by Sunday Bwanhot, ECWA Chicago, Connect via bwanhots@gmail.com | Every year ECWA and SIM set aside a week to celebrate Founders’ Week.
What is Founders’ Week?
In 1893 the three young men Walter Gowans, Thomas Kent and Rowland Bingham (pictured above) answered the call of God as missionaries and set sail from America to Europe and from there to Lagos, Nigeria, arriving on Dec. 3 1893 with the sole goal of taking the Gospel to the Soudan (the name given to the whole area bordering Northern Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Northern Cameroun, Sudan etc.). This was a great sacrifice and we cannot thank God enough for calling these young men, nor can we thank them enough for answering God’s call because of their love for lost people they have never seen.
Both Walter Gowans and Thomas Kent died within the first year of their ministry in Nigeria without seeing one soul come to the Lord. The Lord kept Rowland Bingham alive who returned to the US and mobilized other missionaries to go back to Africa with him. The result was the planting of an SIM church which was indigenized in 1956 and renamed ECWA. ECWA today has more than 7, 000 churches in Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Niger Republic, Togo, USA, Cameroun, Benin, Malawi, Mali, Zambia, Kenya, Ghana, Burundi, UK, Israel and a Prayer Cell in the Philippians. The goal remains to take the Gospel to all parts of the world.
Pray:
- Thank God for all those that God used in the past to proclaim the gospel through SIM/ECWA.
- Thank God for all those that God is using today to continue in the proclamation of the Gospel through SIM / ECWA.
- Pray that we will all imbibe the sacrifice of the pioneer missionaries and have love and passion for those still living in darkness and step out to do our part no matter the cost.
Pray that our generation will not be at ease but will step out irrespective of our denomination, race, social and economic status to proclaim the Good News of salvation in Christ alone.
Rev. Sunday Bwanhot is a minister at ECWA Chicago and their ministry can be summarized as follows:
1. Sunday minister to Churches by training and equipping them and providing resources so that they can effectively minister to the immigrant people around them. We also bring pastors from different backgrounds and churches to fellowship together and learn from each other.2. Direct Ministry: Sunday minister to immigrants directly through a wide range of activities: Befriend and help them settle in America; provide spiritual guidance, enfold them into existing churches or get them to start a Bible study group, counseling, visitation, hospitality etc. We planted a Church in Chicago and also lead the International Couples Fellowship – a ministry that ministers to immigrant couples as well as single young adults.
