Background of the Village Church

In April 2010, my Church made a trip to Gbaukuchi Village to establish a branch. Gbaukuchi village is under Kuje Local Government Area in Abuja and it has two exits. One exit leads to Keti village under AMAC while the other leads to Aco estate through Gbaupe village. The village is a Gwari (Gbagyi) village with a population of about 3,000 to 4,000. We met with the chief of the village and presented gifts to him and stated our mission. He welcomed us with open arms and told us to use a classroom in the only primary school in the village for our services. He later gave a land where we can build a church.

So the church started and a pastor was posted there. The pastor ministered there for five years raising the church from scratch. During the five years, I would occasionally visit him to show him support. On days he travelled out of Abuja (He was and is still a civil servant), I would go to the village to stand in for him. On some occasions, I got fairly used clothes from my house and my friends which I took to the village to distribute among those who became our members. This made me become familiar with some of the members of the church and residents of the village.

The Church’s policy is to transfer Pastors after every three years but this pastor served in the village for five years before he asked to be transferred. There was no one willing to go hence the Zonal Pastor put forward my name. Of course I didn’t want to, as I was not a Deacon not to talk of being a Pastor. I also did not want to be a pastor in the Ministry owing to my radical nature and non-agreement with some of the Church’s accounting policies.

However, I looked at the bigger picture and thought this is where one can make a difference, not just in the church but in the entire community. So I accepted the challenge and in July 2015, I resumed in the village. On my way there, I noticed that the road had become extremely bad and washed away by erosion. I had to park my car halfway and take a bike to complete the journey. I saw Fulani kids attending to their herds. A sight caught my attention. Three Fulani kids were sucking the teats of a cow directly! This was the first time I would see such and I actually waited to be sure I saw it clearly. Then I realised this will be truly one heck of an assignment.

I got to the village where I was given a warm welcome. I must say, I did not have any experience whatever as I was just a Sunday school teacher who had been teaching kids and teenagers for 12 years. Some of my Sunday school kids are big men and women now oh. Some are with first and a few with second degrees. I feel good when I see them and sometimes when I attend their graduation ceremony or call to bar, I feel like a proud parent. Apologies, I digressed.

It’s been five years and I have had so many wonderful, sorrowful, emotional, annoying as well as confusing experiences in the village. From the sorry cases of guinea worm in kids; to poor maternal health; infant and maternal mortality; domestic violence; child marriage and so on, to the bright cases of portable water, humorous teachings, Christmas parties etc, I invite you to follow me on this interesting journey of my ongoing sojourn in Gbaukuchi village as a Rural Evangelist.

Church Service at Gbaukuchi Village