NIGERIA: PRAYING FOR ENGLAND AND AMERICA

In Nigeria, churches of every variety grow, especially in the southern region, in spite of poverty, overcrowded cities, daily power outages, a struggling educational system, entrenched corruption and growing terrorism. When visiting, it’s easy to fall in love with the people and their lively passion for God. Nigerians have some of the most unusual church names on the planet, like The Yoke Must Break Ministries, Satan in Trouble Ministries, and Go and Tell Ahab That Elijah Is Here Ministries. At the beginning of the year, a visiting British evangelist spoke at the Global PrayerQuake Conference in Port Harcourt. He gave a sobering report on the current spiritual condition of England. Mosy Madugba, who led the Conference, reminded the 5 000 attendees that British missionaries had come to Africa on ships in the 1700's to bring the Gospel. Some of those selfless missionaries brought their coffins with them because they knew they would never return. Mosy also reminded the audience that Americans had sent both missionaries and money to spread the Gospel in Nigeria when it was known for its cannibals and witch doctors rather than its lively churches. At that point the Holy Spirit took over. Many Nigerians ran to the front of the building and got on their faces. Some of them were weeping. Nothing about this prayer meeting was dignified - it was noisy and raw and messy, as if several hundred women were giving birth at the same time. They were crying their guts out, grateful for the mercy of God. They could not accept the fact that the two countries that invested so much to bring the salvation of Jesus to Africa now seem to turn away from the Christian faith. They asked God to sweep England and the United States with a spiritual awakening, and send Nigerians to take the Gospel back to the nations that had evangelized them. [Source: Lee Grady, Joel News International 846, 26/01/2013].