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Bayelsa Mission

EZE ROBINSON

Eze Robinson is executive secretary of Bayelsa Mission, Yenagoa, , .

Bayelsa Mission is an administrative unit of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria and is part of Eastern Nigeria Union Conference, which in turn is part of West-Central Africa Division. Bayelsa Mission was formerly part of Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference and was organized in 2015. It covers the territory of Bayelsa State, Nigeria.1 Statistics as of June 30, 2018: churches 9; membership 1,586; population 2,370,538.2 Historical Developments The territory known today as Bayelsa Mission was a part of the Rivers Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. With headquarters at Rumuokwuta, , the Rivers Conference, organized as Rivers Mission in 1971,3 gained conference status in 1993.4 The first elected officers of the conference were Pastors Simeon Job Okochi (president), Reuben Ezenekwe Eti (secretary), and Epalibo Grant Esukpa (treasurer).5 The territory of this conference was the entire Rivers state in the southern geopolitical region of the present Federal Republic of Nigeria. However, given its multi-ethnic composition, its vast geography, and consequent difficulties in its political administration, the Nigeria military government in 1996, under Major General Sani Abacha, created a new state out of this polyethnic state.6 This new state is the present Bayelsa state. Following the creation of Bayelsa state in 1996, at the 2005 constituency session of the Rivers Conference, it was voted to rename the Rivers Conference as Rivers-Bayelsa Conference so as to properly recognize the field as a two- state territory.7 Furthermore, in 2011, because of the vastness of the territory of the conference and a significant increase in its membership, a new conference, Rivers West-Bayelsa, was created out of the Rivers-Bayelsa Conference. It was inaugurated as a conference, effective January 1, 2013, with Pastor Ugochukwu L Ahiamadu as president, Pastor David O Jonathan as secretary, and Pastor Vincent C Marcus as treasurer.8 The young Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference was further restructured in 2013. By this restructuring, Bayelsa Mission was born and the former Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference was renamed Rivers West Conference with headquarters at Abarikpo- Ahoada. Beginnings of Bayelsa Mission Bayelsa Mission started as an administrative unit in October 2013 with Pastor David O. Jonathan as president and Obioma O. Sunday as secretary-treasurer. Composed of one district, five organized churches, and 17 companies, the membership of the unit at its inauguration was 743.9 The unit was officially inaugurated on July 24, 2014, in a service presided over by Pastor Bassey E. O. Udoh, president, of the Eastern Nigeria Union Mission. The unit soon prepared for upgrading. After inspections by the relevant bodies—Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference, Eastern Nigeria Union Conference, and the West-Central Africa Division (WAD)—the entity was granted mission status and an inaugural service was held on January 31, 2015.10 The creation of this administrative unit and its upgrading to mission status was possible due to the consistent efforts of the membership in Bayelsa state. The membership engaged in brainstorming sessions and offered solutions to the previous slow growth of the church in this region. Factors contributing to slow growth included, but were not limited to: 11 1. The geographical terrain of the region: long distances between communities, thick forests, and large bodies of water, thus making movement between areas difficult and expensive 2. Cultural beliefs and practices 3. Limited finances 4. Inadequate manpower

The mission president, Pastor Obioma Ohia Sunday,12 remarked in his inauguration address that the small-but-active membership of the church in Bayelsa resolved to conquer these challenges and made passionate recommendations to the administration of the Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference. It was actually in response to these appeals that the executive committee of Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference voted:

Whereas there is the need to bring administration close to the membership for the enhancement of the spirituality, membership participation and evangelization of the Bayelsa State, voted, to establish Bayelsa Administrative Unit with headquarters at Yenagoa.13

Administrative Block The first (temporary) administrative location of the mission was at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Yenagoa, Obele Street. The field moved in 2015 to its permanent site at Imiringi Road, Yenagoa. This site, which is already a documented property of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria, was a donation from a member, Eustace E. Jiachi. The one-story office complex of the Bayelsa Mission was financed by the laity of the field. The kindness of these native heroes indicates that African church history would be inadequate without the contributions of indigenous people.14

Administrators15 Presidents: David O. Jonathan (October-December 2013); Obioma O. Sunday (January 2014-present). Secretary-Treasurer: Obioma O. Sunday (October-December 2013). Acting Secretaries: Chinwendu Agumadu (January 2014-2015); Christian C Adindu (January-December 2016). Executive Secretary: Eze Robinson (January 2017-present) Treasurers: Thank God Solomon (January 2014-May 2015); Chinenye F. Nwachukwu (June 2015-March 2017); Saturday Nwali Nwankwo (April 2017-December 2018); Kelvin E. Ehiogu (January 2019-present). Evangelism/Church Planting There are eight local government areas in Bayelsa state: Yenagoa, , , Brass, Southern-Ijaw, , Kolokuma/Opokuma, and . Following the evangelistic drives of the mission, the church now has a presence in all the local government areas, though there are more members in Yenagoa, which is the state capital. The workforce of the Bayelsa Mission at the end of the first quarter of 2019 was: ministerial license 5, ministerial credential 2, missionary credential 1.16 At the end of the first quarter of 2019, the mission had baptized a total of 671, and it had planted a total of 19 churches.17

SOURCES Bayelsa Mission Inaugural Report 2015. Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria. Odili, J. U. “Democratizing African Church historiography.” Journal of Humanities 20/1 (2014). President of Bayelsa Mission’s address at Inauguration, 2015. Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Rivers-Bayelsa Constituency Session Report 2005. Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference Maiden Constituency Report, December 20-22, 2012. Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed October 29, 2019. https://www.adventistyearbook.org/2018.pdf. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed November 25, 2019, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1972.pdf. Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook. Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019.

NOTES 1. “Bayelsa Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2019), 392.? 2. Ibid.? 3. “Rivers-South Eastern Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed November 25, 2019, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1972.pdf.? 4. “Rivers Conference,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed November 25, 2019, http://documents.adventistarchives.org/Yearbooks/YB1994.pdf.? 5. Ibid.? 6. http://www.tukool.com/know-nigeria/knowabout-bayelsa-state/, accessed June 12, 2019.? 7. Rivers-Bayelsa Constituency Session Report, 2005, Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.? 8. Rivers West-Bayelsa Conference Maiden Constituency Report, December 20-22, 2012, Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.? 9. Bayelsa Mission Inaugural Report 2015, Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.? 10. “Bayelsa Mission,” Seventh-day Adventist Yearbook, accessed October 29, 2019, https://www.adventistyearbook.org/2018.pdf. ? 11. President of Bayelsa Mission’s address at Inauguration, 2015, Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.? 12. Ibid.? 13. Ibid.? 14. J. U. Odili, “Democratizing African Church historiography,” Journal of Humanities 20/1 (2014), 17.? 15. Bayelsa Mission Records, 2013-2019, Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.? 16. Bayelsa Mission Statistical Report, First Quarter, 2019? 17. Bayelsa Mission Mid-year Report, 2019, Bayelsa Mission archives, Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, Nigeria.?

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