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About Us

About Us

 

What is “Hope for Africa”?

1. About the organization:

1.1 Background:
Liberation and counter liberation struggles have come and gone in the continent but Africa has not yet become what every one who lives in it would like it to be. Ideological ism’s have come and gone leaving this continent with the worst social strife, wars, killings, poverty, hopelessness and helplessness that have ever happened in the history of mankind. In some regions of our continent even that very controversial development and some good that came with it, which was brought by the horrible colonization has disappeared.
 

It is in this background that made us feel that the future and the hope of this continent will depend upon the degree and extend in which the churches, especial the missionaries of the body of Christ are willing to work together. Working together that will bring about change of hearts and of direction to all the inhabitants of this continent. We need first of all to pray for the church leaders and missionaries, who will have Africa and its people at heart, committed African leaders who will look beyond their own interests and their comfort zones. We need to pray for the eradication of corruption and selfishness first for the church leadership and then Political and community leadership.
 

We felt that the Lord was impressing upon our hearts, to stand up and mobilize, train credible and accountable men and women of God who are committed preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ in different parts of Africa. Especially in the most affected regions of Africa, engulfed by conflict, disasters, war-torn and the most unreached ethnic groups of Africa. So as to stand together as a strong force, join hands and share resources for the building of strong mission teams, spreading in almost all the affected regions of Africa. By the help of the Lord the mission is now in 29 countries of Africa, divided in seven regions, but already involved in six of the seven regions, and our regions are divided as follows:

  1. Southern Africa region:
  2. Upper South Region: (Ruvuma)
  3. Central Africa region
  4. Western Africa Region
  5. Northwest Africa Region
  6. North Africa Region
  7. Horn of Africa region

 

This we belief is the vision born for time such as this, when some of the regions in the continent has turn into war torn and almost no-go zone. We believe the time is now for the building of a strong and united force of missionaries and church planters from different parts of Africa, who will work together with the common goal defending the gains of Jesus Christ gospel and for the further advancement of the Kingdom of God. Our strategy of achieving this will be a three phase strategy, outlined as follows:

  1. Mobilize the church of Jesus Christ in Sub-Saharan Africa or in areas where the church is still active and vibrant to become mission churches and become actively involved in the mission of reaching the least unreached and total unreached ethnic groups through the gospel of Jesus Christ in Africa.
  2. Mobilize prayer groups starting with grouping prayer teams in areas engulfed by conflicts and terrorism characterized by religious intolerance and terrorism. To involve Christians in areas where the gospel of Jesus Christ is still strong and vibrant to be involve in interceding and praying for God’s intervention in Africa.
  3. Send out missionaries and trainers to the unreached ethnic groups of Africa and to the no-go zone of Africa, to strengthen brethren who are still there and also training church planters and church leaders for the reaching out of the unreached ethnic groups with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

We strongly belief that by so doing we will be in a better position to share resources from our different regions, so that the better off communities, might be able to share with others who are less develop, to start their own sustainable development projects for the sustenance of the mission work of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is for that reason Alathea Bible College was started and Mozambique Chiaquelane bible school and many other smaller satellites were started. Alathea and Mozambique has trained over three hundred leaders since the mission was started.
 

1.2 Missionary:
It is true that the old concept of sending missionaries is no more the best and practical way of doing mission today, more especially if that means to send a missionary who does not know the people, the language and their culture. Somebody who should start by learning the language culture and the worldview, such that one may be tempted even to try and impose his/her own worldview to nationals. And much resources and effort being wasted to very less output. These simply means spending of more valuable time, effort, and resource in leaning the culture and worldview than reaching these people with the gospel.
 

Nevertheless as African Missionaries, we don’t have to dwell in the past and put much emphasis on what was not done right rather than what was done or still to be done might not help us much. We need to move on and rise to the mission challenges of today than spending much of our time focusing on what we think was not done right and forget what we are called to do today. Our main task is to look at the good work our predecessors have done and continue the good work that have been started in the name of Lord or even better it if possible. It is not the secret that most of our African politicians and academics where schooled in the schools started by mission societies. Many of our hospitals even today are still mission’s hospitals.
 

Does this mean that we have seen the end of this good work done in the name of the Lord for this country? Does it neither mean that since there are now lesser and lesser western missionaries coming to Africa, therefore the holistic gospel that has so much been instrumental in bringing about change, civilizations and transformation of lives in our communities can no longer be seen in this continent? If the holistic gospel is no more going to be witnessed in Africa, therefore there will be no more hope for Africa. If western missions societies through western missionaries and with all their limitations and barriers can do so much, what more then can we the indigenous African missionaries do? It is also not enough to stand back and blame African political systems with some corrupt and greedy politicians (which impact has been one of the main courses of civil wars, strife, killings and massacres). We need to stand up as ambassador of the gospel and bringing about really hope for Africa. There will never be really peace and transformation of lives in this continent unless the churches join hands with the credible committed man of God in Africa to fight greediness and corruption.
 

Africa must stand up more especially South Africa and bring a difference; we must stand up and show the Love of Christ to our fellow countrymen. Other religions especially Islam has targeted Africa as their focal point these days, they are prepared to spend what ever is possible in order to round up Africa in their hands. There is none other than Africans themselves who must stand up and save this continent, by bringing really hope for Africa.
It is in this context that Hope for Africa missions has started this mission program, which aims to help in a small way in bringing hope to Africa. We are determined and committed to do every thing possible in serving the suffering, the persecuted, starving, and the disadvantaged in the disastrous, no-go and unreached regions of Africa. So as to give them the really hope of the good news that comes from the gospel and also demonstrate the love of Christ by meeting them to their point of need.
 

1.3 Our holistic gospel thinking:
People often go to the extreme in trying to meet people at their point of need, as it is well known that it is very difficult in trying to preach the gospel to the needy and the suffering without addressing in some way their immediate needs and suffering. Many relief agencies end up being side tracked from the main aim of bringing the gospel in to these communities, by focusing solely on the physical needs of this people, the end of which people just see help that comes form organizations without seeing any love of Christ. Finally it does not bring any difference to their lives, it just becomes like any other secular relief programs whose aim is only to see people out of their disastrous situation. Please understand me, I don’t mean that there is something wrong in helping people if the aim is just to help them that way, but in our view it is dangerous to think that by mere helping , one will be able to show God’s love without preaching or telling them about God.
 

The other extreme can also be equally dangerous; the heartless preaching of the gospel without any empathy portrayed in the New Testament by Jesus himself, this can also be detrimental to the preaching of the Gospel. Preaching to the suffering and needy people without even caring for their needs and suffering, does sometime communicate a negative massage to the very people you are preaching to and others. This is sometime interpreted to be saying, “We don’t care about your conditions, we only want to see you coming to the Lord, and that’s all what concerns us”. Which is actually not what the gospel is all about, we want them to see the love of Christ, in our preaching as well as in our acts.
That is why our approach is that of bringing holistic gospel to our people, the gospel that will address all aspect of a person’s being, address his spiritual as well as his physical being. When Mozambique was hit by floods disaster in February 2000, we were more than willing together with our Christian brothers on the ground to use every resource available to show the love of God, by supplying their immediate needs as well as preaching the Gospel. To us the two are inseparable. The one opens and opportunity for the other. The hundreds of tons of food and clothes distributed in Mozambique since the disaster in February have opened immense opportunity for the preaching of the gospel, and thousands have come to the Lord. Nine Churches have been planted only by Hope for Africa church planting ministry, not mentioning other churches planted by our bible school students and other church workers of other denomination who have participated in this program.
 

In one church, alone which has been planted in Chiaquelane, more than five hundred new converts have come to know the Lord and joined the newly planted church. Orphans have been identified and three-orphanage day care centers have been opened. The total of two hundred and twenty four children of the three orphanages are getting food supply daily, seventeen houses for pastors are being built (five in Chiaquelane, five in Chokwe, One in Manica two in South Africa and one in Zimbabwe), a health port (small clinic) has been build. Two church buildings have been built for the new churches; a bible school with thirty-eight students has been established in Chiaquelane. The roof structure for the Assemblies of God church in Chiaquelane has been contributed. A one hundred and forty house has been build for the floods victims in Chiaquelane. Farming projects with few cows have been started in Mapai north of Gaza province. The partnership agreement has been signed between the government and Hope for Africa Mission for the development and the training of farmers in Mwaxicoluane village.
 

1.4 Dependency syndrome:
With this type of program going on in a country such as Mozambique, like many other African countries where there is very little if any employment. The relief tends to build up a syndrome of dependency that might turn the whole idea of helping to be dangerous to the very people you are trying to help. This dependency might develop in two ways: First, the very people who are being helped might sit back and do nothing and expect the process to continue forever, which might later cause more suffering and strife when this is discontinued. Which is actually the trend with communities who received too much of handouts for too long.
 

Secondly it might develop a dependency syndrome to the very church-organs, organizations, projects and people who are receiving this help for too long without doing anything in their country in trying to sustain whatever help or developmental project undertaken to help their own communities. That will also course the projects to fail to continue after the sponsors have discontinued their support. This may also have detrimental effects to the whole work that has been started and finally to the beneficiaries.
 

Because of these reasons and many others, we are working and praying hard for the self-sustaining of all the projects, we have started and about to start. We are convinced that the church especially African missionaries are better placed to bring about vast changes in the lives and socio-economic conditions of these communities in the whole of Africa, if we are going to work together in a more organized and united way, by using every opportunity and resources available to us for preaching and also training communities skills, and to encourage them to develop themselves and their communities.
 

It is for this reason we have started a mission farm project that seeks to train local communities farming skills, that can bring farming experts from other countries and other regions of Africa. The aim is to train the locals while in the process using the crops, which come out of these farms to sustain our own projects both in Mozambique and the other parts of Africa. The government of Mozambique has already offered tracks of farming land for us to realize this dream.