Articles

A few years ago I found myself the only white man in a crowd of several hundred marching along a road in a new suburb of the ancient city of Ife, Nigeria, lustily singing “Onward, Christian Soldiers” in Yoruba.

Recently the Lord provided an opportunity to be present in a Thursday night evangelistic-worship meeting held by a very dynamic and evidently born-again Coptic Orthodox priest. The setting was a Middle Eastern country.

In his article, the new head of the Association of Evangelicals of Africa and Madagascar describes both external and internal crises facing the churches of Africa.

There has been little or no evaluation counseling with missionaries. Counseling has been designed primarily to deal with problems. When the foreign secretary comes to the field he may ask to see those who are having problems.

It is a hopeful sign that mission board administrators are beginning to talk about evaluating performance on the field. Admittedly, they are bucking strong pietistic trends to the contrary.

Recently the team concept has been emphasized in mission circles. Although most missions view themselves as a team and the concept of teamwork is not radical, a growing number of people are advocating a team approach with a new wrinkle.

The people of God often get caught up in secular thinking with regard to frontiers. When both the north and south poles had been conquered, when the highest mountains had been climbed, and when the floor of the oceans had been charted, everyone turned toward space as a new frontier.

“Mass evangelism is obsolete!” Why? “Because it has always failed to produce solid growth. Public decisions seldom become responsible church members.” This is what we often hear. Is it true?

They are among the 1.7 million Americans, plus other English-speaking people, who live in foreign countries.

As we look at the South African situation, our family has to think about some unpleasant possibilities, even though they are remote.