EMQ » January–March 2018 » Vol. 54 Issue 1
by Sung Bauta
George Janvier began serving in Nigeria in 1985, and as missionary lecturer at the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS) in 1990. In those 30 years, Janvier trained hundreds of students and church planters in Nigeria and beyond. His students today are leading significant ministries as pastors, missionaries, Bible teachers, and leaders in Christian ministries. The ministry of Janvier with Serving in Mission (SIM) cannot be quantified. However, Janvier’s abiding conviction is that prayer is foundational to the success of Christian life and ministry (Janvier 2014).
In this article, I will undergird how central prayer has been to the work of the Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS), an indigenous mission agency in Nigeria founded by SIM. I will conclude with some missional implications for Christian mission today.
EMS of ECWA: A History of Prayer
SIM’s first missionaries were burdened for people in the interior of Africa, specifically the colonial area known as Central Sudan. To facilitate evangelistic outreach of African Christians, SIM organized a mission society known as African Missionary Society (AMS) in 1948. Through this body, the burden of missions was passed onto the indigenous Christians. Churches established by the missionaries were organized into an indigenous denomination known as the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in 1956. The AMS would eventually become the Evangelical Missionary Society (EMS) of ECWA. Since its inception as AMS in 1948, EMS has sent hundreds of African missionaries to preach the Gospel and establish churches among those without a personal relationship with Jesus. God continues to use EMS missionaries towards the expansion of the Kingdom of God in Nigeria, in other parts of Africa, and beyond.
As already noted, the history of EMS began far away from Nigeria with those who were burdened for the vast unreached peoples of the world. The Holy Spirit put a burden on the heart of a Mrs. Gowans in Canada. She spent several years praying for the salvation of souls in Africa, especially in the Sudan. She believed that unless some missionaries had the courage to take the gospel to West Africa (the “white man’s graveyard”), the people there would remain in darkness. It was her prayers, borne out of this deep burden for Africa, that led to the founding of the SIM.
God answered the prayers of Mrs Gowans in an incredible way. Her son, Walter Gowans, answered God’s call to go as a missionary to the part of the Sudan now known as Nigeria. Two others, Thomas Kent, an American, and Rowland Bingham, an English Canadian, soon joined Gowans. They faced several obstacles, especially in fund raising. But they were unfazed by their challenges. This was because “in prayer and in faith, they were able to foresee the joy (Ps. 126:5,6)” (Oshatoba 1994, 8). They arrived at Badagry, Lagos, on December 4, 1893 with only about thirty British pounds among the three of them. There was no mission agency at home, only the Lord in whom they relied. They maintained confidence in God throughout their mission. It is no wonder that SIM’s motto includes prayer. In fact, their song in those early days was, “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to God alone; Laughs at impossibilities and cries, it shall be done!”
The prospect of death did not deter these young pioneers. In fact, upon landing in Badagry, an older missionary told them, “You will never see the Sudan, your children will never see the Sudan, your grandchildren may.” (Bingham 1943) They heard many such statements as well as stories of illnesses and deaths, but they persisted in their quest to take the gospel to the interior of the Sudan. Their compassion for lost people drove them through the “thick, dark and dangerous African tropical forest” (Baba 2009, 23). They were not going to allow anything discourage them from the vision of seeing the Sudan won for Christ. However, less than a year after arriving in Africa, Gowans became sick and died on November 17, 1894. He was buried in the bush at Girku. Soon thereafter, Thomas Kent also became sick and died on December 8, 1894. He was buried near Bida, one of the Muslim cities in the middle belt of Nigeria. Although the accounts of their funerals are not known, it is evident that there were funeral services held for both. They died in a foreign land without seeing the fruit of their labor.
Of the three pioneering missionaries only Rowland Bingham remained. He would escape the clutches of death when he suffered a severe malaria attack, which forced him to return to the USA and Canada. He visited Mrs. Gowans to return the few possessions of her late son. Upon receiving the items, Mrs. Gowans took Bingham’s hands and said, “I would rather have had Walter go out to the Sudan, and die there, all alone, than have him home today disobeying the Lord” (Bingham, 25). Such devotion from Mrs. Gowans inspired several generations of SIM missionaries, including Bingham himself. He refused to give up despite the seeming failure of the mission. He continued to appeal to churches “requesting more prayer and more workers” (Baba, 23). God moved the hearts of others to join him on his second attempt to reach the Sudan with the gospel. However, this also ended in failure to penetrate the hearts of the people. Bingham described these earliest attempts as years of death and darkness (Bingham, 9-28).
It was on the third attempt, in 1902, that four missionaries – E.A. Anthony, Charles Robinson, Albert Taylor, and A.W. Banfield – established a mission station in Patigi, hundreds of miles inland from Lagos. However, such progress was short-lived, as two of the missionaries returned home and another died. The first female missionary, Miss Clothier, joined the missionary effort. But she soon died and was buried on African soil. Ian Hay, describing the earliest years of SIM, noted, “In fourteen years SIM had more missionary graves than converts” (SIM Now, 1996).
It was not until the fifteenth year that signs of fruitfulness became visible. The first converts were baptized at Patigi in 1908, followed by steady growth. News of this fruit reached Bingham in Canada who cheerfully welcomed the news. By 1910, seven additional stations were opened in Bida, Wushishi, Egbe, Paiko, Kpada, Karu, and Kwoi. Entering Egbe on his visit to witness the positive response to the gospel, Bingham noted:
As we drew near, we were met, not with the shouts of the heathen, but with the songs of converts. No longer half-naked savages, but clothed Christians, they bade us welcome in the name of the Lord. They wanted to carry us in a kind of triumphant procession. But it was the day of the triumph of the Lamb, and we asked the scores of happy believers to lead us. We are not given to emotion, but all the pent-up longing of years burst out in tears of joy we could not restrain. (Ibid.).
In short, these words indicate that, for Bingham, all the years of struggle, illness, poverty, and death had proven to be worthwhile. New converts possessed evangelistic zeal. Through SIM’s basic methods that included literacy, basic Bible teaching, and apprenticeship, new converts were taught to share their faith. By 1920, there were about twenty mission stations. Growth continued until SIM missionaries opened over a thousand stations across Nigeria. (Turaki, 177-184).
Prayer featured in the most pivotal moments of SIM. First, God answered the faithful prayers of Mrs. Gowans by moving her son to accept the challenge to go to the Sudan as a missionary. In his last letter, Walter Gowans, while soliciting support, implored people to pray for the missionary ventures to the Sudan. He noted the challenges of entering the Sudan. When people told him to wait for the time when the Sudan would be more open to the gospel, he responded, “My friends, I cannot but believe that, as in other things, so in this, God’s time is now!” (Oshatoba, 1). In fact, Gowans believed that God does not close any door to the gospel. He was convinced that the only way to fail in the mission was to lack faith in God. In this regard, he held that even death was not a failure.
Second, after unloading their baggage and bidding farewell to the boat crew that brought them, Banfield writes, inter alia, that as soon as the boat left, they all knelt under a tree and prayed. (The Sudan Witness, 1893-1953). They attributed the success of establishing the first mission station to prayer, because they did not only find the mud houses they needed, but were also treated kindly by the king of Patigi. This first harvest was a major turning point in the history of SIM, and, consequently, EMS.
EMS of ECWA: A Heritage of Prayer
EMS has not forgotten this heritage of prayer. Up till today, prayer guides EMS’ missionary efforts across the globe. These efforts include several projects in which EMS is currently engaged. First, EMS has approximately 1,813 missionaries on the field worldwide, which includes over 140 cross-border missionaries in 18 countries, requiring US$167,000 support every month.
Second, EMS also provides transportation for its missionaries to their locations, to visit missionaries and supporting churches, and to survey unreached areas. Next, EMS provides medical services to communities, operating four clinics to provide healthcare for those to whom they minister. EMS also manages a “House of Hope” to care for widows and orphans. The women acquire skills to be self-sustaining, while the children receive primary education to give them a chance at a better life.
In addition, EMS manages about 35 non-profit schools. A major purpose of the schools is to provide both affordable and quality education for the missionaries’ children, although it is open to others as well. Moreover, the EMS central office manages the logistics of sending missionaries on both foreign and local fields, supervising the clinics, and ensuring that retired missionaries are cared for. This includes pension remittance of US$333,415.
These projects require both material and human resources. The EMS Director, Simon Yako, states that what makes it possible to influence people to give towards the work of EMS is prayer. Currently, the two major points of prayers for EMS include: (1) To raise financial support, and (2) To raise workers for the most dangerous areas of the world. Yako testifies of how God is raising financial support and people from unlikely places. For instance, Audu Akawu has consistently given to the work of EMS. What is unique about Akawu is that other than his meager income, he has no arms and he is blind; but he donates US$1.39 every month for EMS. He has become a poster-child for EMS’ fundraising efforts. While financially well-to-do individuals and organizations support EMS, people at the grassroots are also being used by God to support the work of EMS.
Furthermore, EMS has been trusting God to raise workers for the areas in the Northern part of Nigeria. Northern Nigeria is not only predominantly Muslim, but Northeastern Nigeria is the region where the militant sect, Boko Haram, has wreaked havoc for more than a decade. There is need for workers in states such as Yobe, which has also suffered the Boko Haram onslaught. The stories of missionaries in remote places like these are quite heart wrenching. Yako attributes their resolve to serve amidst the challenges to the important role that prayer plays in the lives of the missionaries.
EMS missionaries are not only involved in reaching out to people with the gospel, they are also involved in emergency relief work. In fact, you cannot do missions without providing relief in Nigeria. Since EMS started sending missionaries, they have always encountered many widows and orphans who needed care. Due to the persistence of violence in some parts of the world, EMS missionaries are prepared to preach the gospel and provide emergency relief for the growing number of widows and orphans who make up most of the thousands of internally displaced peoples (IDPs) in Northern Nigeria. Moreover, because of increased dangers and persistent crisis, in 2011 EMS developed a “crisis desk” on a permanent basis.
Above all, it is the prayers of people that EMS covets most to meet the challenges of its work in the 21st century. In a monthly newsletter, the EMS Director sends to partners across the world, an important line is included: “We at EMS are continually inspired by the dedication and commitment of prayer partners like yourself who answer the call to pray again and again.” Yako and his staff devote themselves to individual and collective prayer. This underscores that, for EMS, prayer is essential to fulfilling its mission.
MISSIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Prayer enhances an ever-widening vision: The burden that Mrs. Gowans felt that led to her revolutionary prayers, served as a catalyst for worldwide mission today. Little did she know that her prayers would lead to the founding of SIM, and, subsequently, to EMS. But as SIM and EMS missionaries continue her legacy of fervent prayer, they have witnessed an expansive vision today. A fascinating trend in world mission is the fact that one time “mission fields” have now become sending centers. For instance, EMS missionaries are now serving in America. Moreover, the vision has widened from preaching the gospel to social action.
Prayer provides a holistic lens: While EMS had always engaged in some form of holistic mission, 2011 became a turning point in the ways that EMS missionaries approach ministry. Providing physical and emotional support ceased to be a secondary initiative; but became integral to the proclamation of the gospel. One might say that EMS was forced to adopt such a vision due to persistent violence; however, if EMS were not in tune with God’s Spirit, they would not have embraced such a vision.
Prayer highlights God’s faithfulness: Yako notes that EMS still exists because God is faithful to his word. He tells of the time when people entertained scrapping EMS due to insufficient support. However, God honored the prayers of his people. Consequently, EMS continues to thrive, expanding across the globe. It is important to note that EMS came into existence before ECWA, the indigenous church that now manages it. Consequently, EMS has not always depended on the resources of ECWA, especially at its nascent stage of existence. This has enabled EMS to maintain more independence from ECWA today than the other departments that ECWA manages.
EMS’ devotion to prayer underscores the need for total dependency on the Lord. E.M. Bounds spent years researching and reflecting on prayer. In his book, The Weapon of Prayer, he writes, “Nothing is well done without prayer for the simple reason that it leaves God out of the account” (Bounds 1996). EMS is proof that including God in the equation is the key to accomplishing God’s mission.
Bibliography
Baba, Panya. A Vision Received, A Vision Passed On: The History of EMS of ECWA, 1948-1998. Jos, Nigeria: Gajofa, 2009.
Bingham, Rowland. Seven Sevens of Years and a Jubilee: The Story of the Sudan Interior Mission. Toronto, Canada: Evangelical Publishers, 1943.
Bounds, E.M. The Weapon of Prayer. Virginia Beach, VA: Whitaker, 1996.
Janvier, George. Growing in the Ministry of Prayer: A Guide for Spiritual Growth. Bukuru: Africa Christian Textbooks, 2014.
Oshatoba, Seth A. SIM/ECWA Voices and Statistics. Jos: Challenge Press, 1994.
SIM Now. Spring 1996.
Sudan Witness, 1893-1953.
Turaki, Yusufu. A Century of SIM/ECWA History in Nigeria, 1893-1993: Theory and Practice of Christian Missions in Africa (Jos, Nigeria: ECWA Book Trust, 1999), 177-184.
Sung Bauta is a Ph.D. candidate at Asbury Theological Seminary, with women in mission being his focus for research. He is currently an adjunct professor of Bible and Ministry at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, Missouri and a visiting lecturer at the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary in Nigeria, where he will return to teach full time.
