Lausanne World Pulse – World Pulse Archives – World Pulse Archives

A popular book about Nigeria paints such a dreadful picture that I was warned not to show it to anyone planning to go there. On the other hand, a friend of mine said he had spent the best years of his life in Nigeria. Another doctor friend said he had made five short-term trips to Nigeria for medical service and wants to go back again.

But for most people, Africa is just too scary. Something seems to go wrong almost every day. A country erupts into civil war, old civil wars drag on and on, ebola breaks out unexpectedly, HIV/AIDS is rampant, hunger and starvation and homelessness seem unsolvable, corrupt politicians seem to prosper and missionaries are mugged and die in car wrecks. Against that backdrop it’s hard to appreciate how God’s work not only survives but also grows. We love to read the old 19th century stories about how our missionary forefathers bravely swept into Africa and paid an awful price for sowing gospel seeds, starting churches, hospitals and schools, and generally improving society.

But their successors get smacked because all of African society has not been redeemed, genocide has tarred a predominantly Christian country, and tribalism and various forms of pagan religions seem to prosper. The result is a mixed bag of successes and failures from our American grandstand. How marvelous it is to behold God’s amazing grace manifested in African churches and believers, in their schools and publishing houses, agricultural projects and urban ministries and technological advances. While Africa may seem like a scary shambles to us, to those African believers of great courage and hope their continent represents the place they want to change for the better.

Some 600 of them from 31 countries gathered under the umbrella of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), which speaks for 70 million evangelicals in 48 countries. To those who think these folks are unreconstructed traditionalists with simple pie in the sky theology, remember that they aggressively decided to tackle syncretism—the mixture of biblical and traditional customs. They want to mobilize their churches to do something about the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Imagine, if you will, their courage in calling for the rich countries to cancel the debts of the poor countries in the name of human dignity and human justice. When was the last time you heard evangelicals talk like that?

They want to keep in step with globalization issues and the implications of booming information technologies. They plan to intensify their training in several countries because of the development of new Christian TV stations.

They want to produce weekly and monthly programs on AIDS, family life, street children and problems related to teenagers. This is a side of Africa that rarely reaches our American eyes and ears.

Tokunboh Adeyemo, AEA’s outgoing chief executive, says it’s time to bury the old cliché that the church in Africa is a mile wide but one inch deep. He admits that Africa suffers from moral paralysis, but there is hope, he says, if African believers are prepared to pay the price.

And what about the rest of us? Are we prepared to pay the price to see this happen in Africa, or are we too afraid to take some risks for our sisters and brothers? If we think Africa is too scary, then we’ll go somewhere where it’s safe and miss God’s opportunity to dig in and help Africa as best we can.

We don’t divide the world into scary and safe places and decide accordingly. African believers need our encouragement and help. We must follow their agenda and tackle their needs as they see them.

March 22, 2002