Harvey Kwiyani’s Keynote Address at CMS-Africa 201…
Can we begin to think of ourselves as Missionaries?
“Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them,” these were the words of the Apostles to the church at and out of the seven deacons, two of the people selected are Africans;
The bible also makes mention of Simeon of Cyrene and Apollos; a Young man from Alexandria who made a major contribution to the spread of the gospel in the ancient times.
Tertullian from Libya; Augustine of Hippo originally from Algeria were all servants of God Most High acknowledged in Christianity.
Modern Age and Evolving Christianity
HarveyKwiyanilives and works in Europe. As a modern day Christian living in England he spends half his time working amongst African Christians.The generation that is growing up today is under a lot of influence from the West and one wonders how the next generation will survive.
The Church in Europe is has 60% African when Africans constitute only 14%. African Christianity therefore is fast becoming the face of Christianity in today age and time.
Brownisation and De-Europeanisation of Christianity in America and Europe is real and the African has to stand thinking like they really are, the Christian.
The Church of England has lost 1500 members every week since 1990 meaning that millions of the Europeans today do not profess Christianity.
The centre of Christianity is fast becoming Africa. 40% OF THE WORLD Population will soon be in African and this geographically places Africa in the centre of the Christianity.
God has lit the light in what Henry Morton called the Dark Continent that is Africa has and as this happens, there is need for every Christian in Africa to start thinking about and living as disciples of Jesus.
There is need for Christians to go back to the basics: men full of the Holy Spirit.David Bosch says the Church is Missionary in nature. Without engaging in Missions, the church loses its nature.
There is need to reclaim the missionary nature of the church and that will make missions work possible. The missionary nature of Christianity compels them to live out their Christina life whether in African, Europe or America.
Can we reclaim mission to become the heart of Christianity?
Can we reclaim discipleship so that we can have Christianity sustained?
To become a Christian without engaging in missions; without walking the Christian walk and talking the gospel of Christ is not living according to God’s call for our lives
This has to start with the parent’s discipling their children and the children discipling their friends.
To convert anyone to Christianity is to give them the mandate to become a missionary. It is to give them the gun to do missions and it is an invitation for them to serve. Since it is God who calls, wherever he sends you is not your business to serve, disciple, and engage in missions work. Your choice to follow God is a call to engage in missions.
Theology without missions at the centre is wrong theology and should be discarded by the church in Africa and in the West.
The dispositions that God gives and endows you with are always required for missions. It is time to respond to the call and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Serving Source, Plundering Hell
African Christianity has grown phenomenally from 90M to 500million Christians since 1990 to date.
Africa has been evangelized by Africans and it is time the African responded to the Macedonian call to help the West.
It is not just about evangelizing but doing holistic missions. It is time that Africans in Africa and in Diaspora decided to engage in missions and this starts with the church and all Mission agencies.
We travel with our Religion
The light that is being seen through History and across Africa should continue to shine even brighter.
As Africans move to the West in large numbers, maybe God is calling Africans to Europe. It is time that African Christianity propped up the European Christianity through the heart of missions.
Opportunities for African Missions in the West
There are thousands of the Africans already in Europe who need to be activated, equipped and inspired to know that God has send them to Europe to do missions. The African doesn’t go to the west to work and make money but to serve the Lord God, our Creator.
Africans have served in Missions before, they have shaped and determined discourses in missions work through the generations. Can this be done with the current and coming generations?
In 1820; the Europeans Theologians hoped for a time when Christians from other parts of the word will come to invigorate the European Christianity.
Prayer, Night vigil, Person to person evangelism has become the hallmark of African Christianity. Yet all this becomes a hogwash of sorts as Christians don’t show the fruit of the Spirit.
We need to engage in Europe in a way that makes sense to Europeans.
Prof Andrew Walls born in SeriaLeone 1957, live in Nigeria and then Scotland speaking recently in Oxford talked of the Macedonian call: “Come over and help us” Acts 16.
The Prof. Andrew was not talking to the pastors and Christians in Africa but to Africans who are already in Europe. Europe is a Mission field and perhaps the most difficult mission field at the moment.
This field can probably be cracked by the African Christians who are migrating to Europe living their Christian life in a manner that reflects Christ.
Through prayer and spiritual warfare, prophesy, fasting, acts of love, the African can easily restore Christianity to the West
Church Mission Society (CMS) work in Africa should be perceived as act of planting a seed that should be grow to other parts of the world: Europe, South America, America, and the rest of the world.