COME OVER & HELP US: Texas African-Americans visits Nigeria

October 14, 2002

COME OVER & HELP US:
Texas African-Americans visit Nigeria
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___African-American Texas Baptist pastors visiting Nigeria prayed with the Muslim emir of the Nupe people, the Christian ruler of the Shoun people and the Baptist president of Africa's most populous nation.
___But mostly, they prayed with Nigerian Baptists, asking God to lead other African-American Baptists to find ways to partner with their spiritual brothers and sisters in West Africa.
___A Texas Baptist team visited five Nigerian states at the invitation of the Nigerian Baptist Convention and in cooperation with the BGCT Texas Partnerships Res

MICHAEL EVANS (with shovel), director of African-American ministries for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and a group of Texas Baptist ministers lead in the groundbreaking ceremony for a new Christian school in Nigeria. The Texans toured Nigeria, praying with Nigerian Baptists and seeking possibilities for partnership with their spiritual brothers and sisters in West Africa.

ource Center. The group covered about 2,500 ground miles in two weeks.
___Michael Evans, director of African-American ministries with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield, and Johnson Omoni, pastor of Africa Evangelical Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, led the group.
___Other participants were Dennis Young, president of the Texas Baptist African-American Fellowship and pastor of Missouri City Baptist Church; Charles Singleton, pastor of First Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth; Willie Jacobs, pastor of New Life Community Baptist Fellowship in Carrollton; Ronald Edwards of Minnehulla Baptist Church in Goliad; and Leonard Hornsby, minister of education at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Mansfield and regional coordinator for BGCT African-American ministries.
___Young and Edwards went as representatives of the BGCT Missions Review & Initiatives Committee. The committee has recommended Texas Baptists create a world missions network to facilitate church and individual involvement in direct missions, in close cooperation with national Baptist groups around the world.
___The group explored ways the BGCT--particularly African-American Texas Baptist churches--could develop partnerships with Nigerian Baptists, Evans said.
___"The Baptists in Nigeria treated us like royalty," he observed. "It meant so much to them for Americans, especially African-American pastors, to come see them.
___"They said, 'Thank you for coming back home to see about us.' And they said, 'Where have you been? We've been waiting on you.'"
___While the Texas Baptists were in the southwestern state of Kwara, the director of the National Youth Service Corps arranged a meeting with the Muslim emir of the Nupe people. Nigeria is home to more than 250 ethnic groups, and the nation is 50 percent Muslim.
___The Texans served as emissaries on behalf of the Nigerian Baptist Convention to petition the Muslim ruler for land that could be used to start schools and churches. The emir not only responded favorably to their request but also asked the American Christians to pray for him.
___After the meeting with the emir, the Texas Baptists also met with the village chieftain of another people group in Kwara, who also agreed to release land in his village where the Baptists could build schools and churches.
___The Texas Baptists visited the Life Touch Cottage Ministries Christian School in a predominantly Muslim area of Kwara. About 500 Christian and Muslim children attend the school, which is supported by a number of Texas Baptist churches. The Texans participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new school site, which will allow Life Touch Cottage Ministries to reach twice as many students.
___They also led a series of evangelistic meetings in the region. More than 10,000 people attended the services, including some services held after midnight. More than 500 of them made public commitments to Jesus Christ.
___"Church meetings are bigger there than nearly any sporting event--almost even bigger than soccer," Evans observed.
___In Ogbomoso, the Texas Baptists again met with royalty. They visited the ruler of the Shoun people group, who is a Christian. He expressed an interest in creating a partnership with Baptists to improve educational opportunities and community development among his people.
___In the capital city of Abuja, the Texas Baptists met with Olusegun Obasanjo, a Baptist layman and Nigeria's first democratically elected president in 15 years. Obasanjo visited with the Texas Baptists just 10 days before he journeyed to the United States to address the United Nations General Assembly.
___The president of Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, who serves as chaplain to the president, and members of the president's cabinet also participated in the meeting at Nigeria's Federal State House.
___"We offered prayer for the president and his cabinet," Evans said, noting some elements in Nigeria's Muslim population have called for Obasanjo's impeachment.
___"The president and his staff seek our continued prayer for them and the country."
___In Ibadan, the Texas Baptists met with Solomon Ishola, general secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, as well as other leaders in the national Baptist convention, including the presidents of Bowen University and Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary.
___The Texans learned the Nigerian Baptist Convention has set a goal of starting 1,000 churches each year. About 8,000 congregations currently are part of the convention.
___In exploring a partnership with the BGCT, Nigerian Baptist leaders expressed a need for training conference leaders in areas such as church growth, church administration and discipleship.
___Nigerian Baptists need short-term and long-term volunteers who can help in the Baptist seminary and hospital, since the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board turned the responsibility for institutional ministries over to the national Baptists, Evans noted.
___"The IMB had helped the Nigerian Baptist Convention tremendously in years past. ... The Nigerian Baptists loved their missionaries," Evans said. "When the focus shifted from working with the Nigerian Baptist Convention to working with people groups, it left a personnel vacuum at the seminary and Baptist hospital. And it left a financial vacuum as well."
___Nigerian Baptists asked Texas Baptists to consider ways they might help fill those voids. Doctors, nurses and other health-care personnel are needed for assignments ranging from two weeks to two years. The seminary needs adjunct professors who can teach two-week, four-week or six-week terms.
___Several buildings at the seminary--including a library and dormitories--were left unfinished, and the Nigerians asked Texas Baptists for help with construction.
___Bowen University leaders also are interested in developing a student exchange program with Texas Baptist universities.
___While the proposed partnership will not be limited to African-American Baptist churches in Texas, Evans believes it is an important opportunity for African-American churches to expand their direct missions involvement. And in the years ahead, he hopes to continue to develop relationships with Baptists in other parts of Africa.
___"It is especially important for Christian people of African descent to give attention to Africa," he said. "We want to be catalysts to facilitate a viable work on the African continent."
___

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