Women in Mission , livre ebook

Victor Hugo is credited with saying, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” In this book, Lami Ibrahim has taken a recent form of African Feminism popularized by Obioma Nnaemeka, called Nego-feminism, or “no ego” feminism, and has introduced it to the SIM/ECWA women of Nigeria. For too long women in African churches have been kept in the background and not placed in key leadership positions, even though they constitute the majority of the labor force for most churches. Lami, who is fully qualified educationally and experientially to speak on behalf of the women of SIM/ECWA as well as for women in mission throughout Africa, has given powerful expression to the idea that it is time that indigenous women who have made significant contributions to the mission of SIM/ECWA be fully recognized and integrated into the larger story of ECWA. She makes her point negatively, that limiting women means the church is undermining the principle of equality and diversity, and positively, that releasing women to use their gifts and talents to the maximum will build the church and the community. Lami has truly shared an idea whose time has come for the Christian churches of Africa. This book is a must-read for all African Christian leaders, male and female.
Mel Loucks, PhD
Co-Founder and former President, Global Teaching Network
Retired Professor Emeritus of Systematic and Historical Theology,
International Theological Seminary, Los Angeles, California, USA
Dr. Lami Ibrahim has added her voice on the unending debate on the role of women in Christian missions and church life. She argues that the foundation of SIM/ECWA, especially in Northern Nigeria, was initiated, laid and propelled by the relentless prayers and active participation of women. Hence this book is a passionate call to the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and the church in Africa to reassess, reexamine and reevaluate the immense contributions of women in the expansion of the church. Jesus Christ declares in Matthew 9:37 (NKJV): The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few , hence, there is a need for men and women to be partners in missions and in all spheres of the life of the church. This book suggests concrete and creative ways to achieve such partnership. I highly recommend it to all leaders and members of ECWA as well as other denominations in Nigeria and Africa.
Rev. Barje S. Maigadi, PhD
Author, Pastor, Teacher and Missiologist
Former Senior Pastor, ECWA Wuse II, Abuja, Nigeria
Former Deputy Provost, Chaplain and HoD Mission and Evangelism,
ECWA Theological Seminary, Jos (JETS), Nigeria
For many years African women theologians have lamented the silencing of women’s voices in African Christianity and theology likening African theology to a bird with only one wing. Women’s experiences have largely been ignored as if they did not exist. In this well-written book, Dr. Lami Ibrahim seeks to remedy this lacuna by analyzing and developing the story of women contributors to the mission of God in SIM/ECWA. What I find particularly helpful is understanding the roles played by indigenous women in the birth, growth, and expansion of the gospel in Nigeria. Despite their glaring contribution, African women still must stamp their place in African Christianity. Dr. Ibrahim asks, “Can [women] ultimately contribute [to] the decisions that shape the church?” They might if people read more of such books.
David Tarus, PhD
Executive Director,
Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA)
The work of the Sudan Interior Mission (SIM – now, Serving in Mission) owes much to the vision and prayers and work of many women, both single and married, who pioneered church planting, taught in schools and colleges, provided medical care, and supported their husbands and reared their children. Dr. Lami points out how SIM female missionaries inspired and taught Nigerian female graduates of Bible schools and colleges who in turn travelled far and wide, not just as wives of pastors and missionaries but as evangelists and preachers in their own right. SIM’s development of the New Life for All (NLFA) movement in the 1960s reinvigorated this evangelistic outreach. But since the 1970s ECWA leadership, while appreciative of the generous financial support the Women’s Fellowship provides across the denomination, has been slowly but surely constricting the ability of their female members to participate in any decision-making, whether it is about their own resources or responding to God’s call to minister in their own right. Dr Lami rightly calls on the church to recognize the contributions the women are already making and to release them into further service for God’s kingdom. I heartily commend this work to your consideration and study.
Paul Todd, PhD
SIM Nigeria Deputy Director
Publishing Director, African Christian Textbooks (ACTS) Nigeria

Women in Mission
SIM/ECWA Women in Nigeria 1923–2013
Lami Rikwe Ibrahim Bakari

© 2021 Lami Rikwe Ibrahim Bakari
Published 2021 by Langham Monographs
An imprint of Langham Publishing
www.langhampublishing.org
Langham Publishing and its imprints are a ministry of Langham Partnership
Langham Partnership
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www.langham.org
ISBNs:
978-1-83973-209-6 Print
978-1-83973-495-3 ePub
978-1-83973-496-0 Mobi
978-1-83973-497-7 PDF
Lami Rikwe Ibrahim Bakari has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as the Author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the Copyright Licensing Agency.
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Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-83973-209-6
Cover & Book Design: projectluz.com
Langham Partnership actively supports theological dialogue and an author’s right to publish but does not necessarily endorse the views and opinions set forth here or in works referenced within this publication, nor can we guarantee technical and grammatical correctness. Langham Partnership does not accept any responsibility or liability to persons or property as a consequence of the reading, use or interpretation of its published content.

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This work is dedicated to my father, the late Mr. Gani Ziti,
and my older brother, the late Mr. Joseph Ziti Gani.
Dear father and brother, thank you for believing in me.
It was inspiring to know that I had an option of school,
when the only option for many girls was marriage.
Contents

Cover


Acknowledgments


Abstract


Chapter 1 Introduction


A Definition of Mission


Purpose Statement


Thesis Statement


Research Questions


Significance of the Study


Definition of Terms


Delimitations


Chapter 2 Literature Review


Approaches and Theories Relative to Women’s Roles


Women in Evangelical Mission


The Changing Perception of the Role of Women in Evangelicalism


SIM/ECWA on Women’s Involvement in the Church


Chapter 3 Research Methodology


Selection Process


Limitations


Chapter 4 Not Without Women


Margaret Gowans: The Background to SIM/ECWA Presence in Northern Nigeria


“White Mothers” of ECWA from 1923–1943


Effie Ethel Varley (Uhwo Nsara): Rigwe White Mother


Helen C. Griffin (Maijinya): The Care Giver, Agundun Momi


Chapter 5 A Mighty Army of Witnesses


Girls of the Whites: Women and Leadership in SIM/ECWA Churches from 1943–1963


Ranan Ensarah (Girls of the White) and the Regwe SIM Church


Mace and the Conversion of Dodo Priests of Yeskwa


Yammatan Turawa (Girls of the Whites) and the Kano, Katsina, and Sokoto SIM Churches


ECWA Women in Church Ministry: Mama Abu (Rev.) Ishaku Bello and Mama Ruth Birma from 1963–1983


Ingenuity of ECWA Women: Mama Saratu Waya and Princess Phoebe Gye from 1983–2013


Chapter 6 Roles and More Roles


Itinerant Mission/Evangelism


Open Air Preaching


Mission Field – Wives of Missionaries and Ministers


Giving and Support


Songs/Singing


At the Home Front


In the Local Church


Theological Education


Financing the Ministry of ECWA: The Contributions of Women


Building and Land Properties


Chapter 7 Summary and Conclusion


Recommendations and Conclusion


Appendix 1 Research Protocols


Sample In-Depth Interview Questions


Oral History Interview


Concluding Remarks


Appendix 2 ECWA’s Organizational Structure





Appendix 3 Description of Research Respondents or Subjects


Bibliography


About Langham Partnership

Endnotes
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to Dr. Tite Tienou, my mentor. He patiently and diligently guided me as my thoughts formed and developed; he counseled, affirmed, and (many times) cried with me during my times of pain and distress, which were many. To him, I am extremely grateful. To my second and third readers, Dr. Robert Joseph Priest and Dr. Alice Ott, respectively, I am honored to have sat under them. Their wealth of knowledge was an asset in the writing of this dissertation.
I am deeply appreciative of my immediate past and present program directors: Dr. Harold Netland patiently listened and provided guidance as I discussed the topic and chose my committee; Dr. Craig Ott’s questions and advice were helpful. I cannot forget my progra