Out of Africa - Church of the Nazarene for February 2014 - Issue 1
In This Issue:
Mozambique rejoices
Vision for Africa 2014
Sao Tome & Principe's First Nazarene Ordination Service
Prayer requests and praises:
The Persecuted Church
Please pray for NTCCA as repairs from the storm.get done. Some of the trusses have been rebuilt and iron sheets for roofing have been ordered.
Pray for the upcoming Global Theology Conference III and Africa Nazarene Women Clergy Conference.
Pray for travel mercies for the many across the region who are joining together for district assemblies.
Pray for our new elders - may they always be worthy of their calling and leave a legacy to be cherished.
Praise God for our leadership team including our General Superintendent and Regional Director - both sons of the soil.
Pray for the children of Africa. May we disciple them to be children of God.
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Explore the Africa Region
Come to the website:www.africanazarene.org
Twitter @NazAfrica
Church of the Nazarene - Africa Region
Le Coin Nazaréen
Noticias Nazarenas
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Mozambique rejoices - by Carlos Bauza
The third weekend of January was a great celebration for the Mozambican church with the visit of Regional Director Dr. Filimao Chambo and General Superintendent Dr. Eugenio Duarte, great men of God who formerly served in Mozambique. They were received with great joy, applause and cheers.
They facilitated two district assemblies, Matola and Maputo, including the re-election of District Superintendents Rev. Chilengue (Matola) and Rev. Moiane (Maputo) for a period of 4 years. On Sunday, Dr. Duarte ordained four pastors and deacons of the Church of the Nazarene in the presence of over 5000 people.
Also, we celebrated together the birthday of Dr. Eugenio Duarte.
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Vision for Africa 2014 - by Regional Director Dr. Filimao Chambo
Africa is a land of contrasts and complexities! In God's wisdom, he has guided the Church of the Nazarene to touch lives, families and communities in a variety of ways in 42 of the countries in Africa resulting in a total membership of 600,285 Nazarenes.
Of the 600,285 members of the Church of the Nazarene Africa Region, 344,583 (57 %) are new members who joined the church in the past 10 years. There are 130 districts and 4,430 organized churches and 4,157 preaching points. We have 3,268 district licensed and ordained ministers. The majority of our preachers are lay ministers. The current reality is that some of our church leaders, pastors and district superintendents are new in the Church.
We are thankful to pastors and DSs, even those with limited training and understanding of the Church of the Nazarene, who continue to plant new churches and lead the church in their respective districts and countries. But leaders are calling us to provide them with further training and mentorship. They are hungry to learn and to know more. We need to help the church become a healthy and missional church.
Therefore, I believe, it is critical that we continue to foster creation and implementation of strategies for Church and leadership development, even in the places where we seem to have obstacles.
With this background in mind, the Lord is leading me to see our ministry, in the midst of the contrast and complexities of Africa, as of the people called "to prepare the way" so that many people will call on the name of the Lord for their salvation. Even more importantly to prepare the way for the development of leaders and the development of healthy and missional churches in Africa. We are to be a holiness movement empowered by God to lead the people of Africa and beyond to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. This is consistent with the regional objectives: (1) Holiness Revivalism, (2) Evangelism, (3) Discipleship and (4) Education.
For the 2013-2017 quadrennium, I recommend that we prioritize the following initiatives:
1. Developing discipleship resources that address issues facing Africans to facilitate the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry and the up building of the church. Our priority would be the development of the Celebrating Holiness Resources.
2. Developing districts and local churches by encouraging the production and implementation of strategies which cultivate them to become healthy and missional. A special district focus will be to discover and/or "rediscover the biblical and missiological purpose of the district as an agent of mission." This includes mobilizing the church in missions.
3. Developing clergy with a special focus to facilitate the continued nurturing and equipping of Nazarene licensed and credentialed ministers.
This focus includes resourcing, supporting and inspiring those involved in ministry by encouragement and organization of: (a) PALCONs, (b) Africa Nazarene Women Clergy, (c) Africa Nazarene Chaplaincy, and (d) ministerial training/development. We will also coordinate the research and publication endeavors of Nazarene theologians and Bible scholars in Africa working on issues of higher African priority.
4. Developing leaders by creation of district superintendents' leadership development programs, organization of district superintendents' retreats, and arrangement for missionary retreats and strategy consultation with the goal to foster participation and buy-in on the regional strategy for church development. We will also create leadership development programs for clergy, laity (lay leaders) and educators.
5. Developing a robust communication system to facilitate interaction with the pastors and district superintendents, field strategy coordinators, regional director and missionaries, and donors.
6. Developing regional awareness by hosting a Regional Conference in 2015 to allow fellowship and cultivate strategies to fulfill the Great Commission.
7. Developing a praying Church by (1) mobilizing prayer support for missions in Africa, and (2) mobilizing prayer support for the persecuted church.
We pray for the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit to burn deep into African Nazarene hearts and lives sanctifying us and emboldening us to continue sharing the message of holiness with our neighbors near and far despite obstacles and difficulties.
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Sao Tome & Principe's First Nazarene Ordination Service - by Jason Patalano
For almost five years, our pastors have been learning and training to becoming ordained elders in the church. On January 22, 2014, we here in Sao Tome & Principe had our first ordination service.
The night before, some church members and all the pastors came together to decorate Central Church where the ordination service would take place. Though the building is not a finished one, it was possible to have the service there without much noticing the empty window spaces in the unfinished walls and the dirt floor.
Dr. Duarte and Dr. Chambo and Rev Tibi, our field strategy coordinator came for the service. Although Drs Duarte and Chambo had been to STP previously, it was Rev. Tibi's first visit.
The service started around 6:15 pm. Between one hundred-eighty to two hundred people attended, mostly families. A good number of different denominations were represented. This Spirit-filled event lasted about two hours. The worship time lead into a presentation of the candidates and their wives. These four pastors sang a special song, "Ate aqui o Senhor nos ajudou" which translated in English is "The LORD has helped us up to now."
Dr. Duarte called the candidates to come forward after he finished preaching. All the seats were filled. Some people stood and children watched from the incomplete balcony, as the four men and their wives knelt in front by the altar. The General Superintendent placed his hands on each pastor's head and as the other elders placed their hands on them as well. Dr Duarte ordained them, one by one.
A nice dinner for everyone afterwards included "Rancho com Peixe" - in English "Rice with beans and fish." We had a copious amount of food; we had more than enough for two hundred people. The churches originally thought about just making enough food for the special guests and the pastors, but in the end we had an anonymous lady who donated lots of food.
It will be interesting to see who will be the new District Superintendent. Because now each of these "pastors", correction, "Reverends" is eligible to become the first Santomean district superintendent. The others will serve on the district advisory board.
Please pray for us, as we (my parents - I'm just an MK who helps out) change our ministry focus again. The STP District now will soon have its own national leadership in place.
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Check out our website -- We've been working on it. Let us know what you think needs more emphasis or what is missing. We want it to be a friendly resource. www.africanazarene.org
Amy Crofford, Out of Africa editor
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Africa Church of the Nazarene
17 Botes Street
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
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