It all started in 2013. Ed Harrison made his first trip to Nigeria to learn about the Nigerian culture and from then had been hooked. He toured Nigeria with the help and invitation of many Christian pastors and in the year 2016, moved to Nigeria with his wife Lillian hoping to make a difference.
The couple started a Christian fellowship named, “The Charge Fellowship” on Sunday afternoons in Ile-Tuntun, Ibadan. During one of the programs, the couple decided to hold a FREE Bible Giveaway day for the community. They purchased picture bibles for the small children, Yoruba bibles for Yoruba speakers and English bibles for the rest.
The program was moving along in an orderly fashion when something interesting happened. One of the children that attended school regularly and was of age to read the English language came back to the table and requested a picture bible. Perplexed, Ed told her that those were for the small children and that she didn’t need that one. One of the volunteers quietly told him, “Sir, she can not read!”. We asked the children present how many children had trouble reading, and the number was absolutely staggering.
That was the moment that changed the course of our work in Nigeria forever. Having lived in the community, Ed and Lillie observed these children going to and from school each day. How these children could be attending classes regularly and be unable to read was confusing. We had to do something about it. From that day, the Ladder Up, Level Up tutorial programs were born.