Baby Steps

A day for baby steps. Today marked the start of our first visitation that was scheduled to include church members. Andrew and his family went to the Atonsu area to visit around the school, while my family and I went on visitation around the Ahensan area.

The most exciting part about today was the fact that I was joined by one of our men. Robert has been saved and baptized. Since he works nights he is able to visit with me, while everyone else that attends the studies tries to witness at work or school. (Many of the people are not available at this time, so they are encouraged to witness and give out tracts).

It was such a blessing to see him come walking up. (We are hoping he will be one of the first to start learning how to witness). He had a big smile on his face. Today he had decided to wear a new red and blue polo style shirt and some nice dress trousers. It was so exciting to see him put his best foot forward.

After a short time of prayer, Robert and I went in one group, and Patty and the girls went in another. The many focus of this Wednesday time is just inviting people to services. Robert and I sent door to door giving people invitation.

It was an encouragement to hear Robert explain to one Convention Baptist man, that our church was different and that the visitor needed to come and see the differences. Also I was asked if I was a Mormon, since they have already visited the area. (Here if a person is a foreigner and another foreigner from another church group or cult, reaches an area first, most people think that the foreigner is just another member of that church or cult). For this reason, the people as well as Robert had the opportunity too hear today some of the things Mormons teach and why our Bible Studies are not the same.

Overall all it was really nice to visit together. The cup of joy seemed to be full to the brim later when our family told Robert good bye. What a joy to watch people take baby steps.

Asamoah's Accident

Last night one of the young men of our Bible study came to the evening services. He told me after the service that one of his friends had been in a serious car accident. The young man that was in the accident was very seriously injured. Asamoah had been invited to church that morning, but was not interested in coming. He had been drinking the night before and had a very strong hang-over. Just two weeks before he told me that if he died that he would go to hell because he knew that he was wicked. Nat (the young man at the Bible study) was very nervous about his friend, especially since he knew that the man admitted to being unsaved. (Asamoah accident was caused by alcohol. He and his friend had been drinking heavily, when his drunken friend, that did not have a license asked him to accompany him to a bar in his car, he agreed. After the three friend boarded the vehicle, they started off to a bar a few miles away. While traveling down Lake Road, the cars front tire burst and the drunk driver lost control. The driver and one friend had minor injures, but Asamoah had internal bleed and damage to his ear and face. They took him to the emergency room at the main hospital, and where not sure he would live more then a few days).

(Continued- about five days later)
Monday morning at about 5:00 in the morning a small group of men, including Pastor Andrew, myself, Nat and a few of the boy’s friends headed off the to hospital to visit the man in the Emergency room. I was hoping the opportunity would come so I could witness to him. Fortunately for the young man a new state of the art emergency wing has been built in our main hospital and the hospital was able to give him the care that was needed so that he lived through the night. After the security guards allowed us to pass we were allowed in to visit Asamoah in the emergency ward.

There he was, a twenty something year old man, that just hours before was healthy and strong, lying in his own blood wearing nothing but a diaper. He mother was present and his father, they where feeding him and cleaning him off. (The hospitals here do not provide food, and the family is needed if the patient wants to be cared for in a personal way (i.e. changed clothes, baths, and so on). The hospitals do not have the staff to perform these task for each patient). On Monday I was able to pray with the parents and give them some comfort.

After leaving the hospital and scheduling to visit them the rest of the week, our group left. The young men that accompanied us where very shaken up by the presents of their friend, but it was a great opportunity to teach about the lies of Satan. Satan tells us that sin is enjoyable, and that though a person should repent, that he has time to do it later. He tells us to enjoy the sin today, and repent (change) before the punishment comes. But, that is not how it works. A person never knows when his day will come, and life will be over.

After a week, Asamoah is in stable condition. On Friday he was conscience enough that I was able to pray with him. I asked him if he would like to study the Bible with me the following week. He told me that he was very interested and wanted to make some changes.

Please continue to pray for Asamoah and his health. This accident has opened the door to witness to his friends and parents. Pray that they will have open minds and hearts.

Complete Spiritual Family

My wife and I have come to another first in our time of ministry here in the new Bible Study. This last week one of the wives of our converts finished our "Way of Peace' Bible study and trusted Christ. With her conversion, this marks the first time in our current ministry that there has been a complete nuclear family that are converts.

Bismark and Matilda have been attending now for about six months. They attend Sunday on a regular basis and my wife and I visit then on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It has been amazing to see how God has worked in their lives. He allowed their son to get sick and almost die, so that they could see the power of God to answered prayer. (I read a book awhile back entitled "Power Quest', that spoke about this topic. The author said that for many Africans to grow in faith, either before they convert or after they will see faith in God tested so that they know God is more powerful they other things). He has allowed Matilda to providentially meet other Christians so that she could help her to see that being poor was not a curse. These things are just a few of the things that God has brought into their paths as they have come to faith in Him.

It is exciting to see a home that has been claimed for the the Lord. Now that they are saved, the next step is Matilda to be baptized (her husband was baptized in December). Also we are encouraged that though Bismark cannot read, each night, his wife reads to him. She has a junior secondary education, and can read basic English. After reading the Bible together they discuss the reading and try to understand it. Please pray that they will continue to follow the Lord. Pray that their son, Benedict will come to understand salvation when he is old enough. Pray that this small one room shanty that they live in, will be a place that God's light shines brightly. Pray that Bismark's younger brother Peter that has come to stay with them will listen and come to Christ.

Laughin' around the Christmas Tree

On the Monday after Christmas our family had a Christmas party. It was originally planned for two Mondays before Christmas, but Patty contacted her first case of malaria since arriving in Ghana, so that delayed things.

Though the party was after Christmas, it was great! We invited a few missionaries, a national pastor and his family, that are our good friends, and our upstairs neighbors.

The whole focus of the the party is to have a good time of fellowship and try to mix the two cultures. So often we are invited to parties and either they are totally Ghanaian, which makes sense living in Ghana (this does not bother us), or they are totally full of foreigners (which does bother us). In this party we really try to mix everything. The food is half Ghanaian and half foreign. We had spaghetti (which we locally call- italiana) and bread. The sauce is made very thick so that it is closer to local stews. Then we have white rice on the side, so that people can mix the noodles, rice, and sauce, (this is a little more the way in which people eat food here). Also my wife fried chicken. Everybody loved the food.

Another goal for the party was to get to know our upstairs neighbors better. They are very friendly people, but not very open to spiritual things. Both of them have lived outside of Ghana, and are highly educated. They are very nice people, and we have tried to build a good relationship with them.

Over all the party was wonderful. Everyone eat until stuffed. While the adults talked the kids went outside and played. After some time, we played group games. The first game that we played was, Decorate the Christmas Tree. One person was chosen to be a tree and everyone else had to decorate them. Then we played Unwrap the gift. This is played while wearing oven mitts. Each person tries to throw a dice and get a preset number. While they are throwing the dice, the person in front of them is trying to unwrap the gift wearing oven mitts. The person that gets to the bottom of the boxes and paper gets the gift. Patty and I, where happy that our neighbor's wife won. She really liked the gift.
After the kids ate the whole ginger bread house, this is the one I wrote about last week, the adults feasted on Christmas snacks. Overall it was a great time. It is such a blessing to build relationships with people, and show unbelievers that it is fun and enjoyable to be a Christian.

After everyone went home and the house was picked up. Patty and I sat back and savored a hot cup of coca and enjoyed a holiday movie. The Holidays are wonderful!

Comparing Apples to Oranges

Oranges and apples are amazing things. One has an edible thin skin; the other has a sour tough skin. One is a bright orange color, (this is supposing that it is an American orange that has been forced to ripen; our oranges are a light yellow green), and the other can be many shades of green, yellow, or red. One is crisp and makes a crunch, the other is soft and can spray juice all over a person’s hands.

But, the main difference between an apple and an orange is the way in which a person eats them. Most people in America will peel an orange, then divide it into its equal pieces, and then eat them one by one, seeds and all. The apple on the other hand is totally different. We just grab the thing out of the refrigerator and begin to bit. We start at one side and work our way around until we have removed most of the skin, then we start over, going deeper into the apple. Finally at the end, all the person has left is the core. They are both fruits, but the approach most people use in eating them is totally different.

We have all heard the old saying. “He is comparing apples with oranges”. This cliché means that someone is trying to compare two different groups, while pretending that they are all the same thing. This seems to happen to many people that work in missions today.

They lump all people into the same group whether they are African, Asian, European, or South American. In these peoples’ minds, all people are the same. (This to an extent is totally true). Just like in the fruit family, we have many fruits that can be grouped together, and we can state certain facts that are true about all of them. All people have souls, sin, and equal value in this world and in eternity, but that does not change the fact that an orange is not an apple, and an apple is not an orange.

Just like the Fruit Family, the Human Family has different kinds of people. Like the orange and apple, the approach that a person takes to reaching the seeds or core of their lives must change depending on what kind of ‘fruit’ they are. Some people are oranges and others are apples. A missionary talking about presenting the gospel to these two groups, if he tries to say that they are the same, is just comparing apples to oranges.

Today, we are going to describe these two kinds of fruits and try to learn from them.

THE ORANGE- the Westerner

In the family of fruits, the Westerner is the orange. He loves uniformity, and order. There is a little difference in size and shape, but he is an orange. He has a thick outside, which many times is hard to remove, and can be quite sour.

The most amazing thing about the orange is not the outside, but the inside. The orange is an amazing example of order. All parts of an orange are ordered and in place. Each part is separated by thin membranes. Each piece has its own seed or seeds, and the whole inside is neatly divided into groups. With very little effort a person can divide up an orange, and if the orange is ripe he can do it with very little mess. One by one, the parts can be consumed and the seeds removed.

This is a perfect picture of the inside of a Westerner. His life is ordered. Each part is in its separate box. Each part of his life has a seed, and it is easy to take his life apart one piece at a time and get to the seeds (our life principles) of this part of his life. The Westerner has home, work, school, church, and community, split into individual groups and knows how each fits together to make a whole. In the Western mind, spiritual is spiritual and physical is physical, and the two only meet when they are side by side in the ‘orange’. They are separate parts of a whole life. The hardest part about reaching a Westerner is getting through the sour rough outside, but once a person gets past the skin, the inside parts tend to be softer.

In Western societies, if a pastor or youth pastor sees a problem in one area of a person’s life (i.e. problems at home, or school, or work), he will quickly pull out that part of the person’s life, look for the seed (problems) and remove it. Because the Western life is not very holistic, (meaning that most areas of live do not totally bleed over into other areas), then the problem can be dealt with in the place it is found in the life.

For example, a younger missionary that I am working with here has been pushing me to confront a convert about the church that he attends. The missionary sees the problem in a very Western mindset. This convert attends a Charismatic Baptist church. The foundational teachings are somewhat the same, but there are some very serious problems with the church’s teaching. The young man attends many of our Bible studies and likes to help us. He is currently thinking about getting baptized. The young missionary wants me to address the boy in a very blunt way, stating all the negative areas in which the church will harm the person’s spiritual life. (This term- spiritual life- gives great insight to the Western mindset, indicating that this part is somehow removed from the physical life). To him it is a simple matter. It is true that the boy needs to remove himself from the church. In time it will greatly harm his spiritual grow, but the point is not that he needs to be removed from the church. The point is the way that we teach him about this need.

Should it be approached like an orange or an apple? If he was an Orange, and I had made it past his tough outside, then I would cut up the problem for him to see, pull out the bad seed (problem), and fix it right away. The problem is though, that he is an apple not an orange.

THE APPLE- the African

In the Fruit Family, the African is the Apple. He loves variety. He comes in many different colors, shapes, and size. He has a very thin skin that covers a thick inside.

The apple is a whole, not parts. It is a solid mass of juice, flesh, and seeds. Every part of the apple is interconnected and supplies support and flavor to the whole. Unlike an orange, where one piece can be dry and another juicy, the whole apple must be juicy for it to be sweet. An apple can have bad spots, caused by a worm or because something is pressing it too much from the outside. The African thinks of life in much the same way. But if left alone, the whole thing, in his mind, will grow or die equally.

An African does not divide his life into secular and sacred. To him, life is completely interconnected. He does not go to school just for learning, but for social interaction, for spiritual interaction, for community harmony. His church is not just his spiritual life, but also his family and community. It is like the flesh of an apple. It is one solid mass.

When a missionary tries to help someone to make a spiritual decision that will change his or her life, he cannot deal with the spiritual implication only, but how this action will affect the whole man. For that is how the convert sees his life. Therefore he does not rush to peel off the skin and pull out the offending piece, and spit out the seed. He works at it like eating an apple. He starts on the outside. He teaches the truth, and works it around the whole scope the person’s life. For the person to really change, he must allow the change to cover his whole life: the home, church, and community. The missionary needs to be patient and let the truth slowly eat away around the surface, and then, as time passes, it will move to the seeds.

If the missionary rushes, and pushes a man to a snap decision, trying to cut out the seed to quickly, then he produces a syncretist. The person will act a certain way at church, but the truth will not have covered all the other areas of his holistic life. He will be like a apple that has been half-eaten.

Case in point- the young African convert. The younger missionary wants to just cut him off from the other group. But as I have watched him, he is not ready yet. He is coming closer, but the truth has not made it all the way around the apple yet. If I were to jump on him now, and tell him to leave, one of two out comes will result. First: he will obey to please me, not God. It is not his personal conviction, and he will still keep his unofficial ties to the people and community of his old church. His outside will change, but his heart will still be connected. Second: he will resist and run. He will have great trouble in his mind. He does not see this as separating from a church, but cutting up his whole life. He will weigh the amount of help he will get from us and fear the loss of contacts and friends. The cutting off from community (his church) will lead him to other fears that he might not be ready to face. Very possibly he will run away and only keep minimal contact with us.

This is the difference between reaching and teaching an apple and a orange. If a minister of the gospel tries to lead different people groups to decisions the same way, he will end up with syncretists, or runaways. For people that are heavily influenced by African culture or other groups that are very holistic in worldview, they will need more time before they can make decisions that will impact their whole life. In the West, we value the maverick, but in most places the maverick is not a hero, but a shriveled up apple that is going to rot.

Let me give the reader a final story from the United States to help explain. Pastor Steve Pettit was a youth pastor many years ago in Saginaw, Michigan. He was trying to work heavily in the intercity schools and had many young people that he was trying to reach. One young man was named Marvin Corr. Marvin trusted Christ as his Savior. He attended Saginaw High, a very difficult place to live as a Christian. Marvin was being told to carry a Bible to school and to witness. At first, this was very hard for him to do. Being a young man from the intercity, with a very holistic life, his friends, school, and community all worked together to compete for control. At first, Marvin said that he would do what was right when Pastor Steve was around, but when Pastor Steve left, it was right back to the same old patterns and activities. Despite this Pastor Steve, led him, but he did not push. Marvin said that one day it clicked. His “friends” at school were mocking him for hanging out with the white guy when he realized that that white guy cared more for him than all the kids at his school. He made a decision that he was going to do what was right, no matter what others thought.

What had happened? The teaching had made its way around the whole apple. The truth had finally surrounded his whole life and changed his whole life. For those of us that see life like oranges, and work with apples, this is very important to understand. We must teach holistically so that converts will be able to change, but know that this holistic teaching will take longer to affect change.

The Jump Between Theory and Practical

The Jump between theory and practical can be very difficult. Many people understand the practical truths that I am relating, but the practical implications escape them. Most conservative Christians seem to grasp the need of context in minor ways, and have understood that a few choice groups need different approaches when it comes to gospel preaching. These Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Atheists, have strong beliefs and many time cultures. We have had enough exposure to these groups, or fear them enough, that sincere, thinking pastors have understood that a new approach is needed in presenting the gospel to them. Though we have realized this truth about a few minor groups, it seems hard to cross this line for new groups.

If a person looks at any fellowship, church, or publication that makes tracts they will see that in a minor way conservative Christians have seen that at times the message needs to be presented differently depending on the audience. This brings a story to my mind. While home on furlough, I over heard my home pastor make a comment about another ministry’s tracts. He is very closely associated with this other ministry, and was not criticizing them. They had just printed a new gospel tract. The front says in bold words, “YOU have never been so LOVED!” Pastor laughed a little when he first saw it, and said we couldn’t use that one in Michigan. What was he saying, he knew that in the inter-city area in which the church was located, and the rural areas around the church this mode of presentation would not work. The message would not make sense, or would even come across in a sarcastic way. It would not be appreciated, would not make contact, so it would not be effective.

Here are a few sample tracts, that are put out by fundamental publication. They proved that we have understood the first step of witnessing to different world views, cultures, and people groups.


"Imagine Giving this to Univeristy Professor that is an Athiest"

Tract "Title Jesus in the Koran"

"This Tract Is Country Specific, I do not think it would go over well in Canada, or Mexico"

"The aim is Catholics, I do not think that this tract would be effective with Buddhist, or African Tradtional Believers"

We have seen these beginning areas of understanding, but the leap to the practical outworking of the mission field has seemed harder to grasp. We know that language should me modified from people to people, that a person might need to study a different religion, or ‘holy book’, but anything beyond this we seem to be blind too. When a missionary goes to a nation or group that does not seem to have strong counter religion (i.e. Catholic in Italy, Muslims in Morocco, Jews in Isreal) the missionary and pastor sending the man, seem to think that language school, and a basic knowledge of the Bible is enough to affectively preach the Gospel in that culture. But this fact is sadly not based in fact.

Most missionaries that arrive in Africa come with these pre-conceived beliefs. They have been moved by the stores of thousands of conversions that are happening daily. They have heard evangelist and some missionary that have started multiple churches in short term trips, or in their first year on the field.

I will give one example from our city. Our city has a population of about 2 million people. We have a group of missionaries that have arrived in the city. In the first few months they had rented a large building, and started ministries and evangelism efforts. None of the missionaries associated with the group have learned the local language, and most of the missionaries that I have meet struggled to understand the basic ways of life for the average Ghanaian. This is not a condemnation, just a statement of fact. (Most missionaries struggle, and have difficulty in the beginning). They have been here in Kumasi for three years, and here are the official numbers for their church since it has started. (This is quoted from their official web site).

Salvations for the week: 340
Salvations this year: 21,691
Salvations since inception: 186,105

That means that in less then three years by their numbers, they have led just fewer than 10% of the total population of Kumasi to Christ.

I do not doubt these peoples sincerity, just their training, and ability to put the message into a contact that people understand and can truly be able to reject or accept. (If the reader has read earlier post about African society, he knows that an African will perform any action that he deems necessary to keep social harmony, especially when considered with pray to a god. .)

After this group made a major push in the local school here, I had a chance to speak to some of the kids that had attending their meetings. While on visitation in our Bible study area, I meet some Junior High School boys, and invited them to our Bible studies. They asked me what church we where a part of. To which I answered, Baptist. When they heard that we where Baptist, they asked if we where a part of ***** Baptist Church of Kumasi (which is the group that I am speaking about) and asked about getting Bibles. I told them that we where not, and then asked how they knew about that particular church, since it was quite a distance away form our location. They told me that a white man from that church had attended their school. He had given everyone a Bible, and preached to them something about Jesus. Basically after speaking with the boy personally, though he had been led to pray, we discovered that he did not even have basic knowledge, needed for salvation. They where charismatic, and where working hard fro their salvation.

This is a challenge that faces most missionaries. While in college, I made missions trips to Ghana, during which time, we had thousands reported as being ‘saved’. It is so easy for an African missionary to give a simple Gospel presentation in his mind, which makes no sense to the people. I will give a personal example from my ministry here in Ghana. We had a mission team visit us about two years ago. They where trying very hard to be clear in how they preached the gospel, but of course could only see the world in their own mind set. We brought the team to a school. At the school I allowed my father-in-law to preach. He did a very good job. He was very careful, and tried to be specific in his gospel presentation. At the end he started an invitation, and asked the children if they wanted to receive Christ into their heart. (All the time using a translator). When he asked a show of hands, every last child raised their hands. Seeing this, he asked me to speak to the children, and make sure that they understood. After restating the teaching and using African terminology and thought patterns, we asked the kids again. This time about five children raised their hands, not the 200 that had done so before. We where able to deal with them personally and see some make decisions.

Here, is where the rubber meets the road. The main force driving many of us in missions today is peer-pressure, or fear of man. We had be told for many years that missions in certain parts of the world is easy, hundreds and thousands of people trusting Christ in days. This is all fine and good, but if it is true, why is Africa still filled with paganism, and why is Islam rising in Western and Eastern Africa in alarming rates! I believe that many of us in missions are starting to face an inconvenient Truth!

We can keep missions as it has been, and continue to see the numbers. We can build the buildings and have amazing letters, articles, and reports to send home. But, still not change the heart and souls of the people that we are reaching. Or we can bite the bullet, and accept the down turn in numbers, and take time to places the Gospel in a context that can be understood in the local view. (And possibly loss support, by those that do not agree or understand). I have personally meet a number of missionaries that have learned these truths, but where afraid of the consequences to their ministries and/or work.

If missions is to have the lasting change that it needs. If the same words that where spoken about Paul and Barnabas are going to spoken about us, Acts 17:6 “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also”; then we are going to have to learn about their world, and give a gospel that directly confronts it and makes them have to change, not add Jesus to the list of all their other beliefs.

Our job as missionaries is to be used by God, to turn people’s world views upside down. We can never do this, if we are not a part or do not understand their views. In the next blog, I will try to give practical advice to missionaries that seek to put the gospel in to world changing context!

Tips for Witnessing to Those Influenced by ATR

The reader might first ask, "What is ATR?" ATR is the abbreviation for African Traditional Religions. Here in Africa we love abbreviations, the longer the better, and ATR is much easier than typing African Traditional Religions, so from here on out I will refer to it as ATR.

If the reader has read some of the earlier posts, such as The 3 S's of African Traditional Relgions orUnderstanding Interpersonal Relationships in Africa, he will be familiar with the difficulty in reaching Africans for Christ without understanding their thinking. I hope to give some helpful hints and conclusions that I have come to as I have sought to reach these kinds of people for Christ.

The hardest aspect when dealing with people that are of African cultural background is the way that their society culturally deals with sin or judgement. African people, just like the people of inner-cities of America, have few, but strong, rules. A person in these areas must strive to keep peace with their family, clan, or the other people that they see as important to their survival. (In America this is many times the gang, street, or group of people that the person closely associates with). They have certain values that are deeply rooted in them. Unfortunately, many times, because they live in a society where moral rules are far from concrete and where survival and social harmony are more important than a written code of conduct, their lives are ruled by situational ethics. They have no absolute truth as a frame of reference, therefore there is little or no judgement. And without judgment, there is no guilt or fear of consequences (Rom. 4:15).

This fact greatly influences the thoughts and understanding of the person living in this kind of community. Since most rules are seen as relative and many decisions are based on circumstances, the person does not have a list of do's and don'ts to measure his life by. With the removal of, or in the case of Africa, the ignorance of any Divine Code of conduct, the person and his community become the judge of his or her personal guilt and worth.

As in all places, times, and nations, when law is lost, people do what is right in their own eyes. As time passes, the lines between right and wrong become more blurred, and before long, the people that live in these groups have no guilt. They feel no remorse. Guilt comes from the feeling that the person has broken a law and that judgement is ahead. Remorse happens when a person knows that they have offended the powers that be and want to change. But when a person lives in a society based on social peace and harmony, as in areas greatly influenced by ATR, this guilt is lost.

Here is the problem that people have when witnessing to people that are influenced by ATR. The ATR person judges his life by his own experience and that of his community. The voice of the majority is king, and if the society they live in says that they are good (though not perfect), then they are not guilty and in no need of help. Yes, they know that they seem to break the laws of the Bible, but everyone does this, and so God must forgive them. They can understand that the God of the Bible has laws and that they have broken them, but living in a world without absolutes has hardened them from any guilt.

So what does the Christian worker do? If he cannot reach them by their guilt over their sin, what does He do? The Christian worker working with people that are influenced by ATR must remember that Africans learn deductively. That means they have to start from the real life out-working and then go to the theory. If the African does not see it in his own life or the real world, it is very hard for him to understand and start to believe.

If an African does not have guilt and has never seen anyone in his whole life struggle with guilt, then it does not exist, and it will be hard to use as a tool to bring him to Christ.

Here is what God has shown me of late. Africans may not have guilt, but they do not have peace. Here in Africa peace is king. Africans always want peace. They seek for it in every way that they can, but no matter how much they want it outside, they never have it inside. Inside, they always have conflict. They have no PEACE!
This lack of peace is a great tool when dealing with ATR influenced people. ATR people are overtly relilgious and superstitious. They believe all things have a spiritual cause.

This is how I have started to show people their sin problem. I ask them, "If you are so good, and you work so hard for God, how come no matter what you do, you still do not have peace?" They do not have peace, because they are sinners and have broken God's law. They are like Adam and Eve in the garden after the first sin. They just do not know the law they have broken.

Most people in their hearts know that they do not have peace. This is the practical problem. They do not have peace. Then I tell them why. I tell them that they have broken God's law. At this point I show them the law so they can understand what I am saying. This starts to bring the guilt. I take them from the experience of not having peace, and use that to start to show them their need of Christ. Christ is the only way to give them peace and salvation.

Many times when Christian workers deal with ATR people, they want to talk about guilt. Unless the person being dealt with has done something that has shaken his world system, though, he will not feel guilt. But, every person has had a time in his or her life that he has lived with a lack of peace.

I believe that if a person that is working with ATR people will start at the practical point of peace, he will see the light turn on. When we spoke with people about their guilt before, the people would agree, but not from personal understanding. When we speak with people about a lack of peace now, we see the personal understanding come at once.

When preaching to lost people, we must deal with their guilt in contrast to God's Holy Standard, but I believe it will help us to start at the point of greatest understanding. Let's start at their lack of peace, then build to their guilt.

(Just a note- In my experience dealing with people influenced by ATR, starting with the concept of the Love of God means very little. All ATR people believe God loves them, and that they are good people. They live in communities where social help and harmony are very important. They have not probably tasted of Agape Love, but they have a storehouse of their social idea of love, and many times the need for Divine Love will not at first draw them.)

Witnessing to a Person Influenced by Traditional Religions, Part 1 of 2

I would like to provide a few helpful tips for those seeking to witness to people with Traditional influences. I wish that I had all the answers, but I do not. All that I can give is some helpful pointers, and try to give a starting place. The most important thing a person must learn (who is seeking to bring people to Christ) is that no system has all the answers. Only a dependence on God’s power and guidance is what really makes the difference.

Before I start with the practical, here are a few more quotes to let you understand the importance and seriousness of making sure the African has a true heart conversion.

Glenn J. Schwartz, When Charity Destroys Dignity; pg. 4- “In 1984, I traveled through Africa, going first to West Africa, then across to East Africa and down through Central Africa, ending up on the Southern Coast of South Africa. Everywhere I went I heard pastors lamenting the fact that their church members have a divided loyalty. It is what missiologists call dualism. They hold two worldviews at the same time. They hold the Christian worldview which represents the church they attend and certain aspects of their schooling. However, in times of crisis they often turn to their original paradigm, the traditional worldview… Those pastors and church leaders were saying to me then- and many have done so since- that their people turn to the local traditional practitioner of religion, sometimes called the witchdoctor, in times of real crisis.”

Dr. Aylward Shorter explains dualism: “During the past hundred years African Traditional Religion has been visibly sinking beneath the surface of modern social life in Africa, but what remains above the surface is, in fact, the tip of the iceberg. At Baptism, the African Christian repudiates remarkably little of his former non-Christian outlook. He may be obliged to turn his back upon certain traditional practices which the Church, rightly or wrongly, has condemned in his area, he is not asked to recant a religious philosophy… Consequently, he returns to the forbidden practices as occasion arises with remarkable ease. Conversion to Christianity is for him sheer gain, an ‘extra’ for which he has opted. Apart from the superficial condemnations, Christianity has really had little to say about African Traditional Religion in the way of serious judgments of value. Consequently, the African Christian operates with two thoughts systems at once, and both of them are closed to each other.”

Glen J. Schwartz, When Charity Destroy Dignity; pg. 187-188: “After serving the church for many years, a church leader in Central Africa became terminally ill and was told by the medical doctors that nothing could be done for him. Though he served the church for thirty-five years as an ordained minister, upon learning of his terminal illness he decided to go to the village of a local practitioner of religion. It turned out that his treatment was not from only an herbalist, but from one who practiced “manipulation of the spirits”, to quote others in the church. There he lived out the last few months of his life. Some time later I came across that church leader’s testimony. About ten years before his death he attended a seminar in which an anthropologist was conducting a session on, among other things the nature of Christian conversion. The anthropologist described what authentic Christian conversion should be. In the process this ordained minister, who had served the church for so many years made the following statement: What you say about genuine Christian conversion deeply moves me, because I must confess that I have not been converted that way. My deeper African values have not been changed. I have not learned to listen to the Holy Spirit, but I have been trained to listen very carefully to what the missionary wants.”

The reason that God has called us is to preach the Gospel, and as the Bible says, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” I hope these points are practical and helpful as we seek to give the gospel to people influenced by Traditional religions.

Practical Pointers

#1 Learn the Language
By this I mean the heart language of the people. Most missionaries learn this fact in candidate school. The problem in Africa, though, is that most of them think that this means the national language of their African nation. I know that some missionaries go through great pains to learn French, Portuguese, or Dutch so that they can speak their national language. The truth is that in most African countries this is the language of the elite, the government, and the outsider. It is not the real heart language of the people. Find out what the majority of the people in your area speak, and learn it!

What does this have to do with the gospel? It has a great deal to do with it! You will never understand the way your people think until you understand their language. In African local languages we find the language of religion. This will help to give great insight into the definitions behind the spiritual terms people use. Remember, just because you think a term means something does not mean your people think that term means the same thing. If you really want to understand this concept, try to look up some conservative writing on contextualization.

(Note- For those in a country where the people have no Christian worldview but still speak the same language, spend as much time learning the concepts, definitions, and ideas behind words and religious truths. The problem many people face is that they think the person understands their presentation, “jargon”, or expressions, when in reality the person has at best a fuzzy idea of the meaning. Or, that person may have a totally different definition all together. Words are your tools, but words cannot work if they are not understood or misunderstood!)


#2 Use Questions as the main vehicle for teaching
When most of us present the gospel, we do just that….we present it! We do most of the talking, with the occasional question thrown in, normally seeking a yes or no answer. This is very dangerous in a society that values social harmony and seeks to avoid public conflict. Most Africans will do anything to make sure they do not offend. When a missionary seeks to present the truth with little or no questions, the African will just follow along (most times) even if they totally disagree or do not understand.

Let me give you a personal example. When I first started learning Twi, I would try to speak to people using the language. Many times this would be about spiritual matters. During the whole conversation the African would be nodding and giving physical cues that indicated he was following and understanding. He was even able to answer some basic questions that made me think he understood. After the conversation, the national would turn to the local man with me at the time and start a rapid conversation beyond my ability, and they would both end smiling. After the person would leave, I would ask the national what the person said. After enough pushing, the person would tell me that the person that I was addressing did not understand anything that I was saying, but did not want to be impolite.

In-depth questions are normally the only way that you will find out the real thinking going on inside the African’s head. Africans believe too much in social harmony (this is the norm, but there are exceptions to the rule) to cause major disagreements or conflicts.

Am I Faithful With One???

I had a reminder again today about something that God showed me in college. I remember one day after chapel, I was really excited. I was walking down the sidewalk thinking about the thousands of people that I would love to lead to Christ. Then God gave me this thought, or should I say that He hit me with this 2"x 4", "Why should I give you thousands to lead when I cannot trust you with one!?!"

Today I think that He wanted me to learn this truth again. Today is the end of Ramadan. That is the period of fasting that Muslims do, and it is very important to observe if they want to go to paradise. At the end of Ramadan, all Muslims go to the mosque and pray, then go home and feast, breaking their fast. Before I went visiting today I had to walk through a large Muslim community to see my mechanic. As I was going to his house I passed by one of the mosques. The scene was amazing. There were about 3,000 - 4,000 people outside. The mosque could not hold them all. There they were, mostly dressed in white, facing east, men in one group, head-covered women in another. They were bowing, heads pressing against the ground, and reciting the prayers as the Imam prayed into the microphone "Allah Ahk-bar..." I just stood there and watched for about 15 minutes. As I walked away before they dismissed I started to think how they needed to be reached. Oh, how great it would be to start a church in Aboabo (a large Muslim community).

After checking the mechanic (who was not home), I started visitation. From that point everything started to go wrong. My first few people were not at home or at work. I could not get cars because the taxi and tro-tro (mini-bus) drivers are Muslim and were not working. Let's just say that by the time I got to Anloga, I was not very Spirit-filled.

I finally made it to Inusah's house (this is a Muslim man that I have been working with for 7 months to lead to Christ), and when I got inside I found two Jehovah's Witnesses there. I decided to stay to make sure these men did not impart any false teaching to my friend. This is a good time to say that I was visiting by myself. My partner has started university classes and cannot go with me, so I just visit men on Tuesday. Well, here I am with two JW's and one man that I love, that I hope to see saved. They both speak Twi and English perfectly. I felt like a guy that comes to a gun fight with a knife and a bum leg. Inusah asked me to join in and asked what I thought about what they were saying. Basically I explained to Inusah that just like Islam and Christianity are different and that they both do not lead to Heaven, so also Jehovah's Witness teachings and Christianity are different (keep in mind that this guy does not know much about the Bible, to him a Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, or Mormon are all the same). I told him that if he decided to follow their teaching, that it was a totally different faith. They were not going to Heaven.

To make a really long four hours of Bible discussion and debate short... it finally ended. I left, Inusah followed me out, and the JW's stayed. Inusah walked with me, and we chatted as we went. I told him that I loved him and just wanted him to know the truth. I told him that I would be praying for him. We said our goodbyes and then I took a taxi home.

As I was going home, this thought from the Word of God kept running through my mind... Colossians 4:6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Then it hit me... here I was asking God for this great thing, but I had been careless in the things that He had already given me to do. He has given me one man, one of these Muslim souls. And when his time of need came, I needed to be Spirit-filled, full of grace so that I could know how to answer these men. I was not.

You never get today back when it is done, and you might not have tomorrow. You know, when you are young, you think life is made up of the big things, but the truth is that life is like lace. It is the small threads that make up the pattern and really make the thing beautiful. Today I am asking God to help me to do the small and do them well.

***(This reminds me of a story that I read in the Book of Virtues, but it is really long. Maybe I can type it out someday and put it in here, but for now I hope a word is enough for the wise. Let's just pray that this is one lesson learned quickly).***