History

The roots of Mission Africa stretch back to the mid-1880s, when a group of chiefs from the Ibeno region of the Niger Delta approached the Calabar Mission of the Free Church of Scotland and asked for a missionary to work among them. The over-extended mission, unable to comply, passed on the request to Henry Grattan Guinness at his Harley Missionary Training College in London, where he circulated it. One of the college's trainees, Samuel Bill (1864-1942) from Belfast, responded energetically. In 1887, he set sail, without financial backing. The Calabar Mission could not afford him, and he started work alone at the mouth of the Qua Iboe River in December 1887, designing and constructing for himself a house, and the church at Ubenekang.

The Qua Iboe Mission Council was formed in 1891 by representatives of the leading Belfast churches, of various denominations, to support Samuel Bill's work. The Mission Council continues its oversight of the Mission up to the present day.

The Qua Iboe Church (now the QIC-United Evangelical Church of Nigeria) grew rapidly after being founded by Samuel Bill.  By 2000 the church had founded:

1. •three colleges of theology, including the Samuel Bill Theological College at Ikot Ekang, Abak (started in the 1940s)
   

2. •three post-primary teaching institutions including Etinan Institute (started 1915)
   

3. •two hospitals (at Ekpene Obom and Ochadamu)
   

4. •a printing press at Etinan
   

5. •numerous primary schools
   

Membership of the Church was at first confined to rural areas, only slowly penetrating the towns and cities. By the year 2000, the denomination had grown to over 1,000 congregations throughout Nigeria which vary in size from around 50 people to over 1,000.

The Mission changed its name from Qua Iboe Mission to Qua Iboe Fellowship in 1986, and then to Mission Africa in mid 2002. The change of name was intended to convey the broader scope of the Mission, since it was no longer confined to one area of Nigeria.