Mali Trip: 8.27.2008
The flight to Mali was uneventful, praise God! I still really can't sleep on planes. I felt as if I was caught in this purgatory between an active observing mind and exhausted sleepy eyes. I'm pretty sure I watched at least 7 full length movies. I stepped off the plane on the Bamako tarmac and was confronted with 90 degree heat and 80% humidity... and it was around 10:30 at night.I walked to the airport building because there are no gates pretty much in all of Africa. Picked up my baggage, fighting through a sea of porters, and walked outside to the Requadts holding a teddy bear for my arrival.
One of the many reasons Justin, Leah and I are going with WorldVenture is because they offer us, the missionaries, a lot of autonomy. This means that we get to do the vision we feel God has given us and we get to stay as long as God is keeping us there. WorldVenture is essentially partnering with us and our supporting churches (they have a huge emphasis on the local Church) to see that the vision God has given us is fulfilled. Well, that autonomy was confirmed as I had dinner with most of the Mali field missionaries. Their big question was, "Where do you see God is sending you?" Now there is still solid accountability in this freedom, but the accountability is in making sure that we are fulfilling the vision God has given us and the goals we will write out to make that vision a reality.
The teams vision is a simple one on the surface, but one that will take a lifetime to accomplish (we pray a lot less though, although we are prepared for the long haul). Our goal is to see a 3-Self church among one of the remaining Senoufo dialects that have no Christian witness and no Bible. A 3-Self church is a mature church that is Self-governing, Self-sustaining, and Self-propagating. Justin and I fully expect to disciple ourselves right out of a job among the Senoufos (and then maybe look at moving into leadership development for further maturing of the national pastors as they reach their own people with the Message of Jesus Christ). Right now, Justin and I have a 35-40 year plan of what we think, realistically, it will take to see a mature 3-Self church. This includes Bible translation, community development, literacy training, chronological Bible storying, and life-on-life discipleship. All of this leads to our main purpose of Church planting, but as Tom Requadt said on one of our walks in the bush, "There is a lot of stump pulling before you ever get to the Church planting," and he is exactly right. The land has to be prepared and cleared and tilled and cultivated long before you can plant a church. Now this doesn't mean that we won't have any people decide to follow Jesus before or during all the cultivating, but simply that you have to get the ground ready for a Church to grow into the full fruit of being a 3-Self church. There are so many opportunities among the Senoufo for this to succeed, but especially because the Senoufo are open to the gospel right now, and historically that openness is a very short window. I went to bed every night thanking God for allowing me to be in Mali. What a privilege to serve our God in such a place!
Wait until I tell you about the openness of a young man, who rode 4 hours on a bicycle one way, just to ask me to come to his people and give them a Bible!