History of Missions

Nancy  just finished  teaching the History of Missions class  in the BBI  Bac in Theology program.  She had these reflections to share —

Although I am not a  biologist, my understanding is that if you introduce  a foreign element into  a habitat there will be changes.  That element will provoke a reaction that creates a chain of events as the habitat adapts to the new arrival.  This   sums up for me what happens when a missionary arrives in a new context.   The missionary is always  a foreign element and so there will be a chain reaction  as the receiving culture adapts to the new arrival.  This was especially true in the  past when travel was rarer and communities more homogeneous.  No matter how much a missionary wants to adapt or fit in, there will always be change simply  due to the presence of a foreigner.

 Some of those changes are good

William Carey (considered by some the father of modern missions)  was horrified to see a yearly ritual of infant sacrifice.    Mothers threw  their infants into the Ganges River to appease the river spirit.  He researched the local religious writings and discovered that this ritual was a local  superstition and could not be supported by the Hindu  religion.  So he presented his findings to  the authorities and the practice was banned. 

Numerous languages have been recorded and preserved because missionaries wanted to translate the Bible into the local language.   The missionaries learned the language, devised an alphabet and then translated the Bible into that language.   Due to the work of John Elliot in the 18th century, the Mohawk language was preserve, for example.  Tragically, the Mohawk people were decimated  and so no one actually uses the language anymore.

On one island in the south pacific, women  were forbidden certain foods during pregnancy.  Unfortunately, the foods they were denied were rich in protein.  So many of  these women  were very weak and anemic during their pregnancies.  The people lived in houses on stilts and sometimes the women were unable to climb up into their houses without help.  Christian missionaries convinced some recent converts that eating these foods would not lead to their death.  Those who began eating the taboo foods were so much stronger and healthier than the others that the other women followed suit.  This led to healthier pregnancies and healthier births. 

At the same time,  change messes things up

Conversion  to Christianity beings many changes to a community.  Most communities in the past were mono-faith communities: everyone worshiped the same gods.  When some people convert and the rest do not, it creates division within the community.  Sometimes that division brings out underlying tensions and conflicts that already existed.  The first converts are often  outcasts and marginalized members of their society.  When those same people gain certain advantages due to their connection with the foreign missionaries, it can lead to an upheaval in the social organization.  There is a need for social reorganization and until that reorganization occurs, the society appears to be in chaos. 

Many times, along with the message of the gospel, missionaries bring unintended messages from their culture.  One funny example of this in Benin is the fact that is some churches the preacher has to wear a suit and tie.  I’ve heard several people share how they were told that they could not preach simply because they showed up in church in very fine, but unfortunately very traditional Beninese attire.  Since the first missionaries came to church in a suit and tie, it is assumed that that is the appropriate attire for every church leader to wear. 

Conclusion

As I look at the history of missions which begins in the first century of the Common Era  and ends (at least when I teach it) with the 20th century, I have to conclude that missionaries accomplished many good and noble things.  At the same time, their arrival messed up societies that were operating according to a particular order and structure.  As Bruce and I plan to leave Benin, we hope that we have made a contribution that will make a lasting improvement.   At the same time, we hope the mess we leave behind is constructive and not too difficult to clean up!

Another Trip Through the History of the Church in West Africa

Yesterday I finished teaching a course on the History of the Church in West Africa.  This is the first time I taught it for this particular program, the Baccalaureate in Theology track at IBB.  In North America I think it  would correspond roughly to a junior college level program.   The students meet  for two, six-week, intensive sessions twice a year.  I met with them three hours a day for the past two weeks to get through the 30 hour course.  Besides the 3 hours with me the students had 6 additional hours between two other courses they were taking at the same time.  Needless to say having 9 hours of class a day for the entire session makes  it a challenge for them to keep their energy level up!  Yet they managed to be attentive throughout and seemed especially taken with one  aspect of the course, the important role played by Africans in the establishment of Christianity in this region.  

The contribution of foreign missionaries is well know among Christians in Benin,  but African pastors and evangelists were perhaps the most significant force for the establishment of West African churches during the 19th and 20th centuries.  Thousands of freed slaves settled in Sierra Leone where they became a thriving Christian community that provided resources, economic and personnel, for the propagation of the faith to other regions.  One of those first initiatives was the establishment of churches at Badagri and Abeokuta, just across the Nigerian border about 70 kilometers east of Cotonou.  Invitations from those churches to the Methodist mission eventually resulted in the establishment of their work here in the 1850s.  That example was repeated in other places and with different groups.   From their base in Sierra Leone  Africans returned to their home areas with their new faith,  and the Gospel spread farther and farther into the interior and grew deep roots in African soil.  The many vibrant faith communities whose leaders make up the student body at IBB are the result of that African contribution to the missionary task in West Africa.  The story is a good reminder and encouragement to Christians here and in North America as we continue to work together at the missionary task of the church.

School, BBI and Getting Back on the Road

The first couple weeks of September have gotten us into the regular routine of the fall schedule.  Deborah is in her second week of CE1 (2nd grade more or less I think in North America) at the local French school and Jeremiah’s first day of year four at the English International School was today.  Deborah was a bit nervous about which teacher she would have but is quite pleased now with how things turned out.  She is liking school and glad to be back.  Jeremiah was pleased this morning to find out that his teacher is the same one he had last year, so he seems to be off to a good start too.

Nancy is busy again as classes are back in session at BBI with the seminar that started this past weekend and which continues until Thursday.  Pastor Codjo is teaching that one, Biblical Theology.  Pastor François spent the weekend in Parakou teaching Church and Culture to the new group of students there.  Other activities include the evaluation of the full-time students’ mini thesis projects which needs to be done before the upcoming fall graduation and the preparations for the new “module” format for the full-time program.  That is to start in mid October, and we hope the six-week intensive courses will be more manageable than the other semester-long format for the students.  Many couldn’t participate because of time constraints but have said that shorter, more intensive courses would be easier to commit to.  So we are hoping that this will be a positive change.

Fall means the start of my travel schedule again.  Friday I leave for Abuja, Nigeria where the Mennonite Church NIgeria will have a youth convention (“youth” in that context includes those whom we in North America would label “young adults”).  They haven’t had one for a few years and are hoping for a good turnout.  The last time the youth got together for a convention they planted a church, so I’m kind of wondering what might come out of this gathering.  After the weekend in Abuja I’ll head to Accra, Ghana for the annual conference of the Ghana Mennonite Church.  So there will be a lot of travel during the next 12 days.

Pray for a good start to the school year for Deborah and Jeremiah, for lots of student interest in the new full-time program format at BBI and for safe travels for me as well as for successful gatherings in Abuja and Accra.

Partnership

Partnership is the current paradigm for our mission involvement in West Africa. That means that whether it is community health, theological training, or any number of other ministry initiatives, we collaborate with partners who are working in those areas instead of working unilaterally. The vision of what should happen and how is shared between the different partners who work together to implement that vision. In a very practical sense partnership makes for more efficient ministry. Partners with a long history in a specific context are inevitably better equipped to carry out objectives than those of us who are foreigners. Working together also builds relationships, an important benefit of the partnership paradigm.

North American congregations are also participating in this way of doing missions. For the last number of years Waterford Mennonite Church in Goshen, In. has been developing a partnership with the Benin Bible Institute. They share topics of prayer and praise with each other, host each other in yearly visits back and forth, learn from each other’s different cultural and religious perspectives and occasionally share resources in the form of teaching personnel or funding.

St. Jacobs Mennonite Church in St. Jacobs, ON is also partnering with the Benin Bible Institute. In 2003 they sent a group to train Beninese church leaders in the skills necessary to implement what in the North American church tradition is Vacation Bible School. Many of the Christians in Benin are first generation believers and perhaps haven’t yet thought through what it means to cultivate belief in those generations that follow. So a group of church leaders who are responsible for, or who work with, children’s ministry spent a week at the Bible Institute leaning the hows and whys behind Vacation Bible School. It is of course impossible, and would be ill advised, for them to simply copy North American models for their context here in Benin. Yet they were exposed to methods and educational philosophy that impact positively their continuing work with Beninese youngsters in their respective churches. In addition, the involvement by St. Jacobs Mennonite has developed into an ongoing partnership that is building relationships between the congregation and the Bible Institute through reciprocal visits and exchanges.

This past week representatives from University Mennonite Church in State College, Pa. and Maple Grove Mennonite Church in Belleville, Pa. made the first steps toward partnership with Good News Theological College and Seminary and the Ghana Mennonite Church. A group representing both congregations spent 10 days in Ghana at Good News getting to know the staff, the students and the ministry that happens there. They developed new relationships by accepting and offering hospitality in a new place among a new people. And they started to ask, “What does it mean to be the church together, we from the heartland of Pennsylvania and our Ghanaian brothers and sisters from the coastal plains of West Africa?” That, it seems to me, will be a fruitful question to keep asking, not only among ourselves but also with our African partners.

How might God be calling you and/or your congregation toward partnership? Let us hear from you about how partnering with brothers and sisters in West Africa might fit into your faith journey!

David Miller from University Mennonite presents a peace flag to the Ghana Mennonite Church.

Nancy Kauffman from Maple Grove Mennonite sharing resources for children with Ghana Mennonite Church leaders.

The Bible and Development, Among Other Things

These past couple weeks have been quite busy with the visit of Steve Wiebe-Johnson, Mennonite Mission Network Director for Africa, our supervisor.  We’ve had extended time to meet with him and discuss the different ministries that we participate in and to think about what the future holds for us and for the work in West Africa. 

Steve also taught the seminar Bible and Development, a course that attempts to bring a faith perspective to development issues.  Steve showed that, in contrast to the secular world’s understanding of development based on the advancement of self interest, the Bible presents development as centered on people living in communities that reflect God’s shalom, peace with justice.  The course also provides several tools for organizing and planning actions in community based development. 

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Steve teaching with translator Robert Hounkpebi

Students during the Bible and Development course

After the teaching part of the visit was over we did a quick trip to Ghana for meetings with folks at the Ghana Mennonite Church and at Good News Theological College and Seminary.  Taking advantage of being in Ghana we also visited the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture; a Ganaian institution of higher learning that trains church leaders in the areas of African Christianity; Bible Translation and Interpretation; Theology and Mission; and Cross-Cultural Ministry.  It is quite an impressive program that focuses on Christianity in the African context.  Check out the school at http://www.acmcghana.org/newsite/.

This month’s seminar

This week I’ve been teaching the History of the Church (Histoire de l’Église) in the part time program at the Benin Bible Institute. Students in that program participate in 9 seminars each year for 3 years and earn a certificate of biblical knowledge. Each seminar is actually taught twice, first during the weekend in French and then again during the week, this time translated into a local language.

It’s an exhausting process. The weekend part starts Friday evening at 7: 00 PM and ends Sunday afternoon at 5:15 PM with 15 hours of class time. The Mon-Thurs group has 25 hours of class. I’ve been surprised how attentive the students have been despite the long hours, only a few times I saw people’s attention stray or their eyelids get heavy. Today was the last day and folks were getting drowsy so one of the other teachers was strolling around nudging those who were nodding off to keep them awake. Some folks moved to the back of the room and were pacing back and forth to stay alert. Now that’s not something you see often in North America.

Some of the questions students asked were: When did Christians start having their worship services on Sunday instead of Saturday? What is in the Talmud? How did Islam start? Why did they keep writing more and more creeds and which of those should we use today? Was Martin Luther married? Since tithing was enforced by the Roman Empire couldn’t we do something similar in our churches today? That idea got lots of support from the class.

Now that we’ve finished I’m pretty tuckered out, but it was a fun seminar to teach nonetheless. On the home front we seem to be doing well. Nancy is winding down her first semester classes this week and Jeremiah and Deborah are busy at school and staying healthy. Harmattan is over now, so the dust has settled down and the heat is back. Oh for those cool January nights…

Deborah is is eating without her two front teeth these days.

BBI/Good News Exchange Visit

The visit of Thomas Oduro, principal of Good News Theological College and Seminary, to the Benin Bible Institute these past few days was a positive experience for both parties. Both BBI and Good News see themselves as the continuation of the work of Mennonite Missionaries Edwin and Irene Weaver who started working with African Initiated Churches (AICs) in West Africa almost 50 years ago. Today they are looking for creative ways to continue that ministry of leadership training with AICs.

Dr. Oduro addressing the BBI students.

The conversation these past few days highlighted a number of challenges that both institutions have in common:

• Few students are able to take the time to study full-time and many don’t have the resources to do so.
• The AICs that the schools serve have limited financial resources and often can’t fully support the students they send, let alone give significant support to the schools themselves.
• The senior leadership of some AICs don’t value theological training and hence don’t encourage their developing leaders to seek training.

Despite the challenges that were expressed, the conversation was upbeat and led to a number of ideas about ways the two schools might cooperate. :

• The possibility that BBI teachers could contribute articles in the journal that Good News publishes.
• Good News teachers could spend time at BBI to increase their French language capacity and vice versa BBI teachers could work on their English at Good News.
• There can be ongoing conversation about how to reduce financial dependence on overseas supporters.

Thomas returned a day early to Ghana because of an unexpected announcement that the accreditation committee of the Ghanaian Ministry of Education would be visiting Good News today, 16 January 2008. Good News is in the process of becoming accredited to offer a Bachelor of Theology degree. It’s a long and complicated process. Pray that all the hurdles will be overcome and that by next fall they will be able to offer the BTh degree.