Amazing Grace - Another Added Year

Good morning. Join me to thank the Lord for adding one more year to me today.

I am 57 today and cannot thank God enough, considering all the bridges I have crossed to get here.  

I am incredibly grateful to you for your partnership in getting the light of the gospel to the darkest places of our generation where Jesus was not known.

• Today, over 500 candidates have been trained at our School of Cross-Cultural Missions.
• Out of these numbers, over 200 are actively engaged in pioneer missions in several mission agencies/denominations across almost all the continents of the world.
• Close to 60 others are planted in various mission fields in Nigeria and abroad directly under the platform of Grace Foundation Inland Missions.
• Over 50 others under the Network of African Mission Leaders (NAMIL), a network of mission leaders whom I mentor, and some just Great Commission friends whom we work very closely.

This morning, the kids at the Home of Grace (HOG) majority of who were orphans and vulnerable kids, and some missionary kids woke me up with a thunderous happy birthday song followed by prayers. Others scattered across in school hostels called not only to wish me a happy birthday but to thank me. Some of the widows whom God has helped us wiped away their tears left messages. Yet, it is just 7.47 am Nigerian time. I can imagine what it will be like by evening today.

I am taking my time to share this because you made this possible. God used your partnership to make these vast differences. Thank you so much. God is aware that you made these possible, and He will reward you mightily.

I don’t celebrate birthdays and am not interested in the so-called birthday surprise parties and cakes that friends organize. I instead desire that those energy and resources be used to pray for me and meet the following felt needs:

Outstanding school fees of our Home of Grace kids (resident and non-resident) amounting to N250,000.

Six additional mattresses for the new wing of the Gladys Aylward Hostel of the Home of Grace costing N198,000(N33,000 per vitafoam) and three double bunk beds costing N60,000 each.

Completion of electrification of the new wing of Gladys Aylward Hostel of the Home of Grace costing N280,000

Completion of three church building projects which are at different stages at various mission fields. The delays are due to hyperinflation and the devaluation of Naira.

God bless you.

Memoir of Zarazong - May 2021 Missions Update

 

Thank you so much for your love and your partnership. Calvary greetings from Zarazong in Jesus' name. We have spent another month at Zarazong, and we feel the warmth of your prayer and the love you have extended to us. Despite pressures around us, God has continued to protect us and provided through sources we least expect to meet our needs. As usual, we will share reports of some answers to your prayers for us and what God used your financial support to do,

Salvation and Discipleship across the Various Mission Fields

Reports from our missionaries from across the mission fields in Nigeria and the other countries where we work are heartwarming. From Sanga in Bauchi State, we have no fewer than 30 of our converts, both young and old, who do not only accept Christ but come together to worship God now. Joel Dukiya, Yunusa, and his wife, peace, are engaged in discipling them, and they reported that their growth rate is quite encouraging. They still meet under the tree, but with the rainy season, we are trusting God to build a church for them. To the glory of God, we already have one of our partners who promised to fund the church project.

Unlike most of our other fields, wisdom demands that we pay for the land we are going to build on because of the hostile nature of the Muslims there. We also need a borehole for the supply of the water that will be used to build the church and to meet the century-old need of the community. Both the land and the borehole would cost us an estimate of an N1Million. Please, pray along with us for that miracle. They have an old grinding machine which cost so much money to service and put to use. Also, pray that God should provide for them a simpler grinding machine with less maintenance cost. For now, they are using grinding stone.

Also, from the Niger Republic, many more persons are embracing the Lordship of Jesus. At Salkam, one of the converts died. We are saddened by his death but at the same time, we are glad that he died a firm believer. The Missionaries at Gobirawa and Afole are the ones reaching out to them. Pray along with us for more laborers so we can deploy a missionary couple to them. At Adamawa, we are amazed at the divine visitation among the Fulanis. Scores of them surrendered their lives to Jesus and are very committed to God. It is a rugged terrain to build a church, so the missionary is requesting for prayers for the fund to buy land and build a bungalow with a big sitting room to be used for a regular discipleship meeting. For some of the converts, the persecution is severe, so they have been moved to a location where they can be helped.

Insecurity, Abduction and Miraculous Escape

The news of insecurity we hear in distant places has come to our doorstep. At Furaka, a medical doctor was abducted from his house. At Angwa Rukuba, a breastfeeding mother was abducted, leaving behind the baby, and at Mamukan, Jada Local Government Area, Adamawa State, one of our Fulani converts, Adamu Sale was kidnapped. We appealed to all our partners who joined in praying for his release. They demanded N1Million ransom which the family gathered together to pay. To the glory of God, he was released unhurt.

Kidnapped Adamu Sale freed -
 A picture with his discipler, Pastor Ahmadu

It is no longer news that 63 communities in Niger State have not only been captured by Boko Haram but that they have mounted their flags and ceased their wives. This is a higher degree of banditry. We have almost 20 missionaries laboring in Niger State as well and the border villages of Benin Republic. They are all safe, but we covet your prayers for divine protection. Last week, a politician's mother and siblings were abducted at Agwara, a village close to where we work.

Home of Grace (HOG) and Widows Care (WC)

The kids are fine except for the few challenges of ill health. The Lord continues to provide especially for the orphanage in the Home. School fees of all the orphans and vulnerable kids have been paid. The only outstanding school fees now are that of the Missionary Kids(MKs) in the home. Also, last week, God provided resources for us to buy ten bags of rice and some additional foodstuff. Victor has enrolled for WAEC, NECO, and JAMB examination. Blessing has re-enrolled for NECO and JAMB examination. Favor has secured admission at the Kogi State University, and the Lord provided resources for her registration and upkeep for the semester.  Kindly pray along with us for them to be committed to their studies and that the Lord should help them to excel. We are grateful to God for adding new partners to us and for the consistency of some of the existing partners.

We accepted two young girls, Hannatu and Sarah, to join the Home last month. Please, pray along with us that God would grant us the grace to help their lives fulfill destiny.

Also, pray along with us that God would provide us more laborers that are passionate about children.

Completed brickwork for 14room ground floor

The construction work on their new accommodation has advanced. We have completed the brickwork for the ground floor (14 rooms and a lounge). We need a miracle to deck it. This will cost approximately N4million. Please pray along with us for this miracle to happen as soon as possible.

Early this month, God provided resources to include two widows in our widows’ care list. One of them is the wife of a pastor killed by Fulani Jihadists. As the Lord continues to provide, she will be on our monthly upkeep list. The second widow has three daughters and has struggled with the fees of the kids, her rent as well as upkeep. By the grace of God, she will be on our quarterly upkeep list. We are grateful to our partners (names withheld} that makes it possible to put smiles on the faces of these widows. Pray along with us that God may bless us with more of such partners.

Missions Training

We currently have 17 students enrolled for our one-year resident cross-cultural missions training. The past month was an exciting moment here at Zarazong, the training base. One of our Trainers, Pastor Andrew Emeje, taught Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Blessing Iduh also taught them Appropriate Skills where they learned how to make soap, pomade, and other skills. They also joined in mixing cement, carpentry, and bricklaying work.

 In the next one month, they will be due for their first two months field trip. Their posting will be out any moment from now. The field trip is usually capital intensive because we provide transport fare, feeding cost for them and all the children with them. Five of them will be going to the Niger Republic, five to Benin Republic, and the rest across different fields in Nigeria. Pray with us for wisdom as we make a last-minute decision considering the security situations and for finances. Pray for the students that the Lord would prepare them adequately for the task. In the past, students had planted churches where none existed. Pray specifically for Yilinte Maisamari, who is sick, that the Lord would heal him.

Missionaries Welfare/More Specific Prayer Needs

• Pastor Ahmadu Adamu left his family behind to enable his wife to give birth in Nigeria to resume work at Northern Cameron. She gave birth safely though through surgery. He returned to Nigeria to pick his family to return to Cameroon, but the wife is currently not feeling okay. They are in Federal Medical Center, Yola. Please, pray for a quick recovery.
• Pastor Joel Dukiya’s wife died two years ago. Because of the demand for the work, he is considering remarriage. Please, pray along with us for him as he makes very sensitive and lasting decisions in this regard.
• Two of our missionary couples are trusting God for the fruit of the womb. Please, join us to pray for divine interventions.
• Monica Hassan and Maryam Joshua have resumed work at Oma in Benue State to take over from Abel Onuh, who resigned. His resignation has been approved. Mathew Richard has also resumed at the Kamberi field to take over from Ayuba Dawa, who was relieved of his appointment for moral reasons. Mr. Enejo Jackson has resumed work as the new Accountant taking over from Mrs. Kemi Bayode, whose husband was transferred to pastor at Bassa.
• Andrew Marafa is still in Jos seeking medical help with regards to his eye problems.  The doctor has hinted that he would go through surgery. We do not know the cost and time yet. Please, pray along with us that his sight would be fully restored.
• Issa Maliki's father passed on and his mother is critically ill. Please, pray for God's comfort for the family as well as healing and salvation for the mother. 

Conclusion

Thank you so much for all you do in partnering with us to advance God’s kingdom, to give future to orphans and vulnerable kids, to put smiles on the faces of widows, and to help the missionary kids who have to stay away from their parents because of the volatile nature of their mission fields. As we reflect on the progress, we give God the glory, and we are grateful that together with you, we have done this much for the Lord. We will continue to covet your partnership. We pray the Lord to bless you, replenish your source and increase you more and more in Jesus' name.

His bond Servant,

Andrew Abah

 

A New Chapter, A New Phase in my Missionary Journey

 

Greetings to you from my new duty post at Zarazong, at the outskirt of Haske village in Jos East Local Government Area of Plateau State. After over ten years of laboring at Furaka, a village of Bauchi Ring Road which has grown and merges to Jos, it became apparent that to enlarge our coast, we have to move to another village. Like Jesus said: “… Let us go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for to this end came I forth” (Mark 1:38); we moved to Zarazong on March 9, 2021, where we had the African Missions Summit (AMS 2021).

Missions Training

After the summit, our mission training commenced in earnest at Zarazong. Among our students are five Fulanis, three Hausas, two Mumuyes, among others. These Muslim Background Believers (MBBs) have all demonstrated quality Christian character, an indication that we have the prospect of getting a substantial number of missionaries who would be deployed to the mission field next year. Besides the ongoing lectures, they have been deeply soaked in evangelism, and we have received diverse testimonies from their outreaches.

Attritions

Coordinating the entire work of the various nations and fields has been a mixture of excitement and challenges. It was exciting seeing over 50 laborers gather at our board room sharing reports of exploits and welcoming an additional three new staff; it was also a painful experience releasing one of our seasoned pioneer missionaries, Ladi Ekpa bidding farewell to the work because of ill health. While we were still trying to swallow the bitter pill, our very dear vocational staff, Mrs. Kemi Bayode, also dropped the news of her intention to relocate along with her husband to a new place of assignment at Rukuba, Bassa Local Government.

New Opportunities

Some vacancies and special needs created by this new development have to be filled up immediately by vocational or missionary candidates. Pray along with us for an accounting staff (ND or graduate), a driver, a secretary, and two teachers (NCE or university graduates) willing to teach disadvantaged candidates from displaced communities and unreached people background in Jos. If you are aware of any person interested in these positions, please, direct such person to us.

Building

We are still working on the new accommodation for the Home of Grace. We are almost at the lintel level and will require the fund to complete the first 14 room apartment we are building. God has been so good to us, and we trust the Lord to continue to provide for the work so that the children can all be in one place.

Outside Zarazong

Despite the COVID 19 pandemic, we have continued to feature in programs that are very critical to the advancement of missions across the country. On July 28-31, 2021, we will be at the Oro Missions Summit, and on September 1-14, 2021, our Summer Intensive Missions Training will be hosted at the Kingdom Bride Ministry at Ugep in Cross-River State. Would you kindly pray along with us for the success of these programs?

Our Prayers Points

• Thank you for your consistent partnership. Thank the Lord for bringing us to this new territory.
• Pray for divine protection for all our students, staff, and families working in the new field.
• Pray for more laborers, especially the ones listed here.
• Pray for the fund to complete the ongoing projects at Zarazong.
• One of our missionaries, Andrew Marafa has a challenge with his sight 9advanced glaucoma). Kindly pray for divine intervention/healing as he go through medical check up at JUTH.

Just in case you don't get to download the Volume 51 of God's heartbeat, you may read the cover choice from our blog:

https://heartbeatonline.blogspot.com/2019/10/christian-missions-under-pressures.html

South Africa has Great Future

Thank you so much for
your prayers while I was away in South Africa. I particularly appreciate the Grace Foundation Governing Council/Trustees as well as our partners, Network of African Mission Leaders(NAMIL) and Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA) members.  I felt so loved by your concern and will appreciate if the same prayers can be extended to our MET family, friends/colleagues like the Adedinis, Vumisas, Tshepangs, and so many others quietly doing great work there.

Quitting the work is not an option. South Africa has great future and that is simply what the devil is fighting. Foreign missionaries are instrumental in realizing this great future but requires the courage to continue. Like God has kept us in the den of herdsmen and Boko Haram over the years unhurt, God will keep them. I, however, observed that few of our colleagues are still living in denial. Embrace the xenophobic reality and let us together confront the monster on our kneels.

Some of our indigenous brethren at Hebron

We need to pray for the South African believers, especially the missionaries. It takes a lot of courage to relate to foreigners. I guess that explains why some failed to take my calls and will not even call back. May the pleasure of God for South Africa be fulfilled. For my South African brethren who still demonstrated your love despite the dangers, may God bless you. I deeply appreciate you all.

Crawling in the Valleys of Death

Thank you so much for praying for me. I arrived RSA well but at the heart of xenophobic attack.  So painful to see human beings killing fellow human beings. Cars and buildings set ablaze, massive looting, etc. The situation is not better than Boko Haram and Fulani militias attack.  I crawled through the valleys of death to get to Pretoria using train. At Pretoria railway station, I waited for another two hours. I did not trust the taxi drivers enough to hire them.

At last, Lambert braved it and came over to pick me. The 10 to 15 minutes’ drive was very scary - seeing the SA Blacks gathered in groups like men waiting to pound on an enemy nation. Thank God, we arrived MET safely. Three hours after taking a much needed rest, I visited the shopping mall to get some fruit. Noticing the danger involved, Lambert chose to go with me. We missed each other there. After buying the fruit I went there for, I looked around for him for close to an hour. It was not a fun. His phone was ringing unpicked.  At this points shop owners were already closing up for fear of looting. More groups were already gathered. I courageously walked through them but not without speaking in tongue as if I was doing a prayer walk. In less than 10 minutes, I was at MET. What a speed!

Thinking of returning back to my country, but which one? Nigeria, battered by bandits with fever of kidnapping across every section? Fulani militias and Boko Haram? Fraudsters that hacked and hijacked my Facebook account just last week? I called my travel agent, he asked me to pay N45000 to change my ticket. I am still undecided. I want the Lord to make the choice. After all, no place is safe.  To live is Christ and if we run from the valleys of death, who will reach the nations, the inhabitants for whom Jesus also died for. We depend on God for His protection. May God give us access to the heart of men amidst all these so that no time or opportunity will be lost. Again, thank you for checking on me and above all for praying. Remember our heroes here, Peter, Ojubaro, Lambert, Tshepang, and their families. I have called some of them. They are safe and very courageous.

What it Takes to Get Genuine Miracle By Andrew Abah

There is no doubt that God truly cares.

Jesus went to the extent of identifying with Mary and Martha by weeping. He did not stop at that level but He intervened divinely by bringing back to life. Jesus is concern about you. Those things that make you cry make Jesus to weep. Receive your divine intervention as you watch this.

The Secret of Lasting Miracle in English and Portuguese

Everybody in life needs God's intervention in one way or the other. That is what we refer to here as Miracle. Sadly, some get the miracle but it does not last.

This teaching by Andrew Abah in very simple and straight foward English interpreted into Portuguese will help you to not only get your miracle but to sustain it

The Years Ahead

Chapter 15 of  Journey to the Dark Nations

“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21)

And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. (Mark 1:38-39)


Certainly, it is impossible at this point to write the last chapter of my life. Like Apostle Paul indicated in Philippians 1:21, my resolve is to live out the rest of my life for the one who paid the supreme price for my salvation with the consciousness that when death come knocking, I will be remembered for my input in taking the light of the gospel to the darkest part of the earth.

Looking Back
In October 1982 when we came into the scene of world evangelization as a student, little did I know there is world of darkness out there that needed attention. The presence of God was very conspicuous in our campus fellowship and by extension, the entire campus such that those who were not born again were out of place. In 1984, it was like Jesus spoke to His disciples in John 4:3 to lift up their eyes and look on the fields. I had the reality of the field beyond the campus when God led me to work among the Aiona people and from that point, my view of the field continued to enlarge by the day.

In 1997, the Global Consultation for World Evangelization (GCOWE '97) was mind blowing. Research reports made available at the event especially the one by Joshua Project on the status of world evangelization and the remaining unfinished task were very revealing. The Nigeria Taskforce on the unreached people powered by the defunct AD2000 and Beyond Movement were not left out.

One of the Project they embarked upon was a survey of 300 people groups in Northern Nigeria. The result was staggering. It was established that 178 of the 300 groups were confirmed to be unreached people. Out of the 178 Unreached people are 100% Unreached, 76 are African Traditional Religion adherents, 172 are Muslims and 70 of them are classified as top priority and mission agencies/Churches are advised and encouraged to consider for urgent attention.
Some of the people groups includes the:

• Achipawa in Sakaba local government area of Kebbi State and Marige local government area of Niger State where we have only 25 converts in 3 villages.
• Baruba in Baruten local government area of Kwara State with no single Christian.
• Buduma on the shores of Lake Chad with no known Christian.
• Bolewa in Fika and Nangere local government areas of Yobe State with no known Christian.
• Laru in Borgu local government area with no known Christian.
• Shangawas also known as the Kyengewa, descendants of Kishera who left Badr near Meda to escape Islam. They are found in Dendi, Bagudo and Yauri local government areas of Kebbi State. The only Christian convert is reported to have gone back to Islam. They are 100% Muslim now.
• Bashar in Wase and Kenan local government areas of Plateau State, with no known Christian.
• Bisa in Borgu local government with only two Christians.

The Great Commission has not changed and I felt I don't need extra call to be challenged to contribute my quota in enthroning the Lordship of Jesus in some of these places. It is against this background I concentrated my life in pursuing this course. With the birth of Grace Foundation Inland Missions in 1989 we reinforce our labor in places where ordinarily they may never be able to access the gospel.

After many years of labor as an individual and 25years of Grace Foundations labor in the dark places, we have not only succeeded in our target but have mobilized many Churches and individuals to engage scores of unreached people but going by current statistics, the volume of the unfinished task is even more staggering.

It is not because our labor is not yielding positive result but the more we lift up our eyes, the more we discover more unreached people that were not captured in earlier missions research reports and also very sadly some other lands are lost to the enemy.

Current  Sobering State of World Evangelisation
Currently, the total population probably is 7.178billion. Out of these number 2,997,692 globally  are yet to be followers of Christ. The total number of people groups globally is said to be 16,800. Unreached/least reached people is 7,300. Out of the 7,300 30% have had no exposure to God's word. India leads with 2365, China follows with 455, Pakistan with 453, Bangladesh 345 and Nepal 332.

It is no longer news that many nations that were captured by the early Church have slipped into darkness. Turkey is a good case study. It is located in the present day Europe and partly in Asia. Christianity existed there for 1023 years. Some people said Mary the mother of Jesus actually taken to Turkey by Apostle John. The Christians were first nicknamed so at Antioch located in today Turkey. One of the largest church in history, The Hagia Sophia was located in Turkey. Sadly, Turkey is now 96% Muslims and 0.02% Christians.

North Africa is an eye sore. That was the region of the world that hosted Jesus when Herod attempted to kill Him. It had the best of seminaries and theologians at a time. The term Trinity was coined from this region. Sadly, the same region is today the heart of Islam.

The worst of all is the Western world. This part of the world had contributed immensely to the evangelisation of the world. Great men and women like William Carey, Mary Slessor, John Knox, John Wesley, Robert Moffat, David Livingstone,  and many others too numerous to mention will be wondering what went wrong when they exited the scene for eternity. An author recently analysed the region and explained that birth rate of 2.11 is required to perpetuate any culture and the general Average for the region is 1.9 with the following breakdown: European Union is now 1.38, Canada is 1.6 and USA is 2.11 while the Muslims that migrated to the same region is 8.1. According to the author's calculation, if nothing is done to alter it, in the next 35 years, France will be Islamic Republic. By 2050, Germany will become Islamic Republic and in 25 years time, USA will have 50million Muslims.

Gordon-Conwell's Center for the Study of Global Christianity's Survey
A recent survey  by Gordon-Conwell's Center for the Study of Global Christianity's titled Christianity in its Global Context, 1970-2020  came up with very staggering revelation.  According to the survey, one out of five non-Christians in North America doesn't know any Christians. Missiologist Todd M. Johnson and his team found that 20 percent of non-Christians in North America really do not "personally know" any Christians. That's 13,447,000 people—about the population of metropolitan Los Angeles or Istanbul—most of them in the United States.

And that number includes atheists and agnostics, many of whom are former Christians themselves and more likely to have close Christian contacts. Without that group, 60 percent of the non-Christian population has no relationships with Christians.

Worldwide, the numbers are much worse: more than 8 in 10 non-Christians do not personally know a Christian. But Christians only make up a third of the world's population. The United States, meanwhile, ranks in the top 10 Christian countries, with 80 percent of the population identifying as Christians.

The biggest factor in explaining why so many North American non-Christians don't know Christians is immigration, Johnson said. The U.S. attracts more Buddhist, atheist, and agnostic immigrants than any other country in the world. It ranks second for Hindu and Jewish immigrants, and seventh for Muslim immigrants.

But immigrants are also keeping the percentage of those who don't know a Christian from going higher. That's because the U.S. also attracts more Christian immigrants than any other country. And the region that sends the most immigrants to the U.S. is (by far) Latin America, where 90 percent of non-Christians know Christians. (In the CSGC study, Mexico was categorized as Latin America, not North America. As per U.N. categorization, North American countries included Greenland, Bermuda, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Canada, and the U.S.)

Migrants move into enclaves and don't venture out. But even Christians who live close to Chinatowns and Little Italys don't often venture in, Johnson said.

Separation between religious groups isn't limited to the United States and Canada. But North America has a unique opportunity to connect across religious lines, he said."The United States is a very strategic place for people to interact," he said. "It's ironic in a place with all the freedoms to interact that people don't do it. In light of the deficit of contact, what better thing could happen than to have a bunch of people move into your neighborhood and build houses of worship?”The Journey Ahead
Against this background, I have laboured alongside with my team at Grace Foundation and the Network of Mission Leaders to do my best in the past years and by the grace of God spend the rest of my life to do far much more than I have ever done if Jesus tarries and as the Lord enables me.  My primary focus is to change paradigm and raise at least:

• 50 market place missionaries for closed nations in the next 10 years. I have taken the last 10 years to build network relationship in North Africa and across the Arabian Peninsular and a lot of prayers have gone into it.
• Also, 50 more missionaries will be recruited for the local work in Nigeria.
• To accomplish these, intensive mission mobilisation will be carried out using various platform across different nations of the world especially countries with enormous human resources and very low mission awareness.  Some of the platforms include mission conferences, publication of magazines, books, etc. To sustain this, our GFIM team and I plan to start off mobilisation offices in at least 10 nations across the world that will facilitate the recruitment of the marketplace missionaries as well as raise logistic workforce, prayers and financial squadrons. The prayer squads will in addition to facilitating the work of the missionaries focus on praying for restoration, revival and the nations.
• Thirdly, our training arm will move to her permanent site at Lamingo with the target of training 300 regular full-time residential missionaries, 200 mission leaders at our Advanced Mission Leaders Institute(AMLI), 400 indigenous leaders through our Indigenous Leadership Course(ILC).
• We also plan to enlarge our Mercy Ministries to increase the number of orphans and vulnerable kids from unreached people background we are taking care of  at our Home of Grace(HOG) to a minimum of 75 and train 15 of the ones present now to degree level and sound in the things of God to the point of making significant input in ministry between now and the next ten years and consolidate the ones in other nations.
• We may not be able to accomplish this huge goal in isolation. We will therefore continue to provide leadership to the Network of African Mission Leaders (AMLI), mentor younger missionaries with other mission agencies and network with many other individuals, agencies and church organisations nationally and internationally.
• As the Lord may permit, the next generation should have been made ready to take over the leadership of the ministry in the next 10years if Jesus tarries.

Partnership
God used the input of friends and partners to make the journey to the dark nations possible. It would have been absolutely impossible to get to the height we have attained without their active role of providing the needed moral, prayer and financial support. Groups like Gospel Bankers Inc(GB)., Missions Supporters League(MSL), defunct Rescue Fellowship of Nigeria(RFN), Missions Challenge Network(MCN), Missions Exposures and Training(MET), World Mission Resources, Christ Anointed Hands Fellowship, Our Daily Need Ministries(ODNM), National Hospital Chapel, Chapel of Good News, Women and Children Departments of Oritamefa and the Express Road Baptist Church, ATBU Chapel of Victory, Kingdom Outreach Ministries International, Calvary Bible Church, Christ Redemption Mission, etc. had partnered with us in providing support for some of our missionaries  and funded some of our projects on the mission fields at one point or the other. Many individuals too numerous to mention have been used by God to put smiles on our faces. We are eternally grateful to all of them. God will certainly reward you for your labour behind the scene.

The journey ahead is no doubt certainly capital intensive. It will gulp so much in terms of prayers and finance. A lot of this work especially the ones in closed nations will be done under cover because of the security implications. Little  and sometimes absolutely no publicity will be given electronically or otherwise and as such may not attract support. We will be depending on God and the confidence you have for us the past 25years for future funding. We pray earnestly that God will lift you financially so you will be able to give sacrificially. We also pray for the Spirit of supplication to come over you so you can consistently support us on your kneel. We trust the Lord to raise those that will independently start prayer squads/chapters across nations that will labour in prayers to bring the ministry vision to reality.

Numbering My Days and The Finishing Line
It was the Psalmist who prayed: So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12). If Jesus tarries to come, we will all certainly die to exit this world. This is one basic truth we sometimes shy away from.  Jesus was in tune with this reality when He said in John 9:4: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 'The night' is when our life on earth is ended. It also implies when doors of opportunities are closed and when for reasons of age or ill health one may not be able to contribute significantly to world evangelisation any more. 'The night' is not static. It moves and Jesus said with all certainty that it is on the way. In His words: " the night cometh".

In the past few years, I have seen many things happen that substantiated Jesus' statement.  First was my health. I have had a running battle with diabetic such that it has drained a lot of the needed strength for the work. Fasting, a very integral part of the life of every successful minister had become very irregular as a result because of the implication on my health. I am thankful to God for modern technology and medicine that has helped me to manage this challenge for many years. I am also thankful to Him for provision of healing in His words but the truth still remains that I can no longer cope with stress as much as I did in my early days in ministry. It serves as warning that whatever is left for me to do, I must get them done now before it is too late. I therefore live my life with every sense of urgency.

Also, with the little strength left, I noticed that many part of the world I could easily access in the past, the doors of the opportunities are shutting up. The North East of Nigeria with the continuous menace of the Jihadists, Boko Haram is one of such. Missionaries and other Christian leaders are being killed and threatened. We recently had reasons to withdraw some of our missionaries from this part of the country for safety. This is a place where in the past we travelled day and night in the past. The story is different now.

At Jordan, we received report of massive conversions of Syrian refugees and had prayed, planned and raised fund to deploy a missionary to join the team on ground to disciple the converts. Just at the last minute, we have to suspend the trip indefinitely because of increase in volatility in the country,  to access it, we were to be assigned Tourist Police which is detrimental to our work mainly done under cover. Again, the night seems to have come in some ways for that part of the world. Another case study is that of Mauritania, an Islamic State requiring urgent gospel attention. It was part of West Africa and was easily accessible by citizens of Economic Community of West Africa State(ECOWAS). They have pulled out and joined the Arab League making it absolutely difficult to access now.

At Jordan, we received report of massive conversions of Syrian refugees and had prayed, planned and raised fund to deploy a missionary to join the team on ground to disciple the converts. Just at the last minute, we have to suspend the trip indefinitely because of increase in volatility in the country,  to access it, we were to be assigned Tourist Police which is detrimental to our work mainly done under cover. Again, the night seems to have come in some ways for that part of the world. Another case study is that of Mauritania, an Islamic State requiring urgent gospel attention. It was part of West Africa and was easily accessible by citizens of Economic Community of West Africa State(ECOWAS). They have pulled out and joined the Arab League making it absolutely difficult to access now.

There are however many needy nations still open and beckoning for help. May the Lord help us to engage them before they draw the curtain. Like Jesus said in John 4:34-35 which is my resolve and prayer : "My food, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work".  Let us join hands together to get the job done now before it is too late. When you are dead, opportunities for you to make input will be over. There will be no mission work in heaven.

Powers Encountered on Life’s Journey

 For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Corinthians 16:9)

Life's journey has not been without opposition as the Devil is not excited with the input my family and I make on a daily basis in enthroning the lordship of Jesus in the dark nations of the world and he does not hide it. On a regular basis, the Devil expresses his fury by attacking my family and I. He comes to kill, to steal and to destroy as documented in John 10:10. Once, a demon possessed girl confessed that she was delegated to kill me but since she could not, she targeted my wife but failed. Not giving up, she focused on my kids and succeeded in throwing my eldest son who was three years old at the time into a very deep well and covered him up in the well. According to her, their plan was for the boy to die in the well all in a bid to discourage us from continuing with our mission pursuits.

Unknown to Her, the God who called us assured us that He has given unto us power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt us. From under the well the angel of God held my little boy's head above the water and amplified his voice and my wife who was far away in the room heard his cry and traced it. It was then she discovered that he was crying from inside the well. She got confused and raised alarm. A man passing by whom I believe was God's angel asked why she was shouting and on hearing that my son was inside the well, he brought him out. 

Miraculously, Nehemiah was not injured neither did he sink. Nevertheless, he was rushed to the nearest pharmacy for checkup to be sure there was no internal injury. The Nurse and Pharmacist, on duty did not believe our story. As far as they were concerned, it was impossible for a boy of three to be thrown inside the well and not die either because of the water in the well nor suffocate because the well was covered nor sustain injury. It ordinarily would have been impossible to hear his cry from inside the well.  We were, and are persuaded that it was divine intervention as only God can do what seems impossible to man. When He commissioned us in Matthew 28:20, He also assured us: "...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age". 

To the glory of God, Nehemiah is in his final year in the University and he will live to fulfill his destiny.

It however looks like there may be no final victory until our work on earth is over and we transit to heaven.  This is because, the Devil never gives up. Even for Jesus, the Devil never gave up on Him.   In Luke 4:13, the Bible confirms this: "...And when the devil had ended all the temptations, he departed from him for a season." It is therefore not surprising that the Devil has ceased to give up on me. The more the attack the more the victory.

Lucy's Cancer Encounter
Another assault from the Devil that cannot be easily forgotten was my wife's close shave with death. The Devil knocked her down with cancer, first on one of her breast. The Doctor sent for me and advised me strongly to consent to her surgery which implied the removal of the breast. The logic according to the Doctor was that it will prevent the cancer cell from spreading. That was not to be, as Few months later, despite the surgery the cancer had extended to the second breast and the armpit. 

At this point, one can sense the helplessness from the way the Doctor sounded. He referred us to another hospital for further test and then to the United Kingdom for further examination. The Doctor at the other Hospital was callous and crude at the same time going by the way he spoke to us. To him, we generated the cancer and were careless in seeking for medical help in time. We had no resources to travel abroad for further treatment but were convinced that the Helper of the helpless will see us through. 

We resolved to pray, and our friends across the nations were  committed to praying for us. A particular note was the involvement of a senior colleague, Pastor Joseph Egwuda who was at the time the Presiding Elder of Chapel of Goodnews, Kaduna, Nigeria. He assembled Pastors and other church leaders in the city to pray for us. Many others were doing same both at their family, congregation and individual level. 

The Lord was not silent either. At a point, I heard him clearly say to us what He said to Simon in Luke 22:31-32: "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32”But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers”.  If Jesus prayed for us so that our faith will not fail and He is the same person to answer the prayer, it then means that our faith will not fail. It is like an examiner writing the answers to the questions. It is absolutely impossible to fail the same exam. Secondly, it was obvious that God allowed the cancer assault for a post-experience ministry.

With His assuring words, we persevered in prayers until God opened our eyes to basic fruits and vegetables that had nutrients which could to tackle cancer cells. We had personal encounters with cancer survivals like Gloria Davies. We further took time to study books written by the founder of Hallelujah Diet and listen to her experiences on video. That further built up our faith. Lucy was optimistic that God would heal her as she constantly confessed that cancer was inclusive in the sickness Jesus' stripes took care of.  A family friend got several faith-building books for her and even amidst the pain, she managed to read some of the books.

One night she resolved not to eat cooked food for the next two months until God healed her. She then concentrated on eating fruits and vegetables which she juiced and others she blended. God breathed on these and trashed all the cancer cells in her body and regained her health. Another senior colleague of mine, Rev. Gerald Golbeck and his wife, Patricia then invited us to South Africa to one of the best Oncology Centre for a test which they paid for. The Centre conducted several tests and came to the conclusion that there was no cancer cell in her body any more.  Since then, she has visited the Centre from time to time for check-up and they have consistently congratulated her for staying cancer free.

One of the things the Lord spoke to us when she was really sick was that after her healing, she will be instrumental to healing others. We have seen that happen over and over. One of the cancer patients we saw God deliver from death was a lady by name Dorothy, a relation of her listened to my wife testify of her healing in Kaduna and called her to get in touch with my wife. She did and as usual, my wife told her what to eat and drink and what not to eat. She said she wanted to come over to Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria where we lived because most of the fruit and vegetable were not common where she lived at Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. We said it was alright if she had a relation to stay with but she had no one and pleaded to stay in our family house which we agreed with the assumption that she was going to be accompanied by a member of her family. One night, we saw her walk in alone. Looking at her was quite scary. Her case was cancer of the bone and she had already commenced radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Her eyeballs were deep down in her sockets and all her hair was gone because of the negative impact of the therapies. It was as if she was going to die the following week. Apparently, having given up on her must be the likely reason why no family member accompanied her to Jos.

We prayed and got the fruits and vegetables for her as she was determined and believed that God could heal her. God stepped in and in one month, her strength was restored. Her hair grew, her eyeballs fit in the socket and gradually she became fully healed. She was amazed herself at the speed and one evening went out to look for the King of the Igbos in Jos to come register her deepest appreciation on behalf of her family. She returned back to her family strong and healthy and we return all the glory to God for her healing.

We have scores of different manner of cancer patients from across the world that God has healed through counseling, direct supervision, phone calls, etc. Space and time will not permit us to give vivid testimonies here. We also have many who took time to read through Lucy's book: “How God Healed Me of Cancer and His Remedies for Terminal Diseases” and put into practice what they read and testimonies of God's healing abounds. God turned the table against the Devil as what he planned to use to bring down the ministry, God used and He is still using it to promote the work He has committed into our hands. People from different faith cutting across various classes in the society including Muslims have had reasons to visit us because of cancer related cases and they have all provided opportunity for us to show them the love of Christ. No consultancy fee is paid. Freely we receive and freely we give. " ...And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."(Luke 22:32b)

Thunder, Armed Robbery, Attack and Accident, Etc.
The catalogue of power encounter is endless. In the words of Apostle Paul: "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries".(1 Cor 16:9). I will like to share some more of the fury of the Devil directed at my family and I and how God fought our battles and handed over victory to us.

Early in ministry, my wife and I traveled to some of our mission fields in the North Central states of Nigeria. While we were away, thieves burgled our house and made away with many valuables from the house. It was natural to ignore it and continue as if nothing happened but a young girl under the influence of demons confessed that she arranged for the theft. According to her, she has being delegated to do anything possible to discourage us to discontinue our mission work. It was good to know that the Devil was not comfortable with our labour to advance God's kingdom. We prayed and instead of being discouraged, the Lord strengthened our hearts. We did not recover the items stolen but many persons brought gifts to us. Also, as a result of the theft, God paved way for us to buy a good car, Datsun Laurrel which added speed to our work. Again, the Devil was put to shame.

One evening we were driving from Ankpa, Kogi State of Nigeria after a very successful Mission Conference which brought together church leaders from different denominations to review the remaining task of reaching the Igala nation. The result of the conference was mind-blowing. We had many positive responses and action steps outlined to be taken to complete the task. The Devil again was very furious at such level of networking to unseat him and enthrone the Lordship of Jesus and on our way back we ran into the hands of some armed robbers. We prayed and God answered us and none of us was hurt.

Another night, we concluded a great meeting at the famous Baptist Seminary at Ogbomosho in the South West region of Nigeria. The responses were heartwarming. Many of the students training to go and serve as Pastors volunteered to go into the dark nations of the world where Jesus was not known and this made me glad as I could imagine the vast number of nations the volunteers of this four day meeting will cover. While thanking God, I took off that night via Ibadan to Lagos from where I was scheduled to take a flight to the United Arab Emirates. The Devil again was deeply furious. On our way between Ibadan to Lagos, there were many cows covering the road. The Driver did not seem to see them, he accelerated the vehicle while the passengers screamed "cow! cow!! cow!!!". The more they screamed the more he accelerated until he crashed into the cows. Many passengers were badly wounded. I knew the Devil hard targeted me but God rescued me unhurt. I trekked few kilometers that night to the nearest point where we got a taxi and still made my journey to United Arab Emirate.

Thunder Blast ~ Reaction from DRC
Few years ago, I was invited to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) to speak at the Missions Fest, a mission conference organised by the local churches in the city. One early morning after the conference, my friend and I drove to the hospital where we took time to pray for the sick and casted out demons from people that were possessed. At the same moment, thunder lightening struck in my house faraway in Jos, Nigeria heading straight to my wife with the children standing by her side ready to go to school. My wife shouted Jesus and immediately the thunder diverted into the electric cable and destroyed the thunder resistor, burnt the cables, meter and electronics connected to it.  We are thankful to God that they were not hurt. God remains the unbeatable champion.

10 Things I Will do Differently in Managing Relationship as a Leader ~ Andrew Abah

The Bible has been very insightful in my journey leadership. I sometimes wish I knew all I know now when I began to lead as a student in 1983 and later as a mission leader in 1989. It would have saved me a lot of setback and apparently, the work God committed into my hands as a leader in the missions enterprise would have flourished more than it did. It is however not too late as I am daily adjusting in a number of ways and have liberty of sharing my experiences knowing that upcoming leaders can take advantage of my failures and never make same mistakes. Can we read together Romans 12:9-21 and use it as context for managing relationship in Leadership:

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.  Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”  21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

There can be no leadership without followership as the leader cannot do it alone. He needs the team to work with. The people make up the team and they are indispensable in accomplishing the goal. Unfortunately, many leaders may fail not because they are not energetic, brilliant and visionary but because they don’t know how to cultivate and sustain relationship. The above passage will be very helpful for leaders to use in cultivating wholesome relationship as it prescribes the character every leader needs to succeed. We will outline ten of the precepts here:

1.     Respect: Every leader wants to be respected. It is important to stress here that the leader must also respect everyone including even those that oppose them. Leaders must learn to esteem others better than themselves. They must recognize the worth and the value of the other person. No matter how little, everyone has intrinsic value because they are made in the image of God. This includes the most incapable, degraded and handicapped alike. The leader must recognize that value. When you honor the person, you enrich yourself because you surround yourself with people of worth.

The team members should be recognized also because their performance and achievement. They should be commended and appreciated publicly and privately. This can be expressed through the tone of voice, the look of the eyes and other non-verbal means. Putting an arm an arm around the shoulder pr giving them a worm hearted huge can go a long way. Being present with them on their important occasion will also mean so much to them.

2.     Understand your team members: We must take time to know those that work with us. Many times, the leader wants to be understood instead of understanding others. Leaders must deal with the selfish attitude. You cannot manage people you don’t know and cannot develop relationship when you don’t know them. To know a person will require you drawing closer to the person. This may take some time but the leader must work on it consciously. It will mean that you don’t restrict your relationship to formal setting so that people can relax and socialize. Leadership. Leaders can visit their team members even at homes. Be friendly with them. Share food and fellowship. Participate in life events like marriage, funeral, naming ceremony, etc. Laugh and weep together. Friendship is essential in understanding your members.

3.     Express Love and kindness as much as possible. No one can truly develop a true relationship without love.  In times of sickness, visit them. Offer some help in times of financial stress. Such help will improve on the bonding. This bonding will enhance the relationship. Sometimes, team members can go through challenges like accident, death, heavy burdens, etc. These challenges present opportunities for leaders to express their love.

4.     Avoid favoritism: The need to be fair to everyone cannot be overemphasized. When favor one person more than the other openly, it will be detrimental to the work generate ill-will. The Leader must therefore watch out for various possible sources which could generate favoritism and avoid it. They are: (a)   Tribe (b)  Clan (c)   Education (d)  Class (e)   Personality and personal interest

5.     Be Gracious: It is normal for team members to sometime fall short of expectation. Harmonious relationship will require that we forgive and move forward. Sometimes, not meeting, up to time schedule schedule can be very painful but let us be flexible and gracious. A leader must recognize the wrinkles in the members and accept them. We are different in personalities with strength and weaknesses which attracts and repels. No matter how you try some cannot be reformed.

6.     Capacity building: The leader must show personal interest in team members to help them grow and develop to reach their God-giving potentials. Long or short term training may be helpful. This can be in the workplace or somewhere else. Such training enhances productivity as well as encourages the individual.

7.     Vision: The leader must not assume that the team members already understand the vision. Take time share your vision in such a way that everyone will be on the same page. The need to refresh people’s mind on this cannot be overemphasized because Continuous refreshment will generate more support by the team members because they are the foot soldiers that will implement the vision.

8.     Avoid embarrassing your team members. Correction is inevitable as you work together. How it is carried out determines the result it generates. If you correct in private it will be more productive than when you correct in front of others. For many, if you correct them in the presence of others they consider it as embarrassment. When a controversial issue emerge in a meeting, it is best to suspend the agenda. Check on the person in concern privately to sort out the issue. The misunderstanding will only be deepened if you press on with the matter in a group.

9.     Build trust: For any meaningful success to be achieved the leader must cultivate a relationship of trust. This will require that both the leader and the team members must trust one another. The leader in particular must work hard to demonstrate that he is trust worthy. Character and competency are very crucial here. Character consists of honesty, truthfulness, purity and holiness. The leader must be beyond reproach in all this areas. If the team member must trust their leader, he must be transparent. The leader must be opened, self discipline is absolutely essential in any leadership. Nobody will trust you if they don’t know you and they cannot know you unless you reveal yourself.

10. Work with the team:  When the team leader assign work, he must also join in working or else he/she will be giving a wrong signal that he/she is not sharing in the burden. Action speaks louder than voice. A wise leader must himself serve. He/she must come down to the level of everybody.

Candle in the Dark

(Extract - Chapter Four of Journey into the Dark Nations : Autobiography of Andrew Abah)

It is difficult to precisely tell the exact date Grace Foundation Inland Missions came into existence but the circumstances that surrounded its birth and the year it was founded cannot be forgotten easily. First, in one of our many outreaches, some friends with whom I had related with for many years decided to go into more interior and remote jungles to preach the gospel to the people. We were persuaded by the reasoning of Oswald J. Smith who argued that it was not logical for some to hear the gospel over and over whereas others are not opportuned to hear the gospel even once. We then choose four locations for our mission adventure for that period. They were Ebala, Akre, Enumadu and Irim, all in Benue State of Nigeria. These places were not accessible by vehicles at that time, not even commercial vehicles could dare it. We trekked very long distances, climbing hills and descending valleys to get there. 


Entering Real Dark Jungles
We preached at four locations from house to house. We also organized open air crusades and the evangelistic campaigns were very fruitful many persons came out to surrender their lives to Christ and the sick came out to be prayed for. We were all very young and energetic, Dr. Agnes Okpe (nee Igoche) was a college girl then, she is now a Lecturer in Kaduna State Polytechnic. Dr. Joel Onu was a student at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria then. He is now a Lecturer at the same University. Rose Ameh was a student at the Benue State Polytechnic, she is now in Liberia after working in one of the oil companies in Kano for several years. Preaching especially in the jungle was our passion. The results were always very exciting. We did it with little or no resources. The grace of God was always very strong and the team work was unparalleled.

All the places we preached were really challenging but one of the villages stood out. That was Irim. Most of the inhabitants were dwarfs. Some of the dwarfs, including men had protruded stomach as if pregnant with twins, some had sores that had lasted for seven years and above. The situation of the people was an eyesore. One girl seemed to standout there. She was very beautiful and well structured. I beckoned on her to come so we could chat. Unfortunately, she responded with sign language. She was deaf and dumb. I was deeply touched. I then asked why all of them were so highly deformed in the village. They claimed the village was known for witchcrafts and that the more number of witches or wizards torments, determined their pride in the society.

The Seed that led to Grace Foundation Inland Missions
I wept as I asked the Lord why He permitted the people such power to be able to torment His creatures in that manner. I heard God tell me very clearly that He was not to be blamed but the church. The church was designed by God to be the light but this light has been hoarded so much that many communities, tribes and nations are still in gross darkness after over 2000years that the price for their redemption has been paid. While places with light are being flooded with more light, darkness is growing thicker in the dark places of the earth and the Prince of darkness have field day carrying out his ministry:  'The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…'(John 10:10). It was at this point that the Holy Spirit made Psalm 74: 20 clearer in my spirit: 'Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty' (Ps 74:20). 

In a lay man's language, God is a covenant keeper. He will continue to wait for the light to dispel darkness. Until this is done, the cruelty will continue. He has made provision for the light. You and I are the light that will dispel this darkness. His words:  "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. (Matt 5:14-16).

The need was very clear. Civilization, money and social infrastructure could not checkmate this darkness. Only the light could do it.   At this point, I offered myself. At this point I had been born again, I had served in various leadership positions and ministry but nothing else could quench the thirst to dispel darkness.  The seed to extend God's grace to these people grew stronger and stronger. It was clear where I was heading to in life as I made commitments to God I was going to spend the rest of my life to take the light of the gospel to the dark places of the earth. The thought of how to go about this task constantly gripped my heart.

In 1988, the Kamberi mission work started via a research while I was the Evangelical Secretary of the Kwara Christian Corpers Fellowship (KCCF). In 1989 we pressed further with series of short term outreaches using the KCCF platform.  The Kamberi field located in the thick forest of Borgu Local Government Area just like Irim had the same features of the dark places of the earth. As we rounded up the service year, we made effort to convince the incoming KCCF leadership to continue with the work but sadly, they declined because the place was carved out of Kwara State of Nigeria and merged with Niger State. 

My friend and colleague, Habila Musa made contact with the Calvary Ministry, an indigenous mission outfit in Nigeria to take over and continue with the work just like we handed over the Christian Fellowship Centre I started at Aiona in 1984/1985 to Christian Life Evangelical Ministry. They also declined. We cannot allow the work among the Kamberis to stop prematurely. We must also continue with our outreaches in the jungles of Ebala, Akre, Enumadu and Irim. The extension of the Christian Fellowship Centres at the boarder villages of Enugu and Benue state anchored by my colleague, Michael Agada had not been handed over to any ministry. Instead, we had gotten more missionaries like Magreth Daniel, Gabriel Itodo, Pius Eje, Janet Julius and others. Most of them were teachers and were paid by the government. Magreth and Gabriel were supported by our first financial partner, Dr. Malobi Ogboli.

After much prayer, I felt the leading of the Holy Spirit to have a broader organized platform that will harness our past and existing labour that had not yet been handed over to any organization and to use it as a lunching pad to invade as many more dark places of the earth as the Lord  enables us. In October 1989, I met in Jos with some of the members of the team we were working with to ratify the structure. We called it Grace Foundation. It was in the process of registering the organization with the Corporate Affairs Commission we discovered the name was no longer available that we changed it to Grace Foundation Inland Missions(GFIM). 

We spent the first year praying to God for a clearer blue print on how to progress with the assignment. A team of between seven to twelve persons began meeting on a weekly basis in my house to pray for our team on the mission field. We travelled from time to time to the mission field to strengthen the converts and the labourers.  In 1990, we called for a National Prayer Conference (NPC) that brought together all our team members from across Nigeria. We took time to pray for the nations, for world missions and for the future of GFIM. At the end of the conference, we met to formalize the leadership structure during which Agnes Okpe, Joel Onu, Sunday Ayegba, Yinka Laoye and I became the first set of Executive Council.

After five years, the list was reviewed to include Samson Amedu and Lucy Abah. In the process of registering GFIM with the Corporate Affairs Commission, the status of the Executive Council was changed to Members of the Board of Trustees. With time, members of this Board began to grow in many ways and their schedules became very tight such that they were not as available as they use to be. Some of them became Pastors in their local assemblies. Others became Managers in their places of work. In responding to this reality, a governing council was appointed to work hand in hand with the Board of Trustees. Some of the Board members who are resident in Jos and those whose schedule still allows for consistent involvement in the work like Yinka Laoye, Lucy Abah and myself are members of both the Council and the Trustees. We also brought in new members who have shown consistency in the ministry like Joke Eyitayo (Nee Ositelu) and later replaced by her husband Samuel Gboyega Eyitayo and National Directors of GFIM in various countries as well as Chairmen of the Governing Councils of countries where we work and Michael Agada who was the regional leader of the work among the boarder villages of Enugu/Benue State and much later Fred Adigun.

Fresh Breath on the Work
With GFIM in place, work continued in earnest in all the places where we were working. We studied patterns of Jesus missionary endeavours and    Matthew 4:13-16 particularly struck our minds: 
'Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah: 15 "Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the way to the sea, along the Jordan,Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." 

We knew that if we were to go far in the work, there was the need for missionaries to dwell among the unreached people. Jesus left Nazareth to live among the people. He was not shuttling. As good as short term missions is, if there are no missionaries on the ground to harness their fruits, it turns out to be a futile effort. 

In May 1991, we deployed our first Resident Missionary couple, Samuel and Anna Abrakson to Kamberi field.  Two years later we deployed a single missionary, Monica Ogwuche (Nee Omale) to the same field. Before then, we were only shuttling on short term missions. In the first three years of resuming on the field, they planted seven churches in very deep remote jungles. The first sets of converts were completely unlearned. They were thought how to read and write by the missionaries. They were thought the Bible and trained locally to pastor the new churches and they performed very well.

The Kamberi field has so many other unreached people groups including the Dukawas, Hausa, Fulanis, Larus, etc. We therefore concentrated our effort on the place for a field while, sending more missionaries to work among the various people groups.

From Kamberi to Dirawa
At the AD 2000 and Beyond Movement Unreached People's Consultation at Abuja in 1995, research reports were submitted and list of many tribal groups in Northern Nigeria with their profiles were made available to mission leaders present. It was very staggering to see as many as 78 chronic unreached people groups with no known Christian. Most of them were not engaged at the time by any mission agency. We were encouraged to adopt as many as we could. The Dirawas were said to be located in Bauchi state of Nigeria. This sounded close to us in Jos where we have our base. We adopted it and began to pray for labourers and more information on how to engage them. 

God connected us to a Pastor in Bauchi who was familiar with the people, we took advantage of that connection to visit the people. The situation of the people was so pathetic. None of the people had known the Lord. Few Christian organization had made efforts to reach them but they were very resistant to the gospel. We delegated two missionaries to live amongst them. They still did not want to relate with the missionaries. This was our first experience of working among such a very unyielding tribe. The missionaries used all the strategies they knew. They taught their children how to read and write. They organized adult literacy classes but the people were still adamant. We concentrated on praying for the land and looked out for their felt need.
We later discovered that they trekked several kilometers to grind their grains and we felt they needed a grinding machine, which could compel them to come close to us. We prayed about it and began to trust God for the fund. At last, the Mission Supporters League (MSL) offered to buy the grinding engine for us. There was great celebration, when the engine was installed, the people began coming around not only to grind their grains but to spend time talking with us. A bridge was built and the grinding machine was the bridge. At this point, they agreed to release some of their children to come over to the mission house to learn. Salisu Chiroma was one of the young boys. He became the first convert from the tribe. Today, a few more persons have come to embrace the Lordship of Jesus from the tribe. Salisu has completed his High school and is warming up for tertiary education.

At the point God began to grant us favour before the people. However, the Muslims also began to show interest in winning the people over to Islam. One night they came in with large stock of bundles of zinc, clothes, money and several other materials. They invited the people, distributed the items and told them to embrace Islam. To our greatest surprise, many of them agreed and from that night they became Muslims. It was difficult reaching them as animists but it is now much more difficult reaching them as Muslims and syncretics.  Our missionaries laboring among them, Bulus Inlaya and Rabo Yakubu have refused to give up. We are praying that one day the power of God will come over them and they will massively turn to the Lord.

One particular plague on the field is snake. They are all over the place. Two years after the work began; our missionary was uncomfortable with movements on the roof at night, she pointed her touch on the roof and discovered it was a snake. She and her colleague were both female missionaries and could not even attempt to pursue or kill the snake that night. They however, moved to the next room to sleep. The following morning, they woke up to see another snake on the bed beside them. We thank God they were not bitten by the snake.

From Dir to Bum
As the work continued to crawl in Dir, we felt the need to extend the gospel to other unreached people groups. We moved in to the Zullawa people groups in Bum. Josephine Oumorou(Nee Idoko) had just completed her mission training and was not comfortable with duplicating efforts. She wanted to go to a place where no church had ever existed. She wanted the people of Bum to also have the opportunity of hearing the gospel and congregating together for the first time to worship their Creator.

Unlike Dir, she was welcomed into the land and given a hut to live in, as she began evangelizing and there was no much of resistance. Many of them surrendered their lives to the Lord and the first church was built. We have seen over and over that no matter how thick the darkness is, a candle light makes a whole lot of difference. The Zullawas did not only surrender their lives to Christ but they were discipled. Many were taught how to read and write and many others were raised to take the gospel to other unreached people groups in the state.

After the first phase of the pioneered work, Sunday Musa was drafted in. Musa plays music before God called him to missions. On resuming work on the field he found many young boys and girls who had embraced Christ through the ministry of Josephine. With his musical skills, he impacted them positively. The Zullawa youths are waxing stronger and stronger in the Lord today spreading the gospel to many other places through music. The Men and the Women Fellowship are also growing and helping to strengthen the work in other areas of the land.

A new church has been planted at Zull and it is strategically located beside Tasha-Durumi, a community that is largely dominated by Muslims from the Hausa and Fulani people, as well as foreigners from Niger Republic. The work is currently making progress under the leadership of Ladi Ekpa.

From Bum to Bolu
After laboring to plant the first church in Bum, Josephine Oumarou pulled out to the Bolu people group located at the back of the Zaranda Mountain. She and Issa Malaki started the work among the Bolu people. Unlike the Zullawa work, they met stiff resistance at Bolu. The territorial powers were determined to halt every effort geared towards tampering with their belief in their idol gods and satanic culture. First, they were not allowed to live in the village, the man who gave them a portion of his house to live in was thoroughly persecuted, the roofs of the huts offered to them were leaking profusely such that they needed buckets each time it was raining, when we had money to build, the villagers conspired not to give us land to build etc. It took us a long time to persuade the village head to give us land to build a house.

Reaching the villagers was initially very difficult. Just like she did at Bum, she took time to learn the culture and language of the people and the people began to see her as an insider. When she got married, her husband was transferred to join her on the field while Issa Maliki was moved to Niger Republic to pioneer the Gobirawa work. Together with her husband, God began to grant them favour with the village head and the men. Some of the men began to respond to the gospel but the women were adamant.

The challenge grew stronger when the women threatened to live their home and marry other men because of the faith of their husband's. The unmarried ones also had the challenges of getting wives because the women considered it betrayal from their husbands to live their idols to worship God Almighty.