The Anglican church in Nigeria owed its beginnings to a group of CMS missionaries including the Revd. Samuel Ajayi Crowther (a Yoruba ex-slave) who was made bishop in 1864. The Diocese of Lagos was formed in December 1919.
Four new dioceses were formed in the 1950s and nine more between 1962 and 1977. Nine more were formed in the 1980s. By the turn of the century 41 more dioceses had been formed. Most of the new dioceses were started in the Muslim north of the country as missionary outreaches. At present there must be more than 20 million Anglicans in Nigeria alone.
Similar stories could be told in other African countries and in other denominations.
One of the significant factors in the growth of the church has been Bible translation. The Bible has been a translated book from the beginning of the church (if not before). The Hebrew Old Testament was known by many of Jesus’ disciples in its Greek translation. The New Testament itself was soon translated into Syriac, Coptic, Gothic, Old Latin, Armenian, Ethiopic, Georgian, Arabic, Nubian, Persian, Provencal and Slavonic amongst others.
Translation into modern languages has made a huge impact on the spread of the gospel. It allows people to hear the message in their own language. It is perhaps ironic that the modern west, with more translations in English than can be counted, has one of the least biblically literate populations. Perhaps there is a message there.
Dale
* See Lamin Sanneh, Whose religion is Christianity? The Gospel beyond the West. Eerdmans 2003. p14ff