Oasis International

Report from Evangelical Church of West Africa

Post Election Violence

Thank you for your prayers for Nigeria. We are grateful that it appears to have been peaceful over the last week and indeed since the last election on 26th April. There has been little of the violence we heard about after the presidential election on 16th April. However details continue to emerge of what happened at that time. In Nigeria, as a whole, hundreds of people have been killed. We know of at least 194 churchesthat have been burnt or otherwise destroyed, over 1200 houses destroyed and15,000 people displaced.

As far as ECWA is concerned, to the best of our knowledge so far, 3 ECWA pastors have been killed and at least 32 church members have lost their lives, with 62 members, including pastors, injured. 48 churches, mission stations or pastoriums have been destroyed and 106 private houses have been lost. Just think about what this means for those affected around the country.

In the light of this suffering in the North, we [Serving in Mission] continue to allocate funds in various directions. Early this week SIM Nigeria helped with some aid to many affected people in Southern Kaduna State area. Today we arranged for some funds to go to ECWA Bauchi district. We continue to look for other avenues to channel funds. Once again if you know of any organisation or individual who wants to contribute please ask them to donate to our Nigeria Relief Fund 96038 through the nearest SIM office. Let's keep praying for those who have been affected.

Update from Nigeria in the Time of Election

Well, the Nigerian elections are nearly over. There are still scattered ones here and there to be completed. Tomorrow they will vote in Kaduna and Bauchi States. I presume these were delayed in part to move security forces in from places like Jos before the elections took place. The security forces have done very well, and international election observers say that the voting was fair and well done, with significantly fewer problems. And it rather blunts the protests as the results were overwhelming for the current President. 

Here in Jos, the Governor was reelected. Results were given this morning—Thursday—and were met with large throngs of jubilant followers of Governor Jang. Some of our staff was delayed in getting to work as some of the streets were blocked by the numbers of people celebrating.

We are thankful that Jos was peaceful and that our staff and shop are again unscathed. Our shop was closed several days as required, and on our open days, the sales were reduced. But we are thankful for how peacefully it has turned out in Jos.

Thanks for continuing to pray.
Craig

Craig is our Managining Director of Oasis Distributions Limited - the headquarters of which is located in Jos.

What’s Going on in Nigeria?

As you know, our African headquarters are in Nigeria. The country’s central region experienced episodes of violence over the past few months, with targeted attacks taking place on Christmas Eve.    We receive weekly reports from our team in Nigeria and we follow news reports from the BBC, New York Times, CNN, and the U.S. State Department. The violence comes in waves, leaving our team to deal with a rollercoaster of emotions. The Lord continually provides wisdom and discernment about when to keep shop doors open. Fortunately, this ethnic, religious violence has not brought physical harm to any of our staff. However, each of them has been personally touched, having lost friends or relatives as a result of the growing violence.   These tension and trials challenge all of us to increase our faith in our sovereign God.

We are grateful that so many of you are praying, and we ask that you remain on your knees, asking God for peace in Nigeria. We periodically post updates to our blog from Craig Ewoldt, our Managing Director in Jos.  We specifically ask you to pray for Craig and his wife, Beth. You can find their latest personal report HERE.

Our Nigerian team is in need of your prayer support, and they are also in need some updates to technology. They are looking for gently-used laptops to supply to their support staff. Please keep this need in mind as you or a friend moves to new technology. You can contact our main office with any inquiry or contribution.

Prayer Request from Friend of Oasis--Earle Senn

May 28, 2010
Jos, Plateau State , Nigeria
 
Hi or Sannu abokinmu, Lafiya?
 
Have you ever cried in a library? Perhaps it was a sad story or article you were reading, or maybe as a child you got lost in such a huge place!? Imagine this completely different scene. We are approaching an old appearing building badly in need of a paint job, entering into a large room, also begging for new paint, with the bright, hot, tropical sunshine streaming in through broken, dirty louver windows. There are several long wooden tables with wooden chairs around them and along the walls are wooden bookshelves, with few books on them. “This is our seminary library,” the provost, Rev. Mathias K., was saying sadly, “It is in shambles.” He introduced us to the Librarian, and to the Academic Dean, Rev. Sunday Congo, and started taking us on a tour of the library at ECWA Theological Seminary, Kufai, Biliri.  
 
We had been talking with our long time friend, Rev. Dr. Siman Ibrahim, and our host, Danladi Bako, the evening before, and the subject of the Seminary at Kufai came up. They told us that the new provost at the seminary is such a humble, Godly man, and he has been given an impossible job of improving and updating the school within three years. It fell into disrepair over the last 8 years with poor management of funds and staff. The library is only one item in a six page “to do” list that the staff and board have crafted. There is little to work with, except the beautiful hills, valleys, and wooded areas where the school is located, the present staff houses, student housing, many of which need extensive repair– and that incredible sunshine!
 
Back to the tour of the library…The “Periodicals” section, the librarian was saying, has only one updated magazine there and that was a “Decision” magazine from Billy Graham Assoc. dated July 2009! The rest were ragged, various magazines and papers as far back as 1972! The “Reference” section, where instructors had chosen books for their students to read was very sparsely populated with ragged, tattered and torn pieces of paper that perhaps once were books. Most of the bookshelves in the “library” were empty, with a few antique theology books and some interesting thesis books on various topics written by long ago students. The encyclopedia set was from 1972, I believe, and there were a few good old classic theology books. Upstairs in the gallery, the same story, dusty, old, tattered books in the fiction, history, and biography shelves.
 
I cry tears of sadness for what others have lost because of lack of resources, I cry tears of apprehension, that the present students may never have the opportunity of expanding their knowledge beyond a few outdated, worn out scraps of paper still respectably called books, I cry for joy, when I see the possibilities of how much it would mean for them to receive books, many books, railroad containers full of books to stock their library with Bibles, commentaries, Bible study books, books on Christian living, Biographies of great men and women of God, Geography, Theology books, World History, dictionaries, Encyclopedias, and the list could go on, including a regular supply of current, relevant periodicals.
 
Rev. Mathias was so grateful when we said we would see what we could do to get books to him for the library. We told him that many of our friends would give books, give money for books, and look for churches, schools, libraries, publishers, etc. that throw away books because they are a few years outdated, but still perfectly good to use.
 
We are overwhelmed with the opportunities, needs, and the desire of so many Christian leaders to promote a culture of reading in this great country facing so many challenges.
 
OUR REQUESTS FOR PRAYER:

• For the Billiri, Kufai Theological Seminary Book Drive .
• Improvement in the shaky “peace” in Jos area. We were stopped in a long traffic line Saturday evening as soldiers were checking all cars for missing weapons. People are fearful, and incidents are still reported frequently. The 9 pm curfew has been lifted.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PRAYING!  
            
LOVE FROM SENN’S  

The Need for the NLT Life Application Study Bible in Rwanda

I was able to visit the large Assembly of God church here in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, this morning. Before the service, we spent a few minutes with the lead pastor.  He would like the church to start a bookshop, the entire country is in great need of Christian resources.  We were on the subject of our project for Africa with the New Living Translation, and he just immediately told us how much Africa needs a Bible that is easy to understand and how much he uses his NLT Life Application Study Bible (LASB) in his ministry and teaching.

 

I was able to tell him that in Kenya, these Bibles are available for pastors and students for great prices through the equipping program with Tyndale.  Wow, he was really excited about that.  They have all 150 pastors from his denomination coming to his church just next week for their national conference.  I shared a short testimony in the service about our literature ministry – as visitors often do in Africa. Later, as he talked about the conference and all the pastors that are coming, he said he was reading this morning and he believed that God wanted their church to bless these pastors as they came.  He wanted people to bring soap, toothbrushes, and toothpaste to church next week as a small token of blessing.  In the front they would have baskets for people to put their offerings to bless these rural pastors – many who did not even have the money for a bus ride to come.  Does your pastor need a toothbrush?

Then he said something more.  He said, “you know that leather Bible, the Life Application Study Bible, that I preach out of so often?  Matthew Elliott, the man who greeted us earlier, told me this morning that those are available in Kenya for pastors at nominal costs.  I want to commit this church to giving each one of these pastors a copy of this Bible.  We will find the money.  It will not be next week, but we will do it.”  

What a wonderful way to start the week, and a wonderful way that God had prepared the way.  Here is a pastor that loves his NLT LASB that was also having 150 pastors to a conference this next week.  I just happened to show up to say that we could supply enough of these Bibles for each pastor, at a price that people could afford.  Thanks be to God and blessings to Tyndale for making the program possible!


Matthew

Jos Violence Erupts Again

Dear Friends,

 

   We recently received the following update from Craig Ewoldt, Managing Director for Oasis in Nigeria, regarding the latest uprising in Jos. We know you share our concern so we are asking you to join us in urgent prayer for them and the nation of Nigeria.

 

    Please continue to pray with us for Jos. We are thankful for you and for your continued prayer for Beth and me, and for our Oasis staff, and for the ministries of Oasis and Hillcrest School. Throughout the period of crisis in Jos, God has sustained and encouraged us, and allowed us to continue ministering. The bookshop and school have remained physically untouched, although all of us have been severely distressed by the magnitude of the destruction and bloodshed around us.

 

Please pray:

• God would be glorified and the light of the Gospel would shine through clearly
• For wisdom and strength during this difficult time for Governor Jonah Jang, a fellow Christian and a pastor
• Consolation and healing for those who have lost loved ones and homes
• Stability of the Nigerian government. President Yar ‘Adua, a Muslim, is very ill, and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, has tentatively assumed power under significant opposition
• Pray for Hillcrest School, as this has been particularly disruptive for the teachers, students and families
• Please pray specifically for the security of the staff and ministry of Oasis in Jos--the renewed violence has been particularly unsettling to everyone

Bibles and Christian literature continue to go out
    Despite this, or perhaps because of this, several thousand books and Bibles were distributed throughout northern Nigeria from our Jos location last week. Throughout the crisis, truckloads of military men have come to our shop to purchase Bibles. Pray that these will have an impact in the lives of people throughout Nigeria.
 
You can help our Christian brothers and sisters in Jos
    The Christians in Jos and surrounding area have been severely affected. For example, our good friend, David Laje, pastors the ECWA Church here in Rayfield. Twenty-three homes of believers were destroyed, and 67 of them lost their businesses in nearby Bukuru. This can be repeated from church to church. From earlier gifts you have given, we have been able to help the families at ECWA Rayfield Church replace their Bibles, hymnals and daily devotionals. We have also assisted Lydia Baleri, the widow of our late manager, who lost everything, and two other families closely related to our ministry and staff. The needs are tremendous, and who will help our brothers and sisters in Christ in Jos if we do not?

    If you can help, you may send gifts through Oasis International. Indicate that your gifts are for the ministry account of Craig and Beth Ewoldt, and are to aid the victims of the crisis in Jos. 100% of every gift will reach those affected. We will channel the gifts through the local assemblies, churches, and pastors that we know to help those that need it most.
 
Thank you for your continued prayers for all of us and for Jos.
 
Serving together,
 
Craig and Beth Ewoldt
 

 

We also want to share this beautiful prayer from our staff meeting in Jos soon after the crisis began:

 

 Lord, where are you?

If you do not protect us, who can we turn to?

Our thoughts are unworthy of you. Your ways are not our ways.

But we do not understand why you have allowed this.

Ultimately, we know the source. It is the Prince of Darkness.

He desires death, destruction, despair, deception and bondage.

Fear is a potent weapon in his arsenal.

As we read, when he lies—and those abound—he is speaking his native language.

It matters not if you are a child of the light or of the darkness.

He will destroy both without regard to his victim’s loyalty.

We appeal to the creator of all, Lord of life, love, liberty and truth.

Perfect love overcomes fear.

Light overcomes the darkness. Truth overpowers lies.

Come and protect us.

Who do we have besides you in heaven and on earth?

Where else can we go to find life and strength?

By your power, honor and glorify your name in Jos and in our lives.

Help us to love good and hate evil, even as you do.

Strengthen men and women of good will.

Confuse and frustrate the plans of the wicked.

Amen.

Why Jos is Different

Click here to read an article from Vanguard News on an analysis of the Jos crisis.

Jos Violence

Dear Friends,

Please be praying for the people in Jos, Nigeria as more violence broke out this weekend. We are thankful that our staff is well.  

To read about the violence please visit the following:

Yahoo News

Reuters

Thank you,

Oasis International Ltd. Staff

Prayer Request from Bruce and Carol Britten

Please keep Oasis authors’ Bruce and Carol Britten in your prayers. 

Last November we met with a group that expressed interest in having a branch of the Bible College in their area. It’s a sparsely populated rural area. They had a church building where we could meet, but it had few benches and a roof with holes. Still, when they asked if their building was good enough, we said it was fine. (We’ve used worse.) And theirs is a poor community. We agreed to begin classes in two months.
When we arrived two months later, what a shock! They had gone to so much work and expense to fix up the place…they fixed the roof, made eight benches, and even made a podium for us to use while teaching! And at lunch-time they cooked a meal for us and wouldn’t let us pay.
The next shock was the number of students who enrolled. We thought we’d probably have 20 students. If God did a miracle we could have 30. But just in case something really miraculous happened, we prepared photocopied notes for 40. What a shock it was when 57 showed up!
In 2010 no doubt Satan is at work as usual, but God is certainly out-working him!
Last year we taught in five towns. We’re beginning this year in seven towns with the hope of eventually beginning classes in even more than seven. How will we have enough staff to do that? We’ve divided our staff of six into two teams of three teachers each. So now we can be teaching in two different branches on the same day.
We don’t want to take on too much work…or too little. Please pray.
Bruce & Carol
 
Please pray:
1.      Pray for classes as they have resumed this month.

2.      Pray for all the teachers as they prepare and teach...that they will present Biblical truths in ways that are understood by the students.

3.      Pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare the students to receive the Truth of God’s Word, that they will respond and do what It says.

4.      Pray for some of our graduates to have the desire to get further Bible training, to be better equipped to teach others.

Message from Archbishop Kwashi of Jos

Click here to read a message from the Archbishop of Jos on the recent violence.  Archbishop Kwashi was a guest speaker at the dedication of our African Headquarters in April, 2009.