Lazarus Bako: The church is under siege but we are no longer afraid of being killed
Lazarus Bako is a lover of missions. You can feel his pulse and passion. As he engaged this reporter at the February 2020 Global Mandate conference organized by Agape Generation International Church in Lagos, his eyes brightened. His face glowed.
One those in his team at the conference was a woman whose husband was cut down by terrorist in her presence. Yet the woman is still actively involved in spreading the gospel at the risk of her life. Her husband’s gruesome murder notwithstanding, she is poised to carry on with the gospel.
Lazarus Bako: Ham by Tribe
Bako is Ham by tribe from the southern part of Kaduna. He disclosed that his great grandfather could be traced to Egypt and had a link with Ham one of the sons of the Biblical Noah. But the Hausa people call them Jaba.
He was born and brought up in Television Village in Kaduna, He recalled, “Many of the children that grow in Television village grow to become indecent and unruly. Immorality is the order of the day in Television village. But the Lord shielded me from the immoral lifestyle there. I came to know the Lord in 1988 during a programme in a school. Since then I have been experiencing transformation in my life.”
After his secondary education, He had planned to be a naval officer or an electrical engineer. But God intercepted his plan by giving him a strong vision for missions.
The lure to travel to the UK afterwards to study Nursing could not stop his dream of becoming a missionary. So, not long after his secondary education he enrolled at the Harvesters Missionaries Training School where he spent 18 months.
After his training he worked among the Kam people in Taraba State where he spent the first 13 years. He later worked among several other tribes in the North.
Incredible conversions
Now back in Taraba, he began missions as a single man,. But he is now married with four children. His wife is actively involved with him on the field.
“God used me to raise three converts to full time missionaries. One came from traditional worship background to Islam and then embraced Christ. He had two wives. But God in His mercy allowed the second wife to leave him after his conversion. She left on her own.
“God is using him tremendously in Taraba. Another one was Kabiru who though married had already paid money for another woman but God stepped in when he heard the gospel and he stayed with his first wife. I am overwhelmed with the transformation in the lives of people through the hearing of the gospel”
Church under siege
His pain however is that the church is under siege in the north “We are being denied a lot of things and we can’t do anything about it. Christians who are graduates are denied jobs. People’s farm are being invaded by bandits. Though Christians are the majority in Taraba there is manipulation going on in the state.”
He shares the painful stories of men who were killed by bandits on the mission’s field “We are laboring among the minority tribe. On December 25, 2019 a young man was literally butchered in the community where I am serving.
My colleague on the mission’s field was also cut into two. His wife is still with us in the ministry. She went back to the same mission field where her husband was killed.”
Kam people and human god
He narrates the story of the Kam people where he is currently operating saying the people in the village worship a man called Adeyi. “We cross about four villages before you get to where he stays. He lives on top of the rock. He only wears shorts, a read cap and then the skin of a lion.
“Before you see him you must remove your shirt, remove your shoes. You then need to bend down and worship him. I have not been able to go to him but i knew him before he became the king and by extension their deity”
The good news however is that people are coming to know Jesus in the village of this human idol. “What happens is that anybody who becomes their chief in that community is their god. So the kind of homage you give to God almighty is also what they give to the man. If you are coming to him and he does not like you, he will disappear.”
Stories have it that before anybody attains the status of a king/idol that person will sleep with a dead man for three days and eat some parts of the body of the former king.
“That is what makes him thick and also makes him perform magical feats like disappearing and appearing. He has people who come to worship him. He can marry as many women as possible. If he has a male child the child is thrown away because that child is seen as a competitor.”
He revealed further that the Koma people who were discovered some years ago also live on the mountain around where he operates “There is still a part of the Koma people that still go without clothes. But they are not hostile. They love people. We are hoping that if we get resources we will go and empower them. They live on the mountain top.”
Bako: We are no longer afraid of being killed
Apart from reaching out to souls in the villages Bako also runs a primary school for indigent students ‘We used to have a make shift building. But I presently use my house for the school a three bedroom flat. The school has been there for 18 years now. We have people who are now graduates who attended that school. It is largely free for the students. But we are hoping to get more support so we can get their own building..”
Any fear of attack by Boko Haram? “That is no longer a worry” he quipped. “We are with them. We have overcome the fear of being killed in the north.” He said adding that “God has been our strength and shield. He has been keeping us. I am grateful for the resources made available to us each time we come for the annual conference of missionaries at the Agape Generation International Church led by Pastor Toyin Kehinde. Coming to this place energises us and prepares us to face the challenges ahead.”
On how they have been surviving, he says, “We have been living by faith. We do some farming but the harvest this year has been poor. But we thank God for how he has been blessing us.”
You can reach Bako on 07030300028 or 08020970620
Story by Gbenga Osinaike
