UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT:

THE URA OF NIGERIA

 

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A Paper

Presented to

Dr. Jones Kaleli

Liberty Theological Seminary 

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 In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Course

ISCT500 World Missions

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 by

Diana K. Davis

Student ID # 20731584

November 2008

Table of Contents

 

Project Preparation and Definitions. 2

Background Information about the Ura. 3

A Survey of Missions Work to the Ura. 7 

A Proposed Strategy for Evangelizing the Ura. 11

Summary. 17 

Bibliography. 18

 

 UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT

THE URA OF NIGERIA

 

Students of Dr. Jones Kaleli’s World Missions ICST500 class at Liberty Theological Seminary were assigned a true-to-life missions research project. Each student was charged to select an unreached people group, research background information, survey mission work to this people and develop a hypothetical proposed strategy for teaching them for Christ.  Project Preparation and Definitions

This student interviewed a pastor of an Indiana church who has been considering adopting an unreached people group.[1]  The people group being considered by that church was the Ura of Nigeria. Since they had not yet begin to deeply research this people group, this student determined to help them get a head start by preparing this term project on that people group. 

The largest missions-sending organization in the world, the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, defines a people group as:

A group of people who have the same language, culture, history, customs and family/clan identities. For strategic purposes, a people group is the largest group through which the gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and acceptance.[2]

 

Orville Jenkins defines a people group similarly:

An ethnolinguistic group with a common self-identify that is shared by its members. Language is a primary and dominant identifying factor of a people group, but other common ethnic factors may define or distinguish a people group, such as a common self-name and sense of common identity, a common history, customs, family and clan identities, marriage rules and practices, age-grades and other obligation covenants, and inheritance patterns and rules. 

There are 11,550 identified people groups in the world, and 6,456 of those are unreached with the Gospel of Christ.[3] The Ura is one of those unreached people groups.

The Ura live on the continent of Africa in the country of Nigeria. The name “Nigeria” comes from the Niger River.[4] Nigeria is the largest and most populous country in Africa, and is the twelfth most populated country in the world.[5] Approximately twice the size of California, Nigeria’s population is more than 146 million people.[6]  It is the fastest growing population in the world, at an average of 2.9% per year, and almost half the country’s population is under the age of fifteen.[7] 

The country consists of over two hundred fifty different ethnic groups and Nigerians speak 510 different languages.[8] English is the official language in Nigeria.

The AIDS/HIV impact on population results in extremely high mortality rates, and the median age in Nigeria is 18.9 years.[9] The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS estimates that Nigeria is the third largest HIV positive population in the world.[10]

The economy of oil-rich Nigeria has been negatively affected by political corruption and inadequate infrastructure.  The newly elected president, Yar’Adua, has committed to continue economic reforms and improvements to infrastructure.[11]

Two thirds of Nigerians live on less than one dollar per day, and poverty is prevalent.[12] An estimated eighty percent of Nigeria’s population is engaged in agricultural activities. The cost of living is quite inexpensive, so expenses for a mission project would be positively impacted in that area.

As seen on the small inset map of Africa below, Nigeria is on the central west side of the continent. The Niger state, shown in the larger map, is located in the middle west central part of Nigeria.[13]  The arrow approximates the location of Ura tribes.

The Ura people are a small, unreached people within this enormous country. The total population of the Ura people group is only 1,500,[14] and all known Ura people reside in Nigeria.[15]  Ura, who are also known as Tufungwa, may be found in remote locations of the Rafi local government area of the Niger State.

The Ura live among the Hausa, Fulani, Kamuku and Ngwoi peoples, and most of them may live in the bush. They are considered illiterate or functionally illiterate.[16]

A lack of data on this unreached people group presents a challenge in itself.  This student had assistance from several research librarians in the enormous Indianapolis library, and our efforts proved that virtually nothing is written about the Ura people. The majority of information found was provided by the initial research of the International Mission Board missionaries. The insignificant size of this people group located in a populous country contributes to its insignificance as far as written materials.

Little is known of this people group. Ura are believed to speak Hausa and to have adopted Hausa culture.[17] Since Ura are found residing among Hausa, a few comments about that group may be beneficial. The Hausa is an enormous people group that consists of over twenty-three million people in Nigeria.[18] They are primarily subsistence farmers.[19] They have been described as conservative and dignified people with gentle manners.[20] Hausa is one of the largest and most historically grounded civilizations in all of West Africa. Its language is considered one of the world’s major languages.[21] The Hausa people are believed to be primarily Islam, and they have been an important part of the spread of Islam in West Africa.  Some Hausa are Christians, and some still practice African Traditional Religions, such as the animist religion, Maguzawa. Another fact for consideration is the driving force of music and dance in the indigenous life of Nigerians.[22] 

The primary religion of the Ura is believed to be Islam mixed with African Traditional Religion. Many Nigerian converts to Muslim (or Christianity) may continue to indulge in certain pagan rituals,[23] especially in regard to paying a constant series of obligations to dead ancestors.[24]  This blend of religions may include animistic religions. In area markets, vendors sell baskets of animal skulls, dried insects and bones, which are commonly used in animistic ceremonies.[25] The remainder of this paper will address the question, “How will the Ura and other unreached people groups come to salvation in Christ?” Romans 10:14-15 states,

“How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tiding of good things!’”[26]

 

            A survey of current missions work to the Ura tribe will be followed by a discussion of a proposed strategy for reaching that people group.A Survey of Missions Work to the Ura

Some of the first Baptist missionaries from America were commissioned to the African continent in the mid-nineteenth century, and some parts of that continent are home to flourishing Baptist conventions of churches today. Over one hundred fifty years later, however, there are dozens of entirely unreached people groups in the country of Nigeria.

There is no Christian missionary work at the present time with the Ura people. There are only two known Ura Christians, [27] and there is certainly a good possibility of persecution for these two and other future believers. Little is known for certain about the religious beliefs of this people group. Because the primary religion is believed to be Muslim mixed with African tribal religions, great challenges are present for sharing Christ with this people group.  The Islamic strongholds, voodoo covens and witchcraft of the African Traditional Religion create roadblocks that only God can break.

The challenges for reaching this people group may be extreme.  The area’s rainy season often bring dangerous flooding.  The dry season boasts high temperatures and occasional droughts.  If the Ura live in the bush, difficult travel conditions may occur. The conditions are not always sanitary, and contagious diseases are found. This student would assume that an assortment of shots and preventative health tactics would be required for the safety of those American travelers.

In a brief reading of past email updates written by the missionaries and Christians in that region, a plethora of difficulties were mentioned.  There were stories of water rationing, power outages, tedious travel, and traffic difficulties in cities. One church leader’s home had been attacked, and he and his wife received injuries. He was arrested afterward.  Difficulties in this task may come from a variety of areas.

The physical strength and stamina required to minister in a setting such as the bush of Nigeria could be a limiting factor.  Mature Christians in strong, able bodies would be needed, and emotional stamina would be required as well.

The great void of available confirmed information about the Ura people prohibits a complete summary of potential conflict. Because of these unknowns, many of the challenges may not be disclosed until the first mission trip.

The expense and time requirement of air travel to the African continent could also be a negative factor for short term mission trips. Another challenge, of course, could be language barriers. There is a possibility that some Ura may speak English, but their primary language is probably Hausa.  Translators would be required.

There are no known evangelical organizations currently targeting this small people group, and there is no church planting activity among that group. With thousands of larger unreached people groups across the world and no missionary assigned the specific responsibility of reaching the Ura, the potential for evangelism seems unlikely. It would be ideal to deploy teams of career missionaries to each known unreached people group; however, that is an unlikely solution in the foreseeable future.  Although many mission agencies have record numbers of overseas missionaries, the multiplicity of unreached people groups presents an overwhelming task.   

With the popularity in United States churches of short-term missions, a strategic, long-term commitment to short-term missions may provide a possible solution. Critics of short-term missions have tagged them as “drive-by missions” or the “amateurization of mission,”[28] but this student has personally observed successful results of her church’s involvement with long-term commitments to short-term mission trips to Germany and Mexico. Short-term mission trips may be successfully paired with a long-term commitment. By working in sync with a missionary in the same culture or with a missionary organization that will provide guidance and assure follow-up, a well-planned strategy may be developed for taking the Gospel to unreached people groups by implementing short-term mission trips.

In an attempt to expedite evangelism to unreached people groups across the world, the IMB has developed a plan to encourage individual Southern Baptist churches to adopt one specific people group and play a key role in bringing that group to Christ.[29] The strategy is to mobilize individual volunteer churches to engage these micro people groups, and to provide full-time missionary personnel to advance church planting in the larger people groups. The church might take mission teams, help with a specific platform that would provide a way to impact the community for Christ, or create a totally unique method of reaching that group. The mission agency provides connections with missionaries in that area and assists in many ways to help the church’s commitment to be effective. This strategy would be appropriate for the small people group of Ura and might help to provide the needed impetus to reach this small group.

In an e-mail interview with Harriet Bowman,[30] who co-leads the IMB engagement team for West Africa, this student discovered that the mission agency has people stationed in different countries helping to research and find the unreached people groups or tribes. After their research on a people group is complete, they seek to pair and individual SBC church to help engage them with the Gospel.  Harriet and Clint Bowman live in Nigeria and head up the Nigeria team of missionaries there, and they have already begun the initial process of researching this people group. 

The Bowman’s are excited about the number of churches who are coming on board to voluntarily adopt a people group in Nigeria.  The list of people groups needing adoption fluctuates as they continue to complete research on other groups. Some are adopted while others that they complete research on are added to the list.

It was quite surprising to discover that a church from North Carolina has recently adopted the Ura people group. They are making plans to send a first team to begin engaging them in April 2009.  An IMB team has been to the area in preparation for this group from North Carolina. A strategy has not been finalized; however, the future looks much brighter for the Ura people group.  (Note: the Indiana church mentioned earlier in this paper may determine to partner with that North Carolina church or may select another people group.)

One example of this current strategy being used to reach a similar people group is summarized in a video that can be viewed on the IMB website for work in West Africa.[31] A church in Hurst, Texas, adopted the Songhai Nigerian people group in 2006. Their strategy and results have been extremely effective for sharing the Gospel, and that church is committed to sending mission teams to that people group “for as long as it takes!”[32] 

If this student were going or sending a team to this people group, she would definitely take advantage of the strategy of pairing an engaging church from the U.S. with that people group.

The first step for reaching this people group, then, would be for a U. S. church to commit to “adopt” the Ura people group in a long-term commitment to reach them for Christ. If a church, such as the one from North Carolina or Indiana mentioned above, made that commitment, a plan would be developed by the church, the national missionary in that location, and, possibly, an established church in that region. 

In an email interview with Harriet Bowman, she suggested that a partnership with the nearest Nigerian Baptist church, the Kamuku, would be very beneficial to the U.S. church’s effectiveness.  Their assistance with communication and implementation could be very helpful. Her team would contact the Kamuka church to attempt to engage them as partners with the U.S. church.

The U.S. church who adopts the Ura will likely spend some time in preparation. They would conduct research, converse with other churches or missionaries who have ministered in similar circumstances, and prepare the church family for a positive mission relationship with the people group.  They would form prayer teams for the Ura. Videos, such as the one mentioned in the previous section, could be shared with the church, and the church would become informed and concerned about this unreached people group. 

The church’s mission planning team will consult with the Bowman’s, who live in Nigeria, and obtain advice and wisdom for developing an initial strategy. The church will study the few known facts about the Ura, develop a committed mission team, raise needed funds for the trip, and work with the partnering church in the country, along with the missionaries, to help develop a long-term strategy for reaching the Ura.  Because so little is known about this small people group, much of the strategy may have to be reevaluated after the first onsite visit. 

As the initial mission team is formed, the qualifications must be carefully stated. Because the description of physical exertion needed for that region is categorized “difficult” by the IMB website,[33] health and fitness issues must be considered when gathering the mission team.  They will face remote and primitive living conditions, and work conditions will be hot and rugged.  Team members will also have to take care to witness to those following Islam in a way that would not bring persecution to them.  The threat level is described as “medium” and freedom is listed as “restricted.”[34] Further, there are no completed Bible resources available. This is going to take just the right, God-appointed team.

According to the Niger state website,[35] there are two seasons in Nigeria. The wet season extends from April to October, with as much as 330 cm of rain. The Ura would be difficult to reach in the rainy season. The dry season lasts from November to March, with the hottest part of the year in February in March.  The temperatures often exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit.  A recommended time for a mission team’s initial visit, therefore, might be in December or January. 

The current missionaries in other regions of that country will help to guide the team with details about clothing and items to bring on their first visit.  One research site suggests that a foreigner in Nigerian clothing receives great admiration and trust, so if the missionaries agree, team members might wear baggy shorts and loose floral tops, or women may wear saris.[36] 

As previously observed, Nigerian music and dance are an important fact in their culture. The mission team would be wise to include some members with musical giftedness. Some use of ethnomusicology could possibly provide a needed platform at some point during this partnership.

The team should take advantage of current materials about planning a mission trip, such as Fresh Ideas[37] or “Impact Your World” video.[38] In planning previous mission trips, our church’s teams have met together weekly for several months. A wise missionary once told this writer, “There is no such thing as an over-prepared mission team.” The team must become spiritually prepared and must bond as a mission team.

The physical details for a trip to Africa would likely be numerous. Although the first trip would be primarily a “vision” trip, the basic necessities must still be accomplished. For example, there are probably required shots, visas and passports. 

As preparations progress, mission team members will have time to consider methods and tools that might be used on the trip. For example, in a quick review of Christian tracts available online, some are available in the Hausa language from World Missionary Press. These would need to be reviewed, of course, but tools found in the people group’s language could be quite useful. The team could study various methods of witnessing to Muslim, such as the use of the Qur’an as a bridge to Christ.[39]

The first mission trip will be critical to the partnership’s future.  When the U.S. team visits Nigeria, they will enter Ura villages and greet people there to see how receptive they are to have visitors.  During that first trip, they might enter the villages and pray for each chief or each household. They could attempt to do some survey work to discover locations of the Ura, how many villages they occupy, and GPS coordinates.  If the Ura are open, the team will visit from house to house.  This first trip may be more of a “vision” trip, where team members can evaluate the openness of the Ura, and begin to make a long-term plan for multiple visits over coming years.

A second mission trip would be schedule within a few months. Some of the same team members will likely go, and others will be added to the team.  Great care has been taken before this trip, too, and preparations are strategically and prayerfully made. The needs of the Ura people are somewhat more obvious to the team by now, and preparations may take a more personalized turn. For example, the story of a missionary in Nigeria is told in Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.[40]  Ann Croft ministered to the Fulani, a people in the same area of Nigeria as the Ura.  The Fulani are cattle herders who are nomadic.  Knowing the enormous value of cattle to the Fulani, Ann helped to improve cattle health with veterinary medicine.  She found numerous Bible verses about nomads who were cattle-herders and shared those with the Fulani.  By knowing the values and lifestyle of the Fulani, she was better able to discover a platform that would allow her to share the Gospel with them.

This team might begin to share the story of Christ with storying.  Missionary Bowman suggests that one effective method has been used successfully in other tribes is sharing the “Creation to Christ” story with the household.  This simple story method has been designed for work with unreached people groups, especially those who are functionally illiterate. It is essentially the story of the Bible. At the end of the story, they will ask if anyone would like to follow Jesus.  There is a slight possibility that someone may have heard the Gospel from another source, such as radio.  If no one decides immediately to follow Jesus, they will ask if they would like them to return tomorrow to tell them another story. Each story fits into the framework of that first “Creation to Christ” story, and is related back to that story.  For example, if they shared the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand, they would explain that this story happened during the time when Jesus walked on the earth and was teaching the people and doing miracles.

Since Gospel recordings are available in the Hausa language, those may be utilized. If the nearby Kamuka churches have agreed to partner with the U. S. team, they may offer other suggestions for music, dance or drama that could tell the Gospel story effectively.

Once believers are found among the Ura, they will be taught and discipled by use of stories, giving them an oral Bible that they can use to teach others. The church, ideally, would send a team back to that tribe every two or three months, with at least one person returning who had made a previous trip.

If the Ura are resistant to the Gospel, then the mission team would attempt to develop some type of a platform as a tool to provide an excuse to be there and help them be viewed favorably as people of good will. By this time, team members may have discovered needs or desires of the Ura that would allow an open door, or platform, for sharing the Gospel.  For example, if the Ura are an agricultural tribe (as is common in Nigeria), a mission team could be formed that could help to train or enhance their agricultural skills. 

The platform could involve medical assistance, dental training, job skills or music.  It might be in construction training or embroider classes or art. A platform must provide a desired benefit that would entice the people group to engage in a positive manner with the mission team who is attempting to share Christ.  Once relationships are developed, the mission team can return to its primary purpose of evangelism. 

  Ultimately, the partnering church will do whatever it takes to accomplish the task of evangelizing the Ura.  A strong commitment will be required of the church and its leadership.

To use Steven Hawthorne’s phraseology, this is a strategy of “senders.”[41] The task of reaching thousands of unreached people groups is overwhelming, but with a strategy such as the one described, it becomes doable.  The effort is worthy: one local church family impacting one unreached people group. Eternity will be impacted. 

Interestingly, while researching the Ura, this student discovered another Indiana church who recently took their first exploratory, or “vision,” trip to Nigeria. In a telephone interview[42] Pastor Forsythe related his experiences in the bush of Nigeria.  The IMB missionary accompanied the group to attempt to locate the Shaney tribe, using directions provided by journeyman missionaries who discovered that unreached people group.  The directions included such details as “turn at the big tree.” They found the tribe, and spoke with the chief by interpreter. They were surprised to find that there are six nearby villages of that same people group. The chief seemed open to missionary visits, and Pastor Forsythe had the opportunity to share two stories about Jesus, using the “Creation to Christ” storying method described earlier in this report. 

Forsythe described difficult conditions of weather, bathroom issues, perceived dangers and heat. His enthusiasm for adopting the people group for the purpose of evangelism is daunted only by expensive travel and the necessity of multiple trips each year.  Listening to this pastor’s concern for a people group across the world gives hope to this student that God will raise up many individuals and churches to evangelize the people groups of the world.

The Ura people group is simply one representative segment of unreached people groups around our world who have not had the opportunity to respond to God’s plan of salvation. Wagner states that almost half of the world’s non-Christians are part of an unreached people group.  Unreached people groups include over two billion individuals who have not heard about God’s love. This student is praying that God will ignite a fire in the hearts of His people to accomplish the Acts 1:8 challenge.