Yinnkah Durojaiye is a brother in Christ from Nigeria who is a missionary to other tribes in Nigeria. From Gospel for West Africa – gospelforwestafrica.com
[This report was lost in the shuffle of various brothers’ travels and was never published. It has been found and we are grateful to the Lord to report on what He has done. Editor, Jim B.]
First mission Trip of Yinnkah Durojaiye to Benue, Nigeria. May 2008
DS/IYA ,
Greetings in Christ’s name .
Praise be to the Lord for His enabling grace and His unrelenting love in seeking the lost and building up His church in the world . I also bless him for the godly influnce you have been in helping my walk with Him whose wisdom is far above ours as the heaven is form the earth.
My prompting for the church in Benue began when your sharing with me about the situation there met with the sense of unfulfillment I have been coping with at Oke Anu. However to be sure of the Lord’s leading as that is so crucial, I made it a point of prayer as well; and this I encouraged you to do with . I knew you did. I shared the maturing burden with the brethren as well and they did joined me in prayer.
At last on the 11th of May 2008 I had the conviction of visiting Benue and this was futher confirmed in my heart by the Lord’s provision same week. I left for Benue on the 15th of May around 8 a.m. and arrived Igah about 7.30pm . The other three places of my call were Oiji, Ugbokolo and Okpoga. Bless the Lord for the willing assistance of bro Solomon who is indeed a brother in the Lord.
Igah
Though bro Solo was absent that night, sister Mary, his wife, and Vivian their daughter welcomed me hospitably tho unexpected and a total stranger to them. The poor phone network did not afford me the chance of contacting before hand; even bro Moses couldn’t help for the same reason. Anyway, after some good night rest bro Solo arrived the next morning and he warmly received me as I introduced myself with the letter of recommendation from you.
By the Lord’s providence I arrived Igah at a time when the women were having a two-day confeernce. Its purpose was to train the younger women according to the precepts of Titus ch. 2 ! Teaching the women of about a hundred in attendance was therefore my first teaching ministry among the people just the next day after my arrival. I taught on being at the feet of Jesus with Mary-Lk10.38-42- as my spring board as I emphasized the developing of virtue thru a true devotion to Christ in His word. From my evalution, the sisters’ hearts were built up and encouraged . One sister Regina Samuel requested our prayers as she believed the message was to spure her up in representing Christ to her unbelieving husband who abandoned her and the kids for other two wives even after her. This, bro Solo and I did after further strenghtening her in the word of God. After teaching this day-16th May- the news of my presence spread out to the men and other woman and the following day-17th- I was invited by the women to teach once more. This time I taught on Christian Women’s Dressing with my focus on the younger ladies who will be faced with the influence of wordly fashion at school. One of my texts was Lk 8.27ff where Jesus delieverd the naked dmoniac who in his right mind was clothed and sat at Christ’s feet- as Mary ! The “Ma’s” from the women after the teaching was an encouragement to me that the word had met its target.
Same day bro Solo informed me we were to attend the Ochekwu Conference at Oiji where brethren from differnt villages would converge for the monthly confrerence of evangelism and breaking of bread
Oiji .
Saturday,17th of May 2008 in the aftnoon around 3pm, we arrived Oiji on a motor bike. Three of us with our luggages on that ‘iron horse’ wasn’t funny but I took it with joy as it was for the sake of the gospel. The atmosphere at oiji was diffrent as young and elderly men during a meeting populated the centre of the confernce. The women jioned later as we left them at Igah to round off their meeting. Later after bro Solo had introduced me in absential to the confrence of men I was presonally invited into their midst to speak for myself since ‘I’m of age.’ I shared with the elders and brethren how I met the Lord in my high school days-1990- and how my hunger for the truth of the Bibleat last brought me in contact with Steve Phillips who discipled me in the Lord. I shared with them how I got to know of them thru you and bro Titus,your disciple too; and I was burdened to visit them. Before lunching futher into exhorting them from Acts 1.8 , I was halted and requested to speak to the confrence tomorrow morning, sunday, after the breaking of bread as they had to go on witnessing soon. They expressed their delight in my coming as good report of me had spread to them thru their women and the elders at Igah
I joined in the door -to- door witnessing as bro Solomon interpreted for me each time I shared the gospel.
Later that evening the brethren assembled after evangelism for a brief fellowship. After singing of hymns and words of prayers in the NT pattern,just like we have learnt to do !!, a brother , Edoh by name, stood up and shared the word from the same Lk 8. 27 I shared with the women in the morning . DS, I was wonderfully blessed by the brother’s applications of that passage to all. Bro Solo interpreted every of his word to me and I marveled at the insight the Lord gave to this brother from that passage. This humbled me inndeed as I blessed the Lord for what he has been doing among the pple for years.
After the meeting the most prominnt elder, Awodi Akpan. shared a testimony of how the Lord healed him from sickness and restored him from coma. He refreshed all with a meal of pepper soup with goat meat whille I was served a double portion !
My fellowhship with this brethren this day set me thinking as I pray the Lord would raise true young disciples from among this pple to reach this nation and save God’s pple from the rule of men.
The next day,early in the morning elder Akpan, with his walking stick, but no clerical robe,visited me and appreciated the Lord for me as he rejoiced to see a young man serving the Lord. He lamented on how the fear of the Lord is fading away in the church and how the younger generation are becoming disobedient to parents even accordingg to the warnings of Paul in 2nd Timothy .He received me as his brother and confessed this witness within him the moment he saw me ; he prayed with me and looked foreward to receiveing God’s word thru me later that morning.
About 9am the meeting venue was filled with pple numbering about 200 , young and old male andd female. It delighted my heart as we assembled in simplicity aroud the Lord’s table under some trees. We sang hymns in idoma- I was able to read most of it tho without understanding-,prayed and one bro Elijah shared from John 3.16 and Rom 3.26. Wonderful gospel messsage! After this we solemnly broke the bread.
I was finally called upon to speak and my meditations with the church was : NO OTHER KING BUT CHRIST with my text from col 1: 18 . I warned the ch and the next generation esp, of itching ears and false- hireling teachers, the likes of Diotriphese , and exhorted them to beware of lukwarmness in their communion with Christ lest they decline to desiring for a King like other nations/ denominations in rejecting the rule of Christ,our only Lord, over them. After about an hour of teaching I paused to conclude but the brethren pleaded that I continue just like the women did the first meeting with them at Igah! I expatiated on those things I encapsulated and finally rounded off with a prayer that the Lord would fruther interpret his word into their hearts. A brother was to raise a hymn afterwards but a selah was successfully implored by the elders. Very long heartfelt prayers by two elders followed the silence and a brother raised a hymn which ended the meeting.
The church was touched . I knew it! I also rejoiced the younger ones were challenged to see a fellow young brother speaking for the Lord.The assemby expressed their thanks to the Lord and to me for the message and the visit. They acknowledged I was God-sent , to have come at a time they were all gathered for their monthly me eting yet without my prior knowledge ! They offered me some honorarium which I turned down since the Lord had been faithful to provide all I needed for the trip even back home. I told them I would rather give to them being simple farmers ! In response, elder Akpan sermonised thru Peter’s experience of wthdrawing money from the mouth of a fish at the Lord’s command. “Who would have said a fish would be in custodyof money to meet the need of Peter and the Lord? Who would have said poor farmers like us would be the Lords instrument of blessing his servants?” was his conclusion and he victoriously persuaded me to receive their unplanned 4,250 naira. Im yet to recover from his wonderful application.
Many words of appreciation and beseeching for my return followed and they promised to be better prepared for my next vist as they hoped they would be notified ahead of time. My heart was exultant at their reception of the word and I bleessed the Lord for leading me to be a blessing to this simple pple of God.
The elders ‘Ma’ me a million times and prayed the Lord will give me a woman who would be a true help meet for me as I preach the gospel of Christ . Of course they were surprised I’m not married yet ,hence the prayers and promise to keep doing so for me.
After some pounded yam with oghona soup and a cup of kunun , we headed back to Igah but this time we returned on two separate bikes prepared by the brethren for our convinience on the now mashy road.
Ugbokolo/Okpoga
Nothing much in this part of my trip except my meeting with bro Moses and the Police brother- pardon me I forgot his name. We had a brief time of fellowhip as we got to know each other as like-minded ones who have been touched of the Lord ‘thru’ your ministry over the years.
Dear sir and ma, this is my story, this is my song as I praise my Savior all the day long.Pls keep praying that the Lord’s will be done as I look forward to returning to Idoma land in Benue among the brethren there in the fufure for a longer visit.
Luv,
yinnkah