bills borne by the church.
5. Make your own contacts available and remain reachable in case they have questions and need clarifications. Continue to call them from time to time and make the meeting a regular one, like bi-annually or quarterly for prayers and reviews. Remember NEVER to ask them for money but solely for the purpose of good governance. Only the church can give spiritual perspective to these our members in the NASS.
6. Sensitize your church to pray sincerely for the politicians and their work. Our prayer contents matter a lot. Avoid fanning unnecessary ethnic and religiously-biased sentiments which cannot produce positive results. Some specific prayer points may need only the Prayer Band to hear and handle for proper understanding.

Why are all these very important?   "...Pray to the Lord for it (the nation where you reside), because if it prospers, you too will prosper..." Jer 29:7 NIV (Emphasis mine). We need peace to spread the Gospel.
God bless you.

Marriam Mushtaq: A 24-year-old Pakistani Christian woman abducted and married off

Please pray for Marriam. Each time I hear some of these stories, I cannot help but imagine if this is my daughter or sister. This is happening to Christians, especially in areas where they are persecuted by Muslim neighbors. In Nigeria, we have heard of Ese Oruru who was allegedly kidnapped in Bayelsa State and was taken to Kano. She gave birth to a baby girl yesterday. Another girl from Benue was also alleged to have been kidnapped and converted to Islam in Sokoto. These have all been rescued because of the campaign efforts of families, churches and civil societies. There are other stories of other girls here. The truth is that it has been a problem all along only that the Social Media has helped to publicly highlight the incidents. 

If we do not make effort to reach our unreached neighbors, especially the ones that are close to us, in the next few years, we may find ourselves dealing with these issues more frequently. Please pray for Marriam:

A 24-year-old Pakistani Christian woman was abducted on May 12th while walking with her 11-year-old brother. Marriam Mushtaq was suddenly snatched by four unidentified suspects in Bahar Colony, Lahore. For the past year, she had been studying adult education at Excel Educational Institution, and was on her way there with her brother Youhan at around 2 p.m. when a white car pulled up next to them. A man with his face covered got out and dragged Marriam inside the car before it sped off.

Yohan further explains that Marriam tried to escape from the abductors, but then one of them placed a piece of cloth over her mouth and she became unconscious. The alarmed young brother began shouting -- calling out for help. A few people gathered and boys on motorbikes started following the car; however, as it was speeding so fast, the perpetrators' vehicle hit a young girl who was crossing the road. (As a result of this accident, the hit-and-run victim is suffering from serious leg injuries.) The local boys followed the car on their motorbikes until it vanished out of sight.

Marriam's family visited the local police station to register a complaint, but the police initially did not respond. Only after the family and local Christians staged a protest, blocking the road for two hours, did the police agree to register an FIR against the unknown abductors.

Two days after Marriam's mother filed a complaint with the police, she received a phone call from officers who stated that her daughter had not been kidnapped, but was married. A 32-year-old man named Muhammed Ali, who Marriam's family claim is her kidnapper, attended the police station and presented a marriage certificate.

Members of the young woman's family believe she would never voluntarily marry a militant Muslim, stressing their concerns that she has been forced into marriage and is now being held against her will.

Please pray that Marriam will be safely reunited with her distressed family. During this unwarranted separation, may God provide each one of them needed comfort and encouragement, reassuring them of His strengthening presence. Also intercede for the young girl who was seriously injured by the getaway car, praying that she will know the Lord's presence, peace and healing in her life as well. May the convicting power of the Holy Spirit come upon the abductors, helping them to realize that wrongfully committed acts such as forceful marriage and conversion -- in addition to holding a person hostage -- is contrary to God's ways and will result in consequences...unless there is genuine repentance.

More here and here

Many Muslim Refugees in Europe are Suddenly Finding Jesus

This is really a great encouragement. As we continue to share trusting the Lord to wake His Church up. Let the Gospel be preached and let souls be drawn into God's Kingdom. It shall come to pass says the Lord that the knowledge of the Lord shall spread all over the earth as waters cover the sea. Thank God for the European Church. They seem to have a better strategy. I pray that these conversions will be genuine.

By Nadette De Visser

Hundreds of Pakistanis and Afghans have been lining up at a local swimming pool in Hamburg, Germany, to be baptized as Christians. In the Netherlands and Denmark, as well, many are converting from Islam to Christianity, and the trend appears to be growing. Indeed, converts are filling up some European churches largely forsaken by their old Christian flocks.

Still, many preachers are pleased. The German pastor of the Evangelical-Lutheran church in Berlin calls the conversion phenomenon “a gift from God.” In his modest community a staggering 1,200 Muslims, mainly Afghans and Iranians, converted in just three years.

In Hamburg, where German ARD TV showed the Pakistanis and Afghans lining up to be baptized by the pastor of the Persian Church community, more than 600 people reportedly were received into the congregation.

There is no reliable overall figure for converts in northern Europe, but judging by reports from different media outlets, it is safe to assume the number runs into the thousands, maybe even tens of thousands who say they want the Gospel, “the good news,” offered by Jesus Christ.

Read the whole story here.

The Migration Crises and the Church Response Part 3 – Why we must act now.

The Migration Crises and the Church Response Part 3 – Why we must act now.

In our first and second posts, we discussed the critical issues of the current migrations and what the response of the church ought to be. Make no mistake, the migration challenges before us mean that our ministry strategy has to change if we are to remain relevant in the next few years. We do not have many options before us than to use this opportunity and act now. Not only should we focus on the migrants, we should also target reaching our youths and the unreached within the home fronts.

If we fail to take this opportunity, the consequences will be enormous:

1.     The first thing to mention here is that our failure to reach these ones that God has brought to our door steps will be our undoing. We may never be able to live a ‘normal life’ any more in the near future. Remember what God told the Israelites about the Canaanites they could not conquer, “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live”. Num 33:55. In fact in Judges 2:3, God said that the people of Israel will no more be able to have dominion over them and at a point, “… their gods will be a snare to you." NIV. We are neither saying that where we dwell is land of Canaan nor that we should drive Muslims out of where we reside. No. We are only drawing analogy from here saying that when we fail to reach these ones that God has graciously brought to our door steps, in the next few years, we will all suffer for it because most likely they will turn into or cause something else we may not be able to control. There is a reason why God brought these Muslims to our door steps. We should all begin to think in the direction that God will work out something good with these insurgencies and subsequent migrations.

2.     Several Muslim groups are always the breeding ground for Islamists who spread their ideology of violence. Ideologies like the one propagated by Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden) can only thrive among uneducated Muslims. We need to reach these Muslims with the Gospel  in order to see whether some will be saved before they get trapped in the revival of violence-ridden-jihad ideologies being spread all over the world among some practicing Muslims. There are many peaceful cultural Muslims but immediately any one of them desires to become more spiritual and stays under the tutelage of Sheikhs that teach violent jihad, that person will suddenly become very dangerous.

3.     We will have clash of cultures that can turn violent in the years to come. This is because Islam does not allow its members to integrate into the culture of their host. One of the wonderful things about the people from south eastern Nigeria is that they have the wisdom and freedom to adapt and integrate into their host cultures and do their business anywhere they go. But not so with Islamic culture which tends to control every aspect of the life of the Muslim even to the extent of implementing its own body of political laws. Their culture is communal and exclusive and they are often protective and can be violent in the process.

4.     When they settle, because we failed to do our own missionary work among them, Islamic missionary work will start among our people and then we will only be reacting.

5.     Our children and children’s’ children will be the ones to experience the clash of cultures and the attempt to impose Islam on them in our door steps, and the clashes will escalate.

6.     We and our church members may be caught in the web of ethnic sentiments being fanned in several quarters today which will only end up consuming everybody if they turn violent and overwhelm our security forces.

7.     If we fail to teach our members and make efforts to reach these people, our congregations and church members will not be well positioned and equipped to represent Christ in the midst of the forthcoming inevitable crises. The church will be as confused as the state and will not be able to stand in the gap. The failure of any state that has experienced the presence of Christianity starts with the failure of the church to fulfill its purpose and mandate.

8.     Finally if we fail to take the opportunity, we will be made to account before God.

The purpose of this awareness drive once again is not to panic us but to stir us up to arise and respond to God’s call upon us to reach the Unreached He has brought to our door steps. Remember, what we have shared here is not just peculiar to Nigeria, it is a global trend. If the European church fails to respond adequately to this migration challenge, in the near future, the rise of rightists and nationalists who will want to protect their culture, economies and way of life will cause a conflict that will be very bloody. If the Kenyan, Ugandan and Ethiopian churches fail to take this opportunity, the only solution the political system understands is force and war. The political nations will end up shedding more blood in their attempts to enforce peace. If the Nigerian church refuses to act now, rightist, sectarian movements and even militants with different shades and colours will arise sooner or later and they will end up causing conflicts with the attendant bloodshed. The same thing goes for the American church and of course the whole world because of the Islamic revival we are experiencing today. Let us join hands together and pray for a move of God that will awaken His church. God bless you.

You can drop a comment on our website (www.evergreenword.com) or write us. Download the presentation on this discuss for your church, ministry or study group here: pdf or pps

THE GOD OF A SECOND CHANCE

 This story was cited by Cephas Emamuyovwi Michael but posted by Amb David Matthew  on Facebook. A testimony credited to Pastor Benny Hinn

We share these things so as to encourage ourselves as leaders. We ought to be careful not to become careless and pretentious but to jealously guard what has been placed into our hands so that the enemy does not steal it from us. God bless.

THE GOD OF A SECOND CHANCE:

A Testimony of Pastor Benny Hinn on his tour to South Africa in April 2016.

Please pay attention to his detailed testimony. He says in 2015 he had heart attack and was taken to the hospital for heart surgery and while in the hospital he had a dream and in that dream he found himself in a long que at the gate of heaven and everyone was dressed in white garment. 

At the gate was Jesus Christ dressed in a shiny sparkling white garment different from everyone and beside him Pastor Benny Hinn saw a woman that was playing a piano. Jesus would nod his head in signal as to whether a person was accepted or denied to enter heaven. If it was a yes, the pianist would play glorious melodies and the glory was overwhelming and the gates would automatically open but if it was denied, the pianist would play horrible melodies and demons would come to take the person away to hell.  He says, out of the whole que only 20 percent entered but 80 percent were denied. They were all Christians and full of pastors but only 20 percent entered heaven. He says everyone was trembling as they were waiting on the que. 

He says eventually his turn Pastor Benny Hinn came and the pianist knew Pastor Benny and smiled at him in admiration of his record amongst the people on earth but when Jesus looked at Benny Hinn, his look could tell that he was not impressed with Pastor Benny Hinn, and Pastor Hinn says his trembling and fear had increased knowing that he would not be able to make it through that gate and when Jesus was about to make his decision, he woke up and God said to him
"Don't blow up this time, this is your second chance"

Pastor Benny Hinn then explained something that every long serving christian need to take note of.
He said all through his ministry, he had two ministry duties, one was to serve the people with his gift that God has given him ie preaching and performing miracles and the other ministry was his personal walk with God ie. his fellowship with God on everyday basis.

He says but from 2010 as he passed through a divorce, his relationship with God became dead and God was far away from him. He says through the divorce he lost about 7 million dollars and his house and his relationship with God was gone totally.

The amazing thing is that he says when he knew that he is no longer with God, he saw many miracles in his ministry. He says that, because he is a great pretender so he pretended before the people as if he is with God and yet he was not.(remember the gifts of God are without repentance that is to say whether you are with God or not the gift will still work, but to enter the gate of heaven, it will be your relationship with God ie your right standing and steadfastness with God through Jesus Christ)

As to pretence, it is not only Pastor Benny Hinn but any long serving christian becomes used to the things of God and eventually pretence becomes his everyday walk before the people and one minds more of the degree and opinion that the crowds hold on him than what God says"
Pastor Benny Hinn now condemns the SELLING of anointing oils and holy waters and any thing of God that today pastors sell in churches to make money. He says since God has given him a second chance, his focus is no longer on the crowds and their opinions but on his personal relationship with God so that he will enter that heavenly gate.

The question is if Pastor Benny Hinn was trembling and sweating at the gate in fear that he would not make it, what about you when you will face Christ? If we think because of our long serving in the church, post in the church, attendance, preaching, works or miracle performances, I think Benny Hinn has out done most of us and yet God's acceptance at the gate is not based on these. "PHILIPPIANS 2:12 says Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."

God has not given Pastor Benny Hinn alone this second chance but he has given this second chances to the whole body of Christ world wide to walk home into his arms through his grace and mercy before the door closes which is very shortly. 

God has used Pastor Benny Hinn in this case because of his influence and the public opinion that people has on him and of how much an individual would then realise of his short fall before that gate. Its time to seek repentance before God, its time to drop down titles given by men in search for God's mercy that enables one to enter through that gate to heaven.

It is time for evangelising and awakening of our souls.

When the trumpet sounds and the roll is called, may our names be on the list and may we have the Godly strength to escape ANY worldly sin or distractions that will prevent us from entering the gate of Heaven in Jesus saving Name AMEN.

St Matthews Anglican Church Nkpogu ordered to close temporarily

When in a meeting yesterday (15/05/16) we received a report that the Archbishop of the Niger Delta Province, His Grace Dr. I. C. O. Kattey and his Diocesan Board closed down St Matthews Anglican Church, Nkpogu Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria, everybody in the leadership meeting was taken aback. We prayed for the church and the Lord's Body as a whole. This morning, we visited the Church to really know what the true situation is. As God would have it, we were able to meet with Bro. Ojei, the Administrator of the church who explained what happened.

According to him, the church received information from unofficial sources that the bishop was coming to the church for a reconciliation service because of a protracted legal tussle they have been having for some time now. The service was to start by 9am. St Matthews decided to hold their own service by 7am. Later, they received another information that the time for the bishop's service was changed to 6.30am. They now waited with expectation. However, when they heard that the Youths had been asked to also join the service from different churches in the Diocese, they became apprehensive and had to meet the Police Authorities to provide security to the whole gathering to prevent anything going wrong. Ojei said that the church processed and they had a good thanksgiving service and the Archbishop preached on the Holy Spirit.

But things suddenly began to change when the Registrar of the Diocese during the announcements began to catalogue the legal journey between the Diocese/Archbishop and the church and concluded by saying that they have decided to lock the church building temporarily. They ordered people to go out immediately the service closed. At this point, the spirit of every body sank even among some of the pastors. Some of the pastors that participated in the service did not even know this other side of the Archbishop's plan. Some of the pastors' wives were visibly sobbing at the end of the service.

Bro Ojei said something that was very touching. He said that they are not fighting anybody. They want to go to heaven at the end. They are only working with a sense of duty to do what they are convinced the Lord had called and raised the church to do, that is, evangelism and missions. A missions team came back from Bayelsa State that same Sunday. The church has missionaries they are supporting and sponsoring all over the place.

Concerning the legal issues, he promised that they will follow through the whole legal process to the end and whatever comes out as the conclusion, they will abide by it and take it as God's will. They have a subsisting court injunction while the case lasts as shown below.

He even alluded that what happened yesterday in the church may be regarded as contempt of court.

We decided to post this so as to give our readers the right perspective because many versions have been making rounds and it is very important that Christians do not engage in hearsay and rumours. We need to have the right information so that we can pray aright for the Body that Christ purchased with His own blood. Our focus here is not to take sides with anybody but to keep sharing issues concerning the church and encouraging our readers to continue to pray.

The Team is just wondering:

1. Are there no wise men within or outside the Niger Delta North Diocese that can help the Archbishop resolve this matter? "I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?" 1 Cor 6:5 NIV. Is this matter impossible to resolve?
2. Is it that among all the pastors working with the Archbishop currently, none has the kind of skills and understanding that pastors like the Ven. Tejevo, the Rev Can. Somiari, the late Rt. Rev. Orama and their like possessed? These men led the church in question successfully years before now when we were hearing about St, Matthews Nkpogu from very far places as God was using them to plant new churches and to revive a lot of dormant Anglican Churches. What is missing today?
3. Why is it that nobody has the kind of spirit that Moses had when God proposed to destroy the rebellious people of Israel and raise a new people through him? Num.14:12-16. Why is it that nobody is as concerned like Moses on what the 'Egyptians' will hear? or what the 'Egyptians' will tell 'other nations'? or the reports 'other nations' will hear about this our God by these protracted matters and court cases? If the Lord Jesus were to lead physically the 'rebellious' St Matthews, what will He do? Will He handle this matter and the souls of men in that church the way the Archbishop and his pastors are handling this matter today?
4. Is there any other thing the Archbishop and his pastors and the St Matthews church leadership are dragging that is hidden from the whole world?
5. Assuming the government proposes a bill to ban church worship, asking all the churches to lock their houses of worship for whatever they give as their reason, what will be the reaction of a Diocesan leadership that thinks that the best way to handle the dispute they have with a church under them is to order their doors to be locked?
6. Are all the players aware of the depth of the wounds they are inflicting on the Body of Christ?
7. Where is the Niger Delta North Diocesan leadership and the St Matthews church leadership going with all these issues hanging on their shoulders?
8. What is the Province of Nigeria and the House of Bishops doing to resolve this matter?
9. Is the Archbishop and the Diocesan leadership and St Matthews leadership aware that while they go back to their different corners strategizing, the only person that is happy and gaining in this whole matter is Satan, our adversary? In fact, is this whole thing not a manifestation of his attacks on Christ's church while men went to sleep? And elders are all watching, taking sides, playing to the gallery, pleasing men while the church suffers?
10. Where is the leading of the Holy Spirit in all of these?

Please pray for the Archbishop and his Diocese for godly direction. Pray for wisdom on their part to model Christ in their handling of this matter. Pray for the leaders of St Matthews Anglican Church for humility and spirit of submission in things that will bring solution to this problem.
Pray that God will cause everybody involved in this case to repent in anyway they have shown ego, pride, power and control instead of the humility, gentleness, submission and love modeled by our Lord Christ. May God bring this matter to an end so that His church can focus on how to evangelize the Unreached like the one we shared here. Amen. We believe that the Anglican Church is one of churches God will use in this end time. God bless you.

Please do not hesitate to write us through email in case you have further information or issues to share with us. Remember to drop a few comments.

The Migration Crises and the Church Response Part 2 – Maximizing the Opportunity

The Migration Crises and the Church Response Part 2 – Maximizing the Opportunity

Part 1 of this discuss was shared here.

The challenges of migration are enormous both to the migrants and to the host people. Some are economical, others are cultural, some are political, others are demographic, and some are spiritual and psychological while others are ethnic and tribal in nature. People will live in fear and suspicion of each other which may lead to policies aimed at subduing and pushing away on one side and resistance and arousal of survival instincts on the other. Now, our focus is not really on what the politicians are doing, our focus is on what the church can do to leverage on the situation and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Over the years, we have been praying for missions, asking God to send people to some of these people groups, however now it has pleased Him to bring them down to our door steps. What should be the response of the Church to this amazing opportunity?

For the churches in southern Nigeria, the issues are critical. This is because there are different colours and shades attached to the whole matter of migration of northerners to the south that we ought to be very careful not to be dragged along by the sentimental and emotional pulls. There are all kinds of agitations here and there and because members of churches come from different regions where these agitations are canvassed, Christians are often tempted to start looking at issues with ethnic eyes instead of seeing people the way God sees them. This is a very serious matter every Christian leader in the southern Nigeria must pay attention to. We must take out time to read about the Rwandan Genocide and how the churches participated in the murder of Tutsis even inside church premises by Hutu rebels and militia men. Pastors and priests even betrayed one another just because they are not from the same ethnic group. If we fail to properly position our churches early with Christ’s response, we may end up fanning ethnic sentiments that will result in murders and massacres that will surprise and haunt us in the years to come. 

For example, most of the northerners we see in the south are nominal Christians who came down south in search of greener pastures and because of the crises in the north. If you as a pastor do not teach your congregation, they will lump everybody they see that is a northerner as Boko Haram and hate them. We have personally worked with many of them with the wrong notion that they were all Muslims until we began to interact with them. We discovered that many are from Plateau and Nasarawa States. Close to our office, there is a small settlement of northerners and by the time we investigated, we discovered that they are from Benue State (Tivs and Idomas). The Gateman where we live currently is a northerner and a Christian young boy who desires to further his education from Plateau State. The point is that if the church responds carnally which is what we sense around when we listen to prayer points that some pastors pray in their churches, we may end up teaching our members hate and igniting genocide like the Rwandan case. We are supposed to be the conscience of the society, modeling Christ no matter what we suffer. Every soul is important to God whether he is a Muslim or a nominal Christian or any other religion for that matter.

Now what should really be the church response to the migration we are experiencing in the south? The church should be strategic in its approach. Think outside the box. What will our churches look like in the next 10 to 20 years if we fail to evangelize these migrants? What will our environment and neighborhoods look like in a few years to come if we do not make a concerted effort to reach these ones that God has already brought to our door steps? Our aim is not to panic us but to encourage us to make ourselves available. 

Before we share what we believe are the dangers if we fail to wake up and take actions today (To be handled in Part 3), let us suggest what we believe our approach should be:

1. Decide to model Christ to your congregation as a Christian leader. Decide to disciple your members and encourage them to live as Christ’s followers in love, holiness and purity. Let them understand the Great Commission which is a mandate we have as a church from our Lord Christ.
2. Training: Pastors should submit themselves to training on how to reach the Muslims. We should organize pastors meetings and train ourselves on how we can reach out to Muslims within our door steps. Train our members on how to witness to Muslims about the Lord Jesus. CAPRO as a missions Agency has worked among the Unreached Muslims for over forty one years. They run a training called OASIS which has been proven to help prepare pastors and church members on how to reach out to Muslims. 
3. Liaise and partner with Missions Agencies that have experience in reaching the Muslims. Most Southern churches do not really know what to do. They have the desire and resources to do something but do not know where to start from. Churches can engage these missionaries who have been working among the Muslims, especially now some of them have left their bases because of the insurgency. They understand these people and can even tell you the difference between the Shuwa Arabs and Hausas for example. They are trained. They can start missionary churches for you.
4. Support and work with other churches that have the experience of working among Muslims over the years. Churches like ECWA, COCIN, NKST etc can be of great help.
5. Start special churches like Hausa-Speaking Churches with trained pastors from the north who understand both their disposition and culture. We will allow the churches to run independently and we will raise leaders from among them who will in turn be used by God to reach their own people. Of course, we should be ready not to place any financial burden on them as we do to our regular churches.
6. Invest in production of Multimedia evangelism tools like radios, tapes and videos etc in their own languages and use them for evangelism. Share them among these migrants and pray for God to use them to touch their lives.
7. Engage in targeted crusades and evangelism towards these settlements.  Invite preachers from their own stock who will speak to their hearts. Carry out medical outreaches.
8. Offer prayers to God for the souls of these migrants. Let our churches begin to pray for their salvation. As we pray, God will lead on the other things we may need to do in order to accomplish His purpose. Most of our prayer contents today show how unprepared we are and how we are not yet ready to reach out to these ones. This is because our prayers are full of ethnic and political sentiments and are not coming from real burden for souls.
9. Train church members who are in politics on doing justice and judgment and we stop seeing them as ‘money’ but as ministers God has called in the area of political leadership. Advise the lawmakers among them on the formulation of some bills that will solve social problems and allow good atmosphere for the growth of the gospel. Some migration challenges will require political solutions which if our members in the National and State Assemblies are ignorant of, they will be bereft of ideas. They will not know how to use the legal instruments in their hands to contribute their own quota in solving the problems and propagating the Gospel.
10. Finally be willing to sacrifice; be willing not to live for ourselves. These evangelism thrusts will create some social challenges and persecutions that will warrant that churches harbour and protect some that may end up being ostracized from among their communities. We may require sending some of them to school and paying their school fees or sending some to learn trades etc. We must be willing to leave our comfort zones and reach out to these migrants and also willing to spend and be spent for this mandate.

In the next and last post on this series, we will share the dangers that we will face if we continue to carry on in our ministries the way we are doing it today without adjusting, taking and maximizing the opportunity and positioning ourselves and our churches to reach the Muslim migrants God has brought to our door steps. May God richly bless you.

In the last post, we will provide a link to a downloadable presentation of this discuss which you can use in you church or modify to suit your need.

You can write us or drop a comment if you have any feedback.

The Migration Crises and the Church Response Part 1 - The Challenges

The Migration Crises and the Church Response Part 1 - The Challenges

Migration has been part of human history. It means the movement of animals or people, especially in large groups, from one part or region to another. In our context, our focus is the migration of humans in large numbers from one part of the globe to another. The nature of these movements can be cross-border where people go outside the boundaries of their country into another country. Sometimes the language of the host countries may be entirely different from the language of the migrants; also their cultures may not have anything in common. This movement can also happen within the boundaries of the political nation. 

There are many reasons why people move which include:

1. Economic reasons: This is where people move from supposed areas of lack; areas with little or no prospects to places where they feel they will have better and easier opportunities to fulfill their life dreams and meet their needs. Most of the young men that endanger their lives trying to cross the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea into Europe take the risk seeking for ‘greener pastures’. Also, the movement of nomads like the Fulani Herdsmen in search of pastures for their cattle and animals can be categorized as economical. Furthermore, most young northerners have migrated to southern Nigeria in search of better means of livelihood. 
2. Climatic conditions: When the climate of an area is no more supporting human existence in that area; there is drought and famine for example due to lack of rainfall in a place for a prolonged period, people tend to move away to areas with more favourable climatic conditions.
3. Insurgency and war: This is another cause of migration. When there is insurgency and war, the social fabrics of the society is destroyed; people who do not want to get involved are forced to move in order to avoid being killed. Insurgency and wars shrink the prospects within a region, hence, people tend to leave the areas of conflict both for the sake of their lives and also to be able to have better opportunities. Millions of people have been displaced in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan because of the insurgency and wars going on in those places. Scattered as refugees, many are in Lebanon, Jordan, Greece, Italy, France, and Germany and all over European countries. Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia have a huge number of refugees who migrated from Somalia into their countries because of the insurgency that have gone on for many decades in that country. In Nigeria, the Boko Haram insurgency has driven people away from their regions to several parts of the country. Only recently most of the refugees that ran into Cameroun and Niger Republic came back to Nigeria because of the progress the army and security outfits are making in ridding those areas in the North East of the insurgency.
4. Islamic Missionary Strategy: This may come to many as a surprise but resettlement of people from one place to another has been a strategy used by the Islamists over the years in order to establish their presence and turn demography in a particular place of interest to their favour. We have had cases where some people are loaded in some big trucks from a different place and offloaded in some strategic places and they settle in that place as their new home.  As they move, they are accompanied by Islamic preachers and scholars. Islamists are strategists and they think on long-term basis.

We have witnessed an unprecedented high rate of migration of people in this dispensation, especially in the past few years. We have seen whole communities, villages and towns, even ethnic nations move completely away from where they have lived for centuries to either new locations or into IDP (Internally Displaced People) camps. Demography is changing dramatically whether we like it or not. Among those who are moving are Muslims, Christians, nominal people, pagans etc. lifestyles are changing and no matter what we do, this migration is here with us.

This migration is not without some unique challenges, some of which are:

• Different languages and cultures

• Fear of economic loss because of scarce resources.

• Suspicion and lack of trust.

• Ethnic tensions.

• For Islamic migrants, resistance to integration causing cultural and political tensions at the long run.

• Basic needs of food, clothing and housing which makes the migrants vulnerable.

The question is, how prepared is the church to take advantage of this migration to enlarge the Kingdom of God? Are we positioning our churches and ministries to be able to take this great opportunity that the current situation presents before us? No matter what we do as Christian leaders one thing is sure, it can never be business as usual anymore.