African Leaders I have Learned from Lately

Arise my brothers! The task is not complete. This is Africa's time. It is time to take up our responsibility to further God's kingdom business in our continent! - Thomas Simubali






To workers in Rwanda: I am praying for you ... I believe God is doing something great and will let your dreams come through before the expected time. You are indeed consumed by a great passion which is commendable before God; but you can only accomplish what God has purposed through you. - Mustapha Sandi







White man, be careful when and where you go! Now is the time for us (Africans) to lead the mission on the ground. Otherwise wrong expectations will arise and the mission may be spoiled. - Cephas Kwambiliwa






We are tired of being controlled by outsiders. Africa has been called the dark continent. Yes, Africa is dark physically and economically. But Africa is the bright continent in spiritual things. - Lawrence Oduro






I had my doubts about Augustine. He had agreed to teach a workshop with me, but every time I called him he sounded sleepy on the phone. Later I talked with him about that. He said, "Well, yes, I go to sleep early in the evening; then I get up at 3 a.m. every morning to worship and pray for three to four hours." - Augustine Kawah-Jones





We have established a mission in Equatorial Guinea. Soon we will begin a branch of our company there. Recently we visited China. When we returned I felt a burden for the people. I believe that God wants us to do something in China. - Douglas Boateng

Allow the Little Children ...

On Saturday, I was privileged to be part of a mission to the village of Rutare in the south eastern corner of Rwanda. It was literally a few minutes walk from both Burundi and Tanzania. The purpose of the mission was partly to follow up and evaluate the progress from a previous mission to Rutare, but it was also part of an effort of our mission to initiate a Global Prayer Movement for Rwanda. The Bible studies for the day were to emphasize that God wants us to prayer for our neighbors and others that do not know Christ. While the classes were going on, two groups did some 'prayer-walking' through the village, praying for the community and for those meeting at the local church. The Result: the leaders of the church poured out their voices and their hearts in confession to God that they had been neglectful in not praying for their community and sharing their faith with their neighbors as they should have. We may look back in years to come and say that the Global prayer movement for Rwanda began last Saturday in the village of Rutare!!!



I have never been the greatest worker with little children, but there was no way to avoid it at Rutare. Jesus said, 'Allow the little children to come to me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' Pray no only for the children of this village, but also that the adults will have the child-like hearts needed to receive the kingdom.

Me and Contact Lenses ... it has been a long walk

About an hour ago I was taking my wife to the airport as she is flying to Kenya for a retreat with other missionary women. On the way my right contact lens popped out of my eye. It was gone! We looked in my eye, no trace. We looked on my sunshades, all over the seat, the floor of the car. Nothing!

Usually about once or twice a week one of my lenses will slip off my cornea and into my upper or lower eyelid. Not this time. Gone! Well it was time to get on to the airport. In the parking lot, I slowly got out of the car, examined the folds of my clothes, the folds of my paunch, shook out the floor mat, examined the area on the car floor around the seat. No contact. I kissed Nancy goodbye and headed home.

I started wearing contacts lenses forty-five years ago. Back then the only kind were hard lenses. They were uncomfortable in my eyes, but they were much better than nothing. They often popped out of my eye, fell on the floor or the ground. Most people don't believe these stories, but it was amazing the way I lost and found my lenses over the years. When I got to Africa the roads were bumpy and dusty or muddy. I used to ride my motorcycle to town or to teach in the school. Once on my motorcycle, the wind blew out one of my lenses. Now get this. I stopped quickly, got off my bike and walked back along the dirt road and found my lens lying there in the road. On another occasion I was riding a bicycle to school on a rainy muddy day. I dropped my lens on the muddy road, stopped my bike, got off and went back and found the lens right next to a mud puddle. Many times I have lost and found lenses in my bed, on the floor on the ground, in many strange places. Nancy is always patient and kind to help me devise ways of finding lost lenses. In 45 years, I have only totally lost 2 lenses.

On our first furlough, my eyesight was really getting bad. In 1971, I walked in the office of a young optometrist in Abilene, TX. He was shocked at what he saw when he examined my eyes. He said, "I have never seen eyes like yours, my machine will not even measure them. You are going to be blind in 6 months." It was my turn to be shocked. The doctor offered to refer me to an ophthalmologist who saw me later that day. He said, "Yes, you have a condition called Keratoconus and you will need corneal transplants in both of your eyes. There is a nine-month waiting list for corneas."

When I heard this news I was devastated. I had nowhere to turn except to the Lord and to prayer for answers. Fortunately I was at a meeting to form a mission team for Africa, so was among friends who prayed for me. I had a wife (Nancy) and three very young children. I had no job, I had borrowed money to come to this meeting and then was told that I would be blind in six months. I couldn't get an operation for at least nine months. Even if I could have, I would not have been able to afford the surgery. But God hears and answers prayers. A doctor friend arranged to have an eye surgeon perform the surgery. A friend from college wrote all of our classmates and raised the money for the surgery.

I had a cornea transplant on my right eye in 1971 and another on my left eye in 1981. The left one failed and had to be replaced in 1998. Because of the nature of the cornea grafts, I have never been able to wear the soft lenses of today. My lenses are hard plastic; they are very small so that they fit inside the scar of the graft. They often slide off the cornea or pop out of my eye. But what can I say? Thirty-nine years ago, I had only six months until I would be blind. Today I have almost 20-20 vision. I am truly blessed.

... Well, I prayed on the way home from the airport this morning, that God would guide me to find that lost lens. I carefully got out of the car, searched my clothes and the seat and floor of the car again. Nothing. Then I went to my bedroom to search in my eye with a mirror, because that is where I usually find my lens. Nothing. I carefully retraced my steps to the car with a flashlight. After some moments of careful examination, there...between the handbrake and the driver's seat... there it was!! Praise God! I feel like the woman in Jesus' story of the woman who lost a coin. She swept her house until she found it. Then she called her friends and said, Rejoice with me; what was lost is found!

Resting in a Quiet Place

Sometimes it is just good to get away to a quiet place and rest for a while. That's true even if it takes while to get there. Last week was just such a time. Five men of our team in Rwanda, joined by a couple of visiting friends, traveled from Kigali all the way across Uganda 450 miles to western Kenya for three days of rest, renewal and recharging our spiritual batteries. We met at Rondo, a Christian retreat center in the Kakamega National Forest. It was a quiet time to spend in the word, in prayer and reconnecting with God's creation.



We joined other 20 other missionary men from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda for a time of fellowship, sports, table games, discussions of our ministries, worship and spiritual nurturing from the gospel of Matthew. Dr. Mark Love of Rochester College led our times in the word.

DMM Retreat

Last weekend was a powerful and historic event for our team in Rwanda. We met for two days of prayer and beginning the development of a five-year plan for making disciples of Jesus all over Rwanda and beyond among the Banyarwanda, that is the people who consider themselves of Rwandan origin. They are about 20-25 million people worldwide.

The eight families, several singles and visitors added up to 39 who met to pray, to join one of four 'taskforces' to develop our objectives to reach every district (30) in Rwanda with some form of service, training, empowerment and the good news of salvation and hope in Jesus.



Now you are probably wondering, 'What is DMM?' Well, it is what we pray and plan will become a 'disciple-making movement.' Rwanda is highly 'churched', but we believe that we and many others whom God shall call, need to become true obedient disciples of Jesus.

'I Will No Longer Trust in Suits ...'

Yesterday we held a second anniversary celebration of the Xtra Mile Ministry, one of our programs under our Africa Transformation Network, NGO. On the program along with songs, prayers of thanksgiving and several speakers, were representatives of the ministry from various districts in the Rwandan countryside. Mostly these were young people in their 20s who are leaders or prospective university students in Xtra Miles' education program. Many of these young people are sole surviviors among families of six to eight parents and siblings. Others have one or two siblings who survived with them.

Various students were given two or three minutes to talk about their experiences with Xtra Mile. Some of them talked of how unimpressed they were at their first introduction to the Extra Miles leaders. When they heard that ATN was coming to their district they expected 'big people' to arrive in a Landcruiser dressed in suits and other accoutrements of big money with the promise of well-financed programs. When Charles Kabeza showed up in work clothes after a long bus ride saying that he represented a small NGO that had 'a big heart and a small pocket', they were quite disappointed. They expected failure and that his words and plans amount to nothing.


Now months later, after numerous visits, discussions, seminars on hope and leadership training, these young people had begun to develop a vision for their future. For me, the classic line of the day among the speeches came from one of the young women who stated that she 'will no longer put her trust in suits, but in the power of God.'

Disciplemaking in Bukavu, DR Congo

Last weekend I spent four very interesting days in Bukavu, DR Congo. I accompanied Cephas Kawambiliwa who arranged and organized the trip. We left Kigali at 6:30 a.m. by bus and arrived at the Congo border about noon. It took about an hour to cross the border as I had to apply for a visa which cost me $50 for a week. Brother Jeff met us and arranged a taxi to take us to the guest house for visiting professors at a local university. Cephas would be teaching a short course at the university, so he arranged free housing and almost free meals for me as well.

After lunch, we rested a few minutes before taking a taxi to one of the departments of the university where there was an available classroom. Cephas had arranged for some of his 'Christian family' leaders to attend a training on concepts and processes relating to disciple-making. I introduced myself as someone who is a hunter. I am hunting for a few people who are tired of religion as usual and are desperate to share their faith with others.


CREIM Leaders

Several at the meeting had attended our August training workshops in Kigali. They have started doing discovery Bible studies in their house churches that they call 'Christian families.' They have also initiated at least three new house churches. On Sunday, Cephas and I taught about 6-7 hours. In the afternoon session we opened the floor to issues and questions relating to disciplemaking and church planting movements.

Monday morning we visited four or five of the Christian family meetings, prayed with and encouraged them. They greatly encouraged me to see their faith and commitment in the face of dire poverty and joblessness for some of the evangelists. On Monday afternoon several pastors from some of the Bukavu churches attended the training. Some of them are tired of the religious situation there and are seeking some training in disciplemaking.

Bukavu is a crowded little town. I had last visited here at the end of 1993, just three months before the beginning of the Rwandan genocide. In the past fifteen years people have been forced to crowd into this little town as the result of insecurity in the rural areas, the refugee crisis resulting from the genocide and subsequent wars in eastern Congo. Cephas told me that very little street maintenance had been done since the Belgians left. That was in my senior year of high school, 1960!! (After my visit to Bukavu, I have resolved to stop complaining about the sloppy, muddy street I live on in Kigali!!). Much of the housing in the town is built on very steep slopes. Houses are encroaching on the streets so that on some you can travel by taxi for a while; then by moto-taxi a little further, and finally the street is so narrow there is only room for pedestrian traffic. Though this is the rainy season, we had prayed for no rain this weekend as it would have prevented people coming to the training sessions. It was raining when we arrived at the border post but thereafter the weekend was almost completely dry except for a short shower. The day after the training, we had heavy rains right up to the time to return to the bus station.

My prayers are that there will be at least one if not several movements of churches under the passionate leadership of Cephas Kawambiliwa.

Omar's Dangerous Dream

Last night Omar had a dream in which he saw someone standing in the corner of his room. The person he saw in his dream had scars in the palms of his hands. Omar identified the person as Jesus Christ. He said Jesus instructed him to read Ezekiel 12:1-3 and then to find some Christian to explain to him the meaning of this verse. Early this morning, Omar arrived at a local church and told his story to two of the church leaders. They met outside because Omar said he could not go into the church building.

Until this morning Omar was a sheik in one of the mosques in the city. He had studied the Kur'an in Medina and was now a teacher in the mosque. After visiting with the church leaders he said he understood that his people were unreceptive to hearing from God. He said he believed that God wanted him to leave the mosque and to follow Jesus. He accepted Christ as his savior.

Then Omar drove back to the mosque and turned in his car and his books. He left his house and returned to the church toward the end of the Sunday morning service. He said that the leaders of the mosque then burned all of his belongings. One of the church leaders told me his version of what happened earlier. Then I met Omar and learned more of his story.

He said he was married to a woman and that he had a second wife who was 'a spiritual wife' that he been given to him by 'majini', the spirits. It was this spiritual wife who communicated with him and told him that his belongings had been burned and that he should go into hiding. Omar was waiting for the church leaders to decide what they could do to help him find a place to stay. The church leaders were caught in a dilemma. They were not sure of the truth of Omar's story and wanted to check it out further. On the other hand, they did not want to shun a person who had just accepted Christ. I don't know how this will work out.

Omar's story has a familiar ring to it. Many Mus1ims have come to Christ because of what they saw in a dream or vision. If his story is true, Omar will pay a high price for his decision to follow Christ. He is in danger of being killed because of what he knows. He will be disowned by his family and will likely have to live in hiding and maybe move to another country. Pray that Omar will have the faith and courage to follow the course he has chosen and to be a witness to others.

A Time of Life When You Say "... I'll see you later"

Bill and George were boys who were born in Africa as missionary kids as I was. The three of us were about the same age. We grew up together on the same 'mission station' in Northern Rhodesia in the 1940s and '50s. Bill and George were my best friends. As young boys we played Red Rover, hunted antelope and shot at crocodiles along the Kalomo River; we explored much of the African 'bushveld' on the mission station.

George was an amateur biologist and a consummate prankster for as long as I can remember. He would sneak around and drop a frog in your pocket if he could get away with it. But he couldn't keep a straight face ... his face gave him away on every trick.

Bill was a dreamer and a storyteller. He would launch into to his old African or other stories whenever their was a lull in the conversation and someone looked like they might give him their attention. He amazed you with all the details of the events that he could remember. I could never recall those details even if I had been a major character in the story.

After grade school we went off to boarding school in Lusaka, the capital city. There we grew to become young men who felt our independence at a pretty early age. The British boarding school made us tough and responsible for our own lives. With no parents around we had only our friends to rely on. We learned to swim, play rugby, bunk out (leave the dorm after hours without permission), walk six miles to the movie theater on Saturday afternoons and ride the old steam-driven train home overnight on holidays and long weekends. Oh yes, and do some studying too.

In the early 1960s, all three of us traveled to the states and attended Harding College together. After college, our lives took different directions. George went on to become a medical doctor who practiced in Northeast Arkansas. Bill became a professor who taught languages at McMurry University in Texas. Both became well-respected in their professions. And I returned to a life in missions in Africa. Thereafter we would only meet occasionally and get a chance to catch up on each other's lives.

Is this when you begin to say to your friends of faith, "You go on ahead ... I'll see you later"? George went on to be with the Lord a few years ago after a difficult struggle with cancer. Bill and I were both able to be at George's memorial service.

Then Bill died suddenly of a heart condition last month. Nancy and I happened to be in the U. S. and were able to attend his memorial service. We heard some of those old stories again from Bill's friends and more we had never heard before. And we were blessed to meet some of Bill's family we had never known.

It must be that time of life ...

Planting more seeds of disciplemaking

In our time in Rwanda, I would say that August 'was the month that was.' And the third week of August was the week that was. I think the week-long training workshop in obedience-based disciplemaking had a tremendous impact on at least ninety-five people from 19 countries who met in Kigali, Rwanda.

Sentences like, 'Unbelievers do not want your religion' and '...we don't do personal evangelism...' or 'The two greatest killers of church planting movements are paid pastors and church buildings...' challenged us to the core and forced us to 'unlearn' many of our cherished opinions and practices. The teaching text is the Bible only, not the Bible plus. After the first day of the workshop, Peter Donkor of Ghana said, "I am here for two purposes: 1) to unlearn ineffective practices and 2) to learn a better way.

From the planting of the fresh seeds of disciplemaking the way Jesus taught his disciples, may God by the power of His Spirit bring forth abundant fruit all across the Bright Continent.