New Life Missions Nigeria Report
2005 Mission Tour to Abuja
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now..." Philippians 1:3-5
Mission Tour to Abuja
Abuja
is the new capital territory of Nigeria.
About
70% of tribes are the Hausas whose religion is Islam.
15
years ago, the Lord spoke to us to go to Abuja and start a work there.
As
God would have it, one of our pastors who just graduated from our Bible
school speaks the Hausa language.
We
sent him to Abuja with little support
Progress of God's Work
7
years later, God provided a piece of property in one of the villages
at Abuja.
From
that time, God started confirming His promises, and He continues to
show His wonders in the midst of His children
through our pastor in Abuja.
It's
worthy to note that this pastor completed only six grades in school
before training at the Bible school. God is so good!
The New Expansion
Because of the needs and tremendous growth of new believers at Abuja,
our Church can no longer accommodate more people on Sunday or at our
annual convention.
The
Church has no restroom, no office for the pastor, no classrooms for
Sunday School, and no rooms for the children's activities.
Part
of the roof is open, and when it rains, water floods into the Church.
With
no place to instruct the children, the worship services often experience
distractions.
The Challenges
- Classrooms for preschool and primary education
- Accomodations for orphans
- Kitchens, dining, and toilet facilities
- Recreational activities
- And a Library
The Ground-Zero Church
While God is blessing His children at Abuja, the enemy of our faith
is busy wreaking havoc, destroying and inflicting fear in the minds
of new converts at Abuja.
This Church grew so fast it provoked the enemy in Abuja.
Our family Church at Abuja, pastured by one of our senior pastors from
the Middle Belt of Nigeria, was recently destroyed.
The Events of February 2005
In
February of 2005, 600 family members of our Church came to worship Sunday
morning and found the Church destroyed by one of the Muslim chieftains
who helped sponsor the present government.
Our regular Sunday worship that day became a time of mourning as our
members cried and rolled themselves on the dirt as they sought God for
an answer about why they should suffer such a tragedy at the hands of
such an ungodly man.
The Needs
After the Church in Abuja was destroyed, we began meeting on bare ground
on property belonging to a Church member in Abuja.
As a result of the calamity this Muslim warlord inflicted on our Church,
our members have suffered many pains and sorrows.
We've
lost about 60% of Church activities, and the cost of renting a canopy
every Sunday is depleting the Church's financial resources.
During
the peak of winter, Sunday worship is marked by flooding and erosion.
Recently,
we secured a place to rent for Church services.
Since
this rental costs about $28,000 a year, the Church in Abuja would appreciate
any help to get back on track again.
If you wish to help support the rebuilding of the Church in Abuja, please
makes checks payable to New Life Missions, with a memo identifying the
ground-zero church."
New Life Missions can be reached at P.O. Box 493433, Redding, CA 96049-3433.
Or simply call Pastor Churchill Odurukwe at 530-224-9568.
Thank you, and may God stir your hearts toward Native Missions.
For more information about this ministry, please email Pastor Churchill at pastor@newlifemissions.org.
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