CHURCH OWNERSHIP One of the choruses I learned many years ago in our Nazarene World Missionary Society services

is: Masiqhube kanye kanye umsebenzi weNkosi Masiqhube kanye kanye umsebenzi weNkosi Owami, umsebenzi, owakho, umsebenzi WeNkosi, umsebenzi The meaning of these Zulu words in English is: Let us do the work of the Lord together, It is my work, it is your work, it is the Lords work The missionaries taught us this chorus and the message of the music was to help us understand that we nationals and missionaries were the church and that we were co-workers with God. This was an attempt to teach us that our responsibility, as a church of the Nazarene in Africa, was to spread the gospel, not only on the African continent, but also to the rest of the world. Secondly, the message of the chorus is that we missionaries and nationals are one in Christ. The words kanye kanye mean working together in one accord, that is God, missionaries and nationals. The need for this unity was recently highlighted by one of the Regional Departmental Coordinators who said we need to: Promote the awareness and reality of workers together with Christ not missionaries versus nationals or us versus them this antagonism of spirit is highly destructive to the unity and harmony of the region. This is what Jesus Christ prayed for when he said: My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23) NIV
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The unity between the missionaries and the nationals is easily seen when missionaries come and live among the nationals, speak their languages and become acquainted with their culture. The bonding that takes place between the two is a very important foundation of the ownership we are talking about. This bonding provides an opportunity for a mutual ownership. The missionaries own the nationals and the nationals own the missionaries and the work God had called them to do. This is what Jesus did. I see him as a great missionary who came from heaven to his great mission field the lost world. Describing how he came to us, The Apostle Paul says: Who, being in very nature with God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross. The same thought is expressed by St John who says: The word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14) NIV. Jesus missionary career or earthly ministry, as we called it, was for a limited time. He lived here on earth for thirty three and one half years and his ministry was only for three years and six months. He had a mission and his mission statement was: For the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost. Luke (19:10) NIV. The urgency of his calling is seen in his words: As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:4) In that short period of his ministry, Jesus prepared his followers and placed the great responsibility of seeking and finding the lost on their shoulders. After teaching, training and equipping them, he had full confidence in them and he delegated his work to them. His mission
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became their mission and they fully owned it. He told them that As the Father has sent me, so send I you. (John 20:21) KJV He commissioned them: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching then to obey every thing I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Mat. 28:19-20) NIV. As a missionary, Paul followed the steps of Jesus in his missionary work. He knew that his work was to be done in a short period of time, for his night was also coming when he could not work. After establishing the work in Asia Minor and Europe, Paul mentored Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Epaphroditus, Epaphras and many others. Paul did not stay long in the new churches he started; he delegated the responsibility of the work to his disciples and they in turned fully owned it. His presence and support to these churches was through his writings. The letters he sent to these established churches and pastors formed a very good distance Theological education system. The sending church in Jerusalem and Antioch owned the mission field, but as soon as the churches on the mission field were established and fully owned by the nationals themselves, the mission field in Asia Minor and Europe ceased to be a mission field and it became a regular church. When Paul, their former missionary, was in need, the Philippian church sent their pastor, Epaphroditus, to give him supplies and gifts from their local church. (Phil. 4:10-20). The Philippians did not ask or expect the Jerusalem or Antioch church to do this. They knew that this was their work and they owned the responsibility of supporting themselves and their former missionary. One other good example of full ownership and self-support is demonstrated by the churches Paul established on his mission field in Macedonia and Achaia. He was traveling from these Gentiles churches carrying their contributions to the mother church in Jerusalem. About these churches he writes that: For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They
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were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. (Rom. 15:26) NIV The level of maturity, self-support, responsibility and church ownership demonstrated by the Macedonian and Achaian churches is beautifully described in II Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 where Paul highly commends their generosity. He writes: And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with Gods will. (II Cor. 8:1-5) NIV The person who was responsible for leading these Macedonian churches to excel in this grace of giving (8:7) was Titus, the man Paul calls my partner and fellow worker among you. (8:23) This was one of the men Missionary Paul mentored and then delegated the responsibility of leading the Gentile churches to him. Now, there are some principles and methodologies we should have learnt or, I should say, we should learn from Jesus Christ and from St. Paul. Firstly, Jesus came as a missionary from heaven and he empted himself, left his glory, and came to us with his holiness and divine love only. Humanity supplied him with his body and his human existence was just like ours. He owned us and we owned him. Had he brought his heavenly glory, it would had been difficult for us to accept him or come close to him. One of the things that make it difficult for nationals to fully own the missionaries and the work they do is the glory they bring along with them to the mission field. The disparities between missionaries and nationals make it difficult for the two parties to accept and own each other comfortably. Positively speaking, the glory of the American Dollar has been and
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continues to be a tremendous blessing to the mission field and we thank God for the generosity of our Mother Church in the west. But negatively speaking, I must say that the dollar has been to us, in some ways, a blessing with a shadowy side. When Paul, in Acts 20:13-36, delegated the responsibility of the Ephesian church to the local elders and gave them full ownership of the work, he concluded his moving speech by reminding them of the following words of Jesus: It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35) NIV. The truth of matter is: (a) The giving church, in our case, the mother church in North America, is more blessed; and the receiving mission field (nationals) is less blessed. (b) The giving church owns and controls; the receiving mission is owned and controlled. (c) The giving church is self-supporting; the receiving mission is dependent. (d) The giving church receives the asking budget submitted to it by the asking mission field. The above unfortunate Us and Them scenario has been going on for a long time on Africa South Field. Nazarene missionaries started work in Swaziland in 1910 and 1919 here in South Africa. Soon it will be 100 years, at least in Swaziland and RSA, and we have still not reach full ownership and self sufficiency in the area of church finance and administration. The ownership, self-support, or self sufficiency should be an indigenous one. The living standard, or the economic support system of the Church of the Nazarene in Africa should be contextualised. The continued presence of North American missionaries on a mission field results in two different support systems which make the missionaries standard of living much higher and better than the nationals. The disparities that exist due to these two support systems are a growing concern among our Nationals who are now working together with missionaries. At our recent Africa Nazarene Colleges Association (ANCA) meeting held at Nazarene Good News Convention Centre (GNCC) towards the end of last year, our Mozambican fellow workers shared with me their concern and frustration. They told me their story with the hope that I, when I take the
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office of Assistant to the Regional Director, would be able to help them. Their concern was that missionaries in their country are refusing them free access into the missionaries homes. All I did at the time was just listen to them. A few weeks ago their Field Director, Rev. Eugenio Duarte, came to my office and echoed what the Mozambican nationals told me and asked for help. He said that the nationals come to the house when the missionary family is having their meal and their visit creates some inconvenience which makes both the nationals and the missionaries unhappy. The story almost sounded like the hungry nationals come to visit the missionary so they could get food. I told Brother Duarte that the real cause of the problem, as I saw it, was the two different support systems, one for missionaries and the other for nationals we allow to be put side by side. Here we see those who have living and supervising those who do not have or have little. I told Duarte that the best thing to do is to train nationals and let them go and work amongst their people with whom they have the same standard of living. The missionary, maintaining his higher standard of living and support system, could give spiritual, moral and administrative support and guidance from a distance just as St. Paul, the great missionary, did. To avoid this kind of a problem both Jesus and Paul, as I have already pointed out, empted themselves and came down to the living standard of the people they ministered unto. Writing to the Philippians the great missionary says: But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost everything. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Phil. 3:7-8; 10) NIV Writing about Jesus to the Corinthians, Paul says: I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.
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For you know the grace four Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty, might become rich (II Cor. 8:8-9) NIV I know of several of our mission stations with big beautiful houses which were well maintained when the missionaries lived in them. Now that these stations have been handed over to nationals they are so badly run down because the nationals can not afford to own the higher standard of upkeep. Twenty-seven years ago Rev. Petrus Pato and I became principals of our Bible colleges in Swaziland and here in South Africa respectively. We took over from missionaries and this was the first time nationals were asked to do this work. After a very short time, Rev. Pato resigned from this position and when I asked why he did that, his reply was that he found it very difficult to continue doing what the missionary was able to do. He inherited a building project which could only be financially owned and done by a missionary. I am not saying that the nationals should live like the North Americans because it will be impossible for Africans to own that standard of living and church support. What I am saying is well expressed by a Sepedi people saying: Mphe, mphe wa lapisa, motho o kgona ke sa gagwe. Interpreted into English, this says To keep saying give me, give me, is tiresome; a person will fare well when he or she depends on his or her own resources; that is, our own local resources, our own support standard which is not in competition with another high support standard in the same place and same job we are doing. Some years ago I worked with a missionary who started a high school evangelism effort in several of the schools in the area where we lived. For this good work, his home church overseas gave a vehicle to us and the mission executive gave him an operational budget. When time came for him and his wife to be transferred to another place of work, he asked me to continue visiting the schools; but, he said to me, he was sorry that the mission executive would not give me an operation budget. He left with his vehicle. It was economically difficult to own and continue the good work that missionary did. When, in 1955, we welcomed General Superintendent Samuel Young in front of the Nazarene Hospital in Manzini, Swaziland, he told us that the mission has been walking on subsidy crutches for a long time and he
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suggested that these crutches be removed and that the Church of the Nazarene in Africa start walking straight on its feet. That was 47 years ago and we still have our crutches. A few weeks ago one of our retired leaders visited me in my new office and told me that for the past twenty years he had tried to build a Nazarene church in Africa but was now unhappy because what he sees happening today is the strengthening and consolidation of a mission. He says the church is in the US and its mission is in Africa. The same thought was expressed by a missionary who was assigned to South Africa in the early 80s. He said he was surprised to learn that the mission was the missionaries or the missionaries were the mission. What he was saying was that the US dollar given for missions was servicing the missionaries more than it was benefiting the nationals. After serving only for a short period, this missionary resigned and went back to the pastorate in his homeland. Nationals, especially here in South Africa, are not happy because of what I see as delayed ownership. This delay is due to lack of mentoring, equipping leaders and delegation of leadership responsibility to nationals. Resisting change and unwillingness to let go seems to be part of being human. One of my cousins, Barnabus Mkabela, a son of a Nazarene minister, was badly affected by this delayed ownership. Some years ago we were in a camp meeting where Rev. Harmon Schmelzenbach Jr. was speaking. After the service, Barnabus told me that his father, Samson, became a Christian around 1920 under Rev. Harmon Schmelzenbach Sr. Under the leadership of this pioneer missionary, Samson was called to the ministry and after training he started pastoring in 1930. In 1936 Elmer, Harmons son, who was born and raised in Swaziland, came to continue his fathers work as a missionary Samson was guided and supervised by him. In the early 60s Harmon Schmelzenbach Jr., the grandson of the pioneer missionary, younger than Barnabus, came to continue his grandfathers and fathers work as a missionary. He carried on supervising Samson. Barnabus was not happy when he told me this. He has since left the Church of the Nazarene and joined one of the independent African movement known as the Zion Christian Church. Over the years the Church of the Nazarene has educated and trained many men and women, including Barnabus, in our Nazarene schools in Swaziland
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and South Africa. These have and still continue to serve in high positions in the government and in the private sector and their feeling is that their church does not want to accommodate them. Ownership demands a very high level of responsibility. It is costly and sacrificial. In order for the nationals to fully own the Church of the Nazarene here in Africa, we will need the grace of Gods Spirit in our lives. The disciples who were heavily dependent on Jesus and who did not want him to leave them, were able to manage on their own after they were baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit. The infilling of the Spirit brought them to a point where they were able to love the Lord with all their heart and with all their soul and will all their mind. On Pentecost Day the disciples experientially owned the message of holiness Jesus taught them. The blessing of the Holy Spirit in their lives enabled them to joyfully own the responsibility of witnessing and spreading the good news in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and beyond. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit enabled them to excel in the grace of giving. Luke tells us that: All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47) NIV The key to full ownership of the church is the sanctifying and empowering grace of the Holy Spirit. The holiness message we proclaim should go beyond a clear theoretical knowledge we instill in the minds of our people to an experiential, ethical and practical one. The Holy Spirit must fully own us in order for us to fully own him and his church.

Presented by Enoch Litswele Africa Regional Advisory Council March 2002

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