Rev. Friday Inya is passionate about spreading the Good News to his fellow countrymen. As the recently appointed head of the National Directorate of Missions for the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Inya is not only building bridges in his own country, but in Canada too. “In light of global mission, and the changing face of mission work, we need more and more mutual sharing so we can partner with each other,” Inya said in an interview. “You can partner with us in our challenges, and maybe you will need us too, when you see both our strengths and weaknesses.”
POPULATION: 131,860,000 (Africa’s most populous country)
MEDIAN AGE: 18.7 years
BIRTH RATE: 40.43 births / 1,000 population
DEATH RATE: 16.94 deaths / 1,000 population
LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH: 47.08 years
INFANT MORTALITY RATE: 97.14 deaths / 1,000 live births
HIV/AIDS ADULT PREVALENCE RATE: 5.4%
PEOPLE LIVING WITH AIDS: 3.6 million
RELIGIONS: Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10%
LITERACY (age over 15 can read and write): 68% total; male 75.7%, female 60.6%
POPULATION BELOW THE POVERTY LINE: 60%
CURRENCY: Naira (1 naira = <1 cent CDN)
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook
Inya was in Canada in October 2005 to talk to congregations in Ontario and British Columbia about his church. He wanted to educate Canadians on the challenges in his country and the work the church is involved in. He models his ideal after the Apostle Paul's instructions to the Corinthians. “Paul encourages the Corinthian church to give in a mutual way, so none is left to be poorer or richer. They both enjoy a mutual blessing. We can't do it alone anymore, but we can do it together.”
A minister and evangelist for more than 20 years, the 41-year-old Inya has been a Presbyterian since he fi rst became a Christian in secondary school. As missions coordinator, he handles training and orientation of missionaries, researching new church development and redevelopment, and general coordination of mission fields in the mostly-Muslim north of the country, where the greatest concentration of this work is being done.
“Our greatest strength is the spontaneity of our faith and our ministry. We have little resources, but we try to do a lot,” he said. “We also have a faith and a zeal that gives us the courage to reach them [remote peoples who have never heard the gospel].”
Although Inya touts the need for shared resources, he said long-term solutions are needed. “Both sides should be empowered,” he said. “You have to get to the point where you can stand strong on your own. You have to provide the right training and environment, not just money.”
His vision for the church has paid off. In the last five or six years, about 40 new congregations have sprung up in Nigeria — a country where 132 million inhabitants are roughly divided between Christians and Muslims. Inya said congregational support has been integral in the church's recent success, as has a renewed focus on evangelism.
Before the directorate was established, he said, growth was not an active pursuit. Churches were mostly transplanted rather than planted anew in remote areas. When the church asked Inya to get something started, he was working as a chaplain. “They said, 'Do mission.' I asked, 'Where?' They said, 'Anywhere!' There was no direction. But it's what we had been waiting for.” The first batch of missionaries was sent out in April 2000.
“It may be a very risky task, but it's a great one,” said Inya. “To see a lot of souls turning to Christ, to see work growing where it didn't exist before, is the greatest joy which nothing else can quench.”
