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Foreword

1893 will remain indelible in the minds of Christians of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) denomination and the history of Christianity in Nigeria. Inspired by the love for God and a passion towards salvaging the vast multitudes who sat in darkness, Thomas Kent, Walters Gowans and Roland Bingham sought to storm the rampart of heathendom for Christ in Africa. In Nigeria, these missionaries registered their presence in 1893. However, consequent of the hardships and hostilities they encountered in the course of Evangelism, only Bingham survived and, by God’s grace, lived to form one of the greatest missions in Africa known as Sudan Interior Mission (S.I.M).

Bingham was a man of great vision. With his vision of taking the gospel to all parts of the world, particularly the greater Sudan and Africa, Bingham’s mission was to lead other Christian denominations in evangelism. Unlike other religions, the conversion of the natives and subsequent spread of Christianity was through moral persuasion. This was where personal ingenuity became necessary. Strategies were designed and implemented in stages.

At the initial stage, gifts and souvenirs were used to subdue the conscience of the chiefs who controlled the communities. These chiefs reciprocated by allowing the missionaries to settle on their lands. As the natives became more hospitable, the missionaries felt at home and started revolutionizing the people. Dispensaries and clinics were built to treat cases of leprosy, goiter, elephantiasis, wounds and optical deficiencies according to needs. Other strategies that followed included the building of schools and skill acquisition centers.

As a result of the successful opening of the interior, more missionary volunteers started trooping in. Therefore, it became necessary on the missionaries to provide them with temporary accommodation. This called for the establishment of transit camps. But as time went on, these camps could not last and had to be reconstructed with mud blocks and turned into formal residences called “Rest Homes”. Here in Nigeria, the rest homes that survived were those in Jos, Kano and Lagos. After SIM metamorphosed into ECWA and with the impetus created by these SIM Rest Homes, the ECWA Executive (E.E) saw the need to improve on the Rest Homes; hence they converted the three into Guest Houses. This marked the beginning of Guest Houses in ECWA.

Today, coupled with the increasing need for development finance and sustainability, the various arms of ECWA have joined the queue by bringing the number of ECWA Guest Houses to eleven (11) as at 2018. Miango Rest Home (which is the twelfth one) is still under the control of the SIM missionaries.

With the benefits derived from the proceeds of these Guest Houses with regards to employment, contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria and the ultimate goal of advancing the gospel, each DCC is strongly encouraged to own one.

Chief Emmanuel Jankawa

Chairman, ECWA Guest Houses Central Board (2013 – 2018)

Preamble

  1. To established the historical legacy,
  2. To showcase ECWA Guest Houses and her activities,
  3. And to express God’s value through hospitality.

Right from inception, the SUDAN INTERIOR MISSION (SIM) leadership introduced alongside the physical local assembly, schools, hospitals /clinics / dispensaries, bookshops, leprosarium and rest homes. It is these REST HOMES that are today converted into ECWA Guest Houses. The Rest Homes then were established in three locations; including Jos, Kano, and Lagos for the following purposes:     

  • To serve as resting and refreshing places for the missionaries; where they could meet with other missionaries.
  • To accommodate missionaries on transit. They served as transit points before proceeding on their journeys to the various parts of the country or travel outside Nigeria.
  • The wives of the SIM missionaries came from all over to Evangel Hospital in Jos to deliver their babies; there was a need for a suitable place for them to stay when they are almost due for delivery.
  • When Jos became the S.I.M missionaries’ headquarters, there was the need to have rest homes near the headquarters for the missionaries.

 The rest homes then were therefore used mostly by the missionaries and were under the control of SIM missionaries but were later handed over to ECWA to serve same purpose. This led to the change of name to ECWA Guest Houses.

Available records do not show those who managed the Guest Houses (except that of Miango Rest Home) and the period each was handed over to ECWA.

It is pertinent to note that as time went on and as the ministry expands, the early missionaries also established other transit camps, though sizeable ones of few rooms that are used to accommodate the Missionaries which were later developed to Guest Houses and still much later, some were converted to residential usage; Such Guest Houses as that of Biliri, Patigi, Ilorin and Okene.        

 However, to meet the current challenges in the hospitality industry and the needs of the modern generation, major renovation of the inherited structures were carried out in the Guest Houses in Jos, Kano, and Lagos.

Similarly, new structures were built in each of these Guest Houses and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

These Guest Houses that started like the Biblical mustard seed have germinated, grown and spread to other states across   Nigeria.

Altogether, there are eleven (11) ECWA Guest Houses currently operating in nine states of Nigeria. Miango Rest Home (the twelfth one) is presently managed by the SIM missionaries with Mr. Emmanuel Zamfara Benedict as the first Nigerian Manager.

 Three of the Guest Houses were inherited from SIM Missionaries, one is still being managed by the Missionaries, while the remaining seven were built by various arms of ECWA, most of which were done through loan facilities from the ECWA Staff Investment Scheme (ESIS), Jos.

Below is a list of the ECWA Guest Houses, the states in which they are located and the years of establishment:

  • Miango Rest Home(MRH), Plateau State -March 1913
  • ECWA Guest House, Jos , Plateau State – 1924, 
  • ECWA Guest House, Kano, Kano State – 1933,
  • ECWA Guest House, Yaba, Lagos State – 1945,
  • ECWA Guest House, Mushin, Lagos State – 1989,
  • ECWA Guest House, Abuja- FCT – 2003,
  • ECWA Guest House, Sokoto, Sokoto State – 2007,
  • ECWA Guest House, Ibadan, Oyo State -Nov. 2013,
  • ECWA Guest House, Kaduna South, Kaduna State -Nov.2014,
  • ECWA Guest House, Ilorin, Kwara State – July, 2015,
  • ETSI Alumni Guest House, Igbaja, Kwara State – 2015,
  • ECWA Guest House, Aba, Abia State – April, 2017.

The Guest Houses are under a Coordinator who is appointed by the ECWA Executive to oversee their general operations.

From the available records, the following are the people who have served as Coordinators of ECWA Guest Houses:

  1. Rev. Habila Saidu               –           1993-1997
  2. Mrs. Juliana B. Dagwa      –           1998-2012
  3. Mrs. Janet O. Ogunleye     –           Sept. to Dec. 2012 (In Ag Capacity)
  4. Mrs. Rhoda F. Omidiji         –           2013-2018
  5. Mr. Davou D. Dung              –           2019 to Date