Getting Dirty in the Trenches of Mission - Not all are Able!

We were hosting a 10 day missions team from the US to assist with our church planting work in Ivory Coast west Africa, among the Agni. It was one of the first realizations for me that not all people can live, work and minister among the poor and needy in Africa.

Some can come and observe, but to get their hands dirty in the trenches by even the human touch is beyond them. One lady on the team was helping us line up people so they could be examined by medical doctors at an outdoor clinic. Then the lady started to scream, cry, and jump around hysterically.

We carried her off into the church building as it was causing quite a stir. We got her calmed down enough to find out the problem. One of the Africans had touched her. She could only think of how many germs she had on her now. Only after she was spray with an antiseptic spray did she finally calm down.

Missionaries are not afraid to touch the people they work with. I was visiting with the African men who were standing around, and the Africans were all talking about how this lady was suddenly possessed by a bush spirit. I did not have the heart to tell them the truth and so I never told them the difference. The truth would be to insulting."

Andy Rayner Ivory Coast 1997

Spiritual Mapping - A Perspective!

"The idea of 'territorial spirits' is pagan. It depicts a world peopled by gods, a world full of chaos and terror, but made safe by the manipulative powers of shamans. "

(Charles R. A. Hoole. Territorial Spirits EMQ, April 1997, p 136)Charles R. A. Hoole of Colombo Theological Seminary

Focusing on Demonic to much is Unhealthy: Spiritual warfare & Missions

Partick Johnstone, the author of "Operation World" and a missionary with WEC International. He gives the following account

"One of our most effective church planting missionaries had become so involved with delivering Christians from demons. ...She claimed that thousands of demons had to be cast out of pastors in her many months of ministry around the country. This ministry was causing dismay to many, and appeared to be even possibly a sidetracking of the enemy into endless conversations with demons and time-consuming deliverances. She was even cross-examining lesser demons to find out more concerning the upper echelons of the demonic hierarchy. We sought to warn her of the real dangers associated with the latter and the need for a rounded balance in ministry in the former. I cannot help but feel that she was laying herself open to believing the lies and distortions of the enemy and having all her energies consumed in this deliverance ministry. She took some of our advice and moderated some of the excesses in her ministry."

(Patrick Johnstone, "Biblical intercession: spiritual power to change our world," Spiritual Power and Missions: Raising the Issues (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1995), pp. 159-60. )

C. S. Lewis penned this famous dictum:

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. "

(C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (West Chicago: Lord and King Associates, 1976), p. 17.)

Christianity Transforms Culture & Crime

Prayer is needed in Missions

"Kenyan pastor Thomas Muthee and his wife, Margaret, saw the notorious Nairobi suburb of Kiambu as a ministry graveyard. Searching for solutions to Kiambu's violence and the barriers to Christian outreach, in 1988 the Muthees began praying and doing research on the cause of the spiritual oppression. Finally, Thomas Muthee says, they discovered the source of Kiambu's oppression -the spirit of witchcraft. The locus was said to be a diviner named Mama Jane.

Muthee held an evangelistic crusade, and 200 people made public Christian commitments. Soon the church they formed, called the Prayer Cave, sponsored 24-hour prayer for Kiambu from its grocery store basement location. Mama Jane fought back but eventually left town, defeated. Muthee says that "the demonic influence -the principality over Kiambu -was broken. " Since then, the church has grown to 5,000 members, 400 of whom meet daily for 6 a.m. prayer sessions. The crime rate in Kiambu is down and the economy and population are growing."

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 74. 2000, paternoster Press, )

Importance of Literacy In Mission!

"Scripture (in the form of 960 New Testaments and 371 complete Bibles) is available in 2,233 of the world's approximately 6,800 languages. ……. A complicating factor, however, is that 2 billion of the people in the world cannot read the language they speak, and so literacy efforts must be added to many translation projects. "

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 68. 2000, paternoster Press, )

10/40 Window Gone Askew!

"A missions mobilizer says he heard of a church that was struggling with whether or not to back a missionary headed for Japan. The sticking point was not the character, calling, or gifts of the man. Nor was it his intended ministry. Instead, it was whether his work would be situated in the Window. Japan, it turns out, is only partly in the Window, and the church wanted to be sure the missionary's ministry was physically in the Window. Remember that the Window is a man-made creation nowhere found in the pages of Scripture. While no one disputes a church's right and responsibility to act as it believes God is directing, this is clearly an example of the tail (the Window) wagging the dog (setting priorities in missions).

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 60. 2000, paternoster Press, )

10/40 Window Gone Askew!

"A missions mobilizer says he heard of a church that was struggling with whether or not to back a missionary headed for Japan. The sticking point was not the character, calling, or gifts of the man. Nor was it his intended ministry. Instead, it was whether his work would be situated in the Window. Japan, it turns out, is only partly in the Window, and the church wanted to be sure the missionary's ministry was physically in the Window. Remember that the Window is a man-made creation nowhere found in the pages of Scripture. While no one disputes a church's right and responsibility to act as it believes God is directing, this is clearly an example of the tail (the Window) wagging the dog (setting priorities in missions).

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 60. 2000, paternoster Press, )

2/3rds World Missionary Dropout Rates High!

"During the Brazilian National' Missions Congress in October 1993, participants were stunned to hear that of the 5,400 missionaries sent out in the previous five years, the vast majority had returned within a year. Worse, about 90 percent of the returnees did not go back.

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 31. 2000, paternoster Press, )

10/40 Window Funding

"For all the current emphasis on unreached peoples, only .01 percent of the average Christian family income is aimed at reaching the so-called 10/40 Window."

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 21. 2000, paternoster Press, )

Stan Guthrie: Dependency money creates.

"Jim Lo was a church-planting missionary in Zimbabwe in the 1980s who was convinced that the Africans he worked with needed to take a larger role in the ministry. He was disturbed by the paternalistic attitude that only Western missionaries could do the work, especially as he rubbed shoulders with seasoned African leaders. Others on the missions leadership team agreed. They thought that the main reason these Africans were not involved in starting churches was a lack of money. So the money (only $500 a month for one Zimbabwean, versus $1,250 for a Westerner) was allocated to the church for three paid workers.

Soon, however, giving in the churches that had already been started dried up. When Lo tried to find out why, one African told him, "If rich Americans can pay for salaries, they should also be able to pay for the needs of our church."

Ministry dried up, too, as church volunteers quickly came to believe that they also should be paid. Lo was told, "If the church in America can pay salaries for three men to do church planting, it should be able also to find money to pay us to teach Sunday school. "

Church members also would not financially support the three church planters, calling them "missionary boys" who were not accountable to the church. Indeed, one of the three told Lo, "I only listen to the person who pays my salary."

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg 10. 2000, paternoster Press, )

Stan Guthrie reporting on the recent Growth in the Evangelical Church on Mission field.

"…..Indonesia, the scene of organized Muslim attacks against Christians since 1998, the overall church may have grown to 20 million people- far above the official estimate of 13 to 15 million."

"Latin America's active evangelical contingent now numbers 60 million people,

"Mean- while, early in the 1990s, the Quechua people of Bolivia were said to be largely unreached with the gospel. Today the evangelical movement among them numbers more than 50,000."

"In China, the church has multiplied from about 5 million when the communists took power in 1949 to anywhere from 30 to 60 million today; revival continues despite opposition in Henan province."

"More than 200,000 people in Chad made public decisions for Christ in outreaches between 1993 and 1998. Ethiopia, with large numbers of nominally Orthodox Christians and Muslims, has seen its evangelical community increase from .08 percent of the population in 1962 to 15.5 percent in 1998.

Sudan, site of some of the worst persecution of Christians on earth, has seen perhaps the creation of a million more Bible-believing Christians in the south since 1982."

North Africa Church Growing

"Across North Africa, in fact, the church, basically stamped out for over a millennium, is being resurrected. Arab World Ministries reports stunning growth in the church among Muslim populations. Two decades ago in Mauritania, there were no known believers or church groups. In 1999 there were around 100 Christians in 4 or 5 groups."

"Morocco has gone from 300 believers in 8 to 10 groups two decades ago to 900 in 20 to 25."

"Algeria, site of a civil war that has killed tens of thousands of people, has seen the church grow from 1,200 believers in 12 to 18 church groups to 12,000 Christians in 60 to 80 groups.

"Tunisia has grown from 30 believers in two or three groups to 150 in five or six.

"Even Libya, with no believers or groups 20 years ago, now has 8 to 10 evangelical believers."

(Stan Guthrie, Missions in The Third Millennium, pg xviii. 2000, paternoster Press, )

President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo's Comments on Civil War in Ivory Coast

"When the house of your neighbour burns, you have to help him put out the flames or yours will be next"

Togo President Gnassingbe Eyadema

(October 24, 2002, After Rebels take North of Ivory Coast (Bouake), West African leaders come to help establish peace with rebels & Government.) West African states feared this issues would cause regional instability

Reporter Steven Silver's Comments on Rwanda in 1994

"2,000,000 Hutu's, the killers among them, streamed into Refugee camps in Zaire. Ironically it was these images of fleeing Hutu's that brought Genocide to the attention of the world. The enormity of the genocide now dawns. No less than 800,000 people have been murdered in 100 days. A faster rate of killing than the Nazis achieved in the Holocaust."
(Steven Silver, reporter)

Comments On Martyrdom!

Bishop Festo Kivengere said in February 1979 on the second Anniversary of the martyrdom of Archbishop Janani Luwum of Uganda

"Without bleeding the church fails to bless."

----------

"Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust…… The more you mow us down, the more we grow; the seed is the blood of Christians."

Tertullian addressing the ruler of the Roman Empire cried this out:

John Stott - The Unstoppable Nature of the Church!

"An instructive modern parallel is what happened in 1949 in China when the National Government was defeated by the Communists. Six hundred and thirty-seven China Inland Mission missionaries were obliged to leave. It seemed a total disaster. Yet within four years 286 of them had been redeployed in South-East Asia and Japan, while the national Christians in China, even under severe persecution, began to multiply and now total thirty or forty times the number they were when the missionaries left (the exact figures are not known).

(John Stott "The Spirit The Church and The World The Message of Acts" pg 146)

Short Term missions- Some Negative Changes!

"Twenty years ago the Mexican border was an exciting opportunity for outreach for the handful of church groups and organizations that came down. Today it remains an exciting opportunity but it has transformed into a million-dollar industry. In the last twenty years the spirit of the visiting groups has changed also. Today they are much less concerned about the impact they will have in Mexico and more concerned about the impact Mexico will have on them. The growing number of organizations that bring groups to the border combined with the shift in focus has begun to have a negative effect on the Mexican churches."

(Aaron Palmatier Spring Break Mission trips: A Blessing or a Curse?" EMQ April 2002)

A Waste of Time Doing MIssions in Borneo?

"John Urud from the Murut/Kelabit people of Borneo told me how his people were dying out in the 1930s when missionaries from Australia landed on their coast. But the British governors of Borneo advised the missionaries, Don't bother going up into those mountains. It's not worthwhile to learn that language. In another generation or two, those people will be gone."Disregarding that advice, the missionaries climbed up the mountains. John's people responded. They became sober. They built schools. Today there are 150,000 believers and 400+ solid congregations.

(Miriam Adeney, The Lion of mathematics Reflections on Operation World by Patrick Johnstone, EMQ April 2002)

Technology & Health is not International

According to Vinoth Ramachandra,

"Nine out of ten people in the world have never made a telephone call in their lives. Tokyo has three times as many telephone lines as the whole continent of Africa" (1999)

"At the same time, even as we affirm ordinary people as they are, we must also join them in their struggles for change. Most people want to live beyond age forty. They want their babies to stay alive. They even want refrigerators."

(Miriam Adeney,The Lion of mathematics Reflections on Operation World by Patrick Johnstone, EMQ April 2002)

Poverty on Mission Field

"Half the people in the world live on $2 a day or less - a factoid that has been put forward in some global reports-shouldn't this statistic be important for disciple-makers?

(Miriam Adeney,The Lion of mathematics Reflections on Operation World by Patrick Johnstone, EMQ April 2002)

Massive Leadership Training Problem- Lack of Literature in need Languages

Would you rise up and translate Biblical study Text for the needy training of National leaders world wide?

"Today it is possible to do biblical theological research at a bachelor's degree level easily in only three languages (English, German and Spanish). It is possible, but not easy, to do this same research in four or five other languages. About 43 other major languages serve the educational needs of 85 percent of the world's population. Currently it would be impossible to find sufficient books for a full bachelor's level theological program in any of them. This lack of high quality indigenous Christian literature is one of the weakest features of the modem Protestant missionary endeavor. David Barrett has reported at least 700 global plans to evangelize the world. We do not know of a single plan to begin providing basic text and reference r books in the 43 educational languages, around the globe.

(Miriam Adeney,The Lion of mathematics Reflections on Operation World by Patrick Johnstone, EMQ April 2002)

Problem with Cults In China

" In fact, one of the cults, "dongfongshandian" (Lightning from the East), is extremely insidious. Inter- views with church leaders indicate this group has often resorted to a number of tactics. They attend a local church masquerading as a worshiper for a period of time to gather under- standing of the church. They teach biblically sound materials initially to gain the trust of congregational members. They memorize and quote Scriptures more than church leadership to win the respect of church co-workers. In some places, they have stayed hid- den for over 24 months. During this time, they also visit and understand the other local churches and leader- ship. From time to time they will visit homes of members of the congregation and church leadership and leave their thick, well-bounded, doctrinal book. Then, unexpectedly, they spring into action, taking over the whole church and often an entire network of churches.

"Systematic training, properly implemented, is having a dramatic impact in China. In some cases, after the shepherds have been trained, they will go into areas where the local churches have been infected by cults and the congregation will turn and listen to the voice of the "true" shepherd once again."

(Samel Chiang (Partners international) EMQ January 2002, "How to help the church in China Meet the challenges of a new generation.")

Bishop Zablon Nthamburi of the Methodist Church of Kenya

" The African Church will not grow into maturity if it continues to be fed by Western partners. It will ever remain as infant who has not learned to walk on his or her own feet."

Sexual Sins and The African Mentality About Them!

Africa: Sexual Sins and African Mentality

I felt sick when I heard the accusations of sexual immorality against an African pastor. Church leaders told the pastor to take his annual leave. A month later, the pastor returned to his ministry and things went on as if nothing had happened.

Another pastor fell into immorality. Everyone in the community knew except us missionaries. It went on for a number of years until another problem brought the allegations out in the open. A good African friend, an elder in the church, told me the accusations of sexual immorality were not the main issue that prompted discipline of this pastor. I stood stunned. Did the church feel immorality was not a sin ? Why had it not been dealt with earlier?

A young pastor fell into the sin of immorality. The church put the pastor on compulsory leave for a few months and recommended he get married. After his marriage he re- turned to the ministry.

……………………"Twenty years as a missionary has revealed that my view of sin is often at odds with the view of my African brothers and sisters. On the one hand, missionaries are often appalled by the seemingly casual view that Africans maintain towards the sin of immorality, labeled as a serious offense by missionaries and clearly condemned in the Bible. On the other hand, African believers are often con- founded by the seemingly unnecessary concern that missionaries express towards immorality, labeled as human behavior in their culture. But while missionaries condemn immorality they seem to view anger as an acceptable attitude even though anger and rage are clearly condemned in the Bible.

"Americans rate sins starting with murder, sexual sins, stealing, lying, and end up with the minor sins of anger, jealousy, and covetousness. African Christians would also start with murder, closely followed by anger, jealousy and covetousness-and then end with minor sins such as stealing (they'd call it borrowing), lying (saving face), and sexual sins (which they see as normal human activity). To an African anything that breaks a relationship is a serious sin. Americans are more concerned with breaking the rules"

(By Aaron Dean Clashing Cultural Views EMQ January 2002)

(Dr. Jon Arensen, professor of anthropology at Houghton College,)

Building Economically?

"Local churches and Christian institutions should generally reflect the economy of their areas. If churches in poor countries are built on the basis of wealthy economies, they will never be able to stand on their own."

"Dependency frequently becomes so great that local leaders believe that they cannot initiate other churches without rich benefactors providing the funds. Jealousies between those who do and do not receive support erode Christian community."

("Using Money in Missions. The Good The bad and The Ugly " EMQ January 2002, Gailyn Van Rheenen Professor fo missions Abilene Christian University Works among Kipsigis of Kenya Church of Christ non instrument)

Financial Support - Concerns To Be Cautious About:

"Seldom are foreign Christian leaders able to perceive the motives of those whom they support. Those supported may be articulate and communicative, especially when visitors are present, but not minister out of a deep conviction or God's call. They rather minister because the job provides an income that they would otherwise not have. For example, the executive director of a major Pentecostal group in Uganda said, "I would jump to another religious group if they paid me more. Currently I am not making enough to live on the level I desire. Many of the pastors under me feel the same". (Van Rheenen, 1976).

("Using Money in Missions. The Good The bad and The Ugly " EMQ January 2002, Gailyn Van Rheenen Professor fo missions Abilene Christian University Works among Kipsigis of Kenya Church of Christ non instrument)

Going Native?

" I know a missionary couple in West Africa who was approached by a delegation of village elders after they had lived there several months. The elders explained that the couple was the object of ridicule from other villages because the foreigners lived in a hut like the rest of the villagers. Rather "than bring more shame on the village they were asked to please build at "city" house." This creates a dilemma, for those seeking to follow the incarnational model. Do the missionaries assume they know better and ignore the request because they believe that someday the people will come to appreciate their identification and believe in Christ?

(Ken baker EMQ January 2002 The incarnational Model Perception of Deception, We aren't always seen the way we se ourselves.)

Who Makes It Rain? Awesome True Story!

In EMQ April 2002, there was a response to an earlier printed article called

'Who makes it Rain", by Kevin Cain, EMQ July 2001. In the article he is debating theologically who is in control of the rain. And the writer concludes that God is in control of the weather, not Satan, demons or evil spirits, as some missionaries were suggesting. This article was printed in EMQ 2002, Letter to Editor, in response to that article.

Chief Amene, God's General in Charge

The four helicopters rose and thundered off in formation. Above the runway and up into the sky they flew, carrying the bodies of nine government officials, dozens of soldiers and two rescue teams. I watched as the helicopters gained altitude and disappeared behind the mountains. I was in awe not so much with the helicopters in the majestic morning sky but in our God who controls the sky.

The drama had begun on Monday, when a military aircraft had gone missing over our island. All mission and government aircraft had been used to try to locate the crash. I had heard the missing military aircraft go over our house that morning. The plane had reached its destination and had taken off a few hours later. It had not been sighted again.

Monday night I was turning the radio dial and heard about the crash. I went to bed that night thinking that maybe the crash was on the South side of the mountain ranges and maybe in the Sabin area close to our valley. I had this hunch because the plane had flown over us that morning and I thought that maybe the pilot had tried to return the same way. I wondered if he might not have flown up the wrong valley? Late afternoon on Tuesday, three villagers came to my house asking to buy building supplies. I asked them where they were from. When they told me they had come from Sabin I asked them if they had heard an air- craft the day before. When they told me they had not only heard the plane but had seen it circle twice over their village, I was convinced it was the missing plane. They also mentioned that the plane was like a bird hit by a stone"-recklessly circling overhead. I called a colleague on my satellite phone who called the search and res-cue command center. Early Wednesday morning an MAF airplane flew to the Sabin valley and almost immediately located the crash.

Within an hour, our yard, house and airstrip were whirling with activity. The first team at the site con- firmed there were no survivors. Then the clouds blew in and we waited until the next day. The team on the mountain was located at almost 12,000 feet and shivered through most of the night. Some who were suffering from exposure were evacuated in the morning before the clouds blew in again. Their mission was to retrieve the nine bodies of the people killed in the crash as well as the valuables that were on board. Because of the freezing, rainy conditions, the need for bottled oxygen and the rugged terrain, speed was essential. The weather was the key factor.

An officer in charge of the operation asked if the tribe had any spiritual mediums or witch doctors that could move the clouds away. The offer was made to bring in pigs to sacrifice to the gods of the mountains as well. I told him that before the Gospel o had arrived, the people had relied on a appeasing the spirits with sacrifices. Now they only relied on God to move the clouds away. "Would I be willing to request God to give good weather," he asked? I gathered the villagers together and asked that chief Amene to pray.

Amene is an old war chief who t has led his tribe into battle many r times. His life has been changed and, now he walks with God. Amene led in f a powerful prayer requesting blue sky, in the name of "my older brother ~ Jesus and the Spirit that controls the J sky." I peeked during the prayer because the urge was so great. Next to me was the Colonel with his arms outstretched and his palms turned up. ! Next to him was the brigadier general in charge. He too was in a posture of prayer. The soldiers had put their guns down and the four helicopter crews stood respectfully at attention. My heart was warmed as I listened to chief Amene pray. He wore a tattered hat and shabby clothes. He wore no shoes. The old warrior is weak in body and he knows little of the out- side world but he knows a lot about the Spirit, his God, who controls the skies. Amene is God's general and that day he was in charge. He possessed more power and authority than any- one else assembled on the airstrip.

As the day dawned the next morning we eagerly waited. What had Amene's older brother decided to do with the clouds that day? As the night disappeared and was replaced with daylight we saw that the sky was clear of clouds. The sky was blue. Helicopters flew into action, and before 8 a.m. the work was over. Nine bodies had been plucked from the wreckage of the plane, search and rescue teams and soldiers had all been retrieved. Everyone was ecstatic, thrilled that their mission had been successful. After I had taken everyone's picture, someone asked if we might pray again. I noticed it was one of the helicopter pilots of another faith that I had befriended. I was honored, and in, my prayer thanked God for the good weather, safety for the pilots and com- fort for those who were grieving. When I had finished praying I noticed some wiping tears from their eyes. Many embraced me-the appreciation was sincere. With tears in his eyes

I the Colonel expressed his thanks and; the General put his arms around me.Having accomplished their mission, I they climbed into their helicopters and were soon lifting off. ~ I watched as the procession of helicopters flew off into the beautiful blue Silimo sky. The reverberating rotors of four helicopters echoed across the valley. One by one they disappeared.

When the last aircraft was out of sight, the valley was quiet. I turned around to see my old friend chief Amene. God's general in charge was grinning and pointing towards the sky and saying, "The God of the skies answered. Our older brother Jesus is here." I knew it, chief Amene knew it, and the military men flying home in the choppers knew it. Then he grasped his walking stick and shuffled, off in the direction of his village. I know who makes it not rain!

(Anonymous EMQ April 2002 Letter to the Editor)

No Answering Machines in Kenya

"Africa typically values people over machines. The message carries no weight if the person is not known, seen and heard: "How else does one explain the complete absence of answering machines in the modern city of Nairobi, Kenya?"

("The Taking Drums; What are they saying about you." Del Chinchen -Missionary in Africa 22 years Bible Department Daystar University Nairobi Kenya. EMQ Oct 2001)

What Do the Talking Drums Say About You Missionary?

The story is told of two single missionary women who served among the Kambu in Kenya. The local people, very curious about these two visitors, observed that each morning the two would sit out on their veranda and drink juice. The longer the two missionaries were there the more discouraged they became because they had not made one convert. Finally, after about a year, the two packed up and went home, convinced that this unreceptive community was resistant to the gospel. The married couple that was sent to replace them soon discovered why the two single missionaries had failed. Women, in that culture, drink juice in the morning after they have had a sexual relationship. The women in the community, thinking the two single missionaries were having affairs with their husbands, spread the word quickly and collectively agreed not to associate with such people.

("The Taking Drums; What are they saying about you." Del Chinchen -Missionary in Africa 22 years Bible Department Daystar University Nairobi Kenya. EMQ Oct 2001)

Time" Magazine (Int) Comments on Christianity in Africa

"But while African churches may attract new believers, the Christian establishment is not always so welcoming of the African churches. Few A.I.C.s (African Independent Churches) belong to the World Council of Churches, and many mainstream preachers question the quality of faith in the newly converted and the commitment of the churches to their flocks. Prosperity Theology may promise financial and spiritual riches, say its critics, but it often delivers neither. "Sure, Christianity may be growing quicker here than anywhere else, but the question remains as to the value of that faith," says Odero, an Anglican. "Spiritual destiny is not the main focus as it should be. The main focus is yourself and eliminating your problems."

Nigerian Bishop David Oyedepo, head of fast-growing Winners' Chapel, opened his new headquarters in Lagos recently, there was mumbled criticism that the money spent on the 50,000-seat Faith Tabernacle could have been better spent helping the city's many homeless people. "Tithes are a given, before the extras," says Odero. "Some preachers in Kenya charge $70 just to shake their hand. It's more if you want them to pray for you." A painting inside the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Kisumu asks, "Have You Paid Your Tithe? It is the Gateway to Abundant Blessings." "It's a challenge," says Pastor Ezebuike. "God commands his people to pay a tithe. It's a practice everyone should do."

(Time -International Feb 7, 2000. The Lords Buisness, Simon Robinson)

African Prosperity Theology in Ghana

African Prosperity Theology

"There's no commitment." Silvia Opoku-Manu, 25, a philosophy student in the Ghanaian capital Accra, says she used to attend an independent church but became disillusioned. "They promise you faith now. They promise your business will prosper now. Everything is instant," she says. "But God doesn't work this way. God is not a coffee machine."

(Time -International Feb 7, 2000. The Lords Buisness, Simon Robinson)

African Speaks Up About Dependancy!

"Bayo Famonure, WEF Missions Committee member and coordinator of MA2000, spoke strongly about the problem of financial support in the church and for missionary outreach. "We must not always depend on money from overseas," he warned. "Teach your people to give. I was a missionary myself and sometimes didn't have enough to feed myself. When friends told me I had a rich Father in Heaven, I replied that I needed his provision here on earth-through his people.

"I've come with a heavy heart for Africa. I cry when I see pictures of starving people. But we have a proverb: "If you want a helping hand, there is one at the end of your arm." We need to be self-supporting."

Not all delegates welcomed his plea. Some had difficulty paying their way to the conference and wanted AEA to help……."

(As quoted above by, Harold Fuller "Africa The Hopeless Continent, EMQ April 2001)

Syncretism In Africa

"Twenty-five years ago, Byang Kato pointed out that the greatest theological heresy of the church in Africa was syncretism. We as leaders need to repent. The church growth figures we give out are exaggerated. We claim that Africa is 45 percent Christian. Where do we see their influence on society? Let us assume only 10 percent of them are 'born again.' Sociologists tell us that as few as 2 percent of a population can bring about change in a nation. If we want to see an end to genocidal killings, bondage of women, the AIDS epidemic, and corruption, we must repent and ask God to heal our land."

(General Secretary Adeyemo AE, as quoted above by, Harold Fuller "Africa The Hopeless Continent, EMQ April 2001)

Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA)

The Hopeless Continent" screamed the cover story of The Economist on a news rack in London airport. An armed guerilla leered menacingly from an outline of Africa. I bought a copy-and so did the General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), Dr. Tokunboh Adeyemo.

We were on our way to an AEA- sponsored conference, Mission Africa, held in Grand Bassam, near Abidjan, the capital of Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa. Delegates from churches and missions across the continent met to review what has been done and consider what remains to be done to complete the task of evangelizing and discipling Africa. The previous week, over 100 delegates from French-speaking African countries had met to plan a specifically Francophone strategy for their area.....

In his opening address, Tokunboh Adeyemol held aloft The Economist with its disturbing cover story. Opening his Bible, he drew our attention to the story of the paralytic healed by Jesus (Mark 2:4). The man's condition was serious, and his helpers had to overcome "roadblocks" to bring him to Jesus-his only hope.

Adeyemo listed several obstacles facing the churches today: carnality, jealousy, rivalry , strife, pride, conflicting viewpoints on basics, and discrimination between tribes, social strata, and gender. "Roadblocks should be changed into potholes and filled in," he said. "The crowd itself stood in the paralytic's way. Crowds of nominal Christians and cults are barriers to people finding Jesus."

................Mission field becomes mission force. At the first session, I noticed the man sitting beside me was from Swaziland. "Did you know Aaron Gamede?" I asked. "Yes," he replied. "He was my uncle."

Aaron Gamede, who became swaziland's minister of education, was the man who initiated the formation of AEA, (Association of Evangelicals in Africa)at a consultation of evangelicals held in Kenya in 1966. Sixty or so of us from across Africa had discussed the progress of the Gospel in Africa. But Aaron had a vision. "We've enjoyed this fellowship," he said, standing to make a motion. "But before we leave, we need to form an association of evangelicals, to benefit from working together and reaching the continent for Christ." AEA was born.

Now , 34 years later, nearly all of Africa's 50-plus nations have an evangelical fellowship affiliated with AEA, which has a central office in Nairobi, Kenya. In the 60s, expatriates did most of the planning for conferences. In May 2000, Mission Africa (MA2000) was very much an African event.

"Rene Daidanso ma Djongwe, Associate General Secretary of AEA, reminded us of this in the first devotional session. " Africa has many problems, but God is working," he declared. "Due to the faithfulness of a missionary who came to Chad in 1920, the gospel has spread throughout our nation. There are many believers today." Daidanso had seen his world crumble in the 1970s, as the church passed through a time of great persecution. Many pastors and church members paid for their faithfulness with their lives; others succumbed to the tribulation and obeyed Chad's presidential decree to sacrifice to idols.

"One of our problems in Africa is that many church leaders are really pagans at heart," Daidanso warned, citing the problem of nominalism. "You can work for the church yet be rejected by the Lord at the judgment unless you've been born again. I'm not afraid to preach this to members, pastors, or bishops."

Harold Fuller "Africa The Hopeless Continent, EMQ April 2001 "

Be Sensitive the Terms We use ONLINE & on Mission Sites

Muslims Missions: Avoid Christian Military Terms when working with them.

Avoid using terms like target, conquer, claim the land, take over, infiltrate, penetrate, power encounters, subjugation. If Muslims read you letters or email or web page they will have a different idea.

"One of the aspiring elders of the church in a North African country, a Muslim back ground believer, was surfing the Internet. He found a Christian Web site that spoke about the great things that God was doing in his country. This ministry boasted of establishing "beach- heads" and believed the gospel would go forth with power. Soon the country would be conquered for Christ. The team leader of our work talked about the site with this aspiring elder, a university graduate, who understood it in literal military terms. From his perspective, this group was planning a military invasion of his country, a literal Christian jihad (holy war). If a mature Muslim background believer perceives these military metaphors as literal. truths, how much more the average Muslim? "

(Rick Love: Muslims and military metaphors EMQ Jan 2001)

Cast System & India Missions

"Because over 80 percent of the Christians of India are from the lower castes of society, many high caste Hindus will not sit with a Christian or listen to the Christian Gospel."

(Dick Baily: "Who's turning the mission field up side down, EMQ January 2001)

Churches In Afghanistan

Something to pray about:

"Afghans: Since Islam entered Afghanistan in the late 7th century that country has been almost totally closed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. From the very day (July 17, 1973) that the government bulldozed the only church building in the whole country, there has been continuous revolution and war. Out of 25 million Afghans, one million are dead, two million wounded, 7 million homeless, and more than three million are refugees living in other countries. God's good purpose is to draw Afghans to himself. He has raised up workers among them both in Afghanistan and among the refugees in at least two other countries. Some are now responding and turning to Christ, and the very first Afghan churches in history are now coming into being."

(Dick Baily: "Who's turning the mission field up side down, EMQ January 2001)

Unreached People In Our Own Cities!

"You have to "go" to another country to be a missionary. For many years we have made the distinction between "foreign missions" and "home missions." Some churches have even decided that they want all of their mission funds to go "overseas" rather than to be used here in North America (implying that this is not the real mission field).
.........A few years ago one missionary family had to leave an overseas ministry because of problems. The Lord opened a door to work among immigrants from the same ethnic people group in one of North America's large metropolitan areas. They had changed geography, but not people group. When one of their large supporting churches heard that they had come "home" they dropped their support, saying "Let us know if you ever go back to the field. " In the USA they were working within 50 miles of at least 100,000 people from the same ethnic group and were touching the lives of many of them. After a few years of effective ministry in spite of living under the stress of very inadequate support, they went overseas to a third country to target the same group again. The church immediately resumed their support, even though that third nation contained only 5,000 to 10,000 of those people.

(Dick Baily: "Who's turning the mission field up side down, EMQ January 2001)

Persecution Does Not Defeat The Church

Philippines

"In 1991, my colleague and close friend, John Speers, was visiting in Mindanao seeking to better learn a Muslim dialect. With him were his lovely, musically gifted wife and two children, ages 4 and 2. John was one of the most intelligent and spiritually sensitive missionaries I have ever known. At 5:15 p.m., as John was returning from a language learning walk about, a Muslim came up behind him and, using a home- made pistol, exploded a bullet inside John's brain. Entry into heaven was immediate. The story has been told and retold. If an American could so love Filipino Muslims that he would die for them, then how much greater is the responsibility of local believers to engage in a loving witness to the Sons of Ishmael. John's impact has been greater in death than even in life."

(Phil Parshall; Muslim Evangelism Mobilizing the national church EMQ Jan 2001)

Foolish Missionary Practices: Non contextualized

"Some years ago, a zealous American armed with tracts asked my Syrian friend, Yusuf" to accompany him to the Street Called Straight in Damascus standing under the wall where tradition says the apostle Paul was lowered in a basket, Sam urged Yusuf to accompany him down the mile long street as he distributed tracts and called upon people to repent for the kingdom of God is hand. Yusuf, with grace, declined the invitation and suggested he would wait for Sam's return in the shadows of St Paul's wall. Remarkably, Sam returned intact, effusively reporting the calling of God upon his life.

Such actions by foreign Christians are one of a number of deterrents that give Christian Nationals pause in initiating a witness to their Muslim countrymen. They are, for good reason, hesitant to be associated with a faith that has a fringe element that causes embarrassment and even danger to them. "

(Phil Parshall; Muslim Evangelism Mobilizing the national church EMQ Jan 2001)

3 rd World Missionaries Making our 100 Year old Mistakes!

Stan Guthrie writes about the growth in 3^rd world missions and quotes Paul Bothwick.

"Paul Borthwick of Development Associates International applauds the expanding global force, but he also notes some of its draw- backs. "Some non-Western missionaries have launched out with great zeal, but they are repeating the same mistakes as Western missionaries of 100 years ago, creating, in effect, a new generation of cultural imperialists," he says. "In addition, the romanticization of the non-Western missionary in the minds of the Western church has resulted in two dangerous trends- first, ...that our Great Commission responsibility is over with the exception of sending money, and, second, ...unhealthy dependency in the non- Western church."

(Global Report (EMQ) By Stan Guthrie "Past midnight" Jan 2000)

I can vouch for this. The Massive church planting potential of the hordes of Ghanaian nationals is amazing. However, my experience with them is that the vast majority see only one way to worship and evangelize. They are generally extreemly insensitive to Muslims or any other culture that is "less expressive". They see there flamboyant methodology of Loud speakers, yelling dramatic preaching, excitement, and dancing as the only way top evangelize effectively. For many it is the only way to evangelize in their estimation.

Is Persecution A Prelude to Revival?

Indonesia: Story

"At 2:00 one morning in Jakarta, Indonesia, a mob of approximately 400 Muslims surrounded the house church of one of our church planters. When he peered out the window and saw threatening sticks and stones, machetes and torches, he knew why the unwelcome company was there. He and his wife got on their knees and began to pray. The mob attempted to burn down the house, but the fire would not light. Frustrated, the crowd began to stone the house.

As the men rushed through the front door, the church planter jumped to his feet and was cut in the fore- head. Falling to his knees, and convinced that he would die that night, he continued to pray, "God, I am ready for you to take me home to- night, but I pray that where my blood falls here, you will establish a great church for your kingdom and glory! "

After he finished praying, neither he or his wife felt the blows, which began to bounce off of them. Again, growing frustrated, the mob proceeded to destroy everything in the house church and to pile it into a great heap in the living room to burn it. Again, the fire didn't light. Finally they threw the rubble into the street to destroy it, and it burned. This apparently satisfied the angry mob, and they left.

After this incident, the church planter lost half of his congregation. In the years that followed, persecution in Indonesia grew from isolated incidents, such as this, to mass attacks where, for example, all the churches in the town of Tasikmalaya, or 16 churches in the city of Situbondo, were ravaged by fire. Hundreds of churches have been burned in the last decade."

(Persecution Prelude to Revival, Kevin Humble EMQ april 2000)

Stats on China

Samuel Chiang says the number of Christians in China (the 80 million figure) are exaggerated.

"Many numbers have been reported. From the official number of around 10 million, to an indirectly acknowledged number of 24 million by Dr. George Carey, archbishop of Canterbury, when he visited China and commented that there are now enough Bibles for one in three believers (as reported in local newspapers, September 28, 1994), to furiously revised number of over 33 million by Tony Lambert ( OMF), to some estimates of 63 million and 83 million by Jonathan Chao (CCRC), to some numbers estimated by charismatic groups numbering from 80 to 90 million. My personal conviction is that there are probably, at most, only around 40- odd million evangelical believers."

"There exist tremendous pressures to "under-report" the numbers in the "official, or open, or registered, or Three-Self churches." There is a general fear that if actual growth was reported, the government will look at the local counties with disfavor. In fact, in one private discussion with one official, August 1994, he told this writer with embarrassment that he reported on only 15,000 believers, but in fact there were over 42,000 believers. Why? He indicated that the growth was just too fast from 9,000 (1990) to 42,000 (1994), so they had to inch up the numbers gradually."

(EMQ. "The China Challenge", by Samuel Chiang april 2000)

Poor Missionary Methods and Charismatic Foolishness!

"While many individuals and groups have entered China both covertly and blatantly open in converting flocks, their presence has often destroyed the natural order of an existing church or church network. Dangling of funds, promises of assistance, and sometimes force-feeding of theological positions have created a fragmented church.

Especially hurt are the house ( or the home) churches. Already lacking formal structure, this grouping of churches has become a victim of winds of doctrine. Not too long ago, a local pastor-leader in Yunnan2 was visited by Western missionaries. They wanted to lay hands on him so he could speak in tongues, thus demonstrating that he was saved. This pastor found the experience curious. He decided to go along. The Westerners prayed. The pastor knelt. After half and hour, he was checked to see if he could speak in tongues. He could not, but had peace that he was already saved and told the visitors so. The visitors left in a huff and told him he was not saved. This man is still engaged in evangelism, but he no longer pastors. His flock could not accept him after that experience."

(EMQ. "The China Challenge", by Samuel Chiang april 2000)

What Kenya Christians Are saying About To Much Western Money In Africa

(Professor Zablon Nthamburi, Presiding Bishop, Methodist Church In Kenya in The Church In Africa: Making Its Way From Dependency to Self Reliance)

"There is a need to build churches, clinics, and resource centers as well as to equip lay people for their role in the ministry. Unfortunately churches in Africa are made to believe that they must go to the churches in the West to beg for these resources in order to take advantage of the many emerging opportunities before them."…………………….. The Church in Africa must, more than ever before, begin to bear the imprint "made in Africa"………. The Christian faith must articulate African symbols and metaphors in order for it to be real. In the same vein, the African Church will not grow into maturity if it continues to be fed by western partners. It will ever remain an infant who has not learned to walk on his or her own feet. A child who depends on parental support even during teen-age years may never be able to walk with dignity. We must challenge the churches in Africa to be self-reliant as a way of proving that the Church has taken root and has developed an African character………..

Illustration:

"There are many examples showing how the church can be self-reliant. Some local believers told an incident of how their church was for a long time seeking support from overseas partners for a medical clinic. They had written many project proposals and only received about $2000 which could hardly build even a one-roomed clinic. It dawned upon them that, if they really wanted it, they had to do it themselves. The committee sat down, drew a program for fund raising and then taught the church members on the need to support this ministry. They asked people to bring things in kind such as chickens, farm produce, goats, cows etc. Within one single day they were able to raise the equivalent of US$20,000, enough to build and equip the clinic. What was more important, they discovered that they could do it. This convinced them of their own their strength on which they can now build to support other church ministries.

"I believe that the church in Africa is endowed with the resources to support its own ministry. The challenge is to realize this fact and to know how to tap these rich resources. The spiritual resource of the church should be able to propel it to realize many other opportunities in ministry. Let our friends and partners help us to realize our potential by letting us "walk on our own feet."

(Professor Zablon Nthamburi, Presiding Bishop, Methodist Church In Kenya in The Church In Africa: Making Its Way From Dependency to Self Reliance)