Source: Wikipedia Commons

A Mennonite radio broadcast in 1958 prompted a group of African Independent Churches (African-Initiated Churches) in southeastern Nigeria to contact Mennonite Board of Missions (now Mennonite Missions Network). A year later, the first mission workers arrived. From 1959-1967, 47 Mennonite missionaries served in Nigeria as teachers, hospital staff, and vocational trainers. Eventually, 10 congregations joined to become the Mennonite Church of Nigeria.

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) began its program in Nigeria in 1963. Its Teachers Abroad Program (TAP) had nine teachers scattered in Nigeria in 1964. By 1970 that number had increased to 48. They were placed in government schools as well as church-operated ones. Not all the teachers were Mennonites. At one time only 6 of 17 arriving teachers were Mennonites.

When the Biafran war erupted in 1967, all North American Mennonite personnel were forced to leave the country. Institutions gradually disintegrated and disagreement split the Mennonite church.

Nigeria, 2008 Source: The World Factbook

After the war ended in 1970, MCC carried out relief work in the East Central State. In addition, they worked with Save the Children Fund. Three Pax volunteers worked with the Christian Council of Nigeria, the Faith and Farm program of the Church of Christ in Nigeria, and Sudan United Mission. As the relief needs declined they began a comprehensive rural health program.

In 1975 the goals of the MCC program were to (a) be a Christian witness in an over-missioned country; (b) provide quality education by supplying adequately trained teachers who are Christian; (c) supplement the teaching force of Nigeria in areas where insufficient numbers of Nigerian teachers were available; (d) assist agricultural and community development programs under Nigerian and longterm mission leadership; (e) provide an opportunity for cultural exchange within a Christian framework. After a program of universal primary education was achieved by the Nigerian government in 1975, MCC decided to strengthen its program because of the great need for teachers. A board of Nigerians was appointed to consult with MCC on its future directions in Nigeria.

Stanley and Delores Friesen, Mennonite Board of Missions, worked in the "Islam in Africa Project" in Ibadan, 1969-70, and Mennonite Brethren Board of Missions and Services had placed workers with the Sudan Interior Mission in Nigeria during this time period.

Mennonite Churches in Nigeria, 1987 Mennonite Encyclopedia, v. 5, p. 631

By 1980 MCC work had shifted to the Muslim area of the North with Jos as the headquarters. Greater emphasis was put on learning the languages of the area so as to become more deeply involved with local churches and communities. In 1986 the number of personnel had dropped to 13, because of fewer applicants, and also because of the shift from a mainly educational program to a rural community work program. Eleven years after first applying, MCC was registered in 1987 as an official organization with the Nigerian Federal Government.

Mennonite mission personnel were instrumental in helping heal the rift between the church factions and participated in the reunification process in the mid-1990s. In 2003 the Nigeria Mennonite Church Bible School started classes. The curriculum included an overview of biblical books and in-depth studies of the Gospels and Revelation; courses on Anabaptist theology, evangelism and mission, and training in practical leadership skills. The first group of church leaders graduated from the school in April 2005.

In 2006 the following Anabaptist groups were active in Nigeria: Church of God in Christ, Mennonite (Nigeria), with 398 members in 14 congregations; Mennonite Church of Nigeria, with 20,300 members in 44 congregations; and 10 independent and unaffiliated congregations with 123 members.

Bibliography

Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Waterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 5, pp. 631-632. All rights reserved. For information on ordering the encyclopedia visit the Herald Press website.

©1996-2009 by the Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. All rights reserved.