Previous Articles in Momentum:

The Four Barriers

A Transformation Paradigm  

Why, then, hasn’t the Gospel exploded across West Africa?

Approximately 300 years ago, Muslim missionaries traveled through North, Central, and West Africa. They began the process that would lead the Hausa (one of the largest people groups in the region) to become a major Islamic tribe. Muslim extremists are sweeping from the North to the South in an effort to make all of Africa Islamic.

The Hausa people follow centuries of tradition—farming, cattle raising, and trading. But their lives are not significantly better than centuries ago. Islam has failed them. Like other nomadic people across the African continent, they haven’t found true hope for their wandering spirit. That hope escapes millions among tribes throughout West Africa.

Vast regions of West Africa are known as difficult spiritual soil to till; its people have been resistant to change. But no major ministry has targeted Hausa speakers and provided Scriptures in their language. Most people simply haven’t had opportunity to understand the hope available to them through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Today, Hausa evangelical believers stand at the threshold of the next big step in Western Africa’s unfolding missions story. They have lived through war, famine, and national crises with their fellow citizens. They have cultural knowledge, language, and evangelistic passion on their side; they are home. Hausa believers understand what outsiders cannot.

Who the Hausa are

The story of Western Africa can be seen through the lens of the Hausa tribe. Most dominant in Niger and northern Nigeria, Hausa people live in 27 countries and number 30 million. Hausa is a major trade language for much of Nigeria, Niger and beyond.

A long list of struggles blocks the path to a better future for the people of Niger. A landlocked, desert nation with few natural resources, 90 percent of Niger’s population barely survives. The average life expectancy is only 44 years old.

“Niger has been long neglected by the Western Church,” says World Christian Trends. “Over six million have never heard the Gospel message and fewer missionaries have gone to Niger than any other Sub-Saharan African country,” says Rev. Joseph Owens, the Bible League’s Vice President of Africa Ministries.

Niger’s neighbor to the south, Nigeria is a country in crisis. Poverty, disease, and a failing economy assail the hope of Nigerians. Intense conflict between Muslims and Christians has caused great instability in many areas for decades.

Millions of Hausa-speaking people, immersed in their Islamic identity, have no knowledge of any alternative.

Dominance of Islam

God’s Word can break through these obstacles to provide help and hope. The Muslim population in the region is staggering. Niger is 97.5 percent Muslim. Nigeria, the recipient of decades of missions efforts, is almost one-half Muslim.

“Our area is highly Islamic,” says a Christian with a Muslim background. “In the beginning, some were even afraid to touch the New Testament after hearing the Christian teachings. We now have at least three [Muslim background believers] who study the Bible faithfully. One woman gave her life to Jesus Christ. The people in her village persecute her so she will turn away from her faith, but she stands firm.”

While the numbers may seem to present a hopeless picture, God has made a way. The majority of Hausa people are Muslim, yet only about 30 percent practice it faithfully. The Truth can reach nominal Muslims, if only someone is there to share it.

State of the Church

A spark within the existing Church shows great potential as believers continue to gain momentum. Hausa believers in West Africa have a deep desire to reach the lost for Christ and ignite their faith. Church leaders believe in the power of the Word of God to address the whole human condition.

Hausa people who choose Christianity live in constant danger. Persecution of Christians continues. This story of one Muslim-background believer is an example of what thousands face when they become Christ-followers.

“His brothers and cousins followed him and found him staying with a pastor. They went to the police, accusing the pastor of kidnapping. The pastor was arrested and later released. This young man had to run away. If his family finds him, they will kidnap him. If he does not repent, they will kill him.”

Yet thousands of Hausa Christians believe it is worth the risk.

It is currently legal in Niger to teach religions other than Islam. But Muslim leadership is working hard toward the incorporation of Islamic (shari’a) law. Christ followers continue to share their faith because they do not know how long this door of opportunity will remain open.

In Nigeria, the conflict between Muslims and Christians rages on. Yet believers are presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are seeing a response. “The North has shown incredible receptivity to the Word of God in spite of the smokescreen presented by Islam,” says Bible League’s Director of Nigeria Ministry.

Scriptures inaccessible

Imagine you are Muslim by birth. You don’t practice your religion, but like everyone else you claim to follow Islam. You live in deep poverty, not knowing where your next meal will come from. You’ve heard about a Christian bookstore in the big city, miles away. They have Bibles, and while you’ve never seen one, you know it offers something different. Even if you could get there, a Bible would cost you a week’s wages.

This scenario is common among the Hausa. When the Word of God has been unavailable in the heart language of people, there is often conflict throughout the society. People grasp for hope in beliefs that have no substance. A severe Scripture shortage—and a lack of adequate training in evangelism and discipleship—has hindered the mission of the Church.

Hausa churches are pleading for help. They want their members to grow in the Word and share their hope with Hausa friends and neighbors. A sampling of their requests:

“I am strongly of the view that the urgent need of my country is the Word of God in our language. Presently, the demand for the Hausa Bibles is very high. This is an indication of the spiritual hunger for the Word of God.” —Bishop Yusuf

“As a pastor of a local congregation in northern Nigeria where the Hausa language is widely spoken, it is my desire that the Bible would be sent to us in Hausa. It would be a great blessing if the local people who do not even understand the English language were taught the Word of God in their own language. I am pleading on behalf of my people to our Christian brethren who are in a position to help us by sending more Bibles, especially in the Hausa language. This will really help us to preach the Gospel in the remotest parts of Nigeria.” —Pastor Ibrahim

“The Hausa Bible is the life wire of the Gospel here in the North. It is very scarce. In the bookshops, they are very expensive. There is an urgent need for Bibles to make the work of reaching the people more easy for us to do.” —Pastor Ishaku

Provision of the Bible

Since it was first published in 1932, the Hausa Bible has been expensive and unavailable to the vast majority of Hausa. These days we talk more about “accessibility” of Scripture, attempting to describe how near the text is in any form of media. In the case of the Hausa, we have a Bible translation, completed 75 years ago, which is inaccessible in the villages, to the poor, to farmers, and herdsmen and women. Even in the churches and among the literate, few people will be found with a copy of the printed text.

In 2004, Bible League published a revised Hausa Bible. Available at a low cost, local churches use these Bibles to train their members to share Jesus with their friends and neighbors through Bible studies. Because the Hausa Bible is now more accessible to those who are quietly or secretly curious about Jesus, God’s Word is opening hearts throughout the Hausa people group.

The Hausa Bible sets the stage for training church planters who will take the Gospel to their own people and other unreached groups in West Africa. With Bibles and the development of strong Hausa leadership, we expect to see healthy Hausa churches planted that are growing at an exponential rate.

Growing God’s Church

Today, Hausa are reaching Hausa for God’s kingdom. The small, persevering Church is sharing the truth. This is an amazing development, and the Hausa Bible allows them to continue.

“Any word in one’s mother tongue touches one’s soul faster and deeper,” said the general secretary of one of Nigeria’s largest Christian denominations at the dedication of the Hausa Bible revision. “The Word reaches the grass roots folks faster and easier. There is always a sense of ownership and it becomes more personalized.” Reading God’s Word in their heart language for the first time, many can embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The potential for the Hausa to influence spiritual depth and numbers of the West African Church is great. New believers enthusiastically share Jesus with friends who also accept Him, and they in turn bring others to Christ—all in a matter of days!

This ripple effect of sharing and accepting Jesus can grow into a tidal wave of new believers. Hausa Christian leaders, who previously leaned on crusade evangelism in West Africa, now see the long-lasting power of a personal discipleship model that employs God’s Word to change lives.

Now is the time to share Christ’s love with those in West Africa. The Hausa are being trained in evangelism and discipleship using these long-awaited Hausa Scriptures. They know their message will not be welcomed by all, but they are willing to risk their lives to share this news.

God’s Church is growing beyond the spark. Struggles have created a hunger for truth and meaning, producing openness to the Gospel in some regions. By God’s grace, this openness will extend as individuals become enlightened by the Word, share it with others, and influence their communities.

The Bible League is partnering with new Hausa churches to provide Scriptures and training, preparing these Hausa Christians for greater opportunities and challenges that God will set before them. n

Jeff Hale is the Assistant Director of Africa Ministries for the Bible League. Marilyn Miller contributed to this story.

Anglo-American
Several thousand American expatriates are to be found in Liberia and Niger.

Anglo-Celt
Over 130,000 British are in Nigeria, and 38,000 in Ghana. There are also a few thousand in each of the other countries.

Arab, Arabian
Two small expatriate communities of Arabs are in Guinea and Ghana, each numbering fewer than 3,000 people.

Arab, Hassaniya
Found primarily in Mali and Mauritania, with a few moderately-sized groups in other nearby countries.  The largest group in the cluster are the nomadic Moors (Maure). The entire cluster is considered least-reached. Spoken languages include French and Arabic; the cluster is primarily Sunni Muslim.

Arab, Levant
Lebanese from southern Lebanon have migrated to West Africa in search of a better life. The largest is the 54,000 Lebanese in Senegal. Most are Sunni Muslims, but there are large percentages of Christians.

Arab, Maghreb
This cluster is made up of one large group of Algerians (167,000) in Niger, and one smaller group (14,000) in Burkina Faso. All are Sunni Muslims who speak Algerian Arabic.

Arab, Shuwa
This cluster is made up of one large 240,000 Shuwa Arabs in Nigeria and a very small group (6,500) in Niger. Both are expatriate groups from Chad, and are Sunni Muslims.

Atlantic
This a collection of several large, medium and small groups. The two largest include the 1.3 million Temne (Sierra Leone) and 1.2 million Serere-Sine (Senegal). There are about a dozen other large groups, each numbering more than 100,000 members, as well as numerous small groups less than 100,000 in size. Most of this cluster is found in the far west of the continent, on the Atlantic coast: primarily in Sierra Leone, Senegal, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau. Of the larger groups, only the Gola are considered least-reached; there are a handful of the smaller groups that are in this position (particularly the Banyun).

Atlantic-Jola
Mainly found in Senegal, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau, the largest is the 321,000 Jola-Fonyi in Senegal. Nearly all except the largest groups are least-reached. The Jola practice a generally syncretized version of Islam, with a few still holding to animistic ethnic religions.

Atlantic-Wolof
The Wolof are found throughout the western countries. The largest group are the 4.6 million Wolof in Senegal. All are Sunni Muslims and are least-reached.

Bantu
This cluster includes seven small groups all found in Nigeria. None are considered least-reached. The largest are the 21,000 Lungu.

Benue
The Benue cluster is one of the most complicated in West Africa. With a total population of 80 million in West Africa, it features over 252 individual peoples located almost entirely within Nigeria. The largest groups within the cluster include the 4 million Ibibio, 3.4 million Tiv, 1.4 million Ebira and 1.3 million Anaang, but there are an additional 45 groups with more than 100,000 members. Only 15 are considered least-reached, and each of the 15 have less than 50,000 members. Benue State in Nigeria has been racked by tribal violence.

Berber, Saharan
There are three Saharan Berber groups, each with less than 10,000 members, located in Mauritania and Senegal. All three are least-reached Sunni Muslims. Most speak Hassaniya.

Chadic
This cluster is the fourth largest, with 16.4 million people in 105 groups. It includes 22 groups with more than 100,000 members, the largest of which are the Angas with 479,000. Like the Benue, nearly the whole of the cluster is in Nigeria. The groups are mixed between Christianity, Islam and ethnic religions. In the cluster, 25 of the groups are considered least-reached, including the Bade, Goemai, Gera, Karekare and Ngizim.

Kanuri-Saharan
The 12 groups in this cluster are found in Nigeria and Niger. The largest are the 5 million Yerwa (mainly in Nigeria) and 600,000 Manga (split between Nigeria and Niger). All are least-reached Sunni Muslim peoples.

Chinese
Two small groups of Chinese are found in West Africa: a few thousand Wu-speakers are in Nigeria and a thousand Mandarin-speakers are in Ghana. The numbers of Chinese are rising, however, with the increasing business contacts between China and Africa.

French
Small expatriate groups of French can be found in most of the countries of West Africa. The largest is the 430,000 French found in Senegal. None are considered least-reached. Virtually all are majority-Christian in the Catholic tradition.

Fulani
The 32 million Fulani (or Fulbe) are one of the largest groups in West Africa. They are nomadic pastoralists (cattle-herders). Fulani are most numerous in Nigeria, where they number over 10 million; there are over 1 million each in Guinea, Mali, and Senegal, as well as hundreds of thousands in the other West African countries. All of the Fulani groups are majority Muslims.  There are several ministries focused on outreach to them. Ministry amongst the Fulbe of Benin have borne fruit.

Germanic
There are four small groups of Germans in Ivory Coast, Ghana, nigeria and Togo. The group in Ivory Coast is largest (22,000); the others have just a few thousand members each. None are considered least-reached.

Greek
Two small Greek groups totalling about 3,000 are found in Sierra Leone and Gambia. Neither are considered least-reached.

Guinean
The Guinean cluster is comprised of 152 peoples with a total population of 32.3 million, making it barely the second largest in West Africa (after the 32.5 million Yoruba cluster). The largest peoples within the cluster include the 3 million Akan in Ghana, 2.9 million Baule in Ivory Coast, 2.4 million Akan in Ghana, 2.3 million Ewe in Ghana, 1.7 million Fon in benin, 1.3 million Ewe in Togo, 1.1 million Edo in Nigeria, and 1.1 million Brong in Ghana. in addition, there are another 43 groups with over 100,000 members each. Very few of the groups in the Guinean cluster are considered unreached. Most are majority Christian, and the ones that are not still generally hold to ethnic religions.

Gur
The Gur cluster has 164 peoples with a total population of 27 million. The largest groups include the 8 million Mossi (Moore) found in Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, the 1.1 million Senufo of Ivory Coast, and the 1 million Dagaaba of Ghana. Although the Mossi are Muslims, the vast majority of the Gur cluster are ethnoreligionists. Significant ministry is focused on the Gur cluster and only a few of the groups are considered unreached. The largest of these are the 881,000 Bamana in Mali.

Hausa
The 27.9 million Hausa make up 10% of West Africa, with nearly all in northern Nigeria (21 million) and southeast Niger (5.5 million). They are agriculturalists, working as farmers and pastoralists, although many have moved to the larger cities seeking work. All are Sunni Muslims and considered least-reached. Their language is a dominant trade language for Nigeria and many other countries, and there are significant Christian resources available in it, but there are very few Hausa converts from Islam.

Hindi
The Hindi cluster is made up of three expatriate Indo-Pakistani groups, each numbering about 10,000, found in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Ghana. They speak Hindi, are Hindus, and are among the least-reached.

Igbo
The Igbo (sometimes called Ibo) cluster has 12 groups totalling 19.9 million people. All except two (Ghana, Gambia) are found in Nigeria, centered in the state of Nri, the “cradle of Igbo culture.” Their homeland was devastated during the Nigerian civil war. They have since faced discrimination and many have migrated away. Large communities can be found in London, Houston, Atlanta and Washintgton DC. Most are Christians.

Ijaw
The 7.7 million Ijaw are divided into 11 groups, all of which are found in Nigeria (except one, the 32,000 Kalabari of Ghana). All are majority Christian, in the Protestant tradition.

Jews
There is a small group of a hundred expatriate Jews living in Nigeria. They are considered unreached.

Kru
The 9.5 million Kru are are found in 54 groups located mostly in Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia. The largest group is the 460,000 Basse in Liberia. Few of the groups are considered least-reached: most are Christian although some of the larger groups still hold to ethnic religions.

Malinke
The Malinke cluster is made up of 48 groups with a total population of 8.3 million people. Most are found in Maninke and Mandinka groups found in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia and Senegal. Most of the groups are Sunni Muslims although some still hold to ethnic religions. Nearly all are considered least-reached.

Malinke-Bambara
This cluster is made up of 13 groups totalling over 4 million people found mostly in Mali and Cote d’Ivoire. With few exceptions, the groups are unreached Sunni Muslims.

Malinke-Jula
The Jula cluster is a group of 14 peoples totalling about 1 million individuals, mostly in Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. Virtually all are unreached Sunni Muslims with small pockets of animistic ethnoreligionists.

Mande
The 23 million people in the Mande cluster are divided into 53 groups located mainly in Sierra Leona, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia and Guinea. The largest groups include the 1.4 million Mende of Sierra Leone and the 1.0 million Dan of Cote d’Ivoire. Many ministries are focused on this cluster, and only a few of the groups are considered least-reached. Nevertheless most of the groups continue to hold to animistic ethnic religions, while the handful that do not are majority Islamic.

Nupe
The 7.5 million Nupe are found in northern Nigeria, primarily in Niger State. Most are Muslims, having been converted in the late 18th century by wandering preachers, but their traditional religious beliefs are often syncretized with Islam. There is a small group of Christians. A few of the groups are considered unreached.

Other Sub-Saharan African
This cluster includes a number of Eurafrican and Mestico groups, as well as 1.2 million detribalized peoples in Nigeria. Only two groups–the 82,000 Gbessi of Benin and the 7,600 Damlawa of Nigeria–are considered unreached. Most of the groups are strongly Christian of the Protestant tradition.

Portuguese, European
Two expatriate groups of a few thousand each are found in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. Neither are unreached.

Pygmy
One group of 48,000 are found in Cote d’Ivoire.

Sara-Bagirmi
Two small groups of a few thousand each are found in Nigeria. The Sara Mbai are mostly Christian, while the Barma are unreached and mostly Sunni Muslims.

Songhai
During the 15th and 16th centuries, the Songhai formed one of the largest Muslim African empires in history, ruling modern Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso all the way to Nigeria. Their empire had a 200,000-man army that enabled trade in gold, salt and slaves. They were conquered by the Moroccans, but the land proved to vast to manage and splintered into many kingdoms which were later colonized by Europeans. Today the 5.6 million Songhai are found in 19 groups, most in Niger and Mali. The largest group is the 3.4 million Zerma of Niger. All of the Songhai cluster are unreached Sunni Muslims; there are very few Christians among them.

Soninke
The 2 million Soninke are in 13 groups mainly in Mali, with small groups in the other West African countries (particularly Senegal). All are unreached Sunni Muslims.

Spanish
There is one small expatriate group of Spaniards in Mauritania. They are Christians in the Catholic tradition.

Susu
The 1.2 million Susu cluster is made up of 5 groups of Susu found mostly in Guinea, with some in Sierra Leone, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Gambia. The Susu are Sunni Muslims.

Tuareg
Most Tuareg live in the Saharan desert, where they are similar to the Berbers but have their own unique culture. In West Africa, the Tuareg cluster contains 11 groups with 2 million members, found mostly in Niger and Mali. All are unreached Sunni Muslims. There are very few believers although there is a Tuareg partnership focused on ministry amongst them.

Yoruba
The last cluster in this survey is also the largest: the 32.5 million Yoruba are found in 30 peoples. Most live in Nigeria and Benin although thousands are found in the other countries of West Africa as well. Historically the pastoralist Yoruba dominated the western bank of the Niger. They founded numerous city-states and developed the arts. Ife, one of the chief cities of the Yoruba, has been the center of over 400 religious cults. The largest groups are the 25 million Yoruba and 3.8 million Egba, both in Nigeria. Few of the Yoruba groups are considered unreached. However, in spite of strong Christian evangelism, many of the groups still hold to ethnic religions and there are large pockets of Sunni Muslims as well.

Source: Joshua Project (www.joshuaproject.net…)

1st cemtury
80. Christianity sweeps much of East Asia and Europe but fails to move equally strongly into Africa.
. Christians enter East Africa, firmly establishes itself within the Axum Kingdom, sweeps Ethiopia, Sudan.
. Christians in North Africa, building major centers in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia.

2nd century
100. First Christians in Algeria.
150. First Christians in Morocco.
190. Widespread people movement to Christ in North Africa, particularly amongst Berbers.

3rd century
200. Nok thrive on Jos Plateau from 500 BC to 200 AD.
. First Christians in Western Sahara (although later expelled and eradicated during Muslim rule).

4th century
300. North Africa one of the strongest areas of Christian development, but no major move south of the Sahara.
. People at Djenne-Djeno trade along the Niger river with other West African communities.
311. Donatist schism in North Africa: rigorists oppose lenience toward those who lapsed under persecution; by 347, Christian vs. Christian persecution resulting in martyrs; schism persists until destruction of North African church by Saracens in AD 700.
318. Arian heresy begins in Egypt; a major christological controversy lasting until the 8th century.
332. First roots of Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Axum empire on the Horn of Africa.
350. Coptic Orthodox merchants from Egypt active in Sudan; over next century, Sudan becomes Christian.
378. Jerome writes that “From India to Britain all nations resound with the death and resurrection of Christ”—but this unfortunately does not include anything south of Algeria or west of Sudan.

5th century
400s. The Bantu have spread from the Niger River as far as the eastern coast of Africa and into the grasslands of southern Africa.
410. Episcopate in Proconsular Africa, Numidia and Mauretania totals 768 bishops; across North Africa there are 1,200 bishops; missionary training centers send workers across the world—but seemingly fail to cross the desert south in great numbers.
439. Fall of Carthage and persecution of Christians by Arian Vandals.
450. Monophysite schism in Egypt following Council of Chalcedon; leads to persecution and martyrdom.

6th century
500. Rise of Ghanaian empire as most important power in West Africa, with its power found in the trade networks centered on the city of Kumbi Saleh.
. About 20,000 people live at Djenne-Djeno, more than in most European towns during the same time. They work iron and copper, and sell pottery up and down the Niger River.

7th century
650. Rise of Islam: after the Prophet’s death, military forces invade Egypt (mass conversions to Islam), sweep across North Africa, capture Carthage 697.
. First Christians in West Africa as North African Berber Christians are driven south by Islam.

9th century
. Arab traders use trans-Saharan trade route to transport slaves, gold, ivory. Large caravans averaged about 1,000 camels.

10th century
. Mauritania. Islam takes control, converts Berber tribes.
. Ghana.  Ghanaian empire controls a wide expanse of territory (not equivalent to modern Ghana).
. Nigeria.  Hausaland on lower Niger river prospers from increasing trade and industry; Igbo-Ukwu culture thrives in east Nigeria.

11th century
. Ghana. . Spread of Muslim Almoravids from Morocco into Ghana begins empire’s downfall in mid-11th century.
. Mali. . Rise of the Malinke kingdom on upper Niger River.
1050. Nigeria. Yorube (Ife) flourish, center of religious developments; Hausa states develop into walled towns on trade routes.
1052. Almoravid jihad against Ghanian empire sacks city of Kumbi Saleh.

12th century
. Sosso kingdom briefly flourishes in the area of Guinea.

13th century
1209. St. Francis of Assisi founds Franciscans (OFM); missionaries reach Congo.
. Malinke kingdom expands into Malian Empire in wake of Ghanaian empire (1230-1400). Adopting Islam, controlling all three main gold fields of West Africa, it became wealthy.
. Timbuktu now a major merchant city.
1235. Malian empire defeats Sosso at Battle of Kirina.
. Benin. The Edo people (west Niger) in power.
. Fulani begin migrating into Hausa regions; Islam migrates in at the same time.
1240. Sosso king Soumaoro Kante defeated by Mandika prince Sundiata Keita at Battle of Kirina; Sosso toppled and Islamic Malian empire ascends to power.

14th century
1320. Mansa Musa rules “Golden Age” of Malian Empire, solidifies Islam, goes on hajj with 60,000 followers, 500 slaves and 80 gold-laden camels 1324; population of Timbuktu 100,000; offers free health care for Mali citizens with doctors brought back from hajj; but by late 14th century eclipsed by Songhai empire.
. University founded at Timbuktu; becomes a center for West African scholars until the 17th century.
. Nigeria. Famous brasses produced by Ife culture.
1341. Arab historian Abdul Fida describes Africans from Red Sea to Lake Chad as primarily Christians.
1350. Cities of Mali, Timbuktu, Gao are principle trade routes of West Africa and important centers of Islam.

15th century
1400s. First concentrated effort of missionaries to West Africa (mainly Capuchins and Augustinians along with explorers and merchants from Portugal).
. Benin. . “Obas” (kings) rise to power, build Benin City into fortress, begin military campaigns to expand Edo kingdom; develop strong trade ties with Portugal.
. Burkina Faso. . Mossi rise in power to become an Empire, tame the horse and conquer vast amounts of West African territory.
. Oyo empire founded at Oyo-lle, becomes important Yoruba state.
1420. Rise of Songhai, raiding Malian empire. City-state of Gao under Sunni Ali forms the Songhai Empire which becomes the dominant regional force; under Askia Mohammad experiences growth in trade, education and Islam, but a civil war gradually weakens it.
1460. Cape Verde. . Discovered by Portugese explorer Diogo Gomes; Catholic clergy arrive 1462.
. Gambia. . Portuguese take over trade in slaves, gold, ivory using maritime routes.
1446. Nigeria. Oyo, Benin pass Ife as political and economic powers; Benin trading with Portugal.
1489. Baptism of Wolof king Behemoi of Senegal.
1491. King of Benin baptized.

16th century
. Under reign of Askia Muhammad 1493-1529 Songhai empire becomes largest West African empire, covering over 1,000 different cultures and developing the main cities of Gao, Mali, Timbuktu and Jenne.
. Benin.  Oba send ambassador to Lisbon; Portugal sends missionaries to Benin; Portuguese, French and Dutch all establish trading posts; first English expedition 1553, develops trade, grows rich through slave trade until it became known as the “Slave Coast.”
1552. Cape Verde. First churches planted.
1588. Gambia. Portuguese sell rights on the Gambia River to English merchants.
. Nigeria. Trade encourages growth of Hausa states; Onitsha Kingdom (Igbo) founded by Benin migrants; Muslim culture blossoms; beginnings of trans-Atlantic slave trade.
1570. Senegal.  French settle; Fulani take control of Bondu in south.
1591. Songhai empire too large to administer, destroyed by Moroccan invasion. Succeeded by numerous smaller empires: Bambara, Malinke, Kenedougou.
1598. Guinea. Dutch trading posts introduce the slave trade.

17th century
. Continued decline of Malian empire to earlier territorial boundaries; rise of Senufo kingdom.
1600. Ivory Coast. Migrations of Liberian Kru; first Christians (European traders) 1637.
. Gambia. King James grants charter to British company for trade with the Gambia 1618; Gambia a colony of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1651-1661.
1680. Benin. Portuguese Catholics establish at Ouidah.

18th century
1700s. Aro Confederacy rises in Nigeria’s midwest region, finds its political and spiritual power in the Long Juju oracle, the King, Chiefs and High Priests; founded on the slave trade.
1701. Ghana. Osei Tutu creates free Asante nation 1701; conquers Bono-Mansu in Akan region.
. Benin. Decline of the obas with a series of internal power struggles; slave trade temporarily disrupted 1720 but restored 1740s.
. Burkina Faso. Islam builds first mosque at Ougadougou, but Mossi resist Islam.
. Nigeria. Yoruba state of Oyo dominates west bank of Niger 1720s.
1747. Cape Verde. Severe drought causes unrest.
. Gambia. England & France struggle for supremacy on Gambia river; Treaty of Paris gives Great Britain possession of Gambia 1783; Scottish explorer Mungo Park travels through Gambia to Niger 1795-96.
. Dozens of Protestant and Catholic missions active in West Africa; for example: Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Methodist missions, Baptists, ABCFM, American Lutherans, African Methodist Episcopal Missions, Presbyterians, CMS, Norddeutsche Missionsgesellschaft, Protestant Episcopal Mission.
. Mali.  Bambara empire estalished at Sekou and briefly rules; but Tukolor defeats Bambara and gains power in former Songhai region.
. Ivory Coast. Migrations of Akan from Ghana into east, Malinke from Guinea into northwest.
. Sierra Leone founded as a haven for freed slaves; eventuallyu becomes center of the Church Missionary Society and the Wesleyan Methodist Mission.
1797. Liberia. Founded as a home for freed slaves.

19th century
. More Catholic mission societies enter West Africa.
. Benin. 2,000 Catholics in Dahomey 1830; active mission in interior 1860; French colonize 1872; resist signing protectorate treaty with Great Britain but after 8 British representatives killed, a British punitive expedition in 1897 destroyed much of Benin City and the country.
. Burkina Faso. French arrive and claim area 1896; Mossi resistance crumbles with capture of Ouagadougou.
. Cape Verde. Abolition of slave trade destroys Cape Verde’s fragile prosperity.
. Gambia. Over 3 million slaves were taken from the region during the 3 centuries of transatlantic slavery until its abolishment in the British Empire 1807; Bathurst (Banjul) a military outpost established to try to end slavery in Gambia 1816; becomes separate colonial entity 1888; British Crown Colony 1889.
. Mali. Conquered by French, becomes part of French territory of Haut-Senegal 1880; renamed French Sudan 1890; made a separate colony 1892; made part of French West Africa 1895.
. Ghana. Ashante empire invades Fante confederacy 1807; Basel mission to Ghana 1828; war with Britain 1873.
. Guinea. French take control.
. Guinea-Bissau. Becomes separate colony 1879.
. Ivory Coast. Made French protectorate 1842; French colony 1892.
. Liberia. Created 1821 by private socities that founded colonies for free Africans from the USA; by 1846, societies were bankrupt and colonies were made independent.
. Nigeria. Fulani begins jihad against Hausa 1804; invade Bornu 1808; found Adamawa emirate 1820; found Hamdallahi caliphate in Mali 1820; British trade 1885.
. Sierra Leone. Tukolor leader launches jihad along Senegal and upper Niger to establish Islamic state 1852; takes Timbuktu 1863.

1900s
. Benin. Territory incorporated into French West Africa as Dahomey in 1904; port constructed at Cotonou, railroads built, school facilities expanded by RC missions.
1900. Burkina Faso. Catholics enter (Upper Volta).
. Mauritania. Catholic missionaries enter.
. Ghana. Britain annexes Ashante kingdom.
1903. Cape Verde. Protestants enter 1903.
1901. Gambia. Autonomous 1901; slavery abolished 1906.
1902. Mali. Becomes colony of Senegambia and Niger, subject to Senegal 1902; renamed Haut-Senegal-Niger 1904.
. Nigeria. British take control 1900; Nigeria becomes British protectorate 1901.

1910s
. Ivory Coast. Guerrilla war to 1917.
. Liberia. US makes new loans and controls customs revenue of Liberia 1912.
. Burkina Faso. Protestants enter 1919; some provinces of Ivory Coast separated into Upper Volta 1919.
. Nigeria. Britain creates modern Nigeria by uniting 3 regions (Muslim Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba, Ibo/Igbo) into the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria 1914.

1920s
1920. Mali. Renamed French Sudan 1920.
1921. Niger. French colony 1921-60.

1930s
1932. Burkina Faso. Territory dismembered 1932; reconstituted 1937.
. Nigeria. Agitation for independence 1930s.
1936. Senegal. WEC International enters.

1940s
. Gambia. Gambian troops fight with Allies in Burma.
. Mali. Administration loyal to Free French during WW2; became French Sudan overseas territory.
1946. Benin. Dahomey becomes overseas territory with own parliament 1946.
. Burkina Faso. Mossi sought separate territorial status after World War II.

1950s
1951. Guinea-Bissau becomes an overseas province of Portugal.
1956. Burkina Faso. French Overseas Territories reorganized; Upper Volta becomes anonymous republic 1958.
. Cape Verde. African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde founded.
1957. Ghana becomes first subSaharan African country to gain independence.
1958. Mali. Granted autonomy as Sudanese Republic; unites with Senegal to form the Mali Federation 1959.
. Guinea. Guinea granted independence 1958.
1959. Benin becomes self-governing Republique du Dahomey.

1960s
1960. Senegal. Independent from France.
. Mauritania. Independence from France.
. Benin. Full independence; instability (economic, social unrest, ethnic tensions) lead to coup 1963; Ahomadegbe appointed president, deposed 1969; Lt Col de Souza made president.
. Burkina Faso. Independence; Islam sees conversion surge 1960-2000; political oppression and unrest 1960-66; military coup 1966 with Col. Lamizana in power.
. Mali. Independence from France; Senegal withdraws from Mali Federation; renamed Republic of Mali; military coup 1968.
. Ivory Coast. Independence; becomes most prosperous country in French West Africa.
. Nigeria. Independence from Britain; army coups 1966, 1967; Biafra war (30,000 deaths before its defeat) 1967-70.
. Guinea-Bissau. War for independence 1960-1974.
1961. Sierra Leone. Independence from Britain.
1962. Gambia. General elections; full independence 1965.
. Guinea. Withdrawal of French workers and capital drains Guinea’s infrastructure; administration aligns with USSR; political oppression.

1970s
1970. Gambia. Became a commonwealth in a free and fair election 1970, election Pres. Jawara who remained in power for 2 decades.
. Benin. Elections cancelled 1970; three-man presidential council appointed; coup to military govt 1972; becomes Benin 1975, run as socialist state by Major Kerekou to 1989 (“Africa’s Cuba”).
. Burkina Faso. Military power ended 1970 with ratification of new constitution, 4-year transition period; another new constitution 1977; Lamizana elected in open elections 1978.
. Mauritania. Drought devastates country 1970-1980s.
1973. Guinea-Bissau. Independence from Portugal 1973; Cape Verde spun off 1980s.
1974. Nigeria. Nigeria becomes leading oil producer in Africa; coup 1975, 1976; new constitution 1977; democratic elections 1979.
. Gambia. Relative stability shattered by Sanyang coup.
1975. Cape Verde. After fall of Portugese regime, Cape Verde gained independence.
. CAPRO (Calvary Ministries) founded; first mission field entered in 1976; many full time workers 1985.
1976. Mali. Military in power to 1976; single-party democracy 1979.
1979. Ivory Coast. World’s leading producer of cocoa; political stability but lack of freedom.

1980s
1980. Mauritania. Slavery abolished.
. Benin becomes a socialist state.
. Burkina Faso. Discord with trade unions; coup by Col. Zerbo 1980; coup by Maj. Ouedraogo 1982; coup Capt. Sankara 1983; name change to Burkina Faso 1984; war with Mali over mineral-rich Agacher Strip 1985; growing unpopularity and unrest led to repression and finally coup by Capt. Compaore with assassination of Sankara 1987.
. Gambia. Rebels defeated with aid from Senegal; Senegambia Confederation launched 1982 but eventually dissolved 1989.
. Mali. Student-led revolts crushed 1980; three coup attempts; calm 1981-85; brief border war with Burkina Faso over Agacher strip 1985; economic adjustments 1985-90.
. Liberia. Coup; corruption & instability; Charles Taylor coup 1989.
1983. Guinea-Bissau. Relations with Cape Verde normalized.
. Nigeria. Coup 1983, 1985; new constitution 1989.
1984. Guinea. Coup.
. Ivory Coast. Global recession, timber overcutting, collapsing sugar prices combine to devastate economy.
. Niger. Devastated by Sahel famine, collapse of uranium market.

1990s
. Benin. Free elections 1991, Kerekou defeated by Soglo;
. Mauritania. Multiparty democracy 1992.
. Burkina Faso. Compaore confirmed President in 1991 election; re-elected in 1998.
. Cape Verde. Democratic reform 1990.
. Gambia. Military coup 1994 deposed Jawara government.
. Mali. Tuareg nomads return from Algeria and Libya, increased tensions led to revolt 1990; more unrest leads to multiparty democracy 1992.
. Guinea. Transition to civilian rule 1993 but political suppression continues.
. Guinea-Bissau. Political reform, multiparty elections 1994.
. Liberia. ECOWAS intervention; civil war to 1996.
. Niger. Democratic government formed 1993.
. Nigeria. Unsuccessful coup 1990; elections 1990; historic fair elections 1993, but annulled by Pres Babngida, riots, interim president; coup 1994.
. Liberia. Civil war causes collapse of government 1990.
. Benin. Soglo lost to Kerekou 1996.
. Gambia. Transition to civilian democracy 1997 with Pres. Jammeh elected.
. Mali. Tuareg autonomy 1995.
. Guinea-Bissau. Coup 1998 became a civil war; Senegal and Guinea intervene but political unrest continues; coup 1999.
. Ivory Coast. Increasing political repression; coup 1999.
. Liberia. Flawed elections 1997.
. Nigeria. Political unrest 1994-99; transition to civilan rule 1999; administration of Christian president Obsanjo begun 1999.

2000
. Benin. Christian Matthieu Kerekou re-elected amidst allegations of electoral fraud 2001.
. Gambia. Pres. Jammeh re-elected 2001.
. Mali. Successful transition from one democratically elected president to another 2002.
. Guinea. Border clashes with Liberia and Sierra Leone 2000.
. Guinea-Bissau. Runoff election 1999; army rebellion 2000; coup 2003; elections 2004, 2005; 2005.
. Ivory Coast. Flawed election 2000; unrest 2001; army mutiny 2002; unity government 2003; continued instability.
. Senegal. Peaceful elections 2000.

Births per 1,000 people: 43 (world average, 21)

Deaths per 1,000 people: 18 (world average, 9)

Rate of natural increase: 2.5% p.a. (world, 1.2%)

Projected population, 2025: 404 million

Projected population, 2050: 601 million

% of population under 15: 44% (world, 29%)

% of population over 65: 3%

Life expectancy at birth: 47 (men, 46; women, 48)

% Urban / % Rural: 40% / 60%

Adult population with HIV/AIDS: 4.1%

GNI/PPP per capita 2004: $1,200 (world, $8,540)

% who live on less than US$2/day: 83% (world, 53%)

% with access to improved drinking water: 78% of urbanites, 50% of rural dwellers

Energy use per person, 2002 (kg oil equivalent): nil (world, 1,669)

Notable Facts about West Africa
Niger, Guinea-Bissau and Mali hold the top three positions for the most births per women in the world.
Nigeria is the 7th most populous country in the world, and likely will still be 7th largest in 2050.

The region’s population is exploding: from 27 million in 1900, it has risen to 233 million today and will likely nearly double to 400 million in 2025. Its population will then exceed North America; by 2050 it will have 586 million—more than all of Europe. Over half live in Nigeria (nearly 1 in 8 Africans is Nigerian). Nearly half (105 million) are children and some 42% (100 million) are urbanized with some 168 megacities, located mainly in the south. Along with Middle Africa, this region has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world.

West Africa has been ruled by several empires, including the Soninke, Soso, Mali and Songhai. The Portugese arrived in 1445, shortly followed by other European powers. The African slave trade began soon after. Up to World War II, Britain and France controlled much of West Africa, but between 1957 and 1960 most of the countries achieved independence. Unfortunately so far few have achieved political stability or full development.

Wars have been or are being fought in Togo, Ivory Coast, and Liberia. Most are smaller conflicts than one would find in Middle or Eastern Africa. Apart from the open warfare, there are many small clashes caused by ethnic and religious unrest. As a result of this instability, despite its huge population and resources West Africa contributes just 15% of Africa’s total GNP. The two largest produces are Ivory Coast (which has 14% of West Africa’s economy) and Nigeria (which produces 40%, mostly through the sale of oil).

Ten of the 17 countries have serious AIDS epidemics. The drug trade has a new and growing influence, as Latin American drug lords courier shipments to Europe through West Africa.

Christianity first came to Western Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries, brought by missionaries in the coastal and inlands mission movements. Today Western Africa is divided between Islam in the north and Christianity in the south, with a belt of ethnoreligionists and syncretists in between. Many participate in secret occult societies.

Three countries are majority Christian, and five have significant Christian minorities. Nigeria is divided between southern Christians and northern Muslims, with religious conflict erupting where the two meet. The Islamization of some countries and provinces, as well as the general desire to enforce some kind of peace on warring factions, has led to some restrictions on religious activity. These restrictions are not so severe as in other places, but do pose an obstacle to the spread of church planting. A larger problem is violence from extremists.

About a third of Western Africa has little or no access to the Gospel. African mission societies are sending hundreds of workers throughout the west and north and have plans to rapidly increase their numbers. Join us as we explore their incredible, world-changing vision.

In a similar way, I believe that Christianity in a nation or region experiences a similar type of growth and maturity. When the church is first planted it is a “children church” and struggles with basic issues. However, as it grows and develops and matures, it moves beyond those basic issues and gains more experience and maturity, it begins to struggle with “adult” issues.

Christianity in West Africa is no longer a juvenile church. Therefore, it is facing different issues than it faced one hundred years ago. The infant church in Africa struggled with basic issues like who should be baptized and receive communion, polygamy and syncretism. Though these issues continue to rear their heads occasionally, the church as a general rule has moved on past those things. The adolescent church in West Africa struggled with leadership and management issues. Taking over the leadership of the churches from the missionaries by indigenous Christians was a difficult exercise. The church still struggles with those issues to some extent but I believe the church made some good progress in the last two decades of the twentieth century.

As the Christian church continues to grow and develop into its second and third and fourth generations, there are other issues with which the church in West Africa is struggling. Specifically, I believe there are three major issues that are helping to define the church in the early part of the twenty first century. The way the church responds to these issues will determine what the church looks like in the next generation and whether there will be a move toward or away from “traditional Christianity.”

HIV/AIDS

“The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the single most devastating health problem that has confronted humanity since the bubonic plague of the Middle Ages.”  This and similar statements have been made by various commentators about the HIV/AIDS pandemic that is sweeping across many parts of Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa. Anything that affects the society at large also affects the church. And because HIV/AIDS is having such a huge impact on the society as a whole, it is also having a powerful impact upon the church as well.

Negative Impact

This is not the forum for a long list of statistics about the impact of AIDS upon the society. These facts are well known. However, AIDS is definitely impacting the church.

• Most of the people who have died from AIDS in Africa have identified themselves to some extent with Christianity rather than another religion.

• Pastors and church workers are now spending a huge amount of their time counseling with the dying and grieving and supervising HIV/AIDS programmes.

• Much money that would have given to support church-related activities is now being spent on taking care of sick people.

Positive Impact

However, on the positive side, the church is beginning to respond to this crisis in a mature and responsible manner. Although the church got a slow start in its response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in West Africa, I believe it is the church, church-related organizations and individual Christians who are leading the way in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This crisis has forced the church to think and act and do things differently than before:

1. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has forced Christians to be more aware of their social responsibilities. Because Jesus was so compassionate, Christians have always believed in helping the weak and needy people in society. However, the HIV/AIDS crisis is forcing the Church to think about this more than any other crisis in the history of Christianity in Africa.

Jesus sent his disciples out “to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2). The preaching represented the informational and spiritual parts of Christianity that deal with the various doctrines of the church and particularly the doctrine of humanity’s relationship with God. However, the “healing of the sick” represents the responsibility we have toward our fellow human beings. If we focus on only one of those responsibilities, the preaching part, we are like a one-armed person. However, when we combine these two together, we are using both of our hands and are fully functioning Christians. Therefore, the AIDS crisis is helping the Christian church to be more holistic and compassionate.

2. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has helped Christians to understand the practical value of their faith.  We Christians have always known the spiritual value of Christianity. We know it relieves our guilt when we confess our sins and experience God’s forgiveness. We know prayer and worship do something for our souls nothing else can do. We know we receive spiritual strength and energy from God. We know it helps us live without fear because we have confidence of a meaningful life on the other side of the grave. Unfortunately, sometimes Christians have focused only on those kinds of blessings.

The HIV/AIDS crisis has demonstrated Christianity has very practical value for our every day lives. It is a grassroots movement with representatives in every community. Its message of compassion for the needy is exactly what people who are living with HIV/AIDS need. Its message of sexual abstinence and faithfulness is the ideal formula for avoiding HIV/AIDS on a personal basis and reducing AIDS in the society. The HIV/AIDS crisis has helped Christians to realize just how wise God was in creating the faith community called Christianity and giving us the guidelines govern it.

3. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has helped Christians to develop a powerful voice in the society. In Nigeria, the church and Christian leaders have always been respected in the society. However, with the coming of the AIDS pandemic to Nigeria, Christian leaders are receiving new respect from the society and from the government because of their positive contributions to this crisis. The government is now realizing the value of mobilizing and cooperating with the leaders and communities of faith. This has given a new and more powerful voice to the Christian leaders in the community.

4. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has helped Christians present a new image to the non-Christian world. It is an unfortunate reality that Christians do not have a very high reputation among many Muslims in Nigeria for many reasons. However, because the church is often leading the way in responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis, Muslims and other non-Christians are seeing Christianity in a different way. They are seeing creativity and compassion and self-denial and generosity and tolerance and they are attracted to what they see.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa is a tragedy of immense proportions. However, it is helping to transform the church in West Africa into a more positive and holistic community. African Christianity in the twenty-first century is being shaped and will continue to be shaped in the future by the way it is responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Violence—

Although the birth of the church in West Africa was not without pain or suffering, persecution was largely limited to individual or family mistreatment. It was not as extensive as in other parts of the world, including east and central Africa. However, in the last two decades of the twentieth century, there has been a growing tension between Christianity and Islam, particularly in Nigeria. Unfortunately, this tension has exploded in the first decade of the twenty-first century. For example, in February 2000, a major crisis developed in Kaduna, Nigeria as an outgrowth of the attempts by Muslims to implement Sharia in that state. Over 250 churches were destroyed or damaged and thousands of people were killed. In November 2002, the problem flared up again in Kaduna, and another 101 churches were destroyed and another 500 Christians died. The city of Jos, in Plateau State, also received its baptism of ethnic and religious conflicts, starting on September 7, 2001. It is estimated over 10,000 people died in that crisis and the subsequent conflicts it generated in the southern part of Plateau State.

Although there have been remarkable exceptions, as a general rule, I do not think the church has responded well to these crises. The tendency of individual Christians has been to respond to violence with violence . More mosques were burned in Jos than churches and hundreds of Muslims were killed by “Christians” for no other reason than they happen to be Muslims in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although these kinds of retaliations were most often organized by the local communities and ethnic militias and many of the fighters were Christian in name only, it is an undisputed fact church leaders often looked the other way and sometimes even encouraged this kind of violent retaliation. “This is the only language they understand” was often the explanation and “You have to fight fire with fire.”

Consequences of Violence

I believe this kind of violent response has had some serious consequences to Christianity in Nigeria.

1. It is causing separation and isolation from non-Christians. As a result of the violence and fear of retaliation, Christians who used to live in Muslim neighborhoods are moving away and the Muslims who used to live in Christian neighborhoods are responding the same way. Therefore, there is less and less contact with Muslims in the every day life of the average Christian.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the world” (Matthew 5:13) and “You are the light of the world” (5:14). These metaphors suggest God does not expect Christians to segregate themselves from non-Christians. How can we be the kind of “salty” influence in society if we are isolated from those we should be influencing? Therefore, these violent reactions are undermining Jesus’ mandate to positively influence the society.

2. It is creating a defensive attitude toward Muslims rather than a friendly one. Because of this violence and the forced segregation, Muslims are often viewed with suspicion as troublemakers. This has encouraged a view of Muslims as “enemies” that must be defended against rather than as fellow human beings who need the love of Christ.

3. It is encouraging manipulation of the Bible and shallow exegesis. Over and over again, one hears Christians and even pastors say, “we have only two cheeks. We no longer have any cheek to turn” or “Jesus did not say what we were to do after we turned the second cheek.” Frequently, those who want to promote a violent response point out Jesus said that if the disciples did not have a sword they should buy one (Luke 22:36), as if this justified their violence. They tend to interpret all of Jesus’ very straightforward teachings about responding to violence with love and prayer, in light of this one Semitic expression that was only warning the disciples to prepare for violence. Some admit violence is wrong but say God will just have to forgive them.

Is this the best our Nigerian Christian leaders can do? This is reaction rather than a thoughtful proactive response to violence. We must not allow ourselves to become guilty of reading into the Bible what we want it to say.

4. It is creating a serious image problem for Christianity in Nigeria. We who are true followers of Jesus Christ know Christianity is the most compassionate, the most forgiving and the most gentle religion on earth. We know no genuine Christian would take up a cutlass and kill an innocent Muslim who happens to be at the wrong place during a crisis. However, that is not the way Muslims view Christians in Nigeria. Muslims believe Christians are violent people who have no respect for places of prayer or individual human lives. Many of them think it is our Christian leaders who are encouraging the younger ones to perpetuate the violence against them.

If this is the image we Christians have helped to create for ourselves, this has rendered any efforts to evangelize or positively influence Muslims practically useless. Unless we improve our image and our Muslim and other non-Christians friends see us as the gentle compassionate people God has called us to be, they will not ask “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

What Must Be the Christian Response to Violence?

How should the church and particularly Christian leaders respond to this problem?

1. The Church in Africa needs to assemble a “Christian Council on Violence.” I believe our African church leaders and theologians must borrow a page from the church fathers and assemble a “council” of major church leaders and theologians from all denominations and forge a Biblically sound Christian response to Muslim aggression. This includes more than just the response to violence but proactive initiatives to deal with the root causes of these conflicts. The conclusions of that council need to be published, transferred into teaching material and taught to Christians at all levels. To fail to provide a unified Biblical response to violence will mean that people will respond in the most natural “human” way and that will be with more violence.

2. The Church needs to reach out in love to Muslims. The best antidote to extreme Muslim violence is a positive Christian demonstration of love. Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:22). This point is best illustrated with a story from the Jos Crisis.

During this crisis, which took place September 7-16, 2001, Immanuel Baptist Church, from the Anguwan Rimi area of Jos, was burned. This church was pastored by a young man named Sunday Gowna. About three years after the incident, Pastor Sunday was invited to join other community leaders, both Christians and Muslims, from the Anguwan Rimi area to meet the acting state governor where they would be given an opportunity to describe their experiences during the Jos Crisis. When it was Pastor Sunday’s turn to speak, he made the following presentation.

It is an unfortunate reality that my church, the Immanuel Baptist Church, was burned during the Jos Crisis and then a second time six months later but that is not what I want to talk about. Your Excellency, I want to tell you about the third time that people came to burn my church. On the third attempt, one of my Muslim neighbors came out and said to the young men who had come to burn it, “You are not going to burn this church. This is a house of prayer. If you want to burn something, there is my house. You can burn my house but you cannot burn this house of prayer.”

This immediately got the governor’s attention and he demanded to know the name of this Muslim who had acted so courageously. His name was supplied to the governor. After the meeting, the Muslim community leaders came to Pastor Sunday and said, “Pastor, thank you very much for what you said to the governor. We know that you could have said many bad things about us. We are most grateful.” Pastor Sunday said,

It is true there are other things I could have said. I could have told the governor about the thieves that keep breaking into the church and stealing our sound equipment and I could have told him about some of your boys who come onto the church compound and defecate. However, I thought we are all mature people and neighbors and we can solve these problems ourselves.

The Muslim neighbors assured the pastor that is what they wanted to do. So on the following Sunday afternoon, Pastor Sunday invited them to his church. He reported several of the Muslim leaders came and actually entered the church building. When they entered the church, they all removed their hats, a sincere mark of respect because Muslims do not remove their hats to pray. They also took the refreshments Pastor Sunday offered them, another indication of acceptance. The pastor showed them where the thieves had been breaking into the church and where the youths had been defecating on the church grounds. The Muslim neighbors assured him this would never happen again. And it has not.

About six months after this, during a regular Sunday morning church service, a Muslim child threw a stone over the church wall and broke the windshield of the only vehicle in the parking lot. A few minutes later, a little Muslim girl came and knocked on the church gate. She reported she had seen the boy who threw the stone and then she took the church security personnel to him. The boy admitted he was the one who threw the stones. The case was then taken to the police. As soon as the service was over, Pastor Sunday was informed. He went immediately to the police station. He learned there were two boys involved and their parents were Muslim neighbors to the church. The parents soon came and were very embarrassed over what happened. Pastor Sunday immediately demanded the case be withdrawn from the police. The police warned him if he withdrew, he would have no legal recourse to recover damages. Pastor Sunday assured the police they were mature people and could handle the situation.

The church estimated it would cost about $100 to replace the windscreen. The Muslim families were poor families. Between the two families, they were able to come up with only $75. The windscreen eventually cost about $150 to replace. However, the church absorbed the rest of the expense. When the Muslim neighbors discovered the church had paid the extra $75 to cover up the bad behaviour of their own children, they came back to Pastor Sunday with the greatest humility and gratefulness. They told him they never wanted him to leave the community and they would do all in their power to make sure the Immanuel Baptist Church stays in the community and is protected from any further damage.

The Muslim neighbors of Immanuel Baptist Church saw a true picture of Christianity. I do not know whether any of them will become Christians. However, I know there is certainly a much greater likelihood that they will become Christians after these incidents than before. Pastor Sunday and the Immanuel Baptist Church are well on their way to creating a wholesome image of Christianity in the Anguwan Rimi community.

3. The Church needs to apologize where it has failed. When Paul was taken before the Sanhedrin, the high priest ordered someone to strike Paul on the mouth. Paul was a person who believed in justice so he quickly and sharply replied: “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” (Acts 23:3). When someone informed Paul it was the high priest he had just rebuked, Paul quickly said, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: `Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’ “ In other words, Paul apologized to a man who probably needed to be rebuked. However, Paul did not want his faith to suffer or be abused because of his own actions. Therefore, he apologized.

There are certainly times to apologize to our non-Christian friends because of the behavior of Christians. Contrary to what we tend to think, we never weaken ourselves when we acknowledge our faults and confess our sins. We are nearly always strengthened by humility. The recent apology by the pope because of his misunderstood remarks about Islam is a good illustration of this fact.

4. The Church needs to find ways that we can positively work with non-Christians. One of the best ways we can help rebuild a wholesome image of Christianity and, in so doing, reduce the likelihood of violence is to find projects where Christians and Muslims can work together. The Apostle Paul was not an isolationist.

• Paul was willing to interact and cooperate with the philosophers at the Areopagus in their pursuit for truth and knowledge (Acts 17:18-34).

•     Paul was willing to cooperate with tentmakers in the market, even though they were not Christian believers (Acts 18:3).

• Paul was willing to cooperate with security agents in Jerusalem (Acts 23:17-18).

•  Paul was willing to cooperate with the non-Christian Roman legal system (Acts 25:11).

•  Paul was willing to cooperate with the unbelieving sailors on board a ship in order to save the lives of the sailors and the passengers (Acts 27:21-26).

As for as we know, all of these people with whom he cooperated were unbelievers.

We who are committed Christians must seek out opportunities where we can work closely with non-Christians. This may involve academic projects, community enrichment projects, health project including HIV/AIDS-related issues, sports projects, and political projects. Most Christians are a bit sensitive to the verse that says “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). I think the real focus of this passage is on associating with unbelievers to do evil or a union that will draw persons away from faith. There is no prohibition in the Bible about interacting with anybody to do good.

It is an unfortunate reality that violence has come to the church in West Africa. This is not the first time Christians have suffered for their faith. The church in Acts and thousands of Christians throughout church history have demonstrated an example of love, forgiveness and prayer. The response the West Africa church makes to this outbreak to violence will have a profound effect upon the nature and impact of the church in the twenty-first century.

Pentecostalism—

It is difficult to know exactly when Pentecostalism entered West Africa. The Assemblies of God came to Nigeria over 50 years ago. In addition, many of the Aladura Churches, which were created about 80 years ago, followed certain Pentecostal practices such as speaking in tongues and may be considered under the Pentecostal umbrella. However, Pentecostalism received its greatest boost in Nigeria in the early 1970’s immediately after the Nigerian Civil war when there was a great burst of spiritual energy in the Nigerian universities. Thousands of university students came to Christ and many of the university campuses became centers of evangelism, discipleship and missionary activities. Much of this spirit of revival was heavily influenced by Pentecostalism. This movement was encouraged through the importation and wide distribution of Pentecostal literature such as books by Kenneth Hagin and Maurice Cerullo. In addition, the American Pentecostal media such as the PTL and 700 Club TV networks found a ready audience in Nigeria and these influenced key Pentecostal leaders like Archbishop Benson Idahosa.

Pentecostalism spread along three major lines in Nigeria. First, the Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God and the Four Square Gospel Church have enjoyed moderate growth in Nigeria and are strong denominations today. Second, thousands of independent Pentecostal churches have been created in the last 30 years. Some of them grew into denominations such as the Deeper Life Bible Church and the All Christians’ Fellowship, Mission. Some existing smaller Pentecostal denominations received renewed energy and have grown explosively. The Redeemed Christian Church of God which was actually started in the 1950’s received a tremendous boost in the mid-eighties when Pastor E. A. Adeboye assumed leadership of the church. This group is now probably the fastest growing church in Nigeria, if not in the world.

The third area where Pentecostalism has grown has been within the mainline churches. Charismatic Catholics have become a major force within the Roman Catholic Church. Though they are proud of their Catholic roots and insist that they are a bona fide part of the church, one would find little difference between their services and any other Pentecostal church. In addition, nearly all of the Protestant churches have had seeds of Pentecostalism planted in them. Some have flourished; others have been smothered.

It is now an undisputed fact Pentecostalism has had and continues to have a major impact upon Christianity in West Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. In fact, Pentecostalism may be the defining issue within the church at the present time. In addition to creating Pentecostal churches and Pentecostal movements within the non-Pentecostal denominations, Pentecostalism has had a dramatic impact upon the church as a whole. In my opinion, there have been both positive and negative impacts.

Positive Impact

1. Pentecostalism has helped to provide life and enthusiasm to the Church. Any observer of the church in West Africa over the last 25 years will agree that nearly all parts of the church have received an infusion of life, energy and enthusiasm during that time period. This is a direct result of the impact of the Pentecostal style of worship and, to a lesser extent, Pentecostal beliefs. Few people could find fault with a church that is more lively and enthusiastic.

2. Pentecostalism has encouraged Africans to worship in a more African manner. When Pentecostalism came to Africa with its more emotional style of worship, this helped to free nearly all Christians from the more formal and structured worship of the missionary churches. Though many Africans continue to enjoy the formality and beauty of the European style of worship with its robed ministers and classical style of music, it is the less formal styles of worship that are winning the hearts of more and more Africans. The traditional African use of drums has finally made it into the church. Dancing which would have been anathema in many churches twenty years ago, is now often led by the pastor himself, even in such traditional churches as the Anglicans, Baptist and ECWA.

Though not everyone would agree, freeing Africans from the European style of worship and enabling them to worship in a more culturally appropriate manner has been one of the greatest contributions of Pentecostalism to African Christianity. Even those churches that would seriously reject any kind of Pentecostal theology owe a debt of gratitude to this movement for helping Africa discover and implement its own style of worship.

3. Pentecostalism has attracted young people to the church. When one visits most of the newer independent Pentecostal churches or denominations, he or she will not see a lot of gray hair there. Most of the Pentecostal churches are filled with young people in part, because young people are attracted to the more energetic styles of worship. One of the things that has encouraged the mainline churches to incorporate more Pentecostal styles of worship is to keep their young people. When one goes to most churches in Europe and many churches in America, there are primarily old people present . That is not the case in Nigeria. The church is young and energetic and enthusiastic.

4. Pentecostalism has encouraged a more “apostolic” form of Biblical practice. Peter Jenkins, in his insightful book, The Next Christendom, describes the phenomenal growth of Christianity in the “global south,” including Africa and describes it as a more “apostolic” or “primitive” style of Christianity.  He means that this new wave of Christianity sweeping across this part of the world promotes a greater emphasis on the supernatural, prophecy, visions, and spiritual beings like angels and demons, similar to what one reads in the Book of Acts. This is creating a gradual move away from the more rationalistic approach of Christianity that was planted in Africa by western missionaries.

Though this can be and often does degenerate into syncretism, I personally believe that this renewed “spiritual” emphasis of Pentecostalism is healthy for Christianity in Africa.

• It encourages expectant prayer.

• It feeds the flames of genuine personal faith.

• It recognizes the existence of evil spirits and angels.

•     It avoids the stifling influence of rationalism and secularism.

•     It motivates Christians to look to God for the solutions to their problems.

5. Pentecostalism has helped to develop a more optimistic view of the future. One of the big emphases of Pentecostalism has been faith. Pentecostals believe in doing the impossible. They do not respond well to the philosophy of “they want let you do that.” Therefore, Pentecostals and other Christians are being encouraged by their leaders to attempt things that would have been discouraged in previous generations. One of the practical applications of this optimism has been greater participation in politics by Pentecostals and others who have been influenced by this optimistic view of the future. These people believe that they can contest and be elected to office and they can make a difference. The Nigerian government now has quite a few representatives who are very strong Christians and who are making a difference.

Whereas African Christian leaders must guard against fanaticism and reign in the extremists, the positive and simple faith of African Christians that has been encouraged by Pentecostalism is a refreshing blessing and challenge to the worldwide body.

Negative Impact

Unfortunately, the impact of Pentecostalism has not always been positive. One of the major emphases of a significant portion of the Pentecostal movement has been an overemphasis on prosperity and healing.

Obviously, prosperity and healing are Biblical doctrines. When Moses was about to depart from this world, he set before the Israelites two ways, the way of “life and prosperity” or the way of “death and destruction” (Deuteronomy 30:15). One of the first passages of Scripture that many Christians memorized as children was Psalm 1 which says that the blessed man is “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers” (1:3). No one can read the gospels and Acts without seeing and appreciating the miraculous healings of Jesus and the apostles.

In addition, certainly there is no particular virtue in poverty. It has encouraged the HIV/AIDS pandemic, sparked the rash of armed robbers across West Africa and has had a dehumanized effect upon a generation of unemployed Africans. Therefore, attempting to encourage a more prosperous society is in the interest of nearly everybody. And as stated above, a renewed emphasis on the supernatural, including supernatural healing and supernatural answers to prayer, is a welcome development.

It is regrettable many Pentecostal preachers and teachers have taken the message of prosperity and healing much further than the Bible does. They sometimes imply we can almost command God around like we are the master and He is the servant. Many insist healing and prosperity are the divine right of every person. Therefore, these “rights” must simply be claimed. This is obviously not the forum to attempt to refute those beliefs. However, I will say any truth overstressed becomes error. And error always has consequences. We are now seeing some of the consequences of the overemphasis on healing and prosperity in Nigeria.

1. The overemphasis on prosperity and healing is distorting Jesus’ message of simplicity and self-denial. The message of Jesus was not a message of accumulation but a message of dissemination. We are encouraged to seek God’s kingdom first (Matthew 5:33) and to focus on giving (Luke 6:38). This message is missing in most of the modern prosperity type preaching because preachers frequently encourage their followers to seek after an opulent and extravagant lifestyle.

2. The overemphasis on prosperity and healing is encouraging a self-centered approach to faith. Of all the religions in the world, Christianity is the least self-centered. Jesus encouraged his followers to give up their rights (Matthew 16:24), give up their wealth (19:21; Luke 12:33) and even give up their lives if necessary (John 15:13). However, when we are encouraged that we have a right to demand prosperity and health, that puts the emphasis on ourselves and that is not the message of Christ.

3. The overemphasis on prosperity and healing is creating false hope and generating disappointment. I am grateful to God I have heard wonderful examples of miraculous healing in Nigeria and equally exciting examples of God’s goodness in providing jobs, contracts, and other demonstrations of needs being supplied in a supernatural manner. However, I have also conducted the funerals of those who claimed they were healed and given money to those who supposedly were blessed financially. The point is that God does not choose to heal everyone. Neither does God choose to bless everyone with financial abundance. And when we teach people that healing and prosperity are their divine rights, we only create the possibility of greater hurt and disappointment and bitterness some time in the future.

I believe emphasis on prosperity and healing needs to be re-examined by our Pentecostal brothers to bring Pentecostal teaching and practice more in line with the Biblical teachings on those subjects. Jesus said, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:38). It is not what we hope is true or say is true but what is actually truth that brings the freedom Jesus promised. Therefore, the Nigerian branch of Pentecostalism must redouble its efforts to discover the truth. And the good news is I believe I am detecting indications that process is taking place.

Changing Emphasis

I personally believe the emphasis on prosperity has peaked in Nigerian Pentecostalism and is gradually being replaced by another emphasis—the emphasis on excellence. Many Pentecostal preachers are still emphasizing prosperity but their emphasis is that prosperity is a result of excellence in our lives.

• We become prosperous because we have earned it.

•     We become prosperous because we work harder than others.

•     We become prosperous because we are more honest with our customers.

• We become prosperous because we are producing a better product than others.

• We become prosperous because we are reflecting the qualities of Christ in our work.

And when we do these types of things, we are rewarded with prosperity.

In my opinion, this is a positive development in the Pentecostal churches in Nigeria. Prosperity based upon hard work and greater responsibility is a message that can be found in many places in the Bible. We must fan this tiny flame of truth and pray that God will multiply it like he did the loaves and fishes.

Whether we like it or not, Pentecostals are having a powerful influence upon the whole body of Christ in Nigeria and West Africa. We celebrate the positive things they are bringing to the church and we encourage caution and correction on the negative things.

Conclusion—

The Church in West Africa is growing and maturing. I believe someday, perhaps even in my lifetime, Africa will take its place at the head of this international movement we call Christianity. What will an Africa-led Christianity look like? What kind of influence will Africans have on the rest of the Body of Christ?

An Africa-led Christianity will be more fervent and less structured in its worship. African traditional religions prepared African Christians for a subjective, spiritual, emotional, and supernatural kind of Christianity. That is likely what will be promoted in other parts of the world when Africans are leading the way. African Christian leaders are less concerned about time; therefore, an African-led church will have much more time for singing and prayer and preaching and even dancing. Christianity will be more exciting and enjoyable in the future with more African influence.

An Africa-led Christianity is likely to be more unified and public and less secular. The pluralistic societies in which most African Christians have lived and especially the violence of the last few decades have minimized the differences between various Christians. Different denominations are almost viewed as different families. There is broad acceptance of one another and better cooperation than in the Western world. In addition, religion has traditionally been open and public in Africa with no attempt to separate religion from other parts of life. A Church being led by Africans will see Christians working more closely together and seeing them being much more public with their faith.

An African-led Christianity is likely to be more committed to Biblical authority and conservative approaches to theology. Theological liberalism has had limited impact upon the church in Africa and, in my opinion, is decreasing. African Christians are committed to the inspiration and authority of the Bible. For example, it was Archbishop Peter Akinola, the head of the Nigerian Anglican Church, who led the African bishops in prohibiting the worldwide Anglican Communion from approving the ordination of practicing homosexual bishops. An African-led Christianity will be less influenced by political correctness and will lead the worldwide Christian movement back to a kind of Christianity that looks more like the churches in Jerusalem, Antioch and Ephesus of the first century rather than Geneva, Richmond or Tulsa.

I believe the issues the African Church is facing and overcoming today are the ideal foundation for preparing her to lead the worldwide body of Christ tomorrow

Danny McCain is the Africa Director of the International Institute for Christian Studies and a professor of Biblical Theology at the University of Jos in Nigeria, where he has resided for 18 years.

Nelson moved to Kingsport, Tenn., 20 years ago and planted Agape Life Church. The church soon grew to 500 members, and four daughter congregations were planted.

As Nelson was flying back from a missions trip to Africa in 1991 he felt the Lord tell him, “I want you to be part of raising up 500 new churches.” At first he missed the “be part of” bit and tried to do it all himself, which didn’t work.

Then he realized God had a different plan. “My objective was to go and find the person in any particular country who had a vision for raising up churches on a large scale,” Nelson said. “After we found that individual, we would try to facilitate helping them fulfill the vision that God had placed in their heart.”

To carry out that plan, Nelson formed Agape Global Ministries in 1992.

“Our first objective was to develop a relationship with this individual,” Nelson said, “and then we began to work with them on a limited basis. We would help them buy a generator, a tent, an automobile…something just to get started, and, to be very honest, to see if we could trust them.

“As the relationship grew, we would take people from this country—as many as 20 or 30—on crusades overseas and begin to release funds to help.

“We would never put anything in our name. Whatever we built, whether land or buildings or vehicles, everything always stayed in the hands of the local ministry.

“We found when we developed a relationship with people in any particular country and gave them liberty to work with their people and their leadership, we found that the winning of souls has been phenomenal. In the last 12 years we’ve seen 917,000 people saved from this outreach.”

By 2001 AGM had “helped” plant 500 churches throughout 17 countries.

So when Johan Gous brought Steven Loots to Kingsport and asked to present their plan, Nelson was ready. Since then AGM has helped plant 268 more churches.

He had accepted the Lord while in high school, had gone on to obtain university and seminary degrees, and had pastored a church in his native South Africa for nearly nine years. Then, to see greater evangelism among the unreached, he had worked with several mission agencies. Through his years of on-the-ground experience as a pastor, evangelist and church planter he saw that the black African population was explosively ready to accept the gospel.

Yet the traditional missions paradigm proved disappointing. “Looking into the missions situation between 1998 and 1999, we discovered that it took as much as $200,000 to train, equip and send a foreign missionary to Africa,” Loots told Momentum, “and after that it took about $60,000 to keep him on the field. This meant that after five years it had cost half-a-million dollars to have him here.

“But that wasn’t the main problem,” Loots continued. “The problem was that after five years what was on the ground was merely one church and about three or four preaching points. That didn’t equate with the harvest potential we had discovered—the readiness of people willing to listen to the gospel and make a decision for the Lord.”

System Failure—

Loots talked with several African pastors and church planters. “Why are you planting a church here (in a town where a church already exists), rather than in your native village?” he asked.

He learned that after a man obtained a seminary education, he had no interest in returning to a village where there was no school, no fresh water supply, no sanitation, and no electricity.

“So why don’t you send someone from the village to be trained?” he would ask.

Again, the answer came, “If we could find the money to train him, there is so much evangelistic potential in the city that he would never go back.”

Though these pastors faithfully tended their flocks, most mission societies did not trust local leaders to initiate things on their own, including the planting of new churches. So the African preachers maintained a circuit of preaching points and maintained their flocks, but new churches were seldom planted.

From these findings, Loots began to seek a new model for missions: one that would make an affordable model unique to Africa and take advantage of the great potential for harvest. He came up with what he calls the “Hub Church Model” for planting churches and organized Harvester’s International Ministries in 1999 to implement it. The model utilizes the native African population and provides discipleship for believers as well as training of their leaders.

Empowering Leaders—

According to Loots, the missionaries did well at training a certain number of black African leaders; their weakness was their failure to empower them to fulfill their potential. So the first thing Loots looks for is a black African leader who has been theologically trained and is willing to adapt to the hub church model. When one agrees, he begins evangelizing neighboring villages within bicycling distance of his church. Sometimes he goes to a new strategic location. In either case, his goal is to establish a nucleus of believers in ten surrounding villages—selected because they have the potential of starting additional churches in three nearby villages.

In each village the locals are told that a church is being planted and not just a local preaching point. This has far-reaching consequences in how the locals view their own importance and accept responsibility in the new church plant. As groups of new believers gather for Bible study and prayer, the hub leader looks for rising leaders, and selects one from each nucleus to come to his church for training.

The new leaders begin a training course that meets one week out of every five weeks for several days. At the end of each training week, the leaders return to their local villages, taking them five weeks of preaching material with them. Not only is each leader trained; his people hear a fresh and doctrinally sound message every week and grow in maturity.

The course covers 30 units spread over three years. The village leader is never removed from his natural environment and is supported locally by his own people.

Since he doesn’t have money to pay for his instruction or course materials, his “tuition” is to plant one additional church each year of his training.

After three to six years, 40 churches are established and 10,000 believers discipled, with attendance ranging from 80 to 300 per church (in addition to the hub church). Those 40 churches also may plant additional churches, so the actual fruit from each hub leader may be even greater.  These are not “cell” churches, though some have Bible study groups.

“It is important not to transpose the changing American church landscape onto the African context,” Loots told Momentum. “Some groups are trying to establish ‘home churches’ and ‘cell churches’ into a context that is not ready for it. We work with rural people, most of whom are uneducated and few have a Christian background. There is a total lack of resources, and most do not even have a Bible. In this context the traditional church model with strong leadership works well. HIM strives to train up leaders for these churches.”

Phenomenal Growth—

Densin Mushitala, the HIM national leader for Zambia, affirms the program’s practicality: “When you send someone from his own village to another place, he will be a new person in that community, and then he needs accommodation, personal support, and support for his children to be in school. The HIM model is that we identify the local people within their areas. Then churches are planted, workers are trained, and you continue to do God’s work within that area.”

The cost of training a hub leader and sustaining a hub-church mission outreach is $250 per month. This orients the pastor to the hub-church model, and then provides Bibles, course materials and bicycles for his trainees. It costs about $14,500 to construct a well-built hub church center.

Key to the training process is a curriculum developed by Johan Gous when he was Executive Director of Timothy Training Institute. Gous now heads the Africa Division of Hope Builders International (HBI), an organization in the USA offering discipleship training to college-age young people and sending support for select indigenous ministries overseas. HIM is one of the groups HBI supports. Loots now uses the old TTI curriculum for HIM’s Harvesters Bible School.

The program has seen phenomenal growth. Loots began his discipling and church-planting program in Malawi in 2000, and a little later in Zambia and Congo.

By 2001 he and his team of African missionaries had planted 29 churches. Then, as expected, they began to multiply exponentially: from 29 in 2000, to 61 in 2001, to 125 in 2002, to 250 in 2003, to 620 in 2004, to 1,200 in 2005. Loots believes more than 2000 churches were planted by the end of 2006, though he won’t know the actual figure until March 2007.

Missions Excitement—

Much of this growth is possible because churches outside the African continent are catching the vision and supporting the program as part of their missionary outreach. After meeting Gous and Loots, a pastor in Virginia was intrigued by their approach. Eventually the church sent two teams to Africa with Gous and Loots. They liked what they saw.

“We require in-country oversight for any indigenous leaders we support,” the pastor said, “and Loots provides that oversight.”

The pastor and his church were so excited about the program that they hosted a meeting of interested pastors and church people in the tri-cities area of Bristol, Kingsport and Johnson City, Tenn. The 136 individuals from a dozen churches (including eight to ten pastors) who came gave a missions offering of $6,000 and made monthly commitments totaling $2,500.

Another church in Tennessee learned about HIM through Hope Builders and committed to help. “We want to become a global church that reaches and touches people around the world,” the church’s missions pastor said. “Our church is very much committed to evangelism and discipleship, and it seems this is where Hope Builders and HIM are focused.”

The congregation of nearly 1,000 derives its mission funds through a unified budget. About15% of their total intake goes to missions, which comes to between $12,000 and $14,000 per month. This is divided among a score of ministries, both local and abroad, and includes both indigenous and traditional missions. The church gave a one-time gift of $14,500 to construct a hub-church center and now supports two hub churches through HBI for $250 per month each.

It is important to understand the money is not supporting local churches. “No pastors are paid, no churches are supported,” Loots said. Both the hub pastor and the village pastors are supported by the local congregation. The outside funds go to provide transportation (bicycles), Bibles (expensive to procure and deliver to remote locations) and the printing of training materials.

When asked why he chose HBI, the missions pastor said, “They have cut so much of the red tape many organizations have to deal with. They’ve narrowed their scope of what they want to do, and they’re doing it well. And it’s working. They’re planting churches, discipling pastors, and starting more churches.”

Reaching the Unreached—

While the program relies heavily on the training of local leaders, unreached peoples are being reached. Loots has taken his program into the former Communist country of Mozambique, where hard-line Islam is widespread in the North. Thankfully, since 1990 President Johachím Chissanó and his Frelimo Party have instituted a market economy, an independent judiciary, and freedom of the press, and now welcome the work of missionaries.

Loots’s current campaign is to raise up one-million disciples. To do this will require the establishment of 100 hub churches and 4,000 village churches. He is sure the Mozambican soil is ready for such a great harvest. The question remains: Will the church at large care enough to partner with him?

HIM started working among the Makua (African spelling, also known as Makhuwa) in northern Mozambique at the end of 2005. This is Moazmbique’s largest unreached people group with 6.8 million population, according to the 2001 edition of Operation World. It is 92% Muslin and less than 1% Christian.

“We were able to identify 40 trained locals in two strategic cities,” Loots said. “Of these we appointed 22 as hub leaders. Our training staff – mostly South Africans, supported by Mozambicans from different areas and American partners – have trained these hub leaders in the model and visited the area with two short-term mission groups in 2006.

“The local hub leaders in 2006 subsequently planted over 200 new churches. We expect as many as 150 potential local leaders will commence their pastoral training during 2007.”

The HIM hub-church method may be the way to stave-off the onslaught of Islam. HIM’s national director for Malawi said, “In Malawi…Islam is coming like wildfire. They are building mosques almost every five kilometers. I’m afraid that their idea is to take over Malawi.”

“Please pray for us,” he continued, “because wherever Islam is, there is no peace. Malawi is a peaceful nation. We have never, never experienced war, but with the coming of Islam, for example, in June when there was a [gospel] crusade in Salima, one of our churches was burned to ashes.

“We could not have imagined these things ten years ago—destroying a church—because we respect that a church is where people go to worship the Lord. But today we know that Islam is not a peaceful religion; you can just see what it is doing.”

Same-Group Outreach—

While Loots does not disparage cross-cultural missions, he says that same-group outreach works best in Africa.

“Very few communities in Africa have no Christians,” he said. “HIM tries to find people God has prepared for the task of planting churches within their own community. No one can work better in a community than a local. In Africa where tribes, clans and even family groups often view outsiders with suspicion, it is a great advantage to be able to use locals.”

The in-country oversight is done by locals. The national, regional and district leaders are all black locals. However, a cross-cultural element exists. “Our training staff and even our national and regional directors, while ‘locals,’ are often of a different ‘culture’ and have to work cross culturally,” Loots said. “I happen to be a white South African and I do a lot of the training. American teams that help with training are mixed, but expatriate.”

Loots explains that for most of the local people HIM works with, travel is a major problem. In  many places roads are miserable or non-existent. Bus service is almost nil, and hitching a ride on a truck is risky. Most local workers could never maintain a vehicle if they were given one. That’s why outreach is limited to bicycling distance.

“Money is very limited and the world is very small,” he told Momentum.

“We encourage them to move beyond their village and their immediate area and plant churches around them. Most of these locally developed pastors will not become involved in cross-cultural work. However, our hub leaders are constantly used in outreaches and training situations outside of their context and even outside of their countries.”