The Sunday News
Rev Paul Damasane Talking Spirituality
Last Sunday evening Africa was shaken by the death of one of its most prominent sons in the diaspora, Dr Myles Munroe. He went to be with the Lord tragically in a plane crash with an entourage of his wife, daughter and top leadership of the Bahamas Faith Ministries International. All I could say was to echo his philosophy on purpose, “It is a tragedy to be alive and not know why!” While he had quipped that he will not remain in a tomb I can surely add today and say, “Myles Munroe is entombed in the hearts and minds of the multitudes he impacted with his teaching.” I salute him, he was a great man! Nyhani kwanqamuk’umjingo abantwana besadlala; kungenani mangithi akuhlanga lungehliyo mawethu…masingxwal’emswaneni lo sinethemba lovuso lwerhamente kaThixo ehleli ihleli ngokungunaphakade!
There is a race that we must run. He ran his part and has left us the baton for us who remain to continue and build on the foundation he laid.
Why was an African in the diaspora so used of god to touch even the whole world not just Africa. I do not forget how it was Dr Myles Munroe who ministered to Richard Roberts, the son and successor of Oral Roberts, when he was going through trying times. Dr Myles Munroe was like a Hobab to Christianity in Africa and truly the whole world. He was a beacon of hope and direction to the people of Africa. Moses pleads with his brother-in-law Hobab to lead them in the wilderness in Numbers 10: 29-32 and be “ . . . their eyes for he knew the way of the wilderness!”
I thought of Africa as it is today and realised that statistics show that we are the most ancient continent yet we are currently the youngest continent with 60% of our population under the age of 30! We are the future home of Christianity after this faith has made its journey from the Middle East to Western Europe and then to the Americas; now Christianity is coming to Africa. The next twenty to forty years will consolidate Africa as the centre of Christianity. This will be Christianity with all the accoutrements that Africa will dress her with! The last international tour of Dr Myles Munroe had a strong African flair and influence. It was no accident at all but part of God’s plan.
The world will come to Africa to learn about Christ but my question is are our theologians ready with a Christian philosophy than has the epistemology rooted in our Africanness. On the contrary will it not be just some western religious thought that we apologise for having learned and acquired from the west? Should it be Christianity in Africa or African Christianity? Yes we have the numbers. We have the power of the Gospel. There are miracles in their phenomenal fashion, divers and at times suspiciously mesmerising! I do ask myself the question if our theology is not missing the mark when we turn to eat grass, drink paraffin and have a harem of wives! Surely God should help us!
Will our theology stand the test of time? Some may even hazard that we do not even have a theology. Our theologians are tremendously charismatic but shallow in doctrine and theology as their teachings lack soundness and the backbone that will ensure the continuity of Christianity in this new home that is Africa. My question will be like Paul Gifford’s ask when he demands if the new Christianity will be marked by leaders and their ideas as opposed to what the early fathers gave to us!
I am persuaded that I see the baton of Myles Munroe alive in the hands of Mensa Anamua Otabil of International Central Gospel Church’s Christ Temple in Accra, Ghana. I agree with Paul Gifford in his book Ghana’s New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalising African Economy when he describes Otabil as a ray of hope for Christianity in Africa. He presents an entirely different form of charismatic Christianity: the socially and politically conscious cultural adjustment theology of Mensa Otabil. Gifford continues to analyse Otabil’s plea for education, responsible leadership, productive entrepreneurship, and cultural transformation presenting Otabil as the exception to other charismatic stars.
Pentecostalism is growing in Africa and we cannot ignore that it is changing the face of Christianity in Africa. So in Africa today, we not only have major Western mission-related Pentecostal denominations such as the Assemblies of God originating from the United States, but also African-initiated ones like William F. Kumuyi’s Deeper Life Christian Ministry, which started in Nigeria in 1973. In addition, there are the multitudinous “mega” independent New Pentecostal Churches like Mensa Otabil’s International Central Gospel Church in Ghana, David O. Oyedepo’s Word of Faith Mission International or Winner’s Chapel of Nigeria and Andrew Wutawunashe’s Family of God in Zimbabwe, which were also born out of local initiatives. Additionally, African Pentecostal churches have become a dominant force in Western Europe and North America. The fact that African religions have emerged in Europe not as primal forms but in terms of Christianity is itself evidence of the growing strength of the Christian faith in modern Africa. To this end, the largest single Christian congregation in Western Europe since Christianity began is Nigerian Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo’s Kingsway International Christian Centre (KICC) in London. The list is not exhaustive!
Let me conclude by stating clearly that the departure of Myles Munroe left me thinking deeply about the future theological depth of Christianity in Africa. We cannot leave it to chance, a deliberate effort should be made to invest in the training of the new pastor to understand Africa’s future. We cannot control the political if we cannot control or operate effectively in the spiritual! Certainly Christianity in Africa will and has to go beyond Myles Munroe! May his dear soul and that of his wife, daughter and team rest in eternal peace. Shalom!
