(Extract - Chapter Three of Journey into the Dark Nations : Autobiography of Andrew Abah)
The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will
lick the dust. (Ps 72:9)
When the Spirit of God impressed it on my heart that my ministry among the Aionas was over, I prayed to God to know what His next agenda for my life was. Then I had the leading from God to lift up my eyes towards the far north of Nigeria, the seat of the Islamic Caliphate of Nigeria. For a natural mind, it was a huge unrealistic ambition. But the Spirit of the Lord was however very clear and direct about it and Sokoto was to serve as my next base of ministry assignment. The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust was a prophecy that was to be fulfilled in the context of the tribal groups in this part of the world. I spent more time praying for a clearer blueprint. I knew no one in that far desert, neither did I know how to go about it nor where to start from? These were the wild questions on my mind.
Suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord impressed it on my heart to apply for admission into the higher institution which was the only university in the area at that time. Following my previous encounter with the Lord, I dared not argue nor insist on my own rather I was quick to tell the Lord that if it was for the purpose of acquiring a degree, it were better to apply to the University of Jos or Ahmadu Bello University. These two institutions were closer home and more affordable but the Lord told me that academic pursuit was simply a bridge to the next phase of my ministry. I applied without any hitch, since the Lord was involved in it, the admission was successful.
On resumption, I devoted a greater part of my time to praying and establishing social contacts with the students. There was no doubt that it was a virgin mission field full of unlimited opportunities. We had a sizeable number of different unreached people groups on the campus. The mega tribes were the Hausas, Fulanis and Nupes. Outside the campus, we were also surrounded by the Dukawas and other smaller tribes. Some of the tribes have few number of Christians while others had no known Christian.
The Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) was the only evangelical fellowship on campus and a very good platform to disciple the different nations represented on campus. I joined and became a faithful member. After the first session, I was elected the President of the FCS. It was a very strategic position God used in preparing me for the future leadership thrust and mission work he had for me. Again, it was an opportunity to work as a team. I had Aminu Sule as my Vice President, James Jacob as the Bible Study Secretary, Ruth Aifou(Nee Bako) as the Prayer Secretary, Arida Dasuma as Financial Secretary, Uchechukwu Dim was Welfare Secretary, Naomi Peterson as the Treasurer and few others I rarely recall.
Reaching the Rascals
One of the highlights of our ministry was how to reach out to the influential rascals on campus. James Jacob, in addition to his role as the Bible Study Secretary was very passionate about this group of persons. He met with them at the long tennis court in a secular manner. They took soft drinks, shared testimonies and he brought God's word to them. He never condemned them irrespective of their outlook, neither was he in a hurry to invite them over to the main fellowship. His watch words were: 'Let us love them into the kingdom' . That outreach turned out to be very fruitful. Many of them surrendered their lives to Christ and became members of the main campus fellowship. The quality of the Bible Study and Sunday Services were great. The nominal Christians in the fellowship began to experience great transformation. Fervency in prayer became a norm. God moved in diverse ways and we were grateful to him.
Reaching the Dukawas
After a while, we saw the need to extend the love of Jesus to the Dukawas at Rijau Local Government Area of the then Sokoto State. There were reports of effort being made by the Muslims to Islamize them. For example, the head of each family at one of the villages was given money, a scholar was brought in to marry the daughter of the village head, the names of all the villagers were changed for Muslim names and all of them changed their religion from Idolatry to Islam. That to us was a dangerous signal and we felt as a body of Christ, the need not to only rise up but to counter the spread of Islam and take the light of the gospel to where it was needed most.
At this time, Calvary Ministries already had missionary team working among the Dukawas. The Ministry also had a chapter in Sokoto. To effectively contribute our quota, some of us became part of the Calvary Ministry chapter in the city. We travelled together with some of the chapter members to the field. We provided financial and other material gifts to the missionaries and spent weekends with them interacting with the Dukawas. These cross-cultural experiences remain indelible.
My first trip to the Dukawa field from Sokoto was not an easy experience. We trekked several kilometers on feet late into the night through many villages and hamlets carrying loads on our heads. The dogs barked like lions roaring. Unfortunately, after getting to our destination, the missionaries were said to have travelled out to Sokoto. We thanked God, the villagers were kind enough to open the doors to the missionary house for us to rest.
Outbreak of Persecution
Working among Muslims has never been easy. Several times they threatened to fight the Christians our number was so few to theirs that we dared not attempt to take them for granted. As the President, I always arranged to move the female members of the fellowship out of the campus while the males slept on open field. Sharing room with the fundamentalist was also hell on earth. I remember one night, I was listening to the gospel music in the room, a Muslim roommate threatened to stab me if I didn't off the cassette player. I had no option but to comply.
Sometimes the university authority took sides with the Muslims. At a time, all fellowships on campus were proscribed that we had to mount pressure on the authority to allow us operate under a new name, Protestant Christian Community and I was designated Chairman instead of President.
At the end of the day, the growing persecution made Christians grow stronger and stronger in the faith.
Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Student(NIFES) Sub Zone and Zonal Leadership being the only university in the area, our campus Fellowship provided leadership for all the fellowships in the other tertiary institutions in the subzone which in present day structure include Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi State. The zonal structure which our fellowship then belonged to was Zaria Zone which also included Kano and Kaduna State. The Zonal Cordinator was Adekunle Adeyemo(represented Ahmadu Bello University) who later founded the Bread of Life Ministry at Iwo. Other members of the Zonal Executive Council included myself, Bala Usman(represented Bayero University, Kano) who is the current National Director of NIFES and late Habila Musa who represented Kaduna Polytechnic.
Exposure to NIFES at that level helped to lay the foundation for the relationships we harness for networking to take the light of the gospel to several nations today. It served as an open door into the various campuses in the Muslim infested northern states.
Another Transition
The academic program under which cover, I ran my ministry in the far northern state of Sokoto was virtually over. A new executive council was elected and we handed over to them. At this point, my Vice President, Aminu Sule took over the mantle of leadership. James Jacob and Ruth Aifou(Nee Bako) were also in the new executive council because they still had additional year to spend on campus.
The fellowship grew both in number and in quality of service to the glory of God. Many of those who came to the Lord are doing exploit for God today. One of such outstanding persons that surrendered their lives to Christ and joined the fellowship was the Student Union Director of Socials, Kasimu Dokpesi popularly known as Kaska. He is still in the Christian faith and serving as an Evangelist. He was twice Chairman of the Etsako East Local Government Council and Edo State Commissioner for Works. From the desert tribe God relocated me to Kwara State of Nigeria with a different level and nature of ministry assignment. I am ever grateful to God for the opportunity to serve in the desert tribe.
Suddenly, the Spirit of the Lord impressed it on my heart to apply for admission into the higher institution which was the only university in the area at that time. Following my previous encounter with the Lord, I dared not argue nor insist on my own rather I was quick to tell the Lord that if it was for the purpose of acquiring a degree, it were better to apply to the University of Jos or Ahmadu Bello University. These two institutions were closer home and more affordable but the Lord told me that academic pursuit was simply a bridge to the next phase of my ministry. I applied without any hitch, since the Lord was involved in it, the admission was successful.
On resumption, I devoted a greater part of my time to praying and establishing social contacts with the students. There was no doubt that it was a virgin mission field full of unlimited opportunities. We had a sizeable number of different unreached people groups on the campus. The mega tribes were the Hausas, Fulanis and Nupes. Outside the campus, we were also surrounded by the Dukawas and other smaller tribes. Some of the tribes have few number of Christians while others had no known Christian.
The Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS) was the only evangelical fellowship on campus and a very good platform to disciple the different nations represented on campus. I joined and became a faithful member. After the first session, I was elected the President of the FCS. It was a very strategic position God used in preparing me for the future leadership thrust and mission work he had for me. Again, it was an opportunity to work as a team. I had Aminu Sule as my Vice President, James Jacob as the Bible Study Secretary, Ruth Aifou(Nee Bako) as the Prayer Secretary, Arida Dasuma as Financial Secretary, Uchechukwu Dim was Welfare Secretary, Naomi Peterson as the Treasurer and few others I rarely recall.
Reaching the Rascals
One of the highlights of our ministry was how to reach out to the influential rascals on campus. James Jacob, in addition to his role as the Bible Study Secretary was very passionate about this group of persons. He met with them at the long tennis court in a secular manner. They took soft drinks, shared testimonies and he brought God's word to them. He never condemned them irrespective of their outlook, neither was he in a hurry to invite them over to the main fellowship. His watch words were: 'Let us love them into the kingdom' . That outreach turned out to be very fruitful. Many of them surrendered their lives to Christ and became members of the main campus fellowship. The quality of the Bible Study and Sunday Services were great. The nominal Christians in the fellowship began to experience great transformation. Fervency in prayer became a norm. God moved in diverse ways and we were grateful to him.
Reaching the Dukawas
After a while, we saw the need to extend the love of Jesus to the Dukawas at Rijau Local Government Area of the then Sokoto State. There were reports of effort being made by the Muslims to Islamize them. For example, the head of each family at one of the villages was given money, a scholar was brought in to marry the daughter of the village head, the names of all the villagers were changed for Muslim names and all of them changed their religion from Idolatry to Islam. That to us was a dangerous signal and we felt as a body of Christ, the need not to only rise up but to counter the spread of Islam and take the light of the gospel to where it was needed most.
At this time, Calvary Ministries already had missionary team working among the Dukawas. The Ministry also had a chapter in Sokoto. To effectively contribute our quota, some of us became part of the Calvary Ministry chapter in the city. We travelled together with some of the chapter members to the field. We provided financial and other material gifts to the missionaries and spent weekends with them interacting with the Dukawas. These cross-cultural experiences remain indelible.
My first trip to the Dukawa field from Sokoto was not an easy experience. We trekked several kilometers on feet late into the night through many villages and hamlets carrying loads on our heads. The dogs barked like lions roaring. Unfortunately, after getting to our destination, the missionaries were said to have travelled out to Sokoto. We thanked God, the villagers were kind enough to open the doors to the missionary house for us to rest.
Outbreak of Persecution
Working among Muslims has never been easy. Several times they threatened to fight the Christians our number was so few to theirs that we dared not attempt to take them for granted. As the President, I always arranged to move the female members of the fellowship out of the campus while the males slept on open field. Sharing room with the fundamentalist was also hell on earth. I remember one night, I was listening to the gospel music in the room, a Muslim roommate threatened to stab me if I didn't off the cassette player. I had no option but to comply.
Sometimes the university authority took sides with the Muslims. At a time, all fellowships on campus were proscribed that we had to mount pressure on the authority to allow us operate under a new name, Protestant Christian Community and I was designated Chairman instead of President.
At the end of the day, the growing persecution made Christians grow stronger and stronger in the faith.
Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Student(NIFES) Sub Zone and Zonal Leadership being the only university in the area, our campus Fellowship provided leadership for all the fellowships in the other tertiary institutions in the subzone which in present day structure include Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi State. The zonal structure which our fellowship then belonged to was Zaria Zone which also included Kano and Kaduna State. The Zonal Cordinator was Adekunle Adeyemo(represented Ahmadu Bello University) who later founded the Bread of Life Ministry at Iwo. Other members of the Zonal Executive Council included myself, Bala Usman(represented Bayero University, Kano) who is the current National Director of NIFES and late Habila Musa who represented Kaduna Polytechnic.
Exposure to NIFES at that level helped to lay the foundation for the relationships we harness for networking to take the light of the gospel to several nations today. It served as an open door into the various campuses in the Muslim infested northern states.
Another Transition
The academic program under which cover, I ran my ministry in the far northern state of Sokoto was virtually over. A new executive council was elected and we handed over to them. At this point, my Vice President, Aminu Sule took over the mantle of leadership. James Jacob and Ruth Aifou(Nee Bako) were also in the new executive council because they still had additional year to spend on campus.
The fellowship grew both in number and in quality of service to the glory of God. Many of those who came to the Lord are doing exploit for God today. One of such outstanding persons that surrendered their lives to Christ and joined the fellowship was the Student Union Director of Socials, Kasimu Dokpesi popularly known as Kaska. He is still in the Christian faith and serving as an Evangelist. He was twice Chairman of the Etsako East Local Government Council and Edo State Commissioner for Works. From the desert tribe God relocated me to Kwara State of Nigeria with a different level and nature of ministry assignment. I am ever grateful to God for the opportunity to serve in the desert tribe.
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