No Place for Racism in Christianity. A Hard Hammer Delivered to break a Hard Head!

Illustration: Racism over come by the gospel

Robert Moffat in South Africa October 1817

" At one farm along the way, Robert was invited to lead in a devotional service after supper. The young missionary had noticed many Hottentot (Black) servants around the house and farm, but when the host family and their guests gathered for the service, no natives were preset. Surprised, Robert asked, "But where are the servants?"

"Servants! What do you mean?" responded the farmer.
"I mean the Hottentots, of whom I see so many on your farm."

"Hottentots! Do you mean that, then! Let me go to the mountain and call the baboons, if you want a congregation of that sort. Or stop, I have it: My sons, call the dogs that lie in front of the door-they will do."

Robert quietly dropped the matter, thinking it would be futile to argue with his host. But when it came time for him to share from Scripture, he chose as his text the story of the Syrophoenician woman who stated to Christ, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table" (Matthew 15:27).

He had not discoursed long when the farmer interrupted, 'will mynheer sit down and wait a little? He shall have the Hottentots."

Minutes later, an astonished group of servants were ushered into the room. Many of them had never been inside the master's house or heard a Christian preacher.

After the service, the farmer confessed to Robert, "My friend, you took a hard hammer and you have broken a hard head."("Into All the World" Vance Christie, pg 119,120, 2004, Barbour Books.)

African Believer walks 18 km to Church On Sunday - We can't get out of bed on Sunday?

I travelled out to a Campement by Adjame, (65 km into Jungle, then 18 km off in the middle of nowhere.) because we had been invited to come and preach the gospel. We followed an old coco foot path. When we finally arrived we came out into an open are in a swamp.

Like a good numbers oriented Canadian I asked our host how many are expected to come – "20 maybe", he replied. Of course no one They did not show up on time. Eventually a fewe faces popped out of the forest. Rounds of greetings with huge smiles. Eventually a few more emerged from the forest. All the time I was wondering who on earth lives out here in the middle of nowhere, genuinely doubting there were really 20 people to come.

It was getting late and we now had a dozzen or so and I had a bible study appointment back in Adjame that evening. I asked my host if we should start – "no". We waited for a total of over 4 hours still wondering where 20 people come possibly come from – No one lives out here.

More landed. Then a few more. and to my surprise we had over 20 people now. I asked if we should start – "No, more will come" was my hosts reply. By the time we started 48 people where there and we preached the gospel for another 4 hours. Three stood up and said they wanted to be baptized into Christ.

After scoping out the leaves in this water hole about 4 feet deep only about 8 feet across, we baptized 3 people in a small dirty water hole,. Water is hard to find in dry season.

Went back and preached more. We asked for permission to leave and the people would not let us go. We sang a while longer. Asked for permissions to leave again and they again refused and hauled out a meal. We prayed more. And they said; "You have found friends here now stay longer." Well by this time I am very excited but very late for Bible study in Adjame.

And went back to the village late had bible study for 4 hours will 2:30 am with 38 people. Two of the people we baptized came back to the village with us that night. At Church the next day the third man "Francais" our host, was not there for church when we began. However, as we were singing, I was looking out the church window of the mud church, and then, to my delight, I saw coming down the path Francais – the man who invited us out to his camp and invited all his neighbors. He walked 18 Km to church that morning and told what Jesus did for him the day before.

Walked 18km to church- And we can't get out butts into an air conditioned car and drive 5 minutes to church with a CD player playing out favorite music. Why?

I praise God for letting me be there. I was humbled to see God work.

Prayer is Essential Component to Mission! Prayer as Strategy

"In Ethiopia the elders of the churches where we served came one day to complain about the limited
growth rate. We had only had about 600 baptisms that year. I responded that I was too busy to add any more preaching or teaching into my schedule. I suggested that we each identify at least five people who need to be converted or renewed and then we pray daily until the decision was made. People began to pray. That year the Lord added more than 1200 to the church in that place. We began to see scattered occasions of people being delivered from demonization. Then the numbers of those delivered grew by the hundreds. As people were delivered the credibility of the church grew. As the church grew the number of people demonized decreased to where it was rare except in areas where the church was being planted.

The sick were prayed for and raised up and I continued to have my faith stretched-amazed at what the Lord was doing. It didn't fit my "systematic theology," but it was like what was described in the gospels and Acts.

("Completing the Task" College Press 1995 Edgar Elliston pg 184,185)

Muslim Burns Church - He is Forgiven, Saved, then plants churches world wide!

"My friend, Wagiono Sumarto, from Indonesia tells that when he was the president of the Muslim Student Union in the University of Djakarta, a group built a church building in his hometown. He went home during a vacation time and burned the building. The pastor and elders. knowing who had torched their new building, came to him, forgave him, told him they would pray for him, gave him a Gospel of John and then left. That brief testimony led to his conversion. The conversion of his Muslim family. and through him to the conversion of several thousand Indonesian Muslims. He also led in the establishment of churches in both Indonesia and the United States.

("Completing the Task" College Press 1995 Edgar Elliston pg 181-2)

Who can Love Africans? Racism!

It was said about the David Livingstone. In the 1852 he was not very popular among the Dutch bores of south Africa. He was traveling into the interiors of Africa with the gospel to open up missions stations. The Dutch Boers were not very happy with him. Sam Wellman in his Biography of David wrote:

"He was known as that trouble making missionary who opposes slavery and treated black Africans as equals"

(David Livingstone From Africa To Eternity, Sam Wellman, pg 108, Barbour Publishing, 1995)

David Brainard Gives his Inheritance to Further Kingdom Efforts!

David Brainard – Missionary to NA Indians.

"Having decided to devote his life to Indian Service, David concluded that he would not need the money he had inherited form his Father's estate. So in early December he traveled to Southbury, Connecticut, the place where he had preached his first sermon, to visit a young man, Nehemiah Greenman, who was interested in studying for the ministry. David devoted his inheritance to pay for three years of education at Yale for Greenmen."

("Into All The World", Vance Christie, pg25, Barbour Publishing, 2004)

Financial Sacrifice to Support Missions - Sell the Gold Watch!

"There were other missionaries who strongly encouraged the ministry Indian evangelists and whose ministry lead to mass movements, among them the noted Methodist Bishop, James Thoburn. Sherwood Eddy, a leading figure in the Student Volunteer Movement, captured the spirit of Thoburn's ministry in own recollections:"

"My first contact with him was at the Northfield Students Conference in 1890.
He made a powerful appeal, voicing the needs of India, and mentioning incidentally that very simple Indian workers could be supported for thirty dollars a year, though he made no request for money. Mr. Moody silenced the applause which greeted this address by saying it would be better to support some of Bishop Thobum's workers than merely to applaud. He said that he and Mr. Sankey would each take one subscription, and that a leader on the platform would be ready to receive others. I was one of the hundred there who gave thirty dollars each, and Bishop Thobum was left breathless as he received three thousand dollars contributed on the spot. At the end of the same year, when I was told that the Indian worker supported by my thirty dollars had brought over a hundred men to Christ, I took another subscription, and another, and finally sold the gold case of my watch to support yet one more evangelist."

("From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya" 2nd edition, Ruth A. Tucker Pg 143,144, Zondervan, 2004)

West African Chief thank missionaries for Bringing the Light!

We stared a new church in the village of Kodjina. Things were progressing slowly. However we finally went to see the chief one day. And through my mediator (Never speak directly to the chief) we asked if it would be possible to have a small piece of land to build a bamboo church to meet in.

He said they would grant land. Through my mediator I thanked the chief for his generosity. However, the Chief replied.

"No, you need not thank anyone. It is we who must thank you, for you are brining the light." (Chief of Kiodjina 1996)

(Andy Rayner)

The Extreme Generosity of the Poor in Africa - A Story!

"Once again, a missionary friend and I decided to try a little fishing on our day off. On Monday evening we went to the local reservoir outside our African town of Abengourou , . We had done so several Mondays in a row, each time coming home with empty hands. Milton said he had the secret bait; a set of " Flying Lures" that he saw advertised on TV while in Alabama on furlough. He ordered them from a fishing show and brought them with him to Africa . So off we went with the "Flying Lures", confident this time will be a success. However, even with the secret weapon, we caught nothing.

I tormented him unmercifully about his "sure shot" bait that took him for only $19.95. A local African fisherman came by in his dugout having fished his nets, and asked how we were doing and how many fish we caught. We reluctantly admitted we had none at all and never did get catch a fish any time we came. He commented how he noticedus each time we came. We asked him what he used for bait and he told us. But this poor man grabs a fish out of his boat and throws it to us. It was a dandy sized fish too. No big deal? That fish in the market would have been worth 1500 cfa, and that represents a full day's wage or more, here. This poor fisherman gives two rather rich strangers (according to them), as a great gift, his days wage. Prayerfully, we can love our neighbors as much as this man did us, and use our sacrifice as a testimony of our faith in Jesus Christ.

(From Rayner Reporter May/june 1996)

More Comments on David Livingstons Death!

"Livingstone lived a little more than a year after Stanley departed. On May 1, 1873, an African servant found the "master" kneeling as if in prayer "by the side of his bed, his body stretched forward, his head buried in his hands upon the pillow." It was a fitting way for this man of living legend to die. His faithful servants Susi and Chuma determined that there was no other way to pay their respects than to deliver his body and personal papers to his former associates at the coast. After burying his heart under a Mpundu tree, the body was dried in the hot African sun until it was mummified and then carried overland fifteen hundred miles to the coast.

In England, Livingstone was given a state funeral at Westminster Abbey, attended by dignitaries from all over the country. It was a day of mourning for his children, who came to say good-bye to the father they had never really known; but it was a particularly sad hour for the seventy-eight-year-old Robert Moffat, who slowly walked down the aisle in front of the casket bearing the man who decades before in that same city had caught a vision of "a thousand villages, where no missionary had ever been."

The death of David Livingstone had a tremendous psychological impact on the English-speaking world. Missionary fervor reached a high pitch as zealous young men and women volunteered for overseas duty, no matter what the cost.

("Jerusalem to Irain Jaya", Ruth A Tuckker, pg 162 .163 2^nd edition, Zondervan 2004)

Henry Stanley Finds "Dr Livingston, I presume" And Writes!

"During Livingstone 's last years in Africa, rumors periodically surfaced that he had died. Though his reputation had been marred, people the world over still held him in awe and were strangely curious about this eccentric old man in the wilds of Africa. It was this curiosity that spurred the editor of the New York Herald to send an ambitious reporter, Henry Stanley, to find Livingstone, dead or alive. After several months of searching, Stanley caught up with Livingstone at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, late in 1871. The initial meeting was awkward. After dismounting his horse, Stanley bowed and uttered the often-repeated phrase that soon became the butt of jokes: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."

Stanley was a welcome sight to Livingstone. He brought medicine, food, and other supplies that Livingstone desperately needed. And perhaps more importantly, he brought companionship and news from the outside world. The two men developed a close and tender relationship; and in a moving tribute, Stanley described the months they shared together:

"For four months and four days I lived with him in the same hut, or the same boat, or the same tent, and I never found a fault in him. I went to Africa as prejudiced against religion as the worst infidel in London. To a reporter like myself: who had only to deal with wards, mass meetings, and political gatherings, sentimental matters were quite out of my province. But there came to me a long time for reflection. I was out there away from a worldly world. I saw this solitary old man there, and I asked myself, "Why does he stop here? What is it that inspires him?" For months after we met I found myself listening to him, wondering at the old man carrying out the words, "leave all and follow me." But little by little, seeing his piety , his gentleness, his zeal, his earnestness, and how he went quietly about his business, I was converted by him, although he had not tried to do it."

("Jerusalem to Irain Jaya", Ruth A Tuckker, pg 162 .163 2^nd edition, Zondervan 2004)

David Livingston's Hope for More Missionaries to Africa

"Only one aspect of I Stanley's visit irritated him: Stanley's repeated appeals for him I to leave Africa. In most disputes David politely refused and, went about doing what he wanted to do anyway-with no explanation whatever.

But this time he confided in the younger man, "I feel sometimes as if I am only the first evangelist to attack central Africa, 'crying in the wilderness,' and that other evangelists will shortly follow. And after those, there will come a thousand evangelists. My way is very dark and dreary, but the promise in Psalm 37 is:

Commit thy way unto the Lord,. trust also in him;and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

"I may fall by the wayside, being unworthy to see the dawn. I thought I had seen it when the Universities' mission started above the Zambesi, but the darkness settled again. The dawn will come, though. It must come. I do not despair of that day one bit. The whole earth will be covered with the knowledge of the Lord. And as far as the slave trade, my business is to publicize what I see and to rouse up those who have the power to stop it. The evangelists of the gospel will follow."

("David Livingstone, From Africa to Eternity", Sam Wellman, pg 179 Barbour Publishing 1995)

David Livingstone - His Legacy at His Death!

"Susi and Chuma buried David Livingstone's heart and internal organs under a mvula tree. They preserved his body with salt and sun-dried it for two weeks. They wrapped it in calico, then tree bark, then sail cloth. They lashed that bundle to a pole and tarred it air tight. They and other natives then carried the bundle for eight months-all the way to Zanzibar-over one thousand miles.

On the way, a stranger encouraged them to abandon the bundle. Chuma explained, "No. This is very very big man!"

The HMS Vulture was sent to carry his body to England. On April 18, 1874, Livingstone was buried in Westminster Abbey among the other legends of Britain. Over a period of thirty-two years in Africa he had walked, crawled, climbed, waded, canoed, boated, ridden, and been carried over 40,000 miles of the "white man's grave." He took notes and made maps every step of the way. He told every African he saw the good news about Jesus Christ.

His father-in-law Robert Moffat said, "He sacrificed everything-home, Christian intercourse, lucrative prospects, and earthly honors-for one grand object, to carry the gospel of the Son of God to the heart of Africa."

("David Livingstone, From Africa to Eternity", Sam Wellman, pg 203,204 Barbour Publishing 1995)

2 Pagan Customs Christianity Changed For the Better!

African customs

"Of course, David recorded even more observations about the Africans. Many of their customs weighed heavily on him. The killing of babies by the Bakaas because they cut their upper teeth before they cut their lower teeth was almost too barbarous to record. There were many heartbreaking realities every day with the Makalolos that made the spread of the gospel urgent:

("David Livingstone, From Africa to Eternity", Sam Wellman, pg 115 Barbour Publishing 1995)

India Customs,

"Was there any abomination in India worse than using young girls as temple prostitutes? Once, widows had been burned with their deceased husbands, a vile custom called sati. But thanks to protests by missionaries like William Carey, the British had stopped that evil. Once, girl babies were sacrificed to the gods, in reality abandoned to be eaten by wolves or crocodiles. But that horrendous evil had also been stopped by the British, thanks to proof offered by Carey. So in her heart Amy knew using girls for temple prostitutes was about the most evil custom remaining in India. It must be exposed and abolished. Until then she would save as many girls as possible. She would offer sanctuary to "temple girls" and to those likely to become temple girls."

("Amy Carmichael, For The Children of India", Sam Wellman, pg 113, Barbour Publishing 1998)

Judson Ends Mission Gridlock - Godly Men Weep!

When the Evangelical Congregationalists held there annual meeting in Thursday june, 28, 1810 Judson and four (4) others stood and read this memorial;

"The undersigned, members of the Divinity College, respectfully request the attention of their reverend fathers, convened in the General Association at Bradford; to the following statement and inquires:

They beg leave to state that their minds have been long impressed with the duty and importance of personally attempting a mission to the heathen; that the impressions on their minds have induced a serious, and, as they trust, a prayerful consideration of the subject,. and that, after examining all the information which they can obtain, they consider themselves as devoted to this work for life, whenever God; in His providence, shall open the way.

They now offer the following inquiries, on which they solicit the opinion and advice of this Association: Whether with their present views and feelings, they ought to renounce the object of missions as either visionary or impracticable; If not, whether they ought
to direct their attention to the Eastern or the Western world," Whether they may expect patronage and support from a missionary society in this country, or must commit themselves to the direction of a European society; And what preparatory measures they ought to take previous to actual engagement.The undersigned, feeling their youth and inexperience, look up to their fathers in the Church, and respectfully solicit their advice, direction, and prayers. "

(Into all the World, Vance Christie, pg 69, Barbour publishing 2004)

You see, NO one sent missionaries for almost 250 yrs in those days – No one knew how. Know one knew what to do, where to begin. They were all baffled as to the next step. But as Judson read this letter, Vance Christie writes ;

" A hush fell over the assembly as Adoniram read the memorial. After he finished reading, each of the four who had signed the document stood to share a brief personal testimony of why he was convinced God had called him to serve as a foreign missionary. As they did, some in the audience began to weep as the moving prospect."

(Into all the World, Vance Christie, pg 70 Barbour publishing 2004)

Judson's Parents Fail to Support His Mission Call & Passion

When Adoniram Judson was a very bright student. He was preparing for ministry and was known to be exceptionally bright. At on point a professor named Dr Edward Griffin, was asked to serve as pastor of the Park Street Church in Boston, the largest church in the city. He had He accepted and he told Adoniram's father that he wished for his son, Adoniram Judson to serve with him as an assistant after he graduated. Needless to say his family was very ecstatic saying.

" 'And you will be so near home!' His mother exclaimed joyously. `Dr. Griffin is sure that you're destined to become one of New England's great ministers. This assistantship will be the first step----' ' said his sister. "No Abigail, Adoniram suddenly broke in. "I shall never live in Boston. I have much farther to go than that." He then told them of the private commitment he had made to serve the Lord as a missionary…….Adoniram's mother and sister responded to his unexpected revelation with tears and vigorous verbal protests while his father lapsed into dejected silence. "

(Into all the World, Vance Christie, pg 68, Barbour publishing 2004)

Be a Missionary Blessing!

"The greatest scandal in the OT is that Israel tried to be blessed without trying very hard to be a blessing."

(Perspectives 3rd edition: "Four Men, Three Eras, Two Transitions", Ralph D. Winter, pg 254, 1999, William Carey Library)

20 Minutes of Prayer is Too Little for Missions?

"A young man in Bible school offered to help David Wilkerson years ago when he was ministering on the streets of New York City. Wilkerson asked him how much time he spent in prayer. The young student estimated about 20 minutes a day. Wilkerson told him,

"Go back, young man. Go back for a month and pray two hours a day, every day for 30 days. When you've done that, come back. Come back, and I might consider turning you loose on the streets where there is murder, rape, violence and danger. ..If I sent you out now on 20 minutes a day, I'd be sending a soldier into battle without any weapons, and you would get killed."

You can get into heaven, my friend, with- out a lot of prayer. You can have a one-minute quiet time every day and God will still love you. But you won't hear a "well done, good and faithful servant" on one-minute conversations with God. And you certainly can't make it on that kind of prayer life in the hard places where Jesus is not known or worshiped."

(Perspectives 3^rd edition: "Apostolic Passion" ,Floyd McClung, pg 186,187, 1999, William Carey Library)

Prayers that Tremble

Illustration: Prayer for missions

"Satan Trembles when he sees, the weakest saint upon his knees"

Amy Carmichael

("Amy Carmichael, For The Children of India", Sam Wellman, pg 175, Barbour Publishing 1998

Walking Wounded!

Illustration: Willing to Suffer for Christ

Poem; "Toward Jerusalem" 1935,by Amy Carmichael ,Missionary to India

Hast thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?

I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,

I hear them hail thy bright, ascendant star,

Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?

Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,

Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent

By ravening beasts that compassed Me,

I swooned:

Hast thou no wound?

No wound? No scar?

Yet, as the Master shall the servant be, And pierced are the feet that follow Me;

But thine are whole: can he have followed far Who has nor wound nor scar?

("Amy Carmichael, For The Children of India", Sam Wellman, pg 178-79, Barbour Publishing 1998)

Mom & Dad - Please let me go for Jesus!

Illustration: Amy Carmichael's family willing let her go to be a missionary

The morning of January 14, 1892, a very shaken Amy wrote to her mother:

"My precious Mother;

Have you given your child unreservedly to the Lord for whatever He wills? ...Oh, may He strengthen you to say "Yes" to Him i/He asks some- thing which costs.

Darling Mother; for a long time as you know the thought of those dying in the dark-fifty thou- sand of them every day, while we at home live in the midst of blazing light-has been very present with me, and the longing to go to them, and tell them of Jesus, has been strong upon me. Everything, everything, seemed to be saying "Go, " through all sounds the cry seemed to rise, "Come over and help us. " pg 49

And her Mother reply;

Darling, when He asks you now to go away .from within my reach, can I say nay? No, no, Amy; He is yours-you are His - to take you where He pleases and to use you as He pleases. I can trust you to Him, and I do. pg 51

("Amy Carmichael, For The Children of India", Sam Wellman, pg 49,51, Barbour Publishing 1998)

Only Taking 12

Illustration: Amy Carmichael in India, Tireless worker

Amy Carmichael worked with factory girls in England. They called them shawllies because they could not afford English hat's and bonnets like the average people of means did. They instead pulled their shawls over their heads. She over 500 meeting in one place to study the bible, and stated a second. Until she felt called to India. She was convicted she had to go single. Oh she wanted to be married like most people. But it would keep here from serving her Lord without obligation to a family, and she knew that. So She gave up here right to a family. She began to take in Temple babies and children. Young women who were sold to the temple to be used like prostitutes by the Hindu's. In the end she was rescuing children form the temple and had well over 1000 in her care. She worked tirelessly.

A Fellow missionary insisted that Amy take a break from her work.

"……..Thomas Walker insisted that Amy depart for Ooty before the hot weather set in. As she prepared to leave, Thomas Walker gasped, "Why are all these children carrying bundles?" "They're going with me." "But you are supposed to rest in Ooty." "I'm only taking twelve of them!"

("Amy Carmichael, For The Children of India", Sam Wellman, pg 121 Barbour Publishing 1998)

You can not get there from here, old chap!

"Hudson Taylor pushed for interior missions to the least reached peoples. Most got off ships at the coast and began to work. But inland, where it was isolated, hard to travel and get supplies, was seriously neglected.

Taylor poured over maps and statistics and charts and realized that missionaries needed to go inland to the masses millions of unsaved people to the interior of China.

A young man, ……….still under thirty, in the teeth of surrounding counter advice established the first of a whole new breed of missions emphasizing the inland territories.

"When he suggested that the inland peoples of China needed to be reached, he was told you could not get there, and he was asked if he wished to carry on his shoulders the blood of the young people he would thus send to their deaths. This accusing question stunned and staggered him. Groping for light, wandering on the beach, it seemed as if God finally spoke to resolve the ghastly thought: "You are not sending young people in the interior of China. I am." The load lifted."""

Perspectives 3^rd edition: "Four Men, Three Eras, Two Transitions", Ralph D.Winter, pg 257, 1999, William Carey Library)

Needless Change!

"The vegetarian Hindu must not fear becoming Christian because Christians supposedly must eat meat and drink blood. The Chinese may be reluctant to follow Jesus because of a misunderstanding that conversion means complete repudiation of their ancestral past. The nomad ought not believe that all Christians must live in cities and speak English. Such misimpressions may seem trivial, but to men and women in unreached people groups, they present very real barriers of the magnitude of something like a sex change would be in America. Christ did not die for Muslims to eat pork or for aborigines to wear shoes. "

(Perspectives 3^rd edition: "Acts of Obedience", Steven C. Hawthorne, pg 125, 1999, William Carey Library)

Cameron Townsend and His legacy to Learning Language !

"Cameron Townsend was in so much of a hurry to get to the mission field that he didn't bother to finish college. He went to Guatemala…..

But Townsend was alert enough to notice that the majority of Guatemala's population did not speak Spanish. As he moved from village to village, trying to distribute scriptures written in the Spanish language, he began to realize that Spanish evangelism would never reach all Guatemala's people. He was further convinced of this when an Indian asked him, "If your God is so smart, why can't he speak our language?" He was befriended by a group of older missionaries who had already concluded the indigenous "Indian" populations needed to be reached in their own languages. He was just 23 when he began to move on the basis of this new perspective.

………………, he ended up starting his own mission, Wycliffe Bible Translators, which is dedicated to reaching these new frontiers." (Perspectives 3^rd edition: "Four Men, Three Eras, Two Transitions", Ralph D.Winter, pg 260, 1999, William Carey Library)

Prayer in a Hay Bail!

Illustration Prayer in a Haystack (Samuel Mills,1783-1818)

"In 1806, Mills enrolled in Williams College, Massachusetts. …..It was Mill's custom to spend Wednesday and Saturday afternoons in prayer with other students on the banks of the Hoosack River or in the valley near the college. In August, 1806, Mills and four others were caught in a thunderstorm while returning from their usual meeting. Seeking refuge under a haystack they waited out the storm and gave themselves to prayer. Their special focus of prayer that day was for the awakening of foreign missionary interest among students. Mills directed their discussion and prayer to their own missionary obligation. He exhorted his companions with the words that later became a watchword for them, "We can do this if we will."

(Perspectives 3^rd edition: "Student Power in World Missions", David M Howard, pg 280, 1999, William Carey Library)

William Carey on Language

"The missionaries must have patience, and mingle with the people, till they have learned so much of their language as to be able to communicate their ideas to them in it. It is well known to require no very extraordinary talents to learn, in the space of a year, or two at most, the language of any people on earth, so much of it at least, as to be able to convey any sentiments we wish to their understanding."

(Perspectives 3^rd edition: "An Enquiry", William Carey, pg 298, 1999, William Carey Library)

Real Missions Sacrifice!

Illustration: 1865 Sacrifice and roughing it. Hudson Taylor

"But few missionary societies had at that time workers in China, and but few books on the subject of China missions were accessible to me. I learned, however, that the Congregational minister of my native town possessed a copy of Medhurst's China, and I called upon him to ask a loan of the book. This he kindly granted, asking me why I wished to read it. I told him that God had called me to spend my life in missionary service in that land. And how do you propose to go there?" he inquired. I answered that I did not at all know; that it seemed to me probable that I should need to do as the Twelve and the Seventy had done in Judea- go without purse or scrip, relying on Him who had called me to supply all my need. Kindly placing his hand upon my shoulder, the minister replied, " Ah, my boy, as you grow older you will get wiser than that. Such an idea would do very well in the days when Christ Him- self was on earth, but not now ."

I have grown older since then, but not wiser. I am more than ever convinced that if we were to take the direction of our Master and the assurances He gave to His first disciples more fully as our guide, we should find them to be just as suited to our times as to those in which they were originally given."

(Perspectives 3^rd edition. :The Call to Service", Hudson Taylor , pg 299, 1999, William Carey Library)

Street Children & Poverty!

"It is almost midnight. The streets of downtown Bogota, Colombia, are deserted except for a multitude of military policemen. Automatic weapons at the ready, they guard every intersection of this capital city; the president of neighboring Venezuela is in town.

Five-year-old Wilson sits on the sidewalk, crying. His father will beat him again tonight if he returns home without 1,000 pesos ($1.50 U.S.). He shivers in the cold of the Andean night; he is barefoot and wears only a lightweight running suit. On the other side of the street, his sister, seven-year-old Daisy, is begging. Daisy needs money for shoes, and she can't go home until she has 1,500 pesos.

For a growing number of children on city streets around the world, this scene is all too typical. It is not uncommon for urban missionaries working in child evangelism to encounter many in similar circumstances."

("Children at risk" By James Beaunaux (Vol. 29, No. 4)EMQ

Dreams in Islamic Conversion: A Hard Reality

This story is typical of what many Muslims are saying to Christians. They had a dream that sparked their interest in Christianity. Often they say they were told something, or saw an image that made them receptive to Christ or the Christian coming. Is it possible for God to spark interest this way?

This is in Nigeria.

"The king of Egbe sat up straight in his throne. I was his only guest, and he told me the story of SIM pioneer Tommie Titcombe's arrival in Egbe in 1908, during his grandfather's reign as king. When Tommie came walking out of the bush into the middle of the village, the people ran to hide. They thought he had been skinned because of his complexion. "My grandfather would have had him killed," said the king, "except

for the dream he'd just had. The king looked around the room slowly. He went on, "The night before Tommie arrived, my grandfather - the king dreamed that a man with no color in his skin would appear, and he was advised not to harm the man. In fact, the new man would bring 'healing and life' and a 'special wisdom' to the people of Egbe, and they should learn from him."

(The story of the birth of the church among the Yagba people in and around Egbe is one of the truly thrilling episodes in SIM history. )

Just a few months after I met the present Elegbe of Egbe and heard this story about his grandfather's dream, it was my turn to find a door opened by a dream. It happened in a Fulani camp. My wife Patty and

I, both doctors, had come to Nigeria to serve at Egbe Hospital. We hadn't even heard of the Fulani, though they are the largest unreached nomadic people group in the world. A snakebite changed

our lives. God used Patty to save the life of young Jebel who was brought, near death, to the hospital. After his miraculous recovery, we went with Babangida, a Fulani evangelist, to visit the camp o fJebel's family. I helped vaccinate the Fulani cattle, and then that evening we showed the Jesus film in the Fulani language, Fulfulde.

After the film, Jebel's father Isa came to us, obviously shaken. He told us that the previous night he had had a dream. A man had appeared to him and repeatedly called his name. "That man," said Isa, "was the same one I just saw up on the screen-the man called Yesu Cristo."

("The King Had a Dream," Tracy Goen, Nigeria. "SIM Now" Issue 101, April 2004)

Is the Gospel For Sale? Not In Africa!

Uganda Anglican Bishops Sever ties over Ordination of a Gay Bishop.

"When the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) approved the openly gay bishop of New Hampshire last year, Anglicans of Uganda formally announced their ties with ECUSA were broken. Then, when ECUSA proposed to provide aid for displaced people living in camps and send a delegation to the new Archbishop of Uganda's enthronement in January, it was turned down. "The gospel of Jesus Christ is not for sale, even among the poorest of us who have no money," responded the Ugandan Archbishop Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo. "Eternal life, obedience to Jesus Christ, and conforming to his Word are more important."

(Global News, World Pulse March 12, 2004 Vol 39, No5, pg 2)

South Korea: Highest Gang member Accepts Christ

"In the 1970s and '80s, Cho Yang-eun led the countries biggest criminal gang. In 1990, while in solitary confinement during an 18-year prison sentence, he came to Christ. In 1995, after serving his sentence, he began studies at Hansei University. In 2002 he entered Hansei's graduate school of theology. Last month (Feb 2004)Cho, 53, earned his degree. He wants to be a missionary ."I'll devote myself to helping the poor all over the world and telling the grace of God to them," Cho said at the ceremony. "

(Global News, World Pulse March 12, 2004 Vol 39, No5, pg 2)

The New Area of Mission Scarifice Has Arrived - Are We ready?

"To the Golden Shore ( Courtney Anderson, 1956) is the story of Adoniram Judson, pioneer missionary to Burma (modern-day Myanmar). The book includes this letter Judson wrote to the father of Nancy Hazeltine when he asked for her hand in marriage:

"I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world; whether you can consent to her departure, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; to degradation, insult, persecution and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this, for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you; for the sake of perishing, immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?"

Judson's letter was prophetic. Nancy Hazeltine Judson died in Burma, as did three of her children. Judson remarried, and his second wife, Sarah, and two of her children also died. Judson lost two wives and five children, a huge cost, He wrote, "If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings,"

Almost every significant cross-cultural endeavor has been birthed in sacrifice by lives laid down for the sake of carrying the gospel to unreached places.

In 1992, a North American in Myanmar presented a Bible to the head of the Myanmar Evangelical Fellowship, The Bible flyleaf stated, "Translated by the Reverend A. Judson." He asked, "Do you know who this man Judson is?"

"Oh, yes!" the leader said. "Whenever someone mentions the name Judson great tears come to my eyes because we know what he and family suffered for us." He continued emotionally, "Today in Myanmar every one of us [Christians] traces our spiritual heritage to this man." Nearly four million Christians in Myanmar (Operation World, 2003) are apart of the Judsons' legacy.

In today's world, the Judsons' experience would never be tolerated. If any mission agency allowed this scenario, it would probably be black-listed by various organizations and periodicals. Maybe rightly so. But what is "appropriate sacrifice"? Is the term an oxymoron ?

Seminars on risk assessment and risk management are necessary for missions today. But Phil Parshall (SIM, Philippines) rightly raises concerns about this emphasis: "It seems the spirit of courage and daring has been somewhat replaced by a conservative attitude that keeps missionaries packed up, ready to evacuate to a 'safe haven' at the first sign of upheaval. "

The emphasis in missions today is sometimes more on member care than on vision. Of course member care is crucial and can be an integral part of kingdom vision. But mission agencies do not exist for member care! The joyful task of missions is to plant, strengthen, and partner with churches around the world
What will it take to continue missions in the spirit of our pioneers? Increasingly, our world is fragmenting and becoming more unsafe. Fresh martyrs' graves are dug beside old ones. Will today's missionaries and future recruits be willing to serve in hard places? Will mission committees allow them to be assigned in high-risk areas?

In our many travels, we have been moved by the willingness of many to serve in difficult places. Armed robbery, dangerous roads and tropical illnesses are common dangers in many places. Financial hardship, loneliness and cultural alienation are assumed sacrifices for those who serve cross-culturally. And who can count the cost of those who leave grown children and grandchildren in their homelands to answer God's call? God gives grace for these sacrifices just as he gives grace for the ultimate sacrifice.

Jesus didn't say "Go into all the safe places of the world." But along with the command to go into all the world, he gave the promise of his power and presence. "

(World Shapers, "Appropriate Sactifice Jim & Carol Pleuddemann. World Pulse March 12, 2004 Vol 39, No5.)

Sigh- Wishing You Asked the Real Questions Churches Should Ask!

Questions Churches ask Missionaries.

"What makes an effective missionary? While most missionaries dread evaluation, church mission commit- tees aren't sure what questions to ask - or what exactly they're evaluating. A church's attempts at evaluation can be sadly comical. On a home assignment from Africa, our supporting church's missions committee members couldn't think of anything to talk about, so they asked if we had any snake stories.

Another time, a Christian foundation director asked Jim, "How many people did you win, and how much money did it cost per soul? If we fund this project, how many people per dollar will come to Christ?"

The snake story episode reveals wasted chances to ask probing, meaningful questions about the essence of our work. The committee was mired in trivial things irrelevant to assessing our effectiveness. The cost-per-soul discussion revealed crass materialism and a corporate mindset for what only the Holy Spirit can bring about. …………"

(World Shapers, "The Seven Habit of Highly Effective Missionaries", Jim & Carol Pleuddemann. World Pulse February 27, 2004 Vol 39, No4.)

Sheep Stealing – Church Growth at What Cost?

"I want to close this letter with this story, for it illustrates a serious problem in the church today. The service had just concluded, and several people were sharing with me what the Lord had done in their lives that morning. The minister of music brought a young lady by to meet me. This was one about whom he had spoken to me earlier, the one with the "gorgeous voice." just that week she had joined the church in order to be in his choir.
After we had talked for a few minutes, the young lady left, and he went on to tell me about the wonderful crop of soloists he had in his choir of several hundred. There were so many, in fact, that, except during pageant season, they only got to sing a solo in church about once a year. His music program was continually attracting musicians and singers from churches all across the city. They were joining because of all the exciting things being offered.
I restrained myself from saying what I wanted to say, mainly because there were others standing there, but my mind went immediately to the passage in 1 Samuel 12. I thought of the story the prophet Nathan recounted to King David- that of the one ewe lamb, owned by the poor man. This single lamb was taken by the rich man, who possessed a large number of sheep and cattle, and used to feed his guest. Though this may not be a perfect analogy, it illustrates the spirit that has entered the church today-a spirit that is the antithesis of the spirit we see in the early church.
You see, I knew more about the membership change by that soprano than anyone realized. I knew that in many ways she had been the "ewe lamb" in the church she had left. She had been the only trained voice in the choir. She had blessed that small congregation all year with her God-given talent. No see didn't get to sing in any big pageants, for her congregation was small. She never experienced the thrill of participating in a choir several hundred strong. There was no orchestra to accompany her when she sang. She did a lot more giving than getting, and finally she was persuaded she would "get more out of church" if she moved. And move she did – but at what cost?
Research has shown that much of the growth of our largest churches has been at the expense of smaller churches. Much of the increase comes as a result of members from other churches being attracted to bigger and more exciting programs. I am not saying that "bigness" in itself is wrong. I am saying, however, that some vital things are being overlooked in the drive to grow bigger. Some things are being encouraged that are basically not in the Spirit of Christ. Scripture tells us when one part of the body hurts, we all hurt. When another part of the body is discouraged, we all feel it. How wrong it is when we ourselves become the source of hurt and discouragement.
That Sunday, in the small church the "ewe lamb" was missing. 'lf any man would follow me. ..." (He must deny himself)
Dear church member, remember that the Christian life is fundamentally a love relationship with God out of which issues a life of worship and service. It is a life of giving. Worship is not something you get; it is something you give! Worship does not begin in the worship service; worship begins in the heart. As the apostle Paul expressed so strongly, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-which is your spiritual worship" (Rom. 12:1 NIV). "

("Return to Worship- A God - Centered Approach", Ron Owens, Boradman & Holman, Nashville TN, 1999 pg 79-80)

Transfer Growth:

"This little quip addresses the problem of transfer growth. A Missionary was telling me how Canton Ohio church had the same issue a few years back. And he was not a popular guy for writing a letter about it to the church Elders. Canton , as you know, was once the largest church in the fellowship, back 30 yrs ago. 3000 members. They made a decisive decision to become a church planting church rather than a mega church. So they began to plant churches all around the city. I forget how many churches they planted, but it was a lot.

Anyway, the church back about 8 yrs ago was running about 1200. They got a new minister, who felt they needed to "Grow" bigger. So they shifted models. Rather than being a mothering church, planting new churches. The new minister wanted to grow bigger into a mega church. I believe the idea was to enable them to offer a better selection of programming etc. The sum result was an undermining of 30 yrs of church planting. The Mother church, was growing very quickly again, every 6 months saw a great increase. However, who were the new comers? You guessed it. From all the churches around them. Including all the churches that they planted and mothered around them, over 30 years. These churches they mothered, were loosing members left right and center to the mother church. It was hurting them all. People leaving were saying it was better for the kids and their family. Better youth groups, and more programs for their family etc.

The Missionary seeing the problem, and talking with many of the ministers and Elders in the surrounding churches wrote to the elders about it.

Needless to say, he got a very cold shoulder from the minister after that. Why is it one can't even question growth these days? Growth at what cost, at who's expense? Is that not a question we should be asking in the face of the problem of transfer growth? If a church is growing – to assume they are simply gathering new "Transfers" would be a correct assumption for 95% of the churches that grow – by the way. That is why I take it with a grain of salt. Who is really touching unbelievers? "

Andy Rayner Feb 20, 2003)

We have Work to do on syncretism!!

Syncretism - Guatemala

"All of the major denominations of evangelical churches in Guatemala scored low in understanding orthodox Christian doctrine, showed a high level of syncretism and a low level of Christian living. "

("Guatemala Research: The Joshua Project", Laura Eller & Roger Grossmann, EMQ July 2003, pg 307)

Shallowness

"Part of the heartache of all missionary work is the bright promising convert who turns out to be a mere puffball, crumbling like a macaroon under the least pressure."-Isobel Kuhn

(pg 310 EMQ, July, 2003)

Urbanization: 250,000 People Move into Cities Every Day!

Acts 18:10 (NIV) ¹⁰For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

"………despite the fact that the mission field itself-the vast unreached world-has shifted like a crunching, incinerating mass of molten lava, overwhelming the world's cities. You think New York City is jammed? A mere 11,480 people per square mile live there. But in Hong Kong, for example, 247,500 people pack a square mile. The prognosis for the future staggers not only economists and politicians, but also church and missions leaders. Reports the Population Crisis Committee: "By the end of this century, the urban population of the developing (poor) world will be almost double the size of that of the industrialized (rich) world. " Some scholars say that every day a quarter of a million people flock into the world's cities."

(Final Analysis, Jim Reapsome EMIS, Wheaton College, Il, 1999, pg 69)

Everything In Our Power..........!

Passion for Lost:

"Mean while my thoughts plunged ahead in a different direction. A house in Israel with a whole in the roof. A packed crowed of onlookers, but no sirens, no blood. Men carrying a helpless victim- not out of the house, but into it. Suddenly, the whole scheme of God's mission flashed before me. Whether it was the paramedics carrying a wounded child to the ambulance, or the four men who tore a hole in a house roof to lower a helpless man into the presence of Jesus, they epitomized the church's part in God's mission. People of faith do everything in their power to connect hurting people with the source of healing."

(Final Analysis, Jim Reapsome EMIS, Wheaton College, Il, 1999, pg 11)

Rescue the captives

Rescue the captives

"One of the magnificent late 19th century British military expeditions conquered no new lands for

Queen Victoria. You won't find it mentioned in standard history books, but because of the monumental logistics, military historians compare the landing in Ethiopia in 1868 to the Allies' Invasion of France in 1944.

In 1868 Emperor Theodore III of Ethiopia held a group of 53 European captives (30 adults and 23 children), including some missionaries, in a remote, 9,000- foot high bastion deep in the interior. Among them were a British consul and a special diplomatic emissary sent to secure the release of the prisoners. By letter, Queen Victoria pleaded in vain with Theodore to release the captives. Finally, the government ordered a full-scale military expedition from India to march into Ethiopia- not to conquer the country and make it a British colony, but simply to rescue a tiny band of civilians who had suffered in prison for more than four years.

The invasion force included 32,000 men, heavy artillery, and 44 elephants to carry the big guns. Provisions included 50,000 tons of beef and pork and 30,000 gallons of rum. Engineers built landing piers, water treatment plants, a railroad, and telegraph line to the interior, plus many bridges. All of this to fight one decisive -battle, after which the prisoners were released, and everyone packed up and went home. The British expended millions of pounds to rescue a handful of captives. Today our world is packed with millions of people who need to be rescued. These captives need the rescue of Jesus described to Paul. "Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from Satan's power to God," Jesus told him. "

(Final Analysis, Jim Reapsome EMIS, Wheaton College, Il, 1999, pg 17-18)

Just How Serious is AIDS?

"The plague of AIDS may be the worst disaster to sweep the world since Noah 's flood. Whole nations a being decimated. Every statistic shows that the plague is spreading faster a wider. We hear numbers bigger than we can comprehend, but we don't see the tears of children left without fathers or the cries of babies without mothers. Exhausted pastors go from one funeral to the next with little time to comfort the grieving and almost no time to prepare sermons."

(Terrible Disease – Tremendous Opportunity, Jim Plueddemann, SIMNOW, June 2003, pg 1)

"Funeral Fatigue", by Bob and Hope Charter, Zambia (10 Funerals in 10 Days)

"Agnes, one of our disciples trainers, told me recently that she had spent ten days going to funerals. (Going to a funeral means not only attending the burial, but also sleeping outside at least one night with the other mourners to comfort the bereaved family.) Agnes said that while they were burying a loved one, word would come that another had died, so the mourners simply moved on the next morning to the next funeral. After ten days of this, she just could not continue without adequate rest or seeing her own home. She broke tradition and went home after the tenth burial, realizing she could not live constantly with funerals and death. Actually, everyone here is suffering from funeral fatigue."

("Funeral Fatigue", by Bob and Hope Charter, Zambia, SIMNOW, June 2003, pg 4)

Language Learning - Graduating from Linguistic Childhood as A Missionary!

Language Preparation:

"Language study is just as important as cultural learning. Pablo Carrillo, the Latin American missionary mentioned at the beginning of this paper, works in the Muslim world. Carrillo admits that Latin Americans now understand the difficulty of language learning:

"We Latin's [sic] have some evangelical jokes about foreign missionaries that come to our country and are not able to speak Spanish well. Well, now it is our turn to take on the role of the "village idiot" as we stumble through Arabic and other languages in our attempt to relate to the people in the host culture. How ironic this is, and my, what a sense of humor the Lord must have in permitting us to go through such a humiliating situations. (Pablo Carrillo; "Struggles of Latin Americans in Frontier Missions" International Journal of Frontier missions 1995: 196)

("Una Perspective Diferente: Latin Americans and the Global Mission Movement, Laura Heikes. Missiology, Jan 2003 pg 77-78)

Bicultural Nature of Mission kids: "This is just so Funny"

Eating Ants in church parking lot; Commenting on Furlough preparation;

"Prepare your Children for (North) American social expectations. When we arrived stateside for our first furlough, our preschool boys had never known a church with indoor plumbing. At one of our first church stops, they headed immediately to the nearest snow bank, scandalizing arriving church-goers and mortifying their parents. A missionary friend tells of a church nursery worker frantically calling her to deal with her two small children. She found them on the church playground; carefully picking ants out of an ant-pile and popping them into their mouth. Raised in Africa, they were simply enjoying a snack-and puzzled at the lack of competition. "

("Surviving Furlough Travel While keeping your Sanity", Jeanette Windle; EMQ, July 2002, pg 346

Music As Missions - How Important is Music?

Music & Missions: Music must reflect their sounds.

"Early missionaries to Malawi carted pianos on the backs of porters to the most remote comers of the country as though no African instrument was adequate. I (Palmer) was recently invited to preach in a rural Malawian church. While seated on the platform the pastor leaned over and profusely apologized to me for not using the piano that sat idle in the comer. His explanation: "The man who knew how to play it died five years ago." We sang without instruments that day, as is the practice in most mainline churches in Malawi, because in the absence of the piano no other instrument is deemed acceptable.

Vida Chenoweth, a well-known Christian ethnomusicologist, asks a pertinent question:

"Why would anyone want to capture all the birds of the forest, paint them gray and give them all the same song? God made each one, and each has its song to sing for him. (Chenoweth 1984,35)

By God's grace, there is now an upsurge in the use of local Christian music in churches across Africa and a growing freedom to express worship and praise to God in a more distinctively African manner."

("SING Africa", by Del & Palmer Chinchen, EMQ, July 2002, pg 287)

Music Issues in Africa; A very good section – read

All this is from ("SING Africa", by Del & Palmer Chinchen, EMQ, July 2002, pg 286-297)

"One African admitted to me that he feels very uncomfortable trying to sing with his motionless hands at his side. It is like putting him in a straight jacket. On another occasion we took a Maasai friend, who had lived among his cattle on the open plains all his life, to an Easter musical of Handel's Messiah which combined a massive choir with a full orchestra. Seated in the middle of the awesome All Saints Cathedral of Nairobi, trying to absorb this foreign music, was too much for our Maasai shepherd. Through most of the concert he had his head lowered covering his ears with his hands as the strange sounds reverberated off the walls and ceiling. At the end of the program he described, with a grimace on his face, what he heard by comparing it with the noise of jet engines!"

Music in Africa is a Way of Life. In Africa, nearly every aspect of life is the subject of a song.

"Music is used in all activities of African life: in cultivating fields, fishing, herding, performing ceremonies, praising rulers and warriors, hushing babies to sleep and so on. African music and dance. ...are one of the chief treasures of the African culture and heritage." (Mbiti 1992, 142)

(John S. Mbiti, 1992 Introduction to African religion 2^nd edition, Nairobi: EAEP)

"The Gabra of northern Kenya sing while walking with their camels (Tablino 1999, The Gabra, Nairobi: 142).

"Our security guard, a nomadic Samburu, welcomes each dawn with a song, blending in with the chorus of birds as if they are one. Very few important things happen without music in Africa.

Ashanti children sing special songs to cure a bed wetter. In Benin there are special songs sung when a child cuts her/his first teeth. Among the Hutus, men paddling a canoe will sing a different song going up- stream than going downstream. ( African Rytthm and African Sensibility, Chicago John Chemoff 1979, 94)

"Music is such a powerful medium in Africa that even history and tradition were preserved in song… Oral transmission was the basic means of tranmitting ideas to the next generation."

"Songs and music of the African Christian people have become their unwritten Bible." …………… Music is such an ideal vehicle for carrying God's word deep into the hearts of African Christians.

Illustration:

"Rhythm and music, for the African, comes very naturally because it inundates every part of life. When women pound yams or cassava in the mortar, one of the women has the task of reaching down to the bottom of the mortar and turning the yams or cassava while her friends are rhythmically smashing them with heavy wooden poles. Her fingers could easily get smashed if someone loses the rhythm. It never happens. They are all so rhythmically in synchronization with each other, often singing while beating in their mortars, that there is not the slightest concern by anyone of smashing fingers. The Gabra women sing "while lifting water from the well. Their rhythm keeps the buckets moving quickly and smoothly. "

Illustration: Unity, or and rhythm

"When a group of men in Liberia lift heavy trusses for the construction of a house they sing a special song to prepare themselves to manage the heavy load and to unite themselves, through the rhythm, to lift the load simultaneously."

African hear different:

"Kenyan ethnomusicologists Wamuyu Wamunyu and Jennifer Githaiga explain that one reason Western hymns have been so difficult for Africans to sing is because Western music uses a seven-part diatonic scale while African music is built on a five part panatonic scale. Africans do no hear fa or ti. Western hymns often sound strange, even funny, when sun by Africans because they do not hit these two parts of the scale."

"A Melody sung by one person is not music" Dinka tribe.

"For African Christians, there is an appropriate form of dancing and gestures, not at all provocative, that allows them to express, with their whole body, their joy of God."

"Music's explicit purpose in Africa is for socialization."

("SING Africa", by Del & Palmer Chinchen, EMQ, July 2002, pg 286-297)