Africas Unique Opportunity and Dilemma in Mission in the 21st Century: With Special Focus on Kenya

Keynote Address by Duncan Olumbe at Kenya Church Association AGM 8th May 2010, London UK

Outline - Introduction - Africas Unique Opportunity in Mission in the 21st Century - Africas Dilemma in Mission in the 21st Century - Some Proposed Way Forward - Conclusion Introduction I am very grateful for the invitation by the KCA officials to share with you at this AGM. It gives me fond memories of my first KCA AGM which I attended in 1997 while I was a Careforce volunteer in Oxford. I also wish to sincerely appreciate the support grants that KCA has given to MTA over the last four years. Given the vastness of Africa, I will not attempt to address the whole continent but rather make a special focus on the Kenyan mission scene and a little on the wider East African situation. I intend to celebrate the amazing things God is doing in the Kenyan church in the area of mission while at the same time acknowledge the huge challenges being faced. Towards the end I will humbly propose some kind of a way forward based on a commitment to forge ahead courageously in this exciting/challenging milieu. Africas Unique Opportunity in Mission in the 21st Century I believe we are gathered here today in recognition of the worn clich that Christianitys centre of gravity has shifted to the global South. This is the amazing fact that within just one century, Christianity grew incredibly 70-fold from a mere 7 million to 470 million such that now approximately one-out-of-five Christians in the world are from Sub-Saharan Africa. We praise God for this tremendous advance of the Gospel and also salute the many western missionaries (some of you are with us here today) who did so much to bring the Gospel to us in Africa with admirable commitment and at great cost. Congruent with the general growth of the Church in Africa is the slow but certain growth in mission engagement. I thank God for the emerging and growing mission vision among African churches though I many times wish it was bigger. In this talk I will use mission in the restricted sense of cross-cultural mission not because of narrow mindedness but rather for clarity of focus. This, I think, is critical especially in a context where sometimes mission has been used to mean any and every thing that is done by the church; which while right in many aspects, tends to dull the aching need for greater attention on cross-cultural mission. Across Africa and beyond, stories abound of resilient missionaries from Nigeria going out with barely any support. We are currently witnessing an exciting mission movement emerging out of Ethiopia. And in Kenya, time would not allow us today to go to the specifics of Kenyan missionaries serving cross-culturally within and outside the country. Sadly, we do not have concrete statistics of how many such missionaries there are but it is estimated that there might be as many as 3,000 such Kenyan missionaries. Some of the churches like CITAM (Christ is the Answer Ministries Nairobi Pentecostal Churches) have woken up with a mission vision which is truly encouraging. They currently have a significant focus in Northern Kenya and are expanding into Sudan, East Timor, Asia and other parts of the
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world. Others include Africa Gospel Church which has over 50 missionaries; African Inland Church (AIC) through its AIC Missionary Board which has about 30 missionaries; and the Anglican Church which recently sent out 2 Kenyan missionaries to Madagascar in a bold step which we pray will be replicated in the other mainline churches in Kenya. I cannot fail to mention the Catholic Church which has over 500 Kenyan missionaries. Similarly, Pentecostal churches such as Nairobi Lighthouse Church, ICC (International Christian Centre), Agape Fellowship, Worldwide Full Gospel Churches, etc. are sending growing number of Kenyan missionaries to serve cross-culturally within and without the country. Even the smaller churches are slowly but surely beginning to embrace mission. For example, over Easter this year, I was speaking at a mission conference in a small wooden church in Ndumeri, Kiambu (on the outskirts of Kiambu) with barely 50 adult members yet they are praying for and supporting Kenyan missionaries! My own church, Karen Community Church (a church plant of Nairobi Baptist Church) can be credited for pioneering mission work among the Aweer (Boni) people of Lamu Island and recently has ventured into China. Time would fail me to mention emerging Kenyan mission organizations like Sheepfold Ministries, Mission Together Africa (MTA), Mission Base Initiative, Africans Reaching Africa, Life Ministry (Campus Crusade for Christ), Navigators, Trinity Fellowship, etc. Often these groups have sent out Kenyan missionaries with barely any resources yet God has honoured the labour of these hardened soldiers of Christ. I wish though that there would be greater recognition and support to these initiatives. We praise God for role that MTA is playing in catalyzing and facilitating more Kenyans (and East Africans) into mission. There is also the unprecedented move/migration of African Christians to all parts of the world especially professionals and refugees. It seems to me that these indeed are Gods New Envoys (according to Ted Yamamori), gossiping the gospel wherever they go. For example, during a recent visa spat between Kenya and Dubai, it emerged that there are about 38,000 Kenyans working in the United Arab Emirates. It has also been reported that there could be as many as 12,000 Ugandan guards serving in Iraq. A significant percentage of these I would suppose are Christians and are expected to have some Christian influence. The huge number of African Christians has increasingly meant that global Christianity can no longer afford to ignore the voice, shape and forms of African Christianity. Indeed it can be argued that the shape of the 21st Century Christianity will in many ways undoubtedly be African, Latino and Asian. This is a therefore a significant opportunity for Africa, which contributed to the shape of Christianity through many of the Early Church Fathers, to once again do so in our days. These are great strides being made. However, we cannot loose focus of the fact that Africa, and Kenya in particular, is still home to many unreached or least-reached people groups. Thankfully more awareness, improving communications and infrastructure, etc. are making it easier to logistically reach interior parts of Africa which were hitherto unreachable. To God alone be praise for these amazing opportunities that he has gracious presented to the church in Africa in the midst of poverty, civil war, and many other challenges. In many ways I feel that God has surely chosen the weak things of this world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).

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Africas Dilemma in Mission in the 21st Century Having celebrated the amazing things that God is doing in and through the church in Africa and specifically in Kenya, I wish to explore some of the significant challenges being faced. I have chosen to refer to them as dilemmas rather than challenges because I think they present contexts where very hard decisions have to be made of we are to progress. The Question of Resources: Money or the Box? The growth of African mission movement is happening in a complex context of lack versus abundance of resources. The huge dilemma is: how can we creatively facilitate the massive human resources in a context of great lack in material resources? How can we in Kenyan partner meaningfully with those in the west like KCA? There used to be a Kenyan TV programme where winning participants had to choose to take home cash (which they knew how much) or a box (which they did not know what was in the box). Most people chose the cash only to discover that the box had something of a bigger value i.e. car key to a brand new car. I use this analogy to address the dilemma we in mission are constantly facing when it comes to the issue of resourcing mission in Africa. Quite often it is easier, quicker and safer to take/accept money from the west without really looking at the hidden picture (the box). Similarly westerners often seem to think that money will solve all of Africas problems. I am now convinced that it is not always money that we need in Africa. We have to critically take that risk of going into the box of unknown contents and seek to ask the broader question: what really is needed in this context? The Question of Geography: Competitors or Compatriots? In a context of scarce resources, it is not surprising that geographically-influenced scramble for the same is a major dilemma. Some of the key issues to tease out of this dilemma are: how can the church from the global North serve alongside the church from the global South given the significant variance in resources? Does it mean that we in Africa will perpetually remain Receivers while those say in the UK remain Senders? I strongly believe that we must seriously accept that time has come for the church of Christ to be both sender and receiver in whatever context it exists. Another related dilemma is that for a long time the church in the West has used the mantra of dire mission needs of Africa to raise resources to send missionaries to Africa; rightly so. However, there is an emerging conflict where the church in Africa is rising up to raise resources from the West to fund its emerging mission vision. This ends up cutting the umbilical cord of mission funding for a number of western mission agencies and is a cause of great discomfort. As a result we are seeing increased competition rather than co-operation. How are we to work in harmony while addressing the issue of geography vis--vis resources? The Question of Partnerships: Multi-nationalism or Open-Source? A third major dilemma is how can Africa and the West partner meaningfully in mission? In the secular business arena, it is the big western multi-nationals that are constantly swallowing up any promising African enterprises. You have to play ball or else every trick is used to force you out of business. Unfortunately I have seen a similar mentality among the more established western multi-national mission agencies and/or mega churches. Whenever they spot an emerging African initiative which seems to be doing something significant, you suddenly have enough suitors who want to partner with them but really with the eventual aim of swallowing it up! Whereas the ideas might sound noble, what often results is a perpetuation of the western models of mission rather than a deliberate encouragement to the African models. I strongly feel that we might want to borrow a leaf from the open-source concept in the computer software industry. In this model software
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designers are allowed to retain their individual identities while collectively contributing significantly to the betterment of particular software. The critical question for us is: How can the fledging mission movements in Africa be given the space and room to grow and maintain their uniqueness while benefiting from the huge experiences of the older and better-endowed western mission movements? The Question of Authenticity: Empty debes or Quiet Waters? I was taught that it is the empty debe (metallic container) which makes the loudest noise compared to the full debe. Conversely there is the saying that quiet waters run deep. This analogy seeks to address the current reality in Africa where those who seem to make the loudest noise about whatever mission work they are doing seem to be the ones who catch the attention of western donors. Those who know how to make sleek PowerPoint presentations, do top-notch funding proposals, etc. are the ones who get to the pie jar. Yet sometimes, all they represent are briefcase reports with nothing on the ground. On the contrary I continue to see a number of African missionaries quietly but powerfully doing mission without too much noise. Sadly they are not in the radar of global mission funding and as a result they struggle immensely often closing down. The western mindset of being result-oriented has not helped either. How then can we re-orient the resourcing of mission to ensure that we seriously address the question of authenticity? The Question of Support Systems: Shooting stars or Constellations? I grew up in a village near Homa Bay town on the shores of Lake Victoria where there was no electricity. The nights were truly dark unless there was moonlight. But one of the great benefits of such a situation was the opportunity it granted me to enjoy the amazing night skies. It was spectacular to watch the endless shooting starts and the constellations. One thing stood out though: however spectacular a shooting star was, it never lasted long. Yet the constellations were there year after year. I use this analogy to highlight the great frustration I have seen in many African mission initiatives which are more like shooting stars rather than constellations. Whether as individuals or collective church or organizastion initiatives, they burn bright for a short while then fade off into oblivion. This sharply contrasts with most western mission initiatives which largely seem capable to last the longhaul at least since the modern missionary movement. How can we ensure that African mission initiatives are not shooting stars? At the root of this phenomenon are issues of support systems and structures. I strongly believe that we in Africa need to humbly and honestly learn from those who have gone ahead of us. Yet we also need to be given the space to develop our mission systems without undue pressure to copy the west. How do we strike this difficult balance? The Question of Future of the Church: Growing or Dying Church? The last but not least dilemma is the question of which church in which part of the world is growing or dying. It has been numerously suggested that the church in Africa is growing while the church in the west is dying. This has given rise to a rather sad complacency in Africa. I have serous doubts whether really the church in Africa is growing. At least the latest Pew Report Islam & Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa seems to have confirmed my fears. In our mission initiatives we need to move beyond stereotypes to a concrete analysis if the situation on the ground. I think it is fair enough to say that the church is both growing and dying in Africa as well as in the West. Such a humble admission would force us to accept the move of mission to be from everywhere to everywhere. It will also remove the triumphalistic mentality which I sometimes see among Africans we come naively to reevangelise the West without appreciating the complexities of a post-Christian culture.
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Some Proposed Way Forward So how do we move on from this complex context? How can KCA continue to join hands with the emerging mission movement in Kenya? I wish to humbly propose the five ideas: 1. Address the issue of resourcing emerging African mission movements As I have already pointed out in this presentation, we need to continue cracking our heads for better and more authentic ways of resourcing emerging Africas mission movements. Though partnerships sound grand on paper, they often turn out very complicated in real life. While I firmly believe that Africa has much more material resources than it is currently putting into mission, I equally believe that the moreendowed church in the West needs to sensitively use their god-given endowment alongside Africa. The debates on dependency, self-support and sustainability need deeper exploration. How can we play to our respective strengths? How can the global church make better use of Africas burgeoning human resource in a context of dwindling global material resources (global recession)? I strongly propose an urgent review of global mission funding principles and serious re-allocation of resources which would reflect the changing face of mission in Africa. 2. Engage the African Christian Diaspora both at source and end The African Christian Diaspora stands on an amazing global mission trade-wind. Who will unfurl the mast to release this gigantic mission ship to sail into the high seas of mission adventure while ensuring that it is fully anchored on the eternal biblical foundation of mission? I wish to humbly propose that we need to join hands both at the source in Africa and at end wherever they end up in. The church in Kenya needs to take her role seriously in preparing, affirming and holding her Diaspora members accountable. Towards this end I believe we need more elaborate discipleship, cultural orientation and re-entry support systems. On the receiving end, I think the church in the West needs to repent of her disdain for immigrants, warmly embrace African Christian Diaspora and together begin the long journey of learning what it means to welcome the stranger. In this regard I am glad that MTA has just agreed to partner with Interserve to create a corridor which will seek to facilitate Kenyan professionals who are moving (or have already moved) into the Arab World. 3. Embrace both sending and receiving aspects of mission; learn from each other At the risk of repeating myself, we have to start divesting ourselves of the stereotypes that Africa is the mission field while the West is the sending force. I pray that KCA will play a significant role in helping the church in the UK to start learning what it means to receive missionaries especially from the less-endowed parts of the world. And this must go beyond typical English surface politeness and stoic isolationism to real genuine commitment to engage with people of other cultures. Similarly I pray that groups like MTA will play a key role in helping the church in Kenya start to really learn what it means to send out missionaries and fully-care for them. For this to happen, we need each other. 4. Catalyse authentic new models of mission suitable for the Church in Africa As we continue to explore how to do mission in our generation, I believe an inevitable path to follow would be to seek to develop authentic new models for mission in Africa. This will have to force us to avoid the easy cut-and-paste approach which is currently more prevalent. It will force us on our knees to pray more for Gods divine leading even as we seek to learn relevant lessons from the vast western mission enterprise. And it wil demand a willingness to try new ideas and make mistakes in our steep learning curve.
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5. Examine our motives/agenda in light of biblical kingdom principles Last but not least I pray that God will force us all back to the basics of examining our motives in this mission business. I pray that God will, forcefully if need be, place the mirror of his word to help us reflect on whether what we are calling mission is really about him or about us. I have come to appreciate the truth that the human heart is desperately wicked and as such we have to constantly be brought back to the Cross. Especially in situations where what we are doing seems to be having great success; the greater temptation is to engage autopilot mode and only many years later on come to the painful realization of Echabod the glory of God had long departed! This is why I am increasingly convinced that for a true emergence of African mission movement, we need a revival; a fresh East Africa Revival of some sorts. For it is in the context of a genuine revival that the intents and purposes of our hearts are laid bare and we start to serve God for who he truly is. Conclusion I end this my presentation with four cries: - A cry for true revival as the basic foundation for authentic mission - A cry for serious discipleship as the holding glue for authentic gospel workers - A cry for honest resource allocation realignment as a prerequisite for strategic mission - A cry for mutual vulnerability as the classroom for generating new models of mission AMEN.

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