A Strategy for Church Planting Among the Unreached People Groups of Northern Nigeria: Kambari People of Kebbi State, A Case Study

Abstract

PROBLEM: Elder Jacob J. Hyde was the missionary that brought the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) message to northern Nigeria in 1932. His objective was to establish Adventism among every tribe and people group of northern Nigeria with Southern Kaduna as his base. Northern Nigeria accounts for about half of the population of the country which is about 90 million people, whereas the current Adventist membership in the northern Nigerian union is only 45,000 baptized. Out of this, about 80% come from one ethnic group, leaving scores of ethnicities un-entered. As a result, there is a desperate need to develop a church planting strategy for the aggressive expansion of the SDA mission in Northern Nigeria. METHOD: Current relevant literature on church planting was consulted which gave rise to the need of qualitative and quantitative approach of research. The quantitative method exposed the researcher to the feelings of people through the analysis conducted in the questionnaires, while the qualitative aspect explains why those feelings exist. The results of the interviews, focused groups discussions and key informant interactions, armed the researcher enough to organize an evangelism summit themed “MISSION REFOCUSING CONFERENCE” as an intervention strategy aimed at ameliorating the condition of the church in northern Nigeria by making it a church planting movement. At the summit, church planting funds were solicited, church planting teams were established who received various trainings on church planting and were put to work. RESULT: After the summit, these church planting teams were giving various trainings on how to give contextual bible studies, conduct cultural exegesis, prayer as a strategy, and how to contextualize as missionaries in new cultures. After receiving training, one team was sent out for a church planting expedition in Kambari land, Kebbi state. As a result, a church was planted with 7 people baptized, which also gave birth to another church instantly. CONCLUSION: The implementation of the intervention strategy underpinned and stimulated the yearnings of most pastors and laity on the need to spread out the Adventist mission across all ethnicities in northern Nigeria. The result of the church plant confirmed that the mission of evangelization is a possible task.