The Role of the African Church in Global Christian…
It’s Africa’s Moment!
The Role of the African Church in Global Christian Mission
Steve Maina @ CMS Africa 10th Anniversary 30 Oct 2018
Introduction:
Kia Ora Whanau- Tena Koutou X3 Katoa. Greeting in Maori language, indigenous people of NZ.
Thank you for inviting me to speak tonight. It's a great honour.
I’m a Kenyan missionary serving in NZ with NZCMS
Thank you Dennis and Irene for your partnership, friendship and support.
I congratulate CMS Africa on your 10th Anniversary and look forward to working with Canon Moses.
I love your (CMS Africa) mission tag line From Africa to the World. Equipping and multiplying leaders in the Church and society to transform Nations.
How many of you have seen the movie Black Panther?
I think many Africans and non-Africans, have for years been yearning for a film that flips the script on the stories Hollywood has told in the past about Africa and its people.
War, corruption, poverty, disease have for too long been the main portrayal of Africans on the big screen.
Now, granted, many of these stories are either true or an version of some of what happens here in Africa, and I’m aware that sometimes we in the Church have perpetuated this thinking by the stories we tell about Africa when we travel abroad. The poverty mindset is a something we have needed to deal with
You see, much of the global perception of Africa, and Africa’s needs is developed by the media whose focus is often negative. To dwell on Africa’s problems and shortcomings is to take a one-sided approach and to neglect the beauty, diversity and positivity pocketed in every part of this continent.
To focus on the negative is to miss out on some of Africa's true nature and face, the essential definitive characteristics by which we Africans define ourselves. . . the warmth and dignity of our people, it’s incomparable spiritual sense of Africans, the value of family and respect of the elderly, the celebration of diversity, the hospitality of our people, their inexplicable joy and vibrancy, even in the midst of suffering and poverty. Media does not record this.
I think this is the gap Black Panther fills. You walk away from the movie with a heart filled with pride.
Even in my little time here in Nairobi, I have noticed how the Wakanda theme is being used in churches and schools.
Finally, Africa’s time to shine has come.
But it’s not just the movie that makes this positive portrayal of Africa.
5 years ago, Harvard Business Review published an article written by Jonathan Berman where he suggested 7 reasons why Africa's time is now!
The 7 include:
-It’s a huge market opportunity- Africa’s middle class is bigger than India. The size of Africa and the resources it has makes it a place of great interest globally. Africa's economy growing faster than any other continents in the world with an average annual GDP growth of more than 6%...and that is why I think many global corporations are investing in Africa.
Mobile is exploding- at about 85% penetration.
Contains most of the world’s uncultivated arable land.
That is why I believe CMS Africa has found a great program- The Samaritan Strategy (TST) as it tells this story of Africa’s blessing and potential.
But today I want to focus on something we teach in Samaritan strategy and what the global economists are telling us is the gift of Africa- The social capital.
Jonathan says Africa will soon have the world’s largest workforce swelling by 183 million in this decade and surpassing China's workforce by 2035 and by 2050 it will account for 25% of the world's workforce. By working force, we are talking about those between 15-64 years.
Part of the reason for that is sheer numbers- population growth
Secondly is the age of the population (Median age in Africa in 2017 was 19.4 years while that of OECD is 40 years. OECD- The 34 OECD member countries include mainly EU countries plus Canada, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand.
Third, is the investment in education.
But there is even moreAfrica is able to offer in social capital- The Church in Africa is growing faster than any other continent.
It’s predicted that almost 40 percent of the world’s Christians will reside in Sub-Saharan Africa by the year 2050 . It is believed that there are now more Anglicans in Africa than the rest of the world put together.
What does this mean for the Gospel/Missions ?
Matthew 9:35-37 comes to mind
The Workers Are Few
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
What does this mean for the Gospel/Mission. It means that
Africa will not only be the world’s leading sending continent (largest mission workforce) but it will be the training ground for missions.
My Story: Reverse Missions: In the little part of the world where God has called me, NZ, we have began as CMS NZ to take seriously reverse Missions. Since 2014 we brought 80 African evangelists to re-evangelise NZ and since then a dozen of them have returned to serve the Church across the country as youth pastors, vicars, skilled migrants in the market place, evangelists, children workers, sports people etc.
This concept of African Christian leaders serving globally is not new:
The GS of the Anglican Communion is Nigerian
- The International President of Navigators is Kenyan
- The international director of SIM is Nigerian
It's Africa’s moment!
So in responding to the question- What is the role of the African Church in Global Christian Mission, I would like to briefly touch on
The Gifts we offer and then end with some comments around what it will require.
The gifts we offer.
- Vibrant faith-Faith (trusting God rather than financial means), Can do mentality!
- Confidence in the power of the Gospel to So in responding to the question- What is the role of the African Church in Global Christian Mission, I would like to briefly touch on
- Simple lifestyle- Many African missionaries can live anywhere, eat anything, sleep anywhere and still have joy.
- Community- In a world of individualism, I believe community is a gift. We are relational and perhaps that helps us deal with some of the challenges we face. Eg Mobile....in Kenya and NZ.
- Innovation- Mpesa but many other creative ways of providing service.
- Contextual theology- incl. theology of suffering and conflict, wholistic understanding. Because we live in a context of suffering and conflict we have learned what it means to forgive, have contentment even when things are not ok. and to live with that tension of the already of the Kingdom and the not yet! We know Christianity is not a Western religion and we have reflected on what it means to follow Jesus in an African way.
- Multi-cultural competence- 2-3 languages, coexistence of tribes, religions etc.
- Youth & energy
Sometimes you don't realise the blessings you have until you go away.
If Africa is to take it’s place in Global Mission, What will it require
a. Depth- The question is not how many Christians we have in Africa but, what kind of Christians will they be? The Church in Africa needs to be striving to ensure that we are Mission minded Christians whose faith is both scripturally solid and culturally relevant. A faith that is intelligible as it is bold.
Africa is known to be orthodox theologically. Do we have a role to critique some of the revisionist theology especially in the West?
How can we deepen our faith- thro discipleship and a leadership that calls faith communities back to a purer and more authentic faith in places where we have compromised.
Illustration: Reuben Kigame’s new book Christian Apologetics Through African Eyes.
Reuben reflects on some of the areas we need to challenge African Christian theology and practice.
Example of how we don’t easily question our leaders. We cannot afford not to hold those in authority to account.
I have heard that there are 2 ways to get rich quickly in Africa - start a church or be a politician!
It means that we must fight not to allow the values that make us African Christians be eroded by structural evil. We must not be silent. We must grow a spine and have holy anger.
We also need a depth of understanding that helps us value what God has given us and generosity to share it with others within Africa and beyond.
Illustration: NZ Mental health epidemic
As God told Jonah about Nineveh, Should I not have concern for this great city of Nineveh in which there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from the left- and also many animals.
Friends, many people made great sacrifices so that we could know Jesus in this continent. It's our time to give but what kind of Christianity will we share with others?
b. Models that are imaginative, unique and fit for purpose.
In 1 Kings 17:38-40
38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armour on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.
40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
Like David in Saul’s armour saying….I cannot go in these, the Church in Africa cannot copy models that have worked in the past or in other contexts.
Illustration: Ethiopian Maids being equipped to take the Gospel to Arab homes. You see, we need to radically revise our understanding of who a missionary is in the contemporary, globalised world. In fact, we also need to revise much of our mission history in order to take a much more realistic account of who really have been the midwives of the gospel. We have not documented stories of Africans who laid their lives for the Gospel to take root in this continent, let alone appreciate Africa being the Womb of Christianity 2000 years ago.
Africa has an overcapacity of trained personnel workers and yet we lack a pathway to release this massive workforce to the ends of the earth. Why? Are our models fit for purpose? Africa time is now! So we need vision, strategy and creativity.
Illustration:
In May 2018, one of Nairobi Newspapers has an article about 600 nurses migrating abroad annually. Most of those who have undergone specialized training in renal and ICU care mostly migrate to Canada, Australia and the US.
Within the continent, a majority of the nurses prefer working in Botswana and South Africa.
Africans are going to go anyway so why not train and equip them to be missionaries wherever they go? If we do this, Africa’s Church has a role of caring for them and keeping in touch with them.
But the role of the African Church is not just sending missionaries but creating hubs of training people from around the world right here in Africa.
We have a lot to offer right here in Africa.
But unfortunately we have created a model where those (especially from the West) who come to us (in Africa) come to offer us their gifts but we have not been intentional about recruiting people from abroad who come here to learn. There is a lot we can offer about leadership development, working with the poor, conflict resolution, church planting etc.
Over the last few years we have sent young emerging leaders from NZ to Kenya to learn ministry from Kenyans.
I have been working hard to help Churches in NZ know what it means to receive the gifts of the global Church.
I need your help. We need to change the narrative from what we can receive to what we can give. But we need imagination to do this well with boldness and humility.
c. Strategic partnerships
One of the baggage I think we carry from colonial era of missions is the spirit of competition and independence. Partition for Africa meant that we learned to work independently as nation states.
Gen 1:6… If as one people, speaking the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they seek to do will be impossible for them.
We need to explore what strategic partnerships could look like across denominations, countries and continents.
We need to find out where God is at work and who He is working through and join Him/them to add value, support and encourage.
I think one of our weakness is copying each other ideas without necessarily adding value.
This means cultivating a spirit of generosity – giving our best- culture of philanthropy.
In Summary:
Africa has much to offer in global missions- especially our people.
But we need depth, creative models and strategic partnerships.
Final Illustration: Watching the All Blacks- Record the game and only watch after I check the final score and know my favourite team has won.
We might feel unequal to the task before us but I’m reminded that we know the final picture/score in
Rev 7:9
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
What a compelling vision.
I want to spend the rest of my life figuring out what it means and pouring my life for African Church to take its place in seeing the nations follow Jesus. It's Africa's moment.
Will you join me? What part will you play? Will you commit yourself, release your sons and daughters to this task of seeing the nations know and worship Jesus?
Let me pray
A Franciscan Blessing
May God bless us with a restless discomfort
about easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
so that we may seek truth boldly and love deep within our heart.
May God bless us with holy anger
at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
so that we may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.
May God bless us with the gift of tears
to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish,
so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.
May God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that we really can make a difference in this world,
so that we are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.