Advancing missions through information and communication technology with emphasis on the internet was one of the major subjects of discussion at the 2006 African Missions Summit. At the summit, we observed how the internet is changing the way the world communicates and its significance for missions.
It was also observed that web growth in countries like India and China is amazing and not just for rich Western nations. Users in China have grown from 10 million in 2000 to over 100 million now. Much of South America and Asia has rapidly become a 'Wired' community and Africa is fast joining.
Missions can be advanced through information and communication technology· Below are some of the ways:
. One on one personal interaction by email or in a 'chat room'
· 'Streamed' instant sound or video increasingly effective as access speed increase
The Web also helps Christian workers and organization to network and share information in ways and at speeds which were never previously possible. An urgent prayer request can now travel the world within minutes and be replicated a thousands times over.
Challenges for prayer
· More evangelistic sites. Although many Christian organizations and churches use the web to communicate with their own constituencies, there are relatively few web sites specifically designed for non Christians readers. Pray for more Christian to realize the Web's potentials for cutting edge outreach.
English is still the largest language on the Internet, but others are growing fast. Hundreds of millions of person use English as their first language, and many more read it well enough to access English web pages. But billions do not, and sadly, in most languages, there are very few evangelistic websites pray for more. Chinese, Japanese and Arabic area big need.
· Empowerment at home. Online evangelism is not just for Christian organizations. One person can touch the world from home, you could be young, retired, disabled or shy. The Web is a great leveler.
· The Middle East. There is relatively free Internet access throughout the Middle East (except Saudi Arabia). This allows Muslims to consider the claims of Christ in a non - threatening, anonymous way. Pray for more specialist web ministries to Muslims.
· Pornography. It is impossible to completely stop online pornography at its source. Pray for Christians and others fighting this problem, both at organizational and personal levels.
· Finance. One reason that relatively few Christian organizations produce websites is that, unlike literature or video, there is no 'product' to sell and therefore no way to recoup production expenses. Pray that Christians may realize the potential of the web and support evangelistic web ministries with their giving.
· Discipling. As with radio ministry, the follow-up of distant converts is a problem. However, the web allows for easy way email discipling and counselling. There is much online material for new Christians. There is a growing international, cyberspace community of believers, which is of great help to those who are isolated.
· Mobile wireless access to the Web. Over one billion persons now have web access through mobile cell phones and handheld devices. Pray for new evangelistic strategies using this medium.
· Chat rooms. Millions of people access online 'chat' daily. Sensitive witness by Christians in chat rooms is bearing fruit Pray for more Christians to take up this ministry.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
THE PRICE THEY PAID AND THE INPUT WE MUST MAKE By Andrew Abah
The starting point of Christian missions is the New Testament church. The details of this new missionary outreach is contained in the Book of Acts, where the Apostles Paul stands out above all others, while Peter, Barnabas, Silas, John Mark, Philip, Apollos, and others also play very important roles.
Apart from Scripture, little is known of these first generation Christians, except for accounts that have been passed along through oral tradition, some of which declared that Jesus' own disciples carried the gospel abroad. Matthew is said to have gone to Ethiopia, Andrew to Scythia, Bartholomew to Arabia and India, and Thomas also to India.
The most plausible of these early traditions seems to be the one surrounding the apostle Thomas. As the story goes, Thomas disregarded the Lord's call for him to take the gospel to the East. He paid for it dearly by being carried off as a slave to India, where he was placed in charge of building a palace for King Gundaphorus. The tradition continues that while under the king's service Thomas spent his time spreading the gospel rather than building the palace an offence that quickly brought him a prison term.
In the end Thomas had the opportunity to share his faith with the king, who then baptized. A group of “Thomas Christians” in southwest India still worships in an ancient church said to be found by Thomas, and archaeological digs have now established that there actually was a King Gundaphorus who reigned in India during the first century. Apostle Paul undoubtedly ranks as the greatest missionary of the early church.
He, in the words of Ruth Tucker, “the greatest missionary of all times a man who conducted an extraordinary ministry of establishing Christianity on a grassroots level that insured its growth and stability in the centuries that followed”. She added: “From a strictly human standpoint, however, Paul is a less awesome figure than some adulatory devotees would have him be. In many ways he was a very ordinary man facing ordinary problems that have confronted missionaries ever since”.
Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute the church when he was suddenly and miraculously converted. From this point on he became first-century Christianity's most energetic evangelist. His missionary journeys took him to cities throughout the Mediterranean world, where he effectively established indigenous churches.
Our concern here is not that of Paul's methodology but the price he paid to enthrone Jesus as Lord over the places he worked. Beside imprisonments and floggings, Paul endured almost every type of persecution and hardship that has ever been meted out. In 2 Corinthians 11:25-28 Paul wrote “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from my countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches”.
If that was not enough, Paul also suffered rejection, not only by the disciples who accepted him only after Barnabas came to his defence, but also by the Jewish leaders with whom he had once been associated. He must have also endured loneliness without the intimate ties of a wife and family. Paul finally met a violent end. According to tradition, he was martyred along with Peter and many other Christians during the odious persecution under Emperor Nero in A.D. 64. Below are catalogues of others.
McKay of Uganda and His Team Many more persons paid dearly to enforce the Lordship of Jesus over nations as the devil could not afford to fold his hands and allow his kingdom to depopulate. One of such persons is McKay of Uganda. His words: “I want to remind the committee that within six months they will probably hear that one of us is dead. One of us at least it may be I will surely fall before that.
But what I want to say is this: When the news comes, do not be cast down, but send someone else immediately to fill the vacant place.” That prediction was literally fulfilled. One by one the members of McKay's party either died of fever or were murdered by the natives, until, before long, he alone was left.
Allan Gardiner
While Ajayi Crowther was leading 150 missionaries who arrived Nigeria to the heart of Niger to commence pioneering work, 48 of them died. They died of mosquito bite. They died before setting their eyes on the ones they love so much and left their home countries to show them the love of Christ.
For Allan Gardiner, it was a different story. He and his brave companion caught the vision to the Indians. They entered the land but without a single convert, they starved to death. They did not die in vain. The blood of the Martyrs soon became seed of the church. A glorious harvest followed. This was the way he faced it: “My prayer is, that the Lord my God may be glorified in me whatever it may be, by life or death, and that He will, should we fall, vouchsafe to raise up, and send forth other labourers into this harvest, that His Name may be magnified, and His Kingdom enlarged, in the salvation of multitudes from among the inhabitants of this pagan land.”
As he neared the end, Gardiner, in spite of his awful predicament, wrote as follows: “Blessed be my Heavenly Father for many mercies I enjoy: a comfortable bed, no pain or even cravings of hunger, though excessively weak, scarcely able to turn in my bed, I am, by His abounding grace, kept a perfect peace, refreshed with a sense of my Saviour's love and an assurance that all is wisely and mercifully appointed.”
Finally, on lonely, hostile Patagonia, the last survivor passed to his reward. And thus the scene is pictured by Jesse Page as cited by Smith: “All was still now on that shore, and, in sight of the sky and the sea, the unburied martyrs lay. No slow and painful footsteps on the shingle now, no reverent words of praise and trust whispered by the faint breath of dying men. God had sent His messenger to stay the suffering of the saints, and they rested in peace. 'So, He giveth His beloved sleep.'” over the grave, and slowly the mourners returned to the ship. And once more the tide rose and fell on that desolate shore, and the sea-birds mingled their cries with the sobbing of the wind. The dirge of many waters sounded by the grave, while the snow, falling noiselessly, covered with its mantle of white the place where the saints slept.”
David Brainerd, CT Studd, William Carey Roland Bingham and Others
David Brainerd had this to say: “Here I am, Lord, send me: send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort in earth, or earthly comfort: send me to death itself, if it be but in Thy service and to promote Thy Kingdom.”
In C.T. Studd's words: “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” The father of modern missions, William Carey did not escape paying hard prices for obeying God's call for missions. When he did go, he was burdened with two unsympathetic women, his wife and her sister, four helpless children, and a colleague who was an eccentric, and hopelessly in debt.
In addition, he was completely misunderstood by the Society that sent him out, slandered by his enemies, and persecuted by the natives whom he had come to win. His life reads like a book of fiction. Oswald J Smith observed: “today, missionaries get home on furlough every few years. But not so the pioneers. Some of them never saw the homeland again for periods of fifteen or even twenty years; some only once or twice in a lifetime.
Many of them went back never to return. Like David Livingstone and the martyred James Chalmers, they died at their post”. It would be hard to read the life of that lonely, bereaved figure, James Gilmour of Mongolia, and not realize something of the suffering through which he passed. But of all those whose lives I have studied, no one has touched my heart like Roland Bingham of the Sudan Interior Missions.
What Bingham and his team suffered, no tongue can tell. Death of colleagues, discouragement from other Christian bodies, demonic attacks, many years of labour without any fruit to show for it, etc. Such anguish is beyond the power of human words to describe.
How vividly Ruth Tucker portrays it in her soul-stirring book, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: “This third attempt, made in 1901, was successful, resulting in the first SIM station in Africa, located at Patigi, some five hundred miles up the Niger River. But with each step forward there were two steps backward, and within two years only one of the original party of four remained. One had died and two were sent home physically debilitated, never to return. Though hanging on “only by a toehold at first,” with only a few converts made during the first ten years at Patigi, the SIM gradually spread out to new stations and became firmly grounded in the desolate region.”
The Three Freds Somewhere in the great dread forests of Brazil lies all that is mortal of three brave pioneers for the Kingdom of Christ. They were clubbed to death in 1935. Their spirits have joined the Lord triumphant around the throne.
The full story of their last days may never be known to us here. It is known only by that band of wild, savage Indians, the Kayapos, who, as far as we can gather, ambushed and massacred them. This was their last message: “Brethren, stand by us as one man. Should the result be that which we least want, pray and send others out to continue what the Lord has commenced. Should the Lord will that we be taken, our prayer is that more men and money will be rushed over to follow up this advance.”
In another letter, written on the trail, they said: “At any time, on this advance, we expect arrows down on us; then when we meet the Indians, the Lord will have to work in a wonderful way to save us from their clubs, with which they have killed many others.” But the Lord did not see it fit to save them. Their lot was to be martyrdom.
Pioneering Missions Is No Fun
Oswald J Smith commented on the price of pioneering missions: “No one would ever dream of living in the tropics unless he were either after money or souls. Only those who have done so know how the humid climate saps one's vitality and the unbearable heats makes life miserable. Think of the diseases of the tropics, the fevers, the insects and other pestilences. Who could exchange the invigorating frosts of the temperate zones for such a life? ” He added: “Then, too, think of the difficulties of language study. It is no easy thing to master a new tongue. Many of God's servants have struggled with a foreign dialect until they have felt like giving up in despair. Possibly the most difficult problem is that of finding congenial companions. Missionaries are human. Temperaments differ. So hot was the contention between Barnabas and Paul that they had to separate. Workers may be spiritual and yet so constituted that they cannot get on with each other.”
Every missionary must experience loneliness. The home he has known in childhood, scenes to which he has become accustomed, friends and relatives, modern streets and cities, civilization with all its comforts these must be forsaken for an entirely different environment. He must live in a country where everything is strange. Periods of loneliness, never before experience, will be his, loneliness that at times becomes almost unbearable.
And not only loneliness but sickness. And sickness where there are few, if any, hospitals, doctors or nurses. To be ill at home, surrounded by every comfort and with every variety of food, is one thing; but to be ill in a foreign and, in the midst of strangers, is another. The depression caused by fever who can describe it?
To follow David Livingstone through his numerous periods of sickness in the fever-infested jungles of Africa is to get some idea of what it means to be ill in a foreign land. Perhaps the greatest hardship of all will be the leaving of the children behind, and that cross no none can understand except those who have borne it. For a few years the children remain on the field, but the time comes when they must leave and go to school, where, without father, without mother, they grow up, until, when their parents return on furlough, they scarcely recognise them. The heartbreak of life in a foreign land, with the children at home, thousands of miles away, is simply indescribable. Yet such burdens must be borne, and such difficulties faced, if the Gospel is to be proclaimed in the Regions Beyond.
And the Input We Must Make
From Exodus !7:1-7, Joshua and his army were at the battle front fighting while Moses served as the spiritual link between the children of Israel and the Lord interceding with his hands raised up to God. The victory depended on his raised hand. Aaron and Hur were there to assist Moses. They both held up his hands signifying a beautiful interdependence between the army, the priest and their leader Moses.
The three worked together with each fulfilling his part to achieve victory for Israel. Everyone was excited and victory was for all. This pattern is still the same today. The work of Mission is not a one-man job. It is for everybody. While some are called to support them with both prayers and money. The job belongs to all of us. (Romans 12).
Like any other work, mission work cannot be carried out effectively without supports. The Missionary needs to eat, take care of his/her family, procure regular work cannot be carried infrastructures like teaching aids, medical facilities, transport among others. The demand of God upon our lives is such that we have no reason to be taking three square meals a day while the average missionary starves on the field it is obtainable today. If we all are going to the same heaven our level of sacrifice must strike a balance.
We must be ready to sacrifice our legitimate pleasure to enable the missionaries do the actual fighting on the mission field without their hands getting tired. The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel(1 Cor.9:14). When Apostle Paul got gifts from Christians at Philippi to support him in his missionary work, he then told them 'you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for what may be credited to your account…and may God meet all your need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.'(Phil. 4:17 &19).
Thus shows that God is pleased with people who give to missionaries and blesses them. God expects Christians to support missionaries. I heard of a female missionary who was tempted to pick some food thrown into waste basket by a neighbouring Christian family after starving for days. According to the report, the family that threw away the food were aware that her co-tenants have been earnestly seeking the face of God for food for some days yet out of cheer non challant attitude decided to throw away food because it has lasted long in the fridge (although not spoilt).
Naturally, even if the family cannot give the missionary financial support, they should be considerate enough to give her the food instead of throwing it away. Even unbelievers can conveniently do that. A colleague who visited some mission fields recently came back with take of woes. From his findings, most of the missionaries are unsalaried and yet no single support has been received from either their mission agency or any Christian for about six months. One of the missionaries he visited needed just less than one thousand naira to treat his child who had an eye problem but had nobody to go to and no money was forth coming.
He was left with two options. Either to allow the child to go blind or he depend solely on God for divine healing for the child. Such stories of missionaries being frustrated by lack of support abound everywhere. The question that follows is what do you intend to do about the matter particularly at this crucial time of global economic recession? I will never forget the story of a little girl called Grace. Her heart was in India. One day her mother told her she was going to buy her a new top coat. The one she was wearing was thread-bare. She had begged her mother to give her the money stating that she could wear her old coat for one more winter. Her mother did so and Grace sent it to missionaries in India. Before long, Grace was taken ill. On her death-bed she made up her mind to sell all her clothes, such as they were and sent whatever she got to India. The mother with tears in her eyes promised to take that up. Grace heart was in India and her money followed her heart regardless of the sacrifice. Remember, we are going to the same heaven with Grace.
What have you done to promote the work of mission in John 3:16 the Bible records that “God so love the world that he gave…” He gave his only Son. He gave Heaven's best. What have you given? Have you given yourself? Have you given your money? What have you done for those in the agony of darkness? Another simple but bitter truth you must know is you either lay up treasure in Heaven or upon earth. Everything you invest in the soul of men, you will save. You are going to enter heaven either a pauper, having sent nothing on ahead or as one who is to receive an inheritance made possible by contributions laid up while still on earth. We have a very short time left in which to lay up treasure in heaven. We had better start now or it will be too late.
Everything invested on missions will await our arrival and we will receive it back with dividends. According to W.M. Fetler, “a man may die Leaving upwards of a million dollars without taking any of it upwards.” The only way you can “take upwards” is to invest on the soul of men. In Oswald J. Smith word, “if God wills the evangelisation of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God”. David Livingstone stressed on the need to support and not sympathise because” sympathy is no substitute for action” and John Wesley want you to see what you have as God's. According to him, you should rather ponder on “how much of God's money will I keep to myself and not how much of my money will I give to God”.
As we progress in the year 2007, let us reflect on these:
a. If I refuse to give anything to missions this year, I practically cast a ballot in favour of the recall of every missionary.
b. If I give less than here-to-fore, I favour reduction of the missionary forces proportionate to my reduced contributions.
c. If I give the same as formerly, I favour holding the ground already won; but I oppose any forward movement.
d. If I increase my offering beyond former years, then I favour an advance movement in the conquest of new territory for Christ.
Apart from Scripture, little is known of these first generation Christians, except for accounts that have been passed along through oral tradition, some of which declared that Jesus' own disciples carried the gospel abroad. Matthew is said to have gone to Ethiopia, Andrew to Scythia, Bartholomew to Arabia and India, and Thomas also to India.
The most plausible of these early traditions seems to be the one surrounding the apostle Thomas. As the story goes, Thomas disregarded the Lord's call for him to take the gospel to the East. He paid for it dearly by being carried off as a slave to India, where he was placed in charge of building a palace for King Gundaphorus. The tradition continues that while under the king's service Thomas spent his time spreading the gospel rather than building the palace an offence that quickly brought him a prison term.
In the end Thomas had the opportunity to share his faith with the king, who then baptized. A group of “Thomas Christians” in southwest India still worships in an ancient church said to be found by Thomas, and archaeological digs have now established that there actually was a King Gundaphorus who reigned in India during the first century. Apostle Paul undoubtedly ranks as the greatest missionary of the early church.
He, in the words of Ruth Tucker, “the greatest missionary of all times a man who conducted an extraordinary ministry of establishing Christianity on a grassroots level that insured its growth and stability in the centuries that followed”. She added: “From a strictly human standpoint, however, Paul is a less awesome figure than some adulatory devotees would have him be. In many ways he was a very ordinary man facing ordinary problems that have confronted missionaries ever since”.
Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute the church when he was suddenly and miraculously converted. From this point on he became first-century Christianity's most energetic evangelist. His missionary journeys took him to cities throughout the Mediterranean world, where he effectively established indigenous churches.
Our concern here is not that of Paul's methodology but the price he paid to enthrone Jesus as Lord over the places he worked. Beside imprisonments and floggings, Paul endured almost every type of persecution and hardship that has ever been meted out. In 2 Corinthians 11:25-28 Paul wrote “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from my countrymen, in danger from Gentiles, in danger from false brothers. I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches”.
If that was not enough, Paul also suffered rejection, not only by the disciples who accepted him only after Barnabas came to his defence, but also by the Jewish leaders with whom he had once been associated. He must have also endured loneliness without the intimate ties of a wife and family. Paul finally met a violent end. According to tradition, he was martyred along with Peter and many other Christians during the odious persecution under Emperor Nero in A.D. 64. Below are catalogues of others.
McKay of Uganda and His Team Many more persons paid dearly to enforce the Lordship of Jesus over nations as the devil could not afford to fold his hands and allow his kingdom to depopulate. One of such persons is McKay of Uganda. His words: “I want to remind the committee that within six months they will probably hear that one of us is dead. One of us at least it may be I will surely fall before that.
But what I want to say is this: When the news comes, do not be cast down, but send someone else immediately to fill the vacant place.” That prediction was literally fulfilled. One by one the members of McKay's party either died of fever or were murdered by the natives, until, before long, he alone was left.
Allan Gardiner
While Ajayi Crowther was leading 150 missionaries who arrived Nigeria to the heart of Niger to commence pioneering work, 48 of them died. They died of mosquito bite. They died before setting their eyes on the ones they love so much and left their home countries to show them the love of Christ.
For Allan Gardiner, it was a different story. He and his brave companion caught the vision to the Indians. They entered the land but without a single convert, they starved to death. They did not die in vain. The blood of the Martyrs soon became seed of the church. A glorious harvest followed. This was the way he faced it: “My prayer is, that the Lord my God may be glorified in me whatever it may be, by life or death, and that He will, should we fall, vouchsafe to raise up, and send forth other labourers into this harvest, that His Name may be magnified, and His Kingdom enlarged, in the salvation of multitudes from among the inhabitants of this pagan land.”
As he neared the end, Gardiner, in spite of his awful predicament, wrote as follows: “Blessed be my Heavenly Father for many mercies I enjoy: a comfortable bed, no pain or even cravings of hunger, though excessively weak, scarcely able to turn in my bed, I am, by His abounding grace, kept a perfect peace, refreshed with a sense of my Saviour's love and an assurance that all is wisely and mercifully appointed.”
Finally, on lonely, hostile Patagonia, the last survivor passed to his reward. And thus the scene is pictured by Jesse Page as cited by Smith: “All was still now on that shore, and, in sight of the sky and the sea, the unburied martyrs lay. No slow and painful footsteps on the shingle now, no reverent words of praise and trust whispered by the faint breath of dying men. God had sent His messenger to stay the suffering of the saints, and they rested in peace. 'So, He giveth His beloved sleep.'” over the grave, and slowly the mourners returned to the ship. And once more the tide rose and fell on that desolate shore, and the sea-birds mingled their cries with the sobbing of the wind. The dirge of many waters sounded by the grave, while the snow, falling noiselessly, covered with its mantle of white the place where the saints slept.”
David Brainerd, CT Studd, William Carey Roland Bingham and Others
David Brainerd had this to say: “Here I am, Lord, send me: send me to the ends of the earth; send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness; send me from all that is called comfort in earth, or earthly comfort: send me to death itself, if it be but in Thy service and to promote Thy Kingdom.”
In C.T. Studd's words: “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” The father of modern missions, William Carey did not escape paying hard prices for obeying God's call for missions. When he did go, he was burdened with two unsympathetic women, his wife and her sister, four helpless children, and a colleague who was an eccentric, and hopelessly in debt.
In addition, he was completely misunderstood by the Society that sent him out, slandered by his enemies, and persecuted by the natives whom he had come to win. His life reads like a book of fiction. Oswald J Smith observed: “today, missionaries get home on furlough every few years. But not so the pioneers. Some of them never saw the homeland again for periods of fifteen or even twenty years; some only once or twice in a lifetime.
Many of them went back never to return. Like David Livingstone and the martyred James Chalmers, they died at their post”. It would be hard to read the life of that lonely, bereaved figure, James Gilmour of Mongolia, and not realize something of the suffering through which he passed. But of all those whose lives I have studied, no one has touched my heart like Roland Bingham of the Sudan Interior Missions.
What Bingham and his team suffered, no tongue can tell. Death of colleagues, discouragement from other Christian bodies, demonic attacks, many years of labour without any fruit to show for it, etc. Such anguish is beyond the power of human words to describe.
How vividly Ruth Tucker portrays it in her soul-stirring book, From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: “This third attempt, made in 1901, was successful, resulting in the first SIM station in Africa, located at Patigi, some five hundred miles up the Niger River. But with each step forward there were two steps backward, and within two years only one of the original party of four remained. One had died and two were sent home physically debilitated, never to return. Though hanging on “only by a toehold at first,” with only a few converts made during the first ten years at Patigi, the SIM gradually spread out to new stations and became firmly grounded in the desolate region.”
The Three Freds Somewhere in the great dread forests of Brazil lies all that is mortal of three brave pioneers for the Kingdom of Christ. They were clubbed to death in 1935. Their spirits have joined the Lord triumphant around the throne.
The full story of their last days may never be known to us here. It is known only by that band of wild, savage Indians, the Kayapos, who, as far as we can gather, ambushed and massacred them. This was their last message: “Brethren, stand by us as one man. Should the result be that which we least want, pray and send others out to continue what the Lord has commenced. Should the Lord will that we be taken, our prayer is that more men and money will be rushed over to follow up this advance.”
In another letter, written on the trail, they said: “At any time, on this advance, we expect arrows down on us; then when we meet the Indians, the Lord will have to work in a wonderful way to save us from their clubs, with which they have killed many others.” But the Lord did not see it fit to save them. Their lot was to be martyrdom.
Pioneering Missions Is No Fun
Oswald J Smith commented on the price of pioneering missions: “No one would ever dream of living in the tropics unless he were either after money or souls. Only those who have done so know how the humid climate saps one's vitality and the unbearable heats makes life miserable. Think of the diseases of the tropics, the fevers, the insects and other pestilences. Who could exchange the invigorating frosts of the temperate zones for such a life? ” He added: “Then, too, think of the difficulties of language study. It is no easy thing to master a new tongue. Many of God's servants have struggled with a foreign dialect until they have felt like giving up in despair. Possibly the most difficult problem is that of finding congenial companions. Missionaries are human. Temperaments differ. So hot was the contention between Barnabas and Paul that they had to separate. Workers may be spiritual and yet so constituted that they cannot get on with each other.”
Every missionary must experience loneliness. The home he has known in childhood, scenes to which he has become accustomed, friends and relatives, modern streets and cities, civilization with all its comforts these must be forsaken for an entirely different environment. He must live in a country where everything is strange. Periods of loneliness, never before experience, will be his, loneliness that at times becomes almost unbearable.
And not only loneliness but sickness. And sickness where there are few, if any, hospitals, doctors or nurses. To be ill at home, surrounded by every comfort and with every variety of food, is one thing; but to be ill in a foreign and, in the midst of strangers, is another. The depression caused by fever who can describe it?
To follow David Livingstone through his numerous periods of sickness in the fever-infested jungles of Africa is to get some idea of what it means to be ill in a foreign land. Perhaps the greatest hardship of all will be the leaving of the children behind, and that cross no none can understand except those who have borne it. For a few years the children remain on the field, but the time comes when they must leave and go to school, where, without father, without mother, they grow up, until, when their parents return on furlough, they scarcely recognise them. The heartbreak of life in a foreign land, with the children at home, thousands of miles away, is simply indescribable. Yet such burdens must be borne, and such difficulties faced, if the Gospel is to be proclaimed in the Regions Beyond.
And the Input We Must Make
From Exodus !7:1-7, Joshua and his army were at the battle front fighting while Moses served as the spiritual link between the children of Israel and the Lord interceding with his hands raised up to God. The victory depended on his raised hand. Aaron and Hur were there to assist Moses. They both held up his hands signifying a beautiful interdependence between the army, the priest and their leader Moses.
The three worked together with each fulfilling his part to achieve victory for Israel. Everyone was excited and victory was for all. This pattern is still the same today. The work of Mission is not a one-man job. It is for everybody. While some are called to support them with both prayers and money. The job belongs to all of us. (Romans 12).
Like any other work, mission work cannot be carried out effectively without supports. The Missionary needs to eat, take care of his/her family, procure regular work cannot be carried infrastructures like teaching aids, medical facilities, transport among others. The demand of God upon our lives is such that we have no reason to be taking three square meals a day while the average missionary starves on the field it is obtainable today. If we all are going to the same heaven our level of sacrifice must strike a balance.
We must be ready to sacrifice our legitimate pleasure to enable the missionaries do the actual fighting on the mission field without their hands getting tired. The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel(1 Cor.9:14). When Apostle Paul got gifts from Christians at Philippi to support him in his missionary work, he then told them 'you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for what may be credited to your account…and may God meet all your need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.'(Phil. 4:17 &19).
Thus shows that God is pleased with people who give to missionaries and blesses them. God expects Christians to support missionaries. I heard of a female missionary who was tempted to pick some food thrown into waste basket by a neighbouring Christian family after starving for days. According to the report, the family that threw away the food were aware that her co-tenants have been earnestly seeking the face of God for food for some days yet out of cheer non challant attitude decided to throw away food because it has lasted long in the fridge (although not spoilt).
Naturally, even if the family cannot give the missionary financial support, they should be considerate enough to give her the food instead of throwing it away. Even unbelievers can conveniently do that. A colleague who visited some mission fields recently came back with take of woes. From his findings, most of the missionaries are unsalaried and yet no single support has been received from either their mission agency or any Christian for about six months. One of the missionaries he visited needed just less than one thousand naira to treat his child who had an eye problem but had nobody to go to and no money was forth coming.
He was left with two options. Either to allow the child to go blind or he depend solely on God for divine healing for the child. Such stories of missionaries being frustrated by lack of support abound everywhere. The question that follows is what do you intend to do about the matter particularly at this crucial time of global economic recession? I will never forget the story of a little girl called Grace. Her heart was in India. One day her mother told her she was going to buy her a new top coat. The one she was wearing was thread-bare. She had begged her mother to give her the money stating that she could wear her old coat for one more winter. Her mother did so and Grace sent it to missionaries in India. Before long, Grace was taken ill. On her death-bed she made up her mind to sell all her clothes, such as they were and sent whatever she got to India. The mother with tears in her eyes promised to take that up. Grace heart was in India and her money followed her heart regardless of the sacrifice. Remember, we are going to the same heaven with Grace.
What have you done to promote the work of mission in John 3:16 the Bible records that “God so love the world that he gave…” He gave his only Son. He gave Heaven's best. What have you given? Have you given yourself? Have you given your money? What have you done for those in the agony of darkness? Another simple but bitter truth you must know is you either lay up treasure in Heaven or upon earth. Everything you invest in the soul of men, you will save. You are going to enter heaven either a pauper, having sent nothing on ahead or as one who is to receive an inheritance made possible by contributions laid up while still on earth. We have a very short time left in which to lay up treasure in heaven. We had better start now or it will be too late.
Everything invested on missions will await our arrival and we will receive it back with dividends. According to W.M. Fetler, “a man may die Leaving upwards of a million dollars without taking any of it upwards.” The only way you can “take upwards” is to invest on the soul of men. In Oswald J. Smith word, “if God wills the evangelisation of the world, and you refuse to support missions, then you are opposed to the will of God”. David Livingstone stressed on the need to support and not sympathise because” sympathy is no substitute for action” and John Wesley want you to see what you have as God's. According to him, you should rather ponder on “how much of God's money will I keep to myself and not how much of my money will I give to God”.
As we progress in the year 2007, let us reflect on these:
a. If I refuse to give anything to missions this year, I practically cast a ballot in favour of the recall of every missionary.
b. If I give less than here-to-fore, I favour reduction of the missionary forces proportionate to my reduced contributions.
c. If I give the same as formerly, I favour holding the ground already won; but I oppose any forward movement.
d. If I increase my offering beyond former years, then I favour an advance movement in the conquest of new territory for Christ.
BATTLE FOR THE UNREACHED PEOPLE By Andrew Abah
Introduction
Souls are very valuable. Jesus estimated the value of one soul as worthier than what the whole world could buy. His words: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37. It does not matter the background of the person, whether rich or poor or from a reached or unreached tribal group. The soul of a very poor person from the unreached mountain tribe in Africa is as rich as the soul of a church-going Canadian from Vancouver.
It is therefore not surprising that the devil fights so hard to maintain his hold over every human soul on earth. In view of the importance God attaches to the human soul, He did not hesitate to spare His only Son to leave the comfort of heaven and pay the supreme price of redeeming man.
Keeping the Unreached People from the Gospel
The devil's fight to retain his hold over humanity is multi-dimensional. One of the dimensions is to prevent the people from having access to the gospel. It is therefore not surprising that after over two thousand years of Jesus commissioning the Church to take the liberating gospel to the world; several millions are yet to hear, not to talk of responding to the gospel. Out of the 11,263 people groups in the world today, about 6,478 are still unreached. Out of these number, 4475 have population of over 1000,000.
The Challenges of Sects and Cults
One other way the devil is fighting so hard to retain the souls of humanity for eternal damnation is through worldwide growth and spread of missionary cults of western origin. It had been a striking phenomenon in the 20th Century, and is continued into the 21st century. It is important to take note of the following developments:
· Jehovah's Witness have grown worldwide from 916, 000 members in 1960 to 6, 036, 000 in 2000. There are well over 14. 5 million affiliates today. Many give sacrificial hours in door- to door work to proclaim a false message in almost every nation and in 400 languages. In some nations such as Austria, Poland and Spain Jehovah's Witness out number Evangelicals, and splinter groups abound.
· The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) have similarly grown from 1. 4 million adherents in 1960 to 11 million in 2000. The short term missionary work of the Mormon puts evangelical churches to shame. Many parts of Polynesia are rapidly becoming majority Mormon, and its growth in Latin America is remarkable. Mormon missionaries numbered about 60, 000 in 2000, working in 150 nations.
· Hindu Buddhist group have made remarkable inroads among young people in the West with some gurus gaining large following. Many lives have been damaged by the misuse of drugs, promiscuous sex and exposure to demonic influences.
The Hare Krishna (ISKON) movement has rapidly gained a large following in former Soviet states since the ending of Communist rule.
· New Age beliefs have swept modern cultures in the West and East. In the West, a worldwide shift to acceptance of eastern mysticism, reincarnation and “self” awareness together with renewed interest in old Western paganism and occultism poses a serious challenge to Christianity and the whole basis on which Western society was been founded. A large minority of church goers would accept some New Age premises.
· New religious movements that mix Christian concepts and terminology with indigenous non Christian beliefs and practices have gained following of tens of millions Christo paganism in Latin America, indigenous syncretistic churches in Africa (with millions of followers), and other new movements in China.
· The following are particular challenges we need to concentrate our prayers on:
· Those who have been led astray into quasi Christian movement often through ignorance and the failure of born again Christians to reach them first. Praise God for thousands who have left such cults and found liberty in Christ.
· The removal of bias in Western media towards New Age and Eastern religious concepts and against biblical Christianity. Pray that Christians may be well taught and discerning concerning these errors.
· Truth to fill the spiritual vacuum in the former atheistic states, such as the former Soviet Union. This is being filled not only by true Christians but also by numerous eastern and western sects. Pray for the truth to be proclaimed so that all may see and discern error.
· The preparation of suitable literature and videos in major languages to help Christians understand and evangelize cultists,, and warn potential cultists. The need for apologetic literature in Eurasia is particularly acute. The organization below can provide help.
Afflictions of the Righteous
One other way the devil fights to prevent the spread of the gospel is by mounting numerous attacks on the missionaries. Ps 34:19 has become a familiar passage for many missionaries Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all”. In the past few years, we have seen several missionaries come under all kinds of afflictions. We have come to terms with the reality that one way God delivers His own from these multiple afflictions is death. We have in this edition the story of a trailblazer's encounter with cancer.
He won through death. He is resting in heaven today. Clement Anegbe, an able General of God's kingdom was called home through plane crash when the church needed him most. Few years earlier, he lost his first wife through motor accident. The commonest of these afflictions is sickness. Space will not permit us to give a run down of missionaries battling with one sickness or the other.
In mission history, we were familiar with havocs wrecked by malaria fever and direct physical attacks by those who resisted the gospel. Now it is different stroke. The devil is full of wrath knowing that He has but a short time (Rev. 12:12). He has changed gear. He is more determined to reduce the already few labourers by whatever means possible. The Church must rise up to the task of labouring in prayers for the missionaries.
Pray for the Unreached People
Since the ultimate goal of the devil is to make sure that the souls of the unreached are not saved, the church must make it a priority to pray for their salvation. They cannot pray for themselves. Your prayer will tear off the veil the devil had used to cover them. Your prayer will cause their heart to yearn for salvation. Your prayer will produce labourers to take the gospel to them. Your prayer can do what money cannot do. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” James 5:16-17.
Souls are very valuable. Jesus estimated the value of one soul as worthier than what the whole world could buy. His words: “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37. It does not matter the background of the person, whether rich or poor or from a reached or unreached tribal group. The soul of a very poor person from the unreached mountain tribe in Africa is as rich as the soul of a church-going Canadian from Vancouver.
It is therefore not surprising that the devil fights so hard to maintain his hold over every human soul on earth. In view of the importance God attaches to the human soul, He did not hesitate to spare His only Son to leave the comfort of heaven and pay the supreme price of redeeming man.
Keeping the Unreached People from the Gospel
The devil's fight to retain his hold over humanity is multi-dimensional. One of the dimensions is to prevent the people from having access to the gospel. It is therefore not surprising that after over two thousand years of Jesus commissioning the Church to take the liberating gospel to the world; several millions are yet to hear, not to talk of responding to the gospel. Out of the 11,263 people groups in the world today, about 6,478 are still unreached. Out of these number, 4475 have population of over 1000,000.
The Challenges of Sects and Cults
One other way the devil is fighting so hard to retain the souls of humanity for eternal damnation is through worldwide growth and spread of missionary cults of western origin. It had been a striking phenomenon in the 20th Century, and is continued into the 21st century. It is important to take note of the following developments:
· Jehovah's Witness have grown worldwide from 916, 000 members in 1960 to 6, 036, 000 in 2000. There are well over 14. 5 million affiliates today. Many give sacrificial hours in door- to door work to proclaim a false message in almost every nation and in 400 languages. In some nations such as Austria, Poland and Spain Jehovah's Witness out number Evangelicals, and splinter groups abound.
· The Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) have similarly grown from 1. 4 million adherents in 1960 to 11 million in 2000. The short term missionary work of the Mormon puts evangelical churches to shame. Many parts of Polynesia are rapidly becoming majority Mormon, and its growth in Latin America is remarkable. Mormon missionaries numbered about 60, 000 in 2000, working in 150 nations.
· Hindu Buddhist group have made remarkable inroads among young people in the West with some gurus gaining large following. Many lives have been damaged by the misuse of drugs, promiscuous sex and exposure to demonic influences.
The Hare Krishna (ISKON) movement has rapidly gained a large following in former Soviet states since the ending of Communist rule.
· New Age beliefs have swept modern cultures in the West and East. In the West, a worldwide shift to acceptance of eastern mysticism, reincarnation and “self” awareness together with renewed interest in old Western paganism and occultism poses a serious challenge to Christianity and the whole basis on which Western society was been founded. A large minority of church goers would accept some New Age premises.
· New religious movements that mix Christian concepts and terminology with indigenous non Christian beliefs and practices have gained following of tens of millions Christo paganism in Latin America, indigenous syncretistic churches in Africa (with millions of followers), and other new movements in China.
· The following are particular challenges we need to concentrate our prayers on:
· Those who have been led astray into quasi Christian movement often through ignorance and the failure of born again Christians to reach them first. Praise God for thousands who have left such cults and found liberty in Christ.
· The removal of bias in Western media towards New Age and Eastern religious concepts and against biblical Christianity. Pray that Christians may be well taught and discerning concerning these errors.
· Truth to fill the spiritual vacuum in the former atheistic states, such as the former Soviet Union. This is being filled not only by true Christians but also by numerous eastern and western sects. Pray for the truth to be proclaimed so that all may see and discern error.
· The preparation of suitable literature and videos in major languages to help Christians understand and evangelize cultists,, and warn potential cultists. The need for apologetic literature in Eurasia is particularly acute. The organization below can provide help.
Afflictions of the Righteous
One other way the devil fights to prevent the spread of the gospel is by mounting numerous attacks on the missionaries. Ps 34:19 has become a familiar passage for many missionaries Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all”. In the past few years, we have seen several missionaries come under all kinds of afflictions. We have come to terms with the reality that one way God delivers His own from these multiple afflictions is death. We have in this edition the story of a trailblazer's encounter with cancer.
He won through death. He is resting in heaven today. Clement Anegbe, an able General of God's kingdom was called home through plane crash when the church needed him most. Few years earlier, he lost his first wife through motor accident. The commonest of these afflictions is sickness. Space will not permit us to give a run down of missionaries battling with one sickness or the other.
In mission history, we were familiar with havocs wrecked by malaria fever and direct physical attacks by those who resisted the gospel. Now it is different stroke. The devil is full of wrath knowing that He has but a short time (Rev. 12:12). He has changed gear. He is more determined to reduce the already few labourers by whatever means possible. The Church must rise up to the task of labouring in prayers for the missionaries.
Pray for the Unreached People
Since the ultimate goal of the devil is to make sure that the souls of the unreached are not saved, the church must make it a priority to pray for their salvation. They cannot pray for themselves. Your prayer will tear off the veil the devil had used to cover them. Your prayer will cause their heart to yearn for salvation. Your prayer will produce labourers to take the gospel to them. Your prayer can do what money cannot do. “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” James 5:16-17.
A QUARTER TOO MUCH By Yemisi Madamori
Several years ago, a new preacher moved to Houston , Texas . Someweeks after he arrived, he had occasion to ride the bus from hishome to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that thedriver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.
As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd bettergive the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it." Then hethought,"Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry aboutthis little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare;they will never miss it.
Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet." When his stop came,he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to thedriver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change." The driverwith a smile replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town?I have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I justwanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.
I'llsee you at church on Sunday"When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed thenearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold yourSon for a quarter."Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is areally almost scary example of how much people watch us asChristians and will put us to the test! Always be on guard andremember (as I try to remember) that you carry the name of Christ onyour shoulders when you call yourself "Christian."
As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, "You'd bettergive the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it." Then hethought,"Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry aboutthis little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare;they will never miss it.
Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet." When his stop came,he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to thedriver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change." The driverwith a smile replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town?I have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I justwanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change.
I'llsee you at church on Sunday"When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed thenearest light pole, held on, and said, "Oh God, I almost sold yourSon for a quarter."Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is areally almost scary example of how much people watch us asChristians and will put us to the test! Always be on guard andremember (as I try to remember) that you carry the name of Christ onyour shoulders when you call yourself "Christian."
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
REVIVAL PRAYING: A BIBLICAL MODEL By Dave Butt
For many years now, the Lord has put the issue of revival praying upon my heart. Initially, I must admit, my prayers were fairly generic: “O Lord, please revive us.” As I have grown in my approach to prayer, I've learned more specific requests, especially in using the Word of God to help format and provide content for my prayers. Psalm 80 and Isaiah 63 and 64 have helped me to petition the Lord for revival with both variety and the power of Scripture behind my requests. Recently, I have been praying through the Psalms again. I began to lift before the Lord the words of Psalm74. To my delight, I found another “revival” prayer. My desire is that this Psalm will provide fuel for the fire of intercession and petition once again bless us with His Presence in revival.
As you pray through Psalm 74, please notice that before major sections I share some comments to help you see the aspects of revival in each passage. I encourage you to move beyond Bible study however, to passionately praying the heart of the Psalmist.
The Awareness of the Need for Revival
At the beginning of Psalm 74 we find the agonizing realization that God's presence is not near. In fact, because of sin, there has been a sense of rejection. As is typical in revival praying, there is a cry for God to remember His people and return to them:
Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember the people You purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, whom You redeemed Mount Zion, where You dwelt. Turn Your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary. Psalm 74:1-3.
The Result of God's Apparent Absence
When sin is accepted in the life of the people of God, the consequences begin to be felt. The enemies of God and His people begin to afflict the nation. Notice that the Psalmist uses the phrase,
When sin is accepted in the life of the people of God, the consequences begin to be felt. The enemies of God and His people begin to afflict the nation. Notice that the Psalmist uses the phrase Your foes roared. This reminds us that our ultimate enemy is Satan, the one whom Peter tells us roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour I Peter 5:8.
Your foes roared in the place where You met with us; they set up their standards as signs. They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. They burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of Your Name. They said in their hearts, 'We will crush them completely! 'They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land. We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be Psalm 74:4-9.
Turning to an Awareness of the God to Whom We Are Praying
An important lesson to learn in prayer is that ultimately we need to be concerned about God and His reputation and the extension of His kingdom and purposes. Revival really isn't about us having better meetings or being happy. It is about God's Name being exalted and more praise and honour given to Him on this planet. Notice that the Psalmist asked God to go to work, because He is the one being reviled and mocked through the attacks on His people. Note also that this portion of the Psalm them moves into a wonderful expression of recognizing God's power of the One we are addressing in prayer, that our faith will grow and we will begin to pray in a way that moves the hand of God.
How long will the enemy mock You, O God? Will the foe revile Your name forever? Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand? Take if from the folds of Your garment and destroy them!
But You, O God, are my king from of old; You bring salvation upon the earth. It was You who split open the sea by Your power; You broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert. It was You who opened up springs and streams; You dried up the ever flowing rivers. The day is Yours, and Your also the night; You established the sun and moon. It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter. Psalm 74:10-17.
The Request for Revival
Once again, this prayer is focused upon the honour of God and the integrity of His covenant with His people. The concern is for the Lord and how He is perceived by the nations. The cry for God to rise up and defend His cause will mean that Israel will once again walk in right relationship to their God. When He prospers them, they cry that God will be honoured, not only by Israel, but by those nations in the area who see how He protects and prospers His people when they obey Him.
Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O Lord, how foolish people have reviled Your name. do not hand over the life of Your dove to wild beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted people forever. Have regard for Your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise Your name. Rise up, O God, and defend Your cause; remember how fools mock You all day long. Do not ignore the clamour of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies, which rises continually. Psalm 74:18-23.
Our Prayer
Here is a prayer to pray that embraces the principles of revival in Psalm 74 and makes them our own:
Father, like ancient Israel, we too live in a day in which Your name is mocked. Many times this happens because of the shortcoming and sins of those of us who are followers of Your holy Son, Jesus. Lord, we confess our sins and the way we have lived our lives as Christians apart from complete dependence upon You. We repent of this shameful self-sufficiency and throw ourselves upon Your mercy.
Gracious, God, our lifestyle has often led unbelievers to insult and attack Your very nature and character. We ask You, Lord to rise up and defend Yourself. Would You awaken your people to the reality of Your presence in our midst and in so doing transform our lives into the character of Christ that You desire to see in us? May Your life lived out in Your Church begin to demonstrate to the world Your love, grace, mercy and overwhelming power on behalf of Your saints. Would You allow the kingdom principles that govern heaven to being to be made manifest on earth? We ask You to revive Your people so that we may rejoice in You and demonstrate in our lives the awesome, transforming power of Jesus Christ in His Church. Amen.
As you pray through Psalm 74, please notice that before major sections I share some comments to help you see the aspects of revival in each passage. I encourage you to move beyond Bible study however, to passionately praying the heart of the Psalmist.
The Awareness of the Need for Revival
At the beginning of Psalm 74 we find the agonizing realization that God's presence is not near. In fact, because of sin, there has been a sense of rejection. As is typical in revival praying, there is a cry for God to remember His people and return to them:
Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture? Remember the people You purchased of old, the tribe of Your inheritance, whom You redeemed Mount Zion, where You dwelt. Turn Your steps toward these everlasting ruins, all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary. Psalm 74:1-3.
The Result of God's Apparent Absence
When sin is accepted in the life of the people of God, the consequences begin to be felt. The enemies of God and His people begin to afflict the nation. Notice that the Psalmist uses the phrase,
When sin is accepted in the life of the people of God, the consequences begin to be felt. The enemies of God and His people begin to afflict the nation. Notice that the Psalmist uses the phrase Your foes roared. This reminds us that our ultimate enemy is Satan, the one whom Peter tells us roams about as a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour I Peter 5:8.
Your foes roared in the place where You met with us; they set up their standards as signs. They behaved like men wielding axes to cut through a thicket of trees. They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. They burned Your sanctuary to the ground; they defiled the dwelling place of Your Name. They said in their hearts, 'We will crush them completely! 'They burned every place where God was worshipped in the land. We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be Psalm 74:4-9.
Turning to an Awareness of the God to Whom We Are Praying
An important lesson to learn in prayer is that ultimately we need to be concerned about God and His reputation and the extension of His kingdom and purposes. Revival really isn't about us having better meetings or being happy. It is about God's Name being exalted and more praise and honour given to Him on this planet. Notice that the Psalmist asked God to go to work, because He is the one being reviled and mocked through the attacks on His people. Note also that this portion of the Psalm them moves into a wonderful expression of recognizing God's power of the One we are addressing in prayer, that our faith will grow and we will begin to pray in a way that moves the hand of God.
How long will the enemy mock You, O God? Will the foe revile Your name forever? Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand? Take if from the folds of Your garment and destroy them!
But You, O God, are my king from of old; You bring salvation upon the earth. It was You who split open the sea by Your power; You broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert. It was You who opened up springs and streams; You dried up the ever flowing rivers. The day is Yours, and Your also the night; You established the sun and moon. It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter. Psalm 74:10-17.
The Request for Revival
Once again, this prayer is focused upon the honour of God and the integrity of His covenant with His people. The concern is for the Lord and how He is perceived by the nations. The cry for God to rise up and defend His cause will mean that Israel will once again walk in right relationship to their God. When He prospers them, they cry that God will be honoured, not only by Israel, but by those nations in the area who see how He protects and prospers His people when they obey Him.
Remember how the enemy has mocked You, O Lord, how foolish people have reviled Your name. do not hand over the life of Your dove to wild beasts; do not forget the lives of Your afflicted people forever. Have regard for Your covenant, because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land. Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace; may the poor and needy praise Your name. Rise up, O God, and defend Your cause; remember how fools mock You all day long. Do not ignore the clamour of Your adversaries, the uproar of Your enemies, which rises continually. Psalm 74:18-23.
Our Prayer
Here is a prayer to pray that embraces the principles of revival in Psalm 74 and makes them our own:
Father, like ancient Israel, we too live in a day in which Your name is mocked. Many times this happens because of the shortcoming and sins of those of us who are followers of Your holy Son, Jesus. Lord, we confess our sins and the way we have lived our lives as Christians apart from complete dependence upon You. We repent of this shameful self-sufficiency and throw ourselves upon Your mercy.
Gracious, God, our lifestyle has often led unbelievers to insult and attack Your very nature and character. We ask You, Lord to rise up and defend Yourself. Would You awaken your people to the reality of Your presence in our midst and in so doing transform our lives into the character of Christ that You desire to see in us? May Your life lived out in Your Church begin to demonstrate to the world Your love, grace, mercy and overwhelming power on behalf of Your saints. Would You allow the kingdom principles that govern heaven to being to be made manifest on earth? We ask You to revive Your people so that we may rejoice in You and demonstrate in our lives the awesome, transforming power of Jesus Christ in His Church. Amen.
MISSIONS: THE AFRICAN CHALLENGE By Peter Vumisa
Introduction
In her introduction to the article “Answering the Call” with a subtitle “African Americans Needed on the Mission field” in the World Christian Magazine (Volume 14, Number 4, published in December 2001), Carla D. Bastos, an African American herself serving in Angola said, “Africa cries out for help in its struggle against the ravages of spiritual darkness, war, corruption, the AIDS epidemic, drought, flooding and lack of health care. Thankfully, help is pouring in from Christians and humanitarian groups world-wide. But those who have answered the call of God to minister to the continent through evangelism and mercy ministry are often overwhelmed with the work, finding it difficult to keep up with increasing challenges and demands. Why? Because someone is missing from the team, leaving those on the field to do more than their share. The missing link in both African and world-wide missions is the African-American Christian.”
In as much as I agree on the fact of the issue of challenges Africa is facing, however the article takes the view which I do not agree with.
Firstly the article still takes the view that Africa is still a mission field and hence eliminating the African church as part of the missing link in the whole Mission enterprise
Secondly, the article paints a gloomy picture of the spiritual climate of Africa calling it “spiritual darkness.” And hence taking the view that Africa is still unevanglised, ravaged with spiritual darkness.
It is such views and comments by some foreign missionaries that give a misleading picture about the church in Africa. It is this distorted view of the African church that causes the Africans to think that they are still far away or still immature for them to participate in global missions.
In considering the spirituality and growth of Christianity in Africa, I have always wondered how other people look at Africa. Do they have facts and do they really understand Africa?
For the sake of this message we can still ask the following questions: (1) Is Africa still a mission field? (2) How old is the church in Africa? (3) Is the church still immature to do missions?
First and foremost I would like to state that it is a false assumption that the church in Africa is small and immature with no roots, no long history of experience and growth to reflect upon. The Coptic church in Egypt dates back to the early church fathers; the city of Alexandria in North Africa boasted of a prestigious seminary where scholars of the stature of Origen taught and wrote. Christianity was established in Ethiopia during the third century. By the sixth century, the church had spread though Europe, North Africa, Persia, China and India, though this church in many instances was weak or snuffed out due to persecution or the influence of Islam, in many places a flicker of life remained. Thus, the church in parts of the third world existed for hundreds of years before the Pilgrims landed in the New World, and is, in reality, historically much older.
Now if the Church in Africa is this old, what has made it to take so long to develop a vision for missions?
It is towards the end of the 20th Century that the church in Africa really began to seriously start talking about missions. A number of churches in different parts of the continent came up with mission programs. However there hasn't been a significant Cross Cultural mission effort numerically among the African Evangelical churches, but perhaps there has been numerous outstanding individual missionaries. Anyone familiar with the African church knows that Africans are almost incredibly underrepresented in cross-cultural Christian missions. While outstanding individual Evangelical missionaries have represented Africans, but the numerical depth has never been great.
Statistical Data on Missionaries from Some African Countries in West, East, Central and Southern Africa
* Nigeria: approximately 3, 700 in 110 agencies to 50 + countries: Nigeria 3,100, Benin 38, USA 30, Cote d' lvoire 24, Niger 21, Ghana, 19, and UK 18.
* Ghana: approximately 750 in 60 agencies to 32 countries, of which 144 are abroad
* South Africa: approximately 2622 in 126 agencies of which 1, 494 are in 100 other countries.
* Tanzania: 232 in 21 agencies, mainly within the country.
* Kenya: 673 in 53 agencies to 17 countries: Kenya 608, Tanzania 22, Uganda 21 (statistics I incomplete).
* Zambia: 228 in 22 agencies to 18 countries: Zambia 182
* Cameroon: 291 in 11 agencies to 35 countries
Source: Operation World: 21st Century Edition
Identifying the Hindrances
MET (Missions Exposure and Training) Students Identified the following as hindrances:
* No awareness on the subject
* Financial problems
* Constitutions governing churches
* Some still think missions is for the Western countries
* Inferiority complex
* No mission structures
* Missionaries never taught missions to the churches in Africa
* Wrong priorities in the church etc
* Selfishness on the part of Pastors and other church leaders
The Black Evangelical Leaders Consultation on Missions held on 14-16 July 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa identified the following as some of the main obstacles:
* Inferiority complex
* Dependency syndrome
* Black underdevelopment
* Weak missiology
* Identity crisis
* Fragmentation
Explanation and Some Suggested Solutions
Weak Missiology
African evangelical mission theology has been inadequate. Inadequate not only because of the strong Western influence in it, but also because good theological education has been inaccessible to many. Furthermore, African mission theology and practice lacked the vision for world evangelism.
Missionaries Never Taught Missions to Churches
One of the weaknesses of the early missionaries in Africa is that they never sowed a vision for missions. What they sowed is what is being reaped now. Missionaries did not pass on their vision for missions to the churches they started. They felt that there was still a lot to be done in those countries. So they thought that their small, and young churches could not send missionaries to other nations. Other missionaries just felt that African Christians were incapable of doing what western missionaries were doing. As a result their vision for world missions ended with their own work.
We can deal with this problem by sensitising and mobilising churches regarding missions. We must also train and prepare the local churches to send and support missionaries. Experience shows that many churches in Africa do not have the knowledge on how to run mission programs. It is a big frustration to train missionaries while the sending church remains untrained. Many young people have been frustrated by their churches because despite of having a desire and calling for missions, the churches are in no way ready to send and support them. So the church must be trained too.
Black Underdevelopment
The Evangelical church in Africa also suffers the problem of lack of education and resources. Giving for Cross-Cultural missions is extremely low. These are manifested in poor managerial skills, lack of financial transparency in our churches, poor stewardship of resources and lack of accountability. Due to this impoverishment, the African church finds itself unable to be an agent of development and transformation in its own context.
We can deal with the issue of black underdevelopment by promoting, training and preparing African missionaries with affordable, specialized courses on missions. Theological institutions should rewrite their curriculum programs in order to provide adequate training for missions.
Dependency Syndrome
Due to the economic poverty in Africa, there is a tendency to depend on the patronage of those with resources abroad. This leads to the inability of self-definition by the dependent party.
We can deal with the problem of dependency syndrome by tapping into our own resources and develop our own support systems.
Though Africa is a continent characterized by poor leadership, poverty, corruption, civil wars, unemployment, diseases, mismanagement, social problems like crime, drugs, immorality, and HIV/AIDS which is on the rise in some African countries, Africa has a lot of riches. It is a very rich continent in terms of resources. In his paper “What is wrong with Africa,” Bekele Shanko (Sanko: 2000) gives the following amazing facts about African riches:
The country of Nigeria alone has more than 110 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserve and about 10 trillion cubic feet of oil reserve. In spite of so many plans for oil exploration and gas flaring in Nigeria since the pioneering operation of Anglo-Dutch about 36 years ago, plans had failed because of various Nigerian Governments (Africa Today, special report June 1999, Vol. 5, No.6). The current oil output capacity in Nigeria is 2 million barrels per day, and it is expected to increase to 5 million barrels per day by 2010. But the country has an external debt of $50bn (African Business, May 2000, No. 254). A 1995 World Bank report said that the Niger delta, home of Nigeria's oil wealth, emits about 12 million tonnes of methane every year. But the delta's people are among the poorest in Nigeria with lots of unemployment, malnutrition and very poor or non-existent infrastructure (Africa Today, special report, June 1999, Vol. 5, No. 6). The country of Ethiopia has hundreds of rivers, lakes and natural springs but millions of people die due to a lack of water.
The country of Angola has a proven reserve of oil for 28 years. Current production is about 800,000 barrels per day and is expected to rise to above 1 million barrels per day. But from the country of Angola, UNITA have mined diamonds worth over US$3.7 billion since 1992, and UNITA alone supply up to 20% of the world's diamonds to the global market. The government of Angola mortgages future oil revenue in order to buy arms such as artillery, helicopters, jet fighters and tanks. About half of Angolan children do not go to school; eight out of 10 Angolans have no access to sanitation and six out of 10 do not have safe drinking water. The budget for health and education sectors combined is less than half that of defence (African Business, Feb. 1999, Number 240).
More than 80% of the uranium in the American atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 came from the country of Congo. By 1958, Congo was producing 50% of the world's uranium, 75% of the world's cobalt, 70% of the world's industrial diamonds, and it was the world's largest producer of rubber, but the current Congolese average income per capita is less than 1% of that of America.
Oil revenue in Congo Brazzaville funds fully 80% of the country's national treasury. It is technically the second major producer of oil in Sub-Saharan Africa following Angola, but Congo remains one of the world's poorest countries with an external debt of $6bn. Currently, there are an estimated 60,000 corrupt and bureaucratic leaders in the country of Congo Brazzaville (African Business, July/August 2000, No. 256).
Africa has the second greatest landmass on earth. Sudan alone is larger than the whole of Western Europe; the DRC is larger than the entire European member states combined. But total income of the 48 African countries is little more than that of Belgium.
Africa has enormous untapped potential and hidden growth reserves, but currently only 1% of the total world economic output and 2% of the world trade comes from Africa. It is estimated that to just maintain the current level of poverty, African economies have to grow by 5% per annum (African Business, July/August 2000, No. 256).
Africa is losing 20,000 skilled professionals every year because of economic hardships, instability, the poor handling of human resources, and inability to create an environment, which African professionals will not want to leave the continent (African Business, June 2000, No. 255). In addition to this Africa is the world's most indebted and aid-dependent region with 17% of its GDP flowing out in debt repayments. The whole continent has fewer paved roads than the country of Poland alone (African Business, July/August 2000, No. 256). Africa as a whole is poorer than it was 40 years ago (New Africa, July/August 2000, No. 387).
It is true that Africa's problems are not lack of resources but lack of good leadership and proper management. Most of our leaders are selfish, greed, and corrupt. For example countries like Cameroon, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Morocco, Malawi, and Zimbabwe are listed among the highly corrupt nations of the world with the 1998 corruption perceptions index ranging from 1.4 for Cameroon (highly corrupt) to 4.2 for Zimbabwe (relatively lower corruption). Kenya alone contributes 6.5% to the continent's corruption.
Unfortunately the church in Africa is not without spots and blemishes in this regard. One can see a manifestation of this in poor managerial skills, lack of financial transparency, poor stewardship of resources and lack of accountability.
Fragmentation
Another problem facing the church in Africa today is fragmentation. As a church, we constantly find themselves deeply fragmented into camps. There is a tendency of individual empire building among us where we often prefer linkages and fellowship with like-minded people in the west. This has the effect of worsening and perpetuating disunity in the body of Christ locally.
We can deal with the issues of fragmentation by promoting partnerships. This is well illustrated by the following Korean story:
“In the village of Chia Lee in Korea lived a not-too-rich young man who was about to get married. On the day before his wedding, his uncle sent him money for a new suit. With great joy, he hurried off to the department store in the big city. He selected a suit, tried on the coat (which fit very well), but he did not try on the pants until he reached home late that night. Then to his big disappointment, he discovered that the pants were three inches too long. Since the wedding was to be held the following morning, there seemed nothing to do but to wear the pants with the legs rolled up.
“The young man had a very kind grand mother who lived with them in the home. Late that night she rolled and tossed as she thought about her grandson, and the humiliation of having to wear a suit with pants rolled up. She finally arose from her bed, slipped quietly into the room where the young man had hung his suit. She carefully took the pants from the hanger and with her big scissors she snipped off the extra three inches. She got out her needle and thread, carefully hemmed up the pants, and neatly hung them in the closet. Then she went back to bed and slept in peace.
“The mother of the young man had a terrible nightmare that night about her son standing before all the people with his pants rolled up, and so about two in the morning she could endure it no longer. She arose from her bed and went on tiptoe into the room where the suit was hanging. She measured carefully from the bottom of the pants and with her scissors snipped of the pants and then hemmed neatly and completely.
“Very early the next morning before the sun had begun to rise the older sister of the young lad arose from her bed. Hers had been a troubled night of sleep. Before anyone else was up, she slipped quietly into his room and removed his suit from the hanger. Using her scissors expertly, she removed three inches from the bottom of the pants, hemmed them carefully, and put them back on the hanger.
You can imagine the astonishment of the young man as he pulled on his trousers later that morning just before the wedding. They barely covered his knees. Even though each of the women intended well and even finished the job, with a feeling of accomplishment, the result was tragic. The story highlights our failure to function as one body.
Lack of Mission Structures
Mission structures like mission agencies do exist in Africa. But these are Western or foreign mission agencies. The problem with them is that for a long time they have not seen the need to utilize the Africans in world evangelization programs. Undeniably, the black people felt unwelcome and unwanted by White mission organizations. It is now that some of them are beginning to open up and recruit Africans for missions.
There is a need therefore for the African church to organise itself and develop its own mission structures. It is true that historically, God has used two structures with distinctive functions in carrying out His redemptive plan the church and the mission agency. The local churches have functioned as the primary nurture structure, and the mission agencies as the primary mission structure. Both are still needed today in order for the Christians to fulfil the Great Commission.
Identity Crisis
Due to dehumanization of the past (slave trade,apartheid like in South Africa, colonialism) many African people developed identity crisis, which hindered their capacity to be an effective contributor in missions. This problem is made worse by the fact that our identity and mission are constantly being shaped by others. This deepens the identity crisis and incapacitates our potential to make our contribution to world missions. However the good news is that as former objects of mission, the black church feels the time has come for us to become subjects of mission.
Inferiority Complex
Due to the legacy of colonialism and racism, the black church found itself the victim of an inferiority complex that incapacitated it from functioning normally according to the God-given calling and potential. In our experiences as black evangelicals in Africa, we continue to be confronted by diverse forms of racism, some subtle and others not so subtle. We can deal with the problem of identity crisis and low self esteem by believing in what God says about us (see Gen. 1: 26-27,31; 9: 6)
Conclusion
My prayer is that the African vision for global vision will be larger than any other involvement of the Black community. Our missionary efforts should not just focus on Africa, but upon all areas of the world. Youth as well as adults should enter into missionary endeavors. This period should witness the increased involvement of short as well as long-term service. The African Church should get actively involved in taking the whole Gospel to the whole world.
References
1. Finely Allen and Lutz Lorry, Mission: A World Family Affair. Christian Nationals Press, San Jose, California, 1981.
2. Shanko, Bekele, What is wrong with Africa? A paper, Christian Embassy of South Africa and Executive Ministry, October 2000
3. Report of the Black Evangelical Leaders Consultation on Missions held on 14-16 July 1999, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
4. McQuicken, J. R. The Thailand Consultation by B. Hogard, Mission Frontiers, Vol. 2, No. 8, August 1980.
5. World Christian December 2001, Volume 14, Number 4
6. Operation World 21st Century Edition.
This paper was presented at the 12th African Missions Summit. Contact Details: Peter Vumisa, Inserv, P O Box 8416, Pretoria, 0001, RSA, Email: restrn@inserv.org.za, Tel: (+27) 12 3230915, Cell: (+27) 723392193
In her introduction to the article “Answering the Call” with a subtitle “African Americans Needed on the Mission field” in the World Christian Magazine (Volume 14, Number 4, published in December 2001), Carla D. Bastos, an African American herself serving in Angola said, “Africa cries out for help in its struggle against the ravages of spiritual darkness, war, corruption, the AIDS epidemic, drought, flooding and lack of health care. Thankfully, help is pouring in from Christians and humanitarian groups world-wide. But those who have answered the call of God to minister to the continent through evangelism and mercy ministry are often overwhelmed with the work, finding it difficult to keep up with increasing challenges and demands. Why? Because someone is missing from the team, leaving those on the field to do more than their share. The missing link in both African and world-wide missions is the African-American Christian.”
In as much as I agree on the fact of the issue of challenges Africa is facing, however the article takes the view which I do not agree with.
Firstly the article still takes the view that Africa is still a mission field and hence eliminating the African church as part of the missing link in the whole Mission enterprise
Secondly, the article paints a gloomy picture of the spiritual climate of Africa calling it “spiritual darkness.” And hence taking the view that Africa is still unevanglised, ravaged with spiritual darkness.
It is such views and comments by some foreign missionaries that give a misleading picture about the church in Africa. It is this distorted view of the African church that causes the Africans to think that they are still far away or still immature for them to participate in global missions.
In considering the spirituality and growth of Christianity in Africa, I have always wondered how other people look at Africa. Do they have facts and do they really understand Africa?
For the sake of this message we can still ask the following questions: (1) Is Africa still a mission field? (2) How old is the church in Africa? (3) Is the church still immature to do missions?
First and foremost I would like to state that it is a false assumption that the church in Africa is small and immature with no roots, no long history of experience and growth to reflect upon. The Coptic church in Egypt dates back to the early church fathers; the city of Alexandria in North Africa boasted of a prestigious seminary where scholars of the stature of Origen taught and wrote. Christianity was established in Ethiopia during the third century. By the sixth century, the church had spread though Europe, North Africa, Persia, China and India, though this church in many instances was weak or snuffed out due to persecution or the influence of Islam, in many places a flicker of life remained. Thus, the church in parts of the third world existed for hundreds of years before the Pilgrims landed in the New World, and is, in reality, historically much older.
Now if the Church in Africa is this old, what has made it to take so long to develop a vision for missions?
It is towards the end of the 20th Century that the church in Africa really began to seriously start talking about missions. A number of churches in different parts of the continent came up with mission programs. However there hasn't been a significant Cross Cultural mission effort numerically among the African Evangelical churches, but perhaps there has been numerous outstanding individual missionaries. Anyone familiar with the African church knows that Africans are almost incredibly underrepresented in cross-cultural Christian missions. While outstanding individual Evangelical missionaries have represented Africans, but the numerical depth has never been great.
Statistical Data on Missionaries from Some African Countries in West, East, Central and Southern Africa
* Nigeria: approximately 3, 700 in 110 agencies to 50 + countries: Nigeria 3,100, Benin 38, USA 30, Cote d' lvoire 24, Niger 21, Ghana, 19, and UK 18.
* Ghana: approximately 750 in 60 agencies to 32 countries, of which 144 are abroad
* South Africa: approximately 2622 in 126 agencies of which 1, 494 are in 100 other countries.
* Tanzania: 232 in 21 agencies, mainly within the country.
* Kenya: 673 in 53 agencies to 17 countries: Kenya 608, Tanzania 22, Uganda 21 (statistics I incomplete).
* Zambia: 228 in 22 agencies to 18 countries: Zambia 182
* Cameroon: 291 in 11 agencies to 35 countries
Source: Operation World: 21st Century Edition
Identifying the Hindrances
MET (Missions Exposure and Training) Students Identified the following as hindrances:
* No awareness on the subject
* Financial problems
* Constitutions governing churches
* Some still think missions is for the Western countries
* Inferiority complex
* No mission structures
* Missionaries never taught missions to the churches in Africa
* Wrong priorities in the church etc
* Selfishness on the part of Pastors and other church leaders
The Black Evangelical Leaders Consultation on Missions held on 14-16 July 1999 in Johannesburg, South Africa identified the following as some of the main obstacles:
* Inferiority complex
* Dependency syndrome
* Black underdevelopment
* Weak missiology
* Identity crisis
* Fragmentation
Explanation and Some Suggested Solutions
Weak Missiology
African evangelical mission theology has been inadequate. Inadequate not only because of the strong Western influence in it, but also because good theological education has been inaccessible to many. Furthermore, African mission theology and practice lacked the vision for world evangelism.
Missionaries Never Taught Missions to Churches
One of the weaknesses of the early missionaries in Africa is that they never sowed a vision for missions. What they sowed is what is being reaped now. Missionaries did not pass on their vision for missions to the churches they started. They felt that there was still a lot to be done in those countries. So they thought that their small, and young churches could not send missionaries to other nations. Other missionaries just felt that African Christians were incapable of doing what western missionaries were doing. As a result their vision for world missions ended with their own work.
We can deal with this problem by sensitising and mobilising churches regarding missions. We must also train and prepare the local churches to send and support missionaries. Experience shows that many churches in Africa do not have the knowledge on how to run mission programs. It is a big frustration to train missionaries while the sending church remains untrained. Many young people have been frustrated by their churches because despite of having a desire and calling for missions, the churches are in no way ready to send and support them. So the church must be trained too.
Black Underdevelopment
The Evangelical church in Africa also suffers the problem of lack of education and resources. Giving for Cross-Cultural missions is extremely low. These are manifested in poor managerial skills, lack of financial transparency in our churches, poor stewardship of resources and lack of accountability. Due to this impoverishment, the African church finds itself unable to be an agent of development and transformation in its own context.
We can deal with the issue of black underdevelopment by promoting, training and preparing African missionaries with affordable, specialized courses on missions. Theological institutions should rewrite their curriculum programs in order to provide adequate training for missions.
Dependency Syndrome
Due to the economic poverty in Africa, there is a tendency to depend on the patronage of those with resources abroad. This leads to the inability of self-definition by the dependent party.
We can deal with the problem of dependency syndrome by tapping into our own resources and develop our own support systems.
Though Africa is a continent characterized by poor leadership, poverty, corruption, civil wars, unemployment, diseases, mismanagement, social problems like crime, drugs, immorality, and HIV/AIDS which is on the rise in some African countries, Africa has a lot of riches. It is a very rich continent in terms of resources. In his paper “What is wrong with Africa,” Bekele Shanko (Sanko: 2000) gives the following amazing facts about African riches:
The country of Nigeria alone has more than 110 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserve and about 10 trillion cubic feet of oil reserve. In spite of so many plans for oil exploration and gas flaring in Nigeria since the pioneering operation of Anglo-Dutch about 36 years ago, plans had failed because of various Nigerian Governments (Africa Today, special report June 1999, Vol. 5, No.6). The current oil output capacity in Nigeria is 2 million barrels per day, and it is expected to increase to 5 million barrels per day by 2010. But the country has an external debt of $50bn (African Business, May 2000, No. 254). A 1995 World Bank report said that the Niger delta, home of Nigeria's oil wealth, emits about 12 million tonnes of methane every year. But the delta's people are among the poorest in Nigeria with lots of unemployment, malnutrition and very poor or non-existent infrastructure (Africa Today, special report, June 1999, Vol. 5, No. 6). The country of Ethiopia has hundreds of rivers, lakes and natural springs but millions of people die due to a lack of water.
The country of Angola has a proven reserve of oil for 28 years. Current production is about 800,000 barrels per day and is expected to rise to above 1 million barrels per day. But from the country of Angola, UNITA have mined diamonds worth over US$3.7 billion since 1992, and UNITA alone supply up to 20% of the world's diamonds to the global market. The government of Angola mortgages future oil revenue in order to buy arms such as artillery, helicopters, jet fighters and tanks. About half of Angolan children do not go to school; eight out of 10 Angolans have no access to sanitation and six out of 10 do not have safe drinking water. The budget for health and education sectors combined is less than half that of defence (African Business, Feb. 1999, Number 240).
More than 80% of the uranium in the American atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 came from the country of Congo. By 1958, Congo was producing 50% of the world's uranium, 75% of the world's cobalt, 70% of the world's industrial diamonds, and it was the world's largest producer of rubber, but the current Congolese average income per capita is less than 1% of that of America.
Oil revenue in Congo Brazzaville funds fully 80% of the country's national treasury. It is technically the second major producer of oil in Sub-Saharan Africa following Angola, but Congo remains one of the world's poorest countries with an external debt of $6bn. Currently, there are an estimated 60,000 corrupt and bureaucratic leaders in the country of Congo Brazzaville (African Business, July/August 2000, No. 256).
Africa has the second greatest landmass on earth. Sudan alone is larger than the whole of Western Europe; the DRC is larger than the entire European member states combined. But total income of the 48 African countries is little more than that of Belgium.
Africa has enormous untapped potential and hidden growth reserves, but currently only 1% of the total world economic output and 2% of the world trade comes from Africa. It is estimated that to just maintain the current level of poverty, African economies have to grow by 5% per annum (African Business, July/August 2000, No. 256).
Africa is losing 20,000 skilled professionals every year because of economic hardships, instability, the poor handling of human resources, and inability to create an environment, which African professionals will not want to leave the continent (African Business, June 2000, No. 255). In addition to this Africa is the world's most indebted and aid-dependent region with 17% of its GDP flowing out in debt repayments. The whole continent has fewer paved roads than the country of Poland alone (African Business, July/August 2000, No. 256). Africa as a whole is poorer than it was 40 years ago (New Africa, July/August 2000, No. 387).
It is true that Africa's problems are not lack of resources but lack of good leadership and proper management. Most of our leaders are selfish, greed, and corrupt. For example countries like Cameroon, Tanzania, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Zambia, Morocco, Malawi, and Zimbabwe are listed among the highly corrupt nations of the world with the 1998 corruption perceptions index ranging from 1.4 for Cameroon (highly corrupt) to 4.2 for Zimbabwe (relatively lower corruption). Kenya alone contributes 6.5% to the continent's corruption.
Unfortunately the church in Africa is not without spots and blemishes in this regard. One can see a manifestation of this in poor managerial skills, lack of financial transparency, poor stewardship of resources and lack of accountability.
Fragmentation
Another problem facing the church in Africa today is fragmentation. As a church, we constantly find themselves deeply fragmented into camps. There is a tendency of individual empire building among us where we often prefer linkages and fellowship with like-minded people in the west. This has the effect of worsening and perpetuating disunity in the body of Christ locally.
We can deal with the issues of fragmentation by promoting partnerships. This is well illustrated by the following Korean story:
“In the village of Chia Lee in Korea lived a not-too-rich young man who was about to get married. On the day before his wedding, his uncle sent him money for a new suit. With great joy, he hurried off to the department store in the big city. He selected a suit, tried on the coat (which fit very well), but he did not try on the pants until he reached home late that night. Then to his big disappointment, he discovered that the pants were three inches too long. Since the wedding was to be held the following morning, there seemed nothing to do but to wear the pants with the legs rolled up.
“The young man had a very kind grand mother who lived with them in the home. Late that night she rolled and tossed as she thought about her grandson, and the humiliation of having to wear a suit with pants rolled up. She finally arose from her bed, slipped quietly into the room where the young man had hung his suit. She carefully took the pants from the hanger and with her big scissors she snipped off the extra three inches. She got out her needle and thread, carefully hemmed up the pants, and neatly hung them in the closet. Then she went back to bed and slept in peace.
“The mother of the young man had a terrible nightmare that night about her son standing before all the people with his pants rolled up, and so about two in the morning she could endure it no longer. She arose from her bed and went on tiptoe into the room where the suit was hanging. She measured carefully from the bottom of the pants and with her scissors snipped of the pants and then hemmed neatly and completely.
“Very early the next morning before the sun had begun to rise the older sister of the young lad arose from her bed. Hers had been a troubled night of sleep. Before anyone else was up, she slipped quietly into his room and removed his suit from the hanger. Using her scissors expertly, she removed three inches from the bottom of the pants, hemmed them carefully, and put them back on the hanger.
You can imagine the astonishment of the young man as he pulled on his trousers later that morning just before the wedding. They barely covered his knees. Even though each of the women intended well and even finished the job, with a feeling of accomplishment, the result was tragic. The story highlights our failure to function as one body.
Lack of Mission Structures
Mission structures like mission agencies do exist in Africa. But these are Western or foreign mission agencies. The problem with them is that for a long time they have not seen the need to utilize the Africans in world evangelization programs. Undeniably, the black people felt unwelcome and unwanted by White mission organizations. It is now that some of them are beginning to open up and recruit Africans for missions.
There is a need therefore for the African church to organise itself and develop its own mission structures. It is true that historically, God has used two structures with distinctive functions in carrying out His redemptive plan the church and the mission agency. The local churches have functioned as the primary nurture structure, and the mission agencies as the primary mission structure. Both are still needed today in order for the Christians to fulfil the Great Commission.
Identity Crisis
Due to dehumanization of the past (slave trade,apartheid like in South Africa, colonialism) many African people developed identity crisis, which hindered their capacity to be an effective contributor in missions. This problem is made worse by the fact that our identity and mission are constantly being shaped by others. This deepens the identity crisis and incapacitates our potential to make our contribution to world missions. However the good news is that as former objects of mission, the black church feels the time has come for us to become subjects of mission.
Inferiority Complex
Due to the legacy of colonialism and racism, the black church found itself the victim of an inferiority complex that incapacitated it from functioning normally according to the God-given calling and potential. In our experiences as black evangelicals in Africa, we continue to be confronted by diverse forms of racism, some subtle and others not so subtle. We can deal with the problem of identity crisis and low self esteem by believing in what God says about us (see Gen. 1: 26-27,31; 9: 6)
Conclusion
My prayer is that the African vision for global vision will be larger than any other involvement of the Black community. Our missionary efforts should not just focus on Africa, but upon all areas of the world. Youth as well as adults should enter into missionary endeavors. This period should witness the increased involvement of short as well as long-term service. The African Church should get actively involved in taking the whole Gospel to the whole world.
References
1. Finely Allen and Lutz Lorry, Mission: A World Family Affair. Christian Nationals Press, San Jose, California, 1981.
2. Shanko, Bekele, What is wrong with Africa? A paper, Christian Embassy of South Africa and Executive Ministry, October 2000
3. Report of the Black Evangelical Leaders Consultation on Missions held on 14-16 July 1999, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
4. McQuicken, J. R. The Thailand Consultation by B. Hogard, Mission Frontiers, Vol. 2, No. 8, August 1980.
5. World Christian December 2001, Volume 14, Number 4
6. Operation World 21st Century Edition.
This paper was presented at the 12th African Missions Summit. Contact Details: Peter Vumisa, Inserv, P O Box 8416, Pretoria, 0001, RSA, Email: restrn@inserv.org.za, Tel: (+27) 12 3230915, Cell: (+27) 723392193
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