Missionary profile – Mike Adegbile

By Mercy Kambura

Mike Adegbile: missionary from Nigeria and mobilizer for North Africa

I’m a mission catalyst, igniting the African evangelical force to reach North Africa. When I came into the leadership of the Nigeria Evangelical Mission Association (NEMA) as the executive secretary, our vision was to see the gospel extend to the Sahel, North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and even to the Middle East and back to Jerusalem.

That focused my view on the Sahel belt and Maghreb. I began reading about the Muslim world, which stirred my spirit for the Lord. The North is largely Muslim and not much was happening in terms of the gospel. I began studying African countries in detail, and I was burdened to see that the gospel is yet to reach that part of the continent.

I was saved at age 14 and soon after, spreading the gospel became natural for me. My relationship with Scripture Union propelled me to spread the gospel among students. I was curious what God was doing in the world and how I could be involved. I went for my first cross-cultural missions trip to Togo.

Later, I was involved with a group called the World Wide Jesus Crusade (WWJC). The leader of that team began a ministry that broadened my vision, gave me a broader perspective of God’s vision for the world, especially for the Muslim world.

Why would God place 45 million evangelicals in Nigeria, while the North has less than 2 per cent Christians? I was also burdened for the unreached Muslims in Nigeria. We have a God-given role to reach to the north.

Visiting Tunisia once ignited an even stronger passion to reach the North. We convened a Go North Consultation, and that was done to catalyze the Nigerian missions force to reach the North of our continent.

The percentage of evangelicals in the North has been in the zero decimals. How can people from sub-Saharan Africa impact the eternal destiny of the people of the North?

The North is not your normal mission field. Those getting involved must do so safely, strategically and fruitfully.

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Mike has been involved in student ministry leadership in various capacities since 1985 with the Nigerian International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (NIFES); including serving as its National Director from 2002-2010. After completing his Master’s in Missiology at All Nations Christian College, UK, Mike led as Executive Director NEMA for eight years till Dec 2019. He currently serves as a Movement Catalyst to Mobilize the Sub-Saharan African Church to engage the unreached and unengaged peoples and places in the Sahel and Maghreb with movement principles.

Mike is a lay leader and Missions Catalyst within the Church of Nigeria-Anglican Communion and has leadership roles with Nigerian Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization; Nigeria 4/14 Window Global Initiative; African Missions Association-AfMA, Lausanne Global Diaspora Network (GDN), the Global Church Planting Network- GCPN and the 24:14 Global Strategy Team.

Watch the interview with Mike and AfriGO Conversations here: https://youtu.be/jPWA5NsSxjE?feature=shared

#Pray:

For all those considering ministry to North Africa.
For North Africans to be prepared to receive the gospel of peace.
For friendly locals in the North to partner with workers from across Africa desiring to find a footing in the North.