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Prayer Needed for the Church in Nigeria
Prayer Needed for the Church in Nigeria January 25, 2011
WRF Member Richard Verreynne [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ] has asked that the material below be posted on the WRF website.
ALL of us should be in prayers for our broithers ans sisters in Nigeria!
Sent: 17 Januarie 2011 15:12
Subject: Postponement of 1st Quarter International Events
Greetings in Jesus name. Thank you so much for your prayers, sms,
telephone calls and emails. The past one week has been a very
challenging one. We are compelled to take very painful decisions after
much prayers and careful consultations.
As you are very much aware of, the lingering crises in Jos resurfaced
towards the end of 2010 with series of bomb blast leading to the death
of scores of persons. We cried to God fervently trusting that the
crises will end with the year. Unfortunately, the ones in 2011
seemingly worse. Everything in the past one week has been on
standstill. The streets are almost completely empty. The banks were
locked up. The shops were not open. The casualties resulted from the
killings were neatly concealed apparently to avoid reprisal attacks.
In the midst of this uneasy calm, I managed to sneak out, leading a
team of resource persons to Indigenous Believers Campmeeting (IBC) for
the Kamberi and Dukawas in far-away Niger State near the boarder of
Benin Republic. The program was a huge success. I returned this night
to meet the usual uneasy calmness, news of attacks and counter
attacks.
Our 2011 session for the School of Cross-Cultural Missions were due to
have resumed last week. Most of the new set of students could not
resume for fear of attack. The outgoing students are wondering what
happens in the next minute because of perpetual fear and rumour of
possible attack.
Having successfully tasted mission work in some of the dangerous
fields in the Middle East, I had earlier choose to ignore the
challenges that the ongoing Jihad poses. The reality on ground now
requires some wisdom. It is apparent that with the constant lost of
innocent lives, we have to postpone two of our key meetings schedule
to hold in the first quarter of 2011 despite the huge sum we had
invested on preparation already. The first is the Leadership
Empowerment Conference (LEC) scheduled to hold in Jos on March 15-21
and the 16th African Missions Summit on March 22-27, 2011. After due
consultations, the LEC we scheduled to hold at Bauchi, Abuja, Ibadan,
Ankpa, Ogogu, Abeokuta and Lagos have to be rescheduled also because
of the political climate which is breeding all kinds of crises like
Bokoharam, kidnapping, bomb explosion, etc.
Attached is the picture of the victims of the January 12, Crises in
Jos. They are innocent travellers from passing through Jos in a bus.
They met their untimely death in the hands of those who claimed to be
fighting for God. Please, do not open if you are not strong hearted.
This is genocide! In the face of this reality, we will not entirely
close up our ministries in Jos. We are trusting God to move some of
the ongoing training work outside the city. This will require renting
a hostel for our students and classroom and office accommodation. If
the situation does not improve soon, we may also relocate our
Unreached Children Home (UCH)~ our ministry to orphans and vulnerable
kids also out of Jos. On several occasions last year, we had to move
them to the mountain top and later to the barrack for safety. The
sight of constant crises is not a good memory for the kids. All these
require huge sum and above all the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
We no doubt covet your prayers now than ever. Pray for our staff,
friends and partners in the city for divine protection. Pray that our
ministry in Furaka community where we are committed to helping over
100 souls (indigenous people and settlers). Pray for both the state
and federal government of Nigeria for wisdom on how to approach the
issues on ground.
Thank you for being there for us at this very difficult time.
Rev. Andrew Abah
International Director, Grace Foundation Inland Missions
Nigeria Representative, MET(Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada)
Off Bauchi Ring Road, Furaka
P.O. Box 2704, Jos, Nigeria
Tel: +234-8037054214
Skype: andrewabah
Blog: Http://gracefoundationsupdate.blogspot.com
Website: www.gfim-ng.org