Mary Jane Welch
SBC International Mission Board
It has been called the Dark Continent, exotic and mysterious, a place of adventure
and of intrigue.
It has been called the Dark Continent, exotic and mysterious, a place of adventure
and of intrigue.
Yet, far from dark, it is multihued, colorful and populated
with people facing serious challenges and embracing a hope that will last through
eternity.
Zacchaeus is one of those.
He no longer can do many things he once did. He must count
on church members to meet his familys basic needs. Even walking and breathing
are difficult. But one thing the church music leader can do. He can sing praises
to God.
Look into his eyes while he sings – the illness goes away.
“When I stand up to sing words to Jesus Christ, I feel just as strong as
anyone,” he says.
Like many Africans, Zacchaeus is wasting away from a disease
some governments fear to name. But unlike many around him, Zacchaeus has hope
– the hope found in Jesus.
Can all of Africa sing with the same hope?
Some facts seems to say no. For instance:
An estimated 25.3 million children and adults in sub-Saharan
Africa were living with HIV at the end of 2000. That is nearly 70 percent of
infected adults and 80 percent of infected children in the world.
Africa is the world leader in malaria with more than
90 percent of all cases. Most of the more than 1 million malaria deaths worldwide
each year are African children.
War and turmoil have made 21 African nations major sources
of refugees and/or internally displaced persons.
Thirty-seven African nations have mortality rate of
more than 100 deaths per 1,000 children under the age of 5. The United States
rate is under 10 per 1,000 children.
The Sahara already claims a major portion of Northern
Africa and more than one-third of Africa is threatened with becoming desert
– primarily due to land mismanagement.
Can a place with such problems ever sing praise to God?
There are those who say yes – and say the time is now.
That is why they are calling worldwide Christians to pray for Africa on August
3 as part of the PRAY-2001 (Pray Round Africa – Yes!) effort. (See
Page Four)
Indeed, many missions experts believe Africa holds the future
of Christianity.
Why? Because in the last century, the number of Christians
in Africa grew from 9 million to more than 360 millionand it still is
growing at about 1,200 new churches a month, many of them indigenous African
denominations.
Also, many persons fully aware of Africas wars, famine
and pestilence have said “yes” to Gods call to go to the region
– and report that they have found much to love.
Larry Driggers is one of them. Physical comforts did not matter
much to him and his wife, Lucy, when they went to Equatorial Guinea, a tiny
nation on West Africas coast. They wanted to go where missionaries were
scarce.
In that struggling nation, they found people who placed a higher
value on relationships than on material success. They found that when they took
time to get to know people, to spend time with them, to ask about their families,
that people – even Muslims – would listen to the gospel.
Africans personal and spiritual openness outweighs a
lot of the negatives, Driggers notes.
And it is easy to be overwhelmed by Africas problems,
he acknowledges. “If you focus on physical needs, it looks impossible.
But there are millions who havent heard the gospel, and I can do something
about it.”
Indeed, many Africans recognize that few of their problems
lack a spiritual dimension, Southern Baptist missionary Ray Davis says. He says
the AIDS epidemic breaks his heart, not just because it kills a person but because
many people are dying apart from a saving knowledge of Jesus.
“With AIDS, you see a physical manifestation of a spiritual
reality,” Davis says. “Everywhere you look there is that distressed
downcast look.”
Ironically, Christianity once thrived on Africas northern
coast – and provided ardent evangelists, willing martyrs and leaders like
St. Augustine. However, weakened by dissent within, the African church largely
disappeared after the Islamic conquest that began in 647.
Now, Islam blankets Northern Africa and is spreading south.
A myriad of African traditional religions – which may include animism and
witchcraft – still are practiced by many who even call themselves Muslim
or Christian. Hinduism, Bahai, Judaism, Mormonism and Jehovahs Witnesses
also dot the religious landscape.
But those seeking to share the gospel with Africa face another
challenge as well. Indeed, more than 3,000 people groups who speak more than
2,000 languages live across the continent. Most are oral cultures. Reaching
all those peoples with the gospel involves writing down unwritten languages,
translating the Bible and teaching people to read.
Or does it?
Missionaries have learned that simply telling the stories of
the Bible is an effective way to share the gospel in an oral culture. And people
hearing the stories use the same method to share them with friends and family.
So, could Africans really be the future of Christianity? If
they share the stories of the Bible with their friends, will they share them
with others as well?
Some already do. Christians in Togo have reached out to nearby
people groups. Parklands Baptist Church in Nairobi, Kenya, has adopted the Endo
people of northern Kenya. Tanzanian Baptists send out home missionaries. And
new Christians in East Africa pick up on evangelism immediately, missionary
Frank Pevey says.
“They want to tell the story,” he notes.
They also could teach other Christians a few things about worship
and praise, Pevey and others suggest.
“Ive never seen people anywhere else with such optimism
in their salvation,” Davis relates.
Like Zacchaeus, they sing in spite of burdens far greater than
many that Western Christians complain about.
He tells of the time he began to feel faint and found himself
unable to head home. As he waited outside a store to find a way home, Zacchaeus
says he took out his pen and began writing a chorus, “God, give me the
strength, God, give me the strength to get home.” After writing one verse,
he says he could take only one baby step. He wrote two more verses. Finally,
he was able to stand and walk home.
Zacchaeus says that after his death, “If there is a choir,
then Im willing to join the choir, my friend.”
Those who love Africa pray that thousands, even millions, of
Africans not only will have the strength to go on – but will join Zacchaeus
in that heavenly choir.
(This article is adapted with permission from The Commission
magazine of the SBC International Mission Board)