The Glory People - Beautiful Africa Again

Saturday 4 April: After a free business upgrade (advice: always wear a suit when flying!) I safely arrived in Lagos at 7pm. The airport appears to be more friendly since the last time I was here, with people at the front of the airport stating 'welcome to Nigeria'. After crossing the frontier and wandering about for a few minutes, I met Pastor Godwin Ebulu. Pastor Godwin is a dear friend of Bishop James and he had invited me to come and minister for a couple of days at his place in Badagry.

Badagry is very famous to historians as being the second most important slave port in West Africa after Cape Coast, Ghana. It is also the first place where a missionary house was established, the first place where the Gospel was preached on West African soil and the first place where a primary school was established in Nigeria (so not much famous about it really....). It is also the westernmost town in Nigeria, with the border to Benin down the road.

A bit of traffic on the road but we safely arrived at the hotel about 9:30pm. I was provided with all kinds of snacks to keep me going (not that I will need those in temparatures of 35 degrees celsius) and rested up for the day ahead.

Sunday 5 April: I visited Power Pentecostal Church in a nice quiet cul de sac in Badagry. It is a branch of a much bigger church in Lagos and the people hear seem quite pleased to see me. I really enjoyed the whole service - I had the pleasure of dedicating his third son, Joses Ebulu to God. I preached on the once and for all sacrifice from Hebrews 10 - this fitted in well as this was an occasion when they were partaking in communion.

After an hour's break, it was time to do a teaching seminar for pastors and church workers. I taught about how the Holy Spirit helps believers overcome and what He can reveal to people. The congregation seemed very blessed and listened intently, although had to embrace new ideas when I paired them off to discuss the message and what they had learnt from it. The one thing I do love about Nigeria (I am sure I will think of another next time) is the punctuality of services. If they say they will close by 1pm, they will close at that time. Nigeria services have to be closed by 8:30pm due to the dangerous 'night time culture' - it is not safe to be wandering about too late into the night. After taking some chicken and rice (sorry, eating - the West African dialect is catching up with me!) I retired back to the hotel, with promises of a busy schedule the following day.

Monday 6 April: I awoke and prepared the evening's message and then at 8am, we were off to visit some of the church members - whilst many were blessed to have their own businesses and jobs, there are innumerable people who live in abject poverty in Nigeria. I would argue the conditions are not as favourable as some parts of other countries in West Africa - one factor was the electricity was seldom on the whole time I was there. I digress.

I had the opportunity of visiting the slave cells and the customs house - it is horrific to see however it is what happens when one group of people declare supremacy over another - and the 'slave trade' was repeated in the unlearnt lessons of the Pogroms and Auschwitz..not to mention the very real and living crisis in Sudan. I wanted to travel by boat to 'the point of no return' but the Pastor could not stomach crossing the water. Captain Fearless here will do anything but he said there were crocodiles in the water...somehow, I am not so sure....

The evening was an impartation service, where I saw many people healed - including a woman whose leg grew before our very eyes about 2.5 inches - she had hobbled to the stage and left totally in another realm. I tried to ask her what was happening but she was too far gone...sometimes it is better to leave them.

After being presented with about 5 Nigerian outfits, which I don't think I have room for in my case although I just about got them in, I went back to the hotel for a 4am (3am Ghana time start).

Tuesday 7 April - After starting at some ungodly hour, it was time to head back to the airport for a nice and early flight to Accra. After forgetting my Bible in the car (the driver was 4 miles down the road when he noticed), I was off to Accra with Aero Contractors. Aero Contractors are the Ryanair of West Africa, seeking to undercut all the other airlines. As a true capitalist at heart, I stand with them...their service was slick and efficient - I was at the Accra airport before James.

So here I was...back in Ghana so fair :-) ! James did not mess about; within one hour of landing I had some breakfast with Theresa, Pastor Nana and Nana, the faithful helper of Bishop and like good parents, they sent me off to school. I was teaching some Year 9's about the difference between Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King (very controversial as well...ask me about it if you are interested). With that done, I went off to my place of residence for the next 8 days - the ASK-OF orphanage. A beautiful place between the church and the house that James lives in. We just need to pray for some furniture to come forth...I had the pleasure of meeting the four children (although the place will one day house many more) Kennedy and George, Pascala and Katie. Thank God for the support that is coming this way - these children, who would otherwise be out on the streets selling (bear in mind that NOBODY begs here) have a place where they can have a future life. What a calling we have had placed upon us! I am sure that under the directional support of Bishop James and Keith, that the project will exceed even our own expectations!

In the evening, I went to preaching at Pastor Abraham's church - this is the man who has assisted Bishop as a civil engineer focusing on the construction of the Glory Cathedral. A very gentle man who has an aroma of humility. The service was very powerful with lots of impartation again, and people seeming to experience God in a big way. They begged us to return and said they would pray it would happen. I didn't give the chances much hope, as we had already got another engagement lined up for the following day in Winneba.

Wednesday 8th April - Happy birthday to Bishop James (and Martin). Birthdays are not big here, so life carries on as normal. Back to the school, which is in the process of being built - many students cannot afford to pay but this particular school still supports them. I can see a future World Development project here!! After coming back from the school, we duly bumped into one of the elders from the small church the other side of town (think meeting Alan in Ealing for the remoteness of the chances..), and also was informed that Winneba was not going to happen today, we accepted the invitation to go back to the church from the night before. Having some dinner with Jojo (my friend in ministry from London, who is also here at this time) was a blessing, although he was ministering in some AOG church on Sprintex road (about 10 miles from where we were..) in the evening, we went off on our separate ways.

The church service tonight started powerfully, with testimony after testimony about God's healing power the night before, which is an encouragement to all of us, including myself. Bishop James prophesied that tonight would be a double portion of the night before...and he was right. This time, there were many signs and wonders of healing and deliverance, with many people experiencing God's power from on high...so all good :-)

Next instalment will be on Monday, when the second half of the program concludes. The weather has been surprisingly cool after two baking hot days on Monday and Tuesday, although the humidity is still ensuring I am getting through three T-Shirts a day.