October 26, 2007 Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States …. [Ansel Oliver/ANN]
Evangelism and external aid alone will not solve the problems affecting the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Africa, church leaders said during a discussion regarding mission.
While per capita incomes have risen in India and China by the efforts of their own citizens, many African nations still depend on support from beyond the continent. Pardon Mwansa, a general vice president of the Seventh-day Adventist world church, said the church in Africa, similarly, might be reaping less than desirable results from well-intended outside help.
Among the issues in Africa, Mwansa listed a lack of financial self-reliance, both in political circles, as well a within the Adventist Church itself, as a concern of many around the world.
Fifteen leaders of the global Protestant denomination, most originally from Africa, addressed challenges the church faces in Africa during the Adventist Mission in Africa conference at Adventist-owned Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States, October 19 to 21. About one-third of the world's roughly 15.4 million Adventists live in Africa. At the current rate of growth, church leaders estimate that Africa will be home to half of the worldwide faith community within a decade.
Many challenges are intertwined, church leaders said. Several issues repeated by delegates included a membership that has grown nearly twice as fast as the number of pastors and infrastructure. Mass public evangelism campaigns can bring in thousands of new members, some of whom have not been adequately instructed in Adventist beliefs.
“Many who are baptized do not even know what being an Adventist or even a Christian means,” Mwansa said.
Luka T. Daniel, president of the Adventist Church in West-Central Africa, said a few weeks to study the Bible before becoming a church member is not enough time for an unchurched person to learn doctrines.
Church leaders said some members lack significant knowledge of their newfound faith and still engage in practices that are at odds with church doctrines, such as ancestor worship and spiritualism.
“Multiple allegiances … [have] now become one of the major problems within the church in Africa,” said Cornelius M. Matandiko, president of the Adventist Church in Zambia.
The conference sought a balanced approached to presentations with a critique given after each presenter.
Daniel responded to criticism of brief evangelist visits to Africa by pointing out that many African pastors who are in charge of more than a dozen churches welcome help from visiting evangelists, even though they might be untrained or promoted as a “celebrity.”
But evangelism alone should not be considered mission, said Tite Tiénou, vice president of education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. “In my experience 'mission to and in Africa' often means evangelizing and making converts,” Tiénou said. “This concept of mission seldom includes the necessary aspects of pastoral care and the deepening of the faith of those who identify themselves as Christians.”
Some suggested coordinating a pool of retired Adventists from developed countries to teach their technical skills to fellow members in Africa.
“What is needed is training young people who can learn useful skills so they can create their own employment as well as employment for others,” said Leonard K. Gashugi, chair of the Accounting, Economics and Finance department at Andrews.
Mwansa said $2.3 trillion of foreign aid during the last 60 years has done little to help Africa become economically self sufficient.
“Foreign aid will not solve the poverty or joblessness in Africa,” Mwansa said.
Gashugi countered criticism of foreign aid by saying funding from the Adventist Church has helped the denomination on the continent.
Presenters also addressed the opportunities to fight malaria and AIDS — principal causes of the declining life expectancy in Africa.
The Adventist AIDS International Ministry now operates in more than 43 countries, but every church should serve as a community health center offering education and appropriate prevention for church and community members, said Dr. Peter Landless, a cardiologist originally from South Africa and associate health ministries director for the Adventist world church.
“Despite the church's commitment to supporting missionaries, dependence on expatriate workers is not the sustainable solution,” Landless said.
Another positive step that presenters mentioned was the Adventist world church establishing a graduate study program in Africa earlier this year. Though the school — Adventist University of Africa in Nairobi, Kenya — now only offers degrees in religion, University President Brempong Owusu-Antwi has previously said the school will offer other graduate degrees, including business, beginning in 2009.
Owusu-Antwi said he hopes offering the degree will help fill empty treasury positions in the church. Several conference presenters said there is a need for greater financial accountability in the church in Africa.
“One thing that has not yet collapsed is the African spirit of hope,” Mwansa said. “I am optimistic about the future of Africa. Rightly guided, the members of the Adventist Church in Africa would not only be able to support the work of God on the continent without depending on foreign aid, but would go a step further and share its resources to other parts of the world for spreading the gospel of salvation.”
The mission conference was sponsored by the Pan-African Club and Department of World Mission at Andrews University.
Copyright (c) 2007 by Adventist News Network.
