I’ve seen it time and again. In the hope of constructing a church building, African Christians pool their paltry resources and discover that the total sum is only enough for a crudely fashioned mud and thatch hovel.

It seems hardly fit for children of the King. Yet He’s always invited…and He always shows up.

Nearby, an ornate mosque taunts the humble structure, along with the beliefs behind it. It beckons to the villages to abandon their foolish building and follow Allah, who provides for their needs.

This is the plight of native Christians in Africa. Armed with resources, Muslim fundamentalists are rapidly converting the entire continent, while followers of Christ struggle to survive.

The sun was setting over the mountain range in Nigeria as native ministry leader, Gabriel Barau, and I rode in a jeep that wound around a dirt road through a field of desert bush. Every now and then we passed a cluster of mud huts.

"There's no church in that village," he softly whispered.

Barau is the leader of Missionary Crusaders Ministries in Nigeria, which trains local Christians for evangelism and church-planting. There are 49 unreached tribes in Nigeria; Barau is reaching out to seven of them.

The jeep slowed to a stop as we neared another village. I looked over to find Barau’s gaze firmly set on the array of thatched roofs. Finally, he broke the silence.

"Two years ago, I sent a couple of gospel workers to this village to share Christ..." he began.

He continued the story by recalling the hearty welcome of the villagers; how they begged the gospel workers to return and establish a church. To accomplish this, the workers needed $300.

I gasped when he told me that it took his ministry two years to raise this amount. By that time, it was too late. While the workers were away, Muslims had converted the entire village to Islam.

Former Gambian president, Dawda Jawara, stated "Islam is not merely a creed but a way of life. God has blessed us with human and material resources so that we do not have to rely on others."

Islamic schools and hospitals, well-staffed and equipped with the finest materials, offer their services free of charge—with only one condition: conversion to Islam. Access to all of the riches of Allah is as simple as repeating the "Shahada," or Islamic testimony of faith.

Muslim leaders strongly believe that all of Africa is destined to become Islamic, and are wasting no time in accomplishing this goal.

According to Gary Henley, director of International Outreach Ministries, "Islam is more than a religion. It is a legal, political and social system. If successful, the Islam sweeping across sub-Saharan Africa will create a bloc of countries united in faith, law and leadership on a scale not seen since the Soviet Union and communism."

The constitutions of most nations comprising North Africa mandate Islam as the national religion. And even though many of these countries profess freedom of religion, Christians face extreme persecution from the Muslim majority.

Islamic missionaries are now rapidly converting sub-Saharan nations to Islam.

It is no wonder that Africans, yearning for the treasures that Allah promises to offer, are converting to Islam en masse.

Citizens of every African nation face a legion of formidable challenges. The will to live is tested—usually more often than not.

Subsistence farmers watch their families grow weak from starvation when months without rain leave crops to wither in the desert heat. In nations where rainfall is plentiful, flooding spawns diseases of epidemic proportions. Many of these diseases, curable with simple antibiotics, devastate entire populations for lack of basic medical care. Malaria claims more lives than AIDS.

Millions of innocent men, women and children are murdered in bloody tribal warfare that aims to annihilate targeted ethnicities.

The suffering has prompted the United Nations, foreign aid and humanitarian organizations to pour billions of dollars into the continent…and the lack of improvement has caused members of these same organizations to shake their heads in frustration. Does hope exist for Africa?

Perhaps the answer has less to do with economic factors, and more to do with the spiritual condition of the continent.

Millions of Africans languish in a spiritual bondage of such magnitude that it compels them to engage in heinous acts of witchcraft to appease "spirit gods." Altars, erected in almost every home and temple, are regularly stained with the blood of animal and human sacrifices. In a never-ending cycle, each new generation is born into the nightmare.

Throughout my travels in Africa I have been continually bombarded with the notion that the spiritual and economic degradation in African nations would cease if only their governments were not as corrupt. Yet every spiritually educated African believer is aware that satanic bondage, manifested as witchcraft and false religions, is what truly represses the continent.

In contrast, the selfless love of Christ, embodied in African Christians, can transform nations and people. Those who have been set free through the power of Christ want to take the gospel to those in spiritual darkness, but lack the financial resources and proper training to do so.

After years of extensive travel throughout Africa, I am convinced that the only solution to this spiritual bondage is Christ, shared through native missionaries trained in African schools of mission.

These institutes teach ministry leaders how to engage in spiritual warfare by training them to recognize and confront satanic forces through prayer, fasting and the knowledge of God’s Word. Without this crucial preparation, native Christians become targets of hostile tribes who seek their destruction.

Schools of missions’ students undergo a one-year training program with two months of practical field experience among unreached people groups.

Many Christians have daily encounters with well-trained Islamic fundamentalists, which have often resulted in physical attacks and destruction of property. Students are not naively sent to evangelize Islamic villages. They are taught to recognize the strongholds present in these villages, and how to mentally and spiritually prepare themselves.

In 1987, native missionary, Claude Sossa, began a school of missions in a rented facility in Benin that trained 40 to 60 people a year.

Five additional schools were established after my 2002 visit, when Sossa and I prayed that God would raise up disciples.

Throughout the following month, more than 600 native Beninoise missionaries expressed a desire to serve on the mission field. But they are in desperate need of training and financial support.

Christian Aid is the sole supporter of these six schools of missions, all of which are in rented facilities. Approximately 400 graduates are currently on the field, and hundreds more are in training.

The blueprints have been drawn for schools of missions in Nigeria, Benin, Senegal and Algeria. Ministry leaders are ready to begin training. Funding, as always, is the problem. A building with an attached dormitory, kitchen and restroom facility costs between $30,000 to $80,000 to construct.

In a politically unstable and depressed socio-economic environment, it is virtually impossible to win souls while failing to take care of the needs of people.

Schools of missions take a holistic approach to ministry. Unlike Muslims, who demand that people convert to Islam before receiving relief aid, Christians freely offer help to all in need.

Mustafa *, who began mission work in Senegal in 1986 after receiving training at a school of missions, discovered that young Senegalese Christians were expelled from their homes by their Muslim parents.

In 1996, he began setting up businesses for new converts to make them less dependent on their Muslim relatives.

To be accepted into Islamic villages, native missionaries must have a means of integration such as shoemaking or carpentry. The start-up cost for a small business is approximately $1,200.

Mustafa has also started an orphanage in Senegal, which currently cares for 70 children and 20 persecuted adult Christians, who have become part of the staff. The Marabouts (Islamic witchdoctors) have claimed large numbers of children as personal property and keep them in warehouses in cities to study the Quran at night and beg for money during the day. Mustafa’s staff is praying for $20,000 for a primary school, so children can escape Islamic indoctrination.

Most native Christians do not even have a crude structure in which to meet. Believers frequently gather under trees during sunny weather or in flimsy shelters with thatched roofs during the rainy season.

While traveling in Burundi, I discovered a group of native Christians who had used mud bricks to build the walls of a church. Running out of building materials, the destitute missionaries were forced to cease construction for four years.

To complete the building, only $4,000 was needed. They had waited so long for so little.

Their eyes danced when I informed him that Christian Aid could help.

I later learned that the church was used as more than just a meeting place. Abandoned children, left to beg in the street, were rescued and sheltered in the building.

When Africans renounce their Islamic faith to follow Christ, people are watching. When they are able to build a church building, it is a testament to God’s faithfulness.

"A church building is a very powerful voice to a new convert. It tells them that the new experience with Jesus is here to stay, that he or she is getting involved with something permanent," said Mustafa, "A building also speaks to the non-believer and creates a base of operations from which to continue preaching the gospel."

On another visit to Kenya, I was able, through Christian Aid funds, to provide five churches with tin roofs and irrigated farming projects. Their improved quality of life has been attributed to the Lord and has become an open door to the community.

Christian Aid finds and financially assists hidden ministries, who are doing what little they can before we ever discover them. With our help, they can and will combat the forces of Islam to redeem Africa.

Rae Burnett:
Since joining the Christian Aid team in 1993, Rae Burnett has crossed deserts, climbed mountains, waded across rivers and hiked through jungles in 40 African countries to interview ministry leaders and observe the work of indigenous missions to validate that it is consistent with Christian Aid standards. She wholeheartedly endorses schools of missions as the most effective way to train native missionaries to intelligently and strategically share Christ with Islamic and animistic nations.