Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with over 200 million people, all in need of God’s amazing grace.
It’s here that SIM had its beginnings with the founding fathers landing on African soil in 1893, looking to penetrate the interior of the continent with God’s life-giving word.
Today, it is a country in some turmoil. The south still holds primarily to Christian belief, while the north is almost fully Muslim, with many northern states under Sharia law. These differences cause the middle belt of the country to experience tension between the two, and many internally displaced people (IDPs) result from the unrest that breaks out. There are still areas where Boko Haram is active, and religious and economic kidnappings are a common reality. Yet, God’s presence is strong and visible.
Working within this setting, SIM provides various ministries, including a Faithful Witness outreach team in the core north. Faithful Witness is a SIM initiative seeking to build and send teams together to do church planting where the name of Christ is least known.
As in many other countries, SIM in Nigeria also partners with other organisations to meet needs. Living in Jos, the capital of Plateau state in central Nigeria, I have been involved for the past year with City Ministries, which is led by EMS, the missionary arm of ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All).
City Ministries follows Christ’s example of demonstrating love for people through ministry focused on both proclaiming the word and providing compassionate care, and Nigeria has much need for both. City Ministries had its beginnings 25 years ago helping street children but now has three main focuses for ministry.
The first focus is urban outreach from our Gidan Bege centre (Hausa for “House of Hope”). Here, we reach vulnerable and marginalised groups in and around Jos with the love of Jesus. Every Tuesday, street children are still reached with a weekly programme where they are fed, washed, medically examined and taught from the Word of God. There is also a team that visits brothels, prisons, detention centres and hospitals, as well as gives help to the disabled and displaced. Gidan Bege also runs two additional centres—the first assists widows through a tailoring business, and the second is a care centre for women needing shelter or post-recovery care from addiction.
The second ministry focus is Kings Kids, which has eight centres in Jos and surrounding states that house approximately 350 children. These homes have local Nigerian house parents and centre leaders caring for the needs of the children. Due to concerns over the standard of education and desiring to have a Christian ethos in the schools, Kings Kids started three schools attached to our larger centres, offering both academic and vocational streams. Because more children are coming through the centres, Kings Kids added a life experience home to help those who have graduated secondary school to learn a skill before they are thrust out into the world of independence.
The third ministry focus is a rural outreach programme to the North using cow vaccinations to reach the Fulani herdsmen and their families. We praise God for testimonies of Muslims coming to know Christ through this means.
It’s hard for me to share briefly what most strikes me about my new place of ministry. What I see is a country that is struggling to run effective services for its people, where the church has had to play a much bigger role to help. Literacy and schooling are far poorer than in South Africa. However, the heart of people puts me to shame. Like the widow’s mite, people will give of the very little they have to help one another, without complaint.
I have been blessed to be part of multiple aspects of the work, from participating in outreach and discipleship (with the teenage girls under Kings Kids and with the women and children in the Jenta township) to overseeing finances and building projects, as well as assisting with business classes and self-sustaining projects to help reduce the dependence on overseas support. The business classes complement the skills training that the young people and widows are receiving.
Esther’s story is typical of those that I’ve heard during this year. Esther was given away as a baby because her mother had lost multiple babies and was afraid that Esther would also die. The lady who took her in saw to her primary schooling, but then expected Esther to work for her keep, so at age 13, she was on the streets trying to sell a few wares. At 14, she was married, having met a boy and hoping that he would be a way out of her predicament.
In God’s grace, a neighbour took an interest in Esther and brought her to church. It was here that she first learnt that she was not abandoned but had a loving heavenly father. Now in her mid-forties, Esther has been coming faithfully to because here she can ask her questions and discuss the Bible truths, which is not practised in many churches. City Ministries helped her set up a small eatery that now supports her family. If you hear Esther pray, you know that she and God have walked a long road together.
I thank God “that he who calls us is faithful, and he will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24) and that we can rely on his strength. I thank God also that the local church is leading much of this ministry, but due to the scope, there is still much to be done. If God is calling you to step out in faith, there are opportunities for both short- and long- term service, anywhere from a few weeks to years. May we continue to be faithful in our witness until the whole earth is full of His glory.
