Akure, Nigeria

It was the first day of the conference in Akure, Nigeria, and we were all set to begin at 9:00 am. Our hosts were bringing breakfast and coffee early so we could get to the Servant Leadership Institute in time. Up bright and early, we cleaned up and were ready to go by 7:30. And then we waited: 8:00 am - no breakfast…9:00 am - no breakfast and no word from our hosts…10:00 am and we are now officially concerned. Knowing Gideon Umukoro, this delay was unusual. We prayed for him and for the Lord’s provision and protection in the situation. I finally asked the hotel to call him and find out if everything was alright. Gideon responded that he had sent his car and it had broken down. So, he sent a second vehicle and it broke down too! As a result, our breakfast was coming via taxi while he worked to find a third vehicle that could bring us to the SLI facility. We finally arrived and began our teaching at 11:00 am.

Welcome to ministry in Nigeria! Although it is the largest and one of the wealthiest of the black African countries, Nigeria suffers from a whole range of ills: extreme poverty, choking pollution, crumbling infrastructure, political corruption and (in some areas) Islamic violence. Sadly, many of its people seem to be addicted to get-rich-quick scams and a false gospel of prosperity. It’s a place that desperately needs the whole gospel applied to the whole man.

We are here to continue the Training of Trainers (TOT) program by teaching the second half of the Our Covenant God curriculum – the part that deals with the application of Biblical theology to culture. I taught the first part in February and received an enthusiastic response from the men we are training to be EPI national instructors. Dr. Render Caines, senior pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, TN, is on this trip to share the teaching load and to see first-hand the work of EPI in West Africa. The two of us share a passion for extending the Kingdom of Christ through the biblical transformation of culture. And we used this week to share that passion with the men gathered in Akure.

Although the group was small (about 35 pastors and leaders), the potential of this training is immense. Hailing from most of the major regions of Nigeria, these men will directly impact over 4,000 people – many of whom are cultural leaders themselves. We saw an example of this influence in a prayer request given at the very end of the conference: Pastor Isaac had just received a call from the ceremonial chief of his tribal region. The chief had decided to close all the churches for 7 days so that everyone could focus on the festival he was promoting – a festival dedicated to the traditional African gods. He had already ordered the distribution of machetes and guns to be used against anyone refusing to close their church. The call was to notify Isaac about the closing. But when the chief found that this well-regarded Christian pastor was out of the district, he postponed his final decision until he was able to consult with him. As we prayed for Isaac, we asked that God would give him the words to say that would convince the chief to allow Christian worship to continue or, if not, the courage to obey God rather than man.

Once they are trained, these men will be teaching the basic EPI curriculum to their fellow Nigerians, greatly multiplying the impact of this Biblical curriculum in that country. Each man hopes to become certified in one or more of the courses: Marriage, Church Leadership, Biblical Stewardship, Christian Education and Biblical Counseling. They are so eager to get started that some are already passing on what they have learned through the Our Covenant God curriculum. Two OCG conferences have been scheduled for the next month: 40 pastors and leaders are being trained in Ogun state this week and then 80 will be trained in Kogi state. Who knows how many people THEY will influence? The combination of Biblical truth and Biblical methodology (2 Tim. 2:2) is powerful!

It was a challenging week for us: The food was different; the cultural atmosphere seemed oppressive and the work was strenuous. However, the joy and gravity with which these men received the things we taught made it a joyful experience for us. We thank God for His grace that sustained us through the five days of teaching, that provided us with answers to questions we did not anticipate and that gave us a spontaneity that enlivened the presentation. We also thank Him that we were constantly upheld in prayer by many, many people. Thank you, too, for praying. Don’t stop yet! We will repeat the same instruction in Sunyani, Ghana this week.