From the Streets of Nigeria to the Streets of Manchester

A 7 year Journey

It was 7 years ago when we had a skype call (remember those!) with a missionary couple who were based in Nigeria but who wanted to come to Manchester to serve Barnabus. We met them online and thought it would be a great idea if they could arrange a suitable Visa and accomodation. Sadly, this did not work out and we lost contact.

Fast forward to 2022 and out of the blue Titus emailed to say he was coming to England and could he come to Barnabus! We tried to make it work but he was to be based in Kent and getting to Manchester proved to not be possible during his stay. Sadly, in the intervening years Titus wife had passed away but they had gone to Brazil on mission rather than coming to the UK.

Fast forward again to 2024 and again another email out of the blue from Titus and this time he was coming to the UK because he had family here and he could travel over to Manchester whilst he was here. So we finally managed to meet, once here we realised he would only be in England a short time before returning to Nigeria so we hastily arranged some accomodation with a local church and Titus came to volunteer with us for 2 days, praying in our prayer space, chatting with guests in the Beacon support centre and speaking at the Light session on the Thursday.

It was great to see his heart and passion for people who are on the edges of our society, here is what Titus had to say about it:

“Amazing! What a dream come true for me, a fulfilled mission indeed to be part of what God started and seemed impossible for almost seven years of me trusting God! I had visa rejection, some financial constraints and the Covid outbreak, but it was made possible for me this year -2024 when l was privileged to be part of what God is doing in Manchester- UK. l was able to Volunteer with the Barnabus team who are dedicated for the journey off the streets, bringing hope to the hopeless. I pray it can happen again and again. Thanks Neil and the rest of the Barnabus staff and volunteers for your support and commitment that made my time with you a pleasant one. God bless you all - Titus Henry Ijaopo.”

Titus Henry Ijaopo a missionary from Nigeria in Africa.

It was a privilege to be able to host Titus and also for our guests to meet someone from a completely different cultural context and to know that someone would travel across the globe to come and serve them here in Manchester. Another example of just how much God loves them.