by Dr. Joshua Bogunjoko, Deputy International Director for Europe and West Africa
15 May 2009

Mission vision has been growing in many African countries in recent years, and this is particularly so in West Africa. The last mission conference of the evangelical intervarsity group in Nigeria (Nigeria Fellowship of Evangelical Students—NIFES) attracted about 10,000 students according to reports from that conference, and several committed their lives to serve the Lord in mission.

A number of churches and organizations across West Africa are now engaged in sending missionaries beyond their borders, sometimes with mixed results. Others are seeking ways to develop their own capacity to send missionaries.

With these developments in mind, SIM has recognized that it’s time to be engaged once again in a meaningful and effective way in mission development in West Africa—just as we were in Nigeria more than 60 years ago. SIM was a pioneer in the development of the indigenous mission movement in West Africa, with the formation of the Evangelical Missionary Society in Nigeria around 1945. This organization predated the formation of ECWA church itself as a denomination.

"Why hasn’t he been a member all these years?"

Until now, many West Africans who felt called to serve with SIM have signed as 'field associates' rather than full members, simply because there was no office to process them. In fact, SIM has just received into membership a person who has been an associate for about 15 years. One of the pastors involved in the interview process, who has known the individual as a SIM missionary, was surprised that he was not a member, and asked, "Why hasn’t he been a member all these years?"

SIM’s records show that at the end of 2007 we had 53 field associates serving for at least two years. A number of these people had to sign associate agreements with field offices because there was no other office to process them.

Well qualified and gifted individuals who sense God’s call to one of SIM’s ministries have often been frustrated in their desire to make that call a reality. Sometimes it seems impossible because of the difficulty of working a sending function through a field office that’s not equipped to handle the complex processes involved.

Some fields and councils have already begun to address this problem, and have also challenged SIM’s international leadership to take steps to change the situation. That’s why SIM has decided that it’s time to open a partnering and processing office for West Africa.

We hope the establishment of this new office will: 1) strengthen SIM's New Initiatives in Mission (NIM) efforts in West Africa, 2) facilitate partnerships in mission with like-minded churches and organizations (eg EMS, EMA, CAPRO and others); and 3) facilitate ministry opportunities with SIM for West Africans and possibly other French-speaking Africans.

Focusing on what God would have you do

	Musa and Grace Dankyau, with their daughter Jemima, are a Nigerian family who will be served by the new office.

A physician, Musa became a Christian in 1988, when he was a medical student. Helped by the ministry of the Navigators and ECWA Seminary Church in Jos, Musa helped start the ECWA (Evangelical Church of West Africa) student ministry at the University of Jos. "We would often encourage ourselves," he said, "with the statement: 'the vision of our SIM founders will not die in our time.'"

After doing his residency training, Musa served as Director of Medical Services for ECWA. He was also involved in youth ministry in the local church and on the university campus during this time.

Grace, who is a lawyer, trained in Nigeria, but suspended legal practice to spend more time in ministry to children and young people. She worked as the first Director of Evangel Hospital's crisis pregnancy centre, before their daughter was born in 2006.

In July 2007 Musa attended SIM’s medical ministry consultation in Benin, and learned about some of the challenges faced by hospitals such as Galmi (Niger) and Bembereke (Benin), in terms of getting qualified medical staff. He commented, “Suddenly it seemed, for all our shortages at Evangel, here was a sister institution even more handicapped.” Musa and Grace prayed and, with the encouragement and support of SIM’s Joshua and Joanna Bogunjoko, decided to spend a short term at Galmi.

The Dankyaus planned to help set up a residency programme in Family Practice at Galmi Hospital, since this was what they considered to be their main area of gifting: training and developing others. But then it became clear that this would have to be the long-term vision. What was needed at the time was a physician who could provide some surgical coverage.

So that’s what Musa has been doing since arriving at Galmi. "I feel this is in line with SIM's frontier ethos," he said, "that is, focusing on doing what the Lord would have you do, rather than the thing you want to do."