Prayer notes for July 12

"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer" (Psalm 17.6).

1. We are grateful for safety in our travels, especially during the months of May and June. Thank God with us for the various visits we could make with family and friends. Pray also for safe travel in the coming week, as we flyto Florida for dental work with Dr. Richard Leong, and then attend theCSI/IICS Vision Conference in Kansas City. Please pray for all those who are traveling to this event, and pray for a special blessing for the speakers and organizers.

2. Thank God with us that the strikes and threats of strike which plagued the University of Jos during the early months of 2008 have been resolved. Exams were held on schedule, and the new academic year is progressing. We have heard, however, that the provision of electricity is a real problem at present; our colleagues are receiving just a few hours or power per day. Pray that this situation may be improved.

3. We are grateful that in June two of our Master's students, Peter Atanda and Tom Phinehas, successfully defended their theses; Peter gave an analysis of the ethnic/religious riots which erupted in Kaduna after the aborted Miss World Beauty Contest of 2002. He will be able implement his research in ongoing efforts in Christian-Muslim dialogue. Tom focused on the ecological problems of Kaduna where he has already involved his congregation in cleaning up theenvironment in their part of the city. Pray for these young men, and all the other graduates as well, as they take on new tasks. Pray that they will receive the wisdom to meet the enormous challenges which inevitably face those who seek to serve God faithfully, whether in Nigeria or elsewhere.

4. Pray also for wisdom and clarity for our own situation. We have been invited to teach at North-West University of South Africa in the new academic year (2009). We are also in contact with the St. Augustine University of Tanzania which has an urgent need for lecturers in philosophyand religious studies. We would ask your prayers for God's guidance in the next few months as we prepare for future teaching assignments.

A farewell gift

The university was in the middle of a strike during the weeks shortly before our departure from Nigeria, yet our colleagues wanted to give us a parting gift. A few of them told us that money had been collected for this purpose, but no one knew when the presentation would be made. We were scheduled to leave Jos in only a few days when Prof. Umar Danfulani, the head of our department called us. He said that he wanted to give something to us. So we went to his office, where a few colleagues had assembled. Unfortunately, most of our colleagues were unable to be present. When we saw the package, we expected another Nigerian costume—a his and her set—of which we already have several, but that was not the case. It is a circular leather wall hanging, which will get a prominent place in our Toronto home. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of our colleagues. When we mentioned this to Umar, he responded, “No one deserves it more than the two of you! You have done so much for our department that we cannot thank you enough!”

Our graduate students

Even though we are leaving the University of Jos for a while, our work there is not yet finished. We continue to supervise our doctoral students by means of email. We each have three students that we are supervising, although all of them have co-supervisors who can be present when they have to make one of the three required presentations to the department. Since we helped them start their projects, they want us to continue supervising them, even if at a distance. Several of our doctoral students are colleagues in our department, while one of our students teaches at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria. Wendy is still working with two TCNN faculty members, Rebecca on the issue of women in violent conflict and Dauda on the stigmatization of the poor in the Nigerian churches. She has also begun supervisory work with Kate, one of our Unijos colleagues, on the issue of the ‘secular’ nature of the Nigerian constitution. Adrian is helping Unijos colleagues Cosmos with his dissertation on bishop Desmond Tutu's nonviolent approach as a model for African countries, and Chikas on the impact of sharia on the education of women in Northern Nigeria; he also supervises Dennis of TCNN on the issue of breaking the cycle of curses which affect families through many generations. We realize that it may take them several years to finish their theses, especially since many also work full-time teaching. We pray that through email communication and occasional visits we can help them all through to the defense. It is our intention to return to Nigeria early next year so that we can work with them face-to-face.

Wendy working with Rebeca in our home (which we often do)

When the executive director of Christian Studies International, Dr. Henk Van Andel, together with his wife, Vicky, visited Jos last December, we invited our doctoral students to our home, to socialize and meet our director. It was the first time we had them all at our home at any one time.

The meeting of the Van Andels with our graduate students in our home in Jos

Two of our master’s students in the Ethics and Philosophy division, Peter Atanda and Tom Phinehas, defended the theses on which they have been working with us some years already. Peter did an analysis of the ethnic/religious riots which erupted in Kaduna in 2002 in connection with the aborted Miss World Beauty contest. Peter, who is a pastor, hopes to implement his research for ongoing efforts in dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Tom’s thesis focused on ecological problems of Kaduna, where he too is a pastor. His work has already produced results: his congregation is involved in cleaning up the environment in their part of the city.

Peter Atanda (in the middle) with other students in Wendy's class

Projects

The board of Christian Studies International approved a study/medical leave for us for the period from May through December 2008. And Christian Reformed World Missions, with whom we are ‘partners’, has concurred in this decision. This means that for the remainder of this year we will work on major projects that will result in publications that will be beneficial for our African colleagues and students and indeed for others in many parts of the world. Wendy is writing on African traditional concepts of wisdom as these are intertwined with magic and witchcraft wisdom. She has worked on the theme of wisdom for many years. Adrian’s project is focused on inter-faith dialogue, involving Christians, Jews and Muslims, with a view to contributing to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian question, as the basis for a more lasting solution of Muslim-Christian conflict also in Africa.

For next year, we have been invited by North-West University of South Africa to teach a number of courses. We are also in contact with St. Augustine University of Tanzania where there is an urgent need for lecturers in philosophy and theology, since it will start offering bachelor degrees in these fields starting this fall already. We are still working on the details of these invitations, and nothing has been finalized yet.

Nigerian Bible Translation Trust

A project which has occupied Wendy over the last months is work on a textbook in Advanced Greek for the New Testament. This textbook brings together the materials she has used in teaching New Testament Greek over the years, especially at Unijos. However, an important incentive to get this textbook published for wider use came last fall when one of Wendy's New Testament Greek students, Pastor Sunday, introduced her to Rev. Selbut Longtau, a director and consultant with the Nigeria Bible Translation Trust. He told her that for the last years adequate provision had been made for teaching Hebrew for Bible translators working on the Old Testament, but for some years the courses in New Testament Greek to help those translating the New Testament (with the help of the Greek original) had not been taught for lack of available teaching staff. Would she help in setting up a curriculum for these students? Such a request is difficult to turn down.

Rudy Wiebe and Rob Lillo in front of entrance to the Nigerian Bible Translation Trust

So she checked with our Africa director, Dr. McCain, to be sure that this project would fit in with the goals for the IICS/CSI team in Nigeria, and then consulted with the other CSI/IICS colleagues in Nigeria, who have taught the New Testament Greek: Robert Lillo (of the Gindiri college of education), John Lotzgesell, teaching in Akwanga, Rudy Wiebe in Pankshin and Layne Turner teaching in Gidan Waya. Since they are all competent in NT Greek, we together make up a good team for this project.

Wendy with Rev. Longtau, a NBTT staff member, and our colleagues, Rudy Wiebe and Rob Lillo

We met a number of times over the Christmas break, and then had an important meeting with Rev. Longtau, who told us more about the history of NBTT and its connection with Wycliffe Bible Translators as well as the Summer Institute of Linguistics. The plan was to provide a 12 week program in New Testament Greek for translators, beginning in September of this year. With this in mind, Wendy is preparing her syllabus for Advanced New Testament Greek, and Rudy Wiebe and Rob Lillo are busy adapting the first year textbook, Let's Study New Testament Greek, prepared some years ago by Mary Preus at TCNN.

NABIS Conference (February 28-29)

COMMUNIQUE - NABIS NORTHERN ZONE SECOND ANNUAL CONFERENCE FEB. 29, 2008

The Second Zonal Conference of the National Association of Biblical Studies (NABIS) took place on 28-29th February 2008, at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) Bukuru, Plateau State. Nigeria.

The Conference was attended by seventy-seven participants who came from thirteen institutions. The major discourses of the conference focused on the reality and ongoing challenges of the African spirit world and witchcraft to the Christian community in Africa, particularly Nigeria.

The Conference also presented the Person, work, and ongoing role of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments. It highlighted the roles of the spiritual gifts in individual and inter-denominational relationships, and encouraged the energizing of the African-Nigerian Church towards wholistic impact on the Nigerian society.

Hence, NABIS calls its membership to engage Biblically the African spirit world, providing biblical remedies to the problem of witchcraft, and other African problems coming from an African understanding of the spirit world.

NABIS expresses its gratitude to TCNN for hosting this conference, and thanks all the participants and also all participating institutions. It also expresses its special thanks to the organizing committee of NABIS (Northern Zone) for efficient planning and care of logistical aspects of the conference.

During the last weeks we have asked for prayer on behalf of the NABIS (National Association for Biblical Studies) northern zonal conference of Feb. 28-29. We can now report that this conference was a great success, and thank you for praying! NABIS seems to be one of the most active theological societies in Nigeria. As a Nigeria-wide organization NABIS meets annually, usually in July, at a centrally located university (last year it was held in Jos). But locally organized conferences are also held in various regions. This year the northern zone, which covers a very large part of Nigeria, including what is often called the Middle Belt (where the University of Jos is located), held its second annual conference just outside of Jos, hosted by the Theological College of Northern Nigeria in Bukuru. As an interdenominational seminary, with faculty and students coming from many Nigerian churches, TCNN was founded some fifty years ago by Dr. Harry Boer, a Christian Reformed missionary; it remains one of the major seminaries in this country..

Registration for this year’s NABIS conference was about the same as last year, with seventy-seven pastors, students and teachers (at various levels) in attendance, and with thirteen educational institutions represented. Of course many students came from TCNN itself; this year it was quite convenient for them to attend, since their school hosted the two day conference. The facilities were excellent.

Our main sessions were held in the large chapel, which is located centrally on campus. Registration was held outdoors just beside the chapel, and ACTS (Africa Christian Textbooks) had a book table not far from that entrance, providing relevant books and journals at a special conference discount. Photocopy machines were available for presenters, who were required to make sufficient copies of their papers for distribution for all those who had registered.

The four commissioned papers this year were given by faculty of the University of Jos, indeed, from the Dept. of Religious Studies (in which we teach here). The lead paper of the conference, given by the Head of the Department, Prof. Umar Danfulani, “Power Encounter in African Worlds: Witchcraft, Oracles and Healing in Nigeria,” provided an excellent base for further discussion on a topic of considerable relevance for presentday concerns in religion in Nigeria. The second major paper, given Thursday afternoon, was by an Old Testament scholar, Dr. Jotham Kangdim, “The Holy Spirit and Other Spiritual Forces in the Old Testament and Christian Community: A Descriptive Analysis” gave a good general introduction to the important OT presention on the Holy Spirit.

On Friday morning Prof. Danny McCain, the founder of IICS, who also teaches New Testament, led discussion for that day with an interesting paper “Energizing Church Development in Africa through the Gifts of the Spirit,” in which he accented the contribution of the African church for Christianity worldwide. Wendy (who was also the chief organizer for this conference), started the discussions on Friday afternoon with her presentation on “Stephen: ‘Full of the Holy Spirit and Wisdom,’” in which she discussed post-exilic wisdom literature revealing a virtual identification of God’s Spirit with Wisdom, as background for understanding the qualifications of Stephen in Acts 6.

Alongside the commissioned papers, we heard a number of shorter presentations with some very interesting topics. To complement the presentation of Dr. Kangdim our IICS colleague at Unijos, Yoilah Yilpet, presented on “The Anointing Work of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 11:1-5; 42:1-7; 61:1-3.” Two graduate students from the Jos Evangelical Theological School, located not far from Unijos, presented good papers: Bitrus Sarma, “A Quest for Miraculous Powers in African Popular Religion: A Comparative Study of Miracles and Magic in the Ancient Near East,” and Matthew Michael, “Old Testament Angelology and African Understanding of the Spirit World: Exploring the Forms, Motifs and Descriptions.” To complement Dr. McCain’s presentation, Dr. Pauline Lere of Unijos spoke on “African Independent Churches: A Re-enforcement for African Spirituality for Transforming Development.” Our CSI colleague Rev. Rudy Wiebe examined the conference topic from a Trinitarian undcrstanding,“The Holy Spirit’s Role in Trinitarian Salvation: Exposition of 1Peter 1.1-12.” Two faculty members from the same school where Wiebe teaches (the Pankshin College of Education), Mrs. Victoria N. Pali and Fr. Yohanna T. Wadak presented a joint paper, “The Practice of Healing and Witchcraft in African Society: Implications for the African Independent Churches.” Adrian presented a paper called, “The Power of the Holy Spirit Cannot Be Bought: The Story of Philip and Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:4-25.”

And Benue State University was ably represented by the head of the department of Religious Studies, James Shagba Moti, presenting “The Significance of Pentecost (Acts 2.1-13) in Contemporary Christian Mission in Nigeria”

The organization of the conference fell to Wendy by default; she has functioned as chairperson for the Local Organizing Committee of NABIS northern zone. Our Unijos colleague, Dr. D. Gwamna, chief organizer of last year’s conference and chairman of the zonal organizing committee for NABIS, fell ill before Christmas, suffering what appears to be a stroke. He could not be burdened with these affairs, though we were grateful that he was well enough to attend the conference for a few hours on both days. You can see him at the registration table, where he is seated (at the left of the photo). The secretary of the northern zone of NABIS, Rev. Dauda Gava, was also absent. During January he left for South Africa to pursue research for his thesis (Wendy is supervising this work). Although we encountered a number of obstacles during the first day, the participants were very pleased with the conference.

As the communiqué issued after the conference explains, the major discourses of the conference focused on the reality and ongoing challenges of the African spirit world and witchcraft to the Christian community in Africa, particularly Nigeria. It also presented the person, work, and ongoing role of the Holy Spirit in both the Old and New Testaments, and highlighted the roles of the spiritual gifts in individual and inter-denominational relationships, and encouraged the energizing of the African-Nigerian Church towards holistic impact on the Nigerian society. NABIS has rightfuly called on its membership to engage Biblically the African spirit world, providing biblical remedies to the problem of witchcraft, and other African problems coming from an African understanding of the spirit world. NABIS also expressed its gratitude to TCNN for hosting this conference, and thanked all participants and the participating institutions.

Prayer notes for February 22, 2008

1. Some of our Master’s students still have to write their exams. These students of the Masters program in Philosophy and Ethics program are finished with exams, and celebrated the event with refreshments and reflection! However, the Nigerian union of academic staff called a one-week national strike, protesting matters which have a long history and never got settled properly. This affects teaching, and may postpone the remaining exams. Pray with us that this strike will not escalate, and that the semester can progress normally. Please pray too for wisdom for us as we mark stacks of papers and exams.

2. We would ask you to continue praying for our health. Some health concerns have surfaced, and we hope they will not become more serious. For some weeks Wendy has been struggling with a problem in her left shoulder, which limits her ability to write. She receives some relief from physiotherapy. Please pray that the problem will disappear, so she can get on with her work, especially because so much of our work is computer-related.

3. Thank God with us for a relatively stable provision of electricity—about 10 hours per day (but the last few days we have had only a few hours—too little for our refridgerators so that some food has spoiled). And the strike of Water Board workers is over. We have received water at least three days during the past week. Cooking gas is also available once more, although the price is still very high. Thank you for praying with us on these issues!

4. Both of the colleagues for whom we asked your prayer last month—Dogara Gwamna (at Unijos) and Tersur Aben (at TCNN)—are on the mend. We thank God for hearing the many prayers raised on their behalf.

5. Please continue to pray for the conference of the Northern Zone of the Nigerian Association for Biblical Studies (NABIS), to be held February 28-29 in Bukuru at TCNN, a few miles outside Jos. We have four invited speakers to present various aspects of the topic "The Role of the Holy Spirit and Spiritual Powers in the Christian Community." Due to the absence of some colleagues, much of the organization for this conference has fallen on Wendy. Please pray for all the speakers, and for all who attend, that these discussions may prove to be constructive and fruitful.