Musa Mambula Receives National Award

Musa Mambula, current international scholar in residence at Bethany Theological Seminary, has been acknowledged by his home country of Nigeria for his contributions toward the betterment of Nigerian society. On September 20, Mambula was honored with the Custodian of Nigerian Dream Award at the Nigerian Rebirth Conference in Abuja, Nigeria.

The conference was the first event of the recently unveiled Nigeria Rebirth Project, described as “an initiative of passionate and patriotic Nigerians who over the years have proven themselves meritoriously in various fields of endeavor.” With the theme Activating the Secret Wealth of the Nation, the conference focused on the human resource potential in Nigeria, including the presentation of the Custodian of Nigerian Dream Award.

Mambula is Bethany Seminary’s first international scholar in residence, part of the Seminary’s effort to develop new academic relationships with Brethren groups outside the United States. During his two-year term, Mambula is helping to build an educational relationship between Bethany and Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and to identify potential Nigerian students for the program.

While at Bethany, Mambula is traveling to speak at events, often on issues related to his work with EYN. He recently gave a day-long workshop at the Atlantic Northeast District Office in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, entitled “Christian-Muslim Dialogue on Peace.” Drawing upon the current violence perpetrated by Boko Haram militants upon both Nigerian Christians and Muslims, he spoke about similar perspectives on peace in Christianity and Islam, the role of women and youth in peacebuilding, and barriers to and strategies for peace.

Mambula will also represent Bethany and EYN as a speaker at Anabaptist Nonresistance in the Age of Terror, a symposium hosted by Bridgewater College’s Forum for Brethren Studies and the Kline-Bowman Institute for Creative Peacebuilding on March 16 and 17, 2017.