Last week I was in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Traveling by way of Ivory Coast and Togo, I passed through some of the smallest airports you have ever seen (a lot like David, Panama).  It took me the whole day to get there, starting at 2 a.m. from home to make the drive to the airport.  The main purpose of my going to Ethiopia was to be with my dad.  My father is the founder and president of a ministry called Breakthrough Partners.  Their main purpose is to “build leaders to rebuild communities.”  He and his associates work alongside local leaders in African nations, people whom God is using to be catalysts in their nations for the benefit of their communities.  He’s been doing this almost ten years now, and felt like it was time to bring together some of the top leaders from the various nations he works with.  It was truly amazing to meet some of these bright and passionate Christians and hear about their work.  To give you an idea of what they do, allow me to introduce you to a few of them.

     First I met Christophe and Sylvestre from Rwanda.  I had read about these young men in a book describing their work.  Christophe is the founder of CARSA, a ministry dedicated to reconciling victims and perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide that happened years back.  Christophe and Sylvestre were also victims and witnesses of these atrocious crimes, but have decided to forgive and help bring about forgiveness and reconciliation within their country.  One of the projects they have is to help perpetrators purchase a cow and offer it as a sign of repentance to their victims.  Together they then raise the cow, using the milk and offspring to also provide an income for their families.  Though the work is often long and painful, they are seeing enemies now living in complete peace and harmony together.  They are hopeful that the future of Rwanda will be bright.

     Charles, Aaron, and Thomas were three pastors I met from South Africa.  These men were some of the individuals who brought great depth and wisdom to our meetings.  All three of them have worked together to form a working network amongst the pastors of Cape Town, South Africa.  They have around 400 pastors that meet regularly to pray, strategize and fellowship together.  They told us, Thursdays are the pastor’s Sundays.  That is the day they worship together and listen to a message in order for their own spirits to be fed and encouraged in the Lord.  They have also worked together to create a feeding center, providing meals for over 2,000 homeless children every day of the week.  Other projects include taking care of orphans, widows, etc…  They told us they had decided that the problems of their community were their responsibility.  They weren’t going to wait around for the government to take care of them, they needed to do it.  And today the government subsidizes and helps them care for the poor and helpless in Cape Town.

     Kofi is a pastor in French-speaking Ivory Coast.  Along with his team members, Bernice and Monique, Kofi trains and supports communities in the areas of micro-financing, micro-enterprises, and community cooperatives.  One of the projects they told us about was a community who had decided to build a fish farm with rabbit huts over them.  We marveled at the ingenuity and success of such a project, enabling the community to also be able to build storage facilities for their crops in order to sell them at the markets later on.  A community that was once very poor is now generating revenue that is increasing their production, feeding their people, and enabling them to be self sustained and independent from any outside aid.  And all of this was due to some basic teaching in savings and Christian business practices.

     The chief goal of each of these individuals and groups (and there were many more present) is to bring fullness of life through Jesus Christ.  They are ministering holistically within communities and nations in order to bring about greater spiritual vitality in broken and often dire circumstances.  One of the main teachings we heard was that when God’s people come together, God’s blessing abounds.  We also discussed at length that God longs to bless all of Africa and has already given her the means to be healthy and strong.  The Africans themselves affirmed to us this week, “we no longer need outside aide and help, God has already given us all we need.”  One of my father’s main goals is to show these African leaders that God has already equipped them with the dreams, visions, and tools to be independent.  They no longer need to be a missions field, but a missions force.  The leaders themselves echoed this sentiment and took up the call to work together for the transformation of Africa.  As I sat there listening (actually I was very busy translating most of these meetings) I wondered whether or not there is still room for the white missionary in Africa.  One of the conclusions we (the Americans in the room) came up with is that we need to continue to be involved, not just for the sake of Africa, but because we have so much to learn from the Africans themselves.  We truly felt blessed to be a part of them this past week.

     I believe God is moving on a global level to bring His body, His bride, His church together.  He is tearing down walls of separation. He is removing blinders and obstacles.  He is calling us to walk together in relationship, and to work together for the good of the Kingdom.  It is no longer sufficient to be in ministry.  We need to be in ministry together.  It is time for us to lay down our labels and titles, to put aside our differences, and to be reconciled and truly seek to love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  Jesus said, “the world will know your are my disciples by your love for one another.”

     Lord, I pray for Africa.  I pray that you would continue to do a great work, enabling the churches and ministries and leaders to work together in building your kingdom and rebuilding their nations.  May you pour out your blessing on them that the world may see their unity and the strength and power of the gospel.  May you continue to unite our hearts as brothers and sisters in Christ, all across the globe, leading us in loving each other and carrying out your purposes on this earth.  Amen!