Eating Snake...

When a group of people see a snake there can be any number of responses - fear, terror, panic, bravery... and hunger?

The outside observer might be surprised to know that we have had over 45 different tribes represented at ARCC from 9 African nations. This creates an extremely diverse student body where students are daily faced with the challenges of living in a cross-cultural setting.

On Friday during our Community Day you couldn't help but notice the difference. A group of students came upon a snake measuring over 2 meters in length. While some quickly ran and cried out in panic another group swooped in for the kill. But the story does not end there - the students who captured the snake also requested to eat it!

You'd be surprised how much controversy this kind of request can create. One group of students and staff refused the idea not even wanting the snake in the kitchen, while the other side pleaded in earnest for a taste of home. A compromise was struck when the students agreed to cook it themselves in their own pot.

The dining hall was filled with curiosity as students gathered to see who would take a bite and who would refuse.

As a missionary I loved every minute of this encounter because it was an opportunity for our students to receive some missionary training of their own. When a missionary enters a new culture often eating the new food can be a big adjustment. People all over the world eat food that some of us would never consider like ants, grasshopers, snails, frog legs, rats, animal intestines and snakes. Part of entering a new culture is showing your willingness to adopt the new manners, customs, greetings and food that you are offered. Refusal to greet in an appropriate way or to eat the food you are served can be seen as offensive to your host and be a hindrance to the spread of the gospel.

I truly believe that our students have the ability to reach the nations for Christ and on Friday many got their first taste of entering a new culture!

How does a Bible College stay on course?

It's a sad but true tale, many Bible Colleges that start out preparing students for ministry soon drift towards liberalism while others move completely away from the faith.

How does this happen? And more importantly, how can it be avoided?

Many believe that you simply teach the Bible alone and avoid other courses all together. But this is also a trap since there is great need to train Christians with professional skills in business, education, development and the sciences so that there is a strong presence of believers in the market place. It also is limited view of scriptures since they are filled with teaching on business, education, development and science.

While we don't claim to have all the answers there is one thing we know to be true - when Christ is King and the Gospel is the guiding story for all of history your foundation is secure.

At ARCC we are pursuing this philosophy by developing a Christ-Centered educational system... take a look....

The Father of African Theology

Byang Kato transformed African Theology forever in his brief lifetime. He was the first African to earn a Th.D. in 1973 and was a promoted the idea of theological higher education more than anyone in his day. Unfortunately he only lived to be 39 years old when he drowned while on vacation with his family in Kenya in 1975.

So what could one man accomplish in such a short amount of time?

Kato's vision for African Theology was four-fold:
1. He had a vision to see African scholars writing and publishing African theology
2. He had a vision for a schools of higher education in theology, one in French-speaking Western Africa and another in the English-speaking East Africa. Although there were some American and European schools at that time his vision was for two uniquely Christian, uniquely African schools of theology.
3. He had a vision for an African theological journal.
4. He had a vision for an accrediting agency  to set the standards and monitor the progress of the African theological schools to be established.

In his lifetime he helped to accomplish 2 of these goals. He outlined the plans for the start of Bangui Evangelical School of Theology (BEST) in Western Africa and Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology (NEGST) in Eastern African. He also convened the first meeting for the Accrediting Council for Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA) of which ARCC is an Afliliate Member.

Not long after his death a third goal was reached with the start of the African Journal of Theology in 1978. And I can affirm that his first and foremost goal of seeing African Theologians teaching and writing has also been reached as proved by the printing of the African Bible Commentary in 2006 - a collective work of 70 African Theologians!

So what is the point of looking back at the life of Byang Kato?

He is a man with a vision that turned the tide for the entire continent of Africa. He saw the continent of Africa as not simply a mission field for sending European and American missionaries but instead as a breeding ground to send missionaries to the nations.

He saw the importance of evangelism, preaching and teaching within the cultural context of Africa. To much of the Western Christian literature and teaching is geared towards the West alone and does reach the African audience as effectively. He understood that transformation had to come from within the people and not from the outside alone.

He proved the gospel is not new to Africa but instead reminded the world that Christianity itself is deeply rooted in Africa. In fact many of the first century leaders of the church came from Africa including Origen, Athanasius, Tertullian and Augustine. Making Christian theology almost entirely dependent on these African fathers of the faith.

Finally, he set the bar high for schools such as ourselves to not merely copy the West but instead to develop a curriculum that is distinctly African which can prepare students for the African context in which they live and serve. We owe a great debt of gratitude to a man who put us on a great course and for providing a vision for a greater future!

(Notes take from: Cloud of Witnesses by Mark A. Noll and Carolyn Nystrom)

Community Day

Once a month the entire country of Rwanda  participates in a "Community Day." Everyone reports to their local chairman or mayor to receive their assignments and everyone works together to make Rwanda a cleaner and more beautiful place.

If you have ever traveled in Eastern Africa you immediately can see the difference. There is no trash to be seen. The landscaping is beautiful and in general there is a spirit of unity and togetherness that pervades a community once torn apart by genocide.

 At ARCC we are trying to create our own "Community Day!" Every Friday staff and students gather together to receive their assignments on the farm, landscaping, cleaning classrooms/ kitchen or working on construction projects around the campus. 

Our hope is that it will create a deep sense of community and give opportunity to strength relationships between staff and students as we labor together. We also hope that one day our students will return to the campus and be able to share with their children, "I planted that tree" "I helped build that building" and on and on.

It is amazing was can happen when everyone works together. Today the students gathered unused building blocks which will be used to build an external wall around the campus and a sidewalk through the courtyard. The savings of reusing this bricks for these two projects alone will save the school over $10,000! 

 

When the future of Africa is discussed the outlook is beak due to the lack of financial resources. But from where we are standing their is great hope due to the tremendous amount of natural resource and human resource. And as our community is transformed we have no doubt that our students will be prepared to go out and transform their communities!

Leaders Overcome Challenges

It's Registration Week and the students have been continually pouring in over the last few days. It is always great to see new faces and old faces as the campus buzzes with excitement for the new term.

But there are also students who dread Registration Week because school fees are due!

During Registration Week it is not uncommon to find students in different offices sharing their struggles to find school fees with sympathetic staff members. Many of the stories have a familiar ring to them - their family doesn't support their decision to enter ministry, they have no family or friends to support them or there are just too many other expenses that take priority.

As a staff we have had to work hard to to be consistent rather than make exceptions based on emotional response to the stories, as this can be viewed as favoritism or could also lead to every student coming with the same story in hopes of not paying.

So what do you say to a student with a calling to ministry who desires to study at ARCC?

Ask any student and they will tell you the same - "Leaders overcome challenges!"

Although we would love to see every student come regardless of their ability to pay that just isn't possible. Not only that, we believe that paying fees is a part of preparation for ministry.

Ministry is more than preaching on Sunday morning but it involves having a positive witness in the community. A pastor who doesn't pay their bills or fulfill their commitments will not last long in any community.

We also know that ministry is not easy and there will always be pressures and challenges. So we believe it is better for students to learn to face these challenges now during their time of training rather than when they are on their own.

This term it has been especially rewarding to see the students paying their fees. Some students have found jobs during the school breaks while others have taken a term or two off to save up their fees. But in each case were the student has overcome the "school fees challenge" you see a smile or their head held high because they know that they are prepared to face the next challenge that comes their way!

There are new challenges facing Africa every day... war, famine, corruption, disease, etc. Our task is to prepare these students to face these challenges head on... and we believe that they will be ready!

A leadership lesson from Uganda's history...

In 1974 Janani Luwum became the Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire. On February 16, 1977 he was murdered by the President of Uganda, Edi Amin. 

Why would a president kill an archbishop?

During his lifetime many Christians believed that the Christian life meant complete separation from the world. Luwum was the opposite he believed that Christianity meant sanctification of power not renunciation. 

To this end he personally confronted the President over his persecution of religious groups and their leaders. In December 1976 radio address he shared, “I do not know for how long I shall be occupying this chair. I live as though there will be no tomorrow. I face daily being picked up by the soldiers. While the opportunity is there, I preach the gospel with all my might, my conscience is clear before God that I have not sided with the present government, which is utterly self-seeking. I have been threatened many times. Whenever I have the opportunity I have told the President the things the churches disapprove of. God is my witness.”

When Amin brought false charges against Luwum that he was seeking to work with Milton Obote to overthrow the government he did not fight to defend himself. Instead he simply whispered to his fellow bishops, "I can see the hand of the Lord in this." And with that he was taken to the Presidents chambers, never to return.

What is the lesson? 

Janani Luwum feared God not man. 

He understood that the cost of discipleship was great (costing even his life).  

But he also understood that he was to be a light in the world... not a light distant or removed from the world. And so, he used his position of Archbishop to speak for other who couldn't speak for themselves (the broken, abused, persecuted and afflicted) rather than seeking his own comfort, power or gain.  

Janani Luwum is a leader from the past who sets a great example for the leaders of today and the leaders of tomorrow! 

Welcome to the ARCC Blog!

Greetings from Africa Renewal Christian College!

We are joining the blogger world in order to give you an inside look at the development of Africans next generation of Christian leaders.

Our prayer is that this blog will give you an opportunity to join us in the stories of trials and triumphs that come with preparing students to serve the churches and communities in Africa.

Thanks for joining us on the journey!