Prologue
Steve Jobs died recently at 56. As probably all of
you know, he was co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Apple Inc.
He created the iPad, iPod, iPhone and other electronic devices that most of us
carry around with us or have in our homes.He had known for years he was ill
with a disease that would eventually take his life.
In an address in 2005 he said: “When I was 17, I
read a quote that went something like: ‘If you live each day as if it was your
last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.’ It made an impression on me, and
since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning
and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do
what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too
many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
Paul’s reflections in Philippians 3:14-15 is worth
citing: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view
of things.” Each of us will reach our last day. Maybe not today, maybe not
tomorrow, maybe not for many years, should the Lord tarry. But we should face
each day: “making the most of ever opportunity, because the days are
evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
God has a task for each of us today. Around the
world there are 4.4 billion people who still have not heard an adequate
presentation of salvation. Billions more who maybe have heard the gospel need
someone to share Christ with them in a personal way. We all have friends,
neighbors, relatives who need the Lord. Maybe today someone is carrying a
burden that we can lift or someone who needs our helping hands.
We all should press forward toward the heavenly
goal, doing whatever we can to draw closer to the Lord in our walk with Him,
and doing whatever He wants us to do for His Kingdom today. Jesus said: “If
anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily
and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Each morning as we greet the sunrise let’s ask the
Lord what He would have us do today.
In this edition, we present the stories of three
missionaries, Clement Anegbe, Oswald J. Smith and Irene Onjefu who made
indelible impact in the dark nations and their lives counts for eternity. We
hope you will find them inspiring and you will be provoked to do more for God
than you ever did.
Clement
Anegbe
May
4, 2002 will continue to be remembered
in the history of missions in Africa and all those who knew and worked with
Rev. Clement Anegbe. That was the day he took off for Bassam, Cote d’Ivoire for
a mission consultation to deliberate on how to finish the unfinished task. Little did he know that he had finished his
own aspect of the task. On his way to
Bassam via Lagos, he boarded the ill-fated EAS airline, which crashed in Kano.
The news came as a shock to many of us who had last minute chat
with Clement before he embarked on the journey.
Though, he preached prophetically announcing that there was a vacancy to
be filled in his local assembly, little did any one know then that the vacancy
was his office, which he would soon leave. Before his exit, we discussed
extensively on the project at hand which we both co-ordinate. The MissionAfric
journal which he served as the Managing Editor, the Agape Network which he
served as the Chairman, Accountability & Disciplinary unit, his mission
field at Zaranda Anseli where he wanted us to second to him an interim
missionary, his work at the Evangelism and Mission Commission of AEA, his plan
to finish the Jubilee Ministries office complex, etc. Indeed, a giant vacuum has been created. This is beyond a vacancy.
Clement is a multi-dimensional minister of the gospel. His selfless service and lifestyle will make
it difficult to easily get a replacement for him. He has affected so many lives in so many
ways. This was quite glaring in the wake
keeping night and the funeral service, which was attended by hundreds of
persons from different spectrum of ministries.
Most of them, including the bishops present, attested to how he raised
and trained them in their spiritual infancy stage and stood with them until
they became what they are today. They
referred to him as a father in the ministry.
For us in Grace Foundations, this temporary parting is quite
shocking. We are familiar with all the
consoling theology of death. We know
that Clement has gone to a better place but it seems to be too soon. It is physically painful and we cannot
pretend about it. God’s judgement is
however not subject to debate. He is
always right. There are many questions
we cannot get answers to in this world.
When the trumpet sounds, we will understand it better by and by. It will be pretence to say we can stop
shedding tears so soon but we know that God took Clement away. It is not the devil. Not at all!
If God chose to save him in the crash, it would have been a light thing. We have no grudge against God at all. His decision is the best. We thank Him for all that He has done. After all, it is not how long a man lives
that matters but how well. Jesus lived
for just over 30 years. Clement was over 40years.
One thing that has remained an encouragement and a challenge to
us all was the last minute of Clement’s life on earth. One of the survivor of
the air crash testified of how Clement removed his seat belt and announced to
his fellow passengers that he prayed when the plane started misbehaving and God
told him that they would not survive the crash. Instead of sitting down to
think of his family and the various cares and challenges that would emanate
from the crash, he rather preached a brief but very powerful message urging the
people to get ready to meet their Maker.
After that, he gave them the opportunity to pray and as if he was not
satisfied with the way they were praying, he led them to pray for salvation.
Just after they said Amen, the plane crashed. What a glorious exit! He
went to his maker with bundles of harvest in his hands. Most of those who died
in the crash, whether Muslim or pagan are today in heaven courtesy Clement’s
last minute ministry effort. To God be the glory.
Who exactly is this man called Rev. Clement Anegbe? Born on
December 1st,
in the year of our Lord, 1955, Clement
Anegbe hails from Iriukwe – Agenebode, Etsako Local Government Area in Edo
State. He was, however, born and brought
up in Lagos, Nigeria. Clement attended the renown St. Finbarrs College, Akoka,
Lagos between 1969 – 1973. He was a
beneficiary of Private Scholarship given by a prominent business tycoon, which
he enjoyed all-through his studies at St. Finbarrs. He graduated from there with a Division One
at the West African School Certificate Examination in June 1973. He had a stint
working with Union Bank as a Counter Clerk before proceeding to The Polytechnic
in Ibadan. He was a distinguished
scholar, as he won many awards and his final year project was rated as the best
in the department.
It was while at The Polytechnic he encountered the Lord Jesus
Christ as Redeemer and Saviour, through a special revelation in December
1976. Since after that experience and
decision, he had consistently followed the Lord and was fully committed to the
course of the Kingdom.After his graduation from The Polytechnic he was posted
to Gombe (then a local Government in Bauchi State), for his National Youth
Service. He served with Nasara Motors –
an automobile engineering company. After
the service year (NYSC), he secured an immediate employment with the Federal
College of Education (Technical), Gombe as a lecturer in the Department of
Metal Work and Technical Drawing. Within
a short time, he rose to become the Head of Department.
His sojourn at Gombe brought remarkable dynamism to the
spiritual life of both the Campus Fellowship and the Christian Community. In those days that Charismatic and
Pentecostal manifestations were viewed with some suspicion, Clement and his
little band of zealots were used as instruments by God to teach practical
Christian living and uncompromising dedication to the Gospel. Clement got
married to Julia I. Anegbe (Nee Imoesiri) on 28th November 1982.
With Julia, they laboured together to pioneer the Evangel Chapel, Gombe
and Jubilee Family Church, Jos. God blessed their union with three children:
Michael, David and Abigail.
Due to his dedication to duty, in the year 1985, Clement was
awarded scholarship by the Federal Ministry of Education to do his Masters
degree programme abroad. That took him
to Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA.
Because of his scholarly performance, he was able to complete the
programme within a short time. His
passion for souls and desire to reach his father’s land with the gospel made
him return home immediately, though he had the opportunity to stay back and
pursue his studies to the doctorate level.
By the year 1992, divine leading made Clement to resign his
work with the Federal College of Education (Technical) – FCE(T) , Gombe. He left the Evangel Chapel work in able hands
he had trained, and moved to Jos to pioneer the Jubilee Family Church and
expand the scope of God’s mandate upon his life to take the gospel to the
nations. His movement to Jos proved to be God ordained, as it opened up a lot
of opportunities both nationally and internationally. The task of spiritual leadership and
mentoring started in earnest with frequent travels and preaching engagements
coupled with pioneering of the Jubilee Family Church. With aggression, he and Julia laboured
fervently in the work of the Lord until Julia went home to be with the Lord on
the 10th of June 1994.
Undaunted, Clement (God’s General) continued to press
forward. Due to his involvement in
leadership training and discipleship, he was recommended to attend the Haggai
Institute for Advanced Leadership Training in Singapore, in 1996. God favoured
his servant by providing a help meet in the person of Sister Catherine
Ameh-Anegbe (a professor of Science Education, University of Jos), in the year
1996 to continue the work of preaching, teaching the gospel and raising leaders
for the work of the Lord, together.
Clement was an indefatigable man
of God, a man of many talents, a gifted and inspired teacher of the word of
God. He, not only distinguished himself
in spiritual things, but also in the secular and academic world. He won the Young Managers’ Award in 1987,
organised by the Nigerian Institute of Management, under the auspices of First
Bank Plc.
Testimonies and commendations abound to attest to the above
fact; here are samples from Ball State University:
“It is a pleasure to write a letter of
recommendation for Mr. Clement Anegbe.
Mr. Anegbe has demonstrated a number of characteristics which label him
as a leader and one who will continue to grow and develop as the challenges
change…”
Thelbert L. Dake,
Professor, Department of Educational Admin
and Supervision
September 4, 1986.
“I have found Mr. Anegbe to be one of
the best students I have ever taught… a hard working individual…”
Dr. William H. Middleton
Professor and Graduate
Advisor Dept. of Industry and Technology.
“…My perception of him is that he is
highly intelligent and able to communicate in highly effective manner… his
classmates were very impressed with his insights and commentaries during the
class.”
Richard
A. Brosio
Professor of Secondary and Foundations of
Education.
“Mr. Anegbe is bright, hardworking and
eager to do the very best that he can on anything he undertakes… I have found
him to be extremely adept and conscientious in carrying out his work
assignments at the highest level of proficiency.”
Dr. Robert C. South
Professor – College of Applied Sciences
and Technology.
He was an uncompromising upright, ardent teacher of the
undiluted word of God. He was a mentor
and role model to many young ministers and to many whom he came across in the
course of ministry. Until his call to glory, he was also the Co-ordinator of
the Council for Mission Training in Africa (COMITA), under the Association in
Africa (AEA). It was actually in pursuit
of this missionary commission that he set out for a meeting in Abidjan en-route
Lagos. This made him take the EAS flight
which crashed in Kano on May 4, 2002.
Thus, Clement left this life to
be with his Lord and Master, whom he loved so much and had given up everything
for.
We certainly have missed a General, a Mentor, Coach, Teacher,
Motivator, Educator, Erudite Scholar, and a resource person whose vacuum will
take a long time to fill.
For Clement, to live is Christ and to die
is gain. We shall meet at the Master’s
feet.
Adieu, God’s General
Good Night!
Oswald J. Smith
Oswald J. Smith is said to
be one of the most versatile Christian leaders in the history of the Christian
church. He was noted for doing so many different things well. It all centered in Toronto, Ontario, where
Smith laboured for God from 1915 to 1959. He raised some $14,000,000.00 for
foreign missions, more than any other pastor known in history with half of this
from his own church.
Smith was the eldest of ten
children of Benjamin and Alice Smith. He had five brothers and four sisters.
His father was a telegraph operator for the Canadian Pacific Railway. Delicate
in health most of his life, he was not expected to live to manhood. At
age 13, his Sunday school teacher said, "Any of you boys might be a
minister." He thought in that direction from that time on. His conversion
at age 16 was the result of the Torrey-Alexander evangelistic team. He had been
reading about the Torrey crusade in Toronto which the newspapers were
describing. The reports of 3,000 gathering only 90 miles away challenged him to
take a trip to Toronto. Attending the Massey Hall services for a few days, he
was saved at the seventh service - one for boys and young men only, held
January 28, 1906.
Young Smith soon decided that
Toronto was the place to get a job. For a while, he identified with a group of
Christians called the Hornerites. Soon he spoke to a couple of youth groups in
Mount Albert where his family had now moved, as well as speaking at the Beverly
Street Baptist Church in Toronto. He began to attend Toronto Bible College
evening school. This helped fire him up for mission work, and he applied to the
Presbyterian Church for a mission field appointment. They turned him down. He
then began to sell Bibles and was very successful in this venture. Then came
another chance to preach - at the Severn Methodist Church - plus two more
services in nearby circuit churches the same day. He then got a call from the
Bible Society in Vancouver, so he was off on a train journey of six days to
western Canada. In September of 1908, he began his work at Prince Rupert
Island, working his way up the coast, selling Bibles and making contacts for
the local pastors, making calls in remote lumber camps and homes. He soon ended
up at Port Essington some 30 miles away. For the next few months, Smith sold
Bibles and preached to the Indians.
He met a Methodist missionary,
G.H. Raley, who wanted Smith as his associate to minister during the winter to
the Indians at Hartley Bay. Smith got his supplies, which were $20 worth of
food, a small cook stove, an axe, a hammer and nails, two quilts, a blanket,
plus fifteen jars of fruit and jelly. Arriving at the village, he found it
almost covered by deep snow and as bleak and barren as he had ever seen. Stoic
Indians met him. That winter was the most difficult time of his life. Soaking
clothes and nights of bitter cold followed as Smith fought with his stove in a
desperate effort to keep the green wood burning and the small quarters warm.
This expeience drove him closer to the Lord and also gave him an empathy with
missionaries and their problems for years to come. He started a Sunday school,
preached twice on Sundays and four times during the week, plus taught the
Indian children at school. By April, 1909, he resumed his work selling Bibles,
up and down the coast of British Columbia, plus preaching wherever he could.
Feeling the need for additional
training, he went to the Manitoba College in Winnipeg in the fall of 1909.
Returning home to Mount Albert for the Christmas holidays, his parents and friends
heard him preach for the first time. This was quite a contrast to his previous
holiday season, when he was with a few Indians in the wilds of British
Columbia. Feeling a spiritual lack at the Manitoba school, he entered Toronto
Bible College in the fall of 1910. By late November, Smith was chosen, along
with five other students, to be one of the speakers at the Students' Public
Meeting. His subject was "A Call to the Foreign Field," for his
interest in missions was now beginning to grow. On December 8, 1910, he
surrendered completely to God. His diary states:
The great struggle is over,
I surrendered completely to God. I now trust that He will send me out to the
foreign field. I do not care if my life is hidden away, unknown by the
civilized world, as long as it is known to Him. At age 21, in January of 1911,
he decided to hold a revival in Toronto - his first extended campaign. He used
the Missionary Tabernacle, prepared 3,000 posters, and prepared his messages.
Five were saved, and on Friday night Jennie Tyrrell sang. Five years of
courtship and engagement followed. Soon J. Wilbur Chapman and Charles Alexander
held a large crusade in Massey Hall, where Smith served as an usher and then as
a counselor. Then in mid-summer 1911, he took a position with the Pocket
Testament League of Canada to become their first traveling secretary, which
gave him exposure throughout various areas in Ontario.
Then in November he became
pastor of the Belwood (Ontario) Congregational Church. A second church at
Garafraxa used his services simultaneously. Graduating from Toronto Bible
College, he went off to Chicago in the fall of 1912 to begin further studies at
McCormick Theological Seminary - a strong Presbyterian school in those days. In
February of 1913, he assumed the pastorship of the Millard Avenue Presbyterian
Church on Chicago's southwest side. He continued until May, then decided he
would minister amongst the hills of Kentucky. He was assigned to a place called
Cawood, a very small hamlet consisting of a combined store - post office and
one house - as home base. Again, like British Columbia, it was a lonely
ministry. Out of these experiences came some of his finest poems, which set the
tone for many of his writings in later years. Towards the end of the summer,
revival broke out at a place called Turtle Creek. His next year at McCormick
Seminary (1913-14) saw him pastor the South Chicago Presbyterian Church also.
His engagement to Miss Tyrrell was broken by mutual agreement in March, 1914.
He had begun to write verse in
1906 at age 17, and on September 5, 1914, he saw his first collection of hymns
published. D.B. Towner had provided the music. Three days later, he wrote a
well-known hymn, Deeper and Deeper. On April 29, 1915, he graduated from
McCormick Theological Seminary, and on the following night, he was ordained in
the church where he pastored. That day he spent in prayer, and he became
convinced of two things - his work would be worldwide in coverage and Toronto
would be his home base. He would leave Chicago. The congregation begged him to
stay, but he felt impressed to take an associate pastor's position at the Dale
Presbyterian Church in Toronto, where J.D. Morrow pastored.
June 6, 1915, began a
lifetime of ministry in Toronto. Smith served with vigor at this work, and was
impressed with one Daisy Billings, who was the senior deaconness of the church.
By the spring of 1916, he was physically exhausted and had to take a complete
rest. He went to Clifton Springs, New York, for an extended vacation. On
September 12, 1916, he married Daisy Billings in a ceremony at the church by
their pastor J.D. Morrow. Some 2,000 attended. Dale Presbyterian Church became
the center of evangelism. Smith was learning fast from Morrow and soon was doing
considerable preaching there. Morrow decided to become a chaplain in 1916, and
Smith was made the pastor of this, the second largest Presbyterian church in
Canada. In September of 1917, a real revival came to the church, which prompted
Smith to write "A Revival Hymn". Morrow returned only briefly, but
with failing health, he moved on to California in 1921, where he later died.
Smith's strong stand began
to cause a concern amongst the liberal element, as has happened so often in
history. Liberals were irritated by the revival meetings, the use of gospel
hymns, the prayer meetings, the $600 raised for missions. The liberals
succeeded in mounting so much pressure that, in October of 1918, Smith
terminated his ministry. The Smiths' first son, Glen, was born June 22, 1917. A
call was given to return to British Columbia under the Shantymen's Christian
Association. Settling his family following their arrival on April 1, 1919, he
began to preach to a needy and forgotten section of Canada's society. However,
a vision of Toronto and its masses burned in his soul, so he returned later in
the year and served in various Christian causes until it was God's time to open
up the right doors. On February 4, 1920, his only daughter Hope was born. Smith
spent part of this summer in Kentucky again.
Smith, now 30 years of age,
decided it was time for action. Renting the West End YMCA, he started his own
services in October of 1920, calling the work the Gospel Tabernacle. Sixty-four
people showed up in the 750-seat auditorium for the first service. Three months
later this new work merged with the Parkdale Christian and Missionary Alliance
Church, and Smith became the pastor of the new work in January of 1921. On June
1, 1921, their third child, Paul, was born. (Paul later would succeed his
father as pastor of the famed People's Church.) A tent meeting to attract
attention did just that when Smith had a "Bring Your Own Chair"
shower on Sunday, July 3. The tent was filled with every kind of kitchen chair
imaginable. A new church building was soon needed. For $40,000 they built an
80-by-130-foot auditorium seating 1,800. Paul Rader dedicated it on May 14,
1922, and the new work was called the Alliance Tabernacle.
He packed the auditorium by
giving the people something they couldn't get any other place - variety. The
best evangelists and singers in North America were constantly streaming across
his platform. Establishing this kind of program made it easier for him to be
gone weeks and months at a time later, because the people were used to
different men filling the pulpit. He was now getting calls for many ministries
elsewhere. The Alliance Tabernacle of New York called him to succeed A.B.
Simpson, but he declined. One of the speakers at his church was William Fetler
of the Russian Missionary Society, who had a burden for the Russian origin
populace of the Baltic countries, who were ripe for the Gospel. Smith sailed on
July 2, 1924, on his first of many trips outside the continent. Smith and
Fetler had great meetings, with many of the auditoriums seating over 2,000 in
such places as Latvia and Poland.
Back in Toronto with additional
influence, the church grew until at times 1,000 would be turned away from a
service. Smith pioneered soul-winning in Toronto. Gospel singing, intense
evangelistic crusades, with a teaching ministry on Wednesday and Friday nights,
continued to inspire the Christians throughout the area. Smith resigned in 1926
and did a year's worth of evangelistic efforts. In April, 1927, he accepted a call
to the Gospel Tabernacle of Los Angeles, California. But Toronto continued to
be in his heart. Even though he was drawing crowds of up to 2,200 and his
church offered to build a 3,000-seat auditorium if he remained, he left in
April, 1928, to go "back home."
Most people start at the bottom
and work up, but not Smith. He rented Massey Hall and, on September 9, 1928, at
this first service, he faced an audience of nearly 2,000 people. The
Cosmopolitan Tabernacle was born, the crowds grew and so did the number of
converts. On January 13, 1929, he was off to the Baltic countries for his
second trip, now at the invitation of Paul Rader. He visited many countries
this time. In Latvia over 2,000 were saved and one night a crowd of 1,300 sang
his song Saved, which was the first time he had heard one of his songs in a
foreign tongue.
He returned to Massey Hall, then
on March 30, 1930, they moved to a permanent address - the empty 1,500-seat St.
James Square Presbyterian Church on Gerrard Street East. It was now called the
Toronto Gospel Tabernacle. He put the church on radio and kicked off the new
work with a missionary convention. Soon it grew and he decided to move once
again to the empty Central Methodist Church on July 1, 1934, and once again
took on a new name - The Peoples Church, 100 Bloor Street East, a name that
became famous from that time on.
Smith was now pastoring the
largest church in Canada, and was often quoted in the media. Music was at its
best, the Back Home Hour broadcast followed the evening service, the missionary
conventions, the evangelistic crusades all helped bring in the crowds. The
annual missionary conference going often for a full month was to eventually get
$300,000 annually in faith promise offerings - a technique Smith widely and
successfully utilized. The convention was loaded with mottos and displays from
various missionaries. A large thermometer told the congregation how they were
doing toward their goal.
Evangelism was emphasized. Soon,
nearly 500 were saved each year, besides those from the radio broadcast. Eldon
B. Lehman was an early musical director and had a choir of 135 voices and an
orchestra of 40 pieces. Sometimes the evening crowds would be higher than the
morning. Curtailing newspaper advertising for several years did not hold the
crowds back. They had a $40,000 pipe organ that took too much space, so they
sold it and built a second gallery. A 1944 evangelism crusade was moved to
Massey Hall, and eventually to Maple Leaf Gardens. Over 11,000 people attended
two Sunday nights.
On January 1, 1959, Smith turned
over the reins of pastoring to his son Paul, while still enjoying such titles
as founder, missionary pastor, pastor emeritus. It was in 1963 that the church
was sold for $650,000 and a new church was built in the suburbs of Willowdale,
where he resided. The original investment in the former church was only
$75,000, so that in essence Smith and his associates were given a brand new
church worth $575,000 absolutely free. How can anyone else get something like
this? Smith replied, "All you have to do is give $5,000,000.00 to foreign
missions over a 25-year period and God will give you a $500,000.00
church."
Smith's hymn writing had
been an outlet for his feelings and emotions in hours of deepest depression and
heartache. "Jesus Only" and "Christ Is Coming Back Again"
were some of the early songs. One of his songs, "Saved", written in
1917, was the first of his hymns to gain universal attention. More than 1,200
hymn-poems followed, with musical settings by Ackley, Stebbins, Harkness,
Towner, and other famed composers, with C.M. Alexander as publisher. After
Towner and Alexander died there was a lull un til he met B.D. Ackley in 1930.
Hymn after hymn, Smith wrote and sent to him. Ackley provided music that fit
the words and they began to be published by the Rodeheaver-Hall-Mack Company.
From 1931 to 1946, there were 73 hymns that the two worked on together and that
were successfully published. They became favorites overnight, and people everywhere
were singing them.
Smith brought well-known
Christian songs to the public year after year: In 1931, "Joy in Serving
Jesus"; 1932, "The Saviour Can Solve Every Problem"; 1933,
"A Revival Hymn"; 1934, "The Glory of His Presence"; 1935,
"Take Thou O Lord"; 1936, "His Love Is All My Plea"; 1937;
"God Understands"; 1938, "The Song of the Soul Set Free";
1939, "The Need of the World Is Jesus"; 1940, "Then Jesus
Came"; 1941, "A Wedding Prayer"; 1942, "Surrender".
His 1,200 hymns and poems made
him one of the most widely used song writers. A few of the stories behind the
hymns: "The Glory of His Presence", written in 1934 in the middle of
the night; "God Understands" came as a result of Smith's youngest
sister, Ruth, and her husband, Cliff Bicker's, plans to come home from Peru on
their first furlough from missionary work. Just before leaving, Bicker was
killed in an automobile accident. Then "Jesus Came" was written in
1939 in Philadelphia. Homer Rodeheaver had asked for a song depicting the change
in men when Jesus came. He soon had a new solo to sing. A.H. Ackley gave Smith
the music for "The Song of the Soul Set Free" and soon had the words
for this widely used choir number.
To sum it up, seems as though you
are describing the work of several men: As a pastor, Smith had ministered in
Toronto since 1915. His congregation numbered about 3,500. About 2,000 attended
the services, often three times each Sunday. As an evangelist, he preached in
the greatest churches in the world, and held some of the largest campaigns ever
held in many places of the world.
As a missionary statesman, he led
his church in a program that by the mid 1970s netted over $700,000.00 annually
- the figure grew every year for foreign missions, more than any church on the
face of the earth. This helped to support 350 missionaries from 35 faith
missionary societies in 40 countries of the world. He stimulated this kind of
program via the missionary convention route in scores of churches.
As an author, he published some
35 books which have sold over a million copies. The only other author to
surpass this volume in the history of his publishing company - Marshall, Morgan
and Scott of England is G. Campbell Morgan. His books, "The Passion for
Souls" and "The Cry of the World", are the most challenging and
practical books on missions ever written. Other titles are: "The Man God
Blesses", "The Work God Blesses", "The Revival We
Need", and scores more, published in 128 languages.
As an editor, he published a magazine,
The People's Magazine, for 36 years, which enjoyed a worldwide circulation.
As a radio preacher, his church
services were carried by as many as 42 stations at a time. In later years, he
conducted "Radio Missionary Conventions" in major cities across the
United States and Canada, challenging Christians and raising funds for the
World Literature Crusade movement, of which he was honorary president.
As a world traveler, he toured 72
countries. His first major overseas tour was in 1924 when he visited nine
countries in Europe. Tours after that included: 1929, England, France, Belgium,
Monaco, Italy, Austria, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Spain, Poland,
Switzerland; 1932, England, France, Spain, Egypt, Palestine, India, Ceylon, the
Malay Peninsula, the Dutch East Indies, French Somaliland, and Ethiopia; 1936,
England, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Sweden, Den- mark,
Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, Yu- goslavia, Hungary,
Austria, Belgium, and Scotland; 1938, Ha- waii, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, the
Solomon Islands, and New Zealand; 1941, Jamaica; 1946, England, Ireland,
Scotland, Wales; 1948, Ireland, England, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, France,
Italy, Germany, Iceland, and back to Jamaica; 1949, Scotland, Ireland, England,
and Iceland; 1950, England, Bel- gium, Norway, Scotland, Germany, and Denmark;
1955, Azores, Portugal, Senega, Liberia, the Gold Coast, Congo, Rhodesia, South
Africa, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Egypt, Italy, France, England, Scotland, and Newfoundland.
Over 7,000 were converted in South Africa. Another tour in 1957 to Brazil,
Argentina, Chile, Peru, Equador, Colombia, and Panama, consisted of the largest
united evangelistic campaigns in the history of South America, and saw some
4,500 conversions. Here the 67-year-old Oswald J. Smith preached to crowds
averaging 15,000 nightly at the Luna Park indoor fight arena in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Three times over 20,000 attended. Three hundred churches
participated and over 1,500 decisions were registered here.
Another tour took place in 1959,
covering Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, England, Ireland, and Scotland.
During this trip, he was received in Buckingham Palace. Then, later in the
year, Smith went to Japan; to Hong Kong, preaching to 3,000 nightly; and to
Hawaii.
In 1960, it was on to Alaska and
then to Japan, where 1,000 decisions for Christ were made in the 2,200-seat
Kyoritz Hall auditorium campaign in Tokyo. In 1961, Smith visited Hawaii, Fiji,
and Australia, where over 1,000 young people volunteered for foreign service.
Later in the year it was England, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Rhodesia, South
Africa, and Sudan. In 1962, he visited Iceland, and in 1963, Ireland, England,
and Wales.
Smith
nearly died on three of his trips because of poor health, which as stated
earlier plagued him all his life. Why such energy and talent given so
unreservedly to Christ? Smith replied with a motto he originated that has
become world-famous: "Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice before everyone
has heard it once?"
On November 1, 1972, his
beloved Daisy went to heaven after 56 years of marriage. Smith had preached his
first sermon in a small Methodist church in the village of Muskoka in 1908.
Nearly three quarters of a century and some 12,000 sermons later, he preached
his last sermon at the Peoples Church in December, 1981 - at the age of 92.
Bedridden for the last months of his life, he died at the age of 96. His
funeral was Thursday, January 30, 1986, at the Peoples Church in Toronto. It featured
the singing of George Beverly Shea and the preaching of Billy Graham.
Some of Dr. Oswald J. Smith's
favorite missionary mottoes allegedly originated by him were the following:
"You must go or send a substitute." "If God wills the
evangelization of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are
opposed to the will of God." "Attempt great things for God, expect
great things from God." "Why should anyone hear the Gospel twice
before everyone has heard it once?" "Give according to your income
lest God make your income according to your giving." "Now let me burn
out for Christ." "The church which ceases to be evangelistic will
soon cease to be evangelical." "This generation can only reach this
generation." "The light that shines farthest shines brightest nearest
home." "Not how much of my money will I give to God, but, how much of
God's money will I keep for myself." "The supreme task of the Church
is the evangelization of the world."
Irene Omakiche
Onjefu
Training to Die. That is the title
of one of the most powerful book on discipleship use in most School of
Missions. The 160 page book, authored by Rev. Bayo Famonure is centred on John
12:24 which says “Except a corn of wheat
fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if die, it bringeth forth
much fruit”.
Irene Omakiche Onjefu practically lived that scripture. The journey started as far back as 1987 when
the CAPRO team entered into the then idol-infested Amla village. Some of the names that still ring bell in the
village were Fred Muvukor and one Herbert.
They were in the land to introduce Jesus to the people. Irene was one of the beneficiaries. She bowed to the Lordship of Jesus and
decided to give Him her all in all.
Some years after, the missionaries decided to relocate to
Okpamaju. Irene chose to serve God as a
missionary and decided to follow them.
She later found herself in Kauna at the Discipleship Training School
against all pressures from her people. The opposition was very stiff. To them, it was suicidal for a sickler to
volunteer to be a missionary but for Irene, even if it will require dying, it
was still in order to die at her duty post.
After all, “except a corn of wheat fell into the ground and die, it
abideth alone.”
She faced the challenge with bravery and boldness. After her training programme at Kauna, she
proceeded to Gana Ropp for the Capro School of Mission. As at then, going through the training
programme is like the head of camel going through the eye of a needle. Yet she
scaled through and was posted to the Maguzawa people group in Katsina state. Her
work among this people group was short-lived as the organisaton she worked with
decided to terminate her appointment on the ground that she was a sickler. For
months, she tried her hands on trading but was not fulfilled. Irene was
convinced that the last breath of her life should be given to the Unreached
people. She walked into the Grace Foundations
almost in tears pleading to be absorbed and posted out to continue with her
calling.
After much prayers and deliberations, Irene was posted to the
Kamberis, then in Borgu Local Government sharing boundary with Benin Republic.
Since the past six years, she has laboured among the Dirawas and Lengelenges in
addition to her work among the Kamberis.
While on routine visit to her last duty post in Babana-Samunaka, we were
overwhelmed with joy as we saw a number of hitherto unreached people worshiping
the Lord. They pleaded that Irene be left to remain with them and not transfer
to another station. Less than two weeks after, the news of her death reached
us. Her Maker took her home. “Training to die” indeed. Irene has gone to be with the Lord and left us
with the challenges of the unfinished task.
She knew she was a sickler. She
counted the cost but choose to die at her duty post. She became another Oswald
J. Smith of our generation. Oswald was
a sickler but chooses to loose his life
so that he can save it. Her life reminds us of a University of Lagos graduate
who came to Agape Missions to be trained for missions. He was a cripple and at the same time blind
yet felt that he too must be a missionary.
A cripple and a blind. What a
challenge!
With her transition to glory of Irene Omakiche Onjefu, the
vacancies in the vineyard has increased.
Like in the days of Isaiah, God is asking, “who will I send and who will
go for us”. If Irene, a sickler could go, You can’t afford to say you are not
strong enough. God will byepass your
deficiencies like He helped Irene. May
God find you worthy to continue with the work she left behind.
For the seed of the life of Irene that has fallen to the ground
and die, pray along with us that mighty harvest will be experienced among the
Kamberis. ‘Training to Die’ indeed!
For Irene, she has saved her life but for the rest of us on this side of
eternity, we must remember Christ’s charge in Matthew 16:25 - For whoever wants
to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Adieu Irene Omakiche Onjefu! We miss you.
