Nigeria: A Quest for a Vocational Center

The Lord is expanding His kingdom in Nigeria as our partnered missionaries continue the construction of their vocational center! Below is a summary of the importance and purpose this center will bring to the region: “The rural communities we reach out to are largely Muslims. These communities are poor and vulnerable. Most of them are subsistent farmers. The early Islamic evangelists who arrived in these communities took advantage of this vulnerability to convert many to Islam. Today these Islamic evangelists continue to entice our Christian converts with gifts of money, lands, promises of political positions, contracting marriages for them without costs, etc. If they do not accept, they are disowned by families and ostracised by the community and they are stripped of all their livelihoods including spouses, farms, lands, etc. They are also frequently threatened with death. As a result of all this pressure, they succumb.

By the grace of God, over the past three decades, with the provision of free medical care and the preaching of the good news, we have drawn and continue to draw many of these people into the kingdom. However, despite the many converts, we can only account for a small percentage of those standing for Christ. Follow-up and discipleship has been a big challenge. After asking God for guidance, we felt directed to establish a vocational center that hopefully will a) Ease our follow-up and discipleship of our converts away from hostile environments. B) Provide a livelihood – empower our converts so they are no longer dependent on family or the Islamic evangelists. It is also our hope that while our converts undergo the training under our watch, by the help of God we may be able to identify those who may have the call of God in their lives who we can arrange for further training.”

Please pray That the Lord will use this center as an important tool to continue reaching Muslims and be a beacon of light for new believers in need of a Christian community.