19 December 2005
After returning from Nigeria, Jon Shea reported, "Missions in West Africa is no longer about the just Western efforts... had you noticed?"

I want to encourage you with the following brief report on missions in Nigeria and suggest that other countries are also awakening to missionary vision.

The Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association [NEMA] executives were meeting in Jos as I was leaving last week and I was able to join part of one session. In a letter to his members [Nigeria SIM Director] Phil Tait summarised the Congress like this:

NEMA held a Congress this week for Mission and church executives. A key part of this congress was to promote a vision as follows: "A strategic mobilization of 50,000 Nigerian missionaries in 15 years (2020) to overrun the entire North Africa, Arabian Peninsula up until Jerusalem." At present it is estimated that member organisations of NEMA have 4,700 missionaries [SIM has only 1600!]. Mobilizing 50,000 missionaries is an exciting faith task."

Jon continues: "The speaker insisted that Nigeria is intended to fulfill God's purpose to look north and not enjoy a comfortable life at home. I would estimate perhaps 50 executives present with no more than three Westerners in the room. And this is not a Western missionary speaking." God is continuing to build HIS church.

Coming alongside emerging mission movements in non-Western countries is a high priority for SIM. We are not only a church-planting mission but a mission-planting mission.

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Our recent magazine was entirely dedicated to this topic: From the Ends of the Earth.