First Sabbath Offering for a church in Nigeria
Nigeria is a vast country, situated in the west central part of Africa. It borders Niger to the north, Benin to the west, Chad and Cameroon to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. With around 174 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, and the seventh most populous nation in the world. It was recently recognized as having the largest economy in the African continent. The official language is English, though there are a large number of native languages spoken in the country.
The main religions are Islam (50.4%) and Christianity (48.2%). Among Christians: 24.8% are Catholic and 74.1% are Protestant.
The message of Reformation came to Nigeria decades ago, but the conflict between Islam and Christianity has hampered the growth of our work. By God’s grace our brothers and sisters, moved by missionary zeal and love for Christ, are spreading the message to thirsty souls.
There are two missions in Nigeria—the Nigerian Central Mission and the Nigerian East Mission. The believers in the Central Mission have made great missionary efforts and new interests have joined them as a result. However, their place of worship now needs to move from a private home to something more representative of our church.
A brother from the U.S.A. generously donated almost 5 acres of land. However, the resources are still scarce for the construction of a house of worship. Therefore, we call upon the help of our brothers and sisters around the world to give generously of their means to help us with this construction project.
“The Lord has marked every phase of missionary zeal that has been shown by His people in behalf of foreign fields. He designs that in every home, in every church, and at all the centers of the work, a spirit of liberality shall be shown in sending help to foreign fields, where the workers are struggling against great odds to give the light to those who sit in darkness.”—Gospel Workers, p. 465.
We pray the Lord will bless all who directly or indirectly respond to this appeal for our brethren and sisters in Nigeria.
The Regional Secretary for Africa