Term Paper on "Nigeria -- Unreached People Spread"

Term Paper 12 pages (3525 words) Sources: 6

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Their work was dutiful and selfless. They lived with the slaves, among the slaves and with the Native Americans. They lived with Cherokee tribes and Delaware tribes too (Edmund, 1976).

The native workers of the Moravian Church are carrying out their duties in former mission provinces. Tanzania is the new location for Christian missionary work in east Africa. William Carey was inspired by Moravian work in South Africa. The British Baptist missions were also inspired to great lengths. Seven of the ten Moravians are working in a mission field and hail to every race except a Caucasian. In the 1900's, the efforts had increased due to the Lausanne I: The International Congress on World Evangelization in Switzerland in 1974. The evangelical groups send Christian missionaries to every part of the world. This work is still being carried out along with distribution of Bibles, Jesus' sermons and founding evangelical churches in every part of the world (Olaniyan, 1985).

By the 20th century, the focus was to reach every segment of the world spreading the word of Christianity. The Campus Crusade had Bill Bright's, Southern Baptist International Mission Board, Joshua project and many others brought to light far flung regions and groups. Christian bible reached them telling them about the Christian god. These organizations focused on targeted groups rather than on a country. People group consists of ethno-linguistic group who share the same values and identity. There are two words combined into one; linguistic and ethno. Language segments a group with its separate identity. Apart from language, ethnicity determines their segregation from other groups (Olaniyan, 1985).

The churches aspire to collaborate together. It is a huge success story for churches and Christian missionaries. Friendly relations and cooperation is required and expected at all times. Working across international borders, friendly ties are necessary. Gospel messages are shared and each other's work is reviewed. The Christian missionaries have become accustomed to cultural boundaries and nuisances they create when stimulated. Thus, collaboration is required (Olaniyan, 1985).

As the years have gone by, the church of Global South has risen through the ranks (in Asia, Latin America and Africa). It is a force to be reckoned with in mission work. African and Korean missionaries are seen all over the globe. The church took a different course in history after their work (Olaniyan, 1985).

Nigeria, Brazil and some other countries have sent huge Christian missionaries all over the world and build churches. The nonwestern missionaries are dedicated and unparalleled in their work. They don't rely on western resources and amenities to live a comfortable life while preaching to a new culture and population (Olaniyan, 1985).

The majority of the work is done by QIC. It stands for Qua Iboe Church in Nigeria. United Evangelical Church is the name to be exact. It has been working there since 1887. It is home to 80,000 members and 1000 congregations. It was the work of an Irish missionary. Samuel Bill was the initial missionary who worked with Qua Iboe Mission. Now it is called Mission Africa. It is present in Belfast. The church and mission were named after the place they were founded in -- Qua Iboe River. Since 1984, church and missions have worked separately. They still work in close coordination (Okoye, 2000).

Christianity spread in Nigeria after many tumultuous years. Islam was the mainstay religion. Christianity is widely seen in southern Nigeria where different ethnic groups are seen. Igbo, Yoruba and Ibibio Efik exist here. The slave trade started in great vigor in 14th century when the Portuguese entered Nigeria; they traded slaves for copper and brass. These slaves were held captive when tribes fought with one another. The southern portion of Nigeria didn't accept Christianity that was propagated by Portuguese at the time. Their efforts bit dust. The impact was quite strong after slave trade was abolished by the British Empire (Okoye, 2000).

The 18th century in Europe is termed as age of enlightenment. Human freedom and individualism prevailed in this era. Slavery was degraded and scrapped off as men are equals in the eyes of god. Parliament abolished the concept of slavery in 1833. Slavery was deemed as a prized possession to Nigerians as well as British government too. British government had to make sure that it captured some portions of Nigeria first and also ensure that Nigerians could become producers of some items. British government insisted the Nigerians to stop slave trade and trade palm oil instead (Okoye, 2000).

As British reigned supreme in Africa, the Christian missionaries could commence their work in Nigeria. The word of god was spread around and slave trading was deemed as a sin. Nigeria became an ideal location for Christian missionaries. Thomas Freeman in 1842 established the first Methodist church in a village called Abeokuta in south of Nigeria. CMS which stands for Church Missionary Society came to this village later. Islam was more popular in the northern region. The northern Nigerians were not ready to give up Islam that easily. The Christian missionaries were frustrated as the northern population resisted violently to Christianity. They were staunch Muslims. Also, the priests found the region to be completely inhospitable. The forests, the insects, the pests, mosquitos causing malaria and tsete fly caused sleeping problems. Traveling in these regions was very uncomfortable. Nigerian forests were forbidden zones for priests who feared disease. The rivers of Nigeria were not travel friendly either. Civil wars made it difficult to travel and languages were also different in these regions. That's why; the Christian missionaries remained in southern Nigeria and worked there. Lagos was the main focus and port cities were converted into Christianity regions. Islam had a weak support here (Okoye, 2000).

On the other hand, Christianity presented no advantages which exceeded those given by Islam (Okoye, 2000).

The Christian missionaries spread Christianity in the Nigerian landscape. They also gave the slaves their rightful freedom in British colonies. Slavery was declared unlawful in British Empires as slaves came back to their humble abodes. Freetown was the city where most slaves returned to. It's the capital city of Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone became the epicenter of black missionaries trying to spread Christianity. Sierra Leone was first hit by the wave of Christianity before any African country (Okoye, 2000).

CMS was established in 1799 by men aligned with Sierra Leone Company. Ex-slaves from Freetown commenced migration from West Africa. Largest migration was from Lagos in Nigeria. Lagos was quite an appealing venue for missionaries. The case of Sierra Leone was repeated. Thus, Lagos was segmented into many churches and parishes. The same case of Freetown was occurring in Lagos. In 1887 the city was made into a native pastorate (Okoye, 2000).

With induction of Christianity in southern Nigeria, the political landscape of Nigerian changed forever (Okoye, 2000).

With the increased amount of churches, the followers increased and society also changed for that matter. The Christian churches commenced the spread of Christian ideas in African landscape which elevated opposition from the Muslim group. In the year of 1889, Lambeth declared polygamy illegal. He stated that "he declared it as a threat to the entire Nigerian setup" (Okoye, 2000).

The zero tolerance level of church fueled hatred and revolts started. People rose together against Christianity. Conflicts were soon created. Many people made their own churches and amalgamated Muslims and Christian beliefs in it. The southern portion of Nigeria was accepting Islam rapidly. Islam was the popular religion because it promoted Nigerian belief system. Thus, the Christian missionaries considered Islam as the fundamental religion in Nigeria. Apparently, conflicts rose between Islam and Christianity (Okoye, 2000).

Looking at the Nigerian country from the bird eye view, the northern portion is Muslim while the southern portion is Christian. Many conflicts exist all across the world due to different religions being unable to agree. When a new religion enters a country dominated by another religion, after effects are apparent. In the state of Kaduna in Nigeria, there has been active friction between Christians and Muslims for that matter. It's a Christian majority state with Hausa/Fulani Muslims in handful amounts. The friction dates long before arrival of British in the region. Most agree that the government didn't address the issue appropriately. The population in majority is Christian but the Hausa/Fulani group rules over them. The quarrels over language, religion, politics and resources have spiraled many conflicts. Thus, Muslims rule supreme in this region with cause's discontentment. The legislation done is not accepted by many and Christians are deemed as an outcast (Okoye, 2000).

In the past twenty years, the amount of Muslims-Christians have elevated to new heights. In the winter of 1994, a sect of Muslims called Shiites killed Goron Dutse in cold blood. The murdered was accused of cleaning the toilet with the Holy Quran. Goron Dutse was arrested, but fundamental Shiite group broke the security parameters and severed the head of Goron. There was no uprising from Igbo community and the Christian community. People kept the raging anger… READ MORE

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