Categoriearchief: mission

Impressions of Christmas in Kajo-Keji (1940)

How was Christmas celebrated in Kajo-Keji (South Sudan) in 1940? Eunice Kerr, the wife of Reverend William Dermot Kerr, offers us a glimpse through her heartfelt reflections. The Kerrs lived in Kajo-Keji from 1940 until 1945, when Eunice tragically passed away due to illness. While her letters reflect the colonial attitudes of the era, they also reveal her deep affection and admiration for the Kuku people.

“We are in a very beautiful part of the Sudan – right in de South, close to the Uganda border on the Lat. 4. All around our house we can see wooded hills streching far into the distance. You would appreciate the lovely sky effects, especially at sunrise & sunset. [-]

I wish you could have been in the simple dignified little Church here on Christmas Day. It was packed with people from the surrounding districts and during the service hundreds sat on the grass outside. This is possible as the Church, although raised up a little from the ground, is quite open to the three winds of heaven. It is not quite finished yet and the people at present sit on rows of bricks. The Holy Table has a simple brass Cross which gleams out amazingly in the distance thro’ the dim Church as you approach it from outside.

The Church in Kajo-Keji (1940)

We enter by stone steps, the font, a simple white cement affair, (with an alabastor cooking mortar for the central bowl!) stands at the West end. The church has great big square stone-&-mortar pillars whitewashed, and the usual thatched roof with a very simple wooden Cross on the East end.

There were nearly 300 for the Communion on Christmas morning, and how you would have loved to see the reverent black hands streched out to take the Bread and Wine. Although they are supposed to be a very rough tribe, the Kukus, we are both struck with the reverend demeanour of the Christians.

That afternoon we had sports for about 1000. I had to give away the prizes, which consisted of the contents of a box given to Dermot for his work abroad: cretonne bags, patchwork quilts, beads, notebooks, pencils, etc. [-]”

[First Impressions of Kajo Kaji, S. Sudan (January 1940), a letter written by Eunice Kerr]

A Just Mission – not a real review

I read A Just Mission, Laying down power and embracing mutuality (2022) by Mekdes Haddis. This is not a proper review but more like a ‘reading impression’.
The Foreword raises high expectations: Mekdes Haddis uses a ‘bridge-building approach’ and this book can reshape the mission movement and ‘Western Christianity for the better’ (p. x).

Costly discipleship
There is a lot I agree with and Mekdes’ analysis is often spot on. Yes, the Western mission movement is still heavily ‘transactional’ and this needs to change. We need to move towards ‘relational mutuality’ (p. 4). She sees a disconnect between the mission (outreach) and discipleship departments in most Western churches (p. 40). A missionary call is ‘… a call of deep and costly discipleship that enables us to live a life God has intented …’ (p. 32).

Unreached
It is also true that a lot of the language that is used by Western missions has colonial connotations. ‘Labeling people groups as “unreached” [-] is a dangerous fruit of the dotrine of discovery…’. ‘Surely we can’t believe that God is so small that he awaits Western theology and white saviorism to reach his people around the world’ (p. 48). Yes, we need the church in the West to embrace diversity (p. 62) and to not ‘self-idolize’ its own theological practice and create ‘mini versions of herself’ (p. 74). Yes, diversity is God’s intention (p. 89)!

USA context
The book is very much written in a North-American context. This is just an observation, not a critique. Mekdes focusses a lot on short term mission in that context and we don’t have this (in that form and to that extend) in the Dutch (or European) context. Some of the examples she gives from the USA context are surprising (to say the least) to me as well.
Her point that we shouldn’t be helping churches elsewhere in the world if (as a church) we don’t know how to connect to people in our own local neighbourhood, makes a lot of sense. This is very much something to reflect on for us as Dutch churches.

Sending Nehemiahs
It is time for the Western church to step back, says Mekdes: ’The role of the Western church in this season of change for global missions is largely to be the ear that listens’ (p. 158). The church in the West should (from now on) be using members of the diaspora community as missionaries: they are Nehemiahs. They can ‘… create a beautiful middle ground to benefit both cultures.’ They have better connections and have a broader perspective (p. 154).

Mixed feelings
I have read this book with mixed feelings. In many ways is Mekdes correct with her analysis and her strong language is necessary. The Western church needs to face (the new) reality.
On the other hand is it not easy to use this book as a guide for a conversation about these important topics. Mekdes’ perspective is sometimes (too) narrow and she makes statements about issues that are (in my view) more complex than presented. For instances when she states that Western aid is helping corrupt leaders and destroying democracy in Africa (p. 142). Yes, aid is definitely a factor but is the reality not much more complex than this?

Mekdes does not talk about Europe (Western seems to mean USA) and she hardly talks about long term mission strategies. I am not saying that Europe is doing way better and that long term missionaries are perfect but I think the picture will look different taking this into account.

So yes, do read this book and reflect on the issues that Mekdes Haddis raises. For me the most important question is: How can we change as a church in the West and make ‘relational mutuality’ our key doctrine?

What is the Mission of the Church?

A brief survey of some literature & documents (compiled and summarised by Jacob Haasnoot)

I. Cardinal Avery Dulles’ Six Models of the Church (2002, expanded)
1. Mystical Communion: community that is related by Spirit – we are connected to each other not just by what we say and do but by God. Warm and welcoming. Mystical Communion, not just friendly fellowship.
2. Sacrament: Church is a visible sign of Christ still in the world today. A sign and instrument of Grace in the world. Connects with our Catholic way of looking at the world but it is hard to explain.
3. Servant: Emphasizes the Church’s commitment to social justice. Includes the action which goes along with the words of the Herald. Doing what Jesus did – we are living our faith.
4. Herald: Church announces the Good News of the Kingdom of God. Constantly calling everyone to renewal and reform. Calls us to look to the Gospels.
5. Institution: Emphasizes the structure and order of the Church. Clear roles and guidelines for living.
6. Community of Disciples: community of people that follow Jesus, trying to be like Jesus in everything they do, say, pray, knowing that following Jesus may include suffering. A strong connection to Jesus but with this model we may lose sight of the universal church

II. Lausanne Covenant (1974)
#6. THE CHURCH AND EVANGELISM
‘We affirm that Christ sends his redeemed people into the world as the Father sent him, and that this calls for a similar deep and costly penetration of the world. [-] In the Church’s mission of sacrificial service, evangelism is primary. World evangelization requires the whole Church to take the whole gospel to the whole world. The Church is at the very centre of God’s cosmic purpose and is his appointed means of spreading the gospel. But a church which preaches the cross must itself be marked by the cross. It becomes a stumbling block to evangelism when it betrays the gospel or lacks a living faith in God, a genuine love for people, or scrupulous honesty in all things including promotion and finance. The church is the community of God’s people rather than an institution, and must not be identified with any particular culture, social or political system, or human ideology’.

III. The Manilla Manifesto (Lausanne Movement, 1989)
#8. The Local Church
• ‘Every Christian congregation is a local expression of the body of Christ and has the same responsibilities. [-] The church is thus both a worshipping and a witnessing community gathered and scattered, called and sent. Worship and witness are inseparable.
• We believe that the local church bears a primary responsibility for the spread of the gospel. [-] Each local church must evangelize the district in which it is situated, and has the resources to do so.
• [-] A church which sends out missionaries must not neglect its own locality, and a church which evangelizes its neighbourhood must not ignore the rest of the world.
• In all this each congregation and denomination should, where possible, work with others, seeking to turn any spirit of competition into one of cooperation. [-]
• The church is intended by God to be a sign of his kingdom, that is, an indication of what human community looks like when it comes under his rule of righteousness and peace. [-] It is through our love for one another that the invisible God reveals himself today, especially when our fellowship is expressed in small groups, and when it transcends the barriers of race, rank, sex, and age which divide other communities.
• We deeply regret that many of our congregations are inward-looking, organized for maintenance rather than mission, or preoccupied with church-based activities at the expense of witness’.

IV. The Cape Town Commitment (Lausanne Movement, 2010)
Part I, #9. We love the people of God
‘The people of God are those from all ages and all nations whom God in Christ has loved, chosen, called, saved and sanctified as a people for his own possession, to share in the glory of Christ as citizens of the new creation. As those, then, whom God has loved from eternity to eternity and throughout all our turbulent and rebellious history, we are commanded to love one another. [-] Such love is the first evidence of obedience to the gospel, the necessary expression of our submission to Christ’s Lordship, and a potent engine of world mission’.
Part II: For the world we serve: The Cape Town Call to Action
A. Bearing witness to the truth of Christ in a pluralistic, globalized world
B. Building the peace of Christ in our divided and broken world
C. Living the love of Christ among people of other faiths
D. Discerning the will of Christ for world evangelization
E. Calling the Church of Christ back to humility, integrity and simplicity
F. Partnering in the body of Christ for unity in mission

V. Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God’s People (2010)
Who are we and what are we here for?
It’s all about people who … (i.e. Biblical theology, not systematic)
• know the story they are part of (being part of the story of God’s mission in this world)
• care for creation
• are a blessing to the nations
• walk in God’s way (obedience)
• are redeemed for redemptive living
• respresent God to the world
• attract others to God
• know the one living God and Saviour
• bear witness to the living God
• proclaim the Gospel of Christ
• send and are sent
• live & work in the public square
• praise and pray
The church needs to ‘repent & return’, to ‘go & make disciples’, to realize the urgency that all peoples should hear the Gospel and to do all these things for the glory of God.

VI. James Kennedy, Stad op een berg (2010)
Churches in a secularised society should focus on the quality of their congregational life and the strength of their own identity. For society as a whole, it is important to have contrasting communities that challenge the status quo and offer a view of a transcendent reality (p. 135).
So what does such a contrasting community look like? It is a community…
• of care & love (inward & outward looking)
• of discipline (imitation, virtues, moral boundaries)
• that carries the rich, Christian tradition
• that can engage in critical dialogue with the world around them.

VI. Van den Brink & Van der Kooi, Christelijke Dogmatiek (2012, pp. 518-526)
The church as an eschatological community
• Addresses pneumatology: the Spirit bridges from us to the Son and the Father. Church is defined by communion with its living Lord. Access to that communion through the Holy Spirit.
– Origin lies in God’s own action. Church is a (first, visible) eschatological community around Christ already gathered as a harvest for God. Believers participate in salvation, as recipients.
– Characteristic of  the church is an inward movement (communio) and an outward movement (missio). Inward: we become children of God, members of His body. The christological & pneumatological always go together. There are gifts of grace in the church. Outward: Immediately, the second, outward movement also arises. Disciples are sent out. Again, grace gifts that enable the outward movement in the form of witnessing, celebration and diaconia.

VII. Samuel Waje Kunhiyop, African Christian Theology (2012, pp. 145-170)
• The Church as the community of God: ‘it includes all believers worldwide and each local community (church) and is also connected to the past [-] and the future…’.
• Biblical metaphors for the church: people of God, body of Christ, bride of Christ, temple of God, family of God, flock of God. They show that the church has a communal nature which is absolutely essential to its true being.
• Four key features of the Church: one, holy, catholic & apostolic.
• Functions of the church: worship, evangelism, discipling, prayer.
• In reaching out to the world, the church must be prophetic, speaking out against evil structures, living examplary lives, and gettting involved in both human and social development.

VIII. Michael W. Goheen, Introducing Christian Mission Today (2014)
The mission of God and the missional nature of the church (p. 73)
Mission is not simply a task of the church but it defines the very identity of the church. One of the problems with the old model of mission: mission societies were doing missions and the church supported it. Mission and church were separated.
The mission of the church is rooted in the mission of the tri-une God. The church takes its role in the loving mission of the Father to restore the creation as it is accomplished in the kingdom mission of the Son and realized to the ends of the earth in the power of the Spirit.

Ecclesiology (p. 101): we are not only receivers of salvation but also channels. If we only talk about the institution and the pastoral role of the church, we will become an introverted church. So (1) the communal life of the church is important to empower its members to be missional and (2) they are as much the church throughout the week (as they work in all sectors of society) as when they gather for worship on Sunday.

IX. Stefan Paas, Vreemdelingen en priesters (2015, pp. 217-243)
The image of the church as a priestly community has the following features:
1. It is by definition a minority community. That is its ‘natural state’. Fits in post-Christian context. Church is called out of the world, but is not opposed to it. More emphasis on centre, than outer limits.
2. This model has rich biblical content and is ecumenically sensitive (in touch with the church worldwide)
3. Church as community prioritises deep human relationships. Vision of God’s mission grows (not imposed) from ‘dwelling in the Word’ & ‘dwelling in the World’.
4. Mission is linked to our vocation as priests. We are priests on behalf of the residents of our street. The concept of ‘representation’ has eluded us (because of individualisation). Community thinking needs to regain its place in our theology. Praise & intercession in the church service are always also for the benefit of the world. This model of priestly church is much more responsive to mission in culture where Christians are no longer morally or otherwise superior. It is not so much about quantitative growth as it is about the multi-coloured nature of the community. Evangelisation is about diversity because in it the fullness of Christ becomes visible. Motivation for evangelisation is primarily doxological.
5. The church is on earth to glorify God, in every tone. This becomes especially visible in the liturgy, the eucharistic heart: that is looking back to remember the Lord’s death, looking around to become aware of one another and looking ahead to expect the Lord.

X. Ecclesiology: Imagining a theology of youth ministry for the church (Fuller Theological Seminary, USA)
Anderson & Guernsey suggest a helpful paradigm for a theology of church using the metaphor of ‘the family of God.’ Two foundational notions:
• First: God’s covenant with humanity, beginning with Israel, establishes a precedent of covenant relationship for all of God’s people. God is committed to God’s people, even when they do not live up to their end of the deal. Our relationships as Christians are covenantal; we are called to remain completely committed to God and other Christians.
Yet as we think of the church as a family, the notion of covenant defies the idea that we have simply chosen to become family to one another. Simply put, God has chosen us to be his children.
• Second: the parent-child relationship. Our human, parent-child relationships image the Fatherhood of God. Our calling as a church family is rooted in the family God has established.
So at the crux of it, we’re invited to think of the church as a ‘family of families.’

XI. The Five Marks of Mission (Anglican Communion)
The mission of the Church is the mission of Christ:
1. To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
2. To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
3. To respond to human need by loving service
4. To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation
5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation, and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Meningitis in Kajo-Keji – 1940s

I finally took some time yesterday to do some more digging in the documents that I gathered about the history of the early Anglican missionaries in Kajo-Keji, South Sudan (1929-1945). I came across a short article by CMS missionary Dermot Kerr who lived in Kajo-Keji from 1940-1945. It talks about an outbreak of ‘Cerebro-spinal meningitis’ and it has some moving passages. It seems to speak more to us now I would think with the current Corona crisis. Of course there are many differences between then and now but our faith and trust in our caring God is (or should be) the same! I hope the following quotes will be an encouragement for you today.

Fear
“It was a Sunday morning last November. A tired group of young schoolboys, with fear written on their faces, sit outside their dormitory hut. They have been all night there, afraid to sleep inside because of the swift death of two of their fellows… [-]. Cerebro-spinal meningitis has broken out again, in the school this time, after a year’s respite.”

Prayer
“Is it any use to hold the usual early morning Prayers with these lads as they sit there? We try. The hard blank faces of the past night slowly change as the favourite hymn: ‘In the sweet bye and bye‘ gives out it poignant message. Not for the first time has the good news of an Almighty Father and a Saviour who has prepared a place after death for all who trust Him, transformed the cheerless scene, and diffused a warmth and growing light like the dawn over our eastern hills.”

Overcoming fear
“Such a time has its bright spots. When a grave had to be prepared hurriedly, and workmen were afraid to dig it, fearing they might be asked to bury the body, the [Sudanese] Station teachers got down to it and spent the whole Sunday afternoon… [at the burial place]”.

Teachers at the school in Kajo-Keji

Those words of Jesus kept ringing in my ears
“Just before Christmas when we thought it had left the Station, a Houseboy caught it badly, but recovered. On his return this was his testimony: ‘When I was being carried off that night to the quarantine place I could not think clearly; but the words that I had come across earlier in the day from St. John stuck in my head, Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. I go to prepare a place for you. And when the pain was very strong I thought, If God wants to take me, it is well; if He want to let me live longer, it is well also, and those words of Jesus kept ringing in my ears.”

That the Church may be awakened
“Dawn has broken, and with the New Year, new hope has come. [-] But prayer is still needed that the same Guide who led the school trough its dark night, will lead the district through the famine that it is again facing now, and that the Church may be awakened to fresh repentance and renewal through its suffering.”

A Biblical Theology of Disciple-Making

(Summary of chapter 1 in: Intentional Discipleship and Disciple-Making, An Anglican Guide for Christian Life and Formation, The Anglican Consultative Council, London, 2016)

A. Disciple-making in the OT
Being a disciple in the OT is ‘to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul’ (Deut 10.12–13). That includes keeping to God’s instructions, but also imitating or reflecting God’s character. Israel, as a whole people, was called to that kind of discipleship, by living as the people of YHWH in the midst of the nations, being faithful to its covenant with him, worshipping him alone, and living by the standards of the Torah.

Four aspects of such practical discipling are outlined here.
(1) The training and mentoring of a new leader
The OT gives several examples of the transition from one leader to another: the role of the older one is preparing, training, and mentoring the younger. Moses has Joshua serve under him for a long time, and gives him both encouragement and warning before passing on the baton of leadership (Deut 3.21–22; 31.1–8). God himself reinforces the lessons that Moses had taught (Josh 1.1–9). Other examples: David and Solomon & Elijah and Elisha.
(2) The discipline of the family
Deuteronomy stresses the importance of the parents’ role in teaching each new generation to walk in the ways of the Lord. This included constant reminders of the story (what God had done) and of the teaching (God’s covenant promises and commandments) (Deut 4.9–14).
(3) The teaching impact of the community’s worship
Israel had its rich and complex system of worship, which should have functioned as a means of discipling in two ways:
(a) The teaching of the priests: Priests not only brought the sacrifices of the people to the altar. They also were responsible for teaching God’s law to the people (Lev 10.8–11; Deut 33.10).
(b) The instructive impact of the Psalms: Simply by repeated singing of the words of the Psalms the Israelites would be shaped in their thinking and practice by the values inculcated in worship.
(4) The shaping function of Scripture
The whole community was to be discipled by hearing and responding to the Word of God (Deut 31.9–13). Nehemiah 8 is a remarkable occasion of community discipling, as the whole law is read through in a week, and trained Levites are on hand to translate, explain, and make clear the meaning of the words read, after which the heads of the families pass it on to their families (Nehemiah 8.12,17).
B. Discipleship in the NT
The accounts in the Gospels of Jesus the Messiah are inevitably foundational in any quest to discover what is distinctively Christian about discipleship. Jesus was doing two main things:
(1) He was giving us a model in his own actions of how to be a disciple-maker;
(2) He was allowing his first disciples to become, for us, a model of how we should respond to Jesus’ call and follow him too.

Jesus the disciple-maker
In Mark’s Gospel we see, first, how Jesus does his training of his followers. In brief we see:
(a) His first calling of the disciples, which is clear & directional, vocational and radical (3.13–19);
(b) His commitment to sharing his life with them;
(c) His intention to give time for de-briefing (6.6b–13, 30–32) and his use of recent events and teachings as an opportunity for further teaching and discussion (4.35–41; 8.27–30);
(d) His willingness to have an inner circle (Peter, James, and John) who would witness more intimately and directly three momentous events in his life (5.37–43; 9.2–8; 14.32–36);
(e) His willingness to expose and rebuke his followers, while being totally committed to their growth and restoration (8.17–21; 9.35–37);
(f) His ability to ask questions which would bring to the surface their wrong motivations or confused ideas (8.17; 9.33–34);
(g) His occasional giving of strange instructions which simply had to be obeyed ‘because he said so’ (but which would make sense later: 11.2–3ff; 14.13–16);
(h) His deliberate policy of letting them see him both in public and in private.
All of these will need to be borne in mind whenever we come to ask the contemporary question: how can we be disciple-makers in our own generation?

Following Jesus: in the Gospels
Secondly, we can see in the Gospels how the first disciples responded to Jesus. Here are the marks of authentic Christian discipleship:
(1) Jesus the teacher – we must listen to his words
We, as followers of the Risen Jesus, are to be students of the words of Jesus, attentive to his living voice, obedient to his principles.
(2) Jesus the person – we must learn from his character
Christian discipleship means modelling our lives and characters on Jesus’ own; it means living his life.
(3) Jesus the leader – we must follow his direction
Jesus said, ‘Follow me’ (Mk 1.17). This then involves the idea that Jesus’ disciples are to set out on a journey – on a journey where Jesus is ‘out in front’ as the leader. We are to go where he leads and to be guided by his directions, even if, like the disciples, we do not always understand where he is leading us.

This following, however, takes the disciples into a mission which will outlast, and in some ways surpass, Jesus’ own ministry. Jesus was quite clear that he not only wanted his disciples to go out and minister as he ministered (Mt 10.8) during his lifetime, but that they would ‘do the works that I do, and in fact will do greater works than these’ (Jn 14.12), and furthermore that he wanted them to teach others to obey all that he had commanded them (Mt 28.19–20).

This journey therefore requires numerous qualities: self-denial, exposure to risks, setting out in faith, sticking close to Jesus, and actively trusting in his guiding. So being disciples of Jesus is an all-encompassing activity, which ‘demands our life, our soul, our all’. And it is this because the person whom we are called to follow is gloriously alive. We are to trust and obey this Risen Lord: ‘listen to his words’, ‘learn from his character’, and ‘follow his leading’.

Following Jesus: in the rest of the NT (1Peter)
So what does the rest of the NT say about discipleship – this following of the historical Jesus, now gloriously raised from the dead? For now we only focus on 1Peter.

One of the most powerful ways to read 1 Peter is to see it as the mature reflections of the same Peter who had been discipled by Jesus:
(a) ‘prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you’ (1.13);
(b) ‘do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance’ (1.14);
(c) ‘Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the [a pure] heart’ (1.22);
(d) ‘Rid yourselves … of all malice, and all guile, insincerity …Like newborn infants’ (2.1–2);
(e) ‘For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution’ (2.13);
(f ) ‘Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps’ (2.21);
(g) ‘have unity of spirit [mind], sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse’ (3.8–9);
(h) ‘Since … Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same intention’ (4.1);
(i) ‘tend the flock of God that is in your charge … Do not lord it over those in your charge … but be examples to the flock’ (5.2–3);
(j) ‘And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another’ (5.5).

Peter’s own speech, person, and agenda have so evidently been transformed by those of Jesus. And we too can now be transformed in our own discipleship by observing Peter’s words.

Conclusion
A full analysis of the NT’s teaching on this theme of following Jesus would confirm that Christian discipleship is inseparably linked with both the historical and human Jesus and the Risen and Exalted Jesus. In Luke 24 we see the Risen Jesus effectively emphasising six key themes as essential for his future disciples:
(1) his Resurrection (vv. 34, 46),
(2) his Cross (vv. 26, 46),
(3) the Holy Spirit (v. 49),
(4) the Scriptures (vv. 27, 44),
(5) the Sacrament (v. 35), and
(6) Mission (v. 48).

Luke portrays these six as being the top priorities of the Risen Lord for those who want to follow in his Way. This is Jesus’ curriculum for his training course in biblical discipleship. It would be great if these six themes were each given their proper place within the life of our Anglican Communion.

Towards Intentional Disciple Making

Report on the African Church Leaders Discipleship Congress
Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, 27-28 February 2015
(Rev. Jacob Haasnoot, Kajo-Keji, South Sudan)

In this report I want to share with you what I learned and observed at the Disciple Conference I attended in Addis Abeba. After some general impressions, I will share the main points of the teaching at the conference.

General Impressions
It was in many ways a good conference. The teaching and fellowship were good and there was also time for worship (in a typical lively Ethiopian style). I was impressed with the main speaker: his experience, the content of his teaching but also his humility and spiritual focus. I had some good conversations with brothers and sisters from Sierra Leone, Uganda, Madagascar, Kenya, Egypt, Lebanon(!) and of course from Ethiopia. I met several people I knew from the time that I lived in Ethiopia myself.
It was a large conference with 2,500 people attending. The venue of the conference was very special. We met in the plenary (Nelson Mandela) meeting hall of the African Union building.
The conference was organized by the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church and sponsored by churches in Singapore, South Korea and the US.

African Union Plenary meeting room

African Union Conference Centre, Plenary Hall

I was disappointed about two things. First, the conference attendants were not really representing the Church in Africa. There were 2,200 Ethiopians and 300 people from outside Ethiopia, mostly Africans. Of the international delegates the majority was Kenyan. There were hardly any Nigerians, which is strange. I discovered only two Anglicans! Many denominations were not represented. Also almost all of the Ethiopians were from the organizing Kale Heywet church. There were no people from the other big protestant Mekane Yesus Church in Ethiopia and from other denominations, which is very awkward.
The other things is that there were no group discussions at the conference or the chance to ask questions. Of course that is very difficult with so many participants but it meant that we left with a number unanswered questions.

Towards Intentional Disciple Making
The main speaker was pastor Edmund Chan from Singapore. He set up an organization to envision churches all over the world in the area of Intentional Disciple making.

Chan started with the spiritual foundation for leaders who want to focus on disciple making. From Gal. 2:20 we learn 2 things:
1. Being committed as a leader is not enough. Paul talks about being crucified, which means total surrender to the Lordship of Christ.
2. Our focus needs to be on God: not what we can do for Him but what He is doing for us!

Our relationship with Christ is more important than the discipleship programs we are running.
Definition of Discipleship according to Chan:
“Disciplemaking is the process of bringing people into right relationship with God, and developing them to full maturity in Christ through intentional growth strategies, that they might multiply the process in others also”.

Four main topics were discussed:
1. See the critical need
2. Understand the Biblical strategy
3. Determine the End product
4. Accomplish the Mission

1. See the critical need: Returning the Church to its disciplemaking Roots
A. What is the situation now in many churches? Five Cries of the Church:
1. There are too many programs.
2. There are too few volunteers.
3. The leadership direction is not clear.
4. Leaders are not united.
5. Members are not discipled.

B. What symptoms of our problem do we see in churches?
1. Workers are tired.
2. There is a lack of leaders.
3. There is a lack of growth by conversion.
4. Cell groups are struggling.
5. Marriages are struggling.
6. We see broken relationships.
7. We see church members living in sin.

C. Satan’s scheme in attacking the Church: deception, division, discouragement, defilement.

The underlying problem is that Christians don’t disciple!
D. Five misconceptions of Discipleship:
1. Discipleship just happens.
2. Discipleship takes place when people attend church programs.
3. Discipleship is only for new Christians.
4. Discipleship is for spiritual people only.
5. Discipleship is a program.

E. If discipleship is so important, why is it so neglected?
1. A lack of time.
2. A lack of interest.
3. A lack of confidence. You can not pass on what you don’t have.
4. A lack of disciples. People don’t want to be discipled.
5. A lack of conviction.

2. Understand the Biblical strategy: Authentic and Intentional
A. Seven misconceptions of the Great Commission (Matth. 28:18-20)
1. Missing the main Focus: It is about us but about Christ who has the power!
2. Missing the main Essence: It it not a message to broadcast but a ‘life to live’.
3. Missing the main Agent: Not ‘some missionaries’ but all members!
4. Missing the main Product: Not ‘making converts’ but: making disciples!
5. Missing the main Emphasis: You must go and make disciples! It is not about the manner but about the mission.
6. Missing the main Yardstick: Not the numbers but obedience!
7. Missing the main Concern: Not just ‘disciple’ but ‘disciple the Nations’! Do we have a vision for the world?

B. Four convictions from Matthew 28:18-20
1. The source of the Great Commission: All authority…
2. The scope of the Great Commission: All nations…
3. The strategy of the Great Commission: Obey all things…
4. The season of the Great Commission: Always…

C. Eight marks (indicators) of a Disciplemaking Church
1. Purpose-driven: Disciplemaking is the core mission of the Church.
2. Responsible Evangelism: People are being led to Christ and followed-up.
3. Intentional Growth Strategies: People are being developed. There is something for everyone. Ministry according to spiritual gifts.
4. Leadership Commitment: Leaders are committed to model disciplemaking.
5. The Church has a clear disciplemaking Vision.
6. There are training programs for discipleship in place.
7. There is a small group infrastructure for intentional disciplemaking.
8. We see spiritual multiplication: People’s lives are transformed and multiplication is taking place.

3. Determine the End product: Reproduce Disciples of a certain kind
A. Question is: What kind of disciples does God call us to reproduce? It helps to distinguish between conventional church values and ‘intentional disciplemaking church values’.

# Conventional values versus Disciplemaking values
1 Making converts vs. Making disciples
2 Successful programs are valued vs. Spiritual maturity is valued
3 20% does 80% of the work vs. 20% equips 80% to minister
4 Laity-led, Clergy driven vs. Clergy-led, Laity driven
5 Disciples are maid within the church vs. Disciples are made in every sphere of life
6 Church dispenses information vs. Church transforms lives
7 Asks: How many attended church? vs. Asks: What kind attended church?
8 Looks for change in outward behaviour vs. Looks for change from inside out
9 Low expectations of Christians vs. Believes in the potential of one person and the power of multiplication

B. Philosophy of Disciplemaking
Disciplemaking is all about a certain kind of person who is radically committed to a certain kind of purpose, who thru a certain kind of process reproduces a certain kind of product.
1. A certain kind of person who is Abiding in Christ.
2. A certain kind of purpose: a Kingdom purpose.
3. A certain kind of process: Life investment in disciple making.
4. A certain kind of product: a Transformed life.

C. Discipling the inner life: not the outward life but transformation of the inner life
Focus on outward life versus Focus on inner life/transformation
1 Values accomplishments vs. Values authenticity
2 Values performance results vs. Values growth and learning
3 Competence (gifts) first vs. Character (fruits) first
4 Doing good as to be looking good vs. Doing good flows out of being good
5 Esteems status and stature vs. Esteems substance
6 Competitive and boastful vs. Genuinely celebrates others
7 Reacts to criticisms vs. Responds to criticisms
8 Cannot let go of control vs. Empowers others
9 Default way of the world vs. Discipleship way of God

4. Accomplish the Mission
Five steps towards building an Intentional Disciplemaking Church
1. Establish Biblical foundations
2. Champion the Disciplemaking vision (both top-down and bottom-up)
3. Launch a prototype (start a group)
4. Put structures into place
5. Establish the infrastructure

We were then presented with three models of an Intentional Disciplemaking Church. Those were of the Covenant Ev. Free Church in Singapore, the Ethiopian Kale Heywet Church and ‘Christ is the Answer Ministries’ (Citam) from Kenya. To be honest, the presentations on these models were not very clear and/or practical. I am here only giving the 5 parts of the program that Citam is using:
1. Enter: come and know, God’s special family
2. Encounter: come and grow, rooted and built up
3. Embrace: come and bond, living in love
4. Enlist: come and serve, equipped for service
5. Engage, come and go, engaged witnesses

It was made clear that you need to develop your own contextualised model for intentional disciplemaking.

See also:  ‘Thinking about Discipleship in Changing Contexts: Perceptions of Church Leaders of an Episcopal Diocese in South Sudan‘, Cairo Journal of Theology, volume 2, 2015, p. 121-131.