Wilson's Ship Docked at Port Harcourt

Wilson's Ship Docked at Port Harcourt

(Faith & Victory : Sept. 1964)


Two letters in the same mail came from Bro. Wilson just before this paper went to press, telling of their safe arrival at their new mission home in Nigeria, W. Africa. Thank the Lord for answered prayer thus far! Following are excerpts from each letter:

"We send you greetings of Christian love in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who has kept His good hand stretched out over us and brought us safely to this place. We docked in Port Harcourt about 7:00 yesterday morning (Aug. 12).

"We thought maybe Bro. Etuk would be there, as I had sent him a letter from Monrovia letting him know we had reached Africa and telling him where and how to check on the ship as to its arrival time. So we stood out on the deck leaning over the rail for quite a little while when the ship docked so in case he was there he could locate us. But he was not there, and after so long a time we went on about our affairs. The immigration officer never came on board until between 9:30 and 10:00, so we never got off the ship until about 10 o'clock. We could not leave the ship until he had cleared us.

"The agent of the steamship company was there and took charge of us as soon as we were released, and got some boys to carry our baggage, and we trailed them away on down the line to the customs office. They went through all our [hand baggage] and decided it would cost us 15 pounds customs duty. The shipping agent kept arguing with them and telling them we were missionaries and were not going to stay in the country long and there should be no duty. ...Since we could not understand them enough to get the connection of their conversation, about all we knew to do was just let the ship agent argue the case and tell us what we were to do. ...Finally he came out and said they would settle for five pounds." We paid them a sum "which would amount to about 112.80 total. ...Pretty soon they came out and put their mark on all the pieces of luggage and cleared it.

"Then we had to go back up to the ship and get the trunk and two large boxes which had been carried in the baggage locker of the ship and not unloaded yet when we had left with our hand baggage. Then we had to go back to customs with that." The agent went in and talked a little, then the authorities "came out and put their mark on all those pieces and cleared them without anything."

"The agent stayed with us until we got everything cleared and got our stuff out to the gate.

"As we were going up the road leading to the gate out of the docks, a man walked up to us and wanted to know if we were the Wilsons. We told him we were, and it was Bro. Alalibo. Bro. Etuk had been down last week when the ship should have been in and had come back and left instructions with Bro. Alalibo to keep check on the ship and send him a telegram when it would arrive. So he came to meet us and took us out to his place, arriving there about noon or maybe 1 o'clock, and spent the afternoon there with him and went to service with him that night. He asked Opal to preach to them, which she did, and Bro. Alalibo interpreted for her. ...I suppose there were about 25 at the service. ...They seemed like an earnest, sincere group of people, and really made the room ring with their singing, and listened attentively to the gospel.

Bro. Alalibo, his wife and three children live in two rooms, and they have a cousin living with them, "so we proposed to go to a hotel that night. . .. He took us down to one. We got a room with bath, but the bath did us very little good as we could hardly get enough water to wash our faces and to get shaved." Until a late hour they kept us awake with loud music and talking. . . and we never slept much that night.

"Bro. Etuk and Bro. Friday Ekpo and a few others came after us yesterday (Aug. 13) in a Volkswagon bus which they had rented. ...We got out here about 5:30 or so in the evening and they delivered us right to our place. And our place far exceeds anything we imagined we could get in this area. The Lord has well provided for us a real good situation. They had rented for us the upstairs part of a real big house. We have three large rooms with a covered porch front and back, and wood floors instead of dirt, and lots and lots of windows so we can get all the breeze that is available. It costs us $21.20 per month. They had paid one month's rent, but we refunded them that money and are really happy and thankful to the dear Lord for providing us with such a good place. It is about a mile from the chapel. Our house is right out in the jungle, but has been cleared out all around the house and is nice and clean around it. But it is just a short distance to real jungle in any direction.

"When we got here they had already carried water for us, so we set up our little kerosene camp stove we had bought in Port Harcourt and soon got us some water boiled so we could have a drink. ...This morning by the time we got up some of the sisters came carrying us more water for today. There have been folks coming in all during the day today to welcome us and to get acquainted. Different ones of the elders and pastors have been in and all seem real happy that we have come. They all speak reverently of David Madden, and how grieved they were to hear of his passing and said they feared when they heard of that, that we would change our minds about coming. But they say they are real glad we did not change our minds but came on, and they thank God for bringing us here for the sake of the truth. Bro. Friday Ekpo says they are convinced that what the Church of God is teaching is the truth.

"It has not rained for a few days, but they say it will come again a little later for a month or so real heavy, and then the dry season will start in October. We have had some pretty good sweats when we exert a little, but so far it has not actually been too hot-perhaps not as hot as there.

"Bro. Etuk's car is in the shop now until about next Saturday, so we are about grounded until he gets it going again. The chassis broke and he is having to have another chassis put under it, and some other work, maybe.

" . . . All of you pray for us all the time.

"Will close now with Christian love and prayers from --Ostis B. and Opal Wilson."

--Lawrence Pruitt

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