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| May 2001 |
A letter from the Tubbses
Mission Coordinators in Nigeria
c/o PO Box 626
Jos, Plateau State
Nigeria
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EYN MAJALISA - AT GWOZA
Rev. Toma Ragnjiya presiding over Majalisa.
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The EYN (Ekklesiyar Yan'uwa a Nigeria - Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) Majalisa started with an evening worship service on April 4 and the energy was evident as the 2001 event opened with Toma Ragnjiya, the EYN president, dancing to hymns played by the Gwoza church band. It was an exciting time to be at Gwoza.
The 2001 EYN Majalisa was held at Gwoza, Borno State on April 4-7. The guest speaker was Rev. Dr. Musa Gotom, President of T.E.K.A.N. He lives in Bukuru-Jos so Janet and I offered to bring him to the Majalisa. T.E.K.A.N. is the ecumenical council of churches in northern Nigeria. The Nigerian church is a founding member.
Mountains at the side of Gwoza
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EYN planned to have the Majalisa in a public school in Gwoza and thought they had made all the arrangements. When they arrived in Gwoza the principal of the school refused to let EYN meet in the school. Gwoza is in Borno State and Borno is a strong Muslim state. In fact, Borno State recently adopted Sharia Law. The church leaders quickly decided to meet in the Gwoza EYN church. The church building was under construction and had only walls--no ceiling, door or windows. They hurriedly put up wooden poles and covered the roof with grass mats and tarpaulins--mostly grass mats. It was very hot at Gwoza and I think meeting under the grass mats made a much cooler meeting place. Gwoza is not far from the Cameroon border. There are mountains on the side of Gwoza and on the other side is Ngoshe/Gavva where we also have EYN churches. Many people walk across the mountain from Gwoza to Ngoshe and Ngoshe to Gwoza. The church at Gwoza is less than ten years old.
Left to Right: Rev. Abraham Wuta Tizhe (EYN
General Secretary), Rev. Toma Ragnjiya (EYN
President), Rev. Blama Hena (EYN Vice President),
and Mr. Zira Tumba Diwe (EYN Director of Finance).
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The most controversial issue was the 30% levy EYN headquarters had recently introduced on all local church offerings. 15% was to go to headquarters, 10% to the regions and 5% to the districts. There was a lot of deliberation on this issue. The participants in the Majalisa wanted to change the percentages. There were different suggestions given as to how the 30% would be divided. It was eventually changed by the GCC (General Church Council--Majalisa, or as we would say, the Annual Conference) to 10%, 10% and 10%. The GCC said that the churches should be faithful in sending the money to headquarters, the RCC (Regional Church Council) and DCC (District Church Council).
Rev. Abraham Wuta Tizhe (EYN General Secretary)
speaking to the Majalias.
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Another heavily debated issue was the Regions. EYN adopted a new constitution about three years ago and many felt that it was adopted too hastily. The new constitution set up a new structure for EYN and that new structure included seven regions. Many feel that the regions are a drain on the financial and manpower resources of EYN and that they should be eliminated. After much deliberation the GCC approved the appointment of a constitution amendment committee. It appears that the constitution will be amended at the next Majalisa and perhaps the Regional Stations will be eliminated.
Rev. Filibus Gwama speaking to the Majalisa.
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They actually conducted some business after the opening worship service on April 4th. I don't know how long the meeting lasted because the president of EYN noticed that I was especially tired after a long drive from Jos to Gwoza. So he dismissed Janet and I to take Rev. Dr. Musa Gotom to our sleeping quarters. On the first full day of Majalisa the meeting lasted until 1:30 a.m. Then on the 6th of April the Majalisa went until 11:00 p.m. in order to complete everything on Friday night so everyone could go home early Saturday morning. This was the weekend before Easter and a lot of the pastors had to leave because of weddings. Most churches try to discourage weddings on Easter weekend. We noticed that as we traveled back to Jos on Saturday with Rev. Dr. Musa Gotom that there were a lot of weddings. I believe that all in all it was a good conference.
John Tubbs
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