Books
Daneel, Marthinus. African Earthkeepers: Wholistic Interfaith Mission. New York: Orbis Books, 2001.
Robert, Dana Lee, ed. Converting Colonialism: Vision and Realities in Mission History, 1706-1914. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008.
Walston, Vaughn J. African-American Experience in World Mission: A Call Beyond Community. Pasedena, CA: William Carey Library Publishers, 2009.
Articles
Hearn, Julie. "'The Invisible' NGO: US Evangleical Missions in Kenya." Journal of Religion in Africa vol. 32, no. 1 (2002): 32-60.
Wamgatta, Evanson N. “Changes of Government Policies Towards Mission Education in Colonial Kenya and Their Effects on the Missions: The Case of the Gospel Missionary Society.” Journal of Religion in Africa. Vol. 38, no. 1 (2008): 3-26.
Wamgatta, Evanson N. “The Roots of the Presbyterian Church of Kenya: The Merger of the Gospel Missionary Society and the Church of Scotland Mission Revisited.” Journal of Religious History. vol. 31, no. 4 (December 2007): 387-402.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
The Plane
I've gotten all my inoculations. I have my passport. Powerbars. Bug spray. Some books on Kenyan culture. Continuing to work on language. We've passed through security.
I am sitting on the plane waiting to take off. Five other members of the group surround me. As a human being, I am not ready for this. Through God's love and grace, I am ready for anything. According to Julie Hearn, "We are living in the missionary era," and I feel a part of it. (Hearn, 35)
I will respect the people I meet. I will learn from them. I will follow their lead.
The plane is rolling. We've lifted off the runway. I can breathe now . . .
I am sitting on the plane waiting to take off. Five other members of the group surround me. As a human being, I am not ready for this. Through God's love and grace, I am ready for anything. According to Julie Hearn, "We are living in the missionary era," and I feel a part of it. (Hearn, 35)
I will respect the people I meet. I will learn from them. I will follow their lead.
The plane is rolling. We've lifted off the runway. I can breathe now . . .
Signs
Donovan baptized the Masai turning to the traditional Christian sign or symbol of being renewed in Christ. The Masai’s brought their own signs blending burning embers lit from the same fire with the baptism ritual. (Donovan, 72) Through this blending Donovan turned to contextualization, looking to the experiences of the Masai to make the baptism more real to them.
I pray that there will be similar signs when my group and I go to Kenya. Perhaps there will be the moving of the Holy Spirit as we help to organize a revival through the church. Perhaps some lives will be changed through relationship with the God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This is my hope and desire.
I pray that there will be similar signs when my group and I go to Kenya. Perhaps there will be the moving of the Holy Spirit as we help to organize a revival through the church. Perhaps some lives will be changed through relationship with the God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This is my hope and desire.
Word
In the first preface, Donovan points to the Gospel or more broadly the Word: “Two things must come together to lead us to that new place—the gospel and the sacred arena of people’s lives. What we referred to tentatively in Africa as the naked gospel, what Karl Rahner describes theologically as the ‘final and fundamental substance of the Christian message,’ must be brought to bear on the real flesh and blood world in which we live. (Donovan, xiii)
I realize that in going to Nakura this does and does not apply. Nakura is already an established church. Yet there are people in the community who are not familiar with the work. I will be experiencing the “naked gospel” with some people in Africa. And I need to be open to the experience. And also respect how they will blend their own culture with the Christianity we offer.
I realize that in going to Nakura this does and does not apply. Nakura is already an established church. Yet there are people in the community who are not familiar with the work. I will be experiencing the “naked gospel” with some people in Africa. And I need to be open to the experience. And also respect how they will blend their own culture with the Christianity we offer.
Deed
Interestingly, Donovan begins with the deed. He described existing efforts that were institutional including schools and a hospital. Donovan wrote his bishop requesting being cut-off from these institutions, instead going among, essentially living with the Masai.
The XYZ Church, my church, plan to be there only 10 days but my plan in terms of contextualization (Lecture, 7/20 and 21/09) started long before the trip. They speak English in Kenya but also a language of Africa Kiswahili. In the past year, I have taken two classes in Kiswahili and have a good comprehension of the language. So we go to Kenya as part of an institution but I would like to follow Donovan’s model and do my best to immerse myself in Kenyan culture. (Donovan, 12-14) XYZ also plans a long term commitment and relationship with Nakura.
The XYZ Church, my church, plan to be there only 10 days but my plan in terms of contextualization (Lecture, 7/20 and 21/09) started long before the trip. They speak English in Kenya but also a language of Africa Kiswahili. In the past year, I have taken two classes in Kiswahili and have a good comprehension of the language. So we go to Kenya as part of an institution but I would like to follow Donovan’s model and do my best to immerse myself in Kenyan culture. (Donovan, 12-14) XYZ also plans a long term commitment and relationship with Nakura.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Key Scripture (and some theology): Romans 15:18-20b
Dr. Winston Worrell (http://www.worldmethodist.org/evangelisminstitute.htm) also came to my church to visit and I was really taken with some scripture he shared: “For I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to win obedience from the Gentiles, by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and as far around as Illyricum I have fully proclaimed the good news of Christ. Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news.” (Romans 15:18-20b, NRSV). I will commit this scripture to memory and keep it at the center of my theology of mission to Nakura in Kenya. I also think that this confluence of word, deed, and signs really seems to parallel what Donovan was trying to do in Africa. I hope the same will be true of experience with Nakura.
Some Reading
I went to amazon.com and the Emory’s library database; I'm at Emory. Pastor Arnold also went to Emory and suggested William J. Abraham’s The Logic of Evangelism, Howard A. Snyder’s Liberating the Church: The Ecology of Church and Kingdom, and Leslie Newbigin’s The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society. Boring. Then I got my hands on Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent J. Donovan. I think it will be more useful in a practical way then those other books because Vincent immersed himself in the culture. I am also emphasizing this last book because Nakura, our mission location, is in East Africa, more specifically Kenya. Vincent was also in East Africa with the Masai.
First Meeting on Mission Trip
XYZ Church, my church, is planning a mission trip to Nakura. A group of 6 who are going, along with others in the church have fasted and prayed in the past year for the team and those in Kenya.
Pastor Arnold, my pastor had our first mission meeting (see the PP she used). She asked us to consider how if at all to mesh XYZ’s and Nakura’s mission statements, paying particular notice to honoring Nakura’s mission. I suggested honoring Nakura's mission and scripture since both seemed bibical. The pastor agreed. We are all in agreement.
Pastor Arnold wanted to know if we had our own theology concerning mission, and did it jibe with the what we thought was the church’s theology. She asked about culture. And she asked so much more but I will get into that as a grapple with preparing. More on all this later in my blog.
Pastor Arnold, my pastor had our first mission meeting (see the PP she used). She asked us to consider how if at all to mesh XYZ’s and Nakura’s mission statements, paying particular notice to honoring Nakura’s mission. I suggested honoring Nakura's mission and scripture since both seemed bibical. The pastor agreed. We are all in agreement.
Pastor Arnold wanted to know if we had our own theology concerning mission, and did it jibe with the what we thought was the church’s theology. She asked about culture. And she asked so much more but I will get into that as a grapple with preparing. More on all this later in my blog.
Mira’s Diary: Mission Trip to Nakura United Methodist Church
My name is Mira and at 16 I am in my second year of college. I am majoring in religious studies. Some say I am gifted; I don’t know. I do know I am in college with people who are older than me. I’m big on thinking but as my mother says I am less emotionally mature than the other college students. It’s probably why I spend so much time at church.
We are going to Nakura United Methodist Church in Kenya this summer. I know in the past missionaries have done a great deal of damage to the people they were supposed to be serving. There was some good though according to Daniel Jeyarah who describes Indian missions, "Christian missionary documents, however, tend to reveal the live and culture of India more accurately." (Robert, 21) We will try to immerse ourselves in the culture in the short time we have in Kenya. Get to know the people. Be in relationship with them.
We are going to Nakura United Methodist Church in Kenya this summer. I know in the past missionaries have done a great deal of damage to the people they were supposed to be serving. There was some good though according to Daniel Jeyarah who describes Indian missions, "Christian missionary documents, however, tend to reveal the live and culture of India more accurately." (Robert, 21) We will try to immerse ourselves in the culture in the short time we have in Kenya. Get to know the people. Be in relationship with them.
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