ABA, NIGERIA Friday, November 21
By Marti Schneider, On location

While we are conducting the satellite campaign at the stadium in Aba,
the signal of which is sent to places all over Africa, there are also
nine evangelistic meetings being conducted in villages surrounding Aba
by other members of our team – pastors and lay people from America and
England.

At lunch today I talked to a couple of the field teams. Because I had
my computer, I wrote it up and will include it in this letter.

Peppers’ Night Out
By Stewart and Kathy Pepper, Mountain View Conference
Meeting Site: Agburuike
Pastor: Chidi G. Nwoko

There is a certain place on the way to the meeting where we pick up two
policemen for protection. There are vigilantes along the road who stop
cars and allow to pass only those they choose. They place sticks, logs,
or pipes across the road and guard them with machine guns. We have had
machine guns stuck in our windows.


The night we preached about the Sabbath, the pastor’s car had four
different problems. First, the inner tube was sticking out of the tire.
That was repaired. Next, a hole appeared in the radiator. That was
remedied by carrying water with us. On our way to the site, which has a
tent that holds a thousand people located an hour and a quarter away
from our hotel, the hood of the car flew up
and bounced off the windshield. (That happened on the one section
where we could drive 50 miles an hour.) We finally got the hood bent
back into shape and wired shut. Although we got there later than
planned, we hurried about and began the meeting on time.

We were on the way home, but still at the meeting site, when the
carburetor flooded. We managed to start it and drive out of the parking
lot onto the road when it flooded again. (Parking lot is quite a name
for the field where our meeting is held . . . and the strip on which we
drive should hardly be called a road.) We drove about three miles into
the African bush and the car stopped . . . dead . . . at 9:30 pm. It
was dark! When it was apparent that we could not repair the car and
continue, it was all hands on deck to push the car more than two miles
to the next village. However, they put both of us inside the car so we
would not be obvious. The police were very nervous. They told us to
stay out of sight.

The car was left at the police station, and two doors down was an
Adventist church. There we found refuge with the pastor and his wife in
their home. “It was the hottest, stickiest night of my life,” says
Stewart. The pastor said that perhaps this was providential, because it
may have prevented a confrontation with the vigilantes. If the car had
broken down in their section . . . we shudder to think of it. A youth
leader in uniform travels with us. The no-goods are afraid of the
Pathfinder uniform worn by the youth leader.

The pastor's wife gave everyone something to drink except us. We
wondered why she didn't offer us something. Then she disappeared for
half an hour. When she returned, she had bottled water and some other
refreshments. She had gone to the local shop owner in the night,
prevailed on him to sell to her, and purchased for our needs . . . water
that would be safe.

The car was repaired in the morning and we continued to the Terminus
Hotel in time for the nine o’clock meeting of speakers and pastors.
-------

David Burnett, South England Conference
Umunkiri Church, Etungwa District (four churches)
Pastor: Joseph M. Ukegbu

The people of the district are coming out consistently every night. We
have two kings attending, one younger (in his 30s) and one older (in his
60s). Both they and their wives come regularly and enthusiastically
support the program. Both are Seventh-day Adventists. Attendance is
500 plus members and visitors every night. These members and some
visitors are seated, plus there are visitors passing by who come and
stand around . . .approximately 200 who swell the crowd even more. We
have power problems — on good nights only twice will the lights go
off. On a regular night it may go off four or five times . . . only for
a couple of minutes. One night it went off for about half an hour.
Fortunately this happened before the message began. It was total
darkness and we began to wonder if we would have to abandon ship. As we
thought about the message though, on “Law and Grace,” we felt there
was a sinister hand trying to interrupt us. The folks began to pray,
and the lights came on again. We were able to continue. Although they
searched for the problem, it was not one of the usual problems. They
could not understand what happened. I don’t think the devil wanted
that message to go.

--------------
Marti again, writing of her own experience:

Tonight's message was on the change of the Sabbath. . . . and Don's
voice didn't appear that it would hold up. Don decided that he would be
extra careful (there was not much choice) so he explained to the people
that for tonight's topic he would be a teacher instead of a preacher.
Many of us were praying for him, and his voice grew stronger as he
neared the end of the sermon. He began the call and his voice became
stronger and stronger. As I was praying, I was singing quietly,
reminding God that this, too, was his battle. The call was powerful . .
. Don called for people to come up for baptism, men to lead their
families to God and into God's church. He used his family's testimony
of facing persecution from relatives.

During the call I just couldn't stay in my seat, so I got up and walked
over to the large group that was gathering. As I approached the front
row near the platform, a little woman with quite a bit of jewelry seemed
pleased to shake hands and she curtsied deeply. Then the man next to
her, whom I found out was her brother, held out his hand and told me
that he wants to become a Seventh-day Adventist. He had been sick until
November 14 (the day the meetings opened) but he has not been sick
since. After greeting them, I moved a little further back. A young man
held out his card and asked, “Do I check the top box?” I looked at
the decisions listed . . . “Baptism like Jesus was baptized,” or
“Re-baptism.” I asked him, Have you been baptized before? He
said, “Yes, as a Catholic.” And I explained that his previous
baptism would have been a sprinkling baptism. “Yes, the top one is
the one you want to check . . . ‘Baptism like Jesus.’” And he
marked it. One man came to me and told me that he is Anglican, but he
wants to convert to be an Adventist and he wants Don to personally
baptize him next Sabbath . . . a week away. So I called Don. He told
the man to talk to a pastor and the pastor can make the arrangements
with Don. After a little while I went back to our backstage room and
found Don sitting there . . . close to tears. He said he had never made
a call like that before. He was amazed. It was truly powerful and
overwhelming.

Tonight after the meeting several young men and women asked to have my
local phone number. .. and then my phone in the U.S. and email. It
hurts to have to tell them that I'm too busy to talk to them. So I just
told them my schedule . . . with a bit of animation: After the
meeting I write letters to the U.S. until midnight. In the morning I
jump up, get dressed and run for breakfast. Then it is time for the
9:00 o'clock meeting. My camera team comes about that time and after we
listen to the first announcements at the meeting, Femi, Asse, Sister
Daniel and I head for a place such as our living room which has air
conditioning in order to plot our day and decide on our next special
features. Usually we must be leaving by 10:00 o'clock to go to our
interview. Most days we are back at the Terminus Hotel by 12:30 or 1:00
pm and we eat the
dinner provided for the guests and chat briefly with those who are
going out to field sites. After lunch our team returns to our living
room and plug the camera into the TV to determine which footage we want
to use for the evening's program. After the beginning and ending
numbers are recorded for the shots we want to show, the guys rest around
for a few minutes before heading over to the stadium. I have to stay
and write, first in the computer, then on 3x5 cards, the notes for the
evening. By the time that is completed, it is scramble time to get
clothes changed, face freshened, pick up water, notes, wash cloth for
drying ones face every so often, then head for the car. We ease our way
through the hoards of people that consider the road their walkway and
arrive at the stadium about an hour before time to go on . . . . By the
time I got through the list and a little laughing, they were laughing
too and they seemed to understand that there really wouldn't be any time
for me to chat on the telephone. I assured them that I would really
love to communicate with them because they are important but that it
really wouldn't be possible. Tonight's feature was the story of a young
heathen boy who learned about the seventh-day Sabbath while attending a
Catholic school. I will paste it on the bottom of this note. If you
want to read it, it will be there. The bottom line of the feature was,
If you receive Jesus and follow His Word, including the seventh-day
Sabbath, God will not abandon you. He will bless you! It fit perfectly
with the messages Don was giving about the Sabbath.


Special Feature for Friday night:

Tonight I want to tell you a story. A number of years ago a baby boy
was born into a heathen family. His father was the chief priest of a
very important idol (Ahanjoku) in the African Traditional Religion. His
father had eight wives and many, many children who followed him in the
religion, so it was natural for this youngster to also worship the idol.


When he was 14 years of age, he attended a Christian school. He began
to read the Bible through. He wanted to read it from cover to cover . .
. from Genesis to Revelation. When he came to the book of Exodus, to
chapter 20, he read the words, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it
holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh
day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any
work.”

The seventh day! The seventh day! Which day is the seventh day? How
could he know?

The next day at the end of mathematics class, Teacher Reuben asked the
students, “Does anyone have any questions on today’s lesson?”

Although it was not a mathematics question, our young fellow raised his
hand and asked, “Which day is the seventh day of the week?” And he
told about the Bible text he had read.

Teacher Reuben said to him,“Even though I am a Catholic and I teach
in a Catholic school, I will tell you the truth. The only people who
keep the day holy that you read about in the Bible are the Seventh-day
Adventists.”

Now this young student had always made fun of the Adventists . . .
shouting and jeering at them. But after he received his teacher’s
answer, he was in church the very next Sabbath!

Being the last of all of his father’s children, the only son of the
eighth wife, when his father died, he was left in the hands of his half
brothers. And they refused to care for him unless he left the Adventist
church. One time he had to leave home as a fugitive for two weeks
because of the abuse he received . . . until his mother came looking for
him. Although his father’s family abandoned him . . . providing not
one kobo (penny) for his education, the Lord sponsored him all the way
through school . . . all the way through his Masters Degree.

I want you to meet this faithful young man . . . faithful to what he
found in the Bible, faithful in the face of adversity. He has grown up
and become an active minister for God. Won’t you welcome Pastor O.
Pu. Nwamkpa. He is the Executive Secretary of the East Central
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists here in Nigeria.

MARTI: Pastor Nwankpa, what was in your heart as a boy?

NWANKPA: I was searching for the truth. I attended all available
churches . . . seeking for truth, until I read in God’s Word about the
seventh-day Sabbath.

MARTI: What was life like before you received Jesus and His Word into
your life?

NWANKPA: Life without Jesus and His Word was full of real darkness . .
. I was without hope. My only hope was in eating sacrifices and serving
at the shrines. I was only living for the moment.

MARTI: And now . . .following Jesus . . . accepting His Word?

NWANKPA: Life is wonderful! There is a future!

MARTI: Tell me about your mother?

NWANKPA: My mother used to persecute me too, but today my mother and
my only sister are God-fearing Christians, worshiping on the seventh day
in the Adventist church.

MARTI: What do you have to say to someone who is thinking about
following Jesus? Thinking about accepting His Word?

NWANKPA: Whoever sees and accepts this truth will never be abandoned
by God. (And here he gave a little appeal for others to follow Jesus.)

MARTI: Thank you, Pastor Nwankpa! Thank you to our God who has kept
you through all the years. And thank you to Aba, Nigeria, and Africa
for allowing us to share this testimony with the world!

Good night all,

Marti