A New SCD Teacher!

We are happy to announce that we have a new missionary professor for GCUC in Kimberly Daniels. She is seconded to us to teach Accounting and Economics in the SCD.  She has an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Louisville University and has been serving with Team Expansion as Director of the African-American Mobilization Ministry.  Kimberly arrived in January and has already made herself an important part of our program here.

Kimberly will also be assisting Team Expansion setup missionary endeavors in Ghana and possibly Niger and Burkina Faso.  One of her primary goals in missions is to create strategic linkages between mission opportunities here in Ghana and West Africa and African-American churches in the US.  Missions in our African-American brethren churches is not as active as it could be and she has a real desire to improve this situation through direct partnerships with local evangelists and villages.

Over the next 5 years, she will be involved in ministry and assisting in the development of the SCD program to get it through the next 4 years where most of the “bugs” in the program will reveal themselves.  Her expertise in Accounting, Economics, and ministry will be extremely valuable to a program geared towards better management of development processes and the ministry of Christ in positive socio-economic development.  So please join me in giving her a big akwaaba! (that means welcome in Twi.)

Christ and the Positive Role of His Salvation in Development

Since the fall of Man in the Garden mankind has been caught between a lie and the truth; Satan and God.  Mankind’s perpetual vacillating between the two creates an environment where social, political, economical, and spiritual depravation enslaves people to a miserable life.  Most prevailing development thought centers on the same issues the Jews did when Jesus told them that the Truth would set them free, that all “truth” is a function of government (Jn 8:32) and only the government can deliver us from poverty.   Of course Jesus did not come to create a government but to create a deeper relationship with the Father where Truth would rule our lives and thus facilitate a positive environment where we can achieve the good things God has always intended.

It is frustrating to experience poverty in its most immoral state and work diligently to free people from their enslavement to satan only to see the results of sin at large affect their lives.  Over the last 14 years in Ghana I have witnessed many, many missionaries/evangelists come through, share Christ and bring many into His salvation.  They leave with smiles on their faces and good newsletter material. Yet in their wake are people still trapped between elation and stupefaction. They are elated because of Christ but marginally conscience of their true power over not only evil but creation as well.

Those who have taught their children how to read and do mathematics know what it is like to see their faces light up when they first understand what those squiggly figures mean.  Yet, there is much more work to be done in that child’s life.  To teach a child to read and not what the words mean would be a travesty that could lead to destruction. They are taught to put those words into sentences, then into documents, and maybe into books that create knowledge (some good, some bad).  In fact, our journey into knowledge is as endless as the heavens and has many pathways.  But knowledge without explanation, mentoring, and exemplifying is dangerous.

In the same manner coming to “know” Christ is only the first step of a process that lasts a lifetime.  In fact we often only focus on

the human side of the salvation equation and lose site of the fact that Christ came for all of creation.  In Col 1:19-20 we see that Christ came to reconcile all things to himself.  This includes the earth and all other created things.  Paul writes in Romans (8:18-25) about the “groaning” of creation for the “revealing of the sons of God”.  Somehow (admittedly I know not) creation itself is aware of salvation and what we as restored servants of the Most High God are capable of achieving in this relationship.  The issue is that we must fully understand our relationship with God through Christ in order to achieve that which creation is anticipating.

Those of us who have grown up in the West are blessed that we have long ago thrown off the the shackles of idolatry and fear of the unknown.  In fact it has been so long ago that we have forgotten what it was like to be at the mercy of false gods and the nonsense did in their names.  When we come to lands that are still fighting the ancient foe and his minions we often do not carry with us a complete arsenal in which to completely dispatch all hindrances to a good life.  Too many in less developed countries will receive Christ well enough but not truly understand the completeness of salvation offered through Christ.  Their old fatalistic attitudes from previous worship relationships with false gods come with them.  They have not been taught that salvation is not only being saved from hell but also saved from the pain and misery of satan’s plans on earth.

Salvation not only restores us to God, but to ourselves, and to the external world that God created.  This means that we have regained our rights to occupy this world in His name.  I do not mean militarily occupy but to be productive and not fruitless. (remember what happened to the lazy slave and the talents)  As well we are not to place the creation above ourselves nor abuse it but use it for in a manner that is beneficial to us and glorifying to God.  We are stewards, managers, custodians, and whatever other term that implies responsibility. In turn, just like a hard working manager receives his pay from the boss, we too will receive our pay from our heavenly Father.

In our efforts to teach Christ we should also teach that we are not passive or fatalistic in this relationship.  We are interactive partners in a work that is not yet complete.  The kingdom is yet to come and our efforts for that kingdom are not rewarded in money, power, nor fame but an everlasting direct relationship with the Father.  We have a right to and are given authority over creation.

To achieve what creation longs for will require farmers feeding the hungry, teachers filling young skulls full of knowledge tempered with God’s wisdom, lawyers seeking justice for the impugned, scientists discovering God’s natural laws for good uses, government writing godly laws, the church acting as the larger conscience of society through which it elects officials, and society working toward a better life for all on earth.  In all these things there is monetary compensation and to some extent fame (although probably not enough for teachers) yet this is not the goal, only one of many affects.  Out goal in all things is to glorify God.  Living in any depraved state does not glorify God.

The students in the School of Community Development at GCUC will learn how to become not only godly managers of NGOs but they will also come to a more complete understanding of their role in society and how they can affect creation positively to glorify God.  We covet your prayers that these students will have all impediments removed from their learning and the we teachers can convey through God’s word and wisdom what they need to be effective leaders and representatives of Christ.