Dear Friends and Family,
Monday was a travel day for Jerry and I, and it was mostly according to plan. Our departure from Nairobi was 75 minutes late due to a late arriving flight using the plane we would use to get to Madagascar. It was a long day and by the time we settled into our rooms in the capital of Antananarivo (On-tuh-non-uh-reevo) I was pretty tired and without much to report decided to skip a day. But today had a lot to report and perhaps the most significant development wasn’t even on the schedule.
ON THE SCHEDULE
Meeting the ITEM Team
This morning Jerry and I met with those who are being brought together to form a new team here. I’ve mentioned that this is the third re-start here. The last re-start was shut down by covid and the untimely death of our coordinator here.
Our new coordinator, Najo Emmanuel, is an office in the Baptist Convention here. He is solid and a man of great integrity. He has assembled a few other men he trusts. One who was not here is a graduate of the Master’s Seminary which is on the campus Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, and he has his own expository preaching ministry here in Madagascar.
I reviewed our strategy. We call it the E-4 Church Strategy because it is hopefully designed to see churches become models of Eph 4:11-16. It calls for two seminars followed by mentoring to help with the implementation of what is taught in the seminars. It was a good session. They have been tasked with putting together a plan to re-start the ministry here in Antananarivo. They call it the capital Tana, for short.
Worldview Class
After lunch I led an online class entitled Worldview Matters. During the 90 minute session I explained what a worldview deals with and why it is important. I reviews how culture can build
your worldview without you even knowing it. Then I explain what a true Biblical-Christian Worldview is and how it easily devolves into deism, naturalism, and postmodernism. I also talk about a new challenge, the worldview called “scientism,” which states that the only way to know something is true is to test it and measure it in a science lab. Right away we see that scientism is self-defeating because the claim itself cannot be verified or measured in a lab. We also covered the worldview of Islam and a little of what is commonly called “African Traditional Religions.”
NOT ON OUR SCHEDULE BUT ON GOD’S
Monday night at dinner, Najo, our coordinator here, introduced us to Jeffrey Mwanyenya, who is the Southern Africa Coordinator for International Commission, which does training in church based evangelism. We shared out ministries with each other and he invited us to hie country Zimbabwe, to train pastors. I told him we were spread pretty thin already, as a ministry, but maybe in the future. You never know.
TONIGHT, Tuesday, we got talking about the apologetics ministry that I am developing. I asked if there was a need. He said yes. He said that the unemployed level is around 80%. As a result, drugs are a real problem.
As we talked and shared thoughts we came up with a plan that we will begin to explore. He has a network that extends all over the southern regions of Africa. We discussed the possibility of bringing leaders from several southern African countries for a two day apologetics seminar where I was train them, provide a curriculum and notes to take back to share with others. So, we pledged to stay in touch, work on a plan and a budget over the next few months and if it looks doable and financially reasonable I will seek to raise the funds over and above normal ITEM giving to fund it. We set a general budget of $1500 and that would bring 10 leaders from the southern region of Africa to Zimbabwe as early as next January. I made it clear that this was not a promise but something we could begin to pray about and see if God works it out.
ONWARD
Tomorrow, Wednesday, Jerry and I fly back to Nairobi. I will remain there until next Monday when I leave for home and Jerry keeps going and will arrive in Portland Thursday afternoon. I get my first full day off on Thursday after 12 straight days of travel or ministry. After resting some on Thursday, I will finish with another busy weekend.
Please pray for what Jeffrey and I are thinking about. And pray for Jerry’s safe, uneventful return home. Thanks!
CLICK HERE to see NEW PICTURES!
By His grace,
Steve