LEGATO...

My most recent opportunity to serve in East Africa was filled with challenges and blessings. The first conference with Equipping Pastors International (EPI) was in Murang'a, north of Nairobi. There over 100 pastors with the Christian Foundation Fellowship gathered to hear sessions on family and marriage. My contribution was on the subject of the Cultural Mandate and its relationship to the Great Commission. Anytime I have had the opportunity to express what Scripture says on this important issue the result is generally the same. In the words of one pastor, "Our minds are being opened to see things in the Bible we've never seen before." There is already some early discussion about my return to this area of Kenya to speak further on these key issues, in that the pastors are eager to hear more of what the Bible says about the scope of the gospel for the "whole of life." First Class of Uzima Reformed College Uzima students taking their final exam That...

I have a new article on The Road From Eden that offers a modest vision for the reform of African culture. Obviously, it offers only a part of what is needed. But check out the article at my website. You can link to it just to the right of this post or go to www.roadfromeden.com It is under Culture/Articles. A partial excerpt from the article is below... Religious pluralism is endemic to African traditional religion (ATR). It animates the social and cultural conditions not only of African religion but also of many cultural forms throughout the continent. More specifically, religious pluralism is having a direct effect on the ways in which Christianity is understood and practiced in most areas of Africa. It is the worldview of religious pluralism that must be challenged in order for biblical Christianity to emerge and take hold of Africa. This challenge cannot be addressed by a narrow evangelistic model but by a rigorous biblical theology focused on the teaching of the Christian world a...

I have written a short piece titled, "The Plight of East African Children in the Light of 2 Kings 2:1-7." It appears on my website, www.roadfromeden.com which you can link to on this site. The piece interacts with several articles in a major Ugandan newspaper called The New Vision, as well as some statistics relevant to the children of Uganda. I read the newspaper while flying from Entebbe to Amsterdam on my way home to the States. I freely admit that the article does not do justice to the whole of the problem facing the children of East Africa, but it may offer you a brief bit of insight into a root cause of the problem. I plan on several more such articles dealing with East African culture and society. Please read it when you get a chance and feel free to offer some feedback.

I have returned from Kenya and Uganda, where for one week I ministered to a group of pastors in Kenya and a group of Bishops in Uganda. I was traveling with Equipping Pastors International (EPI). Being a cultural historian and theologian of culture, I must say that the experience was personally stimulating and instructive. There are many aspects of East Africa culture that are worthy of report, issues that I will try to take up in an article or two on my website, www.roadfromeden.com. However, here I will mention just one observations from my trip regarding the cultural situation in this troubled region of the world. Uganda won its liberty from Great Britain in 1962, followed closely by Kenya in 1963. Liberty is a priceless treasure, but unless individuals and nations know how to handle liberty, it can quickly turn into a prison, manifesting great religious, tribal, and political abuse. Such is the case with these two nations, it seems to me. Being an American, with a decidedly America...