|
|
Here's your "Get Ready to Lead!" newsletter from Dr. Jeff Myers...with specific ways you can pray for a phenomenal opportunity to bring transformation to the 19th most populous nation on earth.
|
|
July 22, 2009
| Volume 10, Number 22
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
We had an amazing response to the re-release of Of Knights and Fair Maidens. We started the promotion last Thursday just before lunch and by supper time all of the signed copies were gone. For a limited time you can still get a special price of two copies plus an audio download for $20 here. Our team desperately needs your prayers over the next couple of weeks--please read on to find out more. Together, we can prepare future leaders for such a time as this!
Dr. Jeff Myers
(Email) (Website) (Facebook) (Twitter) |
|
"Will you to come to the Democratic Republic of
Congo and prepare our teachers to train our
nation's future leaders?"
I thought it was a problem with the
translation, but I was wrong.
 "How many schools?" I asked. The
translator turned to the well-dressed officials and repeated the question in French.
They conferred with one another and then gave a number.
"Eleven thousand, nine hundred and
ninety five schools."
Surely that can't be right, I
thought. That's more than 20 times as many schools as we've worked with in the
whole history of this ministry.
I asked for clarification. After a
few minutes of banter, the translator turned to me. "Yes, 11,995 schools. That's
77,000 teachers they want you to train, and they reach 2.4 million children
every year. Will you help them?"
What would you say if you were presented with an opportunity to influence the
entire next generation of the fourth most populous nation in Africa, and the 19th
most populous nation in the world? I said, "Yes, we'll do whatever we can."
This is an amazing story. I beg
you to fasten your seat belt and keep reading because our team desperately
needs your prayer.
Africa: The Next Christian Continent?
 Christianity is thriving in the
"Global South," primarily Africa and Latin America. Philip Jenkins, author of The Next Christendom, says that if
present trends continue there could be more than 600 million Christians in
Africa by 2025. By that time Africa and Latin America-not North America or
Europe-would be competing for the title of "most Christian continent."
The Democratic Republic of Congo,
or DRC for short, is at the eye of the storm. A French-speaking Central African
country with an estimated population of 66 million people, the DRC has recently
emerged from more than a decade of war in which over 5.4 million people died
from war-related causes.
The hardship of war,
disease and devastation has led to an unprecedented unity among Christians in the
DRC. All 65 protestant denominations
have united together into the Église du
Christ au Congo, or Church of
Christ in Congo (CCC). It is this organization that the government is
hoping will take responsibility for 11,995 of the nation's schools.
In brief, we'll be working with
the CCC to train Christian teachers to prepare godly leaders for the future of
the DRC. This is a stunning opportunity to bring transformation to this
war-torn nation that could ultimately ripple throughout the 26 countries that
make up French-speaking Africa.
In calling for American help, Dr.
Samson Makhado, the Africa director of the Association of Christian Schools
International (ACSI), said: "Education is like a tree. In North America it has
deep roots but it is growing old and the leaves are starting to wither. In
Africa it is growing very fast, but the roots are not deep. We need each
other."
What Happens if We Don't Do This?
 No one understands better
than Islamic militants that education is the future of a nation. Funded by massive reserves of oil money, Islamic schools in Africa offer free schooling to entice parents, and then
they turn the children into radical Muslims. It's the same strategy the Ottoman
Turks used to conquer Constantinople in the 1400s.
African Christian leaders
believe that a strong system of Christian education is the only way to keep the
Islamization of Africa at bay. That's why Christian educators have struggled
against all odds to start schools and keep them running. But they need help,
and have appealed to ACSI for three reasons:
-
its strong reputation as a Christ-centered
organization,
-
its proven metric of effectiveness, and
-
its "rapid deployment" curriculum called Children at Risk.
ACSI, in turn, has asked Passing the Baton International to partner
with them because of our track record in training teachers to identify and
prepare future leaders.
Leader development is a crucial
piece in the puzzle. When Congo was owned by the king of Belgium, colonizers
secured their power by schooling people to be subservient followers. An
emerging democratic republic needs honest, wise leaders, Our key contact with
the CCC, Bishop Idore Nyamuke Asial'ubul, believes
that Christian schools raise them up.
How We Hope to Meet the Need
On July 31 Tim Krupa and I will
travel to Africa and meet up with our translator David Masiongetti, Dr. Dr. Samson
Makhado and Dr. Janet Nason (Asia director for ACSI). On August 2 we will
travel into the DRC for five days of meetings and training with government
leaders, church leaders, and education leaders.
Our goal is to get a full
understanding of the need, contextualize the Passing the Baton training into
the Congolese context, conduct the initial Passing the Baton training with key
leaders and identify those who could form a training team to travel throughout
the country.
The ultimate plan is to send out a
team of 300 trained leader developers who would, in turn, train 77,000 teachers
to be leader developers.
What I Need from You: Prayer!
This project is strategic, not
only for the future of the DRC, but for the growth of Christianity in Africa.
Nothing about it is easy. We've been told that the DRC is one of the hardest
places on earth to work. We believe this may be because it is the center of a
spiritual storm and success here could have profound consequences for the future
of the continent.
Please pray for the following:
-
Foresight as we finish preparations for the trip
-
Successful travel into the DRC for our team
members
-
Physical safety in a country wracked with crime
and corruption
-
Accurate translation in meetings and of our
written materials
-
A spiritual connection with our hosts that
enables us all to communicate clearly
-
A clear sense of direction as we move forward
This particular trip has been paid
for by a generous donor; however, over the next two years the project is going
to grow substantially. If you'd like to play a part in this exciting work, you
can make a tax-deductible donation on-line here or by using the link in the lower left hand corner of our website.
If you'd like to send a note of prayer or encouragement, my e-mail address is jeff@passingthebaton.org. I'll forward it on to our strategic partners.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
