First, I want to say thank you to all who prayed my first visit to Nigeria! We had a wonderful retreat and time partnering in ministry together.
But almost didn’t happen, again.
You may remember that I’d been trying to get to Nigeria for three years, but kept running into roadblocks with my visa application. Finally, in July, the Nigerian consulate issued me a five year, multiple entry visa! My first thought was, “I’m going to squeeze every bit of value out of this over the next five years.” That’s still the plan, but there will still challenges to come.
On the day of departure I was in Ghana feeling some stress because my Nigeria flight was cancelled and rescheduled three times. It got to be so confusing that I ended up at the airport 15 minutes before the flight’s departure! But, I made the flight.
It was of course confusing Peter Iliya Agwom who was waiting at the Abuja airport to meet me when I arrived. I was so hurried at the airport that I didn’t have time to call him. I just sent him a photo from the plane to let him know I was on the way.
When I got to Abuja close to midnight, Peter and a couple of his friends were there to drive me to a guest house for the night. The next morning we drove six hours to the city of Jos, in Plateau State.
Yes, my travel was a little rough, but some of the Nigerian disciples also traveled uncomfortablely over long distances so we could be together for the first time. One Intern, Mercy, traveled all day and night by bus. Over the past few years we’ve had some Google Meets together, but there’s nothing like being in person. It was wonderful.
I love that these interns are ministering in their unique vocations. Most are passionately involved in youth ministry. A couple work with orphanages and in child welfare. One is in law school with an eye toward politics. There is a welder, a pastor, and an entrepreneur. A couple work in mission, and couple have business jobs. One young woman disciples teenage girls with a focus on chastity. Every single one is serious about being a disciple who makes disciples.
During my teaching sessions this group was dialed-in in a way I’ve never experienced before. Usually there is some level of distraction and I have to enforce a ‘no phones’ rule. Not with this group. They paid attention to every word as if I was giving them instructions to perform emergency surgery or deliver a baby along the roadside!
Although Peter has relationships with all of the Interns, some live several hours from each other and before our retreat had never met in person. Some encountered YLI when the group traveled to do trainings in places like Miango, Keffe, Dong or Jos, and later joined YLI as volunteers to help with our vision to plant discipleship communities in more places.
Some feedback I received after the retreat:
“It was good to learn more about YLI”
“I needed that emphasis on the importance of listening to God’s voice.”
“I’m realizing the need for more disciple-makers.”
“YLI has in a way shown me God’s purpose for my life.”
“It was relaxing.”
“I enjoyed seeing everyone!”
“I really value the practical aspect of YLI”
“I appreciate that YLI’s focus is more on relationships than building another organization.”
“This was a nice change of perspective from the normal things we hear in church.”
One of the most important things I heard was that they feel a gap in spiritual reproduction. Most of them had never been discipled before encountering YLI. They are hungry for spiritual investment because it’s hard to give what you’ve never received. I’m planning to travel to Nigeria three or four times in 2025, and looking forward to spending more time with this amazing team.
Thanks again for all your prayers,
youngleadersinternational.org 