All unattributed photos have been graciously shared by our Mission family or are free for public use. The following photos were taken from unsplash.com: p18-19 - Himesh Kumar Behra; p20 - Mads Schmidt Rasmussen; p22 - Nong
* You hold in your hand a condensed version of a much larger celebratory publication that traces our history, through story, from 1904 to today. if you like what you read here and would like a copy of the full version, get in touch at hello@pioneers-uk.org or ring us 01302 710 750
Ten years ago, in the summer of 2014, I walked into the main meeting room at the Hayes Conference Centre in Swanwick, completely ignorant of Pioneers except for the fact that they had offered me a job and a visa to remain in the UK - two things I very much needed at the time. I had a calling to, and experience in, cross-cultural mission, so Pioneers UK - in terms of what they do - seemed like a good fit...but what about the people? It was the Mission’s 110th Anniversary celebration, and I was in a room full of strangers. I sat down in a row near the middle of the room, and soon an older couple (older than me, at least!) sat down next to me. Two minutes of chat were all I needed to know that things would be ok. Former missionaries to Lake Chad, Nigeria, David and Ros Nightingale were kind and genuine and gentle and they promised to pray for me - and they pray for me to this day.
Alan Chilver was there, too, gently heckling whoever happened to be on stage in only the way Alan could. His quick wit and cheeky grin dispelled any concern that these missionaries took themselves too seriously. “I’m going to fit in very nicely with these missionaries,” I thought. And I have.
Ultimately, the history of a Mission is shaped by two things: the graciousness of our Lord and the people who serve Him. Alan and many other humble giants of our Mission have gone to glory since that 110th Anniversary celebration, but their stories and the history they made lives on. Now, on our 120th Anniversary, I thought it only right to celebrate not only these saints but all the men and women of our Mission, past and present, by sharing some of their stories. Neither this version of Reach nor the special commemorative edition* is meant to be a comprehensive history. Rather, it’s a reminder that we too are part of the story. Each day of obedience is another line, another paragraph, another chapter of His story. And that’s something to celebrate!
Happy reading!
The First Fifty Years 1904-1954
BY AMANDA ANGUS
The story of our beginnings as a Mission are well known, or easily discovered (see the back cover): Karl Kumm’s call in 1895…his marriage to Lucy Guinness in Cairo in 1900…their mutual passion to see God’s name known in the Sahel region of Northern Africa…the founding of Soudan Pioneer Mission in 1902 which became Sudan United Mission in 1904…the departure from Liverpool in July 1904 of the first four intrepid pioneer missionaries… their short-lived first base at Wase Rock in central Nigeria. The facts are easy to find. They’ve made their way into the annals of (big H) History. But what about the rest? What about the (little h) history? The anecdotes, the adventures, the lessons learned. What about the humanity behind the facts?
The stories behind the stories are a treasure trove, not only of knowledge but also of kinship. As we celebrate the 120 years of the Mission, we see a rich heritage of
great courage and faithfulness, and, if we look in the right places, we can also see brothers and sisters in Christ… friends who are not so different to us.
Dr Kumm, along with J Lowry Maxwell, AH Bateman and John Burt made their way to Nigeria in July 1904. They had been warned that they “must be prepared to face loneliness and hardship and danger…” Those preparatory words, however, didn’t adequately inspire them to dress appropriately for the task. In his excellent history of the mission, Half a Century of Grace,* Maxwell writes, “I had been brought up to wear a ‘suit of clothes,’and to avoid getting my feet wet. I was not prepared, either mentally or sartorially, for a sixteen-mile trek in the height of the rainy season at ten degrees north of the Equator. Through the long morning we tramped on, and bit by bit I made myself more comfortable, discarding one garment after another. But I had on a pair of very heavy boots, and they
* All quotes in this article refer to Lowry’s Half a Century of Grace
were a growing burden as the day wore on…” (40-41) Thankfully, Maxwell had a second pair of boots with him which, as soon as he found them, he wore the next day to the great relief of his feet.
Sartorial problems were, however, not the only challenges the new, young pioneer missionaries faced. The first house they built for themselves was a disaster because they had failed to listen to local wisdom about appropriate building materials (which failed spectacularly when the rainy season came). They all became ill in one way or another. Their inexperience with the strength of the sun produced interesting results: “We were never called ‘white [men],’ always ‘red [men],’ as indeed was more in accord with the facts.” (41)
But the gospel was being preached in spite of youth and inexperience. “Wisdom lay hidden in the years before us as yet. But in our imperfect ways we did do some preaching and teaching, and who shall say that it was all in vain, even though our speech was faulty, and our method even more so…” (56)
Those early years were indeed “a time of stammering lips and other
tongues” as the early missionaries strove to learn and record the local languages. Others joined them, thanks to Kumm’s tireless campaigning around the world. Their numbers grew steadily, and the growing company travelled from village to village preaching the gospel and watching the Lord move in the hearts of people all over the central region of Nigeria.
The early efforts of the Mission were focussed on evangelism and meeting what needs they could. Medical aid and caring for the vulnerable accompanied the preaching of the gospel. Often, whole villages would be opened to the gospel through simple medical interventions or successful prayers for rain. It was also during these very early years that the Freed Slaves Home was established for children swept up in the slave trade, providing them with education, life skills and literacy, including Braille literacy for blind children.*
*See pages 14-15 for more on SUM’s ministry to blind children.
“We were never called ‘white [men],’ always ‘red [men],’ as indeed was more in accord with the facts.”
As new believers began to grow both in numbers and in maturity, the missionaries turned their attention to establishing churches and training evangelists. From the beginning, SUM missionaries held to the concept of ‘Indigenous Church’ (212-213) – the idea that the church, wherever it is, should, under the Lord’s guidance,
J Lowry Maxwell travelling by boat on the Benue River
Karl Kumm (seated) on one of his many treks
derive and grow primarily from the ministry of local people rather than from the efforts of foreign missionaries. Moreover, Maxwell writes, “It is sternly necessary for the Mission worker to remember that he is there to evangelise, not to civilise, much less to Europeanise.” (152) Both convictions were revolutionary concepts in mission practice at the time. SUM missionaries believed that the Nigerian church should be self-sufficient from the beginning – not dependent on funding from the mission, calling their own pastors, and taking responsibility for the evangelism of their own people.
Local believers thrived under the model of ‘Indigenous Church.’ Maxwell tells the story of one village’s whole-hearted commitment to take ownership of their place of worship:
“Some time ago so many people came to the services on the [mission] station that the … people felt that we must have a larger church. A friend offered five hundred dollars to help. We asked [the people] what we had better do. They all answered as one, ‘We cannot receive the money for the church. Our church should be a free-will offering to God from us. It would be a thing of shame for us to allow others to build for us.’ They went gladly to work. They were some time cutting palm-trees, the trunks of which are used as pillars to support the roof. Then came the long nights and days of bringing them in on the wagon. They would leave at midnight or two o’clock on moonlight nights and return at noon, and each day make the trip. This work with palms began in October and kept on until in February they had to
work nearly day and night. It was with hearts full of praise that we came to God when the heavy work was completed… We worked very hard, so that we completed it before Easter. The church was complete, and we were free of debt, with £2 still in hand.” (149-50) There were nearly 700 people present in the church for the Easter service!
As time passed and the Spirit moved, the missionaries’ evangelistic efforts, coupled with medical work, had developed into a handful of established churches, the establishment of Vom hospital, and the rise of ministry to people suffering with leprosy. Maxwell wrote, “…our medical work had become very important, and significant, too, not only for the relief of our people’s physical needs, but for its prime purpose of providing an opportunity to make friendly contact with those whom it touched - contact which could be used to make Christ known by definite evangelistic instruction and appeal.” (202)
Many of the children from the Freed Slaves Home grew up strong in the Lord. Some became educators or healthcare workers
The first church at Wukari, in eastern Nigeria
“Nyam, though he found no healing for his body, found a soul-healing which was infinitely more satisfying.”
He recounts the story of Nyam, a respected man suffering from leprosy: “’Could anything be done for Nyam?’ came the appeal. They were told that the doctor at Vom Hospital, thirty miles away, had recently started to treat leprosy cases. Accordingly, Nyam soon found his way to Vom, but only to be told that his case was too far advanced to benefit by the treatment. But he would not take ‘No’ for an answer, and persevered until he was admitted for treatment. So it came to pass that after some months Nyam, though he found no healing for his body, found a soul-healing which was infinitely more satisfying. He stayed at the hospital for about two years, learned to read the Hausa Scriptures, and acquired a good knowledge of the teachings of the Word of God. Finally he decided to leave the Hospital, return to his own people, and tell them of the Saviour Whom he had found. Back once more among the Jarawa, he devoted himself to evangelism, and was greatly used by God in winning many of his own people for Christ. The work has developed greatly in the years that followed, and a number of those whom he won have become evangelists and teachers, carrying on Nyam’s witness now that he has passed away.“ (157)
Alongside medical work, education had been one of the missionaries’ primary concerns. Literacy for both the sighted and the blind progressed into theological education and eventually into an entire educational complex at Gindiri on the central Plateau. Beginning as a training school for African evangelists and teachers, the school at Gindiri was always more than that. Maxwell writes that the students “were all married men, and they had to bring their wives and children with them. The school for the wives was looked upon as one of the most important parts of the training centre; if there was an infant, a boy or girl relative of the family had to come with them, and act as the child’s nurse while the mother was at school. Many of the wives were illiterate on arrival, so that the major subjects for them were oral Scripture knowledge, and reading, writing, and counting. Practical hygiene, spinning, weaving, needlework, and improved native cookery also formed a large part of the curriculum. From the first there
An evangelist preparing to go out with the gospel
Pioneering doctor, Frances Priestman with Kanuri people at the Borno Leprosy Settlement
The first Bible school building at Gindiri
has been a day school at Gindiri for the children of the students, so that, in each case, the whole family has been given a lift-up. The children of the local people have also been encouraged to attend. (This is now a large, thriving school.)” (182)
Education was just one way the SUM missionaries supported women in Nigeria. Women were encouraged and empowered to take up leadership and responsibility in the churches. Maxwell tells of a women’s conference where “‘four African women gave messages; others served as chairwomen, or led in songs, prayer, or Scripture reading.” Other women are taking responsibility for the women in their areas: “The Benoi women are being examined for baptism, and two of their own women do the examining. They ask the questions. They make the decisions. ‘This one should wait a little longer. She is young, we will help her with her reading…’ The Christian women gathered for a Conference at Christmas, just like the men. Three women were seated at a table in the church, with about fifty others seated on mats. One from an out-station led the service, another gave a message on ‘How we can make Christ’s Name ring out more,’ and a third one from Bebalem gave a message on ‘How we can help you who are witnessing for Him out in the tribe.’‘’ (246-47)
With the completion of the entire Bible in Hausa in 1932 and the success of the training school at Gindiri. The Mission entered another phase of the ‘Indigenous Church’ plan: training men for the pastorate. Among the three men chosen for the first class was Toma Tok Bot who, in 1921, had been one of the first baptised believers in his region of Birom. In December of 1936, in the presence of a gathering of about five hundred people [the missionaries] laid their hands on Toma Tok Bot, and presenting him with a copy of the Bible, solemnly appointed him as the first pastor of the Church in the Sudan, ’’Ekklesiya cikin Sudan.’’ (217) Thousands more would follow.
By the late 1930s, Maxwell was pleased to report, “The list of African workers at this time is quite impressive. There were three ordained pastors, eighty-seven paid evangelists and teachers, one hundred and fifty-four responsible workers appointed by the Church to a charge, but not salaried, twenty-four dispensary attendants, and three midwives.” (233) Speaking of the many Africans now involved in the ministry, he goes on to say, “One refers to these as ‘helpers,’ but the days may soon come when one will be obliged to speak rather of European ‘helpers’ working with the ‘Church in the Sudan.’” (233)
Maxwell’s narrative was published in 1954, when many of the men and women who have shared their stories in the following pages had already heard God’s call to the Sahel region. Many of them would, only a few short decades on, become the ‘helpers’ Maxwell had anticipated. It is to their stories that we now turn.
Women of the Women’s Felloswhip
Bali, David Lot and Toma Tok Bot (l-r) made up the first pastor training class, pictured here with their teacher Rev Dr McBride.
The Lake Chad Project
In 1960, God’s call to the isolated places of northeast Nigeria came to David and Gwenyth Carling who were then serving with SUM at the leprosy centre in Molai. Lake Chad, bordering Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad was almost as remote as a person could get. Journeys from the nearest town, Maiduguri, to the lake would usually consist of hours and hours in a Landrover on sand tracks, followed by hours on the back of a camel. It was not a journey for the fainthearted.
The Carlings made their first journey to Lake Chad in 1960, and by 1961 a medical ministry had begun on shores of the Lake. Nigerian and Chadian Christians who had been trained in basic medical care were sent to live as missionaries in very remote outposts on the shores of the lake.
. By 1964, it was apparent that there was an even greater need for both medical care and the gospel than had been anticipated, so a 31-foot sea-going boat, Albishir (‘bearer of good news’ in Hausa), was built and launched on the lake, enabling the medical team to reach even more isolated areas.
In 1971, a second boat, Albarka (pictured above) - which means ‘blessing’ in Hausa - was launched on the lake. It was able to operate in shallower water and was equipped with a 10-foot square operating theatre to enable the carrying out of surgical procedures (sometimes major) on the boat.
On the Lonely Lake
BY DAVID AND ROS NIGHTINGALE
So, what led us to working with SUM in one of the most isolated of places - Lake Chad? In short, we believe God took us there.
We set off from the UK in May 1973, expecting to be assigned to the building development work at Vom Christian Hospital in Plateau State. However, on arrival, we were sent instead to Maiduguri, in Northeast Nigeria, for 2 months’ orientation - during which time Keith Black took us to Lake Chad on a routine medical and pastoral visit.
We had already been inspired by reading Jean Hamilton’s book “The Lonely Lake” - as well as Sylvia Sykes’ scientific survey of Lake Chad - and of any place, or project, that might have been chosen for us, the Lake Chad Project had already challenged our hearts and prayers.
Lake Chad was, and still is, the home of the nominally Muslim nomadic Buduma people, who roamed the Lake with their cattle, as well as fishing and farming as conditions allowed. The Lake Chad Project, developed with David and Gwenyth Carling’s guidance, challenged EKAN (later COCIN) to help meet their medical and spiritual needs.
EKAN, in fellowship with the Chadian Church, had committed to the challenge to reach the peoples of the Lake, and some 20 or so Chadian and Nigerian families had accepted the call to serve there under the most difficult
Carpenter Henry Dalong fixing a roof to the new dispensary on Shila island
of conditions. We recall knowing that we wanted to support and work alongside them.
After our Hausa language course, we were sent there by the EKAN staffing committee. Our experiences with the medical launch ‘Albarka’, and conditions on the Lake were often challenging and sometimes extreme,
Ros with Mamuda, one of the Lake Chad Project medical auxiliaries, at the autoclave on Albarka
but worth enduring in the purpose of reaching the Lake peoples - especially the people on Shila island in Niger, who welcomed us there and became good friends.
We want moreover to acknowledge our utmost respect and admiration for the amazing commitment and dedication of our Lake Chad Project colleagues – we coined a nickname for them while negotiating the uncharted tracks of the Southern Sahara in a Land Rover – “Four-wheel drive Christians”.
We trust that their dedicated caring and preaching witness will one day lead to the emergence of a Church among the indigenous Lake people.
Will you please continue to pray for the Buduma people?
Four Wheel Drive Christians
The Lake Chad Project would not have succeeded had it not been for the commitment and sacrifice of the Nigerian and Chadian missionaries who kept the ministry running, day after day, year after year in harsh and isolated conditions. The Lake Chad region was hot and dry. The homes were basic. The insects were unrelenting. Food and basic necessities had to be carried in by camel or Landrover, or, later, flown in by MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship). These selfless men and women left behind family - sometimes even their own childrencommunity and the comforts of home for one purpose: to share the good news of Jesus with those who had never heard. Their lives spoke for themselves.
Abraham Haousou and RuthChadian missionaries to Lake Chad
The missionaries’ role was to keep the dispensaries running, providing basic medical care and sharing the gospel where they could. When Albarka arrived, they would prepare the people to see the doctors and would provide post-operative care for those who needed it.
Our Chadian and Nigerian missionary colleagues provided invaluable fellowship and encouragement for us when we joined the Lake Chad Project team. We would spend 2 weeks at a time on Albarka at Kinjiria – maintaining the boat and preparing it for the arrival of the mission doctors, who would come for 2 - 3 days to run clinics and take care of the more challenging medical issues.
David cleaning a spark plug on the hovercraft
However, as the climate changed and Lake Chad began to dry up, villages that had once been on its shores were no longer accessible by boat, and we needed a new base with deeper water in the north of the lake. God led us to meet a group of Buduma people on Shila Island who welcomed us to moor our boat near their village, with space for an airstrip nearby, and just a few minutes by plane from the dispensary at Baroua in Niger.
The amphibious MAF plane lands near Albarka, bringing supplies and personnel
The villagers took a caring interest in an event that taught us all a lesson. Tear Fund had provided us with a hovercraft which could assist us with the low water levels of the Lake. On this occasion a photographer from another mission had come to assess our programme. He, with our medical missionary colleague Zechariah and David as driver, went to visit another village. The weight of three adults and gear made the hovercraft heavy and when we transferred from open water to shallow water and then to deeply fissured mud it simply stopped any forward progress. The mud was like jelly with a thin crust on top. We were in a dilemma, and it was a really dangerous situation. We were stranded half a mile from dry land with no way to call for help. Zechariah, however, with some quick thinking, switched into ‘Four Wheel Drive’ and found a solution. Using two cardboard boxes like snowshoes to distribute his weight, Zechariah bravely stepped out of the hovercraft onto the thin surface of the dried mud and carefully made his way to safety. Seeing Zechariah’s success, the photographer followed suit, thus reducing the weight and allowing just enough lift for me to negotiate the same way back.
The story of Joel Doba, a Chadian missionary to Lake Chad, is well known in the mission. In the late 1970s, civil war broke out in Chad and the Lake Chad region became unstable and unsafe for the missionaries, forcing them to abandon the project. Here is Joel’s story, as told in Facing the Challenge: “Joel Doba refused to flee to safety and continued with his medical work. He was captured by rebels and, after three days of relentless questioning, was utterly exhausted. He said to his captors, ‘I have only one thing to say to you, and I stand by this alone. You can do anything you want to me, but it won’t make any difference. I have already given my life and allegiance to God.’ He was released seven months later - a story of courage and unwavering faith in God.”
Ros in Albarka’s galley
Joel Doba with Keith Black
120 Years
a timeline
11 January: Soudan Pioneer Mission founded in Germany by Karl Kumm, foreshadowed the formation of SUM in the United Kingdom in 1904.
15 June: SUM was founded in a multi-denominational meeting in Edinburgh and continued from its HQ in Castleton, near Sheffield.
23 July: Four pioneer missionaries sailed from Liverpool for Nigeria – Karl Kumm, A.H. Bateman, J.G. Burt, and J. Lowry Maxwell. When the captain of the passenger liner learned that these four men were missionaries, he promptly appointed all four men as honorary chaplains and 8 passengers committed their lives to Jesus Christ during that sea journey!
17 September: The first SUM station opened at Wase Rock, Bauchi, Nigeria.
March: Kumm travelled to America and an interdenominational North American branch of SUM was established.
Kumm travelled to South Africa and a South African branch of SUM was founded.
Tom Aliyana, a freed slave from Kukawa on the shores of Lake Chad, was the first African baptised by SUM in Nigeria.
16 February - 3 December: Kumm’s epic trek from Ibi on the bank of the River Benue, Nigeria to Khartoum on the banks of the Nile. 10 months - and who knows how many thousands of miles - of trekking!
January: A combined Australian and New Zealand branch of SUM was formally established by Kumm. This branch of SUM was, in 1921, to be used of God to plant the Sudanese Church of Christ in Sudan (SCOC).
The first constituted church in Langtang, Plateau State of what became the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN). Vom Christian Hospital built.
Gindiri Training Schools founded.
Leprosy work starts at Molai. Ordination of first three Nigerian COCIN pastors. Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ (ERCC) founded by SUM South African Branch.
Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN) founded. COCIN a participating Church. Medico-evangelistic Lake Chad Project founded. COCIN and SUM missionaries work hand-in-hand in the countries sharing Lake Chad.
COCIN Theological Education by Extension programme starts.
On 1 January, the British Branch of SUM ceased to exist in Nigeria. SUM handed everything over of its work to COCIN. Proprietorship, leadership, and legal occupancy were all now in the hands of COCIN. SUM missionaries serve with COCIN and under its leadership. This was truly a radical move and put SUM in the forefront of world mission development.
SUM purchases Bawtry Hall to be a Centre for Mission. The name of the Mission is legally changed to Action Partners (1989) to reflect the new purpose to partner with indigenous Missions and Christian agencies in reaching unreached people groups.
Action Partners begins sending missionaries to the UK, Ghana, Cameroon, Chad, Egypt & Senegal. Action Partners joins the global family of Pioneers and legally changes its name to Pioneers UK Ministries. Pioneers UK sells Bawtry Hall and rents office premises in the Hall.
Signing of a fresh missional partnership for the unreached between COCIN and Pioneers UK.
KATHRYN HILL
Ministry to blind children had been on the hearts of SUM missionaries since the very beginning. Missionary David Forbes introduced braille materials into the Freed Slaves Home in 1916, and in 1953 a School for Blind Children was opened in the Gindiri education complex.
Students at the School for Blind Children (pictured below) were often moved into the Gindiri mainstream secondary schools, and many even went on to university. Others joined COCIN’s Extension Bible School and became church leaders in their villages.
Top left: Naomi and Taula making a grass mat; Top right: Bitrus making string, Yohanna making a net; Bottom left: Two boys weeding; Bottom right: “We may be blind but we do enjoy life!”
The above photos and the “Flute Band” photo opposite are used by permission of the AFB Migel Memorial Library Collection, 2009.24. They were taken and captioned by SUM missionary Pam Allen.
A Life in the Light
BY MARK COOK
What a wonderful day it must have been for Emmanuel! All the waiting and frustration until one day he received his very own braille machine!
Emanuel was born into a poor Nigerian family as Abu Karimi. At the age of 6, he caught measles and, upon recovery, discovered the disease had permanently blinded him.
Emmanuel Abu Karami Dinglip
Although his father took him to the hospital, the operation was unsuccessful and his family cast him aside as ‘useless’, believing the only occupation for a blind man was begging. The fatalism often expressed in much of the Islamic world believes that each person is born to their station in life and the disabled are simply born to be beggars. Worse still, under Islamic Sharia law, serious criminal offences may be punished by the amputation of limbs and although this law isn’t used in Nigeria, there is, especially in Muslim areas, an association between disability and criminality. But Abu had heard of blind people who had good jobs and he simply wasn’t going to give up!
Around this time, a local evangelist called Paul started visiting Abu’s family and although his parents didn’t respond, Abu
listened intently and it wasn’t long until he accepted the hope and love of Jesus into his life - a hope which seized his life, leading him to venture outwhen others in his position typically stayed bound to the family home - and to discover that life was worth living and living to the full.
Paul remained a rock in Abu’s life and it wasn’t long until he had secured a place for Abu at the School for Blind Children in Gindiri, even paying Abu’s transport costs for the first three years. Then in 1985, after 6 years as a boarder, Abu (who took the new name Emmanuel at his baptism) obtained a place at the Boys’ Secondary School, also in Gindiri.
What a lifeline these two schools were to Emmanuel and so many others like him! Braille reading and writing were taught, first in the Hausa language, then in English. Maths was taught in a very practical way so that the use of everyday weights and measures and recognition of coins would become second nature for young men and women wanting to live as normal a life as possible, to reach their potential and to make a valuable contribution to society.
In such a happy and loving Christian environment, the students loved to sing, playing penny whistles and traditional Nigerian instruments with great enthusiasm. On one memorable occasion, having misjudged the time due to their impaired sight, a dormitory of boys woke up and decided to practise ‘Christians Awake, Salute the Happy Morn’, not realising it was only 3 in the morning! The sleepy staff were not in quite such a happy mood that morning!
But Emmanuel almost missed out on all this fun. On starting at the Boys’ Secondary School, with his father still refusing to provide financial help, two of the kind missionary teachers felt a leading to give extra help this promising boy. They tried first to apply for local funding and then, with some heartfelt letters of
request sent back to Britain, funding came to cover his school fees, his uniform and… his mattress for the dormitory!
Many of us know how much of a difference prayer, encouragement and mentoring can make. And how true this was for Emmanuel as the teachers supported him through his school exams and watched him begin a university degree in mathematics. When he received the gift of a scientific talking calculator, he wrote, “Now there’s no maths I can’t tackle!”
True to his word, Emmanuel completed his course, becoming the first blind Nigerian to gain a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Wonderfully, he later married and became a father, providing for his family by working for the Special Education Department of the Federal Ministry of Education in Abuja. And in a natural response to the faithful love shown to him in his younger days, he was a volunteer tutor in maths, in his spare time, for sightimpaired students in several Abuja schools.
Sadly, Emmanuel passed away in 2023 but what an inspiration he was and is to the young Nigerians with disabilities who came after him.
* Special thanks to Kathryn Hill for sharing her photos and memories of Emmanuel, who was her student and friend.
Emmanuel with his brailler
The Blind Boys Flute Band
The Hands and Feet of Christ
BY KERRY STILLMAN
As I set off to Cameroon in 1998 for an 11 month term, little did I realise how much it would shape me for the rest of my life. God had called me to go and serve him among unreached people although Africa had not been on my radar. But God worked things out for me to discover the need for a physiotherapist to join a fledgling team at the newly established Meskine Hospital in northern Cameroon. Action Partners was the UK contact for the small US organisation of Medical Centers of West Africa, so off I went to join this mostly American team. I naively thought I could establish a physiotherapy department in a few months!
It wasn’t long into that first year that I understood the need to come and serve among Muslims long term, so fast forward to the autumn of 2000, I found myself back in Cameroon as part of the long term team*. By now I also understood the team’s vision to find Muslims from the region, especially among the Fulbe (or Fulani) people
who were searching to know and follow Jesus. I thought that if God would just bring me one Fulbe person who wanted to follow Jesus then it would all be worth coming to Cameroon.
The first Fulbe person I had the privilege of sharing the gospel with in Meskine was a lady whose little son was in the hospital with a destroyed hip due to tuberculosis. My Fulfulde language skills were still very poor at this time but somehow we managed to talk to about Jesus and she watched the ‘Jesus’ film. This tool became such a blessing for our team and for the many people who watched the film during their stay at Meskine Hospital over the years. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people had this experience of seeing the dramatisation of Luke’s gospel in their language. This opportunity often came out of our offer to pray for each patient and their family on the hospital wards. Many people came to know Jesus in this way over the years.
* See the back cover to find out how to read Kerry’s memoir of her time in Cameroon.
I will never forget the first Fulbe lady who I had the privilege of praying with to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord. She was a neighbour of mine in the village, but I got to know her at our hospital as she was very unwell with TB and HIV. The TB nurse asked me to intervene as she had run out of money to buy the TB medication she so desperately needed. Meskine Hospital had a ‘Poor Fund’ which ensured people were not turned away from essential medical treatment due to lack of personal funds. My neighbour came to visit me regularly and it was wonderful to see her regaining her strength, but the shock of her HIV diagnosis weighed heavily upon her. She found comfort in Jesus and the message of the gospel, being particularly impacted by the story of the Prodigal Son who was welcomed back and forgiven by his father.
These last 25 years have been a rollercoaster ride for me in many ways. My own health situation created the necessity of an emergency medical evacuation in 2004 when
I became temporarily paralysed but, through the prayers of many, God allowed me to rejoin my team with my health restored. More recently, the presence of terrorist activity from Boko Haram in the region meant our team had to leave Meskine and relocate further south. But this change of location has seen so much fruitfulness in the disciple-making ministry among Muslims that we could only dream of years ago. There are now Fulbe and other Muslim-background followers of Jesus with a vision to take the gospel to their people. It has been my greatest joy to witness those we have trained in disciple-making strategy go on to lead others to faith in Jesus.
Another change for me was when Action Partners joined the Pioneers International family and Pioneers UK was born. Although this did not create much change for my daily life as I was part of the MCWA team, it did give me a wider mission network to belong to. Attending a Pioneers conference in Ghana opened my eyes to what God was doing through my newly found colleagues, and encouragement from my Area Leader from Senegal was a real benefit in knowing I was not alone in this ministry.
Physiotherapy as gospel ministry
Opposite (l-r): Kerry and the Meskine Hospital team; Assisting in theatre; Visiting a physio patient at her home
As for Meskine Hospital, our team was able to hand over the ownership and running of the whole project to the Cameroon Baptist Convention 4 years ago. My recent visit there confirmed that the future of this hospital is in safe hands as it continues to serve the community with excellent medical care and remains a place where people can meet Jesus. Knowing the medical work and the disciple-making work will continue, my team and I were able to conclude that our mission has been accomplished in Cameroon. To God be the glory.
Kerry reading the Bible with her neighbour
SUM changed its name to Action Partners in 1988 to reflect its growing partnership with other mission ministries and the widening of its ‘field’ beyond Nigeria. In 2007, Action Partners joined the global Pioneers movement, which had been started by Ted and Peggy Fletcher in 1979. Action Partners became Pioneers UK, and almost overnight the scope of the Mission grew to encompass the entire world. Annie* joined the Pioneers UK staff as an intern at the age of 19 and moved on to managing the summer trip programme. In 2016, she made the transition from office staff to field member, serving in a large city in South Asia. Though she’d been serving in mission for some time, like all of us, Annie still had much to learn...
Confessions of a missionary…
BY ANNIE*
When people ask me about my experiences as a missionary in Asia, all the incredible experiences come tumbling out of my mouth. It is those mountain top experiences that stand out, like jewels in a necklace that sparkle and catch the eye - the success stories of people coming to faith, churches started, change happening. But to share only those experiences would be to share only part of the story. It has taken me some time to process the difficult things, and see how they affected and shaped me.
In those first years on the field my faith took a battering as some things I thought I theologically understood, when it came to the experience, my heart struggled to accept. Coming from the West, I was very sheltered from many hardships that the rest of the world experiences, and for me, this influenced my view of God and shaped my understanding of what God’s protection, deliverance and even His goodness look like.
*Name changed for security purposes
In my first years of learning language and culture I was volunteering in an orphanage run by the local church. I loved spending time with the children, and the girls’ and boys’ home became my safe haven in this new culture. I stayed over one night a week with the girls and visited both homes often. When the air pollution was too high the Government declared the schools shut. Most things would be shut, so I would go over and teach the boys (it was close to my home). Classes were rather different to what they experienced in school. I made them interactive with drama, debates, games, posters and time lines around the walls for history. We had so much fun together.
Then one night there was a raid on the boys’ home. The staff were arrested, and the boys all taken and placed into government run orphanages. I haven’t seen the boys since. My pastor and his wife went on the run as there was a warrant out for their arrest, and they feared in prison they would not be able to fight their case. The police questioned me, accusing me of being involved in trafficking the kids for their organs. I sat in shock, unable to process what they were saying to me. It all sounded so bizarre, and bizarre it was. It was a sharp wake up call to how unfairly the enemy fights.
After many months of court battles, the charges against my pastor and his wife were dropped. The staff were eventually released from prison and the investigation closed, as the accusations of child trafficking were unfounded. But we never got the boys back. We didn’t know where they were and were not allowed to contact them, though over the years as they turned 18 some of them contacted us.
to change the injustice, but sometimes we experience the injustice and our hands are completely tied. We pray and don’t see the change we long to see. We live in the era where His Kingdom has come, and is coming and is not fully here yet. Now those passages in Scripture that speak of suffering hit my heart in a new way, and I see and know that we will suffer, that the enemy fights unfairly, and we are called to hold on to our faith with perseverance. I don’t think I really understood what ‘perseverance’ was until I served in Asia. There was a naivety to my faith that has fallen away. Now I understand that sometimes the awful will happen, but our mission is to hold on, for in that holding on and choosing to look to Him, He is Glorified. I don't know where all the boys are, but He does, and He loves them, more than I - my heart is sure of this.
He loves them more than I - my heart is sure of this.
Going through this was one of the hardest things I faced on the field. It made me wrestle with God in a way I had not before. His protection and deliverance from evil didn’t look the way I imagined it would. Sometimes God uses us
Find out more about MCCC at www.manchesterccc.org.uk
Undimmed. Undiminished.
BY STEPHEN CARLING
Over three thousand years ago, on a mountain-top near the ancient land of Canaan, something amazing unfolded. It’s probably right we take off our shoes in reverence.
The very day Moses finished speaking his last message to the people of Israel, God told the 120 year-old leader to climb Mount Nebo (over the Jordan from Jericho) and view Canaan. ‘On this mountain, you will die,’ God announced. ‘You will see the promised land only from a distance.’
From that place, towering 3000 feet above the desert below, God showed Moses the whole land – northward and westward and southward and eastward. Deliberately, we are reminded that God commanded Abraham six hundred years earlier, ‘ Raise your eyes and look from the place you are now, northward and southward, eastward
and westward … for all the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring for ever.’
Hearing again God’s ancient promise, Moses raises his eyes to the horizons, dies, and is buried by God there in a grave never to be found. The biblical record of the death of Moses (Deuteronomy 34:1-12) never fails to send a shiver of awe down my spine.
Moses’ many years of ceaseless striving to fulfil the divine mission with which he had been charged is lifted up before our wondering eyes. There is an intimacy between God and Moses in this earthly death. Moses dies at the word of the Lord. [Rabbinical interpretation remarks that Moses died at the mouth of God so that his soul was ‘taken away by a kiss’.] God, who delivered the Israelites from captivity with an outstretched arm, will dig with his hands in the earth to bury his friend.
‘Climb up the mount,’ says God, ‘and die’; The prophet climbed, and died. Softly his fainting head he lay Upon his Maker’s breast; His Maker kissed his soul away, And laid his flesh to rest.
Wonderingly, though Moses was 120 years old the Bible tells us his eyes were not dimmed nor his strength diminished.
As it happens, Pioneers UK is 120 years old this year! A poignant milestone! 120 years of ceaseless striving to fulfil the divine mission with which we have been charged. Today, we ‘stand upon the shoulders of a giant’.
120 years old, we look back with immense gratitude on all that has gone before and upon those many thousands of faithful servants of the Lord who have gone before. Karl and Lucy Kumm were the first … but so many others have followed. Some known by many, and many known only to a very few. Each faithful person, though, commended by God and part of our great cloud of witnesses.
120 years old, we also raise our eyes in renewed faith and look forward to new horizons of mission and service to the God of Abraham and Moses. In faith, we dare believe our eyes remain undimmed and our strength undiminished as we give ourselves again to the Lord who said, “ Lift your eyes and see the fields ripe for harvest!”
A final musing. When God turned Moses’ steps aside to investigate the bush that burned unconsumed, he asked the fearful 80-year-old, “What’s that in your hand?” “A staff,” Moses replied. In the hands of the LORD, this ordinary herdsman’s staff became the staff of God with which Moses would perform miraculous signs (Exodus 4:17,20).
400 or so years before Moses, the patriarch Jacob had only his staff when he first crossed the Jordan. Much later, when he crossed the Jordan again on his return to Canaan, Jacob had a great deal more than just his staff (Genesis 32:10). Indeed, his household had become so large that it encompassed two companies!
The Bible records that, just before he died, Jacob worshipped while leaning on the top of his staff. I like to think it was the very same staff he had from the beginning!
Lesley and I safaried from Fleetwood to Cape Town and back in our ancient Landrover. I often wonder how old this fine, hand-smoothed wooden staff is … and whether it has been handed down by a Maasai father to his son … and I worry over whether my buying it has somehow ended a time-honoured family tradition!
The Maasai have an ancient nomadic history. Moses and Jacob were sojourners too – more, they were pilgrims with God. Their staffs were witnesses of their individual journeys and of the bigger story of God’s mission. Did Moses have his staff with him when he climbed the mountain? If so, did God bury it with him?! We aren’t told … but we do know that when he was dying in Egypt, Jacob leaned on his staff (Hebrews 11:21). I imagine Jacob speaking to his son, “Joseph, I’m leaning on this old staff to remind me I’m a sojourner here. Don’t let my bones remain in Egypt! I will die with my pilgrim staff in my hand to remind you that we are a pilgrim people.”
In 1904 God called our Mission into being. 120 years on and we are also called to continue as a pilgrim people with God. The baton (or staff) remains! Passed on from generation to generation … and from horizon to horizon.
Undimmed. Undiminished. For the sake of the nations.
‘Climb up the mount,’ says ‘and die’; The prophet climbed, and Softly his fainting head he Upon his Maker’s breast; His Maker kissed his soul
In my Study, I have a bona fide Maasai cattle-herder’s staff. I bartered for it in 2018 with a lone Maasai man walking along a bush road in northern Tanzania when
And
Stephen is very conscious of the immense privilege of being the 12th director in the long history of our Mission (and the only director literally born into the Mission!). Above his desk hangs a framed painting of our founder and first director, Karl Kumm. It reminds him daily of this Mission’s “great cloud of witnesses” and the historic call of God to plant the church of the Lord Jesus Christ amongst the least-reached.
laid his flesh to rest.
On the Horizon
What’s next for Pioneers UK? Our Director shares a few ideas about where we’re headed as we continue to press forward in God’s call to the nations.
A new season of mission partnership with COCIN.
This national Church and our Mission have been fitly framed together since the beginning in 1904. SUM sent its first missionaries from Britain to Nigeria in July 1904 and COCIN, in the sovereign purposes of God, was planted. This plant has grown into a mighty tree indeed! 120 years on and COCIN is an indigenous denomination of c.3 million … cross-culturally sending its own missionaries to unreached people groups of Nigeria and beyond. COCIN and the Mission have, this year, signed a Partnership Agreement together for Pioneers UK to relevantly support COCIN in its own missions capacity, especially as this relates to Muslim unreached people groups. I am so grateful for a new season opening up of mission partnership with COCIN!
Mobilising diaspora peoples.
The fastest growing churches in the UK are often diaspora churches (African, Asian, Middle Eastern etc.)! London, for example, is one of the most diverse cities in the world today; where you can find 83% of the world’s nations – many of which are represented by churches across this huge city. We already have staff team members engaging with African and Chinese churches and Christians in the UK. I am excited to grow this vital aspect of our mission engagement and sending.
An Encore! programme.
I’ve known that the population of the UK is ageing. However, I was startled to discover that, by 2041, approx. 26% of the UK’s population will be aged 65 and over – that’s 1 in 4 of the population!with those aged 50+ likely comprising around half the adult population! And it’s not just a matter of numbers. Christian over-50s who retire early have likely accrued life experience and ministry wisdom … are mature believers (hopefully with a seasoned global missions heart) … and even have a greater likelihood of being able to self-fund. Can we envision and galvanise mobilising ‘third-agers’ alongside our present focus on young(er) people? If the Mission were to mobilise Lesley and me in our 60s, we would have a different (hopefully wiser!) set of gifts to offer than we did when we went to Nigeria and Ghana in our (enthusiastic) 30s! I’m enthused by this Encore! possibility!
In Memory of Shirley Palmer
BY MARK, PIONEERS’ PARTNERSHIP MANAGER
We were sad to hear of Shirley Palmer passing away in November 2023.
Shirley served in Nigeria from 1962 until December 1968 at the Girls School at Gindiri where she served as Principal for almost all that time. Friends and colleagues remember her with affection as an enthusiastic and hard-working teacher who was always willing to do extra hours and cover other people's duties if needs be, especially in caring for the girls outside normal teaching hours.
Shirley studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and friends recall her proficient and methodical approach in chemistry practicals. It was at university, through the Christian Union, that Shirley gave her life to the Lord and, in time, became part of the Sudan Prayer Group there. Inspired by what she heard about the recently opened Gindiri High School for Girls, it wasn’t long before Shirley headed out to Nigeria with SUM, carrying her beloved hockey stick with her. As a naturally sporty person she was quick to introduce her girls to the game and together they formed a school team. Indeed, several SUM friends fondly remember how she loved the girls dearly and would do anything for them. As one said, “Knowing Shirley, she’d still be praying for the students years later.”
Shirley in her early days with SUM
The story is told of how, during the Biafran War (1967-1970) she provided protection for the Ebo girls from the South if there was a threat of attack. There was a secret understanding that when the school bell rang, these girls from the South would be immediately protected and sent home to be safe.
Shirley was very self-disciplined in her spiritual life and hardworking in her school life – she gave a lot and consequently expected a lot of her staff when she was in charge. In fact, her former teaching friends said how she was a strong leader who made hard decisions when needed, for the sake of the school community. Nevertheless, a friend was quick to express how ‘she was a lovely person to work with.’
As an only child, when her parents became elderly, she was obliged to return to Norfolk to look after them and so she continued her teaching in the local secondary schools in the area. But as a former SUM colleague wistfully recalls, ‘Gindiri was always in her heart’. No doubt it was with this in mind that she has very kindly left a generous legacy in her will so that the work of ‘reaching the unreached’ can continue.
Further Reading
Facing the Challenge
The history of the Mission in celebration of the centenary in 2004, with an update in 2012
From Hausaland to Egypt
Karl Kumm
Karl Kumm’s memoir of his epic trek from Nigeria to the Nile River in 1909
Half a Century of Grace
J Lowry Maxwell
The official history of the first 50 years of Sudan United Mission
Blood, Sweat & Jesus
Kerry Stillman
A memoir of Kerry’s time serving in a rural hospital in northern Cameroon
Far from Cold Gillian Newham
A memoir of Mark & Gillian’s 30 years with Pioneers in Mongolia.
To the Nile and Beyond
Peter Spartalis
A history of the Sudanese Church of Christ and the ANZ branch of SUM
The Lonely Lake
Jean Hamilton
Stories of the missionaries serving around Lake Chad
