Mission To

Idigba

The venue of the August evangelism campaign of the Immanuel College Chapel Team was the playing field of the St. Andrew’s School, Idigba Village. And appropriately so.

How? The target of the outreach this time was school children, currently on holiday.  Our aim was to prepare them for the new school session which begins in September.

So, inevitably, the theme of our outreach was “Back To School”. From the end of June we had requested our village Volunteer Assistants to mobilize the five village communities, around Idigba, so that their children would attend the August outreach in large numbers.

We had a good number but rather less than we had expected. What we did not reckon with, at the planning stage was the muslim festival, Eid Kabir, which coincided with our outreach date, Sunday August 11.  All the same, 45 school children and 16 adults were already waiting when we arrived at Idigba, singing excitedly, under a large tree which provided shade from the sun. For the expected 30 or so additional children, youth and adults, by our calculation, the “Ileya meat” in the homes of muslim friends and relations, was a rather irresistible attraction.

Anyway the outreach began in earnest at 3pm, with a prayer by our Assistant Chaplain, the Very Revd Joseph Ayodele, who led the Mission Team.

The children in the crowd were excited as the Rev Aluko, a youthful student of the Immanuel College of Theology, began to preach. He said Jesus Christ came to the world to save human beings from their sins, and to reconcile them to God who is the creator of the world. He and His Son, Jesus, were particularly interested in children because they are innocent. Which is why Jesus told His disciples:

Permit little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven, Matt. 19:14

He laid his hands on them because He loved them so much.

The Idigba children were very happy when they heard that Jesus loved them too as emphasized by the preacher. However, Rev. Aluko quickly added that Jesus loved the adults too. He knew that many parents were struggling to pay school fees or even to buy new clothes for them.

While on earth Jesus healed the sick. An example was the Woman with the Issue of Blood who was sick for 12 years, bleeding everyday, Mk. 5:25-34. Those who were blind He opened their eyes and they were able to see, John 9:1-7. He was so kind that He provided food for more than 5,000 people, who were hungry, and fed all of them in a single day, Matt. 14:15-21

What is more, He brought dead people back to life, John 11:41-44. Jesus did all these wonderful miracles when He was in the world. When He died He went to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples on earth so that they could continue to do the miracles. And they are still performing those miracles in the world even today.

Rev. Aluko told the children that they too can do the wonderful works Jesus did if they study the bible, obey the words of Jesus and ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to them in their prayers. But they must not tell lies or steal. If they do Jesus will not be happy with them. He will not send the Holy Spirit to them.

After the sermon we prayed for the sick, the poor and the needy. We also prayed specially for the children, asking God to protect them from criminals, most especially kidnappers.

Thereafter, each of the children was given a pack of exercise books and biros.  In addition everyone, including adults, partook in the refreshments.  Our Assistant  Chaplain, the Very Revd Joseph Ayodele, said the closing prayers and the Benediction.