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LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 1969, Page 17

Scan: The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

MISSIONS 17

of Nigeria is beyond description with literally millions
of civilians suffering the effects of war-—dislocation,
malnutrition, lack of medical help. All missionaries, in-
cluding medical workers, had been evacuated from the
former Eastern Region of Nigeria at the outbreak of the
war in July 1967. On behalf of the Board for Missions,
W. F. Bulle, M. D., secretary for Medical Missions, con-
tacted the International Committee of the Red Cross in
August 1967, offering personnel for medical relief under
the banner of the ICRC. In February 1968 Dr. Bulle and
a team of eight began work in Nigeria, concentrating on
getting out to villages to provide medical services and to
bring needed food. As these teams ministered to people,
they ‘not only bound wounds but shared the burdens of
the suffering,” in the words of Dr. Bulle. Their presence
brought a semblance of peace and reassurance to people
ravaged by war and fear: to know that someone cared
whether they lived or died, cared enough to be there
with them.

The medical teams have served in several areas since
their arrival in Nigeria, being sent where the need is
greatest. Their Christian commitment to a ministry of
healing comes through—even while working through a
secular agency. A number of observers have said to Dr.
Bulle: “Your group is different; they are working for a
cause.”

It is impossible to predict at the time of this writing
how long the conflict will last or what the future of the
country will be, once the war is over. Our church con-
tinues to provide emergency relief but is also attempting
to meet the nutritional needs of people. Within the last
few months a nutrition demonstration center has been
set up in Ikot Ibritam, using the facilities of the Lutheran
Bible Institute. The staff there (a full-time missionary
nurse and Nigerian helpers, with the part-time services
of a doctor) restore victims of kwashiorkor (a protein-
deficiency disease) to health, and distribute supplemental
feedings to 22 surrounding villages. It is hoped that
several other nutrition camps can be set up.

Dr. Bulle, after demonstrating his organizational
abilities for 4 months as team leader of Missouri Synod
personnel, was asked by the ICRC to serve as ‘‘field
coordinator” in Nigeria. Dr. Bulle served as coordinator
from July 1968 to January 1969. He continues to serve the
ICRC on aconsultative basis while working more closely
with the Synod’s teams. The “‘team’’ captain giving
direction to much of our medical personnel’s work has
been Dr. P. S. S. Martin, a doctor from India who was
formerly a medical missionary in Nigeria. Missionary per-
sonnel have also served the Red Cross operations center
in Lagos in logistics and maintenance.

b. The ELCN: Carrying On the Work. The Evangelical
Lutheran Church in Nigeria has also shown concern for
people in need. It has turned over the facilities of its
girls’ trade school to be used as an ICRC kwashiorkor
nutrition center and as an orphanage for 500 children
made parentless and homeless by the war. An ELCN
pastor is presently spending full time in relief work.
Several members of the ELCN have provided emer-

gency accommodations for individual refugee families.

Throughout this period of crisis many ELCN congre-
gations have continued to meet for worship and nurture,
although services have been temporarily discontinued in
some areas because of the dislocation of the people. In
many instances laymen and evangelists have carried on
the ministry of Word and sacrament. By January 1969 a
greater part of the region served by the ELCN was under
federal control, and the ELCN had reopened 70 of its
76 elementary schools, with an enrollment of approx-
imately 15,000 students and 460 teachers. The Lutheran
high school at Obot Idim was in operation with an en-
rollment of 560. The Lutheran teachers training college
(in Abakachi) reopened temporarily, using the seminary
facilities at Obot Idim since Abakachi was still a disputed
area. The Lutheran high school at Ikot Ekpene, the Lu-
theran seminary, the Bible Institute at Ikot Ibritam, and
the girls’ trade school at Nung Udoe remain closed thus
far into 1969. In April 1969 the Southeast State govern-
ment assumed full management for all primary and
secondary schools, but the schools continue under the
proprietorship of the church with no hindrance to the
teaching of religion.

Immanuel Lutheran Hospital at Eket has served
people throughout the war under the administration of
Dr. Antiabong, an Efik doctor posted at the hospital by
the government. At the present all private hospitals in
that area continue under the management of the South-
east State government on an emergency basis. Immanuel
Medical Center at Yahe saw very limited service after
occupation by federal troops. A missionary nurse has
now been posted to the clinic to broaden the services
available there.

c. Getting the Word Out: Over the Airways. Mass
communications will play an extremely vital role in future
mission work in Nigeria. Regular broadcasts in English
to West Africa continued from Radio Voice of the Gospel
throughout the war, even though the production studio
at Enugu was evacuated in June 1967. (The broadcasts
were made possible through the use of previously taped
programs.) In February 1968 the expatriate radio staff
returned to Nigeria and established a production studio
in temporary facilities in the northern city of Jos. Rev.
Etuk, a Nigerian pastor who has had scriptwriting train-
ing in East Africa and worked for a period of time at
RVOG, has rejoined the staff. Besides programs for
short-wave broadcast over RVOG, religious programs
are also produced for local broadcasts. The office in Jos
serves also as the branch office for the Lutheran Hour
broadcast to several stations in West Africa. “This Is
the Life” is telecast regularly in Kaduna.

d. Returning Missionaries. In March 1968 Pastor and
Mrs. Kenneth Greinke were the first of the evacuated
evangelistic missionaries to return to Nigeria, taking
up temporary residence in Lagos. More than 300 mem-
bers of the ELCN had organized under lay leadership
as a congregation in Lagos. Pastor Greinke worked with
them and also investigated other opportunities for urban
ministry there until he received permission in early 1969