MISSIONARY

REPORT FROM

SEYCHELLES,

NIGERIA,

CHAD AND

BENIN

God expects those in His service to
contend earnestly for the faith once
delivered to the saints.
Our aggressive missionary work is to
be more abundant than it has been
in the past. More territory is to be
annexed; the standard of truth is to be
planted in new places; churches are to
be established; all is to be done that
can be done to fulfi l the commission,
"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
The Ufe of a church depends on the
interest which its members manifest
in those outside the fold. Let the
church ofGod remember that Christ
gave Himselfas a sacrifice to save a
world from destruction. For our sake
He became poor, that we through His
poverty might come into possession of
eternal riches. Shall those whom God
has blessed with a knowledge ofthe
truth become narrow in their plans?
Let them arouse to a sense of their
vast obligations, cutting away every
thread of selfi shness, that the Lord
may pour upon them His Holy Spirit.

(Signs of the Times, August21, 1901)

SEYCHELLES ISLANDS

"And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." Mathew24:14. In April, 2003 I was commissioned by the General Conference to visit Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean, off the East African cost to attend a missionary call by one interest soul, Sr. Jemma Simeon. She had visited our IMS General Conference website in the internet and became interested to know more about IMS, SDA Reform Movement, our basic beliefs and Church history. After several e-mail contacts with Bro. Henry Dering of USA she requested for a personal visit of a missionary. It was in this connection that I was sent by our General Conference. On my arrival, I had an opportunity to meet several others who belonged to a group of Adventistbelievers. They wished to know the facts about the history and our basic beliefs. We spent a week long on these issues. Three among them took an immediate stand for IMS, SDA Reform Movement. Within a period of one year three others joined our Church through baptism, while several others are keenly pursuing Bible instructions. Seychelles is made up of about three tiny Islands with a population of about 85,000 people. The inhabitants are mostly of mixed races from mainland Africa, Asia

and Europe. They live a Western Europe lifestyle and culture. Nearly everybody speaks French, English and native Creol languages. An average income per person is about $800. Cost of living here is very high, for nearly all commodities and foodstuff are imported. Although paganism exists here by low degree, Christianity is dominating with Roman Catholic taking the lead. Sabbath keepers are also very popular in this Island.

In June 2004, our Church was officially registeredbythegovernment. Thisoffers us the privilege of having permanent established head office and a church building. People here are accustomed to worship in established church building, and therefore are reluctant to meet in private houses for worship services. For this reason a great need for a church property is hereby raised with urgent cry.

May God inspire you to serve him through your offering. Just recall the words of Jesus:"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him Myfather will honor". John 12:26.

NIGERIA AND CHAD

"And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16:15, 16.

In the bid to achieve the long-term objectives of the General Conference Committee to reach new missions in Africa, we have planned to enter as many new territories as possible. Amongtheforemostcountries targetted are Nigeria which is located in West Africa, and Chad which is located in the heart of Africa. Nigeria is a highest densily populated country in Africa with over 180 million people.We have several calls from Nigeriafromindividualswhoare interested to learn the Reformation Truth. In Chad also we have received call from interested persons who wish to know more about IMS SDA Reform truth. A decided and well determined action is needed urgently to answer for these calls. This will hasten our bid to enter the Northern Africa, where Islam is dominating.

It is interesting to mention here that nearly all African countries below the Equator line have been reached by our Reformation message and now we are forging our way toward Northern African countries of which only few have being entered.

By your special gift these new territories will be worked and new souls won into the present truth.

May God inspire your heart to give bountifully with the clear view in your mind of the Bible promise: "But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly orofnecessity for God loves a cheerful giver". 2 Corinthians 9:6,7

BENIN

"But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, 'The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest'." Matthew 9:36-38.

In January 2004, our work extended to a new missionary fi eld. It is the country of Benin, on the West Coast of Africa. Benin is a relatively small country, bordering with Nigeria on the east and Togo on the west. The Atlantic Ocean is to the south, and Burkina Faso is to the north. Economically, the country is very poor and the cost of living is very high.

The country is mainly domi-nated by idolatry. About 60% of the entire population belongs to voodoo, which is a state religion. This is the typical, pagan religion. Senior government officials belong to this religion. All other religious denomi-nations, including Christians and Moslems, share the remaining 40%. There are relatively few Sabbath keepers.

Upon the call of one interested soul, Bro. Daniel Robert, our Gen­eral Conference commissioned me to visit Benin to attend this call.

Brother Daniel, in conjunction with his collaborator Bro. Allain Bossikponon, organized a small group, of about 15 interested people, who met together to study the Bible and the reformation truth. Those who attended came from different religious backgrounds, like Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, voodoo, etc.

It was a special opportunity for them to study the doctrine of Christ's righteousness on Adventist approach. They are so impressed that nearly all of them showed a great desire to study more, while attending Sabbath ser-vices under the International Mission-ary Society, S.D.A., Reform Movement.

Since my stay was too short, and I could not bring them to a final decision, an urgent visit is needed to answer their strong Macedonian call. They promised that there are many interested souls in other towns, away from the capital city of Cotonou, that we have to visit. The information I received later is that, now, about 20 people are gathering every Sabbath to study together.

They are asking for fi nancial support to acquire a place for worship and an offi ce. Through your sacrifi cial offering, a chapel can be acquired and missionary activities can be extended in the whole country, which will help the reformation truth to be established in Benin.

In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus taught us that by giving our resources to support God's cause, we are actu-ally depositing in the heavenly bank, and we will surely reap eternal joy. Through your offering, you are also helping in spreading the gospel to the dark places of the earth, so that Jesus may come soon. May God inspire your heart as you stretch your hand to support Benin.

Your brother in Christ,

-Parmenas N. Shirima Regional Representative