The inauguration of Church of Eziama Ntigha of Abia state, Nigeria. Pray for their faithfulness. After four days of effort, I and my WBS workers helped launch the new congregation with 10 precious souls baptized.
Chinedum Nwankwo
If you’d like to help Chinedum in his work, you can do so here.
Greetings to you and all my brothers and sisters at the Shackle Island church of Christ, pray this report meet you well.
The month of October, 2019 was great and hectic but very fruitful in my ministry.
On Sunday October 6, I and my family worshipped at Ikot Osute church were they worshipped first at their new church building. It was great to preach the sermon that brought a Soul into Christ through water baptism.
On Sunday October 13, I worshipped at Ikot Odiong were I preached the sermon and a Soul was restored to Christ as he confessed to his sin and ask for prayers of the saints. The church also meet after worship for planning on our forthcoming Bible Seminar /Evangelism in January 2020.
On same Sunday October 13, Two (2 ) Obeyed the Gospel and baptized into Christ at Ikot Osute.
Again, same October 13, another Two (2) precious souls obeyed the Gospel and baptized into Christ at Ata Essien Obio Akpa village.
On Sunday October 20, I worshipped at Ikot Akpa Idem church my home village and place of birth, there I preached the sermon and teach the adult Bible class.
On Sunday October 27, I and my wife worshipped at Ikot Ideh village church in Ukanafun and preached the sermon, if not for the fact that I went along with a bottle of Communion Wine and Bread there would have been no Lord’s table on that day since they run out of their own.
Our Ukanafun WBS Evangelism Team embark on series of follow up mission during the month and we had positive feedback. Pray some who promised to come to our worship respond in the coming months.
It was indeed great working for the Lord in obedience to the Great Commission. Thank you for being part of our labor for Christ.
There have been serious rainy day here this thereby affecting our rural roads, affected some of our Evangelism schedule etc, but in all God is magnify in the kingdom of Christ through our little efforts which you supported. God bless you and yours in Christ precious name.
Pray for our outlined kingdom expansion activities in November, December 2019 and January 2020.
We pray continually for you and your endeavors.
In Christian Love and Service,
Mojima Etokudo
PS. The attachment shows pictures of my worship at Ikot Ideh village church of Christ on Sunday October 27, 2019
**If you’d like to donate to Mojima’s good work, you can do so here.
We were called to be Fishers of men (men/women).
In October 2019 many Fishes men/women were caught for the Lord.
– Bro. Christian Etukuko reported 15 Baptisms in October 2019.
– Sunday Solomon reported baptisms of 2 WBS students.
– Anameti Akpan reported 7 baptisms in October 2019.
– At Two Towns (Manta/Midim) Church of Christ 1 souls accepted Christ in baptism.
– Women Bible Lectureship took place at Church of Christ Oku Abak on 3rd Saturday of October 2019.
– At Campus Church of Christ African Christian Secondary School (ACSS) 4 students were baptized on 20th October, 2019.
– A WBS Seminar/Evangelism at Church of Christ Nkwot Edem Edet on October 25, 2019 brought 8 souls to Christ in Baptism, and we were taken to one Public School to enroll students and their teachers into WBS Lessons.
– The one at Church of Christ Edem Idim Manta Church of Christ on 3rd Sunday in October 2019 was also encouraging.
– The attendance of Youth Seminar at Abak City Church of Christ on 1st Sunday in October 2019 was also encouraging.
– M. B. Archibong reported 9 baptisms during the month of October 2019.
– Uyai Joshua reported 1 baptism and restoration of a trained Preacher who became a Preacher in a Denomination (Mount Zion Church).
Keep on praying for us.
In His service,
Monday John Akpakpan.
SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER REPORT
My last lesson of July and August with Abdul Suleiman was “The importance of the Godhead” so this month of September and October we will consider the topic “The Lord our God is one” God the father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. At one glance one might say these are three gods, thus Christianity is actually polytheistic. The other extreme is to believe that the three are merely different manifestations of the one God. In other words, there is only one God, but at times He is spoken of as God the father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Jesus is only a manifestation of this one God and at other times God is displayed as the spirit. This avoids the dilemma of having three gods, but we run into the problem of rationalizing this doctrine with the teaching of the Bible.
The doctrine of the Godhead is a difficult idea to understand. Actually, I do not believe we can fully understand the God head, but this should not surprise us. There are many things about God that humans cannot fully comprehend. For example, humans cannot comprehend the idea of eternity, because everything in this world has a beginning and an end. However, by definition, eternity had no beginning and will have no ending. Why we may give some illustrations that may help some, all illustrations fall far short of truly describing eternity. If we could fully understand and comprehend all aspects about God, then He would no longer be God. Once we think we fully understand God, we have simply created God into an image, and He is no longer God. We do not want to worship someone or something that is no more than a man, regardless of how great he may be.
EFFORTS TO RESOLVE THIS DIFFICULTY
It should not be surprised that man has devised several doctrines which seem to solve the difficulty of the Godhead. Notice a few of the major ones. One solution is to redefine the Deity of Jesus. This idea teaches that Jesus was not divine in any sense at his conception or birth, but later he was adopted by God and elevated to the position of Deity. One could speak of Jesus as Divine because God was so strongly working in and through Jesus during His life on earth. This resolves the tension between the deity of Jesus and God; however, it rejects and over looks many passages that teach the equality between Jesus and God and the Deity of Jesus from His conception and even before His conception. Another view is one that has already been mentioned, and it presents God like an actor who plays several parts in a play.
At one time God is playing the part of God the father, at another time He plays the part of Jesus, and at another time He plays the part of spirit. Thus, God is not actually three persons but merely one person presented in three different forms. This approach preserves the unity of God; however, it ignores several passages in which all three are present simultaneously. When Jesus was baptized, God spoke from heaven and the spirit descended on Jesus like a dove (Luke 3:21-22) To whom did Jesus pray when He was on the earth? It would be silly to say Jesus prayed to Himself. When God was a fetus in the womb of Mary how could he control and preserve the universe? How could God truly be limited in knowledge as was Jesus while on earth (e.g. Mark 13:32), if He was one and the same person? Another common solution in the religious world is to redefine the relationship between the father and the son. Rather than holding that Jesus is eternal this view presents the son as merely a created being, the first and certainly highest creature, but nevertheless, Jesus is a created being and thus less than God. Some passages in the New Testament seem to support this idea. For instance John 14:28, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, However as with the other approaches, this view ignores many passages which teach the power and the eternal nature of Jesus as was presented in my previous lesson “Jesus is God” The New Testament passages which present the superiority of the father over His son can easily be understood as indicating Jesus’ willful emptying of the characteristics of Deity as indicated in Philippians 2:5-11 when He became flesh.
GOD IS ONE
This doctrine is taught all through the Bible. The Jews regularly quoted Deuteronomy 6:4 called the SHEMA. Jesus also quoted this verse in Mark 12:29. The very first one of the Ten Commandments states, “You shall have no other gods before me”. Isaiah spoke against idolatry on many occasions. Notice just two examples Isaiah 44:6, a similar statement is made in the next chapter Isaiah 45:5 Paul also made a comparable statement in 1 Corinthians 8:4. We learn from James 2:19 that even the demons believe there is only one God. How can three be one? That is the problem that we humans have. We cannot conceive of three different material substances being combined into one and yet still remaining three distinct substances. In the next lesson we will look further at this idea of God being one, as well as considering some analogies that might help us better understand this difficult concept.
Furthermore, the brethren here are faithful. Both personal and congregational Evangelism are been carried out. We go out every Lord’s day after worship and spend two hours preaching the gospel, this is outside my own personal Evangelism as a preacher. Since the congregation is situated in the rural area and the people are farmers, the only time we can get them around in numbers is the Lord’s day. And we are doing our best to preach to them as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 16:15-16, 2 Timothy 4:2. The new convert is doing well in the young convert’s class been regular in fellowship. The world Bible school representatives in Rivers State had Evangelism in ABUA ODUAL otherwise known as ABUA CENTRAL last month though we did not record any baptism. THE WBS REPRESENTATIVES IN RIVERS STATE movement to ABUA ODUAL was based on invitation from church of Christ AZUBIE TOWN which planted a congregation there. There has been no Lord’s church in ABUA ODUAL. The people are receptive and we are planning to go there again. Pray for the young convert, Abdul Suleiman and the brethren here as the Lord is in control. Our prayers are with you too.
God bless you Amen.
NNANNA AFORJI
I thank God for His mercy and abundant grace. Thank you my supporters at the Austin Chapel Church of Christ, Sardis TN for your prayers and financial support which has helped me to preach the Gospel to the lost souls and to edify the body of Christ in Nigeria. God has continued to bless my efforts with positive responses of baptisms and restorations.
On 7th October, the North side Church of Christ, Ikot Akpan Adia, Ukpom hosted their annual lectureship on the theme “The Beauty of Jesus. It had a large crowd of participants, men, women, and children. I was one of the resource persons who helped to answer questions and led in prayer session.
The women monthly Gospel meeting was held at Church of Christ, Oku Abak on the 19th October. Many sisters attended and good lessons were delivered to keep them continue in the faith.
We use World Bible School Seminars so much to win souls for Christ. On the 23rd October, we had a W.B.S Seminar at Nkwot Edem Edet, Ikono on theme “The Mystery of Salvation”; we visited Community Secondary School in that area and enrolled more than two hundred students in W.B.S Courses. We recorded eight baptisms.
I am glad to report on the restoration of Mr. Francis Akpan, N.C.B.C 1993 graduate of the Ministerial Programme. After his graduation, he preached for the Church of Christ for five years but later backslid and went to preach for a denomination, Mount Zion Light House. This month of October, God opened his eyes and he returned to the Lord’s Church. He came to my office last week and asked me to look for a congregation for him to work with.
During the weekend, 25-27 October, the Nigerian Christian Bible College, Ukpom sent out forty-two students to work with twenty congregations in Abak. They conducted 150 personal calls. 5 open air lectures, many prayers meetings. They recorded 5 baptisms and 10 restorations. Two students were sent to my congregation, Church of Christ, Ikot Akpabio. I worked with them and recorded one baptism.
On Sunday October 27, I went with Monday Akpakpan to conduct W.B.S Seminar at Church of Christ, Nung Oku Ikot, Etim Ekpo. We had indoor lectures; I spoke on “Why Study the Bible”. We opened a W.B.S office and study center for this young congregation. We had two baptisms.
On 10th November, we shall have another W.B.S Seminar at Church of Christ, Ika on the theme “Christ and the Church”.
October 31st– November 4th, I will be at Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria. I will participate in the National Ministers Forum and N.C.B.C Alumni meeting. I need your prayers for the trip.
Please send your regular support to Chad Wagner who will wire money to Nigeria on October 30-31.
Thanks for your regular supports and prayers.
SUMMARY OF WORK ACCOMPLISH IN OCTOBER 2019
1. October – 16
2. Restorations – 10
3. W.B.S Seminars – 3
4. A Trip to Abuja – October 31st – November 4th
Wisdom Belongs to the Aged.
On March 17th, 2019 Sunday Ibanga obeyed the gospel. Sunday is a 75 year old man, a true account that it is never too late to follow the word of Christ.
“Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.”
-Job 12:12
Email from:
Mojima Etokudo <mojima_ukng@yahoo.com>
