AFRICA BECKONS YOU! - Andrew Strom
Posted by: prophetic <prophetic@...>
by Andrew Strom
I first started going to Africa to minister in 2006 - and despite the
heat and dust it has always been a blessing. I am due back in
West Africa this January - and I'm very much looking forward
to it.
I know a lot of people on this List have had invitations to Third
world countries to minister. They want us because they know
many people will come to hear a foreign preacher - especially a
westerner. I want to encourage you to take these opportunities,
my friends - even if you have to pay your own way (-quite likely
because they are so poor).
Personally I have come across many Repentance preachers in the
USA and the West who have been frustrated and discouraged
here with the lack of response and/or openings. We need to
realize that there is a wide world out there that is hungry and
desperate for sound preaching and biblical truth. Its just not in
our own countries any more! Sadly the days of the Western
nations welcoming John the Baptists is largely gone - let's face facts.
I remember once hearing David Servant make an analogy of a
fisherman with two fishing-holes to choose from. In one fishing
hole he caught virtually no fish at all, and the one he did catch
jumped up and spat water in his face! In the other fishing hole
the fish were so desperate to be caught that they were clinging
onto the line and he was hauling them in as fast as he could get
his pole back in the water! Which fishing hole should he choose?
Of course it was the second one.
A lot of us think it is the "spiritual" thing to do, to wait and wait
and wait in unwelcoming or unresponsive places, but as David
Servant also pointed out, Jesus clearly told his disciples that if
they are not received in one town, to leave that place and go on
until they find a receptive place. This is actually a commandment
of God. Otherwise all of God's servants are left wasting their time
in unresponsive environments. Jesus says "GO!"
Personally, for many years I focused my attention almost
entirely on the West. But God started changing that. There is
such need and hunger in those poorer nations. Sadly, it is the
exact opposite of what we see in the comfortable apathetic West.
I strongly encourage every preacher reading this to consider
the Third World - and soon. It might be time to think "outside
the box". You will not regret it.
God bless you all.
Andrew Strom.