Bro. David Pierro's Mission Report

Bro. David Pierro's Mission Report

(Faith & Victory : Sept. 1984)


Dear Print Shop workers and fellow saints: Greetings in the name of the Lord. Last fall (November, 1983), two of my sons, my father, and myself took the opportunity to visit the saints of Nigeria, especially those of Bendel State.

The saints there all gave us a warm welcome in both town and country. They were very hospitable and deeply concerned that our stay in Nigeria should be free of serious problems. They offered many prayers on our behalf before, during, and following our stay. God protected us while there and brought us safely home again.

We stayed at the town of Abbi which is about 18 miles from the congregation at the town of Kwale. There at Abbi, Bro. Titus Enu owns a large home at which we stayed. Bro. Titus and the saints from Kwale and surrounding towns visited us almost daily. We had more than a half dozen of our Evening Light Songs books. We tried to teach them some of our songs. Along with their songs and prayers they brought us an abundance of food: rice, cabbage, lettuce, sweet potatoes, bananas, oranges, grape­fruits, beef, fish, cans of evaporated milk, as well as many other fruits and supplies.

We enjoyed attending the church services each Sunday at Kwale. I especially enjoyed the prayer services. They sang many songs from a repertoire of some 200 songs which God inspired Bro. Titus to memorize or write. They sang from that large group of songs without the aid of books in the language of that area which is Ukwani. We also sang some songs in English from a small hymnal. For each service there was also a translator who translated the preacher's words into English or Ukwani-whichever was needed. The services were very Spirit-filled.

We made several trips into the surrounding countryside to meet and worship with saints who lived too far to walk or ride bicycles to Kwale-probably 15 or more miles off in the woods. Bro. Titus had the only automobiles of the Kwale congregation. One of his cars was inoperable because replacement parts were not available in that area. He has since located the needed parts for that car in a large city several hundred miles from Kwale. Meanwhile, his second car broke down also about a month or so after we left. Consequently, Bro. Enu has been trying to walk or hire taxis in order to get around to carry out his duties.

Bro. Titus told me that his vision is to evangelize all of Nigeria and far beyond. So far means of transportation and adequate support have been lacking. In order to get the money which they need to do this large work for God, the saints hope to begin farming on a large scale, using modern tools and methods. There is plenty of open land, and the water supplies are excellent both in wells and rivers.

Although we drove for hundreds of miles in southern Nigeria, we saw no farms which exceeded two acres in size and we saw no farmers using tractors or other modern equipment (not even rotor tillers). We saw vast quantities of open land. We saw no one trying to irrigate, although splendid opportunities seemed to exist. Their custom seems to be to depend strictly upon rainfall for the watering of their crops. We have heard that the Nigerian government has begun developing a few large farms; and is trying to encourage individuals to begin farming on large plots in the modern way.

The cities in Nigeria are growing very quickly, since the farmers have not been able to supply sufficient food. Consequently, much food is imported. Last year we read that over two billion dollars' worth of food was imported into Nigeria. During our stay there I was quite shocked at prices, especially those for food. Here are some of the prices I remember: a small watermelon-$8.00; one pound jar of honey­$8.00; one pound of sugar-$1.33; live chicken hens­$13.00; live turkeys-$75.00; live pygmy goats-$133.00; a grown cow-$1,330.00. A huge amount of rice is also imported.

We returned from Nigeria spiritually refreshed and with a clearer understanding of some of the material needs and opportunities which exist there. I will be happy to share any additional information I have concerning conditions I observed or experiences I had in Nigeria with anyone who has a special burden for the work there, if they will write me.

If there were any who had desired the information in this report, please accept my apologies for not having sent it to the Faith and Victory paper sooner.

With Christian love, -Bro. David Pierro

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