Why It's Hard to Be a MIssionary to Unreached People

“The unredeemed world lives in spiritual darkness. The eyes of unbelievers have been darkened by Satan, resulting in their hatred of the light of truth. For people who have lived a long time in darkness, a bright light that suddenly shines upon them produces pain. They cannot stand the light. They hate the light, and they do their best to put it out. Jesus explained the world’s reaction to His own coming into the world in these terms (John 3:19-20), and He told His disciples to expect exactly the same kind of treatment.

Speaking in modem terms, each group of people on this planet considers its own religion to be one of its most precious treasures. Thus telling them that their faith is wrong or untrue becomes an unforgivable offense and insult against them. The attempt to change their religion is perceived as an attack on their “national identity” This is why Christian missionaries are met with hostility and violence in every place to which they carry the gospel. For his part, the missionary must be convinced that the population to which he takes the Word lives in the lie of Satan and is damned to hell as a result of it. If the missionary is not convinced of this, he will not risk his life to kindle the light in their midst. However, when the ambassador of Christ speaks the truth in love, and meets death with joy, a strange, miracle occurs: the eyes of unbelievers are opened, they are enabled to see the truth of God, and this leads them to believe in the gospel. “

(Suffering And Martyrdom. Josef Tson, pg 182-183. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, William Carey Library, 1909)

“Christians need no Missionary appeals when they are lead by the Spirit.”

(Crucial dimensions in World Evangelization, Hiebert, Glasser, Wagner, Winter, pg 9 William Carey Library, 1976)

Multiplication is the BEST "Church Growth" says McGavran?

“One of the leading exponents for church planting in this century was the late Donald McGavran. In a Dawn Report, Jim Montgomery related the following incident:

During the last months of Mary McGavran’s illness, my wife Lyn would frequently spend time with her. Donald McGavran would be there, too, disregarding his own painful cancer while taking care of his beloved Mary. ‘You can be sure Jim and I will continue our commitment to church growth after you’re gone,’ Lyn said to Donald one day. ‘Don’t call it church growth anymore,’ was his quick response. ‘Call it church multiplication!’ Two weeks before his death, he said, ‘The only way we will get the job of the great commission done is to plant a church in every community in the world.’

There is more interest today in missions, world evangelization and church planting than ever before in history. In AD 100 there were 360 believers for every one believer. In 1500 the ratio was 69 to one. In 1900 it was 27 to one. And in 1990 it was seven to one. Ralph Winter is the founder of the U.S. Center for World Mission. Concerning this shrinking ratio, he says, “In the last 20 centuries the meek have quietly been inheriting the earth!”

(Saturation House Church Planting, Robert Fitts, Sr. Chapter 55 in, “Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader, Rad Zdero, William Carey, 2007 pg 465.)

Developing a Core of Leaders Essential

“In every movement that has had worldwide significance in the spread the gospel throughout the history of the church, lay men and women have had a leading role. John Wesley was a man of great learning with years education and religious training, but as the leader of one of the great revival and church planting movements of history he did not go to the establish schools of religious training to find his pastors and leaders. He said:

"Give me 12 men who love Jesus with all their hearts and who do not fear men or devils and I care not one whit whether they be clergy or laity, with these men I will change the world."

And that is just what Mr. Wesley did! To preach the gospel in the open air Wesley’s day was the height of sacrilege and a serious affront to established church. It was unthinkable in the Church of England to outside of the walls of the holy sanctuaries to proclaim the sacred word of God. The Wesley brothers and George Whitefield suffered years of persecution for breaking the long-standing traditions of the established church, but this did not deter them. They knew the Scriptures and were convinced that if Jesus could do it, it was acceptable for them to do the same as well."

(Saturation House Church Planting, Robert Fitts, Sr. Chapter 55 in, “Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader, Rad Zdero, William Carey, 2007 pg 468)

Developing Tentmaking Leaders Essential

"Drawing again from the writings of the father of the church movement, Dr. McGavran, I quote from his book:"

“Develop unpaid lay leaders. Laymen have played a great part in urban expansions of the Church. One secret of growth in the cities of Latin America has been that, from the beginning, unpaid common men led the congregations, which therefore appeared to the masses to be truly Chilean or Brazilian affairs. In any land, when laborers, mechanics, clerks, or truck drivers teach the Bible, lead in prayer, tell what God has done for them, or exhort the brethren, the Christian religion looks and sounds natural to ordinary men. Whatever unpaid laymen, earning their living as others do, subject to the same hazards and bound by the same work schedules, lack in correctness of Bible teaching or beauty of prayers, they more than make up for by their intimate contact with their own people. No paid worker from the outside and certainly no missionary from abroad can know as much about a neighborhood as someone who has dozens of relatives and intimates all about him. True, on new ground the outsider has to start new expansions. No one else can. But the sooner he turns the churches over to local men the better.3"
3 Donald McGavran (1970), Understanding Church Growth, Eerdmans.

(Saturation House Church Planting, Robert Fitts, Sr. Chapter 55 in, “Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader, Rad Zdero, William Carey, 2007 pg 468-469.)

New Church Paradigms?

As the body of Christ grows from the infant to the toddler stage, it is seeking direction for its journey forward. It has gradually stepped around the barrier of old wineskins and has come to view different infrastructures.
Our view is often limited. Old paradigms are blinders, making it impossible to see peripherally. To describe it another way, we now “see through a glass darkly.”
As we step forward, we must see the emerging Last Days wineskin for Christ’s ekklesia. It does not yet exist. Should the Lord tarry, perhaps it will arise in the last half of this century. Can we set our vision to pioneer its lifestyle?

(Ralph Neighbour, forward of "Nexus, The World House Church Movement Reader, Editor Rad Zdero, William Carry, 2007 pp. Forward)

The Value in Knowing God

“When Jim (Elliot) was twenty years old he prayed. `Lord make my way prosperous, not that I achieve high station, but that my life may be an exhibit to the value of knowing God.”

(“Shadow of the Almighty”, Elezabeth Elliot HarperSanFrancisco. 1958, Pg 11)

How Poor can a Poor Person Be?

"A recent report in the Guardian newspaper says that already more people are eating locally made mud cakes literally patties made of mud to alleviate hunger pains. ‘Traditionally, pregnant women eat the clay patties to try and get more iron in their system, but children are eating them too- Dr. John Carroll, who’s spent much of the past 27 years working in children’s clinics in Haiti, says the next blow may be a water crisis. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are water riots in the future because of a lack of clean water for the vast majority of Haitians, he says."

(Maclean’s, August 18^th,2008, “Dirt Poor Eating Mud to Survive”, pp.30)

Ever Feel like this? Humbling!

"Some people say we need twenty years of experience. But often twenty years' experience is really just one year, repeated twenty times, with no better results after the twentieth year then the first!"
(Fruitful Practices, Don Allen. Mission Frontiers, July -August 2008, pp.7)

Good Question!

"How can you worship a homeless Man on Sunday
and ignore one on Monday?"

said the sign outside St. Edward's Cathedral in Philadelphia.

(The New Monasticism, Rob Moll. Christianity today. (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2005/september/16.38.html) Accessed July 26,2008.

In Need a Modern Mission Hero!

Three Prince Edward Island, Canada, missionaries deaths bring the Gospel to Vanuatu, and I have to share the story.

Our, ......my........, shallow, convicted, evangelism of today does not stand the test of examination in the light of their sacrifice. How much passion do we have to reach lost people anymore in western Christianity? Sacrifice for the gospel, is it on the radar, called for in our preaching?

George & Ellen Gordon must have been people of deep conviction. However, the even, more profound story is embedded deeply inside –the story of James Gordon, Georges Brother. After receiving word that his brother George was killed in 1861, James finished his missionary studies and immediately went to pick up his brothers work in 1864. James himself was also killed in 1872. The Memorial Monument is not far from my house. So, in some small way, I can't help but wonder if my call to missions was not to satisfy, though in some very small way, the cry of the gospel to the nations that was left unfilled by PEI, and the kingdoms, loss? I do wonder, who are our missionary hero's today? Who is modeling deep, willful, intentional, sacrifice to free their lives, and resources, to get the gospel to the front lines. Shallow, shallow me, would my faith ever enable me to be a hero some day?

(The note under the photo states)

TWO DELEGATES from the Presbyterian Church in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu Rev George Aki, Moderator General and Pastor Kalsakau Urtalo, Assembly Clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu visited the birth place of martyred missionaries Rev George Gordon and his wife Ellen Gordon and his brother Rev James Gordon. They were slain by natives of Erromango in the 1800s but their work was not in vane. Now 38 percent of the islands once known as New Hebrides are Christian and they belong to the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu. (This Monument in Huntly PEI, contains a memorial plaque)

Here is the rest of the story that appeared in the West Prince Graphic June 11,2008:

Missionaries Visiting the Roots of Their Faith

Visiting Gordon Memorial Cairn and the Gordon Cemetery in Huntley held great meaning for Pastor George Aki and Pastor Kalsakau Urtalo.

The delegates from the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu were on PEI and NS as guests of the Presbyterian Church of Canada. They felt honoured to walk the same grounds as the martyred missionaries from Huntley didbefore leaving for the South Sea Islands of New Hebrides 150 years ago.

The islands are now known as Vanuatu, an archipelago nation consisting of 83 islands in the Southwest Pacific Ocean, north of New Zealand and east of Australia. Vanuatu has a population of 240,000 people and 38 percent belong to the Presbyterian Church.

Their Christian faith can be traced directly back to some of the first missionaries to go there so long ago, Rev George Gordon, his wife Ellen and later his brother James Gordon. They were raised in the peaceful little farming community of Huntley, PEI, which was literally and figurativelyworlds apart from the place they were called to spread the gospel.

“It is in our history, the story of Christianity”, Pastor Urtalo said while viewing the stone cairn that marks the Gordon’s birthplace in Huntley The cairn also serves as the tombstone for the three missionaries who were killed on the island of Erromango.....

Pastor Urtalo is assembly clerk of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu and Pastor Aki is moderator general for the church. Joining these guests were the closest living descendants of the Gordon's, Robert Gordon of Alma and Jean Burnett Farris,who grew up on the farm where the missionaryGordon’s once lived.

Mrs Farris said her mother told her many stories about George and James Gordon and how they went to the uncivilized islands to bring Christianity to the people there. They were murdered by those who weresuspicious of their motives, blaming every disaster on their presence.

“There were a number of reasons’ Mrs Farris explained. White sandal wood traders were exploiting the islands for many years, doing unscrupulous things to the native people in the name of commerce. They were slave traders and through them, measles were introduced causing many to die. On the heals of that a hurricane and another disaster occurred-There were some who quickly became Christians but there were a number of island natives who didn’ttrust the missionaries.

Two missionaries came in 1848 from the London Missionary Society. They were killed as soon as they landed. In June of 1857 Rev Gordon, who had been educated at Free Church College in Halifax was placed as a missionary on Erromango. The island was described as a dark and godless place at the time.

In a 120-year-old book entitled “The Story of John G Paton’, also a missionary at that time, a chapter is devoted to the Gordons. It explains how they were making inroads among the people, gaining their trust. A group was attending church at a Mission House they had built and was listening to the stories from the Bible, singing hymns and reading a small book from the Bible that had been translated into their own language. The young men and women living at the Mission House were being trained to become teachers. Rev Gordon was in the process of moving the house a mile or so up a hill partly because of Mrs Gordon’ health and partly to escape what was described in the book as “the annoying and contaminating influence of the sandal-wooders on the Christian Natives:’

“On the 20th of May 1861, he was still working at the roofing of the printing office and had sent his lads to bring each a load of the long grass to finish the thatching.

“Meantime a party of Erromangans from a district called Bunk-Kill, under a chief named Lovu had been watching him. They had been to the Mission House inquiring and they had seen him send away his Christian lads. They then hid in the bush andsent two of their men to the Missionary to ask for calico:’ the author wrote.

Rev Gordon scratched a note on a piece of wood telling his wife to give them two yards of cloth each. They insisted that he accompany them back to the house, saying they needed medicine for a sick boy and their chief wanted to see him. As he led the way, he crossed a stream and slipped. “A blow was aimed at him with a tomahawk, which he caught: the other man struck but his weapon was alsocaught. One of the tomahawks was wrenched from his grasp”.

Rev Gordon was knocked to the ground with a blow to the spine and a second blow to his neck killed him. His wife was slain as she came out of the mission house to see what was happening. Over the four years of their mission work, the Gordon’s learned the language, and had been writing stories from the Bible in the native tongue. News of their murder travelled quickly and heightened the danger for other missionaries who were living on nearby island communities.

Mrs Farris explained that when Rev Gordon’s brother James received word of his death, he was studying to become a missionary. He went to the islands in 1864 with Hugh Robinson and his wife who stayed to continue the work started by the Gordons. James met a similar fate in 1872, becoming one of six martyred missionaries of the South Sea Islands.

“We are shameful this happened and regret it,” Pastor Aki said. Coming to the place where the early missionaries were born, is like a journey from the past to the future for him.

“We feel it is a great honour given by the United Church of Canada to be here with the roots of our Christianity”, Pastor Aki said. They came to celebrate the 160th anniversary of the arrival of Rev John and Charlotte Geddie in Aneityum, Vanuatu in 1848.They also visited Camp - Geddie and Geddie Memorial Church in New London, PEI as part of their tour.

“It is like seeing things come full circle. It was very thrilling to see these men and hear that the Islands are now Christian:’ Mrs Farris commented.

In 1968, the late Alice (Gordon) Green visited Vanuatu for a rededication of the martyr’s church. She brought back memorabilia which is displayed at Gordon Memorial United Church. Mrs Farris has her research papers about their ancestors, who are now very much revered in that corner of the world. A reception held at Gordon Memorial Church after the tour gave people from the community an opportunity to meet Pastors Aki and Urtalo.”

Dare to do the Gap!

Jesus Christ’s passion for the world is so vast that he willingly died to bridge the gap between God and humanity. He is looking for a people like himself, a people who will dare to ‘stand in the gap’...... The Lord Jesus, in his Great Commission to the church, told his followers to go out into the world and make disciples of all nations. Sadly, a Christian believer or Christian church that is not passionately and practically seeking to fulfill the Great Commission is, in effect, neutered because it has lost both the desire and the DNA to reproduce and multiply. We are out of sync with God’s vision if our vision is limited only to the welfare of our family, our church, or our city. These are only platforms for launching out into the world to make disciples of all nations. The Great Commission should be the signature tune of every believer and church. "
(Nexus: The World House Church Movement Reader. Rad Zdero, William Carey Library, p19)

Challenge to Live Simply For Missions! Are we too High on the Hog on the mission field?

How far above the people is reasonable?
General Romeo Dallaire, of Canada took his post in Rwanda just before the Genocide there. He remained during the genocide. When offered the fancy perks that “Influential” people get in Africa, as he took his post he wrote;

“…..because of my rank and secondment contract from Canada, Hallqvist seemed to expect me to take advantage of every possible perk and privilege: fancy car, big house, all the little luxuries. I believe a commander does his mission a disservice when he lives high off the hog while his soldiers are eating meagre meals prepared by cooks standing in the pouring rain in temporary kitchens. I think I may have actually shocked Hallqvist when I returned the Mercedes staff car he assigned me in favour of the UN standard four-by-four Land Cruiser and sent Willem de Kant out to rent us a small house, where I intended to house him and myself, and Brent and my personal driver when they arrived. I did not want one of the comfortable residences that so many of the UN staff were acquiring, because it sent a message to the Rwandan people that we put our comfort before their interests, and I couldn’t stomach that. I loved the house that Willem found us: it was on a hill in Kigali and was cosy and clean behind its wall and single metal gate. Each morning I drank tea on the patio, staring out at the view of the city spread below me, and I sometimes struggled to find the resolve to leave that peaceful spot to take up the challenges of the day.

(Shake Hands with the Devil: A Failure of Humanity in Rwanda: LGen Romeo Dallaire, Random House, 2003, pg 107-108)

Self -Supporting National Church Planting Only Needs Members to Give Eggs?

I was privileged to participate in a seminar some time ago in Lomé, Togo. One of those
in attendance from a neighboring country told the following story. He said that the church of which he is a part decided to launch a campaign to evangelize a number of villages in an area that they identified as needing a Gospel witness. They knew the cost would be high, so they drew up a budget. The amount they felt would be required in CFA francs was the equivalent of
US$100,000.

The one telling the story said he felt that was an unrealistic amount for a church of their size, so he told the other leaders that he did not believe such a goal could be reached. However, one of the other leaders suggested that they invite the members to give what they can. They said, “If someone can bring an egg, they should bring it. If they can bring a chicken, they should bring it. If they can bring a cow, they should bring it.” After all, in 2 Corinthians 8:12 the Apostle Paul says the gift should be according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.

The effort to raise funds was launched and to the surprise of many, the entire goal of US$100,000 was reached with some to spare. In fact, they had enough over and above the goal to purchase a van for the project! The evangelistic outreach was launched, and when it was completed, thirty- three new congregations were started!

Those who try to justify Western funding for cross-cultural church planting in places such as this most likely do not understand the power of local creativity and local resources. Westerners just don’t think of beginning with an egg. How many times do we as outsiders rationalize that since we have the funds, we are obligated to give regardless of the impact on those we are trying to help. God blessed the efforts of those in this West African country, and they were rewarded with the blessing of a goal accomplished. Consider the harm that is done when local participation is overlooked or even spurned in favor of the outsiders need just to give. And that need to give—on the part of outsiders—is what results in donor-driven missiology, hardly the best kind.

(Glen Schwartz: Can a church Planting Effort Start With and Egg? Mission Frontiers. Nov-December 2007, p27)

Is Christianity Relapsing Globally? Does Our Missions Movement Have Depth?

This article is a needed challenge. I have dealt with syncretism and poor ethics in leaders. I have also dealt with missionaries who indicated "Their" work or church does not have the same problem as mine. I listened politely. However, I also know what leaders knew about actions of "their" national leaders, and I realized these guys where just fooling themselves.
Read this and Let us examine the fruit of our work, and work for more depth.

"Is Christianity Relapsing Globally?
Far worse, is the nightmare of a thought that our vast global, hard-won expansion of Christianity is falling to pieces before our eyes. We always used to think, “Even if things are not going too well in the USA, at least those millions of newly won believers overseas are flourishing in the faith.”

Okay, that is mainly true. They are flourishing. However, there are some disquieting facts that are hard to ignore. Kenya, with over 400 denominations and almost as many Evangelicals as in all of Europe, has exploded before our eyes—into nasty and unprecedented intertribal warfare—despite being 80% Christian, just like the USA.

Nearby, the Central African Republic is considered by some to be one of the more dangerous and corrupt countries of the world. We might say, “Those people need Christianity.”Well, 70% of the country is “Christian” in 59 denominations, with a higher percentage of Evangelicals than any other country in Africa.

In Nagaland, almost 100% of the Nagas are Christian—it is the most Christian state of India. It also is considered the most corrupt. At least there is less head-hunting.

Does this mean we are planting a superficial kind of Christianity all around the world? Are people seeking or accepting our offered Gospel for reasons other than what we have expected?"

(Ralph D. Winter. Editorial Comment, Mission Frontiers, March-April 2008, p 4)

The Need for Self-Supporting National Work

"The first thing I remember about encountering self-reliance thinking happened nearly fifty L years ago when I was a college student. I read a story about missionary work in Vietnam following the Indo-China war. It was about the return of missionaries to Vietnam following the devastation caused by the war. When they saw the ruined pastors’ houses, the missionaries felt compassion and wanted to help rebuild. The local people, however, had other ideas. They asked the missionaries not to help, saying that it was their privilege to rebuild their own pastors’ houses. That was a very small seed sown in my thinking a long time ago.

The second experience that brought this issue to my attention happened when I served as a missionary in Zambia in the 1960s. Several Zambian believers and I were sitting under a grass shelter discussing their desire to start a church in the village. They wanted to know if there would be outside funding available to provide a building. I noticed that they constructed the shelter in which we were sitting using only local material. I also noticed that next to us there was a grocery store made with burnt brick and a metal roof. I asked if the missionaries built the grocery store for them. They were happy to say, “Of course not, we did it ourselves.” A few more seeds were sown in my thinking. That was in 1967—about twenty years before I began to deal in-depth with self-reliance issues..............

............................The fifth thing that influenced my thinking on issues of indigeneity and self-support came from listening to and interacting with hundreds of church leaders and missionaries while traveling in Africa from 1984 to the present. Many times, church leaders or missionaries would say, “Let me tell you my story.” Recently I was in Canada speaking on self-reliance issues. One man in the audience spoke up saying that he had been a missionary in Botswana for twelve years. As he was preparing for his return to Canada, the local churches in Botswana took a collection equal to US$1000 to help him and his family relocate back home. He made a point of saying that some of the churches doing the giving were poor churches. Like others, this missionary learned how humbling it can be to receive from those who give out of their relative poverty."

(My Encounter With Self-Reliance. Glenn Schwartz. Mission Frontiers, May-June 2008, pp 27)

How to "Preach" in Other cultures? Interesting to Think About!

"While on furlough, I once tried to explain to an American pastor about the flow and form of a typical house-church meeting in Central Asia. I described how some of the pastors I know, simple Muslim-background men, wait for normal conversations over tea and a meal to determine what they later teach in that meeting. I went on to say that by using this as the primary means of imparting Christian doctrine, they are being relevant to the spiritual needs of people who do not usually think in the abstract. After struggling to get his mind around this paradigm-shattering idea, my friend became annoyed and asked, “But how can you call that preaching?”

Some time later, I related this conversation back to one of those house- church pastors I had referred to. He was just as piqued when he replied, “If I stood up and gave a speech like you do in your Western churches, people would think I was crazy! No one would ever talk that way in real life.”

Hopefully, this illustrates the degree to which cultural conditioning affects our presuppositions about what is the appropriate form for ‘Christian” communication."

(Event-speech as a Form of Missionary Communication, by Gene Daniels. EMQ Jan 2008. p. 80)

Respect and Seek out Elders as a Short-Term Missionary! Don't just "hang out"!

"A local senior pastor, commenting on the manner of dress of the short- term team, said, “They come with their culture, not minding about the people they are ministering to have their own culture.” The team wore hats while evangelizing and when approaching local elders; this was understood lo cally as a sign of disrespect. The senior pastor also complained that the team “hooked up with younger people,” which made the locals suspect the team of having their own agenda. In that culture the missionaries were expected to approach older people for guidance in the culture."

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.63)

When Short -Termers Conduct is an Embarrassment! Listen!

"Some members of a short-term team visited a local disco hall seeking entertainment. They took alcohol in public—a scandal for the local community. In another case, two members of the short-term team were smoking—an embarrassment to local believers and the host pastor. The two were also seen with local girls who made their living from prostitution. The host of this team said that with few exceptions, “they do not build relationships; they come for projects.” A pastor’s wife was puzzled that the short-term mission often turns out to be a vacation, which raises questions about the sincerity of some short-term missionaries. She asked, ‘Do they come here to do the holiday thing or do they come here to minister?” Lack of listening to the local leaders led one pastor’s wife to say, “They have an agenda. They want to get that agenda so that they will have enough information to bring back with them. They are not patient enough to stay and listen.” In her context, respect able nationals will not open up to a short-term missionary who is just “coming and going......

One pastor recalled how the short-term missionaries felt dishonored when their hosts did not schedule every moment of their time. The team felt they were left idle when an event was not occurring. The host team planned around the events. A sharp disagreement arose after debriefing and, although they were invited in return, the team never came back. The implied self ascription of the short-termers as “the achievers” and the host as offering “idleness’ created a conflict between the two groups who were actually committed to the good of each other.”

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.61-62. 63)

Short-Term Mission Activity Should Build up Local Leaders!

"One host pastor complained that the efforts of short-term missionaries caused his work to be sneered at. In terms of evangelism, they accomplished in two weeks what he had not done in all his years at the local church. The comparison left a dented image of the local pastor; his congregation no longer appreciated the enormous work he had done for them, he lamented that short-termers merely “come, hit and run.” His comment raises the question of what mission models might have suited his context so as not to overlook the fact that his work also included weddings, baptisms, burials and hidden ministries such as counseling. The short- term missionaries were involved only in evangelistic outreach. A good mission model would have left both the pastor and the congregation united over their goals."

(The Trendy Giant Wounds: Some Lessons from the Church in Africa, David Ngaruiya. EMQ, January 2008, p.61)