Monday, November 29, 2010

Nigerian Missionaries Making Exploits for God in the Philippines

By Ejikeme Omenazu

ejike_omenazu@yahoo.com
(Nigerian Journalist)

He is a Nigerian from the Ndikelionwu town in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State. For about five years now, Success Kanayo Uchime, a Missionary Apostle, left the shores of this country with his wife and four children. When they left, Uchime and his family had one thing in mind. That is, to do exploits for the creator, though not in their fatherland, but in far away Philippines, in the Far East or South East Asia.

Uchime, by the time he left for this assignment, was not new in missionary work. The journalist cum missionary told this writer in an online interaction that he and his wife, Ngozi, have been in active missionary work since 1994, with the lady being very supportive, especially in areas of providing health care and education to those they minister to.

(Apostle Kanayo & Ngozi ministering to the Badjao

tribal people in Dumaguete city, Philipines Pix by KMO-INTER 2010)

Operating under an organisation, Kingdom Missions Outreach Inc. (KMO), which he founded as a mission agency, this makes it 16 years they have been labouring in God’s vineyard as career missionaries.

Uchime, while in Nigeria, worked as a rural missionary in a little community of people called Ejila Awori and specifically lived in one of the towns called Odan Abuja in Ogun State.

“In fact, we were there for over 10 years and the community opened up for the gospel as a result of our presence there. Prior to our going, there were no gospel churches in the whole of Ejila Awori (12 Awori) communities.

“We have some gospel churches there now and all of them came in through us. We faced a lot of challenges then and principal among them is funds,” Uchime stressed.

Of all areas one could go for missionary work, the Uchimes chose Far East and Philippines in particular. Why Far East? Why Philippines?

To this, he responded: “This is God’s call and we have to go where ever He wants us to go. It was not easy going at the first instance. “Philippines is an interesting place to be; it’s a typically Catholic nation and the only Christian nation with English background in the whole of Asia.

“Philippines is an open country for mission work out of other nations in Asia and what we intend to do here is to use it as a stepping stone to reach other Asian nations and even beyond”.

(Apostle Kanayo & Ngozi Uchime)


Since he moved into Philippines with his family, Uchime confessed that it has not been easy with them, but for God’s hands upon his family.

“And mind you, we’re coming from a context where the awareness for mission support is still developing. The Nigerian church is yet to come to terms with missions generally, both indigenous and foreign mission. To some, the era of mission has come and gone with the old apostles, therefore no need to commit resources to missions.

”Missionaries from other nations get their support from home, but ours is different. We’ve to look for support from abroad, which is not a healthy trend when it comes to foreign missions,” he stated.

(What a sacrifice - Apostle Kanayo Uchime

going to meet his converts in a bicycle Pix by KMO-INTER 2010)


He continued: “We are really facing a lot of challenges here as you know Philippines is also a developing nation like Nigeria, there’re not opportunities for tent-making works and that puts us in very dangerous position.But in any case we must keep moving by faith believing God to meet us at the very point of our needs”.

On his impressions on Filipinos, especially in the way they embrace the gospel, Uchime stated that because of the influence of Catholicism there, which is so profound, about 85 per cent of a population of about 98 people, so this makes gospel witnessing somehow difficult.

“But despite that, Filipino people are lovely people; they’re very accommodating and ready to share their things with you. They live a communal life, they are people centered, just as in Nigeria. In fact, if not for there light (brown) color, you may not be able to differential between them and Nigeria.”

“In fact, I still see Philippines as a fertile ground for the gospel; the true gospel is yet to penetrate so well in the country. Can you imagine a situation where the percentage of all evangelicals is still put at a low five per cent or thereabout? But the spirit of God is moving speedily in the entire country. There’s still very much to do.”

“I told someone sometimes that this is the time for African missionaries, especially Nigerians to invade Philippines and the entire Asia. And I believe that God is preparing army of Nigerian missionaries for this End-Time divine assignment.”

“God has blessed the Nigerian church so much so that it’s time for her to move to the frontiers of Asia to be involved in the harvest of souls. Believe you me, Asia is waiting to be harvested; despite all the victimization missionaries are going through here, especially among the closed nation of Asia found mostly in the Middle East regions.”

(Apostle Kanayo Uchime with some of his converts - Pix by KMO-INTER 2010)


On the state of Christianity in Far East in general and Philippines in particular, he noted that almost all the Far East countries are regarded as “closed nation,” closed in the sense that they do not welcome missionaries openly.

Uchime stated that some missionaries face death penalty, through what they call blasphemy laws. The situation, he added, is so much in all the Far East countries, especially the Muslim nations. He stressed that almost over 80 per cent of the countries in the Far East are mainly Muslims and they are very antagonistic to the gospel message.

He however maintained that in the Philippines, “the situation is not the same. The case is quite different. Remember, as I said, they’re 85 per cent Catholics and as such a very tolerant to the gospel spread, not that there’s no persecution here and there. It’s just the extent and manner of persecution is the question here”.

Since their arrival in that country, the Uchimes are known to have been doing a lot of exploits among the Badjao people of Philippines. Giving a brief lowdown on their efforts there and successes recorded so far, he noted that the Badjao tribal people, as they are called, are one of the unreached peoples group in the Philippines.

He explained that they are similar to the Fulani people in Nigeria and parts of Africa, in the sense that they are nomads as they move from one place to the other.

Uchime said: “In actual fact, in the Philippines they’re called the NPAs, meaning ‘no permanent address.’ He also said the Badjao people are one of the poorest there and Moslems by religion, thereby making gospel witnessing among them very challenging.

“They are also called the sea gypsies as they live in the seas being fishermen by trade, although there fishing is a subsistence type of fishing and this is because of the poverty life that’s prevalent among the people.

(Apostle Kanayo Uchime, with two of his Badjao converts - Pix by KMO-INTER 2010)

“Our goal is to plant what in missions is referred to an indigenous church – that is a church fully owned and run by the indigenous people. And this has not been so easy for us as these people keep moving from one place to the other, especially to the city centers where they go to beg for money.

“Work among them requires a lot of funding which is not in our disposal, bearing in mind the country where we came from. And that is the reason why we are appealing to the Nigerian church to come to our aid. We recently launched an appeal online asking for at least 100 dedicated and faithful missions supporters that can afford to be giving us a monthly donation of at least $25”. He informed that his ministry intends to properly launch this fund in Nigeria by March 2011 to seek for faithful and dedicated partners to support their works.

On other works he and his team are involved in Philippines, Uchime said they have been involved in training through workshops and also give encouragement to the Filipino church, through preaching engagements in churches.

In addition, Uchime, a missionary cum journalist, said he is also involved in writing and publishing of articles in some local media and online too.

(Apostle Kanayo sharing the gospel with kids in the Philippines - Pix by KMO-INTER 2010)

He stated that he also has some interests in Thailand and China and other places in Far East. He said that he plans to extend his activities to these countries.

He maintained that as a missionary one must be mobile, as mobility is an essence of missionary endeavor. As he put it, “One cannot be stagnated. In fact from here, as I said earlier, we’re going to be launching to other regions beyond, to China, a lot of things are happening in that atheistic nation where communism is at the centre stage. And as mentioned, even Thailand, where Buddhism dominates. In fact, there is a lot of work to be done in this side of the globe, only that one is being constrained as a result of very low funding”.

On his challenges since he and his family moved to that country, Uchime has this to say: “As I said earlier, and I say it again, funding is the major challenge to African missionaries. We have all it takes to be compared to Western missionaries, but funding is the greatest challenge we face here in Asia.

“Well, we may identify other challenges like language barriers, as we have to learn native languages in order to be very effective and, adjusting to the kind of food they eat here isn’t so easy.”

“But all in all, God is helping us to surmount these challenges and what is more, with the prayers of God’s people, we’ll do great exploits as prayer is paramount in missionary enterprises.

Apostle Kanayo with his entire family & some Filipinos - Pix by KMO-INTER 2010)
On his plans for the future, Uchime said that he and his team, and his support staff would continue to move to where the Lord wants them to be. He said in mission, “there’s no retiring, but we refire”. According to him, there are so many lands to traverse, as the Lord would give them the grace.

He said: “The fields are really ripe for harvest, as the Bible puts it, and we must be ready to be part of the world harvest of souls, for our Lord’s coming back soon”.

In areas of collaboration and support, he disclosed that he networks with churches in Nigeria and few others in other places. But he lamented that “the level of support from home is very discouraging because of lack of awareness on the part of the Nigerian church of what mission work is all about.”

(Apostle Kanayo Uchime & the entire family during their training
at the South East Asia Mission Teams, Philippines in 2008 - Pix by KMO-INTER 2008)


“I need to mention this irony; most people in Nigeria do not realize we still need fund to continue in our work, some even ask us to send them money believing we are abroad and as such we must have money to send home. And again, the people here are asking us to bring money believing we are foreigners that came to their country with a lot of money.
“This is sheer ignorance on the part of some who do not have an understanding of what missionary enterprise entails. So, the question is always this: Where do all these lead the missionaries like us?”

To know more about the mission work of the Uchimes and how you can donate to their work, please click here: http://kmointer.webs.com/giveyourdonation.htm or send an email to them kmo4missions@yahoo.com

Monday, November 15, 2010

OUR MID-MONTH MISSION REPORT/PRAYER ALERT FOR NOVEMBER 2010

By Success Kanayo Uchime

How’re you today, hope all is still well with you? We feel very excited sharing our mid-month mission report to you and hope you're still uplifting us in your prayer.

You'll recall that we told you about our son Victory's 8th birthday, yes, he celebrated it on the 12th! Although just like Miracle's own it was low-keyed as a result of our very low budget here. But we still thank God for all things.













(Behold the birthday boy!)

Our daughter Nkeoma’s studies is still running at the University and she’s doing very well, after completing all the necessary enrollments.

We still believe God for funds to go for our yearly visa renewals which, from all indications will be approved this month and we still need prayers on that direction.

Our planned mission fundraising in Nigeria is still in focus. Through it we intend to mobilize at least 100 faithful and dedicated mission supporters that’ll be giving us at least $25 monthly. The only challenge we’re having now is getting a good signal in connection with the venue and the moment that’s settled, we’ll let you know ok!

We never failed to meet with our Badjao brethren every Thursday afternoon at the Boulevard area of Dumaguete City, though we’re having lots of challenges right now as we had already told you in our last report. So, please lift our work among the Badjao tribal people up to God in prayer.









(Some Badjao in the Boulevard area)

Please keep praying for us, as the Lord has kept opening for us great doors for effective ministry here in Dumaguete City, but as the apostle Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 16: 9, there is much opposition (adversaries). And one of the major opposition is funds! Nevertheless, we’re convinced that with your unalloyed prayer support, we’ll surmount this opposition.

Thanks for your prayer support and again we request that you help us mobilize for prayer awareness in your church/fellowships and also to forward this mail to as many Christian friends you have. Or better still to send us emails of your friends that you feel can help us in prayers!

And if the Lord's leading you to sow a seedfaith offering to our mission work, please follow this link: http://kmointer.webs.com/giveyourdonation.htm

Yours in Missions
Kanayo & Ngozi Uchime
(Nigerian Missionaries in the Philippines)
Tel: (GSMs) Kanayo +639089857499 & +639324712532, Ngozi +639283901971, (Office/Home) +6335 4212070
Visit our websites: http://www.kmointer.webs.com/  OR www.seamist.org/uchime
Follow us on Facebook, click here: http://www.facebook.com/successkuchime
Yahoo messengers: successkuchime@yahoo.co.uk  OR ngoziuchime@yahoo.com
Skype Add: success.uchime OR ngozi.ogbu

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Filipino Women Prefer Food More than Sex

Filipino Women Prefer Food More than Sex

By Success Kanayo Uchime

It has been discovered that women in the Philippines, Southeast Asia lay more emphases on the food they eat even above sexual life.

In a recent survey conducted by the government in Manila, the state capital, it’s found that the women folk consider food higher than their sex life when putting into consideration the main things that bring them joy.

Speaking on the survey, the Secretary-General, National Statistical Coordination Board Romulo Virola said that it’s also an obvious fact that both Filipino men and women ranked family, health and religion in that order as the three most important things that make them happy.

He noted that female respondents, however, put food in fifth place, just ahead of work adding that love life came 10th while sex life is put at 18th, just one rank above the bottom adding that this can lead to trouble and that for men, love life figured in 6th place and sex life 10th, with food at 9th.

"This is easy to trivialize, but the unmet expectations for love and sex by either partner can surely lead to problems, and must be managed properly and professionally," Virola stated.

He continued: “For the Philippine poor, the survey found that men ranked their sex, love lives and food at the top while women said family, love life and food were top of their lists.”

He noted that in the four months since Benigno Aquino became President of the Philippines, the impoverished country's population has grown by about 600,000, the fastest rate of increase in Southeast Asia.

According to Virola, it now stands at around 94 million and that there have been calls to increase access to contraception in the devoutly Catholic nation. “The non-random 2010 poll covered 356 respondents in two Manila districts, a nearby province, staff of two government offices and one private firm.”

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Buglasan Festival Promotes Filipino Art, Culture

By Success Kanayo Uchime

For sure the Buglasan Festival, an annual fiesta being celebrated by the people of Negros Oriental, a Province which constitutes the largest land area of the Central Visayas province has become a veritable tool for the promotion of arts and culture not only for the over one million people of the Province, but for the entire country.

The event which is seen as the biggest tourism booster of a Province that occupies 5, 402.30 square kilometers of the southeast fraction of Negros Island is celebrated every 3rd Friday of October and this years festival kicked off on the 15th of October and stretched till the 24th of October at the Sidlakang Negros Village, Dumaguete City, headquarters of Negros Oriental.

With five main objectives as, the stimulation of tourism development, promotion of agricultural endeavors, preservation of cultural and arts heritage and what’s more, as a community-based promotion of culture and arts events as tourism assets, the Buglasan Fiesta has come to stay as a unifying force, which binds the entire Province.

Buglasan drummers
Buglasan, it’ll be noted derived its name from two origins, first, in the pre-colonial era, natives were said to have called the Island (Negros Oriental) Buglas, that is, after the legendry tall reeds that were the predominant vegetations in the Island. Second, there’s this other story that links it to buklas or to “wrench,” making reference to an earlier cataclysmic event that forcibly tore the Island from a bitter land mass.

Described as Negros Oriental movable province fiesta, the Buglasan Festival was first inaugurated in 1981, when a search was conducted to compose a contingent that would represent the Province in the Folk Arts Festival convened at the time by the then First Lady, Imelda R. Marcos.

It would be recalled that at the inaugural event, only five Local Government Units (LGUs) fielded contingents that were subsequently chosen to compose the Provincial delegation to the first Folk Arts Festival, which took place at the Folk Arts Theater and the five contingents were Inagta from Siaton, Polka Biana from Zamboanguita, Kasal Dauinanon from Dauin, the Sinulog from Tanjay and the last but not the least the Manjuyad.

Buglasan dancers
The first Festival which was organized by just five dedicated individuals then, namely Bobby Villasis, Bobby Café, Prodi Sirilan, Attorney Larot and another Attorney, Coleta Arana was held under the auspices of Foundation University, one of the premier Universities in the Province.

And it has since moved out of the premises of Foundation University and it was not until 2002 that the Provincial Board passed the Ordinance No. 15, which formerly established the Buglasan Festival as an annual Provincial Fiesta to be held every October. It had a serious input from the Balikatan sa Kaunlaran-NCRFW Negros Oriental Chapter and as it’s expected with a backup support coming from the Provincial Government.

Further to that, it was on October 14, 2005, three years after the Provincial Ordinance that the then President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared that the fiesta will be held on every 3rd Friday of October as the “Buglasan Day,” with a special public holiday for the whole of the Province.

Celebrated in Dumaguete City, ever since its inception, the 2010 Buglasan Festival which was officially declared open by the Provincial Governor, Augustine Perdices was described by the organizers as very unique. It has its theme as, “Sustaining Economic Growth Through Value-Driven Culture of Tourism,” and was nevertheless used to showcase the Province’s achievements in arts and culture and even tourism.

In fact, the ten-day fiesta witnessed over 20 performing arts competitions and booth’s exhibition of the finest tourism products of the Province’s 25 LGUs, and with thousands of Filipinos and other foreigners alike trooping out everyday to witness an event that has been sustained for close to 20 years now.

The Festival as it is being organized today consists of several components or segments which are, tourism and agric-fair theme booth presentations by all the LGUs; corporate participants and educational institutions; the selection of the Festival’s King and Queen. Others are performing arts; open air band concerts; games and sports and firework competitions of various sorts.
buglasan-festival-parade
Buglasan dancers
These key component events that make the Fiesta thick not withstanding, the climax of the fiesta is the event which the organizers call the “Buglasan Festival of Festivals” and in this special event, all the finest performing contingents are gathered and celebrated.

Giving a brief account on how this year’s Festival was celebrated; one of the organizers who saw it all at the inception in 1981, Mr. Bobby Villasis, said that the 2010 fiesta is very unique in the sense that the event witnessed a zero crime rate, unlike the previous ones that recorded some pockets of criminal activities. He attributed this to the high security network put in place by the organizers.

According to him, about 30 to 50 security agents including the police, both the Provincial and the City Police and the Tanod – the Barangay (local) police, were on duty at any given day of the fiesta adding that two communication outfits, REACT and DOPE were also on ground to beef up the security at the arena.

Mr. Villasis who is also a staff of the Provincial Tourism Office (PTO) said that P8 million was budgeted for the event and that the budget went for various prizes to participants, logistics, honorarium for Judges of different events, security, entertainment etc. He also said that for cogent reasons the regular sponsors of the fiesta were not contacted, thereby making it inevitable for the Provincial Government to bankroll a lump some of the expenditure this year.

Although he’s hopeful that by the next year’s event adequate plans will be on ground to contact the regular sponsors like Coca-cola, Globe Communication, LBC, San Miguel Breweries etc. to put money on ground for the event.

He also noted that out of 25 local units that usually participate in the fiesta, only eleven of them participated fully this year, giving the reason as the nation’s 2010 general election which disrupted the planning, as new political office holders came on board.

(c) Dr. Success Kanayo Uchime is a Nigerian missionary-journalist based in Dumaguete City, Philippines. He’s into research and writing and for more information on him log on to his website: www.kmointer.webs.com  or email: successkuchime@yahoo.co.uk