By James Henderson
By James Henderson
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--An assembly of 19 African WCG leaders welcomed Pastor General Joseph Tkach as the guest speaker at the African leaders conference in Johannesburg Dec. 14 to 17.
Other speakers were Randal Dick, superintendent of missions; Charles Albrecht, manager, operations and budget, in Church Administration International; and myself, superintendent of African missions.
The theme of the conference was What Next for the Worldwide Church of God in Africa? Leaders attended from 14 of the 27 nations where the WCG has members. From an administrative point of view, most of the 27 countries were represented by those attending.
The WCG has a presence in Rwanda, Burundi, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, the Seychelles, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau.
Mr. Tkach presided over a lively discussion on trends within the church and also gave a presentation of biblical models of church government.
Mr. Dick outlined strategies for the multiplication of leaders within the African context.
Mr. Albrecht talked on budget creation and analysis and conducted a workshop on management and accounting.
I traced the development of the WCG in Africa and offered ideas for structuring the future of the church in the countries involved. Planned and sometimes spontaneous worship was led jointly by Kimani Ndungu from Kenya and Kalengule Kaoma from Zambia.
In addition, each of the attendees spoke of the hopes and needs of their areas.
Victor Balinga, a deacon in the Limbe, Cameroon, congregation, and a member of the national church board there, pointed out that Cameroon members are seeking to be financially responsible for their own activities and that they need a lot of training.
Inyambo Nyumbu, chairman of the fledgling Zambian church board, pointed out the aims the Zambian congregations. Dr. Nyumbu said that "we are change agents. We have been changed to help others change."
Before the conference, Mr. Tkach flew to Cape Town, South Africa, Dec. 12 to speak to combined church services on the subject of No Second Coming Without the First.
After the conference Mr. Tkach, Mr. Dick and I attended a meeting at which Carlos Tavares, director of the Portuguese mission, explained the project's progress and goals.
Dec. 19, the Saturday before his departure, Mr. Tkach spoke to young people at South Africa's Summer Educational Program, and challenged them to consider accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and to reject any spiritual impostors.
During the leadership conference, each day was charged with excitement, and the small numbers in the intimate setting allowed everyone to get to know each other.
Morgen Kriedemann, chairman of the South African national church council, commented: "It was a bonding experience. It's one thing reading about my fellow ministers in other parts of Africa; it's another getting to know them on a personal basis."
The conference was a landmark in the history of the WCG in Africa, and it began to lay down the foundations of a meaningful future for our fellowship on the continent.
Gabriel Ojih, area pastor for Ghana and Nigeria, said: "Since returning to Accra I've started emphasizing the principles I learned, especially the need to replace the cycle of scarcity thinking with the reality of resources and Spirit-led human leadership at all levels being the greatest resource. Please let's have more of such conferences!"
OLDEST COUPLE--Joseph Tkach with Mr. and Mrs.
Edward Norling, oldest couple in Cape Town, South Africa.
RWANDAN REFUGEE--Randal Dick with
Torero Philippe, a Rwandan refugee now living
in Swaziland. [Photo by Charles Albrecht]
Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 1999