Missionary Minds

For those living in Africa, crime is an unrelenting reality that significantly impacts life through the constant threat of violence. Despite the promises of politicians, criminals are exploiting ineffective governance in many African countries to target the weak and vulnerable. Against the hope of the victims and the longings of Christians who understand God’s standards of righteousness and justice, Africa seems to be plunging into greater depths of criminality. For believers, this raises two important questions—what is the Christian’s responsibility during elections, and what is the Christian’s hope during elections?

While Northern Africa is predominantly Muslim, Sub-Saharan Africa is quick to claim Christianity. But has Africa really been Christianized? What if we used a different metric to determine a nation’s religious moorings? What if the metric became the nation’s Christian character rather than the nation’s Christian confession? Perhaps the numbers would look much different.

Enjoy the conversation between boti Paul and pastor Malamulo in Malawi as they discuss aspects of ministry and the Christian life.

Having 'The Talk' with your son can prove to be quite challenging for most men. Sadly, this results in many fathers abdicating the responsibility. In this episode Boti Paul seeks to give fathers some tips for talking about the birds and the bees with their sons.

Whether we like it or not, technology is moving us to a more cashless society. The Payments Association of South Africa is currently implementing strategies to make South Africa cashless by 2030. It remains to be seen if such an ambitious goal is reached in such a short time. The justification for this move toward a cashless culture is that it is much safer for all concerned and it is less expensive for businesses if they do not handle cash. The banking sector certainly agrees with this. But while there is a great deal of truth in such rationale, there are numerous pitfalls to a cashless society. Here are but a few challenges in this rush to a cashless destination.

Despite the influence of Christianity and Islam on the continent, Africans still attach tremendous honour to their ancestors. Ancestor worship is deeply engrained into the African belief system, its influence reaching the heights of political power. Remembering ancestors and requesting from ancestors are very different. Scripture allows the first but not the second. Here are five reasons why.

We thank those that prayed for us during our latest missionary survey trip. It was successful in every way, all of this due to God’s grace and the prayers of his saints. Here are six brief lessons I learned.

As we prayerfully plan for 2024, with our long lists (actual or mental) of goals and resolutions, where does Sunday night church fit in? Thanks to American pragmatism (the church growth, seeker-friendly movement) and rampant secularism, evening worship services have largely vanished. It is a once-holy habit that has now almost disappeared in today’s Christianity. One pastor remarks, “...It can be downright difficult to get the family out the door once on a Sunday, not to mention twice; and your neighbours will be convinced that you’re crazy for doing it.” Here are five reasons our churches must recapture Sunday evening services.

Ousted from the South African presidency in 2018 because of corruption, Jacob Zuma regained great political fame this past December in his announcement of forming a new political party—this all amidst his corruption trial!  So also spiritual leader Shepherd Bushiri from Malawi, while awaiting extradition orders in Malawi for financial crimes committed in South Africa, enjoyed a renewed following in his recent 2023/2024 Crossover event. Many more stories like these can be told, and they demonstrate that the price that the humble pay for the mistakes of these leaders can be very high indeed.

Applications for firearm licenses in South Africa have quadrupled over the past decade, according to a recent report written by William Brederode on ⁠News24⁠. Between April 2022 and March 2023, over 139,000 new applications for gun ownership were filed with the South African Police Service, compared to just over 33,000 in the same period from 2011 to 2012. South Africa has seen a 77% increase in murders in that same time span, rising from 15,554 in 2011/12 to 27,494 in 2022/23. In an increasingly crime-ridden SA, is more legal gun ownership good news?