Before coming to Westminster Theological Seminary to pursue his further studies, Iyortyom Achineku was Principal of the Reformed Theological College of Nigeria. Rev. Timothy M. Monsma has been serving as Principal at the RTCN until the recent return of the Monsma family to the U.S.A. Mr. and Mrs. Achineku and their three children live at 1651 E. Willow Grove Avenue, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118.

Nobody knows precisely when Christian missionaries began to evangelize Africa south of the Sahara. Portuguese traders are known to have reached West Africa around the fifteenth century. They are also known to have brought the Gospel to the people along the west coast of Africa. This witness however came to a complete stop after the Protestant Reformation when events led to the end of Portugal’s dominance and monopoly of West Africa.

Actual missionary activities began in the nineteenth century. For over a century now Western missionaries have been laboring in Africa to bring men and women of that continent to Christ. Many of the early missionaries longed to see the fruits of their labors but they were permitted to see only the germinal shoot of what they had planted. By the grace of God these missionaries did not give up their task, despite an apparent fruitlessness that characterized the initial stage of their work.

   

Overcrowded churches – Today what the early missionaries saw was a germinal shoot has fully grown and is flowering. I say flowering because even at this stage of missionary activity in Africa, I hesitate to use the word “fruit.” The reason for my hesitancy to use this word will become apparent as we continue to examine the situation.

In Africa today thousands and thousands are turning to Christ. Churches are overcrowded. In some places people go to church several hours early to find a place to sit inside the church. Some churches can accommodate only half of their members, the rest are seated outside the building. Neither heat nor rain stop these people from going to church.

According to 1972 statistics 40.6% of all Africans are Christians. These statistics and other facts strongly compel a rejection of any assertion that Africa has now become a “post-Christian” continent. These statistics and other facts have reduced such a conclusion to an impressive absurdity. Things that characterize a nation or a continent as “post-Christian” are entirely absent in Africa today.

Syncretic movements – The syncretic movements which manifest themselves in what has been referred to as Christian sects and nativistic sects are a syndrome of theological abnormality which is a necessary concomitant of lack of theological education. They do not result from the rejection of Christianity but from unbiblical enthusiasm to Africanize the Christian Religion.

The rise of Christian sects in Africa today is by and large a result of lack of theological education. For over a century now Christian missionaries have been concentrating on the first two aspects of the great commission at the expense of the last one.

Great Commission not fully carried out – The point at issue with respect to the execution of this commission in Africa today is not whether it has been carried out but whether it has been fully executed. The facts pointing to the execution of the Great Commission in Africa are too preponderant to be controverted. But the question that troubles me is whether our Western brothers have exhausted the Great Commission in Africa.

Let us take a look at how this Commission has been partially carried out. The total population of Africa is about 360 million. According to 1972 statistics 40.6% of the 360 million Africans are Christians. This leaves 59.4% of all Africans who belong to either Islam or tribal religions.

Taking into consideration that Islam had been the dominant religion in Africa for several centuries before the arrival of Christianity in the nineteenth century, one is amazed at the expeditious evangelization of Africa. From 70-80% of all educated Africans soulh of the Sahara have received primary or secondary education in mission-or church-related schools. About 180 tribes have the whole Bible in their mother tongues.

During the colonial days most of the hospitals and medical centers were owned and operated by the Western missionaries. Every effort was made to spread the Gospel. The Lord has so graciously blessed this work that about 40.6% of all Africans have now identified themselves with the Christian religion.

Because of such great success in turning millions of Africans to Christ most missionaries are deceived into believing that the Commission has been fully carried out. Some faith-missionaries even boast of “working themselves out of a job.” Many appeal to the so called “Pauline method” to justify their failure to teach their African converts. Some try to soothe their troubled consciences by assigning the first two aspects of the Commission to the foreign missionaries and the last aspect to the national churches. “Making disciples and baptizing them” are usually assigned to missionaries and “teaching them” is said to be the work of the national church.

Paul‘s method – While we praise the enthusiastic zeal of these missionaries to evangelize Africa we cannot condone their failure to be fully obedient to this commission. The rise of Christian and nativistic sects in Africa today seriously calls our attention to the last aspect of the Great Commission. It further challenges the so called Pauline method of hurriedly moving on to new territories after discipling and baptizing converts.

A close examination of the Book of Acts and the Pauline letters can never support the so-called Pauline method as it is practised by some missions in Africa today. Paul continued to visit and to instruct all his converts either through his letters or through his representatives. Paul did not just disciple people to Christ, he also baptized and taught them.

In Acts 14:21, we read, “They returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith.” Acts 16:1 tells us, “He came to Derbe and then to Lystra.” In Acts 18:7–11, we note that Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half teaching the Word of God. II Corinthians 12:14 and 13:1 clearly state that Paul continued to visit the church at Corinth. In Acts 19:1–10, we also read that Paul continued to teach those who were already discipled and baptized at the Hall of Tyrannus for two years.

Tn addition to this teaching Paul continued to instruct the church at Ephesus through his letter. In the light of what the Bible teaches concerning the Pauline method, it would be difficult to find Biblical texts to support the popular slogan of “Work yourself out of a job.” Mission is not a job; rather it is an authoritative sending, it is a task with which one is charged.

Need for theological education – That there is only one imperative, is very clear from the original language. The actual command is to make disciples. Baptizing and teaching are necessary concomitant aspects of the imperative, “make disciples.”

I have pointed out that this commission has been partially fulfilled in Africa. Missionaries as well as Africans have brought millions of people into a relation of pupil to Christ, so that by the operation of the Holy Spirit they have accepted Him and His claims. This is done through preaching, Sunday school lessons, personal witness in the hospitals, and religious instruction in schools. All of these are geared toward discipling people to Christ.

Theological education as such has been sadly neglected. Mission schools have produced thousands of sophisticated elitish Africans but there are no highly educated ministers to feed them. African universities are turning out thousands and thousands of graduates but there are no ministers to meet them on their own level. Thousands are being converted every year, yet there are not enough ministers to care for them. In some cases there is only one minister in charge of about three congregations each covering an area of about twenty miles.

Some congregations are made up of about fifteen worshipping centers. Some of these worshipping centers have over five hundred people worshipping every Sunday. In most cases services are led by people who have never darkened the door of an elementary school. Catechism and Sunday school lessons are similarly being taught by such people. Some people are fortunate if they see their pastor once in a great while.

I personally do appreciate what the missionaries are doing in the areas of education, medicines, and other services; but these must not be carried out at the expense of theological education which is an integral part of the Commission. We are not only commanded to make disciples and to baptize them. We are also called upon to teach them. Not simply to teach but to teach them to obey what Christ has commanded. Until that is done we can never truly say we have carried out the Great Commission. Many people whom we have brought to Christ have never been taught to observe what Christ has commanded.

Africa outside of South Africa has only 83 Protestant Bible Institutes and theological cotleges. According to a 1963 census there are 19 million Christians in Nigeria, yet Nigeria has only about seven theological colleges. Most of them have fewer than one hundred students. There is no single theological Seminary in Africa beside white South Africa that offers a B.D. degree. Most of these seminaries offer programs leading to a certificate or to a diploma.

Liberalism and syncretism – At this juncture I deem it appropriate to offer a few suggestions. The Church of Christ in Africa is facing two enemies, namely liberalism and syncretism. The World Council of Churches is awarding many lucrative scholarships to Africans to study in liberal seminaries in America and Europe. 111e Evangelical churches on the other hand are reluctant to sponsor Africans to study at conservative seminaries. They still hold to the idea that anything is good enough for Africa.

To contain liberalism and syncretic movements the Evangelical churches must embark on a massive scholarship program that will produce enough teachers for both Bible colleges and seminaries in Africa. They must further launch a massive theological education program in Africa itself. This will mean that any missionary going to Africa must have some theological training besides his area of competence. He should use this knowledge in instructing groups as well as individual Africans.

Theological education by extension – Each mission Board should be prepared to support Theological Education by Extension. It seems to me that the only way to counteract the present rate of the growth of sects in Africa today is for the missionaries to match their emphasis on the spread of the Gospel with that of teaching. To do this, both missionaries and Africans will have to carefully scrutinize present discussions on Theological Education by Extension with a view to implementing without delay some of the useful suggestions put forth by its advocates.

Care must be taken to avoid anything that might add to our present problems rather than remedy them. It will be wise to remember right from the planning stages to avoid a slavish execution of these suggestions since it is obvious what some of them will not work in many African countries. That Theological Education by Extension has been a huge success in Latin American countries docs not guarantee its success in some African countries whose Educational System is sometimes more British or French than the British or French themselves.

Another note of warning should be sounded here. Theological Education by Extension must not seek to destroy the main line theology of the main line denominations nor must it seek to become a melting pot of theology—both liberal and conservative.

Theological Education by Extension should be aimed largely at training lay leaders rather than ministers if we are to avoid the danger of perpetuating low-grade ministers who are incapable of making any significant contribution to the development of theology in Africa. This is absolutely important in view of the fact that highly educated African liberals are already developing the so-called “African Theology.”

University development in Africa – The present low-grade seminaries should be upgraded and expanded. This is necessary if we are to cope with university development in Africa. Before Nigeria attained independence in 1960 she had only one university college. Thirteen years after independence Nigeria has eight full-fledged universities with several university colleges all over the country.

African universities ure experiencing an unprecedented influx of both Western and Eastern philosophies both of which can be handled effectively only by highly educated ministers who are truly committed to the Word of God. Expansion is needed to increase enrollment in order to meet the existing demands for ministers.

When the Reformed Theological College of Ni· geria was established about three and a half years ago its primary aim was to serve the Tiv Church and other Reformed churches in Nigeria. Today I am receiving requests from Reformed and Evangelical churches all over Africa. I have never been aware of such a desire for a distinctive Reformed theology in Africa before. Bequests have been received from Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Western Cameroons.

Two Africans responding to my interview with Willem Berends published in the March 1974 issue of Travel and Sword have this to say, “In fact the article was pointed out to us during a discussion of Reformed theological issues in Africa. Some ten days previously we had spoken to each other wondering just how we could get in contact with Reformed work in Africa and just where outside of South Africa, such work is being done, getting started or envisaged in the near future.” Most Reformed Churches outside South Africa look to the Reformed Theological College of Nigeria for the training of their ministers. This calls for expansion of our present certificate program to the diploma program.

Urgent need for support – In conclusion let me call upon all missionaries and their sending churches not to rest on their oars, for there are tempestuous winds of both liberalism and syncretism that can capsize the African Church before we know it. I further call upon members of the Christian Reformed Church in particular and all of the other truly Reformed Churches in general to support the Reformed Theological College of Nigeria in its expansion and upgrading programs.

Since our funds are so limited we cannot support Non-Nigerian teachers. We depend on you for the salaries of Non-Nigerian teachers. We also depend on you for our expanding building program. Your support to help complete the Great Commission in Africa will definitely result in thanksgiving to God.