Missionary Minds

The final instalment from the 4-part mini-series on lobola. Enjoy.

In July of 2023, Ghana’s parliament voted to abolish the death penalty. Africa still has 30 countries that have the death sentence in their legal system, though it is rarely used in over half of these. Fourteen countries in Africa regularly use the death penalty: Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Egypt, and Libya. In 26 African countries, capital punishment has been removed from the law books.

In August of 2023, three women in The Gambia were ordered to pay a fine or face jail time for practicing female circumcision. They were charged under the country's Women’s Amendment Act of 2015, which outlaws female circumcision. Despite this law, at least half of the women in The Gambia have undergone this procedure, often performed by older women in the community. According to the World Health Organisation, female circumcision involves partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. This procedure is common in many African countries, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda and Eritrea. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that 200 million girls and women globally have undergone female circumcision.

Many Christian men and women have died early. They were great. They were young. The examples in Scripture and Church History are endless. Abel obeyed God but was murdered by his brother. Stephen was stoned mid-sermon. Our Lord was crucified at 33. Most of the apostles died soon after the death of their Savior. In this episode we discuss some principles in thinking around this question.

"...Some view lobola as nothing different than purchasing a car or cell phone. In modern society, because money has replaced cows regarding the payment of lobola, some say it makes the woman feel as though she is being purchased." "The groom often feels bitterness toward his bride or her parents because of the excessive bride price fees. Or there might be bitterness within the wife toward the husband and his parents because she cannot leave a bad marriage. She fears she must then return the bride price."

In order to observe the National Day of Prayer, fasting, repentance, and reconciliation in a reverential manner, all activities of an entertainment nature are postponed. At the same time, bars and food outlets remain closed between 6 AM to 6 PM. For many the question that lingers in their minds is: “Is this a political game or a genuine desire to call on God?” Here are a few questions about prayer we need to address...

Reformation Sunday warns us that we fight many of the same battles today as the reformers did a half-millennium ago. For example, Thesis 86 says, “Why does the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with the money of poor believers rather than with his own money?” In today’s Africa, this could easily say: “Why does Makandiwa, Chris Oyakhilome, Shepherd Bushiri and Alph Lukau, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest diamond mogul, buy a Bombardier 8000 private jet with the money of the poor?” There is nothing new under the sun.

The command for Christians to make disciples is so well-known that few people may actually give thought to how a missionary should actually go about doing it when they are in the field. Listen to Boti Paul share some helpful insights on the process of making disciple-making disciples.

"How else is the man to prove that he can provide for his future wife than to give a payment up front? If talk is cheap, and if there are doubts about the man’s commitment, it seems wise to expect the man to pay up, thus proving he can work hard, save and attain a goal he has set out to achieve."

By Tim Cantrell: Right now in South Africa is one of those rare moments of national unity where black and white, rich and poor are all sporting their Springbok colours as we cheer on our rugby team’s heroic attempt at another world cup. When we begin each game singing our national anthem (originally a Xhosa Christian revival hymn), it climaxes with that rallying cry: “Let us live and strive for freedom in South Africa, our land!” But where does human freedom even come from in the first place?