Verse of the Day

Saturday, December 20, 1997

PrayerLetter-Nov/Dec 1997

Dear Friends,
     "No man is an island unto himself." Everyone of us is dispensable, and, irrespective of our status in life, the other person is as important as we are. Nobody is insignificant and certainly nobody is too important. Our strength is being part of human collectivity not in cocky individualism. We all have a date with the Judge of all humanity (Onanseawo).
     The year 1997 has witnessed Emmaus conduct a total of 67 (sixty-seven) workshops and seminars in the West, Middle Belt and Northern States of Nigeria. We regard Emmaus correctors as associates, self-directed team distributors. They have the day-to-day responsibility of managing themselves and the work they do with a minimum of direct supervision. To empower them, these workshops provide them with authority, information, resources, and accountability. Authority without necessary information and resources is simply permission. Besides, by not sharing accountability it is paternalistic and condescending. Only when all four elements are present do people feel responsible and act responsibly. The workshops teach the following skills: record-keeping, use of resources, godliness, techniques of grading, report-writing and financial management. Cyprian has now developed a better way of getting his point across to the attendees by using a step-by-step approach.
     A second Lagos depot has now been set up, managed by the leaders of the exclusive Assembly in Surulere. Cyprian serves as their corrector, and several key leaders have emerged. A new corrector and coordinator has now asked Cyprian to accompany him to Abia, Rivers, Imo, and Akwa-Ibom states to open new centers. He is brother Abraham Ewetump, a senior electrical engineer with the Nigerian Electric Power Authority. We want to ensure that the Rivers Niger and Benue, along which the Assembly mission first started in Nigeria, will not be the only rivers available to the people. There is another river, the river of the water of life, flowing there; how gladly believing sinners drink from its stream.
     Other events confirm the direction of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Early in September Cyprian was attempting to hire a motorcycle when a man approached him who said he had heard of him and asked Cyprian to help him get saved. This was gladly done, and he was then directed to a corrector whose center is close to the motorpark for a study of the Word.
     While at Makurdi Cyprian was visiting the home of a coordinator when a new corrector came in for personal training. This corrector is a female graduate of Ahmadu Bello University and an employee of the Benue State government. Cyprian had the privilege of personally directing the training process since the coordinator was missing some vital information in the training scheme. By the Lord's leading he was at the right place at the right time.
     Mission House, an indigenous mission organization, had a four-day conference on evangelization at the Benue State capital, Makurdi, to which Cyprian was invited as a consultant and resource person. While there he was invited to the Idoma-speaking Roman Catholic youth gathering, also in Makurdi metropolis. The gathering was very evangelical in outlook, and it was very refreshing to see many important persons whom one would have written off as unsaved now strongly devoted to the person of Christ. The Catholic Church had asked them not to use their premises if they are not willing to uphold the worship of Mary and many other Catholic traditions. Please pray for them as we have now introduced the Emmaus courses to this 200-member group.
     The economic and political conditions in the country have helped, in recent times, to increase the nation's poor. This means that those who preach the gospel can no longer afford to close their eyes to their needs, particularly those of the household of faith. God has enabled us in past months to offer scholarships to a limited number of families, and business capitals to creative ones, to buy seedlings for farmers, and to pay rents of selected families literally about to lose their roofs from over their heads, thus making the gospel more relevant in Nigeria.
     Christian mission should not wall itself in with comfortable illusions of past successes without constantly renewing its strategic direction in the light of present reality. This is why the current use of the Emmaus courses, utilizing a multi-level marketing approach aimed at evangelism and disciple-making, is introduced. The Church in Africa now produces more than she can care for, and the Emmaus courses, distributed in this way, are helping the Church to nurture her many converts seen daily.
     As we share the news from Nigeria of God's wonderful ways and workings these past months, may we all enter the Christmas season and the new year reminded of our unchanging God and Savior. We thank each of you for sharing in these events and ministry through friendship, fellowship, and earnest prayers.

We look forward to the New Year because of Calvary,
Cyprian and Joy Kia

Wednesday, July 9, 1997

PrayerLetter-July 1997

Dear Friends,
     Greetings and warm Christian love from within Africa's sleeping giant in the precious Name of our Lord and Savior.
     According to Paul Culley, "We are not responsible for CONVERSION, but we are responsible for CONTACT. We cannot compel any man to decide for Christ, but we may compel every man to decide one way or the other. That is, we may so bring to every human being the Gospel message that the responsibility is transferred from us to him and that we are delivered from blood-guiltiness" (1954).
It is with this understanding that we have now teamed up with others in the assembly to take the Word of God to every part of Nigeria, Africa's sleeping giant. Recently it has pleased God to open the door to the country of Ghana.
     In Ghana Cyprian gave the devotionals and worked with Jim Gillett for the day seminars. We were given favor in the sight of the Church, and the best of the country's Christian leadership welcomed us and described our visit as God-sent. In Accra the Challenge Enterprises, a literature ministry started by SIM mission, now serves to coordinate the demand for courses temporarily, until our students have completed their 12 courses which qualifies them as correctors. Then the best correctors become the coordinators of a number of other correctors.
     Among these students are: Rev. Alfred Addison, Pastor of the University of Accra Chapel; Benjamin Boateng, Managing Director of Challenge Enterprises; Walt Mawuenyegah, Dean of Shalom Bible Training Institute; Joyce Weceko-Brobby, a former high government official who now hosts a Christian radio program in Accra.
     In Kumasi, about three-and-a-half hours drive from Accra, we had another fruitful series of meetings. In attendance here were Mike and Elaine Bourer, a young Canadian couple in the employ of a mining company. They and Cyprian have agreed on a plan to start an assembly. They will be hosting Cyprian's July and October visits to the Central and Volta regions of Ghana. We were also blessed with an hour-long interview over a radio station on the purpose and goal of the Emmaus courses.
Starting from February 5th Cyprian undertook a tour of the country (Nigeria) to assess the progress and need of the work in the hands of local correctors.
     When Jim Gillett arrived it became a continuation of that tour, only this time we focused on harvesting and training. Between March 20 and April 16 we covered over 29 thousand kilometers of rough road network. Hundreds of correctors are now added to the array of correctors spread around the country fishing for souls.
     On the 16th of April we left for Ghana, and Cyprian returned on the 21st and has commenced another round of visits from the 22nd to date. During these visits he is conducting workshops to train correctors on proper methods of using the courses for evangelism and discipleship. He also teaches record-keeping and self-accounting techniques.
     In Kano the coordinator and an elder in the assembly, Patrick Ochigbo, testified of several Muslims acknowledging Christ as Savior after studying the courses. One of the new correctors in this Muslim city is an officer in the Army who views the Army barracks as his mission field. Already his student numbers are growing. Cyprian will hold a series of meetings among the soldiers with his help. Pray that all will be done in His honor and fear.
     The use of the film unit is another tool that has been of immense blessing. An assembly was planted through it in Agila among the Ezzi (Ibo speaking people) who live in Idoma Land. They have given land to build a worship place. A day after we left, a community conflict led to the loss of several lives. Here your prayers for our safety were not in vain.
     The CMML assemblies have fully embraced the Emmaus courses. They are popular among the youth. They have centers in Ayangba, Abocho, Dekina, and Iyale. Due to the great demand we have opened a major supply depot at CMML Mission Compound. This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
     When Mordecai issued a decree in the king's name, it took less than nine months to get the message to all the 27 provinces, from India to Ethiopia. This in spite of the fact that there were no modern facilities to aid them such as telephones, computers, radio, television, faxes, and air travel. Today we have all these aids, and yet the Church has not taken the message to all ethnic groups as commanded by no less a person than the King of kings in 1,997 years. It is about time, for He is coming soon.

Yours, Seeking the Lost in Immanuel's Name,
Joy and Cyprian

Saturday, April 12, 1997

PrayerLetter-Apr 1997

Dear Friends,
    To you all I send my warmest Christian greetings in the most blessed name of Our Redeemer and Lord, Jesus Christ, from the land of Ghana, a land rich in gold and ancient history. It is the birth place of one of Africa's most illustrious sons, Dr. Kwame Nkruma as well as the current United Nations Secretary General.
   Ghana, which was formerly called GoldCoast, was first visited by Europeans of Portuguese nationality in 1471. They came to trade in the abundant gold found and mined here, hence the name "coast of gold." The country is about the size of the United Kingdom and is relatively flat.
The name of Ghana was not coined out of political expediency. There have been centuries of empires and states in this part of Africa long before 1471. According to Verstraelen, Camps, Hoedemaker and Spindler, there was a Kingdom of Ghana in the ninth century (whose name modern Ghana adopted) that traded in gold and was known for her abundant gold. This kingdom was succeeded in the eleventh century by an even greater empire called Mali which extended to most of what is now northern Nigeria (1995:65).
   It was during this period that one of the first known universities was built at Timbuktu in Mali, a city still known by that name in modern Mali. This university was known for its Islamic scholarship. The most famous of its scholars, Usman Dar Fodio, founded the present Sokoto caliphate, or dynasty, of the Islamic Kanem Borno Empire. From the thirteenty century on in this region the Yorubas developed a new political system. Their art in terra-cotta and bronze is among the best in the world and shows continuity with a much older culture, the Nok culture, which was present in the region centuries before the Christian era in Europe (Davidson 1996:23-36).
   Organized missions, both Catholic and Protestant, began in the nineteenth century. Missionaries came to Ghana not only from Europe but also from North America. Americans of African descent were in the forefront of taking the light of the gospel to this land of gold. In J. K. Agbeti's words, their missionary contribution reached beyond Ghana to the other British colonies in West Africa (1986:113-19).
   Today there are in Ghana, besides churches founded by missionary enterprise, some five hundred independent groups. These independent churches are often called "healing churches" because of their emphasis on healing. They are also called spiritual churches because of the power people experience in these churches in their struggle for life and in their yearning for the expansion of their lives. These facts supplied by D. B. Barrett (1968) and Beckmann have since been altered by further growth and development of Christianity.
   I flew in here with Jim Gillett of Ireland Outreach, International from Lagos. We came on April 14 and Jim will leave 20th April for Europe. I will leave on a later date on the next available flight to Lagos, Nigeria. While here, we will introduce the Emmaus Correspondence courses as an active tool for evangelism and discipleship. We will therefore hold seminars, workshops, Bible conferences, counseling, speaking engagements, and personal witnessing. After the introduction of the Emmaus focus in Nigeria, the German brothers and Ireland Outreach have born the very heavy financial burden of supplying 300,000 courses printed and shipped free, and over 20 cases of Bibles for those who asked for them in Nigeria and Ghana. In addition, valuable and needed books on various subjects are suppplied to reinforce the Bible teaching.
   Pray that the increased demand that will be caused by this visit to this place will not be grounds for some well-meaning beleivers to criticize the method being used to meet these needs. Pray for Jim Gillett and Ireland Outreach as they seek to help in this program.
   Our host and hostess are Alfred and Esther Addison. Esther is the Nursing Officer in charge of Lever Brothers Clinic in Accra. Alfred, who was formerly the regional director of S.I.M training program and prison chaplain, now runs a church at the University of Ghana, Accra campus, called Accra Chapel. It is an independent evangelical church. Pray for these two for they have assisted in coordinating the follow-up program in this country.
   After 1994 tract distibution in Los Angeles during the World Cup finals, many responses came from Africa. Two of the nations where the responses came from were Nigeria and Ghana. At the request of Richard Yarrall my family and I undertook the follow-up and coordination of the responses from these two countries. For the past three years this couple has worked closely with us to do just that in Christ's name.
   These tracts offered free Bibles to respondents. As of now, Jim Gillett and Ireland Outreach, International have adequately met these offers by sending in the needed Bibles. When I was back in the States, I was told that Bethel Chapel in Gardena, CA has also been sending Bibles directly to the requests that they receive. Please let us know those who have been helped so that limited resources are not unwisely utilized.
   Those who stand in judgment against those who make known their needs and those of the work must remember that God's work involves human financial input. In John12:3-6 we are reminded that false spirituality in such matters always grieves the heart of the Lord of the harvest. If Paul lived in our day, many would have put him out of our platform because he made needs known to the assemblies and asked for help ( 2 Corinthians 8:1-18).
   We are all called to live by faith, the more simple, if more difficult part of dependence on God for guidance and supplies. Living by faith shold be true of every child of God, whether working with a society, or in business, or in any vocation of life. We all need to experience and know His faithfulness.
Lovingly in Immanuel's name,
T. Cyprian Kia

Monday, January 20, 1997

PrayerLetter-Jan 1997

Dear Friends,
Loving Christian greetings in Jesus' wonderful name. In 1962, Douglas Hyde, a British author and correspondent, observed that nowhere on earth is the pattern of life changing more rapidly than in Africa. It is spectacular for those who observe it and often bewildering for those caught up in it. Charles Albert Swan, a pioneer British missionary, commenting on the same subject in 1890 declared: "...nothing but the truth of God will put things right...as in all places."
As we enter the New Year, let us resolve to emphasize Biblical answers and de-emphasize political and social ones, for our God is able. In the great awakening and harvest ahead of us, as many souls come into God's kingdom, we can see that the current use of the Emmaus courses in Nigeria will be a great help to the body of Christ in establishing and nourishing the flock. We covet more your prayers as we take the truth of God to the many millions of Nigerians within and without.
Your prayers have been answered in the quick recovery of Jessie. She still experiences slight pain in muscles around the spine. Pray for complete recovery. Cyprian's kidney situation is now resolved. The doctor said the cyst there is presently not of essence. The other problem is the hip bone. The doctor's opinion is that it may someday require replacement. Pray for God's overruling hand.
March 16th to April 14th Jim Gillett will be with Cyprian for the Emmaus Focus, 1997. They will both travel to Ghana April 14th to launch Emmaus Bible Center, Ghana. In October, Cyprian will return to Ghana to honor an invitation by Ghana Evangelical Missionary Institute to teach Cross Cultural Church Planting and Leadership Development. He will also teach Mission Trends and Strategies (Rural and Urban missions), and Christian Missions in Africa at the University of Ghana, Accra Campus.
If you can, send these books needed as textbooks to Cyprian at our field address.
  1. Developing the Leaders Around You

    by John C. Maxwell,
  2. Incarnational Ministry

    by Paul G. Hiebert and Eloise Hiebert Meneses.

It is said, "None are so empty as those who are full of themselves" (Whichcote). So let us empty ourselves and be filled with His Spirit, for His coming is imminent.
His Unworthy Servants and Fellow Pilgrims,
Joy and Cyprian