Connecting US Churches with Nigerian Missions

That was the overall goal of the trip - to see how congregations here can connect with efforts of the Nigerian Anglican Church in its work among unreached peoples.

That is not an easy task. In my experience I have found that we in the West are so used to being the initiators of mission that we naturally assume that role, even when it doesn't fit. This is a case in point - seeking how to attach ourselves to something already going on in Nigeria and going quite well, thank you very much, before we arrived on the scene. The specific group is the Fulani nomads of West Africe, 20 million of them and 9 million residing in Nigeria.

I suggested, as a way for us to get a handle on the situation, that we come up with "100 ministry options" for us and the Nigerian Fulani mission. That is an essential piece of training for Strategy Coordinators. First they do the research on their group, then they examine the needs and the resources, then the 100 options.

For us thinking about 100 options took us into some profound thinking about what is and what isn't appropriate. For instance one of us pointed out early on that giving money is the least sacrificial way of connecting. We agreed to put writing checks at number 100. We also agreed that urging one of us to return to Nigeria and train as a Fulani evangelist would be pretty stupid. That was number 99.

But we did some good thinking and worked through the scenario with prudent and plausible results.