Communities Directory: Palmgrove Christian Community

Formed: 1987 Established: 1990

Palmgrove Christian Community

Abak AKS,

Nigeria

In the fall of 1989 a group of Nigerians concerned about the needs of our people wrote asking to become part of the Hutterian Brethren Church. Two of their leaders visited Crystal Spring Colony in Manitoba, Canada, staying for two months to experience the life of a Christian community. Before they went to Canada in 1989, Inno Idiong, one of today's Palmgrove leaders, started a communal group made up of young people in 1987 and conscienctized them toward community-oriented projects as a substitute for poverty and other social ills.

While in Canada, the two Nigerians discovered that the Hutterites have successfully established for about 450 years what they are trying to do in Nigeria. So they asked the Hutterites to come to Nigeria and help establish a similar community without destroying the African cultural values.

Our daily lives together start with morning prayers three times a week, from 5:30 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Then work starts with the sunrise at 7:00 a.m., followed by a bowl of porridge. Thereafter, sisters help to clean up after communal meals; the brothers and young people go back to work. Break before noon for lunch; after lunch some take a rest for one hour and 30 minutes, optionally; others can do personal things. Return to work at 2:00 p.m. and stop for dinner at 6:00 p.m.; dinner comes up at 7:00 p.m., and young people can play at the interval. This seems to be the circle except for Saturdays and Sundays.

In spite of the Christian-based communal influence on our lives, we still cherish our African traditional values, such as our extended family status, and our social system is protected. Despite our tremendous exposure to new roles like living a shared life with strangers, we still stay African, though not without strong Christian ideals and daily calling to love one another. Our projects are still ongoing and challenging, especially the school-building projects. The Hutterites are assisting us to build a school for about 600 children, not only for our kids but for the kids from the larger communities.

Website: http://www.hutterites.org/bridge/

Contact:

PO Box 455, Utu-Abak
Abak AKS, Nigeria
Phone: +234-(0)85-501-022

International Telephone Info

Former/Other Names: Palm Grove Center

Last Updated:11/3/2006

Visitors Accepted

Network Affiliations:

Hutterian Brethren

Population Open to new adults: Yes	Government Decision Making: By majority rule Identified Leader: Yes Leadership Core Group: Yes	Labor and Money Financial Style: 100% income sharing Join Fee: No
Land and Buildings Other Area: 12 acres (4.9 hectares) Land Owned By: The community	Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: over 50% Share Community Meals: Nearly all meals	Social Factors Which Spiritual Path(s): Hutterian Brethren Educational Style(s): Private school at the community

Become an Editor Current editor(s): palmgrove

Comments from Directory Readers This community selects which reader comments to display (more info). You can add yours below.

There are no Reader Comments on this community.

Add Your Comment on Palmgrove Christian Community

We encourage comments from those who have first hand experience with a community so that others may benefit from your experience. Please share information you think will be useful to other users of this site, in a clear, concise, and polite manner. Each community can choose to display all comments, display selected comments, or not to display comments (more info). Communities will be shown email addresses of those who comment so that they might communicate with you if they choose.

We reserve the right to edit or delete any comment.

You must be logged in to add a comment. Login here or if you have not yet registered on our site Register here.

More Info on Display Options

Communities can choose one of three options for how reader comments are displayed.

Display all reader comments.
Do not display any reader comments.
Display only comments selected by the community (this is the default value).

Communities may have a variety of reasons for choosing these options so we encourage you to not be quick to judge.