Johanna Veenstra (1894–1933) was the first missionary of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) to go to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

Biography

She was born on Thursday, April 19, 1894, on Hopper Street in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. On October 2, 1919, she left

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on the ''Mauretania'' for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. On December 31, 1919, she took another ship to Africa, arriving in Lagos in January 1920. In February 1921, she arrived at her station in Lupwe, which is near Takum, now in

Taraba State ) , image_map = Nigeria - Taraba.svg , map_alt = , map_caption = Location of Taraba State in Nigeria , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , ...

. Two years later, Veenstra assumed leadership of the work in Lupwe. She was engaged primarily in medical work and in preaching. During her ministry in Lupwe, a number of people especially of the

Kuteb people The Kuteb (or Kutep) people are an ethno-linguistic group in West Africa, who speak Kuteb, a Jukunoid language. Most of the Kuteb people reside in Taraba State, Nigeria. Background According to tradition the Kuteb migrated from Egypt about 100 ...

became Christian and also became more educated. The roots of the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria (CRCN) and the Reform Church of Christ in Nigeria (RCCN) Headquarters in Takum, Taraba State Nigeria lay in part in the work of Veenstra. In March 1933, Veenstra became ill. She traveled to the Sudan United Mission hospital in Vom, which is in present-day

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

. On

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Holy ...

, April 9, 1933, Veenstra died and was buried in Vom. In addition to her missionary work in Nigeria, Veenstra is significant for presenting the mission needs of Nigeria to the Christian Reformed Church. In 1940, this church adopted Nigeria as a mission field. Today, the Christian Reformed Church of Nigeria is a strong independent African church. The seminary of the CRCN, Veenstra Seminary located in Donga, is named after Johanna Veenstra.

Sources

msmary.edu

Bibliography

*Beets, Henry. ''Johanna of Nigeria''. Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids Printing Company, 1937. *Palmer, Timothy. ''The Reformed and Presbyterian Faith: A View from Nigeria''. Bukuru: TCNN Publications, 1996. (Available from

Africa Christian Textbooks Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

.) *Smith, Edgar. ''Nigerian Harvest''. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1972. *Veenstra, Johanna. ''Pioneering for Christ in the Sudan''. Grand Rapids: Smitter Book Co., 1926. {{DEFAULTSORT:Veenstra, Johanna 1894 births 1933 deaths People from New Jersey American evangelicals American expatriates in Nigeria American Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in Nigeria Female Christian missionaries