Pilgrimage to Abeokuta, Nigeria
World Christian Mission is organising an event to mark the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Rev Henry Townsend to Abeokuta, in the present country of Nigeria in West Africa. From 1846 to 1867, he based his mission in Abeokuta, He was the first European person to enter Abeokuta, as part of the Yoruba mission. On arriving there on 4 January 1843 he was 'given a grand reception' (Ajisafe 1924: 85). He also worked with Samuel Crowther, a Yoruba Anglican priest, who later became the first black Bishop of the Anglican church.
Among places of Christian interest, will be a visit to St Peter’s Cathedral at Ake Abeokuta, the first church in Nigeria!.
This Pilgrimage opportunity is a unique experience that would appeal to those with interest in the work of missionaries from the United Kingdom. The essence of what we title "The Abeokuta Pilgrimage" is the significance of the city that has become the 'Jerusalem of modern Nigeria'. The city of missionary Henry Townsend is now the location of perhaps largest Christian auditorium in the world as well as the area with the greatest concentration of Christian activities in Africa,
What the Abeokuta Pilgrimage offer is the chance to walk in the footsteps of the sacred history of missionaries by visiting sites where significant events that shaped the acceptance of the gospel in this remote part of the world.
CELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY IN NIGERIA
We are organising a pilgrimage from the UK to Nigeria in January 2021.
The event will mark the 175th anniversary of the arrival of Rev. Ajayi Crowther at Abeokuta on 3rd August 1846. There, he reunited with members of his family many years after he was kidnapped, in a Yoruba village then known as Osogun, located in the present South-Western State of Nigeria. He later became the Bishop of the West African Province of the Anglican Communion, after his consecration at Canterbury Cathedral in 1864
We are organising a pilgrimage from the UK to Nigeria in January 2018.
The event is to mark the 175th anniversary of Rev Henry Townsend’s arrival at Abeokuta on 21st January 1843 and the anniversary of the first Christian church service in Nigeria on 5th January 1843. The service took place in the compound of Chief Sodeke, who had led the Egba people to safety from their various homesteads, and away from wars that were ravaging the Yoruba country
OLUMO ROCK, ABEOKUTA
To the founding fathers of Abeokuta the Olumo (Rock) stood not only as a monument of faith in unity but also as a source of strength and unfailing protection and sustenance from the Supreme Being who led their ancestors through the complexities of life safely to Abeokuta.
“In their spirituality it was the physical representation of the strength and protection that Jesus Christ, “the Rock of Ages” became for them at their conversion to Christianity, and still is to their succeeding Christian generations, of which King Gbadebo I became a worthy example.
Little wonder the early Christianity missionaries received the ready welcome and warm embrace of kings and people alike.”
An extract From the book: Okukenu IV, Long May He Reign, by Oludotun Koleoso., President of WCM