Africa Region increases focus on sending missionaries

Around the world, almost three-quarters of the roughly 700 Nazarene missionaries are from the United States. But the trend is shifting, and other world regions are expanding efforts to equip and send those who are called to missions.  

 

Last year in Africa, 28 of the 83 Nazarene missionaries were African. One tool the region is using to prepare more Africans to serve cross-culturally is an event called Nazarene Missions Orientation. At the two-day workshop, participants learn about the Church's approach to missions and discuss how to effectively minister in other cultures.

 

More than 20 people attended a recent Nazarene Missions Orientation in Kenya. (Photos: David Cooper)

 

"For many years, missions was done by outsiders coming to Africa, so now we want to provide the same opportunities for those God is calling from Africa to be able to go and serve," said Africa Region Mobilization and Personnel Coordinator David Cooper, who has held six NMOs with his wife, Jodi, in the past three years, along with several missions workshops. They are also working with district superintendents in the region to identify ways that Africans can serve in short-term missions and gain cross-cultural experience.

 

The most recent NMO took place in Nairobi on the 29th-30th of May. The 20 participants represented the nations of Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Zimbabwe and the U.S. They discussed the missionary structure of the Nazarene Church and the do's and don'ts of serving cross-culturally.

 

Clémentine Uwizeye and Noah Mwiruki take part in an activity that simulates being in a new culture at last month's Nazarene Missions Orientation in Nairobi.

 

The event touched Evans and Njeri Katanga in a personal way. For years, Evans has felt God's call to be a missionary, but Njeri did not feel a call of her own.

 

"It was scary, because I was OK with him being a pastor, ... but the whole missionary thing, I just was thinking, this is too much," she said.

 

Njeri grew up in Nairobi, where the couple currently live and are raising their 2-year-old daughter. Evans grew up in Zimbabwe, and making a successful transition to Nairobi 10 years ago gave him the confidence and the desire to serve in a foreign culture.

 

One of the highlights of the NMO for the Katangas was hearing the testimony of American missionary Lisa Johnson. When Lisa and her husband, David, were first married, David felt God calling him to be a missionary. Lisa did not feel the same way. The very idea of ripping her daughters away from family and living in a hut somewhere in the jungle upset her.

 

But after 10 years, God changed Lisa's heart, and she also felt him calling her to be a missionary. She has never regretted responding to that call, she said, and God has blessed their family in more ways than she ever imagined. They've never lived in a hut, she said with a laugh, and her daughters have had the love and support of many "aunties and uncles" in Africa.

 

"Fear is one of those things that we sometimes let stand in our way, but God has so much for us," Lisa said.  

 

The testimony encouraged Evans and Njeri, they said. It helped Njeri know she wasn't "weird" for not immediately feeling the same call as her husband. For Evans, the testimony encouraged him to be patient and trust God's timing.

 

ENGAGING LOCAL CHURCHES

The Nazarene Church's efforts to establish churches in unreached areas and spread the gospel around the world are supported by local churches giving to the World Evangelism Fund.

 

"Together we can accomplish so much more in reaching the world for Christ," David Cooper said. "It's important for us to help our churches see that we're part of a bigger picture."

 

The Katangas left the NMO feeling equipped, informed and inspired, they said. 

 

"I think these kinds of seminars or events would really help to open the minds and hearts of churches across Africa," Evans said. "There needs to be this interaction with every single member of the Nazarene Church."

 

LEARN MORE

• To learn about future NMO events or ways to get involved in missions, visit the region's Mission Mobilization site or email David Cooper.
• Click here for information about the World Evangelism Fund.
• The Eurasia Region recently held its first M+Power training, a new regional initiative with a focus on missions. Read an article about the event, titled "First M+Power training draws 15," in the June edition of "Where World's Meet."

The message of hope, from one refugee to another

Rev. John Yual Nguth (right) hugs a Nazarene pastor outside a church at a refugee camp. (Photos: John Yual Nguth)

Thousands of people have fled from heavy fighting and food shortages in South Sudan to seek safety in neighboring countries. Rev. John Yual Nguth, the Nazarene mission coordinator for South Sudan and Western Ethiopia, ministers in refugee camps in East Africa.  

 

John can relate to those in the camps; he fled from South Sudan to Ethiopia as a teenager in 1988 to escape the war.

 

John's ministry involves discipling refugees and teaching them how to start cell groups and churches within the camps. When he first meets with refugees, he doesn't just dive into the gospel message and try to convert them, he said. He gets to know them, shares his personal story, and tells them, 'I have been where you are. I can understand what you are going through.'

 

Life in refugee camps is hard, John said, because of food shortages, crowded living conditions and a lack of educational opportunities for children. John lived in a refugee camp for 15 years, and during that time he got married and began raising his family.

In 2000, his family was accepted into a resettlement program in Australia, giving them a chance to start over. But John felt a pull on his heart.

Rev. John Yual Nguth

 

"God was telling me I cannot go, I must stay with my people and preach to them," he said. "And I said no, no that is not right. Our life in the refugee camp was terrible. If I go to Australia, it will be better. But (God) said, 'No, stay, serve my people.'"

 

John told his wife, Nyamal, about this call from God. He asked if she would be willing to give up the resettlement program and all the comforts it would bring. She told him, 'If you are receiving a call from God, we must follow it.'

 

Following the call meant risking his own safety at times, John said, such as in 2003 when he walked for seven days to return to South Sudan to bring God's message of hope to his people.

 

"(My family) knew the situation was not good, but because they shared that same call, we shared the vision together, they said, 'No, you can go,'" John said.

 

John stayed in South Sudan for six weeks and helped plant several churches. "People were coming to Christ, people were accepting Jesus," he said. "Their life was really transformed. It was amazing."  

 

John, Nyamal and their five children now live in Uganda, where John pastors a church and continues to work with South Sudanese refugees.

 

Refugees, John said, can identify with people all throughout the Bible - such as with Jesus and his parents, who were  refugees when they fled to Egypt to escape Herod's infanticide.

 

In the Bible, when the early church believers fled from persecution, God used that hardship to spread the message of the gospel to more nations. Today, John's ministry is equipping refugees in East Africa to also spread the gospel, both in the camps and back in their home countries.

 

"As my experience tells me in being a refugee for many years, I do trust that God is going to use refugees in many different ways when they go back to their homes countries," John said. "What we should do today is to make sure that we have 'intentional discipleship' among the refugees, and God is going to use them in the mightiest ways tomorrow. The bright future can be build among the hopeless people, and may Christ Jesus be their hope."

 

Rev. Nguth (center) gathers with brothers and sisters and a new refugee settlement in Ethiopia in January.

 

LEARN MORE: Rev. John Yual Nguth points to this online resource, which teaches us about God's heart for refugees.    

  

You can get involved by supporting Nazarene Compassionate Ministries' Global Refugee and Immigrant Fund. Click here to learn more.   

 

Burundi Nazarenes, missionary flee the country

 

Dozens of Nazarenes in Burundi have fled because of political unrest. Nazarene missionaries temporarily left the country.  

 

Other church members and residents are staying in their homes for fear of facing violence on the streets. They are too afraid to go to work and are running low on food, said the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries coordinator in the capital, Bujumbura, who will not be named for security reasons.

 

Nazarenes have organized home visits to both church members and non-church members to bring them fellowship and whatever food they can.

 

"We have a lack of food for them," the coordinator said. "It's not easy."

 

Political protests began in late April after Burundi's president announced he would run for a third term. Burundi's constitution and a post-civil war peace deal allow for two presidential terms, but the president and ruling party said he is eligible for re-election because he was appointed by parliament for the first term, not voted in by the public.

 

On June 10, Burundi's president announced that the election would be postponed from June 26 to July 15. There was an attempted coup in May. Later that month, East African leaders met at a summit and urged Burundi to delay elections.  

 

News reports show that upwards of 20 to 30 people have died in the conflict since April 25, and more than 100,000 people have fled the country. In a press release on June 9, the United Nations human rights chief called for Burundi officials to take action against the increasingly violent tactics of a pro-government militia.

 

Thirty Nazarenes from Burundi have fled to a camp in Tanzania, and five others are unaccounted for, though they are believed to be in Rwanda, according to a Nazarene leader.

 

"There is need for emergency response in the Nyanza Lac region (a city in southern Burundi near the border of Tanzania)," he said in an email on June 8. "We are asking for prayers for the country of Burundi and our Nazarenes."

South African missionaries embark on new journey in Asia-Pacific Region

Reverends Collin and Shireen Elliott, who have served on the Africa South Field since 2000, are about to begin their next chapter in ministry. The couple, both from South Africa, are moving to the Asia-Pacific Region the first week of July to serve as global missionaries.

 

Africans have served across the continent and on special assignments in other regions, but the Elliotts are Africa's first missionaries on a global contract to serve in another region.  

 

Rev. Collin most recently served as assistant regional director to Dr. Filimao Chambo at the Africa Regional Office in Johannesburg. Rev. Shireen served as regional secretary. Collin previously filled the role of field strategy coordinator for the Africa South Field.

 

"Our resolve is always to spread the full gospel of salvation in the provision and hope we possess in our resurrected Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," Collin said in an email. "We will serve in a region other than our own with diverse cultures, customs, languages and people groups, but it has dawned upon us that our responsibility is to 'make Christ-like disciples in the nations,' not by being alike but being in love. ... We covet your prayers. Africa is our home!"

 

The Elliotts have two adult children, Peter and Amy.