1. God gave our family the privilege of 19
years of church planting as adults in East Africa. The Lord grew that gift to include a deep
well of relationships and experiences.
2. Our people, the Diaspora (a people dispersed from their original
homeland who form community http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Diaspora.) from Africa’s Great Lakes (Burundi, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda) are clustered in many
major cities in North America. They
are doing very well professionally and academically yet some have spiritual
struggles in their adaptation. Their
children are Third Culture Kids (TCK’s) just like our own children.
3. We have a solemn pastoral
responsibility to shepherd the Diaspora from Africa’s Great Lakes. We have spent a year praying and
listening. Our intent is to begin a
monthly fellowship in Chicago land to shepherd the Diaspora in the fall of
2013 called Great Lakes Fellowship.
4. Christianity’s influence in North
America has experienced a rapid decline in the last 20 years.
5. The greatest growth of Christianity
in the 20th Century was in China, Korea, Latin America, and
Sub-Saharan Africa.
6. The children and grandchildren of
some of the previous century’s most effective
7. The United States ethnic composition
is rapidly shifting. Caucasians will
soon be a minority.
8. Diaspora esteem deep held American
ideals such as faith, knowledge, freedom, ingenuity, and perseverance.
9. We believe one of the most crucial
tasks for Christian influence in North America is to church plant among and
with the children of Diaspora peoples.
10. Thus we conclude we have a sacred
responsibility to shepherd Africa’s Great Lakes Diaspora through their
transitions to become missionaries who plant multi-cultural churches in North
America (James 4:12-17.) We intend to
begin a new multi-cultural church in Chicago called Nations Chapel.
No comments:
Post a Comment