Becoming Missional

Why Nigeria?

Tuesday, 16 August 2011 09:24 Written by Alycia Abts

Why Choose Nigeria as a Place for Cross-Cultural Christian Ministry?

Nigeria is the 8th largest country in the world and the largest in Africa and growing rapidly. “According to the United States Census Bureau, the population of Nigeria will reach 402 million by 2050. Nigeria will then be the 4th most populous country in the world” (Wikipedia).

Nigerians are strong leaders who are influential in Africa and around the world. Although it is said that almost half of the country are Christians, many are still bound by fear of the spirit-world and do not fully understand the power of God. Most of the other half of Nigerians are Muslims. Unfortunately, many Nigerian believers do not know how to share the Gospel with their Muslim neighbors effectively. One of the big needs for cross-cultural workers is supporting Nigerian Christians in this ministry.

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Becoming a skilled language learner

Image for PILAT siteOne of the most useful things you can do to prepare for cross-cultural ministry is to take a language acquisition course. These courses do not teach a specific language (except as examples) but, rather, teach you how to learn any new language effectively. For that reason, you do not have to wait until you know where you will be serving. A the same time, you probably should not take such a course too long before you need it, so you don't forget what you learn.

PILAT is a popular course but there are others; consult with SIM or your own agency to learn more. If you can’t attend an actual course, consider using the LEARN! video series by the author of LAMP: Language Acquisition Made Practical .

Books

  • LAMP_book_coverLAMP: Language Acquisition Made Practical is an excellent resource for learning a language. If you can find an inexpensive copy before you arrive, you may want to get started on it. It seems to be out of print but see Lingua House where the author may still be selling it. SIM Nigeria has copies for its members. If you’re with another organization, they may also have copies.

Online Resources

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Preparing to Serve Abroad

Monday, 26 July 2010 15:52 Written by Mike Blyth

People often ask us, “How do you prepare to be a missionary?” Of course, the answer depends very much on the person's stage of life, background, spiritual history, and so on. It's important to remember that a “missionary” can be many things … an engineer, agricultural expert, accountant, administrator, physics teacher, artist, photographer … rather than being limited to what often comes to mind—a pastor, Bible translator, nurse or doctor.

One good site to check for information is askamissionary.com, where there are hundreds of questions answered such as Why do many missionaries join agencies? and Should I skip a degree and go into missions now? A sister site is http://www.preparingtogo.com, where there is are video interviews with missionaries, suggestions for finding missionary mentors and other resources.

You can also check How to Prepare to Become a Missionary on the World Christian Missionary Resources site, where there are many useful comments as well as the main article.

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