June 1st will be 19 years since Sabrina and I first came to West Africa, and the Lord has graciously allowed us to host more than 90 American visitors, several on multiple occasions. However, Nigeria’s procedure for a two-year (sometimes less) multiple re-entry visa is one of the most difficult in its application process, hindering more people from scheduling trips to see our ministry. Conversely, in April, four of our guests took advantage of a new visa-on-arrival; all I needed from them was their flight itinerary, passport data page, address, signature, and a photo for a 30-day visa that costs $260. Additionally, we just hosted three preachers from Rock of Ages Ministries, and they received from the Consulate of Atlanta (others have received from New York City and Washington, D.C.) multiple re-entry visas for five years! I’m writing all of this to encourage more our supporters to prayerfully consider taking a missions journey to Nigeria.
Missionary Evangelist Curtis Hall of BEST Missions, gave an account in his prayer letter of his visit:
April first found me in Nigeria, Africa, getting ready to kick off the Soul Winning and Leadership Conference for Missionary Mark Holmes and Truth Baptist Church in Abuja. It was a blessed conference! There were 68 Nigerian churches represented and 61 Senior Pastors in attendance along with several more assistant Pastors, and Evangelists. The 40 students of Providence Baptist Seminary in Abuja, which is a ministry of Truth Baptist, were in attendance as well. I was blessed to preach alongside Pastor Ken Shinn and Bro. James Abbey. While it was a Pastors Conference, appeals to the lost were still made at invitation time. There were 2 men and a young boy who all trusted Christ as Saviour. Glory! Many other decisions were made by the believers in attendance.
After the conference in Abuja, we rested for a day then Bro. Holmes, Bro. Abbey, and I traveled to Calabar, Nigeria, to preach a regional Soul Winning and Leadership Conference for Nigerian Pastor Nicholas Wayih and the folks of Independent Baptist Church. There were 14 Nigerian churches represented and 13 Nigerian Senior Pastors along with several other assistant Pastors. There were six people who trusted Christ as Saviour at this conference.
During the conference in Abuja one day, Bro. Holmes made a statement about Nigeria, He said the new motto for the country should be, “Nigeria – It’s Not Easy!” This was my fourth trip to Nigeria, and I concur with Bro. Holmes. Most of the days in Abuja were over 100 degrees and on Tuesday it was 112 degrees. The churches do not have air conditioning and you feel blessed if they have ceiling fans or the church has power to run the fans. I tell you this to give you a plea, if you support a missionary in a third world country, pray for them, probably more than others. After each trip to Nigeria, I am always thankful for the times I minister in Southeast Asia and the States more and more.
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