Dr. Mark Shaw, dean of doctoral studies at NEGST, is in Ethiopia for two weeks speaking to two pastors’ conferences, with total attendance of more than 300 pastors from more than ten denominations. SIM Ethiopia called Dr. Shaw to speak because of the impact of his recently re-published book entitled The Kingdom of God in Africa.

Originally published by Baker in 1996, the book was re-published two years ago in Africa by an SIM project which distributes—free of charge—books critically needed by African pastors. The English version of The Kingdom of God in Africa became so well-known by African pastors that it was translated into Amharic—Ethiopia’s national language.

In his talks based on his book, Dr. Shaw refers to ten of the African heroes of the faith who partnered with God in his mission to Africa, calling them “African Abrahams”. Dr. Shaw recalls to mind that Christianity did not go to the West and then to Africa. Rather, Christianity is one of the oldest forms of Christian faith in the world, far older than any of its western expressions.

The African Abrahams concept forms the basis for the Dr. Shaw’s six talks in Ethiopia. Last month, Dr. Shaw also gave a series of sermons at the 50-year-old, well-established Nairobi Baptist Church on the Mission of God as seen in the lives of Abraham, David and Luke.

More than 300 students from Ugandan universities gathered in Entebbe for an Easter missions camp. NEGST MA in missions student Dennis Kilama, who works as a resource person for the Fellowship of Christian Unions (FOCUS), addressed three plenary sessions on the topics “What is mission?” and “How to organize an effective evangelistic outreach”, under the global theme “Who shall we send?”.

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