TESTIMONIES OF THE MISSIONARY TRIP IN WEST AFRICA

L.W

Under the guidance of God, the International Assembly sent Deacon Joseph Shek and Pastor John Lo to perform missionary work in Liberia, Ghana and Nigeria.  The trip took place between March 4 and May 2, 1986.

Due to the earnest prayer intercession of the brothers and sisters who love the Lord and their concern with world evangelism, God truly worked with them and opened wide the door of salvation.  He poured out abundantly His Holy Spirit and manifested His visions and miracles.  During the entire journey a total of 528 received water baptism, 229 received the Holy Spirit, 431 saw visions and 58 were healed through the power of the Lord.  May all glory, praise and thanks be given unto God in heaven.  We also prayed that the Lord would give double portion of His blessings to those who strove hard to support the African ministry with their offerings and daily prayers.  Seven weeks after the Lord called the wife of Pastor Lo to rest, he immediately resumed the heavy responsibility of the missionary work in Africa.  As a grieving soldier being sent to the battlefield, he felt deeply in need of the help and abidance of the Lord and prayed earnestly.  Thanks to the Lord, Pastor Lo was greatly comforted and strengthened because God was working with them during the entire trip.  He also deeply experienced the Lord's word.  "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor 12:9)

The objectives of this missionary trip were the evangelism of the newly developed areas, holding evangelical and spiritual convocations in our churches in various places and conducting Workers' Seminars to train the local ministerial personnel.  The work was completed successfully by the guidance of the Lord.

LIBERIA - MARCH 4 to 25

In the three weeks of work in Liberia, the missionaries held seven evangelical and spiritual convocations in different places and finally there was a Workers' Seminar and a National Church Conference.  A total of 15 delegates attended this conference.  Important issues of evangelism, pasturing, finance and church building construction were discussed.  Seven Board Members of the Evangelism-Coordination Council were elected.  During the period of work in Liberia, there were a total of 229 people baptized, 102 received the Holy Spirit, 216 saw visions and 12 sick people were healed.  Presently, our church membership in Liberia is about 500 people.

Prayers were very fervent and powerful during many of the convocations.  Many people were filled with the Holy Spirit.  They saw wonderful visions of glorious lights, tongues of fire, angels with white garments, heavenly ladders, white doves and the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus on the cross.  A sister saw a Roman soldier pierce the side of the crucified Lord with a long spear and immediately blood and water flowed out.  She was greatly shocked and terrified.  She wept bitterly.  A brother saw an angel walking the chapel and recorded the attendance and the attitude of the worshipers.  There was an eight years old boy who saw the Lord Jesus give everyone a Bible but not him.  He began to cry and reached out his hands to Jesus.  When the Lord handed a Bible to him, he discovered the nail print in the hand of the Lord.  Finally, some of the sick people were healed instantly when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Liberia, there are many who hunger and thirst for the grace and the truth of God.  If the missionary work could be intensified, a greater harvest could be reaped.

GHANA - MARCH 25 to APRIL 21

During the four weeks of work in Ghana, five evangelical and spiritual convocations, one Workers' Seminar and several Bible studies with the leaders of other denominations were held.  A total of 185 received baptism, III received the Holy Spirit, 124 saw visions and 14 people were healed by the Lord.  Presently our membership in Ghana exceeds 200.

In two specific prayers, the Holy Spirit worked mightily.  In each occasion, 8 received the Holy Spirit, and 10 saw visions.  On April ]6th, they went to Kipi village to preach to an old man who was afflicted with severe asthma.  By God's wonderful grace, in that little evangelical service, 3 accepted baptism, 4 received the Holy Spirit and 2 saw visions.  Meanwhile that old man's sickness greatly improved through the healing of the Lord.  Among many wonderful visions, some saw the HeavenlyKingdom.  One person who was taken up into heaven, saw that the door was open, and the Lord Jesus was preparing mansions for the chosen ones.  Another saw a glorious heavenly city.  In five baptisms, 14 witnessed the vision of the precious blood of Jesus in the water.

While God's work was progressing, the missionaries were attacked by Satan many times.  On arriving in Accra, Deacon Joseph Shek was suddenly stricken with malaria and became seriously ill.  He experienced vomiting and diarrhea, which occurred more than ten times a day.  His whole body shoo!, with chills, then became hot with fever; he perspired profusely.  After the earnest prayer of many members, he was healed by the Lord and recovered completely in two days.  On April 24th, they separated to work in different places.  Pastor Lo took a taxi to a distant city for evangelical work.  Unexpectedly the tires of the car went flat twice while on the highway.  Fortunately, under the Lord's protection, there was no accident or injury.

The society in Ghana is quite stable and secure.  Living expenses are considerably low.  Many people are educated and pursue after the truth.  It is an excellent base for the missionary work.  May the Lord strengthen our churches in Ghana.

NIGERIA - APRIL 21 to MAY 2

Within 12 days work in Nigeria, 9 evangelical and spiritual convocations were held in various places.  Because of the tight schedule and heavy work load, Deacon Shek and Pastor Lo had to separate to work in difference places most of the time. in the last three days, a Workers' Seminar and National Church Conference was held in our church in Port Harcourt.  Forty people attended the conference.  Seven new committee members were elected to the Evangelism Coordination Council.

Though the journey in Nigeria was the shortest, God opened the door of grace and worked mightily with them.  There was a total of 114 baptized, 86 received the Holy Spirit, 91 visions and 32 were healed by the Lord.  Presently, in Nigeria, we have a membership of about 2,200, 18 churches and 6 prayer houses.

On the evening of their arrival in Nigeria, a service was held immediately at the Port Harcourt church.  Surprisingly, the Holy Spirit descended like a shower.  During the last prayer, 12 received the Holy Spirit, 2 saw visions.  They were greatly encouraged and firmly believed that the Lord will lead the work ahead.

On April 22nd, Pastor Lo went with the local minister to a village to perform outdoor evangelism.  The worship place was located next to the road and was a simple booth covered with palm leaves.  More than 130 newcomers attended.  In order to be undisturbed during prayer, two small rooms of a private house next to the booths were borrowed.  More than 60 people packed into the rooms and walkways.  They prayed earnestly with loud voices, crying and perspiring to the Lord.  Miraculously, 17 received the Holy Spirit, 7 saw visions during the 40 minutes prayer.

On April 26th, Deacon Shek went to a church district to hold a spiritual convocation.  During prayer, a sick sister saw Jesus coming to her and He said, "Your sickness will be healed." Immediately she experienced the power of the Lord and her sickness was cured.  This testimony increased the faith of the entire church so that everyone prayed even more fervently during the next prayer.  By the power of the Lord, I 0 people were healed.

Among those healed during this journey in Nigeria were some who possessed high fever, malaria, spinal pain, heart diseases and women's illnesses.  There were many wonderful visions given.  A brother saw the Lord providing a great feast and every guest attending was wearing a white garment.  A sister saw three visions during a baptism. in the prayer before the baptism, she saw a circle of red blood in the baptismal site; during the baptism s he saw many white doves flying in the sky above the water; after baptism, she saw the door of heaven open and all those who were baptized wore white garments and entered the heavenly city, then the door was closed and many white doves appeared again.  During a prayer at the Workers' Seminar, the Lord revealed to a minister while he was filled with the Holy Spirit that, among three church districts, there were church board members and believers who did not observe the commandments of God and whose conduct was unworthy of the Lord.  God warned them to repent.

The average member in Nigeria possesses a simple faith and prays earnestly, therefore, many miracles and wonders take place.  On April 29th, a brother drove Deacon Shek to a spiritual convocation in a church district.  Because the road condition was extremely bumpy, the spare tire of this car was lost.  The next morning that brother discovered that he had a flat tire.  He was extremely worried because there was no place to repair the tire or to buy a new one in that area.  At that time he was reminded by the Holy Spirit, "Why not rely upon the Lord with all your heart?" He then went into the room and prayed earnestly with faith.  After an hour of prayer, he returned to his car and discovered the Lord's mighty hand had fixed his tire - it was filled with air.  He was so excited, he leaped up and down giving praise and thanks to God.  After the spiritual convocation, they came back with that car safely.  That flat tire was truly repaired by the Lord.

On April 28th, Pastor Lo went to the farthest church district to hold a spiritual convocation.  While preaching, he suddenly felt an excruciating pain in his right hip.  The pain became so intense, he found it difficult to walk or lie down.  This was probably due to the long missionary journey - sitting for long periods in planes and cars.  At that time Deacon Shek was working at another place and could not come to help him.  He prayed earnestly with tears and asked the Lord to help him so that he might finish the important work of baptism, foot washing and holy communion the next day.  Although he experienced extreme hardship in walking into the water to perform baptism, thanks to the mercy of the Lord, he was completely healed while he was in the water.  He never felt the pain again.

Our church in Nigeria has a history of seven years.  The faith of the members have been generally rooted.  May the Lord continue to help the growth of the Nigeria churches so that they may become mature and self-supporting.

CONCLUSION

Since last year, the perfect gospel has spread from one nation to two other nations.  By the wonderful guidance of God ' in a short span of time, His Kingdom has suddenly expanded.  May the Lord continue to carry on His own work, adding people to his Kingdom (Is 26:15).  We hope our brothers and sisters throughout the world will pray diligently for the African ministry.

Presently, in these three nations of West Africa, we have 10 localities that desperately need church buildings.  According to the policy of our International Assembly, we will help them with only 50% of the cost.  Unfortunately the price of the building material has increased two to three times within the last two years because of inflation.  A simple church building which can accommodate 150 people costs between $3,000 and $10,000 U.S. dollars depending upon the nation.  Besides this need, there are more church buildings which will require our support.  Therefore, we hope our members throughout the world will continue to offer their financial support to the African ministry until they are able to be self-supporting.  "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that you may always have enough of everything and may provide in abundance for every good work." (2 Cor 9:6,8).  We truly believe that this is one of the best opportunities for the members who live a wealthier life to obtain God's blessings and store up treasures in Heaven.  The Lord Jesus said, "it is more blessed to give than to receive."(Act 20:35).  How great is the value of the money we can offer to the work of spreading the gospel!

Not only will it help the holy work progress, but many souls will also be saved.

We pray that the Lord will move many more workers, who can preach in English or French, to dedicate their lives to the African ministry, helping with the work of evangelism, pasturing, ministerial training, and religious education.  For the Lord Jesus says, "Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then come harvest?  Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.  And he that reaped received wages, and gathered fruit unto life eternal: that both he that sowed and he that reaped may rejoice together." (Jn 4:35,36)