I'm posting the updates from the latest trip to West Africa. I wasn't able to post them while overseas, since the internet service is generally poor. However, I'm post-dating them to the time they were written. Hope you find these interesting.
Imagine, if you can, a world in which none of the rules of the road apply. Where drivers pass on the right, use excessive speed, drive into on-coming traffic even on divided highways, pass without visibility and will brake and park on the shoulder without warning – and without brake lights. A world in which the driver is not only forced to contend with the maniacs in the other vehicles but also with logs on the roadway, immense overloaded trucks that will not give way, capricious police roadblocks, begging lepers waving makeshift flags in the median and vast fields of HUGE potholes that force him to weave from one side of the “road” to the other, just to find a route that will not swallow the car. Then punctuate this nerve-wracking experience with the constant blaring of horns, overlay it with a greasy fog of diesel smoke from the trucks and top it off with blowing dust from the Sahara that reduces visibility to ½ mile. That’s driving in Nigeria. Stress is too small a word to comprehend the experience. But this is where God has brought EPI to equip leaders. And it is a WONDERFUL blessing to be here!
I flew in the evening of Saturday, February 9 and Dr. Gideon Umukoro met me at the airport in Lagos. We shared a hotel room in the city (obviously, you don’t want to drive in the dark) and drove on Sunday to Akure – about 3-4 hours northeast. Once I was safely ensconced in a hotel with a working air conditioner, I began reviewing the first sections of Our Covenant God, the curriculum I came to teach. This was to be an experiment – a small group of men, who would be taking the first step toward becoming certified EPI national trainers. The violence in Kenya has encouraged us to move more quickly toward establishing a national training corps that will be able to continue teaching the EPI curriculum, even if teachers from the US can’t get into the country. So, I am training trainers both in Nigeria and Ghana as the first step in that process. Our Covenant God is intended to provide an introduction to Reformed covenantal theology as the foundation for all the subsequent curricula these trainers will teach.
The instruction began on Monday morning and continued until Friday afternoon. Each day, we would begin around 9:30 and I would teach and answer questions steadily until lunch at 1:30. We would resume at 2:15 and continue until 5:00. It was not an easy schedule for any of us. These 30 men were being confronted with ideas they had never considered before and I came close to losing my voice several times. The book has six chapters: The Sufficiency of Scripture, The Nature of God, The Nature of Man, Our Covenant God (the covenants through the Bible), God’s Plan of Redemption (as an outgrowth of His covenant purposes) and The Covenant Community. We were meeting in the new Servant Leadership Institute facility in Akure and, although the afternoon temperatures hovered in the low 90’s, God gave us all strength to persevere.
Words fail to describe the response of these godly leaders to the truth of God’s Word. For the first time in their lives, they were presented with a view of the Bible from beginning to end that, at many places, challenged the beliefs they have taught for years. Yet, they never faltered. They peppered me with literally hundreds of questions and searched the Scriptures to see if these things were indeed true. They were “Bereans” in the best sense and, at my encouragement, evaluated every point on the basis of God’s Word. By the time we had finished the chapter on covenants on Wednesday morning, they were convinced and they readily accepted the doctrines of grace on Wednesday and Thursday. My driver, Pastor Praise, as he was taking me back to the hotel on Wednesday, said this curriculum was “mind blowing” and he was so excited. I finished by Friday morning with some brief discussion on the church, even taking it to the point of explaining why some believers baptize their children. Again, they gulped but rode it out. I told them this should not be a point of division, but that I wanted them to understand how this is a consistent application of the covenants. Most were not convinced, but they all have a greater appreciation for the concept of covenant baptism.
As I concluded, I shared with them my vision for an African Reformation. They were SO excited! The thought of rejoining the Word and the Spirit to restore truth and power to Christ’s church filled them with hope and determination. They are ready to move forward to reform the church in Nigeria and are eagerly anticipating the next step in the training process.
We said our farewells on Friday afternoon, and I intend to follow up with them in the months to come via email. Gideon, Praise and I left early Saturday morning for Lagos – another adventure in driving. Although it had been repaired, Gideon’s car continued to overheat. Although we added water and drove with the heat on full blast, by the time we reached Lagos, it began to stall when we were delayed in traffic. Twice, through prayer, it restarted; but the third time it wouldn’t budge. My flight was scheduled to leave in less than an hour. So, Gideon flagged down a car and paid the man to take us to the airport. By God’s grace, I was able to check in and made it to the flight in time! Such events challenge my faith, for the American in me wants matters to move according to MY schedule and becomes very fretful and stressed when they don’t. Thankfully, God is patient even when I am not and He answered our prayers in His own way.
Thank you all for your prayers also. They were answered above and beyond what I could have thought or asked. The Holy Spirit was with us in each session, giving me thoughts and verses that I did not prepare and giving them teachable hearts. He gave us safe travel in both directions and has brought me to Ghana, where I will do it all again this coming week. All the glory goes to God.I have been joined here by Dr. Allen Monroe and Mr. Chuck Emerson, who will be teaching Romans this next week to a larger group.
The opportunities in West Africa are immense and your support is a vital part of this work. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to embrace these opportunities for the glory of God in the extension of Christ’s Kingdom.
Grace and peace,
Dan.
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