Baptist work in Nigeria began with the appointment by the Southern Baptist Convention of America of the first missionary to the country, Rev. Thomas Jefferson Bowen in 1849. He arrived Badagry, Nigeria on the 5th of August, 1850. From 1914, Baptist work entered a new phase with new initiatives and significant progress in growth, geographical expansion, the founding of new institutions and agencies, increase in the work of missions, and the development of a remarkably successful plan of financial support.