Historical Background of the Church
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Gambia (ELCTG) was founded in the year 2000 but not by foreign missionaries but various indigenous lay Christians who had lived outside The Gambia on studies overseas, and had experienced the Lutheranism outside The Gambia. On Their return home, they wished to establish a Lutheran presence in the Gambia. The church started out as a fellowship on March 1, 2000, and was officially recognized by the Gambian government on May 5, 2006.
For the past fifteen years, the ELCTG has been autonomous, but came in contact with leaders of the Lutheran Church of Senegal (LCS), whose French-speaking nation surrounds our own English-speaking one other than the common boundary of the Atlantic Ocean in the west. In 2005, the Lutheran church in Senegal assigned a pastor, Moussa Marone, who worked at one of their parishes near the Gambian border, to help in supervising the mission work in the Gambia.
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In 2007, CEVAA first granted two scholarships for theological studies but was unable to support it in the second year. This was continued by the Lutheran World Federation when they granted two scholarships to Samuel S. Thomas and Fatima Bass, to study theology at Tumaini University Makumira in Tanzania, clear on the other side of the African continent, till 2012. Meanwhile, the Lutheran Church of Senegal continued to help in developing the church leadership and constitution, a partnership agreement, and a working manual for the operation of the church in the Gambia. On November 25, 2012, Fatima and Samuel were ordained, to be the first two Gambian Lutheran pastors. In 2016, the ELCTG gained the ELCA Global Mission scholarship for Rev. Fatima Bas Thomas who has already completed her studies of Master of theology at Lutheran School of theology at Chicago in 2018.
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Today we have over 2,500 members in nine congregations located in three parishes, distributed according to the five administrative regions of the Gambia itself: Serrekunda, North, and West, Lower, and Central regions. The ELCTG has established a mission field in Guinea Bissau where the ELCTG supports two evangelists in that Portuguese country. The two pastors serve the entire country, Rev.Fatima on the South side of the river Gambia and Rev.Samuel on the north side. Each congregation also has its own evangelist and catechist, who serve as the core pastoral leadership. We have established a leadership Center to train pastors and evangelists at the certificate level, who will then be sent into rural communities to earn their livelihood as farmers while sharing the Christian faith with their neighbors. At present, the ELCTG has constructed three church buildings in various communities with one fully supported by ELCA and the other two partially supported through ELCA campaign funds in partnership with the local Church.
Obviously, our small staff and large territory pose great challenges to us, not to mention the lack of nearby Lutheran theological Seminaries for further training of pastors. We need better support for our pastoral leadership training, support for evangelism, empowerment for women and school teachers, and better mobility to get from place to place. On the other hand, our evangelism efforts have already seen remarkable results. Thanks to Tumaini University Makumira for their good relationship and space always available to train our pastoral students if supported through scholarship.
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We do evangelism among all ethnic groups including Fulani in The Gambia. Our Church constitutes of five ethnic groups including those of Guinea Bissau. This is our strength for Mission in Guinea Bissau as The Gambia share local and contextual linguistic background.
This is especially the case among the impoverished Fulani people. The Fulani are found all over West and North-Central Africa, about forty million in all, and they make up about half the population of the Gambia. Most of them are Muslims. We have found them to be highly receptive to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If they get baptized, however, they can expect to be victimized in their communities. Their families and children may be secretly denied educational support and social benefits like healthcare or participation in community development programs. For this reason, the ELCTG prays for educational support for Fulani children and Fulani-initiated development programs to empower them in their communities.
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Alongside evangelism we do social work. The most significant hindrance we face is a complete lack of support and partnership from churches in the North. Accordingly, we lack the funds to train leaders in theology and social work or establish programs. We are glad that we were found by a handful of Finnish and American Lutheran tourists who visited us and gave meager support they could!
Still, we have made great strides with the resources we do have. We conduct women and youth empowerment seminars, and we host workshops to encourage and awaken our laity. We have educational programs for children, including two kindergartens or pre- schools for children aged three to seven that meet in houses—despite a lack of tables, toys, uniforms, drinking water, separate toilet facilities, or school supplies. The children, 95% from Muslim backgrounds, often come to school without having eaten anything at home and make do till they get home at two in the afternoon. They look very weak, with no shoes sometimes or only one pair of bathroom slippers to last them a year. Some won’t even join the group photos out of shame. God have mercy on these children and provide for them through mission partnerships!
The ELCTG pays its teachers from offerings and tithes, but sometimes they are not paid for months when the offerings are not enough. Sometimes out of motherly love the teachers use their own scanty money to help provide bread for the children in school.
Rev Fatima leads the women’s and youth’s organizations as mandated by the church constitution. The purpose is to nurture all these groups for their good and to allow children and youth to participate fully in the life of the church and grow into responsible adults. Like in many other African countries, more than half of the Gambian population is under the age of eighteen. We have a great youth organization, including men and women, girls and boys in leadership.
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Our church is also active in upholding the lives, work, and ministry of women. The ELCTG recognizes equal opportunities for both men and women at all levels in promoting the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If women are not available at present for the work of the Lord in any position of trust, every effort is made for them to be trained to serve in that capacity. They are to be included in both diaconal and ordained ministries and can serve as bishop, secretary, and treasurer at all levels. The leadership of our church involves the participation of both men and women at all levels for collective decision-making. This makes our church vibrant and dynamic.
Lutheran women in the communities we serve suffer for their children by working for other people on cashew farms. They collect fallen cashew fruits, with their nuts attached, to sell or make wine from to support their children’s education. This is not a very good situation, for the women are often abused by the men who have bought and drunk the cashew wine. The ELCTG has plans to establish community women’s skill centers to teach vocational skills in income-generating ventures for self-employment and support for children. Finding the resources to implement this program is a constant prayer of the national church.
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One of the things we are very proud of is our excellent partnership with other Lutherans and other Christians around us. In addition to the long friendship with the Lutheran Church of Senegal, the ELCTG is known by the Lutheran Communion of Central and Western Africa and is seeking membership in the Lutheran World Federation. The ELCTG is a member of The Gambia Christian Council, which brings us together with Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Pentecostals, and Reformed, the Joint Christian Ministry in West Africa, and the All African Theological Education by Extension network.
The need, the energy, and the passion are great in our little church, but the resources are lacking. We pray for a North-South, South-South partnership for spiritual and physical work of our church. The Local church is in companionship with ELCA with great relationship in both word and deed. We are now exploring other such partnerships with other Lutheran and Christian organisations in areas of Evangelism / Gospel, Education, Community development, healthcare, agricultural development, Muslim Christian Relations, Women and Youth Empowerment, theological education and leadership training and support for the disable people. We would welcome missionaries and personnel exchange. We need theologians to help develop our junior seminary and scholarships to allow for further study in the Gambia and oversea.