A month-long evangelistic outreach in Northern Nigeria, recently in the news because of a religion-incited strife, will aim to communicate the Christian message to the local population while strengthening the faith of those already in the Adventist Church, an organizer said.

"By three public evangelism campaigns and district meetings in two rural areas, [we want] to strengthen the churches and Christians who on occasion experience resistance -- even persecution -- in their sometimes hostile environment," said Dr. Borge Schantz, a retired professor at Newbold College, in St. Albans, England, who once served as a missionary in the region.

A second purpose is to stress the importance and role of angels, as active agents in spiritual warfare and [local] "ancestor cults" on a general and personal level. "Converts from traditional religions, often for a long time, experience and have to struggle with spirits of various kinds," he said.

Schantz added a third goal: emphasizing and explaining to Christians the importance of biblically-based ordinances, rituals and ceremonies. "In too many cases," he said, "[these believers] cannot read the Bible and other Christian literature. An understanding of the deeper meaning of these rituals as means, not goals, will render an enlarged appreciation of the plan of salvation."

The team consists of Dr. Schantz; Dr. Hyunsok Doh, a Korean Adventist pastor from Washington, D.C. and Patrick Boyle, a recently retired minister of the Stanborough Park Church in Watford, England.

"As an expatriate team we have worked well together in Pakistan and are looking forward to being of service to the churches in Nigeria," Dr. Schantz told ANN. "For me it is a kind of homecoming. I worked in the area 35 years ago. Then there were about 1,700 members in North Nigeria. Today, there are more than 35,000 members in the area."

The meetings are scheduled to commence February 5 followed by sessions for church workers in the area. Public meetings on various topics are also planned in nearby churches.

Seventh-day Adventists first established a church administrative region in Nigeria in 1914. Today, more than 207,000 Adventist Christians worship in 700 congregations in the nation.