Egbe is primarily a Yoruba community, but there are also a lot of Hausa and Fulani Muslims who have migrated from the northern part of Nigeria to settle in farming communities in the area. There are also lesser-known tribes represented; families that have moved away from the conflict that has engulfed the north to try to find safety in the south.
Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) decided to send missionaries for the first time to the southwestern region to reach out to the Fulani and Hausa people that are living on Yoruba land. The Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS) of ECWA, is the name of the group of missionaries that works as church planters of ECWA church. The church does not have set plans on how to train and equip these missionaries for the work. When we met with the Director in July and explained to him what Firm Foundation in Christ Ministry does and how our training could be of great help to the missionaries, he was enthusiastic about the training and asked us to go all over the country to train the over two thousand missionaries, but for the training we wanted to conduct in Egbe he couldn’t finance the food during the five days of training.
While we were talking of the need for this training, and how to raise funds, a missionary in the Egbe Hospital came in and overheard us and decided to help us with the cost. FFICM’s training in the area was an answer prayer for these missionaries; we provided them with training on how to witness to people and also supplied materials for them to use to conduct followup trainings among new believers in their communities. The trainees told us, “The training has really given us what we need for the mission field.” The materials, the topics taught, the skills and the audio bibles will all help them to accomplish their mission.
We also equipped these missionaries with some of the audio devices we have, on which we have loaded a Bible translation, Hausa and Fulfulde teachings about the Quran, and teachings on many other topics that can be difficult for Muslim background believers to understand. These teachings were done by former Muslims who know the burning questions Muslims have concerning Christianity.
During the training, we sent the attendees for field practice as a part of the training. They came back rejoicing and testifying how the people were listening to them. The field practicing was a great exposure to all as they have time to meet with the Fulani, Muslim and other non-Christian and people were listening to them and treating them with kindness.
A Fulani man who got one of our audio devices from one of the missionaries wanted to give his life to Jesus, and other Muslims were not happy to see that, so they attempted threatening him even to the chief palace. He said that after listening to the audio device he has decided to give his life to Christ, and that trigged serious tension in the community and the matter came up to the chief’s palace. But when they realized that the missionary was brought there by the man who worked at the hospital, who they respected they allowed the man to join the church, both him and his family.
All in all during the training alone the trainees witnessed to more than 200 people and 20 people gave their lives to Christ. Please pray for these new trainees and their incredible work among the people of Elbe. Thank you for your support!
