Acts of the Witness

Chapter 1

Before the Vision

Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jer. 1:5).

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (Jn.3:6-7).

And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (Jn.20:22).

This was October 20, 1988. We had just arrived Kano, a city located in the north-western part of Nigeria, to commence a year of compulsory national service. We were enrolled for service under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, a programme of compulsory service designed for graduates of Nigeria’s universities and polytechnics. Each corps member had spent approximately one month in the Orientation Camp, situated in Gumel, one of the Local Government areas of Kano State.

The Kano State Christian Corpers’ Fellowship (KNCCF), a fellowship of Christian corps members, had made arrangements to convey the Christian corps members from the Orientation Camp to the KNCCF secretariat in Kano. We took advantage of the unique opportunity and boarded the buses.

After an uneventful journey, we arrived our destination and promptly disembarked. Armed with our letters of posting, we immediately went out in search of our places of primary assignment. On the evening of the same day, Pius and Daniel met for the first time. Even though we had both spent one month in the same Orientation Camp, and had attended the same fellowship, we were meeting, consciously, for the very first time.

How did the meeting take place? Daniel had reported at the Kano State Ministry of Justice for his “primary assignment,” and was promptly assigned a bed-space in a block of residential flats reserved for corps members. Thereafter, he went to the KNCCF secretariat to collect his belongings and invite an acquaintance, Ayeni Olusegun, to share his one-room facility with him, pending the sorting of his posting and accommodation. When he got there, he met Ayeni and Pius having a conversation. It turned out that they had been classmates in the university. He took them to his flat for a meal, after which Pius returned to the secretariat. This was the first of several shared meals and moments of interaction. Ayeni was eventually posted outside Kano city, leaving Pius and Daniel to continue the almost-daily rendezvous.

A Word about Pius

For Pius, 1978 was the year of illumination. In the course of that year, he made a commitment to Christ and even began to preach in commercial buses. But the commitment was short-lived. Due to insufficient fellowship opportunities and the pressures of youth, he strayed off the path of Christ. However, the years of backsliding were not altogether barren. The Lord continued to woo him and reveal Himself to him. When, eventually, he was confronted with a hurdle he could not surmount, he rededicated his life to the Lord. At that time, he was studying English at the University of Ibadan (located in the south-western part of Nigeria).

Straightaway, he began to desire the baptism in the Holy Spirit, an experience that had so far eluded him. A brother prayed for him, and he was, indeed, baptised with the Holy Spirit. He not only spoke and sang in tongues, a new flame was kindled in his heart. With a rekindled zeal, he fellowshipped with other believers on campus, and began to grow.

At this juncture, it is appropriate to recall a significant act of the Holy Spirit in his life. One day, he attended a programme organised by Yeshua Bible School (a ministry then based on the campus of the University of Ibadan). In the course of the programme, the organisers played a video film featuring the healing ministry of Charles and Frances Hunter. As he watched, along with others, the display of the miraculous power of God, the following words were impressed on his heart: “Greater things than this will you do.” When it was time to minister to the sick, he stepped out, along with others, to be prayed for. But while he was standing before the platform, a thought kept flashing in his mind: “If you step unto this platform, you’ll become a minister.” Of course, he ignored it! But shortly afterwards, the coordinator of the meeting made an announcement to this effect: “If you are being led to join us here, you are free to come.” He brushed aside his doubts, stepped unto the platform and indeed became a “minister,” at least on that occasion. What an interesting turn of events, that a man steps out of his seat to be prayed for and, instead, ends up praying for others!

In June 1988, he graduated from the university and, after three months, received a letter from the youth service authorities, posting him to Kano State to commence the youth service programme.

A Word about Daniel

Daniel made a commitment to the Lord while at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. Before then, while attending the University of Jos (located in the north central part of Nigeria) he had quite a few opportunities to hear the gospel. If anything, the opportunities increased within weeks of his arriving Lagos. While sharing a flat with some believers in Christ, he had opportunity to attend church services, hear the gospel and listen to testimonies of God’s intervention in the lives of men. Thus, he gained a measure of exposure to the Christian way of life. After a while, he picked up interest in some of the Christian songs and literature, but was not ready to make an immediate commitment.

Eventually, after a period of introspection, he received Jesus as Lord and Saviour. On the 4th of June, 1988, he entered his room, closed the door and prayed a simple prayer of commitment to the Lord Jesus. After eight days, while alone, and having fellowship with God, he received the baptism in the Holy Spirit and began to speak with new tongues. Afterwards, by a combination of the Lord’s stirring and the responsibilities entrusted to him within the fellowship groups he belonged to, he grew in leaps and bounds.

At this juncture, it is appropriate to recall an experience that left a lasting impression on him. It happened when he travelled from Lagos to Makurdi (located in the north-central part of Nigeria) to see his parents. He discovered that Enebi, one of his younger brothers, was ill. He took him aside, asking him if he believed Jesus would heal him. When he said he did, he laid hands on him and prayed. While he was still praying, the boy’s temperature went down and the fever left him. The boy, who was thirteen at the time, later confirmed that, during the prayer, something that felt like wind began to rise up within him and flow out through his mouth. For both of them, it was a new experience.

A Word about the Two

With the departure of Ayeni, a closer relationship developed between Pius and Daniel. We prayed and studied together, gaining a lot of understanding in the process. In addition, the Lord began to speak to us concerning our lives. But nothing He said (at that point) prepared us for the demands He subsequently made on us. In the first place, we each had our individual plans for the future. Yes, we did contemplate a future in the Lord, but nothing we considered at the time could have prepared us for the future the Lord had ordained for us.

One thing we had in common was a belief in the efficacy and practicality of God’s Word. We dared to believe in the impossible, but only in the context of whatever the Lord revealed to us. Unknown to us, the Lord had been preparing us for a specific role in His Body; something that was beyond our wildest imaginations; something that relates to His end-time programme for His people; indeed, something that began to unfold in the early hours of November 22, 1988.

......CHAPTER 2