Ministry Among the Desert Tribes

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

 The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will 

lick the dust. (Ps 72:9)

When the Spirit of God impressed it on my heart that my ministry among the Aionas was over, I prayed to God to know what His next agenda for my life was. Then I had the leading from God to lift up my eyes towards the far north of Nigeria, the seat of the Islamic Caliphate of Nigeria. For a natural mind, it was a huge unrealistic ambition. But the Spirit of the Lord was however very clear and direct about it and Sokoto was to serve as my next base of ministry assignment. The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust was a prophecy that was to be fulfilled in the context of the tribal groups in this part of the world. I spent more time praying for a clearer blueprint. I knew no one in that far desert, neither did I know how to go about it nor where to start from? These were the wild questions on my mind.

Suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord impressed it on my heart to apply for admission into the higher institution which was the only university in the area at that time.  Following my previous encounter with the Lord, I dared not argue nor insist on my own rather I was quick to tell the Lord that if it was for the purpose of acquiring a degree, it were better to apply to the University of Jos or Ahmadu Bello University. These two institutions were closer home and more affordable but the Lord told me that academic pursuit was simply a bridge to the next phase of my ministry. I applied without any hitch, since the Lord was involved in it, the admission was successful.

On resumption, I devoted a greater part of my time to praying and establishing social contacts with the students. There was no doubt that it was a virgin mission field full of unlimited opportunities. We had a sizeable number of different unreached people groups on the campus. The mega tribes were the Hausas, Fulanis and Nupes. Outside the campus, we were also surrounded by the Dukawas and other smaller tribes. Some of the tribes have few number of Christians while others had no known Christian.
The Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) was the only evangelical fellowship on campus and a very good platform to disciple the different nations represented on campus. I joined and became a faithful member. After the first session, I was elected the President of the FCS. It was a very strategic position God used in preparing me for the future leadership thrust and mission work he had for me. Again, it was an opportunity to work as a team. I had Aminu Sule as my Vice President, James Jacob as the Bible Study Secretary, Ruth Aifou(Nee Bako) as the Prayer Secretary, Arida Dasuma as Financial Secretary, Uchechukwu Dim was Welfare Secretary, Naomi Peterson as the Treasurer and few others I rarely recall.

Reaching the Rascals 
One of the highlights of our ministry was how to reach out to the influential rascals on campus.  James Jacob, in addition to his role as the Bible Study Secretary was very passionate about this group of persons. He met with them at the long tennis court in a secular manner. They took soft drinks, shared testimonies and he brought God's word to them. He never condemned them irrespective of their outlook, neither was he in a hurry to invite them over to the main fellowship.  His watch words were: 'Let us love them into the kingdom' . That outreach turned out to be very fruitful. Many of them surrendered their lives to Christ and became members of the main campus fellowship. The quality of the Bible Study and Sunday Services were great. The nominal Christians in the fellowship began to experience great transformation. Fervency in prayer became a norm. God moved in diverse ways and we were grateful to him.

Reaching the Dukawas
After a while, we saw the need to extend the love of Jesus to the Dukawas at Rijau Local Government Area of the then Sokoto State. There were reports of effort being made by the Muslims to Islamize them. For example, the head of each family at one of the villages was given money, a scholar was brought in to marry the daughter of the village head, the names of all the villagers were changed for Muslim names and all of them changed their religion from Idolatry to Islam. That to us was a dangerous signal and we felt as a body of Christ, the need not to only rise up but to counter the spread of Islam and take the light of the gospel to where it was needed most.
At this time, Calvary Ministries already had missionary team working among the Dukawas. The Ministry also had a chapter in Sokoto. To effectively contribute our quota, some of us became part of the Calvary Ministry chapter in the city. We travelled together with some of the chapter members to the field. We provided financial and other material gifts to the missionaries and spent weekends with them interacting with the Dukawas. These cross-cultural experiences remain indelible.

My first trip to the Dukawa field from Sokoto was not an easy experience. We trekked several kilometers on feet late into the night through many villages and hamlets carrying loads on our heads. The dogs barked like lions roaring. Unfortunately, after getting to our destination, the missionaries were said to have travelled out to Sokoto. We thanked God, the villagers were kind enough to open the doors to the missionary house for us to rest.

Outbreak of Persecution
Working among Muslims has never been easy. Several times they threatened to fight the Christians our number was so few to theirs that we dared not attempt to take them for granted. As the President, I always arranged to move the female members of the fellowship out of the campus while the males slept on open field. Sharing room with the fundamentalist was also hell on earth. I remember one night, I was listening to the gospel music in the room, a Muslim roommate threatened to stab me if I didn't off the cassette player. I had no option but to comply.

Sometimes the university authority took sides with the Muslims. At a time, all fellowships on campus were proscribed that we had to mount pressure on the authority to allow us operate under a new name, Protestant Christian Community and I was designated Chairman instead of President.

At the end of the day, the growing persecution made Christians grow stronger and stronger in the faith.
Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Student(NIFES) Sub Zone and Zonal Leadership being the only university in the area, our campus Fellowship provided leadership for all the fellowships in the other tertiary institutions in the subzone which in present day structure include Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi State. The zonal structure which our fellowship then belonged to was Zaria Zone which also included Kano and Kaduna State. The Zonal Cordinator was Adekunle Adeyemo(represented Ahmadu Bello University) who later founded the Bread of Life Ministry at Iwo. Other members of the Zonal Executive Council included myself, Bala Usman(represented Bayero University, Kano)  who is the current National Director of NIFES and late Habila Musa who represented Kaduna Polytechnic.

Exposure to NIFES at that level helped to lay the foundation for the relationships we harness for networking to take the light of the gospel to several nations today. It served as an open door into the various campuses in the Muslim infested northern states.

Another Transition
The academic program under which cover, I ran my ministry in the far northern state of Sokoto was virtually over. A new executive council was elected and we handed over to them. At this point, my Vice President, Aminu Sule took over the mantle of leadership. James Jacob and Ruth Aifou(Nee Bako)  were also in the new executive council because they still had additional year to spend on campus. 

The fellowship grew both in number and in quality of service to the glory of God. Many of those who came to the Lord are doing exploit for God today. One of such outstanding persons that surrendered their lives to Christ and joined the fellowship was the Student Union Director of Socials, Kasimu Dokpesi popularly known as Kaska. He is still in the Christian faith and serving as an Evangelist. He was twice Chairman of the Etsako East Local Government Council and Edo State Commissioner for Works. From the desert tribe God relocated me to Kwara State of Nigeria with a different level and nature of ministry assignment. I am ever grateful to God for the opportunity to serve in the desert tribe.

Training in Missions

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

Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should 

greatly increase. (Job 8:7)

My teaching job at Igwu- Akor village was over at this time. I returned to join my parents in Makurdi, Benue State Capital, Nigeria and my continuous search to be like my elder brother at that time led me to the saving arms of the Saviour. I got filled with the Holy Spirit and shortly after that secured admission to higher institution, the School of Basic Studies, Makurdi. I resumed at the school with the aim of pursuing the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB), an equivalence of advanced level GCE which ordinarily serve as a bridge/gateway to the University. Little did I know that I was enrolling for ministry training. 

As a new Christian just coming into the campus where there were many other young believers with different gifts and grace was a great time of great learning. In the first place, the Campus Fellowship was organised in such a way that great men of God from across the state and sometimes beyond were scheduled  to preach and some to teach on various subjects. Some of the teaching still sticks to my mind till today. Gbile Akanni was a very regular teacher. He was a Physics lecturer at the Katsina Ala College of Education at that time. He had just completed his National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) program. He was  very simple in his outlook and lifestyle and his teaching were very down to earth. He took personal interest in me. He thought on discipleship, year of Jubilee, etc. 

We had others like John Ornguze who had some Western influence and preaches with foreign ascent. He too was a great preacher and led the Intercessors for America. Listening to him was another level of exposure. 

Godwin Ikyernum was the first charismatic evangelist  I was ever exposed to as a young believer. I remember vividly his crusade message titled: The First Question to the First Man on the First Place of the Earth; Where Art Thou? Others were Tor Uja, Moses Msue. Their lives and messages impacted me greatly and I cannot divorce what I became in ministry from the input these great men of God in my life.

The Executive Council of the fellowship were thorough. The president, Isaac Igbe, Vice President, Joshua Manyam, Library secretary, late Julius Achin, Prayer secretary, Bishop Joseph Opaluwa, Blessing Ocholi and few others that I cannot readily remember were thorough ministers of the Gospel at that young age and they helped shaped my life for ministry. Their lives and messages were very impactful and In less than a year of entering the campus, a new election was conducted and I was elected into office as the new Prayer Secretary. It was a huge responsibility. This time, I had to grow beyond just praying for myself to praying for all the members of the fellowship. 

Tor Uja and Gbile Akanni taught on the coming revival and we took time to pray for it. We desperately wanted the revival on our campus. Sewuese Igbadu was a member of the new executive council. She was a very prayerful young lady. She mobilized friends to the long tennis court and spent several hours praying for divine visitation. With my responsibility as the prayer secretary, I organised prayer vigils twice a week and Sometimes we set up prayer chain and drew up time table where brethren prayed for 24 hours.

A Taste of Revival
It was not possible to pray that way without God coming down. One of such occasion was in May 1983 when we organised Jesus 83. I ensured that fervent prayers were made both day and night as we invited Moses Msue from Katsina Ala  and Professor Duro Adegboye from Zaria as the main speakers. Msue spoke on the topic: What Jesus can Do! I cannot remember precisely what Duro spoke on. The power of God came down as never before. We had mighty harvest of souls. One of the results that still abide till today was Rev. Samuel Tukura, he interrupted one of the sessions of the Jesus 83 to surrender his life to Christ. Before his surrender, he was very fetish and well known in the Campus. His conversion led to chains of other conversions and Gbile Akaani, Godwin Ikyernum and Tor Uja were particularly excited at the outbreak of revival. They helped nurse the fruits of the revival and particularly took interest in Samuel Tukura and discipled him.

Jesus 83 came and passed but the revival persisted. I remember vividly the former cult lady, simply called Agatha. She was said to be the queen of Indian Ocean, a high rank she attained in the marine world. She had initiated many of the campus girls into the marine spirit before her conversion. But as God came down mightily,  the spirit of God swept through the Campus and most of the girls Agatha had initiated were brought to the Lord and were ministered to. They were set free. Their male friends were confused. They could not understand why their girl friends have to suddenly break away from their immoral relationships. Some came close to the fellowship hall to peep. They wanted to see the Jesus that snatched their female friends, but the power of the Holy Spirit magnetized them from the fellowship windows from where they were peeping and they surrendered their lives to Christ and entered the church.

The wave of revival was massive. The fellowship was always filled up. All the leaders worked selflessly. Nobody took the glory for what God was doing. It was awesome and It was beyond the work of any man. We prayed effortlessly, we loved one another effortlessly and God produced for Himself lots of men and women from that campus who are serving him in various capacities across the nations today. 

Professor Samuel Odeh was the service secretary. Today he is a Professor of Medicine and also serves as one of the Pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. Ameh Amana was the Library Secretary. He is the founder and leader of Gospel Inn today. John Jia was the Bible Study Secretary. Presently, he works with shell at Gabon. Ruth Adejoh(Nee Adejoh) was the General Secretary. She leads the Peace House in Lokoja with her husband. Benjamin Atebije leads the Prayer Ministry and many more whom I had lost touch with. Patience Adjei and Ajuma Agaba labour for the Lord at Oju and Gboko respectively today. The campus ministry was truly a processing plant for many of us and those that took over from us. 

Samuel Tukura, one of the many fruits of Jesus 83 did not only surrender his life to Christ but rose to become the fellowship President that led the Executive Council after our set. He founded the Flame Ministries many years after and had taken the gospel to many nations of the world. 

29years after, we look back and give God the glory for the training as It was a combination of charisma and character. Few years ago, Gbile Akaani and I met in Japan and casted our minds back to those early years of training and I was thankful to him and the few others that helped build in me a solid foundation. As I look across the nations, I cannot but be thankful to God on behalf of all my class mates and friends who have made input in one way or the other.

And Then the Practical Session  
In 1984, the School of Basic Studies program was over and we all dispersed applying for further studies. I applied to the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria to pursue a degree in History after which I prayed to really know if it was God's will for me to really go to Zaria or He has other plans for me.  I was expecting that if God will object to my schooling at Zaria, the only alternative was going to be University of Jos. Benue State of Nigeria where I came from was a catchment area for the two universities. It was easy securing admission as long as one's grades were okay.

However, I found myself in a trance, I was preaching in a village. The village was full of darkness and though there were few churches there, the people did not know their right from the left as par the gospel. The Lord explained to me that the village I saw in the trance was my next place of assignment but not the university. That was unbelievable. I took time to argue with God that my going through the School of Basic Studies was to prepare me for the university education and not to go to the village as a preacher. I resisted vehemently. I just could not imagine my mates going to the university and I will be going to the deep rural area to live among them for the purpose of preaching the gospel. That to me was madness.

I traveled to ABU to follow up on my admission in my determination to ignore God's leading. I met Dr. Patrick Wilmot, a Lecturer at the university then. He told me that the admission list was not out yet but that with my score, I would have no problem. When the list came out, it turned out that my name was not among those admitted. I returned to Dr. Wilmot and he too was surprised that my name was not on the list. He verified and discovered that my application form was not forwarded to the University from Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) and as such the university cannot consider me for admission. I wept sorely knowing that it was a  divine interruption like that of Jonah but even then, I was not comfortable with the idea of relocating to the village where God directed me in a trance to go.

The village, Aiona is located in a very remote jungle, 9Kilometers from the nearest tarred road. Vehicle rarely plied the road as at that time. On very rare occasion, we got vehicles which came in on market days. The villagers were used to trekking that distance. After much reluctance and struggle, I heard God clearly speak to me that because I refused to regard His calling, He will sit on His throne and laugh at me on the day of my calamity. His words: 'Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh' (Prov. 1:24-26). 

At this point, it was already clear that admission into the university that session was a foregone conclusion and I had secured a teaching job in a more comfortable place, Edugwu-Iye Community Secondary School, Adumoko, Orokam. The salary was relatively reasonable and there was promise for accommodation for staff. I had to choose between the comfort and the threat of God 'laughing at my calamity'.  I took off to the village for a visit and visited the Government Day Secondary School. I introduced myself to the College Principal and he said he knew me and had planned to invite me to come over and teach in his college.

He told me how much the college will offer me and took time to persuade me. I told him I was already teaching and the salary I was offered was far higher than what his college was ready to offer. The Principal then began to give me information on how unevangelised the community was and that my teaching in the school will be a platform for me to spread the light of the gospel to such gross darkness. This was amazing because the Principal himself was not born again as at the time he was persuading me. I knew again, God was there to double-cross me. If he could speak through the mouth of a donkey, it was not surprising that he could use this God-fearing unbelieving Principal to persuade this young boy to come over and serve as a missionary teacher.

I still had my struggles and the voice persisted: 'Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;25 But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:26 I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh' (Prov. 1:24-26). This time, in tears, I surrendered to his will. I then left for the College where I served, tendered my resignation and relocated to the Aiona Mission field.


God Provided a Mentor
Not long before I completed my program in Makurdi, I had crossed path with another young Evangelist at Ugbokolo, Benue State, Nigeria. I had gone to Benue Polytechnic situated at Ugbokolo to visit my elder brother, Abraham and was told he went to the Primary School to pray along with his prayer partner. I traced him to the school and waited for him by the door post. The prayer which I thought will last for an hour or two lasted for several hours. They prayed and prayed and prayed again! When they came out of the classroom, their countenances were radiant. You know these were supernatural beings. It was then I discovered the definition of effectual fervent prayer.   “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.17Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.18And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit”. (James 5:16-18).  I meet my brother's prayer partner, Evangelist Sunday Oguche for the first time. I saw in him great grace I could tap from. He preached with signs and wonders following. Inside of me, I felt this was a man I could learn from. I wanted to be such a passionate powerful Evangelist.

Ministry at Aiona
The phase of my ministry at Aiona which I often refer to as the core of my practical session after my first two years of ministry training in Makurdi will remain indelible. It was not long after I arrived the village that I understood what the College Principal meant by gross darkness covering the land. Wickedness abounds everywhere. The level of witchcraft, drunkenness and idolatry was unparalleled. Stories of killing through poisoning and charms of even close relatives were no longer news because they were rampant. Most homes were littered with shrines. 

After sometimes of prayer, I began witnessing to my students at the college. Not long after that the converts from the college joined me in house to house evangelism. Results began to trickle in as many lives, young and old, male and females began to turn to Jesus. The discipleship process necessitated meeting with all the converts under the tree in my compound because my tiny single room could no longer accommodate us. We later moved to the primary school at the centre of the village as the Head Master was generous enough to allow us the use of one of the classrooms for our fellowship.
Before long, the fellowship began to grow in number and persecution broke out. The contradiction was that church leaders championed the persecution. It was not surprising because they were not born again themselves. Some of them were drunkards and never knew their right from their left. Others were idolaters and notorious for the use of dangerous charm. They called us all sort of names. In some of the churches, they announced that we are cult that specialized in sucking blood and warned that the members of the church should not allow their relatives to come close to us or the fellowships that had just begun.

The announcements only helped publicize our work. Those that were adventurous came closer to us to investigate the allegation and the Holy Spirit pulled them to Himself. Two things that our critics could not deny were the Christ-like character of our converts and members of the fellowship and the miracles that were always not in short supply. One night, I heard someone bang on my door like a thief. I asked who the person was and the person introduced himself as the pastor of one of the biggest churches in the village. That was very strange. What will a Pastor who hated me so much be looking for at such odd hour of the night? Could he have come with a gang of hired killers? These were the thought that ran through my heart.

I prayed and politely opened the door. He came in with three of his children. It was another story of Nicodemus. His mission was to be prayed for. His children were all epileptic. One of them came under severe attack that night which prompted them to run to me for prayers. They were really helpless. I introduced Jesus, the helper of the helpless to them and spent time to pray for them. God ended their misery of epilepsy that night.

The news of what God was doing began to spread to the cities. While some were thankful to God, others fought us. At a time, the Police headquarters directed the Okpoga Divisional Police to investigate my activities. They had received allegation that I had turned the village upside down and that had been a heavy 'negative' influence on their youth in particular, teaching them to be rude. The Police came in and carried out their investigation. They were amazed at the information they gathered. What the people called rudeness was the fact that their born again family members had resolved no longer to sell alcohol or cigarette any more. The young ladies were also no longer ready to be married to non-Christians. Crime rate had dropped sharply because perpetrators were born again and their lives  changed.

They reported back to the headquarters but one of the influential men from the village, a Medical Consultants in Makurdi (who became born again himself many years after) continued to mount pressure on the Police headquarters prompting them to arrest some members of my leadership team while I was away. The young converts were also tortured by their parents and stopped from coming to fellowship and associating with me.

Counteracting the Oppositions
One way we could help the new believers who were literally under fire then was to keep teaching them the cost of discipleship which included partaking in the fellowship of his suffering as taught by Apostle Paul: “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name”. (1 Peter 4:13-17)

Jesus teaching on bearing the cross was also very resourceful: 
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. 27”And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”. (Luke 14:26-27) 
While some of my team mates were in Police detention, I travelled to see a member of the Benue State Executive Council and Commissioner for Information of that time, Rev. Tor Uja who was also one of those God used to nurture me spiritually before God deployed me to the village.  I wanted him to use his influence to stop the Police from further harassing us. I told him, I was the target of the Police and that I had been declared wanted. He told me to return to my mission station and that if I was arrested and detained, I could send to him.

That did not make much sense to me especially as there were no telephone facilities then as it is now. Instead of returning to my missions' station, I left for Ugbokolo to notify Evangelist Sunday Oguche of my ordeal. He was still a student at the Benue Polytechnic then so it was not possible to follow me immediately. He asked me to go ahead of him. I passed through Owukpa and picked up one of the village Evangelist, John Inamu to accompany me to the Police station where my team mates were detained. He was to take the information to Sunday Oguche and Tor Uja if the Police detained me. The good news was that they called me to the DPO's office and confided in me the source of the pressure on them from the Police headquarters and that they had investigated my activites but had found no reason to harass me. They however advised that I cancelled a meeting I had planned to avoid embarrassment from the police headquarters as they had threaten that if they at the Division cannot tame me, they were willing to send Police directly from Makurdi. They discharged me and the others. It was a miraculous escape!

That seemed to be the beginning of the persecution. Some of the converts suddenly saw the need for restitution. One in particular was no longer comfortable with being a second wife. She felt she must leave and straighten her relationship with her maker. Hearing that a woman had to leave her matrimonial home in the name of restitution caused an uproar in the society. 


Agent of Darkness at Work
Since the fire of persecution could not make us to soft-pedal, the devil devised other means to halt what God was doing. A young lady simply known as Juliana joined the fellowship. She claimed she was born again and began to partake in all our activities ranging from discipleship class to outreaches. She helped in carrying the megaphone we used for public address system. Little did I know she was an agent of darkness. 

In one of our meetings, the power of God came down heavily and she began to confess how she was delegated to initiate me but every effort to get hold of me proved abortive as according to her, I was surrounded by fire. She had attained a very high rank in the marine world. She also had spirit husband and kids. In view of that she was no longer interested in getting married in the material world any more. She turned down all the men who approached her for marriage and her parent were already getting worried.

As usual, our God sets captives free. That is one reason why Jesus came to die for us: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."( Luke 4:18-19)

She was prayed for and set free. There were many of such agents of darkness that came with the intention of ruining the work but God took over the battle and gave us victory.

Another Transition
After months of doing ministry at Aiona, God did not only give us more and more converts but some believers from the city came in. One of such is Freedman Akoh. Not long after he arrived, God spoke to me that my time there was almost over. I was specifically directed to prepare him to take over the leadership of the work in that village. He was a fine gentle man but not baptized in the Holy Spirit. It was not possible to survive there without the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I introduced him to it and prayed for him. He was baptized. He turned out to be an excellent Pastor. Together we worked until I handed over to him in obedience to divine directive.

At every point, persecution did not only persist but intensified. As I relocated from the village for a fresh assignment, the enemies of the gospel ganged up together day and night and strategised on how to put a complete halt to the advancement of the gospel. The heat became so intense that the brethren began to think of institutionalizing the ministry to position them well to face the enemies. All the while, we had not adopted any formal name nor were we reporting to any structure anywhere. For the purpose of nomenclature, we refer to ourselves as Fellowship and our meeting place as Christian Fellowship Centre.

Beside Pastor Freedman, another fine Christian, Michael Agada had completed his National Youth Service Corps and joined the team. Her mother was already a frontline member of the fellowship. Michael secured a teaching job and was posted to the boarder village of Benue and Enugu State. He started branches of the Christian Fellowship Centres in some of the villages. Though largely autonomous and initially none of us earned salary at the onset as we all collected salaries as teachers, I however provided initial leadership for the work.

As constant police harassment resumed, we all agreed that the centre at Aiona be handed over to a formal denomination that is incorporated with the Federal Government of Nigeria. Michael suggested Christian Life Evangelical Ministry and we all unanimously agreed to that as the way forward. Being the pioneer of the centres at the Benue/Enugu boarder, Michael naturally took over the leadership of the work directly under his care. We remained grateful to Janet Julius who pioneered the Aiede work, Magreth Daniel, Pius Eje and Gabriel Itodo for their pioneering role in the Owukpa District. We are still stakeholders in these work and we take out time to visit the fellowship as God provides the opportunity.

Can Anthing Good Come Out of Nazareth?

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

 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me." 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." 46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false." 48 "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." 49 Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." (John 1:43-49)

The dialogue between Nathanael and Philip in this passage brings out a common known fact. The background one comes from matters a lot. For many it determines whether they can succeed in life and be relevant. I really do not know much about the negative side of Nazareth but from Nathanael's point of view, the place must have been be very bad and backward. It was not expected that anything good could come out of Nazareth but against all odds, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of all kings and the Lord of all Lords emerged from Nazareth.

The same story seems to have been repeated in different ways in so many passages of the scriptures and our society is full of many of such testimonies. Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:8 said: “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor”.

That is the summary of my story which will be shared in series here as I take stock of God's faithfulness in my life from childhood with the aim of first returning praise and glory to him for all he has done in my life and to speak to the lives of those who are in “Nazareth” today that the situation of life and reality of history has concluded that nothing good can come out of their lives.


Born to an Orphan,  A Vulnerable Street Boy
On Wednesday, August 12, 1964 God brought me to this world through Benson and Adunyi Ogwuche as the second son. The first born arrived two years earlier and was named Abraham. My father himself, grew up as an orphan having lost his father before the age of 10. Being the first born of his father, he had no one to look upto. His poor mother who was a young widow then was left with three boys and one girl to bring up  alone. It was very difficult and it was like the world crumbled on them. Being the eldest son he had no choice but to move to one of his uncle's house. Life there was worse. He farmed for him all day and yet was subjected to the worst form of abuse. He had no option than to leave the house in search of greener pastures. He could not explain how he found himself in Jos as a street boy.

According to him, the weather of Jos at that time was very chilly and sometimes freezing. It was the worst form of torture then being a street boy under such a cold weather but the inhabitants were friendly and liberal. At least the pain of hunger which he was subjected to in his village had become history because the people of Jos always offer food to the street boys generously.

From A Street Boy to Bricklaying and Textile Work
After some years he relocated to Kaduna, this time as a young adult. He took to both bricklaying and textile work. After saving his salary for several months, he rented an apartment and several months later thought of marrying a wife. My mother was the last female child of her parent and she was the apple of her father's eye. Unlike my father who was subjected to undescribable cruelty in his childhood, my mother enjoyed the warmth of parenthood. Unfortunately, the joy did not last long because she too lost her father.

On getting married, she left her village for Kaduna to face the harsh realities of life. At this time, my father being the eldest son of his father was already matured to the point of not only taking the responsibility of caring for his younger brothers, but spirituality also took care of his nephews including the sons of his uncle who subjected him to all forms of abuse. The money coming in from my father's place of work and my mother's trade were not sufficient to meet up with the increasing responsibilities.

One year after the marriage, Abraham was born precisely on August 20, 1962. His birth brought huge relief to the family. Many who came to visit on account of his birth brought gifts. When they sumed the finance, they realised surprisingly that it was almost sufficient to build a house. With his bricklaying skill and additional fund from his place of work, they built a house of their own and their status began to change. Again, because of the competing needs, the struggle to survive continued. At some point, the hunger became severe. My mother had to gather rotten yams, to dry and grind them into powder and make food with it for us to survive.

It was amidst this hardship that the family was blessed with a third child which they named Comfort. The arrival of Comfort unfortunately brought sorrow as she fell ill. Apparently not been able to give her proper medical care, comfort passed on. The fourth child, Emmanuel was born and the same fate befell him too. 

From Bricklaying to An Army Engineer
During the Nigerian civil war, there was the need to recruit more soldiers especially those who had different skills. My father was one of the Bricklayers recruited. He was trained at the Engineering unit for more specialized works such as building bridges in the case of emergencies and he was posted to the civil Engineering department. Changes began to crawl in but very gradual. Nevertheless, it was the beginning of a transition from grass to grace. From a very poor orphan, street boy, textile worker and bricklayer my father rose to become an Instructor in the Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME) after many years of experience at various units of Engineering Construction Regiment (ECR) first at Ukpakiri, Aba in today's Abia State and later to Ede in today's Osun State all in Nigeria.

The Cruelty of Poverty
One experience that will be very difficult to delete from my memory is that of growing up as a kid under the cruelest conditions of poverty. Unlike the modern days when almost all the army formation have primary and secondary schools, the few of us in the barrack had to trek several miles to the nearest primary schools and most times on empty stomach or rather on little porridge which was not usually enough to sustain one till the closing hour. With the severe hunger and the thought of how to trek back home after closing from school, it was practically difficult to be at one's best in learning.

First, it was at Ukpakiri, a village at the outsketch of Aba, the present day Abia State of Nigeria where kidnapping of kids for ritual purposes were common then. I had to trek the lonely bush- path because my father insisted that illiteracy is a curse and none of his children must stay out of school. 

God had ways of providing relieve as I sometimes stumbled into trees with fruits which I climbed, plucked and helped myself with them. At that time, owning a bicycle was a luxury. My father had one but he later sold it. Even when he owned one, it was out of place to think of giving me a ride to school because he had to go to work very early.

At Ede, the nearest primary school was not less than 5km away from the house. Then the barrack was located at the Ara road and most of the soldiers living at the peasant section of the barrack didn’t have children grown enough to go to school. Again, I had to trek the lonely bush path. The story of kidnaping kids for ritual purpose was also common and each time I went to school and returned, I prayed that God would keep me away from these evil ones. I was always full of fear but God answered my prayers.  I completed my primary education and proceeded to the boarding house in one of the first, best Primary Schools in the area at that  time, Baptist High school, Ede.

My father's choice of sending me to school was to give me the best of proper education but it was a huge mistake as I was caught up in the contradiction of being a pauper in the midst of kids from extremely wealthy parental background. My fellow students lived on the provisions their parent bought for them while returning from the holidays to school whereas I have to depend solely on the food they serve at the dining hall which was barely enough for us.

Several times, I literally became a scavenger picking up foods that were thrown away. I dared not ask my parent to treat me like my school mate because I was aware of the condition my parent went through to pay my school fees. They literally loaned money to complete my fees each time my holiday was over and it was time to return to school. They spent the rest of the term paying back the loan. At the time they were supposed to rest from payment of the loan, it was time to return to school again. 

The situation was that of utmost cruelty. The result was that I fell sick frequently. To worsen the whole situation, my parent relocated from Ede in Osun State to Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria and I could not afford to travel to spend the holidays with them anymore. I was from that time made to spend my holidays with an extended relation. The man was from the village I came from and supposedly a Christian from Apostolic Church background. He turned out to be unfriendly.  It was actually difficult to love a boy who was always sickly. It took a genuine Christian to truly love the unlovable, that was the situation I found myself.  He called me all sorts of names and accused me of having being initiated to serve as an agent of darkness and that I was the cause of my own sickness. The accusation was very tormenting as well as depressing.

The level of emotional torture coupled with the physical ailment no doubt affected my academic performance. Life became a misery. Having lost contact with my parent, I had to face the music alone. It was not like nowadays that there is telecommunication services everywhere. The fastest means of communication then was telegram. Then, telegram was reserved for the rich and for those with emergency news like death. 

Deeper and Deeper into Darkness
With the lack of parental love due to distance, I began to seek for fulfilment elsewhere and that led me to drinking of alcohol. Even at that I had no money to buy alcohol like others. I joined a gang of bad boys in school. Together we went into the bush late at night where palm wine was being tapped with empty bucket. We emptied their palm wine from the palm tree into the bucket and took it to the hostel where we drank it and gyrated. From that point Í sank deeper and deeper into darkness.

From drunkenness I began to patronise the juju priest through the influence of some friends in school and later started developing friendship with the opposite sex for immoral purposes. My life became more miserable. The Devil then had a greater stronghold and subjected me to more and more torment.


The Gains of Poverty
Some conservative Christians preached in favour of poverty. They argue that poor Lazarus went to heaven and the rich man went to hell. Some capitalised on Jesus statement of how difficult it is for rich men to go to heaven, likening it to the head of a camel going through the eyes of a needle to glorify poverty. I believed it was because they had not had the real taste of the cruelty of poverty. God in His wisdom programmed humanity to live in abundance and not poverty. That was why He created the Garden of Eden before creating man. It was a garden of abundance.  In John 10 Verse 10, Jesus promised to counteract the works of the Devil by giving us abundant life. In 3 John verse 2, the Scripture says: 'Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth''. Poverty is not something to wish one's enemy. It is UTMOST CRUELTY!

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that all things work for our good. In the words of Apostle Paul:  “ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,  who  have been called according to his purpose.”(Rom 8:28).  It was not by accident that God allowed me to go through this level of poverty. I can rightly say today that my childhood life was the beginning of my training for global missions with all its challenges. It was actually the beginning of my exposure to extreme ruggedness, hardship and a life of sacrifice.  That was the point I learnt to trek long distances and endure hunger. 

The cruelties I went through are not what I would ever wish my enemies not to talk of innocent little kids. This experience at that stage of my life generated in me my passion and pursuit today to help lives of vulnerable kids caught in the twin cruelties of poverty and darkness. It is one of the reasons why the ministry  I lead do not only preach the gospel verbally but have done much and will continue to do the much to salvage vulnerable kids and orphans under our Home Of Grace(HOG) child care program and the Helping Hands established to put smiles on the faces of widows. 

Many kids that found themselves in the snare of poverty did not bargain for it. If I had not gone through it, I would not have known how it feels. The gains of the torture I went through in the days of childhood poverty are the many lives that have been positively transformed today.

From Darkness to Light
I was born to a God-fearing family. My parents were lovers of God. We observed strictly the religious rule of going to church regularly and praying at least twice a day (morning and night). I became a member of the choir at an early age until my parent relocated from the town where I was schooling on transfer to Makurdi, Benue State when I sank deeper and deeper into darkness. In 1981, I completed my secondary school education and traveled to join my parents again. For those 17 years of my existence, nobody ever told me of the need to accept Christ nor how to do so. Not even my religious parent or my elder brother who was already born again from his encounter in High School.

As I wallowed in darkness, the cruelties persisted. My parents were quick to notice that I was no longer the religious God-fearing boy they left behind at Ede when they relocated. Even though I was not born again before they left me, I was at least religious. I was morally upright. The first sign they noticed was that I no longer had a Bible. They screamed at me but they still did not show me the way of salvation. I was not comfortable either. 

At this point, I was very adventurous. I wanted to visit my village for the first time in my life. My father had warned of the danger and preferred we went on holidays to my grandmother's village instead. At the age of 18, I considered it abnormal not to know the village I called mine so without hinting my parents I traveled home. I was warmly welcomed.  The village was notorious for witchcraft. Unknown to me, the woman who hosted me was an advanced witch. She had ruined a number of her own biological children and lo I was a big catch for her.

Few days after I arrived the village, I was to be killed. I became very sick and was literally giving up. Suddenly, a cousin of mine who was a military man in Kaduna State, Nigeria had something urgent to do in the village. He sighted me and discovered I was virtually dead. He quickly picked me up. At that time, I could no longer walk and vehicles came to my village only ones in a blue moon then. They carried me like a corpse and successfully moved me to Otukpo, Benue State. On getting there, life returned to me and I was warned not to attempt going to the village any more or else I become a prey. The prince of darkness was in charge of the village and the level of wickedness was at its peak. It was truly scary to go to the village without superior powers.

 At this time, there was a mighty wave of revival sweeping across Benue State of Nigeria which then included the present Igala speaking area of present day Kogi State. My elder brother, Abraham was not just a born again Christian but a beneficiary of the revival. His life was conspicuously different from mine. I had gotten a job as a Primary School teacher in a village called Igwu-Akor. It afforded me access to more alcohol. The Federal Government had introduced Universal Primary Education(UPE) then. Grown up kids were encouraged to go to school. Many of my pupils were young adults who were palm wine tappers. Part of their handcrafts was to tap and bring me kegs of palm wine.  Some of my fellow teachers were also drunkards so together we enjoyed the palm wine.

During holidays when the students were no longer there to bring palm wine, we resorted to mixing soft drink with hard liquor (popularly referred to as dry gin). Our salaries were rarely paid so the cash flow was not that much. Sometimes, the government delayed the salary for three to four months. When we were paid, we drank beer which was usually more expensive than the dry gin. The more I took these alcohols, the more miserable I looked. Like the prodigal son, I sometimes came to my senses and compared my look with that of my born again brother, Abraham. At a point, I was tired of my miserable life. I wanted a change. I wanted desperately to be like my brother. I knew his Jesus made the difference but did not know how.

I asked if I could get a place to be baptised. I was almost sure that baptism was what brought Jesus into the life of my brother and made the difference in him. Fortunately, I was directed to Christian Pentecostal Missions at North Bank, Makurdi, Nigeria.  I visited the church and joined the baptismal class immediately. The preachers, Marius and Okeke insisted that unless one was born again, baptism will be useless. This time, I asked, how could one be born again. I told them I desperately wanted to be like my elder brother. He was a model of a born again Christian. If baptism was not enough to make me like him, I wanted explanations on how I could be born again.

After two days of attending the baptismal class, I got answers to my question. I realised how wretched I was and that I could not help myself. I pleaded with Jesus to forgive me my sin and become the Lord of my life. I asked Him to save and heal me and make me like my brother. I liked his meekness. I liked his healthy life. I liked his level of moral uprightness. I watched him pray in tongues and I wanted to do just what my brother did. On October 20, 1982, I became born again, my life became transformed, I had peace and knew the secret behind my brother's living a complete life of as new creature. All old things passed away in my life also. I was freed from the shackles of drunkenness and immorality.

The happiest moment of my life was when I got born again. The difference was clear. The grace of God enabled me to reject the dictates of the Devil. Two days  after my conversion, the church spoke on the need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Many of those who came out to be prayed for began to speak in tongue but I could not. I however did not give up. I knew I needed to be filled so I could do exploit for the one who saved me.

That night, as I walked home from the church on the lonely tarred road between North Bank and Nigerian Army School of Military Engineering (NASME), I got filled and began to speak in tongues. Nobody laid hands on me. It was awesome. The experience is beyond what words can capture.  That was the starting point of my journey into the dark nations, candle in the dark places. It was October 22, 1982, the day I can never forget.

Back to the Den of Witches and Wizards
Less than three months after my conversion and experience of baptism of the Holy Spirit, my greatest burden was to go back to my village, the place where witches and wizards were to feast on me before God delivered me.  I felt vexed in my spirit and the need to confront them with the power I had just gotten. Again, without telling my parents, I traveled to the village in December 1982 and straight to the woman who was noted for providing leadership to the witchcraft coven.

I introduced myself as a brand new man covered with the blood of Jesus and untouchable. I went out to share the love of Jesus with the villagers and before long I had many converts.  On December 25, 1982 I was scheduled to preach at a Methodist church. Being a Christmas day, I naturally thought of preaching a Christmas message but quickly changed as  I later felt  these new converts needed more of the power of God to survive the witches and wizards than any other message. Few minutes into my message ,the power of God came down mightily and many of those in the church who were not born again surrendered their lives to Jesus.


Also, many of the converts got filled with the Holy Spirit with different manifestations especially speaking in tongues. More and more persons after the service came in from different parts of the village  to accept Christ. It was very clear that  the power of witches and wizards have been defeated. They could no longer attack me not to talk of feasting on me. Those witches and wizards who refused to surrender their lives to Christ literally came under fear. When they  saw me or any of the new believers coming their way, they took another path. It was clear that darkness could not comprehend light.

God at Work Across the Nations

Venturing into Closed Nations

In my search for open door into closed nations of the Middle East, I jumped at an invitation to Bahrain for a consultation that was bringing together God's choicest servants in Arabian Peninsula. They were to meet to share strategies on how best they could accelerate the advancement of the kingdom of God in the area. Little then did I know what was awaiting me there. The period unfortunately coincided with when some missionaries from South Korea were arrested by the Taliban's in Afghanistan. Some were killed and others detained.

As soon as I stepped into Bahrain's capital, the eagle-eyed security men spotted me. I was picked out, locked up, thoroughly interrogated, denied food, water and detained for close to 48 hours. I did all I could not to release information that will establish my link with the Christian community in the country as that will be detrimental to their work. In my solitary confinement, I prayed and trusted God that I will be released. I was eventually deported with full security guards out of the country. Even though I was not able to accomplish the purpose of my missionary trip to the country which was primarily consultation with Christian labourers in the Arabian Peninsula and establishing network relationship with some, I was glad that I was not executed like our other visiting missionaries to Afghanistan almost about the same time. It marked the beginning of my journey to the closed nations.

Seven years after that first unsuccessful attempt, God has guided and guarded me through several other closed nations and brought me in close contact with many more of his choicest heroes and heroines in these places whose testimonies I will carefully share in this edition. God is doing so much behind the curtain that the church needs to know and be thankful for.  Also, there are challenges confronting many of the missionaries working undercover in these areas we need to be aware of. We need to join them in shedding tears and possibly go on our kneels to help wipe away some of the tears as we also join in enjoying the thrills of the harvest. The Psalmist rightly captured it in Psalm 126:5-6 when he wrote 'Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.  He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.’

South East Asia
We had a meeting with 230 mission leaders from across the globe in one of the Asian countries. One of the major highlight of the meeting was report of what God is doing in some of the closed nations. One of the foot soldiers for Christ from the South East Asia thrilled us as he reported the story of a young man who broke into a church in one of the closed country among one of the chronic unreached people groups where preaching of the gospel is highly restricted. One of the items he stole from the church was a Bible. While reading through the stolen Bible, he was arrested by the God of the Bible as he came under conviction, gave his life to Christ without anybody preaching to him. He has been sharing the testimony of his salvation over and over and as at the time of the report, no fewer than 800 persons in that region have been led to Christ. This former thief has also planted many underground churches and currently serves as one of the leaders of the underground church movement network. God is awesome!

A New Revolution in Iran
The country of Iran witnessed the Iranian revolution in 1979. There seems to be a new revolution that will soon dwarfed the one led by Ayatollah Khomeini. The ongoing revolution is spiritually. The spirit of God is quietly sweeping across the country bringing the souls of the Iranians to himself. We constantly receive news of the awesome things God is doing and we are grateful to Him.  At the time of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 at Iran, there were only about 500 known Muslim converts in the country, according to Operation World. By 2000, there were a reported 220,000 believers, including Muslim converts. Even children of government ministers and mullahs have been converting to Christ.  In 2011, it was reported that Iran and Afghanistan have the fastest growing population in the world. In Iran, the Evangelical   population is growing annually at 19.6 %. In Afghanistan, the rate is 16.7%.

Unstoppable Advance
Just recently, we received report of a man who came to Christ through reading the New Testament Bible. Before coming to faith, he never knew what love was neither does he loves from his heart. He met a friend who gave him a New Testament Bible and told him he wanted the God in the book and wanted to test His love. The God of the book did not let him down. He testified of how love came into his heart and how full of love the God is. That was how he became a Christian. His fiancé challenged him to choose between the God of the book and her. He decided to choose the God of the book. Surprised by the young convert choice and changed way of life, the fiancée also decided to test the God and see what He is like. She too became a Christian.

Two years later, the Pastor of the young believer left. He and one other person were appointed to take over the church. The church saw its membership grew to 80 persons and three other fellowships were planted. His ministry attracted the attention of the government. He and his fiancée were arrested. They were tortured and threatened with execution if they refuse to reject their faith in Christ Jesus. Both of them testified: 'they tried taking Jesus out of our lives but what they have done strengthened our faith'.
Many like these young men are languishing in jail today but instead of discouraging non believers, many more are surrendering their lives to Christ. A young lady who was locked up for eight days in a public cell testified “to me, the impact of persecution is that the church grow, it is hard for believers but when Christians face persecution, it gives believers the opportunity to explain the reason for their hope to Iranians already thirsty for spiritual truth”.

No Nation is Closed to Dream, Satellite and Internet No Matter the Censorship
A Muslim woman followed her Christian daughter to the church for the first time. She confronted the pastor with her dream “Jesus was standing on a large square stone, proclaiming, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”. The Pastor turned to 1 Peter 2:7 and showed her the exact words from the Bible and then explained to her what it meant. The woman was astonished, got her own copy of the New Testament and gave her life to Christ. She has been studying the scripture and growing steadily in the faith. This also represent stories of hundred of supernatural encounters across several closed nations of the world. Many others in Saudi Arabia have embraced Christ as a result of gospel massages through the internet and some through satellites televisions.

One tool that has been very central to all the encounters, whether through dream, internet, satellite TV, etc. is the Bible. The need for more of it cannot be overemphasized. A pregnant woman on bed rest was given a Bible. She read it and came to faith. She delivered a baby boy and dedicates him to Jesus of the Bible. A police officer listened to the gospel from an arrested Christian and the next thing was to ask for a New Testament.

Hunger for His Word
A woman was given a New Testament and she was so excited. She testified that she recently became a Christian. A brother who was so full of joy of how Jesus visited him requested for 100 copies of the Bible to give to his friends.
A lame man was given a New Testament at the motor park. He, the giver and testified that 40 days earlier, he had accepted Christ after watch a gospel message on a satellite TV. A book seller visited an underground church in the Middle East for a box of New Testament. He testified that many of his customers desperately needed it.

While in the Arabian Peninsula in November 2012, I had the privilege of meeting with core mission leaders again. Some of the encouraging reports presented include the good work going on in the United Arab Emirate on university campuses. The seed been sown into the life of the youths today will upturn every other power that oppose the gospel. It is encouraging to also note that, an indigenous church has been born in the country. Our prayer is that the converts will continue to wax stronger and that God will give them wisdom to share their faith. The traditional belief is that in view of the material advancement of the country, the indigenous people are well to do and as such reaching them through holistic mission is untenable. That is not entirely true.

For example, the Balochi people group are downtrodden and forgotten. They are a tribal society and an ethnic group who are native to the Balochistan region in the Indian subcontinent and southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Southwest Asia. They mainly speak Balochi, which is a branch of the Iranian languages, and more specifically of the Northwestern Iranian languages, that is Kurdish and other Iranic languages of the region. They inhabit mountainous terrains and deserts, and maintain a very distinct cultural identity. The Baloch-speaking population worldwide is estimated to be in the range of 10 to 15 million. However, the exact number of Baloch and those who are or claim to be of Baloch ancestry is difficult to determine. They are over 500,000 in number resident both Oman and UAE. They don't have international passport, visa nor resident permit. As a result, their children cannot be registered in school. Yet they have to be taught. Volunteers are needed to work among this people, teach their children outside the formal school setting and minister the love of Jesus to them. Women volunteers are needed to establish social contact with their wives and direct them to the finished work of Calvary.

Crucial Need for the Gospel in the Arabian Peninsular
 At Oman, there were only 10 known indigenous Christians. Their conversions were largely the work of the Holy Spirit. In one of the cities, Jesus appeared to a man in a dream and told him, He love him and will help him solve his problems. At Muscat, a Christian lady was working in the hospital with a Muslim lad from the area. The Muslim lady was really touched by quality of Christian life of the South African lady and also surrendered her life to Christ.

After a while, the sister of the Muslim convert fell sick. She prayed for her but unfortunately, the girl died. Disappointed, she left the faith.  Pray that she will be restored to faith. Another testimony of note is that of a Christian teacher who visited a woman with stroke from neck to the leg. This quiet and simple lady prayed for the woman and God breathed on her prayers. The woman was healed. The Swahili speaking Omanis are open to the Swahili speaking East African nations. Our prayer is that God will usher in more labourers from there to Oman.  

At another part of Oman, a missionary spent lot of his time in a coffee shop with the locals. After establishing social contact, he gave an MP3 portion of the Bible to one of them. The man was so excited at the gift that he testified how he had longed to have a Bible for ten years. He later told the missionary that he wanted to have the Jesus that the missionary had. The situation is worse at Qatar where there were only three known indigenous believer in the entire country as my last check. Though there were pockets of churches in the country but they are servicing settlers. A senior colleague called them 'flower pot' churches. Our prayer is that God will bring strong revival in these Qatar and all the closed nations of our time.

At Saudi, a Christian sister had her tongue cut off. She still held to Jesus and was later killed but that still did not stop the other believers. The underground church is waxing stronger and stronger by the day. Another Christian girl who could not hide her faith had to escape to Lebanon. She was trailed to Lebanon and escaped to Turkey. God is at work in this Muslim nation. There are many secret Disciples of Christ in Saudi Arabia today more than many of the Arabian Peninsula nations put together. Our prayer is that their faith will be increasingly contagious to the extent that those coming to the nation on pilgrimage will contact Jesus.

What Can We Do?
 God's word does not exempt the closed nations from the Great Commission. For our obedience to be complete, we must take the gospel to the darkest part of the earth. For us not to be labeled cowards, we must penetrate the hardest part of the world. To usher back the King of kings, the gospel of the kingdom must be preached in the entire world for a witness. We must start with determination to go. We must put action to it. The first action step is prayer. We can pray for the hardest nation from any part of the world. The God who enabled the Israelites to bring down the wall of Jericho will in response to our prayer give us the hardest heathens. His words: 'Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession'. (Ps 2:8). 

It sound simple but we must remember that the most precious thing in this which is the air we breathe is not just cheap but free. While on our kneels, He will give us directions and strategies. For Jericho, it was that cheap and unappealing to common sense: 'Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 2 And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour. 3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.' (Josh 6:1-4).

There are many creative ways of penetrating the closed nations today. Somebody once insisted that there is actually no closed nation today any more but many believers hearts are closed to the great commission. The church is no longer passionate about lost souls. If we are passionate about anything, nothing can really stop us from getting it. As I travel round the world, I come across people who break all kinds of barriers just to get money. If the same passion with which men pursue money is used to obey the Great Commission, the job would have been done. We need to get out of our comfort zone. Let us visualise the dying world in Yemen. Those perishing daily in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and all over the 10/40 window. If men can go that far for money, we can go wherever the marching order leads to snatch souls from the devil.

Paradigm Shift Needed
The traditional method we are use to may not work at this end times. We must change our paradigm. Most of those labouring today in darkest jungle of the closed nations did not get there with their church titles. Most of them have to go under cover. They are business men and women. Some took up job in those nations not because of the money involve but to secure access to closed nations. While some are blessed to get jobs befitting their qualifications, others have to accept whatever job that comes their way so they can be properly positioned to reach out to those who so badly needed the gospel in the dark nations. A testimony was told of a man with a doctorate degree. He had passion for the people of Yemen. He sought for means to go there and share the love of Jesus and the only door open was to be a domestic servant to one of the Sheiks. 

He accepted the offer and relocated to Yemen. Faithfully with his doctorate degree, he served as domestic servant and quietly he laboured as a missionary until the Sheik under whom he served became sick and the doctors and Muslim clerics could not help him. While on his dying bed, he beckoned on the servant to pray for him. The servant cautioned that he will pray in the name of Jesus whom he served.  He was given go ahead. He prayed for the Sheik in the name of Jesus and he got healed. Through the help of the Sheik, he got a lecturing job in the university. In Saudi Arabia, we have a young man from Philippine with a Master Degree serving as security man just to access the country to share the love of Jesus.  We have many missionaries doing menial job across the Middle East today so they can be opportune to serve the Lord among the people.

For me, this is a worthy price to pay for the advancement of the gospel. The Son of God left heaven and was born by a woman in the manger and brought up by a carpenter father. If Jesus did that, we can do much more for the one who paid the supreme price for us. Let us change our paradigm and get the job done. Let us remove our title, collar and priestly garment, incarnate and get the people saved. Their souls are too precious to be ignored!

Your Money and the Closed Nations
I attended a group discussion at the United Arab Emirate (UAE) few weeks ago where we were robbing minds on our different strategies. An elderly lady from the United State of America joined the group much later and interrupted our discussion. She introduced herself as a donor and had come to ask if there are missionaries needing financial support. If I were allowed to respond, I would have shouted a big YES! But the group leader said NO! I looked at the face of the others waiting for them to object but instead, they substantiated the 'NO' answer that was given. I was an odd man in the group. All of them were not just working as missionaries but are working under cover. They all have registered companies that are bringing in money. Without the company in the first place, they would not have been issued visas and resident permit.
That still does not mean that the donor ministry is not relevant in the closed nations. Most individual missionaries may not require financial support because they already have a regular flow of income for personal from their businesses but missions is not just about the individual. For example, we have talked so much about the power of the Bible in these nations and how severely hungry for it many are. If you cannot go yourself as a missionary, you can help sponsor the publishing of more bibles. We need millions of Bibles in the different languages in Iraq for example.

Also, the cost of sending missionaries to closed nations is definitely capital intensive at the onset. Sometimes, it requires setting up business for such missionary to use as cover. After a while, the proceeds from the business will cater for the missionaries' upkeep and possibly serve as open-door for future missionaries. To invest such a huge amount on missionaries, they must be first and foremost be properly tested as some may be swallowed up by the business and forget they were ever called to ministry. Over the past 25years of pioneering Grace Foundation Inland Missions, I have come across different characters and understands better why Jesus was never in a hurry to lay hand on anybody. For those who may want to labour with us in those part of the world, they must first be tested in a local field and the number of years depends on initial assessment.