THE PRICE OF THE CALLING
The Lord led me after this to the North to the wilderness of Gumel, Jigawa state (then in Kano state) where I took up a teaching appointment in the Government Teachers Training College. Gumel was a predominantly Muslim enclave but the presence of God was with me. In spite of persecutions, I was able to start the first christian church there,which I eventually handed over to the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA). That Church was the nucleus of what today is the headquarters church of ECWA in Jigawa state. Altogether I spent three years in the North, with the Lord teaching me, instructing me, and preparing me for the great task ahead.
When I told my family that I had been called by God to serve Him full-time, they did not understand. They tried to persuade me to go back to school but I refused. Now, after my three-year sojourn in the North I came down to my home state (Rivers state) on the instructions of the Lord. As I returned, my family doubled up their pressures on me to quit this "madness" of mine. "How will you feed? Who will clothe you?" they queried. My step-father, Chief Numbere, out of concern advised me, "My son, why don't you go back to the University and read all the degrees you want to get? You can get your doctorate degree and then you can come and preach. This will enhance your prestige and when people hear that a 'Dr. Numbere' is preaching they would flock and listen to you."As for my mother, she was heartbroken. She cried bitterly, "You know your father died when you were very young, I have no other hope but you. How will I feed? Who will clothe me?"
All these reasoning made sense but there was no way I could forget that vision I saw. I loved my mother so much I had never before disobeyed her in anything but this was one request I could not grant her. The call was much more important to me. When she could not persuade me to give up my call she threatened, "If I die do not come and see my corpse." That in the African context was a curse but I said to her, "Nenta" (that was what we called her), I'd rather see your soul in heaven than see your corpse in hell!" I am glad that some years later she too got born again and was baptized, all in Greater Evangelism World Crusade.
Again the family advised me to take up a secular job so that I would be able to take care of my physical needs while I preached. That was still common sense but again I refused. About that time also I received a mouth-watering job offer from the government with a three-bedroom apartment and a car in the offing. I did not apply for the job and till today I don't know how it came about. I was contemplating accepting this job when The Lord revisited me and asked me, "Have I given you so much to do and you want to leave it? My work is more urgent". That was enough rebuke and so I refused the job offer.
When all these persuasions and pressures could not deter me, one of my elder brothers, Mr. Ofo Numbere told them, "Allow him, leave him alone." But they would not listen. They got very angry and then threw me out into the streets.
With time my family came to understand that God's call was upon my life, but in those days, at the very beginning, they were not just angry, they were very bitter and so I was out there in the streets.
I had no place to sleep and I had no place to eat. If a brother or sister came to me and said, "Brother Numbere, come and have breakfast," then I would have breakfast that particular day. If somebody else said, "Come and have lunch with me," then I had lunch. If there was nobody, that was it, I turned it into a fast. I had no place to sleep or eat but I was a happy man. I did not have anything in this world but I was anxious to get this work done. All that was in me was a great passion for souls, souls for whom the Lord Jesus died. The only property I had was on me - a T-shirt, a pair of trousers, a pair of shoes, and a raffia bag containing my Bible and tracts. I got an artist to inscribe the words "JESUS IS LOVE" and "REPENT" on the front and back of my T-shirt respectively, because I wanted even my very clothes to preach the gospel.
Time and space will not allow me to narrate all my field experiences in evangelism. Suffice it for me to say that like Apostle Paul I have been "In journeys often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in watchings often, in hunger and in thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness" (2 Corinthians 11:26-27), in perils of the air (near plane crashes).
I have had the joy and privilege over the years of seeing thousands turning away from their idol-worship and lifting up their faces to The Lord Jesus Christ to get saved, but that is only a very tiny fraction of the crowds I saw in the VISION 41 years ago. The 'harvest indeed is plentiful but the labourers are few.' The Lord did promise me that He will give me the men (and women) that will carry on the vision with me and I know that He that promised is faithful and He will do it.
I will wrap up with these words which I had caused an artist to engrave on a plaque at the beginning of the ministry and which I have always placed in a conspicuous place in my living room:
The Lord led me after this to the North to the wilderness of Gumel, Jigawa state (then in Kano state) where I took up a teaching appointment in the Government Teachers Training College. Gumel was a predominantly Muslim enclave but the presence of God was with me. In spite of persecutions, I was able to start the first christian church there,which I eventually handed over to the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA). That Church was the nucleus of what today is the headquarters church of ECWA in Jigawa state. Altogether I spent three years in the North, with the Lord teaching me, instructing me, and preparing me for the great task ahead.
When I told my family that I had been called by God to serve Him full-time, they did not understand. They tried to persuade me to go back to school but I refused. Now, after my three-year sojourn in the North I came down to my home state (Rivers state) on the instructions of the Lord. As I returned, my family doubled up their pressures on me to quit this "madness" of mine. "How will you feed? Who will clothe you?" they queried. My step-father, Chief Numbere, out of concern advised me, "My son, why don't you go back to the University and read all the degrees you want to get? You can get your doctorate degree and then you can come and preach. This will enhance your prestige and when people hear that a 'Dr. Numbere' is preaching they would flock and listen to you."As for my mother, she was heartbroken. She cried bitterly, "You know your father died when you were very young, I have no other hope but you. How will I feed? Who will clothe me?"
All these reasoning made sense but there was no way I could forget that vision I saw. I loved my mother so much I had never before disobeyed her in anything but this was one request I could not grant her. The call was much more important to me. When she could not persuade me to give up my call she threatened, "If I die do not come and see my corpse." That in the African context was a curse but I said to her, "Nenta" (that was what we called her), I'd rather see your soul in heaven than see your corpse in hell!" I am glad that some years later she too got born again and was baptized, all in Greater Evangelism World Crusade.
When all these persuasions and pressures could not deter me, one of my elder brothers, Mr. Ofo Numbere told them, "Allow him, leave him alone." But they would not listen. They got very angry and then threw me out into the streets.
With time my family came to understand that God's call was upon my life, but in those days, at the very beginning, they were not just angry, they were very bitter and so I was out there in the streets.
I had no place to sleep and I had no place to eat. If a brother or sister came to me and said, "Brother Numbere, come and have breakfast," then I would have breakfast that particular day. If somebody else said, "Come and have lunch with me," then I had lunch. If there was nobody, that was it, I turned it into a fast. I had no place to sleep or eat but I was a happy man. I did not have anything in this world but I was anxious to get this work done. All that was in me was a great passion for souls, souls for whom the Lord Jesus died. The only property I had was on me - a T-shirt, a pair of trousers, a pair of shoes, and a raffia bag containing my Bible and tracts. I got an artist to inscribe the words "JESUS IS LOVE" and "REPENT" on the front and back of my T-shirt respectively, because I wanted even my very clothes to preach the gospel.
I would go to public places such as Banks, Offices, and parks and as I stood by watching human traffic, I would start wondering how many knew the Lord. Immediately I would realize that the majority of them did not know Him and then I would start weeping for lost humanity. Then with tears in my eyes, I would go to as many as I could reach, giving them tracts and with the tears pouring down my face, plead with them to give their lives to Jesus and be born again. This made many people think I was mad and that my enemies had charmed me. Some others thought I wa a good-for-nothing fellow and that I had come to deceive people. A few however believed me and joined me. They were mostly teenage boys and girls.
With the vision burning in our hearts, my young "crusaders" (as we were called) and I , struck out into the city of Port Harcourt, our Jerusalem. Every open field or square, every park, every street corner was a mission ground for us. We stormed and the whole city with the gospel by personal witnessing, early morning calls and crusades. The Lord did many wonderful things and many people got saved, healed, and delivered.
Next, we moved out into the villages. I did not seek for any rich man to support us. My only financiers were students and a handful of workers - none of whom could afford even a bicycle. When we moved out to the villages, we could not even afford to buy sufficient raffia mats for us to sleep on, so mattresses and beds were definitely out of the way. We had only two mats, one for the brothers and the other for the sisters in the field team. We had to lie across the mats instead of lengthwise in order to create more sleeping space. So we slept with only our heads and trunks on the mats with our legs sticking out onto the bare ground as the case may be. We also did not have food to eat. Nobody would accommodate us. Our accommodation was usually either market stalls, open school halls, or uncompleted buildings without doors, windows and sometimes without roof.
We moved out by faith and God did great things amongst us. Initially we had no electronic instruments but The Lord magnified our voices and our hand clapping so much so that we could be heard from afar. As we sang and worshipped The lord in that manner, His Presence would come down in our midst so much that we had huge snakes for company. These snakes would lie down around us as long as the worship lasted! We had nothing but we were happy to serve The Lord and we saw ourselves as a family.
Our activities caused so much stir in the city of Port Harcourt and in the length and breadth of the old Rivers State (which included the present Bayelsa state). The entire public was astir as many young boys and girls received Jesus and their lifestyles changed. As would be expected with such developments, persecution arose. The persecution was terrible. Unbelievers persecuted us, Christians persecuted us, and religious people persecuted us. Parents disowned their children or stopped paying their school fees, husbands divorced their wives (and vice versa) and even the few Christians there were then, disassociated themselves from us. Pentecostalism or evangelism was a new thing in Rivers state. The persecution was so much that the Government had to send detectives to infiltrate our fellowships to find out about our activities, but they were always exposed by prophecy.
In the villages we had to battle with the power of darkness ruling communities. We had to contend with the prevailing harsh environmental conditions and with hostile villagers. We faced many hazards as we worked night and day, trekking through thick swamps, and traveling in hand-pulled canoes or open boats, daring the waves and the storms of the sea.
I have had the joy and privilege over the years of seeing thousands turning away from their idol-worship and lifting up their faces to The Lord Jesus Christ to get saved, but that is only a very tiny fraction of the crowds I saw in the VISION 41 years ago. The 'harvest indeed is plentiful but the labourers are few.' The Lord did promise me that He will give me the men (and women) that will carry on the vision with me and I know that He that promised is faithful and He will do it.
I will wrap up with these words which I had caused an artist to engrave on a plaque at the beginning of the ministry and which I have always placed in a conspicuous place in my living room:
"I AM A MISSIONARY,
HEART AND SOUL.
GOD HAD AN ONLY SON,
AND HE WAS A MISSIONARY.
A POOR, POOR IMITATION OF HIM
I AM OR WISH TO BE.
IN THIS SERVICE I HOPE TO LIVE,
IN IT I WISH TO DIE!"
Culled from Living Testimonies (the quarterly magazine that reveals God's mighty power at work in G.E.W.C.)
For more information please contact:
Greater Evangelism World Crusade
47 Isiokpo street, D/line
P.O.Box 946 Port Harcourt,
Rivers State, Nigeria.
Tel. No:+234-84-233893.
OR
LIVING TESTIMONIES PAGE ON ;
