. Being 2. Forming 3. Doing
Being means that as missionaries we are present among the people with whom we are sharing the gospel. It means that physically we live in their community along side them. We interact with them during our waking hours, we meet them along the highways and byways as they go about their daily activities, we visit with them and eat with them in their homes. We get to know them as individuals and as families, we call them by their names and we get to know the quirks of their personalities.
Being means that we are focused on discovering and understanding various aspects of our host's lives including their:
1. Culture, history & traditions, paying particular attention to their understanding of God, their taboos and fears, their beliefs about the spirit world, rites of passage, ceremonies and the place of spiritual leaders. As we understand their culture and religious beliefs we will be better equipped to contextualize the gospel.
2. Political organization including village politics and relations with regional and national authorities. We have already taken steps to formalize relations with the political structure and we are working at understanding how to get things done where mission interests intersect with the political network.
3. Family life and other community social structures. We need to grow in our understand marriage, parenting, the extended family and intertribal relations.
4. Human and economic developments activities including schools, health services and industries.
From our side, 'being' needs to include an openness to share our personal information, our feelings, our dreams and our fears with these, our friends. Transparency goes a long way in dispelling myths and expectations Africans frequently have of Westerners.
Forming are the missionary activities that communicate the gospel for the purpose of establishing and maturing new believers. Forming is the process of training believers, enabling them to become a strong, sustainable community of disciples even when the missionary is no longer present. It is focused on raising up leaders who will function as pastors, teachers, administrators and evangelists for the faith community.
The forming process is already underway in the Catel region as the mission team has been teaching and preaching the gospel in a variety of settings in Catel and several surrounding villages. As persons begin to express faith in Christ and in time make a clear commitment to following Jesus we will be sensitive to the ways the Spirit is bringing forward individuals with various gifts. As we teach and interact with the believers we will be particularly mindful of persons who have leadership gifts that will be needed for the functioning of the faith community.
Some of the formative activities already happening yet needing further development include:
1. Preaching and teaching in Catel and surrounding villages. As local leaders are raised up and become teachers and preachers the circle of village fellowships will expand.
2. Using the Jesus DVD and other teaching materials to communicate the story of Jesus and knowledge of the Bible.
3. Praying with persons who are in the process of being set free from bondages and occultic practices. Prayer for deliverance needs to become an increasing hallmark of our ministry given the pervasiveness of the occult.
4. Bringing in mature Balanta believers who will share with their tribesmen the gospel and the power of Jesus, helping them to overcome cultural activities and traditional beliefs which conflict with their commitment to Christ.
5. Scheduling seminars where potential leaders can be instructed in a retreat setting for 2 or 3 days.
6. Encouraging and enabling the local leaders to consider how they should form themselves into a fellowship of Anabaptist congregations in the three country area (Gambia, Senegal & Guinea Bissau).
As the formative process develops we anticipate linkage with bible training events locally and regionally. We will explore training events with other Anabaptist missions in the region and look for opportunities to cooperate with other evangelical communities in the Senegambia- Guinea Bissau region. We anticipate fraternal relations with other African Anabaptist communities through Mennonite World Conference which will offer us additional formative opportunities.
Doing are the programs and activities the mission undertakes to minister to human needs. Doing authenticates the Word. Doing is the essence of holistic evangelism in which seekers and believers experience the kingdom of God here and now. Doing the good news is, in effect, helping persons to experience the shalom of being God's people. It is how Christ heals and redeems the brokenness wrought in lives by sin.
Guinea Bissau is an extremely needy situation. On the UN human development index, Guinea Bissau is number 171 out of 176 of the countries evaluated. Opportunities for ministering to human need are everywhere abundant. The particular areas where we can effectively minister are through medicine, agriculture, education and economic development (job creation).
We have made starts in the area of increasing food production through community gardens. And we are providing a limited number of medicines and first aid at Catel. Both of these ministries need much further development under the direction of persons with expertise in the respective fields.
We are just starting the study of opportunities for economic development using the agricultural resources already in place. These include cashew nut processing and the production of fruit juices.
The 'doing' ministries are under the purview of the NGO- MEHDA.
