In Nigeria the Hausas and Fulanis have merged to become the most powerful people in northern Nigeria. Smaller people groups like the Tsucumba are merging with them. As that process continues, the Tsucumba people are in danger of losing their own culture and adopting folk Islam like the Hausa-Fulani.

No Christian resources currently exist in the Tsucumba language. It is unknown whether if the Tsucumba language has a written script. Tsucumba is in danger of disappearing, as most young people prefer to Hausa or English.

The Tsucumba are quite few in number occupying about 10 villages in Ngaski LGA of Kebbi State in northwestern Nigeria.

The Tsucumba people are subsistence farmers who depend on their crops and livestock for their daily needs. Most people groups in rural Nigeria like the Tsucumba enjoy music, story telling and dance as a form of entertainment and communication. These art forms are very meaningful in rural Nigeria. Those who want to take the gospel to the Tsucumba people would do well to use these art forms when presenting the gospel.

The Tsucumba people are Sunni, the largest branch of Islam. They believe that the One, Supreme God, Allah, revealed through his prophet, Mohammed, and taught mankind how to live a righteous life through the Koran and the Hadith. To live a righteous life, you must utter the Shahada (a statement of faith), pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from sunup to sundown during the month of Ramadan, give alms to the poor, and make a pilgrimage to Mecca if you have the means. Muslims are prohibited from drinking alcohol, eating pork, gambling, stealing, slandering, and making idols. They gather for corporate prayer on Friday afternoons at a mosque, their place of worship.

The two main holidays for Sunni Muslims are Eid al Fitr, the breaking of the monthly fast and Eid al Adha, the celebration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son to Allah.

In most of the Muslim world, peoples like the Tsucumba depend on the spirit world for their daily needs since they regard Allah as too distant. Allah may determine their eternal salvation, but the spirits determine how well we live in our daily lives. For that reason, they must appease the spirits. The often use charms and amulets to help them deal with spiritual forces.

A small fraction of the Tsucumba is Christian.

The Tsucumba people need abundant rain for their crops and their livestock so they can live lives free of want and poverty. They need medical care and good schools that will help the next generation to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

The Tsucumba people need the blessings of the Risen Christ, who has conquered death, and will give them abundant life if they are willing to accept His guidance. They need the gift of faith in Jesus Christ, who alone is the judge of all mankind.

* Scripture Prayers for the Bucuba in Nigeria.

* Pray for the Tsucumba culture to be renewed and enhanced by a work of the Holy Spirit and shaped into a God-centered and God-honoring mold.
* Pray for the Holy Spirit to move among Tsucumba family and community leaders to seek His face and enjoy His blessings.
* Pray for the Lord to thrust out workers who will be compelled to nurture a disciple making movement among the Tsucumba people.
* Pray that soon the Tsucumba people will have faith that will lead them to live honorable lives that will draw others to the Savior.
* Pray that the small group of Tsucumba believers would find each other and that Bible-believing churches would be established.

Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association (NEMA)