Skip to main content

What I saw in Africa.


What I saw in Africa a personal reflection

I have just returned from a brief trip to Africa, since my return I have been asked if I enjoyed my trip and what did I see in Africa?Having been brought up in Africa, I consider myself to be more African than British or Kiwi. I found this question a little ponderous to answer, because once you have been brought up in Africa it's in the blood, it's like going home for the very first time after leaving. Therefore no amount of words can ever express the joy one feels as you are once again wrapped and enveloped by the sights sounds and smells of Africa.

The answers to the questions are; yes I did enjoy myself, I saw many things, I was pleasantly surprised in fact. I expected to see countries, once prosperous and well run, bent and on their knees, in rack and ruin.  This due to the rule of dictators and despots, who have ruled for too long and have treated their nations as their own personal piggy banks, to rob and plunder at will. I saw all of this is, but I saw much, much more.

I saw people who still laughed and danced in that special way that you will only find in Africa. I met Christians who were not afraid to live out their Christian faith in public. I met Christian leaders of all ages ready to defend the cause of Christ, to let their love and light of Christ shine through the corruption and decay so evident around them. But three encounters stood out perhaps more than all the others.

I met a Christian leader, retired, who at 75, with no pension to speak of, still once a week, travelled three hours from his home to feed the widows and orphans. Who ensured that the old had medical treatment and blankets and ministered a word of faith and encouragement.

I met another Christian leader 76 years old in ill health. Once a month, would drive for nine hours on roads that are barely tracks,  to a very remote area to minister to a group of rural pastors, to help train them encourage them and give them help wherever they needed it.

The most memorable meeting was with a Christian leader of 77, who's body was racked with Parkinson's decease and who, on the morning we met, was about to drive five hours to take a series of meetings that weekend. Even though his body was falling apart his mind, wit and desire to serve God still coursed through his veins. He spoke to me with fire in his eyes, as he, in all seriousness was looking for the next big thing that God could do through him. He spoke of church planting and mission work, of preaching and teaching. He winked at me and said "I am not dead yet" He placed his hands on my head and the head of my wife and right there, in a loud voice, in the middle of a packed restaurant, he prayed Gods blessing on us both.

So when people ask me what did I see in Africa? I look at them and say I saw hope.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 1970's Christian Coffee Shop

I remember as a new Christian being invited into a Christian Coffee shop in the town where I grew up. It was clean and tidy, the table tops were all brightly painted in different colours,  but mainly yellow and scattered on top were a random selection of Christian tracts. Fish symbols and Christian posters proclaiming that there was but 'One Way' to heaven were everywhere. The music playing out of the stereo was The Bill Gather Trio or Dolly Parton singing Gospel. The crockery, was a mixed assortment of coffee mugs, donated by keen supporters of this outreach to the unsaved sinners and ungodly people living in the city. The coffee was a local brand heavily mixed with chicory. In all the years the Coffee Shop operated, I never saw a non-Christian go in and I never heard of a person coming to faith through having coffee there. I never really understood its purpose. Fast forward to today, when I was asked recently, to advise on helping a local community church open a c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The myth of Ministry Leadership.

The myth that all leaders are leaders. Not everyone who leads in church is a leader. I think it is wrong, for Church leaders to believe that those they train up to take various ministry leadership positions, are in fact leaders in their own right. They are not. At best I would categorise these people- that many churches call 'ministry leaders' as ministry managers.                 "At one level there is nothing wrong with title inflation; it is a cheap way of recognising people who work hard and make serious contributions" Jo Owen. I am of the opinion that this title inflation undervalues both the leader and the ' ministry manager' and can often bring about confusion and mismatched expectations. Many churches have ministry training evenings for their volunteers. Many use the reason for this training is "to make a person a better leader," when in fact the only thing actually happening is that th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Christian leaders and how to fire a Christian employee.

This weeks ramblings. I was asked this week if it was OK for Christian employers to fire other Christian staff.  Firstly let me state that it is always important to follow the laws of the country that you live in, but the question should be; Do I as an employer have the right to fire other staff Christian or not. The short answer is YES! Let me give you two examples I have come across; Case Study 1; The CEO of medium sized Christian organisation dealing in books and other Christian Literature had a problem with one of their staff. The person concerned, let’s call him Pete, seemed to push everybody’s buttons. Pete had been with the company 2 years, his first six months were just great but after that everything went downhill. He always complained, he bad mouthed his managers. At company social gatherings, when sport was played, he never played with any great sportsmanship; it seemed that every decision was wrong or somebody had a beef with him. But, Pete went to the same c...
Post a Comment
Read more