News for End of November 2007

Dear friends,

* JAY GARY, assistant professor at Regent University's School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship, in Virginia Beach, VA makes the following fascinating comments on Vulnerable Mission:  You mean what?!?

* Recently travelling to a Kenyan theological college for a symposium, we were presented with a college publication. The main article by their Principal begins as follows:

"Every time I begin to prepare lessons for my theological students, the first thing which happens to me is to move from my own world to another strange world where I am linguistically, psychologically and, above all, theologically, trapped in what may be called the 'traditional orthodox theological orbit'. This is the orbit of Systematic Theology, New Testament exegesis, Church History and Christian Education as has been tested in the Occidental world, an environment which is alien to me. Through these, the theological teacher, the student and finally the Christian in the Church and at home - both young and old - are overtly and covertly demanded to undress themselves of their contextual attire and enter the orbit. And in that state of their contextual nudeness, they are said to be faithful to the church." (Seurei 2007:7).

* I recently talked with a colleague about Yala Theological Centre. "You are doing the right thing . but it will take 100 years to work." he said. "Well, I've been doing this for 14 years," I responded, "so you had better pray that I have a long life! Or that people be found to take the long-term vision forward. Only 86 years to go!"

Why would this take 100 years? Because Kenyan society has been so convinced that everything good must be foreign and in English, that it could take them that long to appreciate that 'something good can come from Africa'. In other words, it is hard for people to appreciate that something 'new' can be 'good' even if it doesn't have a lot of foreign donors attached to it. Is convincing them of this not a worthwhile aim?

Jim