One hundred African leaders from 33 nations assembled in Johannesburg, South Africa, in early February to discuss the future of missions on their continent.
A common theme reverberated from their lips: It’s time for Africa to embrace its potential as the world’s next great missionary sending force.
Subscribe to The Alabama Baptist today!
SIGN UP for our weekly Highlights emails.
“God is doing some things in Africa,” said Ezekiel Ajibade, a conference keynote speaker and rector of the Baptist College of Theology in Lagos, Nigeria. “God has resourced us. He has equipped us. We have the energy, we have the resilience, we have the training. We have a lot that God has invested in us as Africans, and I think now is the time for us to do this work.”
The mission-minded leaders gathered at the Together: Africa to the Nations conference with the goal of bolstering collaboration in their missionary sending efforts. Although the conference was hosted by the International Mission Board, African leaders headlined most keynote addresses and led the workshop discussions.
“The conference was really committed to having African speakers to speak on this African issue, to mobilize the African church,” emphasized Faly Ravoahangy, a pastor and missions leader from Madagascar. He knows that for the gospel to flow both within and from the continent, Africans must take ownership of the Great Commission.
“It is not a mandate that has been given to some people with a certain color of skin, or a certain origin or with certain means,” he said. “It’s been given to every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Pivotal role
Ajibade reminded attendees that Africans played a pivotal role in the spread of the gospel in the first century. The book of Acts notes that Africans were in attendance on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:8–10) and that Africans like Simeon of Niger and Lucius of Cyrene (modern day Libya) were leaders of the missional church at Antioch (Acts 13:1).
At the conference, attendees challenged each other to consider that it is time for Africans to re-engage wholeheartedly in the global missions movement. While some Africans are already training and sending missionaries — for instance, 400 people serve through Nigeria’s Global Mission Board — more can be mobilized.
Even though there are more than 400 unengaged, unreached people groups in Sub-Saharan Africa, millions of Christians could be mobilized to reach them. A 2018 study verified that more professing Christians live in sub-Saharan Africa than in any other place on earth.
In addition, the population of sub-Saharan Africa is growing almost three times faster than the rest of the world. “If we have these numbers, then we can’t be selfish,” Ajibade said. “It is time for us to go into the world.”
Check out full story.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Melanie Clinton and originally published by the International Mission Board.
Share with others: