Yuguda Bello: Islam is penetrating Eastern Nigeria in unprecedented way

delegates at the Global Mandate Conference

He was a Muslim for almost 25 years of his life before he came to know the Lord. Nobody preached the gospel to him but the circumstances that surrounded him brought him to the knowledge of Jesus. He had stroke for almost two years and was at the mercy of friends and family members. But one miraculous day, the Lord Jesus appeared to him in the night and healed him of the stroke.

He became healed but did not still surrender his life to Jesus. He was afraid of the backlash. Rather than embrace Jesus, he remained neutral. He withdrew from Islam and decided to just stay at home. But a few years after, Yuguda Bello who spoke with our reporter at the Global Mandate Conference which hosted by Agape Generation International Church, Maryland Lagos, went back to Islam and was reading some Islamic books. But each time he read those books something strange would happen to him. There were times he saw strange figures and there were times he felt he was sinking into the ground each time he read the quaran. Those experiences made him stay away from the books.

But with time he summoned courage and joined the ECWA Church from where he declared his stand for Christ. He has since remained faithful. But his salvation placed a burden on him to reach out to the Moslem world. He now has the passion to preach the gospel to his people in the north. He joined Sons International Living Ministries, a ministry committed to evangelizing Moslems.

His experience on the missions’ field has been quite exciting. But Yuduga is bothered that Islam is using all means to penetrate hitherto Christian communities. His mission field is in the heart of Owerri where he reaches out to Muslims. He told Church Times that Imo State is witnessing a large penetration of Islam. “Many Igbos are embracing Islam because they are being given business support and aids.

“About 10 years ago, there were just two mosques in Owerri, now they have about seven big mosques. I am talking about the kind of mosques where they do Friday prayers. The Islamic community is growing and they are even trying to participate in the electioneering process in the east because of their population. Right now, I can say that about half of the people in Ebonyi State are Moslems. There is an Islamic University in Ebonyi and they are planning to build another one. The largest mosque which is built on about 50 acres of land is right there in Ebonyi.’

The good news however is that the missions’ effort of Yuguda and some others are paying off. Right in Owerri the missions outfit where he serves have 12 Hausa speaking churches that are non-denominational and six English speaking missionary churches too. God is bringing about great revival as lives are being transformed on daily basis.

Yuguda who comes from Yola said he was selling car engines for a living when he met the Lord but has since abandoned that for missions. He describes his experience so far in the Lord as great and awesome. “Jesus is all a man needs. I am complete in him. There is no experience that is greater than knowing Jesus. I find in him peace.”

Yuguda could be reached on 08063815128