It is rare to see Nairalanders suggesting and discussing ways of making the country better. Most of what I see and read are all gossips and debate about this politician and that politician. The few topics for a positive change I see fizzle out without comment or go unnoticed by moderators.
Curious to know: Are nairalanders sincerely interested in finding way for a positive change or are they criticizing politicians, waiting for an opportunity to get there and chop.

Our South African heroes were able to achieve the freedom they yearn for, through commitment, planning, sacrifice, hardwork… not talking only.
I think Mandela would be happier wherever he is, if he sees conscious effort being made by Nigerians to set things in order instead of eulogies and funerals for him.
Please, can somebody suggest practical way each of us can contribute to bring Nigeria out of this mess?
Let us, for once, WORK the talk and not our usual TALK the talk.

You can suggest any better way. The aim is for a better Nigeria. Another person who is passionate about a change in Nigeria can take this up and further it to a bigger dream........I believe it will come to reality one day. And in our time.

I VOLUNTEER (MY PROMISE)
1. I promise not to throw pure water sachet on the street or into gutter. I rather hold it my hand or put in my bag until I get home or see a proper place to dispose it
(……Think I can fulfill this…)
2. I promise not to pay additional N20 when buying fuel for my I-pass-my-neighbour
(these filling station attendants always put N280 fuel in my jerrycan while I pay them N300. Another neighbourhood corruption they call jerry can fee) (…..I hope fight no go burst if I insist they fill the can. I’m not a fighting person…lol)
3. I promise to follow procedure as much as in my knowledge and no more bribe, while getting documents from government.
(…hope I will be able to fulfill this…Last time I got my Int’l passport, I paid somebody to help…pls Nairalanders forgive me. I sin no more…)
4. I promise not to give police bribe
5. (Wahala dey…I kept this promise last time they caught me learning how to drive with a company car. I was with my Instructor with my Learners permit on a street they said is One-Way, more of a trap than a One-way traffic...I refuse to give them something and they took me to station to charge me to court…I cried that day no be small…The fear of prison…After every every I no give them the bribe and the company lawyer came to pick the company car). God help me for this.

In the light of all our elder African brothers (being represented today by Nelson Mandela) who chose to suffer to bring freedom to their people, we call on all well-meaning Nigerians (especially youths) who have the heart and courage to make a change in this country to rise up.
To achieve the Nigeria we want, we must make a conscious effort (not faith only: E go better; It shall be well etc) but faith and good work, planning and setting realistic goals.
Are you tired of the state of things in this country?
Do you have that heart and courage to make a change?
Are you selfless, always thinking about the good of the people and not only for yourself alone?
Do you take every citizen, irrespective of tribe, religion and status as your brother/sister?
Are you ready to sacrifice (even a little) or suffer (as little as you can endure) for the good of our people?
If Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and all our South African elder brothers did it, then, I think WE CAN!
It starts from YOU.
Are you ready? To be realistic, lets start from simplest sacrifice (We can take bigger challenges later on in the struggle)

THE RULE
Make a promise to yourself and in Nairaland the little thing you can do for a better Nigeria

THE CHALLENGE
In any case you fail in your promise, do not get discouraged. The fact is that the promise is not little as you think. Just come to Nairaland and tell us what made you fail. Members are expected to encourage you, suggest way out and NEVER to criticize you for your weakness. We will encourage you and you may take up the same or another promise, if you desire.

DISCLAIMER
I no be politician. Just tired of the mess in the country

"And I trust the Holy Spirit — he has begun to save me from my inbred sins; I trust him to drive them all out; I trust him to curb my temper, to subdue my will, to enlighten my understanding, to check my passions, to comfort my despondency, to help my weakness, to illuminate my darkness; I trust him to dwell in me as my life, to reign in me as my King, to sanctify me wholly, spirit, soul, and body, and then to take me up to dwell with the saints in light for ever."
-Spurgeon Morning & Evening

Talk about the rich giving their life to Christ and living the rest of their life in sacrificial service for the gospel, the Cambridge Seven comes to mind.

The Cambridge Seven were students from Cambridge University, who in 1885, decided to become missionaries in China. All seven got born-again and were moved by their beliefs to go to China to spread this good news. They remained in or connected to missionary work for the rest of their lives.

Prominent among them, C.T Studd was a well known England cricketer before his conversion. Studd emphasized the life of faith, believing that God would provide for a Christian's needs. His father died while he was in China, and he gave away his inheritance of £29,000, specifying £5,000 to be used for the Moody Bible Institute, £5,000 for George Müller mission work and his orphans, £5,000 for George Holland's work with England's poor in Whitechapel, and £5,000 to Commissioner Booth Tucker for the Salvation Army in India.

A nation with thousands, if not millions confessing being born-again, we are still optimistic that this kind of testimony would be heard among us. It might even come from you!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Seven; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Studd

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service.

With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. "A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific Coast," he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high that, even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized."

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in the story. The aged minister continued with his story. "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the life line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of the waves. As the father yelled out, 'I love you, son!', he threw out the life line to the son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered."

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth. "The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that He could do the same for us. Our heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take hold of the life line."

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely said one of the boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian."

"Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. Sorrow began to overtake the old man's smiling face as he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm here today to tell you that I understand more than most the pain God must have felt to give up His only Son. For you see, I'm the man who lost his son to the ocean that day, and my son's friend that I chose to save is your pastor."
- Author Unknown

Read on Air by Phil Foley, Host of Tabernacle Presbyterian Church's Good News From Tab Program on 12/6/00
http://godslittleacre.net/inspirationalstories/untitled_story.html

The kind of Church Nigeria needs

We thank God for the many churches that abound in our streets, our cities, even our villages. We thank God for the many souls that have been saved through these churches. We thank God that raised very many men of God in our nation through whose ministries these thousands of souls have been saved. We also thank God for the various young men and women whom God is still raising to be used for His glory.

However, on having a critical look at the situation in our nation, one would recognize that there is one particular church which is yearning for ministers. I Corinthians 12:28 says: And God hath set some in the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. We have seen apostles; we have prophets. Teachers of the word abound in our nation. We hear a lot of miracles and healing testimonies in our assemblies. We have experts in church administrators or government. But Helps - where are your ministers? And this happens to be an important ministry, considering the state of our nation today.

We read a lot in the media about our indigent and distressed brothers and sisters. Nigeria social problem can be likened to that of England in the nineteenth century. As Geoffrey Hanks described the situation then in his book – 70 Great Christians – There was a startling rise in number of homeless children; population drift from the countryside into the towns increased the number of distressed citizens.

A pamphlet entitled ‘The Bitter Cry of Outcast London’ in 1883 pointed out that while Evangelicals were building their churches, the poor had been growing poorer, and the gap between them and the churches and the chapels had been widening. As a result of the publicity, homes for boys and girls were set up by the likes of George Muller who up to the time of his death, 10,024 orphans had been cared for, educated and given a firm grounding in the Christian faith. Other homes were founded as a result of evangelical missions.

Thank God that in their case, it was recorded that the social conscience of the church was touched by the publicity and some where moved to begin some social work. Are you touched by the plight of the distressed in our neighborhood? Will our churches be awakened? Apostle James, who was a leader in the early church, wrote: If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food. And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth if profit? James 2:15.

Narrating further, Geoffrey Hanks wrote that, Men of God like William Booth and Thomas Bernado, in their time, viewed evangelism and social work as two sides of the same coin. They did not only preach the love of God but put it into action. It was recorded that Booth realized that people do not respond to the gospel on an empty stomach. As a result, he opened ‘soup kitchen’, also ‘food-for-the-million-shops’ were cheap three meals were available. For these men, it is not evangelism alone, neither is it healing alone.

Is it your opinion that taking care of the destitute is the sole responsibility of the government? In the same book, while introducing Elizabeth Fry, the prison reformer, a Christian like me and you, Geoffrey opined that many of the great humanitarian reforms of the past two hundred years or so have mostly been achieved as a result of private enterprise, and the government has been conspicuous by its absence. However, what usually started as a personal campaign at the initiative of ordinary people was later taken over by the government.

It could be argued that unless individuals had first pioneered a cause, government would not attempt anything unless forced to do so by some disaster or other. In our case, the government seems to be doing more than us, yet we call ourselves Christians – followers of Christ. Let us check if we are genuinely following Christ. Jesus had compassion on the multitude. He healed them, but He also fed them.

I thank God for the few good-spirited Nigerians who are already doing something in this regard. We should be challenged that many of them are not into Christian ministry. We thank God for some in government, who are doing something. God will abundantly bless them including the few ministers who had faced this work of grace. As well, we challenge our big churches that are also pursuing God’s given mission of expanding the church, miracles, healings and evangelism but currently doing little in taking care of the physical need of the fold, especially those in special need.

Some may argue that there are too many people to take care of. Oh thou of little faith! You have faith that God can heal all diseases, you invite every man and woman to your church with the faith He is able to save to the uttermost, you have faith that your church can build that mighty edifice in your imagination, but when it comes to taking care of everyone in need, you doubt that God can do it through you.

I appeal to my fellow aspiring ministers to lay aside this brainstorming – trying to coin a name for your proposed new church, to be located near an existing one in the street. For it now seems difficult to form new word combinations, an angelic name for our new church – almost all possible angelic word combinations have been exhausted. Rather let us embrace this ministry of helps. But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way. I Cor. 12:31.

Let the name of our new church be the Church of Helps – where worshippers can hear the word of God, get few spoonfuls of rice for their stomach, find shelter to sleep and find clothing, even a used one from a fellow church member. And if possible get taught in skills that can fetch them little money, while we all await the coming of the Lord.

Let us boast of faith with good works instead of only faith as many do. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. James 2:18.

-transJordan

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