Professional Dissertations DMin

Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Project Report

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry

College

Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary

Program

Doctor of Ministry DMin

First Advisor

Bruce L. Bauer

Second Advisor

Walter B. T. Douglas

Third Advisor

Erich W. Baumgartner

Abstract

Problem. At the beginning of this century Islam was confined to some geographical areas in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Dr. Samuel Zwemer in his writings claimed that Islam was a dying religion because it had within it “the germs of death." This claim is no longer valid as Islam has experienced a resurgence and grown proportionately well in other parts of the world. Islam, along with animism, has gained roots in Africa, especially in North and West Africa. Both religions have grown tremendously among some of the people groups in North Ghana where Islam is mixed with hundreds of superstitions and traditions that have gripped the minds of the people for centuries. The Seventh-day Adventist Church The need to study and understand this development of Islam and folk religions in North Ghana is very important. Only when we understand this phenomenon can we devise a workable strategy for both the laity and the clergy to contextualize and use it in their witnessing for Christ. A strategy to win Dagomba Muslims in North Ghana has long remained elusive to Christian missions. This dissertation is a response to this problem so that the findings from this project and the suggested ideas and recommendations may serve as a manual for aspiring workers to North Ghana.

Method. Orthodox Islam and folk customs have made the SDA Church work in North Ghana very hard. This is because the SDA Church has not studied the type of Islam that is practiced in North Ghana. SDA Church missionaries to North Ghana stereotyped this Tslam as the type that is practiced in the Middle East. This project has used field interviews to identify this unique Islam, its characteristics, and factors that hinder SDA Church growth. As a result of the survey, twelve strategies have been suggested for both the laity and the clergy.

Results. After years of unsuccessful experimentation with man-made and quick-fix methods and plans, this project is calling the SDA Church in North Ghana back to the basics— to adopt Christ’s methods of soul-winning and witnessing. This is the only divine blueprint for successful soul-winning in Muslim evangelism. The strategy is developed to encapsulate both the laity and the clergy so that they can work together in winning Muslims for Christ in North Ghana.

Subject Area

Muslims--Ghana

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/dmin/136/

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