A Medical Missionary at the Gate of Hell: Dr. Farrar and the Church of Christ at the Shrine

A Medical Missionary at the Gate of Hell: Dr. Farrar and the Church of Christ at the Shrine

By Da Effiong Daniel

Gideon Did It First — The Precedent of Divine Confrontation

When God commanded Gideon to tear down the altars of Baal and the idols of his father’s house, he obeyed. At the very place where idolatry once thrived, he built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel (Judges 6:25–27). In my language and experience, that place where darkness was dethroned became “the church at the shrine.”

Dr. Henry Farrar was not the first to confront and overthrow idols in the power of God. Gideon did it—and the results were tremendous. But in modern African history, Dr. Farrar’s confrontation with the Ikpaisong shrine in 1964 broke records in both spiritual and natural realms. His bold actions earned him strange but telling titles:

> “The man who talks to shrines like he’s talking to men,”

“The white man who preaches in the market.”

When the Gods Heard and Repented

At Ikpaisong shrine in Ikot Nsekong, Abiakpo Ikot Abasi Inyang, Dr. Farrar preached not to people, but to powers. It was said that he spoke to the gods as though speaking to men—and they heard him.

Suddenly, there was a volcanic roar, not of earthquakes or gunshots, but of defeated spirits retreating—a terrifying, final, and irrevocable sound of divine judgment. The gods could not resist the fire of the Word of God.

> “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” — Jeremiah 23:29

Just as Jesus descended into Hades and stripped the powers of darkness (Revelation 1:18; Colossians 2:15), Dr. Farrar entered into the heart of African ancestral darkness—Ikpaisong, the earth-goddess and mother-deity of terror.

It was as if the entire host of local deities—Ekang, Ndem, Ekpo, Ikpaisong Ibok, Idiong, Idio, Nyama, Ndam, Idem, Itiakikut (the Tortoise Stone), and Abasiekong (the god of war)—surrendered at once. The sound that followed was greater than the roar of Ekang in ritual operations, shaking the entire community to its root.

The priests wept.

> “The white man has gunned down our gods,” they cried.

It looked as though the gods themselves wept in repentance, declaring:

> “We surrender the land and the people to Jesus Christ.”

From that day to now, those shrines are no more. A deep shame has covered those who once proudly built altars to demons. A spiritual regime ended—and a divine occupation began.

Farrar Declared a Third-Day Global War on African Thrones

What Dr. Farrar did was not ordinary evangelism—it was a Third-Day prophetic war against satanic altars (Hosea 6:2). It was the equivalent of walking into Satan’s throne room and declaring it vacant.

Even seasoned deliverance ministers don’t tread such grounds without intense prayer. Many die. In my own village, Prophet Utai (Friday Oyo) once challenged Ikpaisong at Eket. He rebuked and prayed—but Ikpaisong struck him down, and by native custom, he was buried there as Okpo Ikpaisong, a shameful reminder of the deity’s dominance.

But Dr. Farrar was different.

He came to Ikot Nsekong not with crusade banners or prayer chains, not with global support or apostolic titles. He came under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

The Churches of Christ only sent him on a medical mission—not a spiritual warfare assignment. But just like Phinehas, who rose with holy anger and stopped a plague (Numbers 25:6–13), Dr. Farrar rose against the gods of death and destruction.

Even more striking is the fact that his denomination does not believe in modern-day miracles or spiritual gifts. Some ministers had even bowed to Ikpaisong before entering ministry out of fear.

So who truly sent him?

> “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” — Romans 8:14

Like Jesus in Gethsemane, when His disciples slept (Matthew 26:40), Dr. Farrar walked into battle alone, showing that the power at work was not by prayer support, but by the Spirit of God:

> “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” — Zechariah 4:6

The Day of Fire: When Spirit Conquered Shrine

That faithful Edet Market Day in 1964 was the Day of the Lord at Ikpaisong. Dr. Farrar simply presented his body as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)—and the fire of God fell.

Ikpaisong had never heard such authority before—not from any prophet, priest, or native doctor. But on that day, she heard the Word and the Fire.

The god submitted.

The priests died.

The shrine collapsed.

To this day, no new shrine has risen in that land.

Twins now live. Their mothers live.

In my own family, twins were once rejected and sacrificed to idols. But today, I am a father of twins—a living proof that Ikpaisong is dead and Jesus Christ is Lord.

At the very location where death once reigned, a borehole now provides clean water to the community. This, to me, is a prophetic sign:

> “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst... it will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” — John 4:14

> “Out of this place shall flow Living Water for the nations.”

Amen.

Epilogue: A Warning to the World

Dr. Farrar did not merely challenge a local idol. He confronted the ruling spirit of wickedness that once dominated Southern Nigeria (Ephesians 6:12).

That day was a global prophetic sign:

That Africa has been claimed for Jesus Christ.

That the gods of the land heard the gospel and fled (Psalm 68:1).

That humans have become more stubborn than demons, for the gods repented and left, but men still beg for their return.

Let it be known:

> Ikpaisong is dead.

The Church of Christ now stands at the shrine.

And Jesus Christ is Lord over Africa.