John Bunyan is best known for his allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, which is a book that describes the difficulties and blessings of the Christian life as the pilgrim, Christian, moves to the heavenly city. Thus, it is appropriate that Anjov Ahenakaa chose to write his dissertation on an aspect of Bunyan’s theology, because Anjov dedicated his life to educating and encouraging his Christian brethren among the Tiv peoples of Nigeria as they grow in grace as pilgrims.
Anjov was born in the district of Konshisha, in the Nigerian state of Benue in 1944. He received Christ during his elementary school days through the evangelistic efforts of his teachers in the Christian school that he attended. He continued his education in Christian and missionary schools. Later in life, he sought theological training at the Theological College of Northern Nigeria in Bukuru, Jos, Nigeria, where he was graduated with a theology degree. He was then ordained to the ministry in 1980 in the Nongo u Kristu Ken Sudan Hen Tiv (NKST), which is a Reformed church denomination in Nigeria. Desiring more theological education, he continued his studies in America, first at Calvin College, and then later in life, he returned to America to attend Westminster Seminary and Arcadia University. He was a seminary professor in Nigeria from 1978 until his recent retirement in 2005. He also served the church as a Chief Deacon in a local congregation at Garagboghol. He has served as a board member of the NKST Christian Hospital at Mkar and on numerous committees of the NKST. Following the completion of his PhD at Westminster, he was appointed Rector of the Reformed Theological Seminary of the NKST in 1999 and served until his recent retirement. Most recently, he contributed two chapters to the book, NKST @ 50, which traces the development of the NKST since its organization in 1957 with 1,500 baptized members. The organization of the NKST denomination ended a long process begun in 1911 when the Dutch Reformed Church Mission of South Africa began ministry to the Tiv peoples of Nigeria.
Dr. Ahenakaa believes that his academic experience at Westminster has given him insight into biblical and theological matters, but he thinks the seminary classes especially improved his Bible preaching. When the NKST presented an evangelism conference in 2000, Anjov chaired the committee that organized the program, and he believes that his Westminster classes gave him some of the tools he needed for this project. The aim of the conference was to design an evangelism master plan in conjunction with a socio-economic development program by the government. The impact of Westminster upon him was both academic and spiritual—through the academics and doctrine learned in education he has been able to encourage Nigerian Christians in their faith as they grow spiritually and face times of difficulty.
Anjov and his wife Priscilla have four sons and three daughters. The three daughters are married and have a total of seven grandchildren.
