ABA, NIGERIA Wednesday, November 19
By Marti Schneider, On location

The last message was started on Tuesday and finished today; but that
was this morning . . . a long time ago!

After breakfast I listened to Gabriel C. Nwaogwugwu, East Nigeria
Conference President, and Joseph Ola, Nigerian Union President, telling
stories about the beginnings of the work in Nigeria. Our camera crew met
early to plan out the day and get some ideas for the features.
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Here is my little feature for tonight--

If you had 10 million nyra, how would you spend it? Nyra, dollars . . .
whatever you call your money . . . it is the same question. This
morning Sister Daniel and I went across town to visit a man who has the
answer to that question -- Elder Monday A. W. Atughonu, known as Mawa.
Pastor Ola told me, "You must meet him."

Yesterday we saw a newborn baby boy. Today we met Elder Monday who is
95 years old, just five years short of 100 years. We found him on the
front porch of his home, visiting with His Royal Highness Eze (Ruler)
Joseph Ngozi Asuoha, Eze Oma I of Omanoma Isi Ala, Ahiaba Autonomous
Community. The visitor is the ruler of the community in which Elder
Monday was born. (Elder means that he is a church elder, not an ordained
minister.)

What a privilege it was to talk to this patriarch of the church! In
his boyhood he had faced great adversity, even threats to his life. His
mother insisted, "My son must go to school!" He entered school when he
was 18 years old, and around 1952 he studied in Lincoln, Nebraska, both
at Union College and the University of Nebraska. When he was just a
young man, his uncle presented to him the messages we are hearing here
each night, and while studying the Bible, he became convinced that it
was the truth. In fact, he became a very successful literature minister
in order to share this message. He was married to his wife Jane in 1936
after having led her family to this Gospel. She went to her rest in
May.

As we sat talking, the elder told me, "Everything here is for God."

He said, "I read the Bible over and over. I found stories of honest
patriarchs and I tried to pattern my life after theirs." Abraham of the
Bible established altars to worship God as he went from place to place.
And as Brother Mawa went from town to town, he too raised up churches.
In later years Elder Monday and his sons owned a poultry farm where his
home is located now. And there on that property he has constructed a
lovely church . . . the Mawa Farm Church. He planned it, he hired the
workers, and he purchased the materials . . . paying for all of it by
himself . . . 10 million nyra!
The church seats about five hundred. Sabbath School membership is 550,
plus youth and children. The church building has a number of open air
classrooms for Sabbath school.

Elder Monday told me, "We must consider ourselves strangers here on
this earth and not be greedy, trying to build our own wealth. We must
live for God, our family, and our fellow man." Therefore, he has also
built a school on the property with nine teachers. We met the teachers
while we were there.

"I'm tired," Elder Monday told me. "I'm ready right now to rest. But
first I want to build a house for the minister."

Before we left, he prayed a beautiful prayer for us here at the
stadium. He asked the Holy Spirit to move every heart. He wanted every
Nigerian to become an Adventist Christian, and every dollar spent to be
translated into one hundred souls.

Say . . . if you had ten million nyra, how would YOU spend it?

Thank you, Elder Monday! Thank you, Aba . . . and Nigeria! Thank you,
Africa! And thank you, God!

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The meeting went well tonight. We are all rejoicing that we have
permission to remain in the stadium for our meetings through Friday
night. Details for the last meetings are being worked out.

Tonight Don preached "Law and Grace." He used the illustration that he
learned from Elder E. E. Cleveland . . . "If there is no law, there is
no sin. And if there is no sin, we don't need a Saviour . . ."
Probably you've all heard it. He had youngsters on the platform. The
audience really enjoyed it. A pastor told Don that it was really a
helpful illustration. Don's short sermon was, "God gives me the law,
God gives me grace."

It is nearly 11:00 p.m. Don is studying tomorrow night's sermon, and I
think I will leave you and go to bed. You don't know how much we
appreciate your prayers!

God bless you all,

Marti