Search: “africa”

There remain pioneer challenges, despite recent church growth. Pray for: The seven northern and northeastern provinces, which are strongly traditional Catholic; relatively few evangelical churches exist. Brethren, Baptists, AoG, GEM, TEAM, ECM, Missão Antioquia and several other missions all have church-planting programmes in the area. The four provinces in the south that are poorer and […]

Northern Zones There is a great need for Nigerian missionaries to ensure that the costly gains in church growth are not lost. The Nigerian Church is burdened for this area and knowledgeable because of the good research done. Pray for the sending of workers, from the scores of denominations and churches who will be well […]

Southern Zones The oil industry has polluted the pristine agricultural land of millions, but only an elite (or corrupt) few have benefited. In this environmental disaster, natural gas is wasted, the land is degraded and the sea polluted. After many years of increasingly violent protests and struggles, both the federal government and oil companies have […]

Missions vision. Nigeria is one of the leading missionary-sending countries of the developing world. Pray for: Nationwide mission networks. The Movement for African National Initiatives (MANI), Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA) and Agape Missions and Evangelical Network (AMEN) all play huge roles in pushing forward the mission impetus started at the 1974 Lausanne Congress on […]

Literature is vital for the maturation of the Church, especially in the areas of discipleship, Bible studies and theology. These are avidly sought after, but in short supply. The number of bookstores is very few, given the number of Christians. Pray for: Nigerian authors. Many megachurch pastors write copiously, but the topics are the same […]

Africa and Nigeria’s greatest spiritual challenge is discipleship, not Islam, not corruption, and not even the need for missions. The Church grew so fast that many new believers have little chance to be discipled. Much division and false teaching enters into churches. Prosperity teaching distorts the gospel. A form of Christianity mixed with African tribal […]

Specific religious communities needing prayer and attention are many; Nigeria’s religious context is highly complex and varied beyond the obvious domination of the Christian-Muslim dynamic. The major blocs are: Muslims. Many are more open to the gospel despite – or even because of – Nigeria’s religious tensions. Tens, and possibly hundreds, of thousands have come […]

Ministry challenges among specific population segments include: Young people and schools. Legally, religious education should be given to all in schools. This is a great opportunity to engender religious understanding and explain the gospel, but Christian religious education teachers are limited in number and resources. With help from the International Institute for Christian Studies, government […]

Church growth has been massive and remains so. A large majority of West Africa’s evangelicals live in Nigeria. Nigeria has the world’s 4th, and possibly 3rd, highest number of evangelicals in the world. Catholics, Anglicans, traditional Protestant groups, and newer Pentecostal and charismatic groups all grow. Much growth comes from among Muslims and those who […]

New Zealand’s cultural diversification continues apace as the nation’s prosperity, stability and freedoms attract immigrants. But natural increase now outstrips immigration as the largest cause of population growth (much is attributed to higher birthrates in minority populations). Challenges remain to meaningfully employ and to integrate some of these groups into the broader society. Two-thirds of […]