Gestuurde gemeentes is...

Gemeentes  wat hulle bediening wil  fokus op dit wat God besig is om in die wêreld te doen

• van hulle konteks.  Hulle weet dat Christendom- die tyd van 'n kerk met mag-aan die verdwyn is.  Hulle nie verwag dat almal rondom hulle Christene is nie.  Hulle kan die vraag Waar is ons? beantwoord.
• dat die Bybel en gebed hulle as individue en gemeente vorm soos wat hulle deelneem aan God se sending. Hulle laat God se Gees deur hulle werk en hulle bemagtig om risiko’s te neem ter wille van die Evangelie. Hulle is besig om die vraag Wie s’n is ons? te beantwoord.
• van hoe God rondom hulle en in die wyer wêreld besig is. Hulle leer meer van God se sending van die verlossing, herstel en versoening van die wêreld deur Jesus Christus. Hulle kan antwoorde gee op die vraag, Wat is God besig om te doen?
• dat God deur sy Woord en Gees met die gemeente praat. Daarom weet hulle hoe om te onderskei en te luister na God se spesifieke roeping vir hulle. Hulle ken hulle gestuurde roeping en is bereid om daarop met dade te reageer. Hulle is besig om oor grense heen uit te reik ter wille van die Evangelie. Hulle kan die vraag, Hoe is God besig om ons te stuur beantwoord?
• van hulle roeping om  ‘n teken en ‘n voorsmaak van die toekoms wat God vir die hele wêreld is wees. Hulle lewer getuienis van Jesus Christus in hulle uitreiksoos wat hulle ander uitnooi om burgers van God se koninkryk te word. Wanneer hulle saam as gemeente  is, is hulle ook ‘n getuienis van die Evangelie. Hulle is besig om die vraag, Hoe is ons as kerk nou besig om te lewe volgens die patron van God se toekoms? te beantwoord.

Third Annual Consultation in Lusaka, Zambia of the Mission in Western Culture project

(2-9th August 2008)

I always seem to require a week at least to both intellectually and emotionally process my trips to Africa and this time I asked myself why? I have come to the conclusion that travelling to sub Saharan Africa and really experiencing the enormous economic and social transitions that are presently going on as well as enjoying the natural hospitality of the African people is probably a picture of what it was like to move into London or Manchester during the industrial revolution of the 19th century. All around you watch and experience the disorientating effects of modernization while still enjoying, for the time being at least, traditional African values and ways of life.

Lusaka seemed to me to be much like Nairobi or Johannesburg. On every street corner there is much evidence of those who have found their way into the new world of economic success and social mobility juxtaposed with mind shattering and gruelling poverty and injustice. Dusty streets choked with exhaust fumes; women and children breaking rocks by the roadside; expensive new hotels and government buildings often sponsored and built by the new colonialists, the Chinese; sprawling shanty towns and piles of degradable rubbish. Taxi’s crammed full of people on their way to low paid jobs. Young boys forlornly endeavouring to sell plants or meaningless modern bric a brac by the roadside and everywhere, just under the surface of the vibrant hustle and bustle of city life, the daily pressure and ocean of sorrow and heartache associated with a worldwide pandemic, HIV/AIDS.

Modern Africa is a snapshot of what happens when the global viral economies and epidemics of late modernity invade, consume and explode from inside the settled, and to a certain extent more sheltered, way of life previously sustained through the agrarian economies and social hierarchies of traditional tribal society. The effects are devastating, more losers than winners, more problems than solutions, more challenges than available resources. What is being birthed, however, is the possibility of enormous new wealth creation and a ticket into to the 21st century. Progress? Well, maybe, but one thing is for sure we cannot stop this global march toward – toward what? To a certain extent that was what our consultation was all about.