Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1958, Page 90

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90 Proceedings of the Forty-fifth Convention

and as the port from which all the crude oil is being exported.
Port Harcourt is now also the home of several thousand Europeans,
and missionary opportunities among these should not be ignored.

“The big news of the past biennium is the opening of a new
field in Ogoja Province, several hundred miles north of our original
field in Calabar Province, Here conditions are as primitive as they
can be found in any part of Africa. For years the only mission
active in the Ogoja Province has been the Roman Catholic mission.
The Gospel, however, has remained practically unknown. In a re-
markable way the area is being opened up to us by the Lord.
We are trying to meet the challenge. At present we have three
American missionaries active in Ogoja Province as well as one
African pastor and five African teachers. The work in Ogoja
Province is under the direction of our African Church and is the
missionary project of that church. The American missionaries are,
of course, supported and maintained by the Missionary Board.
All other expenses are borne by the African Church. As yet we
have no organized churches in this new field, the work still being
too young. But a very successful start has been made and almost
200 have already been baptized. Our missionaries reach several
thousand each week with the Gospel message. The opportunities
seem boundless and the needs overwhelming. Pray that we may
meet the challenge!

“New doors are being opened up to us in the new land of West
Africa, the new republic of Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast. Condi-
tions seem especially favorable in Ghana at this time for the proc-
lamation of the pure Word. Already a group of 40 adults in Accra,
the capital and largest city of Ghana, gather regularly for services
and they are ready to be instructed in the Lutheran faith. With
a missionary in Accra, this number would without a doubt go
over 100 within a year. From Accra the work would rapidly spread
into the rural areas. Already a request has come to a leader of the
group in Accra from a chieftain of a village about 70 miles inland
requesting that the Lutheran Church be brought to his village
as soon as possible. Every effort possible should be made to exploit
the tremendous opportunities that lie before us in this new land.

“Our medical work in Nigeria has been singularly blessed by
the Lord. At no time have the members of our hospital staff lost
sight of the real purpose of our medical work on the Dark Conti-
nent. They have done all in their power to make our hospital a real
missionary arm of the church. Besides receiving the very best
of medical treatment, all of the patients have also received the
message of life for the healing of their souls. Only eternity will
reveal the full results. In April of this year we were permitted
to dedicate to the glory of God the new 30-bed ward for tubercular
patients. This ward was made possible by a gift from the Wheat
Ridge Foundation. This gift also included an up to date X-ray
installation. This now makes our hospital one of the better
equipped hospitals in the Eastern Region of Nigeria. In 1957 the
number of outpatients treated in our hospital was 15,158. There
were 2,268 bed patients and of these more than 1,200 were surgical
cases. Generally speaking, the Lord has blessed our work abun-
dantly in every department.

“In the past year (1957) there were 2,499 baptisms. Of these
almost a thousand were adults, This brings our total baptized