Until the late 1960s, most individual churches offering any Sunday School ministry used locally produced teaching materials. These were often duplicated notes prepared every few weeks with little structure. Some churches still continue in this way, and others rely on gifts of free material from North America or other Western sources.

ELFON & Scripture Press Ministries (USA)

In the late 1960s, Scripture Press Ministries gave permission—together with a small grant—to the Evangelical Literature Fellowship of Nigeria (ELFON) to adapt and translate their Sunday School teaching materials for use in Nigeria. Nigerian writers set to work, and the first set of lesson books for Primary Children went on sale in 1970. Gradually, ELFON introduced materials for four different age groups, greatly blessing the Sunday School ministry. ELFON wrote training manuals for teachers and held training programmes for teachers each year, while a weekly half-hour teachers’ preparation programme was broadcast in Hausa on Radio ELWA for a number of years.

Materials were translated, complete or in part, into seven different Nigerian languages as well as eight other African languages, including Amharic for Ethiopia and Shona for Zimbabwe.

These books were re-cycled in Nigeria for the next 12 years with only one major revision undertaken by the group which had then been re-named Christian Media Fellowship (CMF).

CMF & Christian Learning Materials Center (CLMC, Nairobi)

By 1985 teachers in a number of churches were asking for new materials. CMF had no funds for development, so they searched for other Nigerian groups that might have materials they could develop. They found none, but news came from Nairobi that CLMC, an arm of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), had been established to produce materials for Christian Education ministries in Africa, and Sunday School materials were their first priority.

Towards the end of 1987, CMF received 35 sets of materials, 12 months after the order had been placed, and conducted a trial using these CLMC materials in 15 different churches. The trial results were very positive, and leaders from 17 different church organizations met to discuss the possibility of printing the materials in Nigeria. Sadly, CLMC’s royalty fee was very high, and CMF discontinued the negotiations. Meanwhile, financial constraints overtook CMF, and the organization faded out of existence.

Joint Project & CLMC

However, the churches’ concern for new materials did not fade, and in 1991, the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) Sunday School coordinator reopened negotiations with CLMC to reduce the royalty fee so that materials could be published under license in Nigeria at a reasonable cost.

By 1992, COCIN and CLMC reached a workable agreement, and COCIN decided to invite other churches and Christian groups to join them to make publishing these materials in Nigeria a joint project to benefit as wide a group as possible. In January 1993 a committee was formed of members representing the seven denominations who had responded to the idea, and the name Joint Project for Sunday School Materials (Joint Project) was adopted. Two other denominations joined the Project later in the year.

Work began immediately in an office at the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) Christian Education Department under the direction of a five-member Working Committee. English materials from Nairobi were edited, sometimes re-written, and then translated into Hausa.

God was at work, and member churches encouraged Joint Project through gifts and part-payments for advance orders. A generous grant from Tear Fund (UK) came just at the right time, and sufficient funds were available for a down-payment for the printing of the first set of materials for teachers of Primary Children.

On 17th September 1993 a group of church and Sunday School leaders gathered in Jos to celebrate the publication of this first book and to give thanks to God for the commitment of His people to the building and strengthening of faith in the lives of young people in our churches.

Joint Project for Sunday School Materials

A three-year cycle of lessons for Younger Children was added to the four-year cycle for Primary Children, and other materials followed.

In 1995 Joint Project introduced a seven-year Youth Bible Study curriculum, and in 1996, they changed the format to be much more user-friendly for interactive Bible Studies for youth.

Materials written for CMF were reprinted for Adult Bible Study groups for a number of years, but in 2000, Joint Project introduced a new Adult Bible Study series to encourage discussion of Bible passages and to lead to positive actions in response to needs of Christians in Nigeria today. Pastors and theologians gave their time, reflection, and skills to prepare draft materials for these studies.

In 2000, as all the  materials for the Primary and the Younger Children series had been re-cycled, Joint Project felt the time had come for a revision. In looking at the situation in more depth, they agreed to completely rewrite the syllabus, and the present four-year syllabus was drawn up. This was a mammoth task; even with the help of many willing writers, Primary Book 1 was not published until December 2002, and the book for Younger Children followed in late February 2003.

With feedback from the churches and a growing desire to have more interactive Sunday School teaching, Joint Project introduced a new lesson format for both levels of material for children, together with coloured pictures. The Lord was gracious and gave strength and skills to the staff in the office so that all the books for 2004 were on sale before the end of 2003.

Work began on a new four-year series, this time aimed at teens ages 13-16, in 2007.  Year 1 of this series will be ready by October 2008. 

Conclusion

We thank the Lord for bringing us from a project run out of one small room in the ECWA Christian Education Department to occupying one full story of an office building. God has given us strength to face many daily challenges, and we pray we may be found faithful as we move forward together in the service of His kingdom.