02/12/2023
*ECWA AT 130 YEARS!💡 Copied.
ECWA FOUNDERS DAY CELEBRATION 🎂
Sunday, December 3rd 2023, has been slated by ECWA Headquarters for the commemoration of the founding of SIM (Sudan Interior Mission, now known as Society of International Missions), being the progenitor of ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All):
According to a publication, "SIM was a product of the vision and calling of three Canadian/American missionaries concerned with salvaging the _'perishing souls"_ in the interior of Africa, especially the geographical area known, prior to colonial rule, as Central Sudan, in Africa sub-continent. It began with the answered prayer of a godly woman and mother, Mrs. Gowans, in Canada. Mrs. Gowans was the mother of Walter Gowans (a Scottish Canadian), one of the three founders of SIM; the other two were: Thomas Kent (an American) and Rowland Bingham (an English Canadian)." The process that led to the founding of SIM must have dictated her adoption of _"By Prayer"_ as the motto of the Mission.
Behold, the following statement by Walter Gowans clearly points to the profound faith and commitment of the trio to set out on "a bold and dangerous journey to enter the Sudan with the gospel of Christ": _"Our success in this enterprise means nothing less than opening of the Sudan for the Gospel. Our failure at most, is nothing more than the death of two or three deluded fanatics (for the Lord). But if we fail, it will be our fault through lack of faith. God is faithful. He faileth not. Still, even death is not a failure. God's purpose is accomplished. He uses deaths as well as as lives for the furtherance of His cause. After all, is it not worth a venture? Sixty million souls are at stake."_
And so they arrived at the coast of Lagos in December, 1893. Hence, ECWA, through SIM, is 130 years old this month. Glory be to God ! It is instructive to note that the three young men were received at Lagos by the Superintendent of another Mission on ground (an expatria
