ORIADE ISLANDS – A LAND OF HOPE

There are several islands spread across the Atlantic Coast in the Oriade local government council development area. The topography of these areas can make any horticulturist go green in envy; it is a Treasure Island, Nigeria’s own Eldorado. Little wonder tourists all over the world visit these islands without costs. The serene islands boast of beautiful beaches and coconut the denizen of the coastal seas spread elegantly all over the coasts. However, life in these islands is not as beautiful as the islands. No social infrastructure; electricity, pipe borne water, schools, hospitals. There, lifestyle is purely hedonistic, occultic and paganistic. Thank God for men and women He is using to reach out to these people. The church has always been and is purely an instrument of change in the area through the instrumentality of God’s word. The Foursquare Gospel Church has risen to the challenge of riverine evangelism and God has brought forth thirty mission fields in these islands.

Eight mission trippers embarked on a mission exposure trip to four islands in this locality. They are Ibeshe, Ilasheokun, Ilashe/Teachers village, and Akaraba fields. Each of these fields has their own peculiar challenges. The missionaries out of nothing started schools as government schools are either not available or functional.

WhenIlasheokun mission school started in 2001 everything was free. Later on school fees of one hundred and Twenty naira was introduced and parents withdrew their wards from school. They had to revert back to free education so that the children can benefit from education and have a secured future. Today, out of the church’s effort, a block of classrooms are under construction to contain the teeming population of students. They are Ewe speaking and are predominantly farmers. There is presence of idolatry but it is not a challenge in this particular island, their challenge is their lifestyle

The white men lures their women away with dollars and often times, shame does not let them come back. The church has formidable youths that are true soldiers of Christ. The missionary there has succeeded in raising secondary missionaries. The church is built with coconut palms and the school building is halfway through. Money is needed for the completion of the school and the church building.

The Teachers’ Village took its name from the first settler who was a teacher and a Christian. It was the story of a church born out evangelism. Some people will come, gather the villagers and preach and go, this happened severally until a young lady stepped in to nurture the work and today, a church was born. Prior to this time, adultery and fornication was prevalent in this area; even the pastor was mal-handled for preaching against it, they all left in anger but later came back through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Today, the woman whose life were like that of the Samaritan woman who married five husbands and the last one was not her husband were restored to their original husbands and some who are not married are legally married now. Children are being raised under godly parents and are being discipled. The church is full of testimonies.

The Teachers village is the only village that does not permit the Oro cult or other forms of it but some later immigrants are defying it. Due to the absence of clinic or pharmacy; the pastor here is a certified nurse and midwife. She intends to open a pharmacy and a clinic. Money, materials and medical resources are needed to help so that people can have access to medical care. The teachers' village is Yoruba speaking.

The Akaraba church is predominantly Ewe speaking church. The people there are mostly fishermen and idol worshippers. The congregations are mainly illiterates. The pastor comes from afar every Sunday to pilot the affairs of the church since its inception in 1998. God bless Pastor Sam and his family who has labored in these islands for thirty years with abundance of harvest to show for it. He and his wife single handedly run the Fountain of Life School which has seen many graduates free for almost thirty years. He has seen the birth and growth of many riverine churches. He is stationed at Ibeshe and from there oversees many kingdom works.

Despite the challenge of Islam, cultism and paganism in his field, he is waxing strong raising generation of soldiers; he is undaunted, he and his wife are silent generals. One thing is unique in the life of these Christians; you can easily notice a cord of love and the spirit of joy in them. The missionaries are determined to conquer all for Christ and for Him alone. They are there; no strife, no rancor, they are bonded together by the love of Christ; the church in these islands has fared well. Amazingly, what gave them the desired result is nothing but DISCIPLESHIP. They sing it, they teach and live it.