. . . you know there is a big disaster. I can’t remember the ever seeing my grandmother run anyway.
This is one of the Nigerian sayings that Pastor Bassey quoted as the introduction to his sermon this last week.
I spent the last week near the city of Badagari in Nigeria. Here most of the pastors from Nigeria, Ghana, and Togo gathered together for a joint West Africa pastoral conference. This was caused mainly by the political insecurity of Nigeria. Since it seemed abnormally unsafe for me to journey to Efa we brought all the pastors together near Lagos, Nigeria. Once there of course we needed something for them to do. I was also hoping that it would be a good chance for Kossi and the men from Togo to learn from the deeper theological understanding of the Nigerian men. Besides the original reasons it turned out to be an excellent opportunity for me to hear the pastors speak and preach. An opportunity I have seldom had before since I am usually the one preaching. Further I learned a lot just by being able to socialize daily with the pastors. The Nigerians who regularly hold conventions and conferences on their own were excited now because of the addition of men from Ghana and Togo.
There was some last minute difficulty caused by the nationwide strike in Nigeria. At the beginning of the year the Nigerian government removed subsidy on fuel. This meant the gas prices at the pump jumped immediately from 65 nira per liter ( $1.52 /gallon ) to 110 nira per liter ( $2.57 /gallon ). The National Labor Committee started a strike on Monday January 9th. The same day the pastors were planning on traveling from Efa to Lagos. Martin Essien however, knowing the problems this would cause quickly rescheduled their travel for Sunday night. The men from Ghana and Togo were not as easy to reschedule but because most of their travel took place across Togo and Benin it didn’t delay them too badly. They showed up late Monday night and were ready for the conference on Tuesday morning. Otherwise the strike really didn’t cause problems for the conference. Although it made it impossible for me to visit Efa even for a single day.
Present at the conference was one young man named Jospeh Kofi Ackah from Ghana. Previously in contact with Steve and Gretchen Eichstadt, Joseph had contacted me about the possibilities of beginning a church in Ghana. We met here at the conference where we were able to spend a little time in study each day. He asked for baptism and agreed to attend the Bible Institute in Efa, Nigeria. His hope is to return to Ghana after his time at the Bible Institute.
Pastor Kossi Blewu from Lome, Togo arrived with more joyful news. Currently serving two congregations in the city of Lome, Pastor Kossi has four new outreach areas he wishes to pursue. Two at various places around the city of Lome where small mission congregations are already present. And two more in the country of Benin were an acquaintance of Kossi who gave his life to the Lord has donated land hoping these places may be used to build churches.
May the word of grace continue forth by the power of the Holy Spirit,
Pastor Matthew Ude