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‘God truly sees and blesses all of His children’: More than 100 people baptized in remote Nigerian city

Combined efforts of missionaries, local leaders and members result in 104 people being baptized in Mangu, Nigeria, in March and April

By Sydney Walker 15 May 2023, 3:57 PM SAST

New members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Mangu, Nigeria, pose for a photo on their baptism day, April 10, 2023.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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For people who live in Mangu, Nigeria, the closest meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a nearly two-hour drive away. Many members don’t have vehicles in this remote area. Attending church was nearly impossible. 

But in early 2023, things changed.

According to a news story on the Church’s Africa Newsroom, President Mathias N. Niambe of the Nigeria Lagos Mission was inspired to work with his full-time missionaries to establish Church units in some of the more remote areas of Nigeria, specifically in the Jos District, Plateau State. One of the areas he identified was Mangu.

It was an answer to the prayers of many members in Mangu, specifically Simon Panan Mwanchi, who desired to share the gospel with his family, friends and neighbors. 

President Niambe traveled to Mangu to meet with him and other members. President Niambe promised that the Lord had not forgotten them and invited them to prepare the way for missionaries by sharing the gospel. He also met with local municipal and tribal leaders and was warmly received as he shared the Church’s desire to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in their town.

The first missionaries arrived in Mangu in January and were astounded by what they found — dozens of individuals who had been prepared to be taught. Over the next four months, the missionaries met with larger and larger groups of people, several of whom were baptized.

Church leaders and missionaries welcome people of Mangu to their baptism on April 10, 2023. A total of 33 individuals were baptized that day.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Elder Joseph Success Menjor of the Nigeria Lagos Mission said: “With the help and support of our mission president and his companion, the district president and his counselors, and Brother Simon, who worked vehemently with his family and friends, we have had 104 convert baptisms in Mangu.” 

The first baptismal service was held on March 15 for 43 individuals. A group of 33 was later baptized on April 10. Most recently, 28 new members were baptized on April 30. 

“This service was more than just baptismal services,” said President Joseph Samson Garba, second counselor in the Jos District presidency, of the first baptismal service. “It was a day for rekindling faith, a day to remember covenants, and a day to rejoice as family in the Lord’s kingdom. God truly sees and blesses all of His children.”

The members in Mangu are holding sacrament meeting in their town with support from priesthood leadership in Jos as they hope for a new branch to one day be established.

LINK:  https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2023/5/15/23722006/mangu-nigeria-104-baptisms-missionary-effort-march-april?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cn-social&utm_campaign=facebookpage-en&utm_content=i%20am%20lds&fbclid=IwAR2nFlQMZKt7OPRYp_2ocQ1y-kQuRpSxnN7d-t-WUOzIPkREPc_tDmvxLG8

THE CHURCH NEWS

AMERICAN ELECTION 2023

 

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Opinion

Tim Scott puts God in the middle of his presidential campaign

by Timothy P. Carney, Senior Columnist |

 

April 12, 2023 01:16 PM

 

Church, Bibles, and faith play major roles in Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) video announcing his (let's face it) run for president.

The motto of Scott’s nascent campaign is “Faith in America.” He concludes the ad with “God bless you” and describes the question behind the Civil War thus: “Would we truly be one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?”

You see that religion is central to the story Scott is trying to sell, which is normal for a conservative politician. But Scott’s story uses religion in an important way.

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The most interesting part of Scott’s story is he doesn’t attribute his climb out of poverty to his own virtue — to simply pulling himself up by his bootstraps or some abstract concept of the “American dream.” Scott stated explicitly that America has infrastructure that helped him climb and that infrastructure is under attack.

“It pains my soul to see the Biden liberals attacking every rung of the ladder that helped me climb,” Scott said in the middle of the video. He then cited schools and neighborhoods. After Scott announced his exploratory committee, the “hero walk” started with Scott strutting into the Huguenot Church in Charleston. This is key.

Church is one of the rungs of the ladder of the American dream and so is America’s “Judeo-Christian foundation.” Scott also pledged to “protect our religious liberty.”

Republican politicians often play up their faith and show themselves in a church as a way of playing to the religious Right, but here, Scott is connecting dots that need connecting. The Democratic Party’s attack on religious liberty and the Left’s rejection of America’s Judeo-Christian foundation are part of their attack on the ladder of opportunity Scott is celebrating.

Scott described his climb out of poverty by saying, “We had faith,” and zoomed in on a Bible and a shot of him praying in church.

The American dream of climbing out of poverty isn’t really a story of rugged or exceptional people transcending their conditions. It’s a story of civil society providing the scaffolding, or the ladder, that allows people to climb. Community institutions are how people get the connections, the mentoring, the modeling, the belonging, and the human-level safety net that enable them to do better.

Social science finds this again and again. Probably the best research bolstering civil society’s role in upward mobility came from economist Raj Chetty. Chetty and colleagues found one of the strongest correlates of upward mobility in an area is “social capital”— the amount of volunteering, the number of community institutions, the number of churches, etc.

For working-class people, especially immigrants and African Americans, the central institution of civil society has always been church. In Bowling Alone in 2000, Robert Putnam found that about half of all civic activity in America originated in religious institutions.

But much of the secular Left — including academia, the news media, and parts of the Democratic Party — sees church as, at best, something private to do on Sunday. Thus they try to force religious schools to abandon their principles, they try to force nuns to provide contraception coverage, they try to force Catholic hospitals to abort babies, and they detest the idea of any public funding going to religious institutions.

But religion isn't some private aspect of individual life — it is a crucial pillar of public life. The irony is that President Joe Biden kind of gets this: He won the South Carolina Democratic primary in 2020 by campaigning in black churches and winning the church-going vote.

Go back to that hero walk scene and check out the Gospel passage above the door of Huguenot Church: “Be ye doers of the word, not hearers only.” That’s’ from the Epistle of St. James, and it is the last words the worshippers at Huguenot Church see as they leave church every Sunday to go back out into the world.

That is, a person cannot “do my religion on Sunday, in church,” as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) once inartfully put it, then go out and support the government’s attack on religious liberty. A Christian will live his or her life every day out in public. He or she will do Christianity and not merely listen to it for an hour once a week.

Religion belongs in the public square. That’s something rejected by too many people these days. Hopefully, Scott can set the public straight on this. 

LINK:  https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/tim-scott-puts-god-in-the-middle-of-his-presidential-campaign

GHANA WARNED!!!

God’s wrath, destruction coming upon you – Pastor Giwa warns Ghana

Published onApril 12, 2023

By John Owen Nwachukwu

The head of Awaiting The Second Coming of Christ Ministry, Pastor Adewale Giwa has warned of God’s wrath and destruction on Ghana.

Although the cleric did not give any reason for the warning, he claimed that God had instructed him to warn the West African nation.

The western media reported that Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo had said that “substantial elements” of the anti-LGBTQ bill being considered by its parliament “have been modified” after an intervention by his government.

Akufo-Addo was quoted to have said this at a joint press conference with US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who recently visited the nation with gay rights prominent in her agenda.

“Destruction awaits the entire city of Ghana if they fail to turn to God very quickly,” Giwa said.

“The Lord warns the nation not to allow herself to be used as an instrument to lead other African nations to the devil. And the LORD said to me in a dream: ‘Tell them that they are leading my people to sin. Woe to the nation that forgets God, woe to the nation that leads my people astray. They will be punished for their immoralities unless they turn to me (LORD)’.

“The Lord also told me to tell the people of Ghana to fast for one day and pray to God for forgiveness. He says their leaders have caused many to stumble. Ghana, turn to God and stop doing evil, repent now to allow God to bless your land exceedingly,” he said.

LINK:  https://dailypost.ng/2023/04/12/gods-wrath-destruction-coming-upon-you-pastor-giwa-warns-ghana/

DAILY POST

GOD ON SCREEN

God’s Word For You Today: I’m Not Mad At You

written by Lauren Koch March 30, 2023

Today’s Verse

“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:35-40)

LEARN MORE ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA & REVIVAL: REVIVAL IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA ERA

Today’s Message

In John 6:29, Jesus provides the disciples with a profound response: believe in Him, as the one God has sent. As the chapter continues, Jesus explains the purpose of Him coming down from heaven: to do the Father’s will. God desires that you would live with Him forever. It’s why He sent Jesus! While we know this as the truth of the gospel in our heads, sometimes our hearts need to be reminded: God is not mad at you! In fact, He loves you so much, He made a way for you to be with Him forever! In a world where so much of our worth is found from striving for perfection, remember this truth. God loves you just as you are, right now. And as you walk with Him, He will continue to transform you, from the inside out.LINK:  https://godtv.com/gods-word-for-you-today-im-not-mad-at-you/

GOD TV

COUNTING ON GOD

God saved me, says man shot during Kisumu demos

The bullet went through his chest but he's recuperating in hospital

by MAURICE ALAL Correspondent, Nyanza Region

News

29 March 2023 - 18:10

In Summary

• He is currently recuperating well at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital where is admitted.
• Ochieng denied engaging in violent protest and called for a thorough investigation into his shooting for him to get justice.

Ochieng at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kisumu on March 28
Image: MAURICE ALAL

Dennis Ochieng, 24, who hails from Nyang'oma in Alego, Siaya county, was shot in his chest at Kisumu Boys roundabout on Monday.

He is currently recuperating well at Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital where is admitted.

Speaking to the Star, Ochieng said, it was God who saved his life after the bullet went through the left side of his chest leaving only particles, which were removed by doctors during surgery on Tuesday.

"Were it not the Almighty God. It would have been a different story. He has saved me from the jaws of death," he said.

On Wednesday, he was questioned by officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority who are investigating cases of alleged police brutality against citizens during the Azimio protests.

He has also been visited at the hospital by human rights activists who have called for a thorough probe into the alleged use of excessive force by police.

"The officers have questioned me. Today I was visited by two Ipoa officers and yesterday there was a senior one who came," he said.

Ochieng denied engaging in violent protest and called for a thorough investigation into his shooting for him to get justice.

He said he had left work and was rushing to his residence in Nyalenda to be with his family when he was caught in the melee between the police and protesters.

The survivor wants the government to compensate him for the bills he has incurred since Monday.

Ochieng is married. He said he did not expect that the peaceful demonstrations will turn into running battles between the police and protesters.

On Monday, one person was shot dead at Kondele while another one was lynched by mob at Fanana area in the same area over mugging allegations.

Kevin Odiwuor was also shot in the head at Nyalenda during the demonstrations. He is also admitted at Kisumu County Referral Hospital.

On Wednesday, Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong'o banned the mass action protest in the city after consultaton with Azimio top leaders.

Human rights defender Audi Ogada has supported the ban saying goons were taking advantage of the protest to terrorise residents.

"These goons have been erecting illegal road blocks, stealing and robbing residents during demonstrations," Ogada said.

The protest has seen three deaths including a Maseno University student, who was shot by police.

"Even though the citizens have the right to picket, it has turned chaotic as criminals take advantage leading loss of innocent lives," he said.

LINK: https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2023-03-29-god-saved-me-says-man-shot-during-kisumu-demos/

GRACE OF GOD

Delta: Oborevwori hails critical stakeholders, gives glory to God after receiving CoR

by Emman Ovuakporie

 

270 SHARES 

1.4k VIEWS

…says transition program will be announced soon

Governor-elect of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori has hailed all critical stakeholders in the state who made his victory possible during the guber polls as he gives God all the glory after receiving his Certificate of Return on Wednesday at INEC office in Asaba, Delta state.

TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reports this was contained in his remarks after receiving his CoR saying:

” In the final analysis, the glory belongs to God, maker of the heaven and and the earth, and from whom all power flows.

“In due course, the Government shall be unfolding a Transition Committee that will midwife my inauguration on May 29, 2023. Until then, I implore all Deltans and residents to remain prayerful, peaceful, and law abiding.

He also praised critical stakeholders such as the outgoing governor, Ifeanyi Okowa, the immediate past governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan and others who stood by him before and after his victory.

Read his full address below:

” I have just been presented with the Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), arising from my emergence as the Governor-Elect of Delta State on March 20, 2023. With the issuance of the Certificate of Return, we must now turn our attention to ensuring a seamless and stable transition in pursuant of my Advancing Delta agenda.

“On a day like this, it is important that I acknowledge and thank all those who worked tirelessly to bring us to where we are today. First, I wish to, once again, appreciate the leader of our great party, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa under whose able and wise leadership the PDP in Delta State has remained strong and formidable. Our massive victory may have come to some as a surprise but not to us because we know Deltans are happy with the excellent performance of Governor Okowa.

“Our victory is a testament to this fact; it was as comprehensive as it was decisive; the PDP won in all the 17 Local Government Areas in the North and South senatorial districts. In the Delta Central senatorial district, we won in four out of the eight Local Government Areas. But even more significant was our victory in Ethiope East Local Government Area, which had eluded the PDP since the current democratic dispensation began in 1999.

“Let me also thank our former Governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan for his exemplary courage and statesmanship. Dr Uduaghan was in the trenches with us; he went out of his way to reconcile aggrieved persons in order to ensure that the party was united going into this battle. Thank you, sir, for your leadership and commitment.

” I thank the Chairman of our party, Barrister Kingsley Esiso for his doggedness. I doff my hat to the elders/founding fathers of our party, all the members of the campaign council, party leaders at various levels, and the various support groups that stood solidly behind me.

“My gratitude also goes to civil servants, retirees, organized labour, youths, professionals, student groups, traditional rulers, religious leaders, artisans, market women, and all those who laboured in one way or the other for this victory.

“Thank you all for staying the course. I assure you that your labour shall not be in vain.

“Let me specially appreciate my wife, my Children and family members for their prayers, support, encouragement and steadfastness all through the electioneering process . May God bless for this show of love and care.

” In the final analysis, the glory belongs to God, maker of the heaven and the earth, and from whom all power flows.

“In due course, the Government shall be unfolding a Transition Committee that will midwife my inauguration on May 29, 2023. Until then, I implore all Deltans and residents to remain prayerful, peaceful, and law abiding.

“By God’s grace, we shall do MORE to ADVANCE Delta State. 

LINK:  https://thenewsguru.com/politics/delta-oborevwori-hails-critical-stakeholders-gives-glory-to-god-after-receiving-cor/

ADDING JESUS TO THE SHOW

Minister Marion Hall aims to ‘win souls for God’ at Reggae Sumfest

Says she is filled with ‘more fire’

Published:Tuesday | March 28, 2023 | 1:03 AM Stephanie Lyew/Gleaner Writer

Contributed

Minister Marion Hall

On July 22, spirits will be lifted at the Catherine Hall Entertainment Complex in Montego Bay as Minister Marion Hall promises a divine cultural experience to those who will converge for the annual Reggae Sumfest production.

“I’m adding Jesus Christ to the show,” she told The Gleaner, while admitting that she did not want “anyone to get it twisted thinking they gonna come and see the Lady Saw behaviour … . No, no, none of that”.

Early last year, Skatta Burrell, popular music producer and a member of the Downsound Entertainment group, the organisers of the music festival announced, that he would love to book Hall for the 2022 staging of the event. However, she quickly rejected the idea, noting that she would not be gracing the stage unless Gospel Night was returned to the calendar.

Recalling her grand exit from dancehall in 2015, the musical minister said that she knew Reggae Sumfest 2015 was going to be the last time she would close Dancehall Night, so this year, she is booked on the diverse roster, which features primarily conscious reggae entertainers.

“I’m very excited. I know the fans are excited. I’m the only female to ever close that event, and when I closed out on Dancehall Night, I walked away knowing that I was gonna walk away from the industry. So to come back as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ, wow! I know that the Devil was just trying to twist me up, turn me, and tell me, ‘You shouldn’t do this or that’. I’m coming in and coming in hard. So demons, I’m telling you right now, you gotta leave that territory. I’m taking dominion over Montego Bay that night,” Hall said.

She continued: “Studying the Bible, when I look at Jesus Christ and the people who He dwell among and hang out with, He said, ‘I didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners, unto repentance’. You don’t just win souls in the Church, the souls that are already saved. God is looking for lost souls, and wherever He leads, I will follow. Don’t get it twisted now. I’m not boring. My performance at Sumfest won’t be boring. It’s gonna be epic.”

After much deliberation and collaboration with Downsound Entertainment to produce new music, Hall is excited to engage festival-goers, and she has been mentally and spiritually preparing herself for the stage. She revealed that when she was saved, she was confused, “and people were pulling east, west, north, south, and there were some things that I thought I shouldn’t do and that I shouldn’t go to some places,” but over the years, she has made peace with the choices to give her life to God and continue music but use it to minister the gospel.

“I’ve been talking to the Lord about it already, and I know I gotta go into prayer and fasting to prepare, and that’s why I make sure I get the night that I chose to go on, you know. Bless the name of the Lord. Yeah because listen, God didn’t take all the fire out of me. He added more fire in me,” she shared.

Some of that fire is visible in her latest singles, Sorry To Hurt Your Feelings and I’m Doing Better, which is a production of Downsound Records (DSR). Speaking about her collaboration with the label, the dancehall icon-turned-minister explained that the original plans were to record two tracks, but this has evolved into the production of a full project after she, along with DSR principal Joe Bogdanovich, went to Nashville, Tennessee, to meet with Grammy Award-winning musician Gramps Morgan and his guitarist for a studio session.

She said: “We didn’t plan for it … . I’m just too talented. To put me in a studio with Gramps Morgan’s guitarist, I mean, every time I opened my mouth, it was just something that was irresistible. I think he had, like, 30 guitars in the studio, and before we knew it, we ended up with five tracks, and I recorded three of them when we were planning to only do two, one there and one with another producer. Safe to say, it seems like we’re gonna have an album.”

Hall said she truly enjoyed working with the DSR principal. From her dancehall years until now, she believes the focus has been on producing quality music.

“Even when I was in dancehall, he was always a respectable person, and he knows what he’s looking for. I think Joe wanted to do something that he had never done before, and I wasn’t even expecting Joe. The Lord told me about a door. He said to me, there’s an open door that I’ve set before you that no man can shut. I remember him using His own words. He said before I get to that door, I have to go through some other doors. They are doors where disappointment lies, you know, pain and heartaches and all kinds of setbacks and delays,” she said.

“He told me to continue walking, so I was expecting the door to open from the inside, like inside of the church, you know? But it opened from the outside. So I’m just working with what God sent my way. God will send a raven to feed his people. So I just bless God for Joe and, you know, it’s good music. It’s clean music. It’s godly music,” Hall affirmed. 

LINK:  https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/entertainment/20230328/minister-marion-hall-aims-win-souls-god-reggae-sumfest