Growing a Culture of Expectation

In the past six years I have traveled across America talking with people about ministry on the continent of Africa.  On several occasions I have been asked whether I think it is possible to see genuine long term change in Africa.  Many people I talk with are encouraged that significant ministry advancement is taking place in so many places there.  However, there are some who have little faith that real transformation over time will come.  The logic goes something like this, “After all we have poured millions and millions of dollars and volunteer hours into Africa in the past decades and things there seem to be no better than they were before.  What more can we do that hasn’t already been done?  I’m glad that you have a heart for Africa, Kevin, but I hope you won’t be discouraged if nothing really changes long term there.”

As I have pondered this over the past couple of years I have become more and more convinced that more money or more volunteer hours will not be the key to bring genuine long term change to Africa.  The natural response of most Americans to needs around the world is to raise more money and to start more new projects believing that we can make a major difference if we just work hard enough and commit enough resources to it.  Rather it will take a major move of God across the continent to see transformational change really take place. 

What we need more than money or effort is to learn how to discern and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit expecting God to do great things through His church.  Money and people power is important, but genuine change won’t come unless we are responsive to God’s leading and depending on Him to do great things.  I believe with all my heart that the church will be the key to seeing long term change in Africa.  The Apostle Paul said it well in the benediction of his prayer in Ephesians 3, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Recognizing that we serve a God who is able to do more than we can even dream about we have set as one of our 10 Year Goals for the ministry in Africa to “grow a culture of Biblical spirituality where our staff and national partners both know and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and also expect that God will do the extraordinary in and through us.”

Will you pray with us that God will bring glory to Himself as we see this take root all across the continent?

Engaging the Next Generation

Over the last six years I have made close to 40 trips to Africa visiting over 15 different African nations.  Although the scenery and the people groups vary from place to place there is one constant that I see everywhere in Africa.  There are children, youth and young adults in large numbers in every location where I visit.

Africa is a young continent.  No, I’m not talking about the age of the buildings, roads or infrastructure in Africa.  I’m talking about the age of the people.  In most places in Africa the average life expectancy is less than 50 years of age due to disease, war and violence.   Some of the latest studies reveal that 44% of Africans are 15 years of age and younger.  When you bump the age up to 18 years old the number jumps to over 50% of the population. 

The faces of the children and youth in Africa tell a powerful tale.  The faces of children are filled with joy and enthusiasm as they play and help around the house.  They gather around me like I am the pied piper whenever I walk the streets of an African village.  The faces of the youth often tell a much different story.  The youth of Africa are growing up at a time when unemployment is as high as 80% in many countries.  Education is not always affordable and even if they go to school there is no guarantee of a job.  As I drive around Africa I often see youth and young adults sitting around in the middle of the day without much to do.  They are the fuel for the often violent political uprisings that you hear about on the continent. 

I see this burgeoning young population as an amazing opportunity for our vision of seeing the Gospel transform lives, communities, and institutions across Africa by the power of God’s Spirit come to fruition in our lifetime.  If we can engage the children, youth and young adults of Africa in lifechanging ways with the Gospel of Jesus Christ Africa will be changed.  If we don't we are missing one of the greatest opportunities of our lifetime!  They are the leaders of the future for the continent of Africa and now is the time for us to intentionally minister to them. 

That is why we are setting two very critical goals for the next decade:

• Find and disciple five thousand (5,000) 15 – 35 year old next generation leaders
• Equip children’s ministry trainers for every African national church partner

We are working right now to develop strategic partnerships with ministries in Africa who will help us to come alongside the indigenous African church to leverage this forward.  Right now God is opening up more opportunities than we can follow-up on in these two areas.

Please join us in praying that God would guide us in the development of these strategic ministry partnerships and that He would raise up a new group of ReachGlobal and ReachAfrica missionaries who would be committed to multiply ministries among the children, youth, and young adults of Africa!

Music: The International Language of Worship

As the first choir made its way slowly up on to the platform I wondered to myself what the music of the church in Ethiopia would be like.  I have the privilege to travel to multiple African countries every year and have experienced the wonder of African worship from large cement block churches in cities to mud-walled, thatched roof village churches.  In each setting and in each country I have found the heart of worship to be expressed in ways that so clearly reflect the dynamic uniqueness of the people and their culture. 

The keyboard player started the background rhythm and when he struck the first cord I knew that we were in for a real treat!  Young Ethiopian choir members were soon singing with all their might in the language of their heart.   Their faces expressed their joy in loving and serving Jesus.  The sheer volume of their singing along with the choreographed swaying and movements showed the enthusiasm in their worship and soon the entire congregation was singing along with them.  Hundreds and hundreds of voices lifting praise to the Savior in a language that I couldn’t understand.  However, I didn’t need to be able to speak the language to know the love and joy that was driving their worship of the Lord that I too love and serve.

Vision for a Decade of Ministry in Africa

Over the past couple of weeks I have been writing about our ReachGlobal Africa Division LeadTeam's Ten Year Goals.  I thought it was time to share all of them with you before I write more posts in the future about them.  Please continue to pray!  Without prayer none of this is possible.

Vision: To see the Gospel transform lives, communities, and institutions across Africa by the power of God’s Spirit

Ten Year Goals:  (2010 – 2020)

• 25 million people impacted with the Gospel
• 100 missionally aligned and strategic partnerships
• 25 Acts 19 locations where the Gospel impacts an entire region from a “hub city”
• 50 new ReachGlobal leaders (men & women)
• 50 new ReachAfrica leaders (men & women)
• Find and disciple five thousand (5,000) 15 – 35 year old next generation leaders
• Equip children’s ministry trainers for every African national church partner
• Grow a culture of Biblical spirituality where our staff and national partners both know and follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and also expect that God will do the extraordinary in and through us
• Every national partnering movement, church, and organization multiplying healthy churches among all people as we come alongside of them
• Every national church partnership is a missionary sending movement
• Develop four multi-cultural mission equipping centers (West, Central, East and South)
• A complete integration of the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel message through the teaching and ministry of our staff and partners
• Maximize technology and media for greater Kingdom impact
• Develop, empower, and release ReachAfrica as a sustainable African mission movement

May the Lord of the church receive maximum glory as the transforming power of the Gospel touches millions of lives on the continent of Africa and beyond!

Leveraging Leadership

As our ReachGlobal Africa Division LeadTeam prayerfully considered setting ministry goals for the next decade we came face to face with the fact that without gifted leaders to move these ministry plans forward we weren’t going to get the traction we need to see things advance.  With that in mind we set goals to find 50 new ReachGlobal leaders and 50 new ReachAfrica leaders between now and 2021. 

You have most likely heard people say that “everything rises and falls on leadership.”  Leadership isn’t the only critical thing necessary for good ministry effectiveness.  A foundation of solid Biblical principles and being sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit are indispensable for effective ministry.  However, it takes good leadership to make the best use of both of these essential elements.  Good leaders help their teams to clearly define their missional values, set ministry goals, and keep the team moving forward toward accomplishing those goals while living out their values.  Without good leaders ministry teams can easily drift off course and be less than effective often simply continuing to do the same things over and over again.  We see finding the “next generation” of leaders for the ministry in Africa as being essential and one of our top priorities.

In looking for leaders we purposely focused on finding both Americans who will serve with ReachGlobal, the International Mission of the Evangelical Free Church of America, and Africans who will serve with ReachAfrica, the indigenous African missionary equipping partnership of African Evangelical Free Churches.  We are living in a quickly changing missions environment in Africa.  The days of “colonial missions” where leaders from the West set the agenda, called the shots and provided the resources are over and a day of genuine collaborative partnership is dawning.  It is imperative that the face of ministry in Africa be more and more an African face and that the western missionary takes more of an equipping and encouraging role.  Now is the time for leaders from Africa and western missions to sit together to prayerfully seek the face of the Lord of the church for His agenda for ministry and then to work together to see ministries launched that are indigenous (appropriate to the local culture), reproducible (able to be multiplied), and sustainable (using local resources for the long run). 

Identifying and equipping 100 leaders for ministry in Africa (50 ReachGlobal and 50 ReachAfrica) will be a HUGE game-changer!  I believe God will use healthy leaders to multiply healthy churches, healthy ministries, and more healthy leaders.  Will you join me in praying for these 100 healthy leaders for Africa!