The Church in Africa

The colonial and apartheid past is fading and a new level of confidence, dynamism, vision and maturity is evident in many parts of Africa

1 More effective discipling of new believers

2 Unity in great diversity

a) That the carnality of inter-personal relationship breakdowns, desire for power and ethnic favouritism that lie behind many denominational splits may be crucified with Jesus on the cross

b) For pan-African bodies such as the AEA (Association of Evangelicals of Africa)

3 Leadership training is the critical bottleneck

a) Theological institutions

b) A relevant curriculum that is biblical, yet Africa-oriented

c) Harmony between staff

d) Selection of students

e) Funds

f) TEE programmes, which are vital for training lay leadership

g) African theologians

4 More effective cross-cultural missions

a) Pioneer areas. These still abound

b) Church support personnel for teaching, youth work, etc., which are needed as never before

c) Specialists for Bible translation, education, agriculture, health, radio, television, cassette ministries, Internet evangelism, etc

d) Social projects and aid ministries which are in ever-growing demand

5 The development of missions vision in the Church

a) Churches to see missions as fundamental to the gospel itself, and the task of every believer

b) Funds to be made available to train and send out missionaries

c) Effective cross-cultural training for missions — few Bible schools do this, but they should

6 Christian research has flourished through the enthusiastic efforts of a new generation of talented African researchers

7 The expatriate mission force

a) Partnership. The mission force is increasingly African and multicultural

b) Health and restorative ministries

Politics

Black Africa's isolation from the rest of the world ended in the 'Scramble for Africa' by the European colonial powers in the 19^th Century.

Religion

Religious freedom has increased over much of Africa during the 1990s, but persecution of Christians by Muslims has also increased in Egypt, Sudan, northern Nigeria and the Comores.

Missionaries from Africa

12,442 in 620 agencies with 3,126 in other lands.

Missionaries to Africa

17,737 expatriates in 620 agencies.

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Geography

Area 30,212,000 sq.km; 22.3% of the surface area of the world's 238 countries.

Population (2000) 784,315,000 +2.41%AGR

Peoples

African 77.9%; Arab 17.3%; Imazighen (Berber) 2.6%; European 1.1%; Mixed race 0.7%; Asian 0.4%.

Languages 2,110; 30.5% of the world's total. Official languages Arabic in North Africa (7 countries). Elsewhere French (22), English (21), Portuguese (4), Spanish (1). The increasing use of European languages in education is at the expense of local languages. In only 6 nations is an African language officially used as the main means of conducting the nation's business.

Bible translation Africa is the greatest remaining challenge for Bible translation with existing openings for missionary translators. Languages with Scriptures 130Bi 237NT 250por. There is work in progress in 373 and a definite need for translators in 297 more. This latter number could rise to 1,290 after careful field research.

Economy

Africa's economy has stagnated for 40 years; many countries have become poorer, a few have made progress. HDI is a measure of the quality of life of 174 nations. Of the bottom 40 in this list, 33 are in Africa. Income/person $660 (2% of USA). Only 1.7% of the world's GNP is generated in Africa.

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