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What can I do to help? |
Get to know the Fulani and us. Pray for us. Contact us and ask for specific prayer needs. Each family has different needs that you can discover by becoming a part of what we do. Get intimately involved! You won't regret it! |
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How long does it take
to get to Nigeria? |
It takes about 24-28 hours to fly to Nigeria. After arrival, it usually takes 1-3 days of travel to reach where the missionaries live and work. Nigeria has two international airports: Lagos, in the south, and Kano, in the north. |
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Do you see
any wildlife? |
Practically speaking, the only large wild animals are in game parks. Most of the big animals have been killed off or lost their habitat due to the high human population density in Nigeria. |
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What is a normal day
for a SBC missionary working with
the Fulani? |
The missionary family typically arises early to do their morning chores like feeding the chickens, weeding the garden, and preparing meals from scratch.
Mothers balance home school and ministries during the day while the fathers go out to work with Fulanis, or take care of daily business.
Often, there will be 2-3 Fulani visitors during the day to be entertained. Fulanis consider a visit to be a gift. We give them water, food, and spend time with them. Sometimes we can play a cassette tape of a Gospel message in their language, Fulfulde.
Evenings are usually spent at home, reading, listening to the radio or catching up on some project. |
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How are Muslims different than Christians? |
Muslims (Moslems) practice a religion called "Islam" that means "submission." Muslims (the preferred term) believe in one God, called Allah, that Jesus was a prophet, and that God sent a series of prophets beginning with Adam and ending with Mohammed. They have a holy book, written in Arabic, called the Qu'ran (Koran) as well as the writings of Moses, David, and the Gospels. This book and their other teachings are interpreted to teach that all believers must do five things to try and satisfy God: tithe (1/40th of their income), pray five times daily, go to Mecca (their holy city in Saudi Arabia) once, fast (once yearly for a month, during daylight hours), and say the confession:"I believe there is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet." Men and some women who keep these five practices as well as a variety of cultural, dietary, and religious customs have hope of going to paradise after the day of judgement. It is clearly a religion based on works. They do not believe in the divine role of Jesus as Son, nor in the crucifixion, resurrection, or the sufficiency of Jesus' death on the cross as payment for our sins. To learn more about Islam, click here |
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Where do you
get food and
medical care? |
All missionaries working with the Fulani live about two to five hours from predictable food sources and dependable medical care. There is no fast food as Americans know it. Both food and medical care can be obtained locally in an emergency, but the quality and variety may be severely limited. |
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What forms of transportation and communication are available? |
All missionaries have four wheel drive vehicles. Gas can be very scarce at time and roads can be very bad. Nonetheless, our transportation is relatively easy compared to most other African countries. Some missionaries have telephones and e-mail. Others have neither. Sometimes couriers are used for outgoing and incoming mail, but this is costly. |
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Are you in danger in Nigeria? |
We do not experience the level of major political unrest and constant environmental turmoil that exists in some places in the world. The Fulani people are not a violent people. However, some missionaries have been victims of major crimes. Traveling is our most dangerous activity. There is no "911;" not even an ambulance. Tropical illness and accidents are also more serious because medical care is limited. |
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Where do your
children go to school? |
The children are presently all home-schooled. There is a boarding school for missionaries in Nigeria. Nigerian schools are on the British system and are VERY different than American schools in curriculum and emphasis. |
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What kind of houses
do you have? |
The Fulani largely live in grass, leaf, and mud houses. The missionaries live in cement block houses. Missionary houses belong to the mission or are rented. All missionaries have electricity or generators, pipe-borne water, and indoor toilets. |
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How bad is A.I.D.S.
where you live? |
Unfortunately, no one really knows the extent of AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease Syndrome) in Africa. Many Africans are at a high risk for AIDS due to their lifestyle and environmental conditions. The disease appears to be much less common than predicted a few years ago, but testing is unreliable and costly. Most people who die of AIDS, die undiagnosed. In Nigeria, we do not see a ''doomsday scenario'' where hundreds are dying of AIDS in every village. |
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What kind of money
do they have? |
The Nigerian currency unit is called the Naira ("nigh-ruh"). We have paper money and coins. The paper money has different colors for each amount. One US dollar is worth about 80 Naira (Feb.'99) |
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How long do you plan
to serve there? |
All missionaries working with the Fulani are career missionaries. This means that other than time spent on USA assignment/furlough, we'll spend the rest of their careers working with the Fulanis. |
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How can we
contact you? |
Missionaries love to get mail. It is not very reliable, however. Never send money or checks through the mail. Packages often take a year to get to the field, if they arrive. Some of our missionaries have email or a courier service and may share this information with you.
To get addresses, contact the West Africa Office, IMB, by phone, or visit HTTP://WWW.IMB.ORG, looking under "Site Map" and "Overseas Personnel Directory." |
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Where can I learn about the message you share? Click Here. |
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Where can I find out more about serving as a missionary with the IMB? Click Here. |
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