When Jack Nicholson sensed God’s call to serve overseas, he turned down security, opportunity, and even family expectations, choosing instead a path of faith and sacrifice. Alongside his wife Vera, Jack journeyed to Nigeria, the setting for a lifetime of faithful service which helped shape who SIM NZ is today. Read their story here.
“I had no idea … what you endured for us and what you sacrificed. Your children sacrificed their parents for us, and without their sacrifice we would never have had the opportunity to know the Lord.”
Jack Nicholson knew his decision to become a missionary would look foolish to the world, but he was strengthened by this scripture.
“Truly I tell you … no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – along with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life.” Mark 10:29–30
After becoming a believer as a teenager, Jack chose to attend the New Zealand Bible Training Institute (NZBTI, now Laidlaw College). Though offered permanent farming work and even the chance to study medicine – his father offered to pay if he stayed in New Zealand – Jack turned both down, sensing a call to serve overseas.
One day, while working on the farm, Jack saw a vision of a vast plain, which he believed was in Africa. From that moment, he knew where God was sending him.
In 1924, nearing the end of his Bible college training, Jack learned about the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM). With no SIM office in New Zealand, he applied through Toronto.
On the application, he was asked if there was a woman who might join him. Earlier that year, he met Vera, a trained midwife who was also studying at NZBTI. Before Jack left for Nigeria, they became engaged. Vera stayed behind to complete her studies.
Jack’s journey to Nigeria was fraught with challenges. Friends and family feared for him – Nigeria was known as ‘the white man’s grave’. One major setback turned into a miracle: the ship he missed ended up sinking. Discouraged, Jack considered giving up, but a fellow missionary told him, “There can be no turning back.”
In January 1926, Jack arrived in Gelengu, the village he had seen in his vision. He joined the Beacham family, who soon left on home assignment, leaving Jack as the sole missionary for two and a half years. He immersed himself in the life and language of the Waja people. Achana Yaro, son of a Waja chief priest, joined Jack’s Bible classes and became a respected leader in the Nigerian church.
Jack’s dream of practising medicine endured. He studied local remedies and developed treatments using natural methods. When the British government tried to stop cannibalism, many tribes fled deeper into the hills. Jack encountered some of the most warlike people he had ever seen and prayed for protection. Vera later wrote, “It was indeed Satan’s territory, and his presence could be felt. We missionaries … were a real threat, and Satan surely did his best to get rid of us.”
Vera’s call was confirmed when she received exactly what she needed for her travels. Upon arrival, she spent a year 80 km from Jack learning the language before they could marry.
A year after marrying, their son Ian was born. When he was just five weeks old, they returned to New Zealand for a 12-month home assignment. They shared SIM’s work, and Jack’s ability to connect with young people was evident. One teenager told him, “I was at a certain college where you spoke some years ago. I was planning to commit suicide the night of your meeting, but God spoke to me through you and now I have completed my Bible training and am on my way to the mission field.”
When Ian turned five, Jack and Vera faced a painful decision about his schooling. Vera wrote, “If we had not felt such a strong call from God to work with the Waja people … we could not have gone through with this sacrifice.” They returned to Nigeria without Ian, who stayed in New Zealand with his grandparents. Years later, their daughter Elizabeth (Betty) was born and met Ian in New Zealand when she was just a few months old. Ian was 11. By the time Betty turned five, a boarding school had opened in Nigeria, allowing her to stay closer to her parents.
Jack and Vera’s ministry bore fruit. Even those from demon-worshipping tribes came to know Jesus. They learned of His ultimate sacrifice and no longer lived in fear or shed blood for demons. The Nigerian church grew, and soon, the church, schools, training colleges, and clinics became well established.
In 1964, after much prayer, they returned to New Zealand to serve in the SIM office. Vera wrote, “This is not retirement but a call to another phase of SIM work in New Zealand.”
After Jack’s passing, Vera was visited by Caleb, son of Achana Yaro. He had asked for the story of his parents and, after reading it, told Vera: “I had no idea … what you endured for us and what you sacrificed. Your children sacrificed their parents for us, and without their sacrifice we would never have had the opportunity to know the Lord … I had to visit this beautiful country (New Zealand) to see what you left to come to us … I am amazed you could have left … to face disease, malaria, heat, no conveniences, and sometimes not even food or money. Yet you went back over and over again, knowing what you were returning to.”
