New CMS-Africa Board Chairman Speaks on Mission Pe…
October 2018 marked a new dispensation in the leadership of CMS-Africa. Rev. Can. John Senyonyi, the Vice-Chancellor of Uganda Christian University was elected chair of the board replacing Rtd Archbishop Donald Mtetemela from Tanzania whose term had come to an end.
And so who is Dr. Senyonyi.
Who is Senyonyi?
John Senyonyi holds a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Melbourne, Australia (1984), and a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Nairobi (1978). He taught at Makerere University in the Department of Mathematics, from 1978-1980 and 1984 to 1987. Senyonyi left University teaching to follow God’s call into itinerant evangelism, and later graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Evangelism/Theology from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Trinity International University (1992), USA.
His take on the new role as CMS-Africa Board Chairman
It will be a learning curve for him as he is also new to CMS-AFRICA. His desire is to see CMS-African involved missions work in its original sense including sending of missionaries as in the old. “A church that is not sending missionaries is a church that is dying,” says Can Senyonyi who adds that my desire is to see this play out in CMS-Africa as the send missionaries become agents of community transformation.
“I am glad that CMS-Africa through her training programmes has been involved in advancing the gospel in a holistic sense. Most Christian organizations are unable to balance between holistic community transformation as well as evangelism and I will be looking forward towards steering CMS-Africa in both directions,” says Dr. Senyonyi.
The CMS-Africa programmes on stewardship teach us that devotion to the Lord is more important than just having more money. For Christ’s love compels us towards Christian Ministry, calling and service which means we can't keep resources to yourself. We are blessed to become a blessing to others and so CMS-Africa will be giving of itself to serve others, the church, the communities, the society, nations and the world.
Though rooted in Anglican history, CMS-Africa exists to serve the body of Christ in its totality across the African continent. I will be leading the organizations to newer places while not forgetting our roots! In that pre independence period, the Anglican Church was planted by CMS across East and Central Africa and so the relationship between CMS and the church is like that of a hen and an egg.
CMS started not just the churches but schools, hospitals, vocational training centers, colleges and universities including the one am heading today; the Uganda Christian University (UCU)- Mukono. It was a missionary’s vision and dream, Bishop Alfred Tucker’s vision that become the UCU.
The church of Uganda cannot deny links with CMS either as Bishop Leslie Brown who founded it as a CMS Missionary. The same could be said of the Anglican Church of Kenyan, Anglican church of Tanzania, and all the Episcopal in Rwanda, Burundi, Rwanda South Sudan and Sudan where CMS-Africa works. The CMS missionaries were in churches, in Schools and Hospital.
Ndege S'S, Kings College Buko, Bweranyanje, among other schools that are run by the Church of Uganda were all CMS Schools. The same could be said of key National Schools like Alliance, Mangu, Lenana Maseno among others in Kenya that were started by Missionaries.
Mission Hospitals like Mengo Hospital in Uganda, Tenwek and Kijabe Mission Hospitals in Kenya among others across the east African Countries were started by early Missionaries. This is to say that the Missionary was involved in a holistic ministry which is what we are trusting God for CMS-Africa to do today and in coming days.
The church of Uganda was established by CMS until 1941 when the East African Revival Ministry emerged under the undisputed leadership of Bishop Festo Olango, Joe Church(Gahini) and Simeon Isibambi, Blazio Kigozi among others. These men of God knowing the Lord met to pray because of the coldness and gave birth to the East African revival of the 1960 and 1970’s
The preaching of the gospel could not be contained as the people who were being saved had a difference in their lives and became agents of real change and transformation in the community. Missions work as it was known changed with Africans becoming missionaries and ministers of the word of God as the whites receded!
The church often pushed them out but they remained put and not leave the church not go start other churches but remained inside causing change from within. These African revivalist could preach the gospel and send people to the church unlike todays emerging ministers to immediately think of amassing congregations to themselves when they realize they have a call.
Edward Kakudidi for instance become an effective minister moving from church to church, community to community converting many people to Christ. Splinter churches emerged but their roots are Anglican and indeed CMS. CMS-Africa should therefore not lose her identity because in the process we lose our vision. The vision of a wholisitc ministry in the communities is what was needed then and is what is needed today.
The work that missionaries did was regenerative and it would be my great joy to see CMS-Africa of today continue in the same work. This we have to do in a holistic sense through the churches, learning institutions, health institutions as well as by caring for the creation.