Lessons from Africa ~ Evangelism Perspective

  The organization I went to Africa with is called Disiciple Making International (DMI).  This is DMI’s evangelism strategy.  A team of Christians goes into a city.  They are teamed up with Christians from the local churches who take them door to door.  The local gives an introduction such as, "This is my friend Debbie, she’s from Canada.  She is here to share about what Jesus has done in her life.  She doesn’t understand Kurundi so I am here to translate for her."  Then, if they do not understand English very well, they read the testimony.  If they do understand English I will tell it and they translate.  After the testimony is given, a series of questions are gone through: do you believe that God exists, do you believe that Jesus is God’s Son, do you believe that Jesus died for your sins, etc.  Opportunity is given for the people to pray a ‘sinner’s prayer’ and then we have a prayer of thanks.  If people respond through prayer, their name and contact information is written down so that the local Christian can return with a Bible and lessons for further growth and understanding. 

  When I first learned about DMI’s strategy of door to door evangelism I was a little skeptical.  Shouldn’t we at least be doing events with music and drama?  Or building houses?  Or feeding people?  And why did they need other people to come?  After all, all my job was going to be was going along with the locals and praying as they did the speaking.  Couldn’t they do this evangelism on their own?

  Through the two weeks of door to door evangelism I began to see that there is something about simply going and talking about Jesus and the gospel.  The reactions were mixed.  There were those who pretended to be sick or busy so that they wouldn’t have to listen to us.  There were those who only debated and discussed rather than listening.  And there were those who were eager to hear, who’s eyes were riveted on the speaker, hungry for more truth.  Those who were excited knowing they were getting a Bible and looking forward to the follow up visit.  And there was the bulk of the group who listened, answered yes to the questions and prayed ‘the prayer’ as a matter of course.  To be honest, I’m not sure how many of the 6000+ people who prayed with us were sincere or even understood exactly what was going on.

  But this is the first link of the chain.  The first step of the process.  Our presence as foreigners gave the churches a reason to go out and talk to people and created an object of interest for the listeners.  Now that initial contact has been made, I can see how if the volunteers we worked with go back, they will have amazing Bible studies!  They will teach those who first responded so that they understand what it means to be a Christian, how to read the Bible and how to pray.  While they teach them their neighbours will listen in and see the changes in their friends and they too will come to know Jesus Christ.    There were many young men that I saw responding to the gospel who will become great leaders among their peers. 

  When I analyze this model of evangelism, it’s excellent.  To just look at what was accomplished by our team of 20 it’s not much.  (Even though thousands prayed, there is very little understanding.)  But to look at the bigger picture, it’s a program of longer term discipleship and integration into a church family.  It’s a model that will produce many disciples and lovers of God.

  The next lesson I share will be in regards to money and the physical in relation to evangelism.  

Lessons from Africa ~ Simplicity & Hospitality

  I’ve only really thought about the lesson of simplicity now that I’m back in Canada.  Life in Africa is very simple.  At least what I saw of it.  The complication factor was absent.  Along with it, stress was no where to be seen, except in my fellow Canadians. 

  We would go from house to house and, especially in the poor areas, people would flock around.  We would great them and they would greet us and usually offer us a seat.  It was not uncommon to have 8 to 10 people gathered to listen.  Most of the time  I had no idea who was married to who or who were the parents of what kids.  Whatever was being done was not so important that they couldn’t take a few minutes to listen.  Of course, they may walk away at any time as well but all very leisurely.  There was no scurry hither and thither getting in a tither about doing this or that. 

  The food was simple.  I really don’t think they eat for the purpose of enjoyment there.  A typical meal was rice, meat, beans and matoke (cooked bananas) or potatoes with a banana for dessert.  Basically you eat or you don’t eat.  To drink the choice was water, coke or fanta and at breakfast coffee, tea or milk. 

  The way they drive is simple.  The biggest vehicle gets the right of way.  And if you think you deserve the right of way just honk your horn; everyone will move over. 

  Their houses are simple.  No extras.  If anything a few pictures or a calendar.  Wooden furniture.  Light from the windows. 

  Their lives are not cluttered.  They are free to spend time enjoying each other.  Their major concern is the basic nessecities of living.  When I think about that and about life here in North America, we make life way too complicated, too busy, too isolated.  They are so community oriented and we are so busy that we have no time for each other.  And even if we do have time, we don’t take time for each other.  We could definitely learn something from that simplicity of life.

  And the result?  These people love to smile and laugh.  I wonder if even in their poverty they are not the ones who truly enjoy life.

Home Sweet Home

  I have arrived back in the cold wild north!  I had an amazing trip!  Apart from the lack of variety in food I would have loved to have stayed longer.  The life there is so simple.  So enjoyable. 

  Probably the greatest blessing in going was meeting so many brothers and sisters.  Even though we have different colour skin and in a lot of cases a language barrier, our hearts are connected in Christ.  It makes me very excited for the day when we will all meet before our Maker worshipping Him together in the same language and knowing each other.  Truly beautiful people. 

  I’m still not rested up so I’m making this short.  Over the next few days I will share a few stories of my time in Burundi. 

  In the mean time, bwanna asifewe (praise the Lord).

The Latest

  I now understand what people mean when they say that you do not understand what it is like in third world countries unless you are there.  I wish I brought a video camera but even that could not fully capture what this country is like.  It would not capture the smells, which to be honest, are more bad than good.  And I will say what nearly everyone says who has gone on a missions trip: you should go!  It is definitely a perspective changer. 

  We are so spoiled in the Western world!  To give you an idea, one of our team members from Uganda has an old pair of glasses that do not fit him well.  One of the Canadian team members asked how much it would cost to go to an eye doctor and get a good pair of glasses that would fit well.  It works out to about $8 US.  Yeah.  Their concept of expensive is…unbelievable.  Actually, almost everything here is unbelievable.  I could spend hours telling stories, which I’m sure I will do when I get home.

  Right now I’m in an internet cafe.  That is one thing that is really interesting about Bujumbura.  It’s such a case of contradictions.  There is extreme poverty and yet many people have a cell phone.  Also, I have given out my e-mail address to dozens of people.  It seems everyone has an e-mail address no matter where they live, although they may not have a computer.  There are also some people here who look like they belong in North America.  And yet in other ways, they have no clue!  There was definitely shock value when I took out one of my contacts!  And then when the Fuhrer’s took out their dentures it just got better!  😀 

  On the spiritual side, it has been amazing so far.  On our campaign, over 2000 people have prayed the sinners prayer at this point.  I don’t have the exact number.  How many of those 2000+ were sincere and will continue to grow, I don’t know.  There have been people who refuse us (although they are few), there have been those who go through the process just to do it, and there are the jewels who sit listening intently and eagerly.  When we leave these ones thank us for the news we have brought them.  (In case you are confused as to what I am doing, we are doing door to door evangelism 6 days a week) 

  Yesterday I had the privilege of ‘preaching’ in a church here.  What a wonderful group of believers!  The singing was rousing.  All they had for instruments was a plastic water container and a stick.  A girl used it as a drum.  But excellent drumming and singing!  Oh, and they had some sort of rainmaker, shaker thing.  This church has quite the story.  About 8 years ago they were kicked out of the catholic church because they were praying on other days than Sunday.  Now  the Catholic priest wants to kill the pastor.  But they are full of joy and their church is not big enough to hold all the people who come. 

  There is much more I could share.  I have not mentioned the children!  They flock to me because of my white skin.  As we walk through the streets children and adults alike cry out ‘muzungu!’, which is their word for white people.  I smile at them and then they start laughing.  Or they enjoy touching my skin and hair.  They are absolutely adorable!  Today I was holding a little boy while my co-worker was speaking to the people and he fell asleep on my lap!  I’ve also had a baby pee on me.  They don’t really have diapers here.  So that was an experience.

  I will end this with a plea for prayer.  Here are some things to pray for:

 

~ continued health.  Quite a few of our team members are struggling with pain in their knees.  There have been other health problems which have been making the work harder, as we do a lot of walking.  Pray that the work would not be hindered.

~ the volunteers from churches.  Each day we work with a local person.  Later these people will return to the people who prayed the prayer to accept Christ with a Bible and lessons to disciple them.  Pray for them as they become leaders.  They are not very well trained and this work will go on only by the grace of God. 

~ Those we have spoken to.  Pray for understanding and growth.

 

  There are many things that prayer could be helpful for but those are some main things.  Thank you for your prayers.  Bwanna Asifewe (Praise the Lord)

For your reading interest…

  If you want a little challenging reading (not because it’s difficult to read: it’s difficult to apply) check out this article by Nancy Leigh DeMoss here. 

  One thing I appreciate about Nancy is that she not only says it like it is, she’s grounded in the Word of God.  A very wise woman.

Sovereign God

  Tomorrow I embark on a new adventure.  I think other people are more excited than I am!  Somehow it hasn’t really sunk in yet that I’m going to Africa.  I don’t know if it ever will really.  I don’t tend to be easily or deeply affected by things like this, culture shock and such.  Of course, I’ve never been to Africa either.

  My enouragement as I go is that God knows exactly what’s going to happen while I’m gone: while I’m going/there as well as here at home.  In fact, the whole thing was His idea.  He knows if I’m going to have flight delays, lost luggage or health problems.  It’s all in His plan. 

  That is true not only for me on this trip to Africa but in everything in every part of our lives.  We go through our day making many choices, but as it says in Proverbs, "The mind of a  man plans his way but the LORD directs his steps."  When I look back on my life I can see the fingerprints of God all over my life.  He has directed my life from before I was conceived.  As it says in Psalm 139 "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  He planned where I would be born, to whom I would be born, who my siblings would be, and what colour hair and eyes I would have.  He continues to guide my life and my choices according to His plan for His glory in my life. 

  Some people think that having God control everything is restrictive.  It feels like we can’t do what we want to do.  But the fact is no matter how much we tell ourselves otherwise, we are restricted.  Even though we live in a ‘free’ country like Canada, all our decisions are controlled or at least strongly influenced.  Besides not being able to choose where we are born and so on, there are other examples.  When I go grocery shopping I can’t just have a free choice.  My choices are controlled and influenced by several factors: what my family likes to eat, what is available at the store, what my culture and my mom’s cooking has told me tastes good and what I can afford to name a few.  We also cannot choose what the weather will be like (and good thing too because everyone would want something different!  More snow, more rain, less rain, more sun….).  So we’re restricted whether or not it is God who is in control.  But if He’s not in control than this world is a scary place to be because everything happens by chance.  If He IS in control than there is no place we can go where He is not watching over us and guiding us. 

  There is incredible freedom in realizing this.  What this means is that I can never make such a bad decision that God’s plan is damaged or cannot come to pass.  It also means that everything that I encounter in this life has come about as a part of God’s plan so  I can rejoice in it knowing it comes from the hand of a loving Father, even when it doesn’t seem very loving from a human standpoint.  In Jeremiah 29:11 God promises that His plans are ultimately for our good, which is also for His glory.

  Praise God, He knows, and He is good.