Miracle #1, from Missionary Phyllis Sortor
I have a story to tell you - an amazing miracle - actually, TWO miracles!
I’ll tell you Part 1 this month, and Part 2 later! These are events only God could bring to pass!
Miracle in Port Harcourt, Part 1.
As some of you may know, in February we began the purchase of ninety-nine hectares of land in Port Harcourt, Rivers State - land which would be a permanent homeland for a large community of Fulani people, led by our long-time friend, Alhaji Mogodi, who’d been evicted from their homes by the government, their houses broken down and reduced to rubble, our school there demolished. With the help of a very strong SFA friend and supporter, we were able to purchase the land, pay the sellers, the surveyor, the agent, etc., and have the purchase properly registered in the appropriate government offices.
Wanting to make it known that we would be building a school on this land, we had two large signboards made with the name of the future school, Peaceful Village Primary School, and our name, Schools for Africa. The agent went with some community boys and erected the signboards at two locations on the land. Next thing we knew was, the signboards had been removed and taken away by persons unknown.
In late April, when he was relatively free from his work overseeing the Enugu building project, I sent SFA Manager Lawal to work with the surveyor and place boundary markers, or ‘beacons’ at the four corners of the land. This is common practice here in Nigeria and confirms that the land is under ownership, thereby preventing encroachment.
But when Alhaji Mogodi went with Lawal to start the process of setting the beacons, throngs of local community men came and stopped them, saying that no way would they give us access to the land!
Mogodi and Lawal answered that they would return with police to set the beacons. The community men said they would just take down the beacons. No way were they going to allow Mogodi and his Fulani people to enter that land. NO Fulani would set foot there and live among them. Never.
Mogodi, who by the way is the Sariki Fulani in all of Rivers State, called a community meeting, attended by hundreds of people, but no matter what he told them, most importantly that it is the LAW in Nigeria that the seller of land must give peaceful possession of said land to the buyer, or return the full selling price in full, the community refused to listen.
Mogodi and Lawal went to the King, the Overall Chief in the area. We had visited him before, to introduce ourselves, tell him about SFA and the plans for a school, clinic and market on that land we had purchased. At that time I had to pay a fee, to be allowed an audience with this king - two goats and quite a hefty amount of cash! Well, Mogodi and Lawal went to the King, asking him to call a meeting of all the local chiefs and subchiefs, to solve this problem once and for all.
For this meeting to happen, the King demanded four goats, a huge amount of money for himself and for each chief, money for entertainment, (food,) and drinks! I paid. All of us were praying seriously that this meeting would solve our problems and we could move ahead with our plans! The King set the time for a meeting but didn’t show up. A second time was set, for the following day. Again, the King didn’t show up. Lawal emailed me that he couldn’t sleep, he was so worried about this situation. I told him we have to keep praying and trusting God for a solution.
In Ogun State, on Wednesday, May 14, I had gone to Abeaokuta to run some errands. On the way back, I asked my driver to stop at Prophet Elijah’s little church. Prophet Elijah is a wonderful man of God whom we met recently and were able to help with the repairs and building of his church. I told the Prophet about the Port Harcourt land issue, that we needed access to this land we’d purchased for the Fulani and asked him to pray about this situation.
‘What is today?” Prophet asked me. “Wednesday? Okay. GIve me today, Thursday and Friday. I’ll ask God. He’ll answer me by then.” I had thought we’d just pray together then and there, but he waved us back into our car.
“Jacob,” Prophet said to Officer Jacob as we were climbing into the car, “Give me your phone number so I can call you with any news.” Jacob did so.
The next day, Thursday, I was over at the school, when Mustafa, our security guard came to tell me that the Prophet was at the gate. I went out to meet him and walked with him down to the guest house.
After we were seated in the parlor, Prophet Elijah said, “God answered me at 1 am this morning. God said that you will be given access to your land today. He told me to tell you to read Isaiah 61:1-8.” I quickly went to my room and brought back my Bible, turned to that passage in Isaiah and read it aloud.
The Year of the Lord’s Favor
61 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice;
I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
and make an everlasting covenant with them.
At 4pm that same Thursday afternoon, Lawal called. The man who had sold us the land had gone with police and set our beacon stones, making the land officially ours. Lawal added that the King had met with them and told them he would keep his hand in this matter and see that our plans for the school, clinic and Fulani market and homeland would come to pass.
God answered prayer and gave us the miracle we so desperately needed! What an amazing God we serve!
I believe you can see that God approves of the work we are doing in our schools, grazing reserves, clinics and churches - work which primarily assists this despised and neglected people group known as the Fulani. God is blessing our work, opening doors, providing for our needs and guiding us nearly daily into new fields of service.
I thank God for this, and for all of you whom God has called to serve Him in this way. Love and Blessings, Phyllis and Team SFA
As the Lord pours Himself into Nigeria, it is an absolute delight to be His hands and feet there. We see the Lord moving mightily! God certainly doesn't NEED us, but He does INVITE us to join Him. Would you care to join us by supporting the work financially?
