My “Lectures”

When a white man appears at the theological college in Nigeria, the students think something special is coming. Whether that proves true or not, I certainly have the expectation laid on me.

First was the sermon. The first day of seminary, first year for about 40 of them. Text – Do not abandon your first love. Examples of those who have, examples of those who held on and how God blessed them, then how to keep your first love. Not bad.

Then the lectures. I wrote Jeff what my plan was – great detail, day by day, four tracks. My story leading to church planting and evangelism (AFM); the grand sweep of the Bible with the mission emphasis; Philippians as example of Paul’s writing containing emphasis on church planting; Acts to show the growth of the church to the Gentile nations, in spite of internal resistance. Pretty good.

At the start, after getting into my story, the questions started. Lots. All over the place. Real inquiry and curiosity. Good questions.

All of a sudden, time to adjust my plan. Never got to parts 3 or 4!

That was yesterday. The prime piece was the Fulani, the huge group of nomads in Nigeria. 20 million, with 5,000 Christians. 0.025%. Lots of time talking about all the various ministries needed to plant a secure church. They came up with two – evangelist and translation. I pushed with the model of the body from 1 Cor. 12, many parts that can be part of the ministry.

We ended up with over 20 parts of the full outreach to the Fulani. A very engaging exercise. Certainly opened their eyes. They even saw three or four roles for a while man from the US, several roles for Fulani Christians, and – the best part – at least a dozen roles for them who live outside the Fulani life. Worthwhile.

Tomorrow I will review the training done in Nigeria by AFM here and AFM US for Nigerians to leave Nigeria for the ends of the earth.

Who knows? Could be some of these guys will get an idea that never would have dreamed of before.