Gone to Glory

It is with a sad heart that I received news this week that my brother and African Father in the Lord passed from this life on Sunday, March 7, 2021. Bro. Fraide Naths-Igbanibo was a pillar in the Church of God and ministered for many years in the country of Nigeria. I first met Bro. Igbanibo just over twenty years ago in 2001 when I made my first trip to Nigeria. I found a man who deeply loved God and was a strength and pillar in the gospel work. He had a great love for the work of the Faith Publishing House and wrote to the editors though the years. He was very interested and concerned for the condition of the Church of God in the United States and prayed much for the requests that were in the Faith & Victory paper in years gone by. He valued and appreciated so much the Bible Lessons that Bro. Leslie Busbee and Sis. Angela Gellenbeck so faithfully wrote.

Through the years, I have labored with Bro. Igbanibo not only on a few brief trips to Nigeria but also in Ghana. There were times that I could not travel and I would ask Bro. Igbanibo if He could go and help. He traveled to Ghana many times to assist in the gospel efforts there and also visited the Church of God in Malawi. He pastored in the Port Harcourt congregation for many years. He has been in declining health for a few years after he had a stroke. My wife and I were blessed to fellowship with him and the saints in Nigeria in 2017.

Bro. Igbanibo was a source of council, strength, and encouragement to me personally in the mission field and I feel a deep loss. I know that Heaven has gained another soldier of the cross and for that I thank God. Please remember his precious wife and children in prayer. Let us pray that God will have His hand over the work in Nigeria and that the saints will stay steady and faithful. May the comfort of Christ rest upon our brothers and sisters in Jesus’ name.

—Michael Smith, March 9, 2021