ISSN 2059-173X - Missio Africanusmissioafricanus.org/.../MAJAM/3-1/Missio-Africanus-Journal-3.1.pdf · MISSIO AFRICANUS: THE JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MISSIOLOGY VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 2 Editor’s

THEOLOGY OF MISSION IN THEMALAWI ASSEMBLIES OF GOD:

AN ECCLESIOLOGICAL OMISSION

VOLUME 3 | ISSUE 1APRIL 2017

THE PAMBIOAND A NEWMUSICALINCULTURATIONOF THE GOSPELIN AFRICA

BLESSED REFLEX:AFRICANCHRISTIANSIN EUROPE

CHRISTIANITYIN EURAFRICA:A HISTORY OFTHE CHURCH INEUROPE ANDAFRICA

SENT FORTH:AFRICANMISSIONARYWORK IN THE WEST

REFUGEE CRISISIN EUROPE:THE ROLE OFTHE AFRICANCHURCH INA GLOBALCONVERSATION

CHRISTIANITYSENCOUNTER WITH

GHANAIANINDIGENOUSRELIGIOUS

COSMOLOGIES

ISSN 2059-173X

1MISSIO AFRICANUS: THE JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MISSIOLOGYVOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

Contents

Missio Africanus Journal of African MissiologyVolume 3. Issue 1.

April 2017.

EDITOR: Harvey C. Kwiyani (Liverpool Hope University)

EDITORIAL BOARD:Festo Mkenda (Jesuit Historical Institute of Africa, Hekima College).

Sara Fretheim (Independent Researcher)Babatunde Adedibu (Redeemed Christian Bible College)

Dinku Bato (Luther Seminary)Lord Elorm Donkor (Birmingham Christian College)

Margaret Obaga (Mission EineWelt, Neuendettelsau, Germany)William Obaga (World Mission Prayer League)

Israel Olofinjana (Centre for Mission from Majority World)Colin Smith (Church Mission Society)

Daniel Eshun (Roehampton University)Sheila Akomiah (Independent Researcher)

2 EDITORS NOTES: WELCOME

3 THEOLOGY OF MISSION IN THE MALAWI ASSEMBLIES OF GOD: ANECCLESIOLOGICAL OMISSIONANDREW MKWAILA

12 CHRISTIANITYS ENCOUNTER WITH GHANAIAN INDIGENOUS RELIGIOUSCOSMOLOGIESBERNARD APPIAH, PH.D.

21 REFUGEE CRISIS IN EUROPE: THE ROLE OF THE AFRICAN CHURCH IN A GLOBALCONVERSATIONKYAMA MUGAMBI, PH.D.

29 THE PAMBIO AND A NEW MUSICAL INCULTURATION OF THE GOSPEL IN AFRICAWILLIAM O. OBAGA, PH.D.

40 BLESSED REFLEX: AFRICAN CHRISTIANS IN EUROPEHARVEY C. KWIYANI

50 CHRISTIANITY IN EURAFRICA: A HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN EUROPE AND AFRICA.STEVEN PAAS REVIEWED BY FRANOIS PAZISNEWENDE KABOR

53 SENT FORTH: AFRICAN MISSIONARY WORK IN THE WESTHARVEY C. KWIYANI. REVIEWED BY GEMECHIS GARSHAW

MISSIO AFRICANUS: THE JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MISSIOLOGYVOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

2

Editors Notes

Welcometo the third issue of Missio AfricanusThis issue explores a wide range of subjects. In thefirst essay, Andrew Mkwaila, writing from Malawi,explores the possible impact of a missio-Dei-shapedecclesiology on the Malawi Assemblies of God. Thisis a very helpful essay that highlights some of theissues that the African understanding and praxis ofmission needs to wrestle with if African Christianswill embrace mission as something that the churchis by nature. Indeed, while Africans have convertedin large numbers and have made evangelism acentral characteristic of their Christianity, mission isstill something that is yet to find a propertranslation into their Christianity. An intentionalsending of missionaries across the countries of thecontinent only happens at a very small scale exceptwhen it involves the expanding of multi-nationaldenominations (usual, just like multi-nationalcorporations, driven by financial gain). Mkwailaargues that, more often than not, the missionariesdid not pass on their zeal for mission to theirconverts. Can the African church correct thisomission to become the mission-sendingpowerhouse of this century?

The second essay, written by Bernard Appiah, aGhanaian based in Britain, holds neo-PentecostalChristianity and African traditional religions inGhana in a comparative tension as he discussesdevelopment as a means of missional engagementwith locals Africans and the use of media. Appiahsessay offers a perspective on the long-standingquestion, are African Pentecostals being shapedmore by Africas old traditional religions and notmission Christianity?

Kyama Mugambis essay discusses a model ofpartnership between a congregation in Germanyand another in Kenya a relationship that ledMavuno Church - Nairobi to plant a sister-church inBerlin (Mavuno Church - Berlin) and then, made itpossible for the two congregations to collaboratewhen the Mavuno Church - Berlin responded to the

refugee crisis of 2015 and 2016. Mugambi gives usa model of partnership and collaboration that ishopeful for the future, pointing to the many modelsthat will emerge as such adventures become moreneedful and frequent.

William Obaga is a church-music historian ofKenyan origin but now writing in Germany. Heexplores the role of folk music in the inculturationof the gospel in Kenya and by extension, acrosssub-Saharan Africa. He discusses some differencesbetween the music of the early missionaries (thoseof the 1800s) and that of the Africans and howthey both respond to music in their spirituality.African culture, being generally musical and proneto dance and movement, seem to have found a newway of embracing the gospel by creating space fora folk-type of music that allows for a folk-theologyto emerge as lay people do most of the leading. Asa result, there is a democratisation of the ministrytaking place, and this, Obaga suggests, is makingpossible a new inculturation of the gospel in Africa.

The final essay, written by Harvey Kwiyani, focuseson the presence of African Christianity in Europe.Using the term of blessed reflex, he discusses themissionary potential of African churches in Europe;their opportunities and challenges. Echoing themissionaries of old, he wonders, are these churchesthe hope of European Christianity? He goes on toexplore how the first-generation Christian migrantswill pass the faith on to their children who aregrowing up in a secularised Europe.

This is an exciting collection of essays. I pray youwill enjoy them.

Harvey [email protected]


THEOLOGY OFMISSION INTHE MALAWIASSEMBLIESOF GOD:

An EcclesiologicalOmissionANDREW MKWAILA


4

THEOLOGY OFMISSION IN THEMALAWIASSEMBLIES OFGOD: AnEcclesiologicalOmission1

AbstractThe theology of mission in the Malawi Assemblies ofGod has its origins in a determination arising in thelate 1990s and early 2000s to send out foreignmissionaries. This article traces the roots of thistheology of mission arguing that the nature of itsfocused and pragmatic development led to a myopicapplication neglecting other key areas of theologicalconsideration including notably that of ecclesiology.The article concludes by putting forth constructiveproposals as to how local churches of the MalawiAssemblies of God may translate such a theology ofmission into their congregational life.

Keywords: Theology of Mission, Ecclesiology,Malawi Assemblies of God, Missional Church.

IntroductionAt the close of the twentieth century a movement toengage in cross-cultural missions emerged in theMalawi Assemblies of God (MAG) as well as in many ofits sister churches in Africa. For almost two decadesnow, the church has been giving increased attention inits formal and informal training structures to the factthat God calls His Churchincluding the AfricanChurchto actively participate in His mission toredeem fallen humankind.2 The discussion regardingmissions has since moved beyond its infancy; anumber of missionaries have been sent by the MAG inrecent years to other countries in Africa, and theology

of missions courses occupy a place of centralsignificance in many of its training programs.Yet, despite this progress, valid questions are beingraised regarding this movement and the underlyingtheology of missions that has been developed tosupport it.3 The questions that have been raised havecentred on the efficacy of the nascent missionsmovement. The core of the concern has been whetherthe church is producing the number of missionariescommensurate with its age and the prominence givento mission in the churchs discourses. This particularconcern and others are comprehensively addressedelsewhere; however, we do well to note that the issuesrelating to international missions engagement areonly one factor among many that a robust missiologyin the MAG will need to contend with if it is to be afully efficacious force in shaping the church. 4 Thisessay focuses on a subject that has received almost noattention yet, namely that of ecclesiology. The thesisbeing advanced here is that the implications of themissio Dei as it has come to be understood in theMAG are far-reaching and should, among otherthings, lead to MAG local congregations thatconsciously view themselves as agents of missio Dei,and allow that understanding to shape the entirety oftheir life together as the people of God.

This essay reviews the origin of the discourseregarding missions in the MAG and seeks todemonstrate that the effective omission ofecclesiological considerations in its missiology was infact a natural result of the trajectory established whenthe missions movement in the MAG was born.Subsequently, elements aimed at the construction of amissional ecclesiology are presented in the hope ofspurring further discourse and action towardsfostering local congregations that are ever increasingin their embodiment of Gods mission.

A Developing Theology of Missionsin the MAGThe MAG is a fellowship in the tradition of classicalPentecostalism. The defining feature of classicalPentecostalism has been the baptism in the Spirit.5This experience has traditionally been viewed andinterpreted in a mission-oriented perspectivetheSpirit empowers believers for sharing the Gospel.6 Theresult of both the collective and individual experiencesof the coming of the Spirit was that, in many segments

1 This paper is an adaptation of a chapter of the authors doctoral dissertation entitled Towards A Missional Ecclesiology in the MalawiAssemblies of God.

2 Enson Mbilikile Lwesya, Ten Million Reasons for Developing Great Theological Training Systems in Southern Africa: Towards Re-Engineering Our Training Systems, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership 3 no. 1 (2012):13.

3 Unless dictated by the immediate context, missions should be understood as implying international and/or cross-cultural missions, despitethe theological deficiencies surrounding this popular understanding.

4 A key source for understanding and assessing these tensions is Enson Lwesyas article entitled Comparing Apples and Mangoes TowardsAssessing the AAGA Missions Enterprise, PneumAfrica, 2 no. 1 (2016).

5 Allan Loder, The Classical Pentecostal Doctrine of Spirit-Baptism: Some Exegetical Considerations, Didaskalia (Otterburne, Man.) (2002),13(2), 73.

6 Allan Anderson, Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of Early Pentecostalism (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007), 65.


of the movement, a wave of missionary outreach wasignited that has continued in one form or another tothe present day. Very early on in the life of themovement, missionaries began to fan out across theglobe, perhaps most conspicuously from NorthAmerica, often through individuals and movementsconnected in some way to the Azusa Street revival of1906.

Notably, however, as classical Pentecostal churchessuch as the Assemblies of God began to beestablished in Africa in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, theimpetus to organise and conduct sustainedinternational missionary engagement in the samemeasure in African Assemblies of God churches, suchas in the MAG, as it was in the North Americanchurches, has seemed to be lacking. An exception tothis was that, in a limited sense, the MAG was a cross-cultural movement right from the beginning as itsought to evangelise and win converts across Malawismany constituent tribes.7 However, for a long time, thechurch did not develop a sustained vision for cross-cultural missionary work beyond the borders ofMalawi, a factor that characterised many otherchurches in Africa.8

There may have been several reasons for thisperceived lack of missionary endeavour and vision.Perhaps one reason was the ecclesiology bequeathedto the church by US-AG missionaries who workedtogether with the MAG church in its early days. Whilethe MAG was started by Malawians, US missionariesplayed a very significant role early in the life of themovement by working alongside their Malawiancounterparts and being heavily involved in thetraining programmes of the movement. The primarytheoretical framework for US missions involvementfrom the 1950s was the stated goal of developingindigenous churches that would be self-governing,self-supporting and self-propagating as suggested bysuch missiologists as Henry Venn and Rufus Anderson,and popularised in the Assemblies of God by MelvinHodges.9 When the US-AG missionaries were involvedin starting new churches and helping young churchesgrow, their goal was churches that attained to thesethree-selves. Over time, this indigenous church modeland the three-selves, in turn, became a paradigmthrough which younger Assemblies of God churches,such as the MAG, came to measure their progresstowards maturity as a movement.

Consequently, while this concept of the indigenouschurch served to strengthen the MAG and alongwith an evangelistic understanding and interpretationof Spirit baptism helped the MAG to becomeengaged in its evangelism, it did not help fosterforeign missions outreach. Self-propagating both inthe eyes of the missionaries and the Malawiansthemselves was defined as reaching only otherMalawians with the gospel.

Former leader of the Malawi Assemblies of God,Lazarus Chakwera, argues that the concept that thedevelopment of younger churches such as the MAGwould be reached when they were able to ministerand evangelise independently in their own nationswas in fact a popular misreading of Hodges.10 In otherwritings, Hodges stated that Western missionariesalone could never reach the unsaved and that theindigenous New Testament churches that themissionaries should seek to establish should realiseand fulfil their own missionary responsibilities beyondtheir national borders.11 Regardless of Hodgesbroader intent, the misreading prevailed. Thus, in theMAG, while there was no theological objection toforeign missions, there was no impetus for it. As such,in its early decades, the church did not systematicallyengage in foreign missions.

This may not have been the only reason for this lack ofcross-cultural missionary vision. In the minds of manyMAG members, a missionary was synonymous withthe white people. The fact that Malawi is aneconomically-challenged country meant to some thatMalawians could not participate in missions as theydid not have the necessary finances as the [Europeansand Americans] did.12 In the 1990s, however, thisperspective began to change. In the MAG and itssister churches in Southern Africa, people began towonder why Africans could not be missionaries.Slowly, a missionary consciousness began to develop.

Perhaps the first substantive official recognition of thisexpanded cross-cultural missionary calling occurred in1997 at a conference of denominational leaders, Bibleschool teachers and others from across theAssemblies of God churches from East Africa. Thisconference took place in Iringa, Tanzania. The meetingsquarely addressed the subject of missions, reflectingthe emerging realisation that Africans should playtheir full role in cross-cultural missions. While a

7 Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, The Development of the Eleventh-Hour Institute to be Utilized as a Means of Mobilizing, Training, and SendingMissions Workers from Malawi and Nearby Countries to Unreached Peoples (Deerfield, IL: Trinity International University, DMin diss, 2000),18.

8 Yusufu Turaki, Evangelical Missiology from Africa: Strengths and Weaknesses, in Global Missiology for the 21st Century: The IguassuDialogue, ed. William. D. Taylor (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2000), 277.

9 Warren B. Newberry, Contextualizing Indigenous Church Principles: An African Model, Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, 8, no. 20.(January 2005): 96, http://www.apts.edu/aeimages//File/AJPS_PDF/05-1-WNewberry.pdf.

10 Chakwera, The Development, 1811 Chakwera, The Development, 19.12 Gregory Chawanangwa Mvula and Enson Mbilike Lwesya. Flames of Fire: The History of the Malawi Assemblies of God and Pentecostalismin Malawi (Lilongwe, Malawi: Assemblies of God in Malawi, 2005), 305.


6

number of resolutions emerged from that meeting,one in particular was significant for the fostering ofthe missionary initiative in the MAG and its sisterchurches. That resolution was to train toward theultimate goal of harvest, which means we must trainmissionaries from East Africa to the world, pledgingourselves to prepare more [training] material formissions.13

At least two major actions resulted from the Iringameeting. The first was the formation of a RegionalMissions Agency in which the MAG was a participant.The long-lasting impact of this board was limited inthat, very soon, it faltered. The logistical mechanismsto sustain a multi-country missions board among theAssemblies of God churches of East Africa did notexist. Nonetheless, its formation did representprogress in that, prior to that time, the MAG and someother East African AG churches did not have amissions-sending agency. Thus, even though it wasshort-lived, it became the precursor to a fully-fledgedmissions department within the MAG.

The other concrete action that resulted from the 1997meeting was the formation of a mobile school ofmission called the Eleventh Hour Institute (EHI) whichwas established with the two-fold purpose ofaffirming the cross-cultural missions efforts of Africanpastors and missionaries and to provide short trainingcourses for missionaries from Africa.14 Chakwera, whohad been recognised as having a robust vision formissions, was delegated to head the institute.15Therefore, the first EHI training session which wasconducted in 1999 was held in Lilongwe, Malawi. Thisfirst meeting attracted a cross-section of participantsfrom the MAG including, significantly, families whowere commissioned as missionaries to North Africa.Early progress towards becoming a missionary-sending church was being realised relatively quickly.

Around the time of and subsequent to the Iringameeting, a rising awareness of missions in Malawimanifested itself in other ways. In association with theUS Assemblies of God, the MAG opened a seminary inLilongwe whose Masters Degree-level trainingfocused almost exclusively on missions. The stated aimof the school was to mobilize the church for globalmission in Pentecostal power. At the undergraduatelevel, the MAG Bible school also changed its missionstatement from providing quality theologicaleducation to biblical training to touch the nations inthe power of the Holy Spirit. The call that MAGleaders discerned to participate in missions led them

to establish the institutions, initiatives, and processesnoted above as a means of inspiring the church tofulfil that missionary calling. Naturally, one of theprimary tasks of the mobilisation effort becamearticulating a missionary theology that would providethe biblical underpinnings for its missions efforts.Thus, in the case of the MAG, the attempt to engagein missions became a catalyst for sustained efforts indeveloping a theology of missions.This developing theology was articulated primarily inthe form of a biblical theology of missions. Both in theseminary and the meetings of the EHI, keynotecourses that were developed and taught took abiblical theology approach. A diachronic approach tothe Scriptures was adopted that attempted toshowcase the missio Dei as the unifying theme of theScriptures and, consequently, as the responsibility andprivilege of the MAG to participate in.

Despite these consistent efforts in deliberately castinga theology of mission, over the years, the number ofmissionaries who were deployed by the MAG did notmeet the hopes that were widely shared, both byleaders like Chakwera in the MAG itself, and some ofits missionary partners. At the beginning of 2012, forinstance, the MAG had approximately five missionariesdeployed in African nations and India. Looking atthese figures, some close partners have continued toquestion the efficacy of these educational andawareness initiatives.16 The feeling being expressed bythese sentiments is that the MAG and its sisterchurches in Africa have not made significant progressin fulfilling its missionary mandate, and that muchmore could be done to reach the nations.17 This well-intentioned criticism obscures a fundamental shift thathas slowly been occurring in the MAG from the self-perception of the church as being an exclusivelymissionary-receiving church to also being amissionary-sending one. The limitations placed on theself-understanding of the church created by amisinterpretation of Hodges indigenous churchprinciples have largely been shed. In and of itself, thisrepresents something of a radical transformation.

It is possible, therefore, to concur that far more canand should be done in missionary outreach, whilesimultaneously acknowledging that great strides havebeen made towards fostering a critical mass in thechurch that has been inculcated with a missionaryvision. Thus, Chakweras assertion that in Africa thereis a realisation that mission is from everywhere toeverywhere and that the realisation has dawned thatthe African church also has a role to play in missions

13 Chakwera, The Development, 16.14 Africas Hope. Eleventh Hour Institute adopted from http://africashope.org/what-we-do/ministries/ehi.15 Chakwera, The Development, 11.16 Antonio Pedrozo and Brad Walz, Missional Mentoring: How National Churches with Strong and Effective Missions Outreaches Can

Mentor Those Without, in Globalizing Pentecostal Missions in Africa: The Emerging Missionary Movement in the Africa Assemblies of God,ed. Denny R. Miller & Enson. M. Lwesya (Springfield, MO: AIA Publications, 2011), 110.

17 Dick Brogden, Planting Churches among Unreached Peoples: How Do We Partner in Actively Reaching These UPGs?, in Globalizing Miller& Lwesya, (Springfield, MO: AIA Publications, 2011), 13.


was not only descriptive; it was also prophetic.18 WhileMalawi is still largely an oral society and,consequently, much of the emerging missionary visionhas been expressed through undocumented sermons,exhortations and business meetings at all levels of thechurch, there is a small but growing amount ofliterature that documents this emerging missionarytheology. For instance, Warren Newberry, a long-timeAG missionary to Malawi, documents how thebudding missionary theology has manifested itselfthrough calls by MAG leaders to expand the conceptof the indigenous church, as it is popularlyunderstood, to include self-missionizing.19 Speakingof the spiritual vitality in much of the church in Africa,Enson Lwesya argues, because the Church is soblessed, it must refresh others. Its greatest way to dothis is by extending itself to people from other tribes,nations and languages.20 Lwesya further argues that amissionary vision has, in fact, now emerged in theMAG and credits the Holy Spirit and theinstrumentality of initiatives, such as the EHI, for thisprogress.21

The purpose of highlighting these efforts inarticulating a theology of mission is not to make theassertion that they are fully developed theologicalformulations, but rather to underscore the point thattheologising on mission is now occurring on aconsistent basis in the MAG. Prior to the late 1990s,mission was not even on the agenda at all. As wasindicated earlier, a biblical theology of missionapproach is now being utilised to teach missions inboth formal and semi-formal training arms of theMAG. Biblical theology has become the consensusmethodology and perspective of theological thinkingabout mission in the MAG.

Considering the developments of a mission theologyin the MAG, the noted need for the MAG to beinvolved in missions led it to begin to develop atheology of mission that could encourage a church inan economically-challenged African country toengage in mission. This emerging theology called fora hermeneutic that sees the missio Dei as the unifyingtheme of Scripture. While the deployment of moremissionaries by the MAG is desired, it is difficult to

imagine that even the churchs current small scalemissionary deployments could have been sustainedwithout the underlying changes in thinking aboutmissions facilitated by this emerging theology. Whilemore issues regarding cross-cultural missionscontinue to emerge, such as missions and Africanmigration,22 missionary care,23 contextualisation24 andmissions to unreached people groups,25 all theseissues relate to and draw from the underlyingjustification for missionary enterprise by MAG and itssister churches being founded upon a biblicaltheology of mission that is being currently articulated.

The concern with cross-cultural missions in the MAG,and the articulation of a theology of mission that hasaccompanied it, represent a welcome developmentthat should rightly be celebrated. Yet, at the sametime, it may be argued that it is an incompletedevelopment. Notably missing from the theology ofmission that the church has embraced have beenissues related to the life and ministry of localcongregations in context. While not intentional,ecclesiology remains a de facto missing element of theMAGs emerging theology of mission. The next sectionexplores the reasons for this omission.

Ecclesiology: A Glaring OmissionSpeaking of the limitations of the term missio Dei as ithas emerged in Western theology, John Flett remarksthat missio Deis genesis as a response to theprolonged interrogation of mission motives, methodsand goals helps explain this deficient theologicaldevelopment. It is not, in the first instance, aconstructive concept; rather it serves a criticalfunction.26 A similar limitation appears to haveemerged in the MAGs theology of missions in thatwhile a biblical theology of mission should point to anall-encompassing perspective that affects every aspectof the churchs life and theology, the fact that theMAG has developed its initial thinking about missionas a specific response to the need to deploymissionaries appears to have caused its missiology tobe truncated and almost exclusively focused on theissue of foreign missions. This appears to haveoccurred because, while a biblical theology has beenarticulated, the questions that have been asked of that

18 AG-US. (2005). Minutes of the of the 51st Session of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, Denver, Colorado, 67. He made thisstatement while delivering a keynote address at the world missions session of the 2005 US-AG General Assembly.

19 Newberry, Contextualizing Indigenous Church Principles, 112.20 Enson Mbilikile Lwesya, Missional Implications from Africas Trends: Globalization, Migration, Urbanization and Mission, Ethne: The OnlineJournal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership 1, no.1 (2010).

21 Miller and Lwesya, Globalizing, 2011.22 Enson Mbilikile Lwesya, Missional Implications from Africas Trends: Globalization, Migration, Urbanization and Mission, Ethne: The OnlineJournal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership 1, no.1 (2010).

23 Milward Mwamvani, Missionary Care: How is the Two Thirds World Church Doing?, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal andMissional Leadership 1, no. 1 (2010).

24 Andrew Mkwaila, Contextualization and African Pentecostal Missions, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership2, no.1 (2011). Also see John L. Easter. The Spirit, Context and Mission: A Pneumatological Framework for Contextualization, Ethne: TheOnline Journal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership 2, no. 1 (2011).

25 Miller and Lwesya, Globalizing.26 John G. Flett, The Witness of God: The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth, and the Nature of Christian Community (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B.

Eerdmans Pub, 2010), 293.


8

theology and the majority of the resulting theologicaland practical applications that have arisen as a resultof that theology of missions have related to cross-border missions work. Substantively missing from thedialogue have been questions related to ecclesiologyand the shape of the life and ministry of the localchurch in context.

It is something of a paradox that the most significanttheological development in recent decades in theMAG, and one that has the potential to shape everyaspect of the life of the church, should be confinedprimarily to one area of its ministry, namely,international missions. While further reflection andaction in the area of missions is welcome and needed,the concept of the missio Dei by theological necessitycalls for a broader, all-encompassing application. If themissio Dei, as it is understood in the MAG, is a conceptthat encompasses all of Scripture and is a concept thatprovides a hermeneutical key that explains who God isand his purposes in history and through his people,then it can legitimately be expected to shapeeverything that the MAG does.

Towards A Missional EcclesiologyTo draw a synthesis between the theologicalunderstanding of mission and the existential situationof the local church in Malawi is, in essence, to ask thequestion of what it means to be a missional ormissionary church in the Malawian context. As part ofthe discussion that follows, I refer to the missionalchurch conversation in Western society.27 This exerciseis a recognition that the journey into a discovery ofwhat it means to be the church in a particular localityand culture is one in which local churches everywhereare called to engage. Therefore, while the church inMalawi is deepened and strengthened by asking whatit means to be missional, it does so from a differentstarting point from the church in Western society. Aconsideration of that process in Western society will,however, ultimately strengthen the discussion as itrelates to the African context. As the Chichewaproverb states; madzi atupa ndi ya mnjira, which,being translated, means a river is strengthened bystreams that enter it along the way. As a means offacilitating such a re-examination and discussion,seven suggestions are made regarding elements thatlocal churches in the Malawian context may foster tointerpret a missional theology for their everyday livesand to be missional congregations.28

Fostering a Missionary Self-Understanding and VisionA fundamental challenge for a missionarycongregation is the ongoing need for the church toeducate itself and restate its reason for being in thelight of Gods mission. Every vision requires constantrenewal. In the context of the life of the church, eachcongregation must continually seek to renew itsunderstanding of Gods mission from Scripture and itsown place in furthering it.

The task for every church is to attempt to ensure thatits vision for mission is not a preserve of a smallsegment of the congregation or of the leadership, butrather is diffused throughout the church throughongoing education. The need for this process is mademore evident when one considers the rapid pace ofsocial change in many urban contexts in Africa. Acongregation cannot come to a place of remainingstatic in its understanding of its mission in the world.As the world changes, so must its appropriation andarticulation of the eternal truths of mission.

It is also important that any missional vision musthave the correct starting point. That starting point isan understanding of God who, in love, is the source ofmission. A consideration of the character and acts ofthe Trinity must be the framework in which everycongregation grounds its own self-understanding. Thechurch participates in a mission to which God himselfis already also committed. A missional vision is onethat acknowledges this and seeks to let the missionaryintent and actions of God act as parameters forunderstanding and providing the essential impetus tothe pursuit of mission.

Creating and Renewing Structuresfor MissionA missionary congregation is tasked with thechallenge of creating administrative structures that areappropriate vehicles for it to carry out its mission tothe world. Charles Van Engen makes the followingstatement regarding administration in the localcongregation: Administration is essential becauseknowing what we ought to do does not necessarilylead to doing it. The proper understanding of theChurchs missionary nature does not automaticallyissue in appropriate action. This can only be donethrough intentional administration.29

27 For more on this, see Darrell Guder, Missional Church: A Vision for the Sending of the Church in North America (Grand Rapids, MI: WilliamB. Eerdmans 1998). Also see Eddie Gibbs and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005).

28 These suggestions arose out of a period of study of two leading MAG congregations conducted in 2012. These congregations are theInternational Christian Assembly (ICA) and Glorious Temple. The congregations were selected because of a public profile they havedeveloped within the movement as being churches committed to mission. The suggestions should not be considered as prescriptive,rather they should be considered as pointers to missional being arising from a consideration of how these two congregations are seekingto pursue missional faithfulness.

29 Van Engen, Gods Missionary People, 184.


The specific organisational and administrativestructure of missionary congregations cannot beuniversally prescribed. Even within the framework ofthe same denomination, organisational arrangementsin local churches, structures designed to mobilise thebody and engage the world can look quite different.Each congregation must navigate its context and itsown internal make-up to ensure that, from anorganisational standpoint, it is structured to effectivelyengage in mission.30 This will invariably mean creatingcompletely new structures and ministries wherenecessary on the one hand and renewing alreadyexisting ministries on the other. In many cases, thismay involve a combination of both.

It is also important that those ministries and functionsthat do not interface with the world directly, perhapsby design or otherwise, be fostered with an awarenessof how their internally focused roles relate to Godswider purposes for the world and the role that thechurch has to play in fulfilling it. The internal life of thechurch witnesses to the world and to the realities ofwhat life in the kingdom of God looks like. Jesusstates, by this shall all men know that you are mydisciples: if you have love one for another (John13:35).

Embracing Diversity andFostering UnityWith at least nine major ethnic groups, diversity haslong been a feature of the ministry landscape inMalawi. Changes in politics, economics, rural to urbanmigration, and other factors mean that, for theforeseeable future, the phenomenon of diversity inMalawian society is going to continue to be anincreasing trend. In the context of this reality, the taskof fostering unity is not an easy one.

One particular feature of much of African society hasbeen tribalism. This is to some extent a latent featureof some segments of Malawian society, yet one that israrely discussed in public. Speaking of the potentialrole of the church in Africa in addressing tribalism,Nigerian scholar, Ferdinand Nwaigbo, remarks:

A church that justifies tribalism and mollifies itspowerful force of divisiveness, condoning injustice andoppression, distorts its mission of love and unity andfalls short of the revelation of God. A church thatstands for co-operate humanity and hungers forjustice is a true revelation; it is a symbol of hope forcontemporary Africa.31

In addressing issues relating to tribalism and otherpoints of tension that sometimes arise from variouskinds of diversity, the church has the potential to besuch a symbol of hope to the community and anembodiment of the already but not yet kingdom. Inthe context of diversity and difference, the declarationof a unity that is available in Christ is a powerfularticulation of the Good News, one that declares theadvent of the one new humanity and peace betweenGod and humanity. The ministry context in Malawi andAfrica means that local churches on the continent willcontinue to encounter diversity of various kinds.Fostering unity is not only essential for the health ofcongregational life; it is also a witness to the unity ofthe kingdom of God and a tangible reflection of itsreality.

Pursuing Discipleship in the Light ofGods MissionA missionary congregation seeks to allow Godsmission to shape all that it does, especially the criticalfunction of discipleship. Biblical discipleship seeks toequip believers in Jesus Christ for participation inGods ongoing mission in the world.32 It is at onceboth a product and a key instrument of mission. Thiscalls for a new conceptualisation of discipleshipdifferent from what traditionally prevails in muchcontemporary Christian thought. The end goal ofdiscipleship and spiritual formation in the missionarycongregation is to prepare its people for a life thatfurthers Gods mission to the world.

In a reflection on the impact of the non-Western worldon theology of mission, Wilbert Shenk argues that anew criterion of theological validity ought to beadopted: Only theology that motivates and sustainsthe church in witness and service to the worlddeserves to be accredited.33 In a similar fashion, in thecontext of the local church, a model of discipleshipthat does not motivate its membership to face theworld in mission must be rejected as biblicallyinauthentic. As members are equipped for and engagein service, the benefits will be realised, not only interms of ministry results, but also in terms of theirspiritual renewal and vitality.

Practising Pastoral MinistryClosely related to discipleship is the practice ofpastoral ministry. Consistent with tradition in thePentecostal community, the laity in the missionarycongregation should be viewed as being empoweredby the Spirit of God for ministry. This ministry includes

30 Guder, Missional Church, 227.31 Ferdinand Nwaigbo, Tribalism Versus Evangelization in sub-Saharan Africa, AFER, 47 no. 3 (2005), 158.32 Matthew 28:19-20.33 Wilbert R. Shenk, Recasting Theology of Mission: Impulses from the Non-Western World, International Bulletin of Missionary Research,25 no. 3, (July 2001), 105.


10

not only ministry to the world but priestly edificationand care of the body. Thus, the laity has anindispensable role in the provision of pastoral ministry.However, the involvement of laypersons in ministrycannot validly negate the role of individuals who arecalled to this role in their capacity as leaders in thecongregation.34

As with all other dimensions in the life of the church,pastoral ministry must be shaped by Gods mission.Thus, pastoral ministry in the missionary congregationis not viewed as a function that maintains the spiritualstatus quo but rather one that seeks to shape thecongregation for mission. In pursuit of this ministryobjective, the classical care and nurture functions ofpastors must be valued. This calls for pastors to viewtheir ministries as a call to come alongside theirmembers as they live life in the light of Gods missionand share both joys and sorrows. Ultimately, pastoralministry in the local congregation is a reflection ofJesus who is the chief missionary pastor.

Ministering in a MannerAppropriate to the ContextThe imperative of developing contextually appropriateministry is one that arises from both theological andpragmatic concerns.35 Ministerial appropriatenessdeals with form and function; Scripture and contextand is a multi-faceted issue.36 A missionarycongregation is one that constantly seeks anawareness of its environment and the society in whichit is found and seeks to shape its ministry accordingly.

Engaging in Church Planting andCross-Cultural MissionsThe mission of God that local congregations are calledto participate in is one that knows no geographicalboundaries. Regardless of a churchs financialstanding, the call to participate in mission in somemanner is one that needs to be pursued and that alsohas positive potential for ministry in the local context:

As the church takes up its task to be engaged inmissions, there will be a reflexive effect. As the churchdevelops a vision for and becomes involved inmissions to the ends of the earth, the more likely it isthat the church will also be a missional church near tohome. Mission has the potential to revitalize amissional vision for the whole world, including theneighbourhood.37

The benefits of belonging to a denominationalnetwork, such as the MAG, includes having anavailable mission agency and structure that individualchurches can partner with in various ways andaccording to their abilities. In considering thesefeatures of a missionary congregation that have beendescribed, Fletts admonition is one that merits seriousattention: As there is no breach in the being and theact of God, so there can be no breach in the being andthe act of his community. The Christian community is amissionary community or she is not the Christiancommunity.38

While suggestions have been made here as to how totranslate a theology of mission into practice in thelocal church, it is hard to overemphasise that being amissionary congregation cannot simply be achievedby the mere institution of new behaviours orprogrammes. Rather, it must be a result of realisingthat the church is missionary by nature and that theSpirit who indwells the church is a missionary Spirit;consequently, it seeks to express that in the variousrespects described here and potentially in others thathave not been articulated.

ConclusionThe emergence of the theology of the missio Dei inthe MAG has been a welcome and neededdevelopment in supporting a nascent missionarymovement. A consideration of this theology and theMalawian context points to the urgent need for thisthinking about mission to be extended to theecclesiology of the MAG with a view to shaping localcongregations into communities that pursue andreflect Gods mission.

In conclusion, it has been argued that it is notsufficient to pursue Gods mission in a few select areasof its life and ministry, such as foreign missions; rather,that Gods mission ought to be the defining realitythat shapes everything that its local churches do. Inother words, it must foster churches that

Let(s) Gods mission permeate everything that thecongregation doesfrom worship to witness totraining members for discipleship. It bridges the gapbetween outreach and congregational life, since, in itslife together, the church is to embody Gods mission.39

34 David Jacobus Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in the Theology of Mission (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991), 474.35 Andrew Mkwaila, Contextualization and African Pentecostal Missions, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership,

2 no.1 2011.36 Charles H. Kraft. Why Appropriate? in Appropriate Christianity, ed. Charles H. Kraft & Dean S. Gilliland, (Pasadena, CA: William Carey

Library, 2005).37 Michael W. Goheen, A Light to the Nations: The Missional Church and the Biblical Story (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 220.38 Flett, The Witness of God, 293.39 Lois Barret, Treasure in Jars of Clay: Patterns in Missional Faithfulness. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004), x.


Bibliography

Africas Hope. Eleventh Hour Institute. fromhttp://africashope.org/what-we-do/ministries/ehi.

AG-US. Minutes of the of the 51st Session of the General Council ofthe Assemblies of God, Denver, Colorado: Assemblies of God, 2005.

Anderson, Allan. Spreading Fires: The Missionary Nature of EarlyPentecostalism. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2007.

Barret, Lois. Treasure in Jars of Clay: Patterns in MissionalFaithfulness. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2004

Bosch, David Jacobus. Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in theTheology of Mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1991.

Brogden, Dick. Planting Churches among Unreached Peoples: HowDo We Partner in Actively Reaching These UPGs? In GlobalizingPentecostal Missions in Africa: The Emerging Missionary Movement inthe Africa Assemblies of God, edited by Denny R. Miller & Enson. M.Lwesya. Springfield, MO: AIA Publications, 2011.

Easter, John L. The Spirit, Context and Mission: A PneumatologicalFramework for Contextualization. Ethne: The Online Journal forPentecostal and Missional Leadership 2, no. 1 (2011).

Lwesya, Enson Mbilikile. Missional Implications from Africas Trends:Globalization, Migration, Urbanization and Mission, Ethne: TheOnline Journal for Pentecostal and Missional Leadership 1, no.1(2010).

. Ten Million Reasons for Developing Great Theological TrainingSystems in Southern Africa: Towards Re-Engineering Our TrainingSystems, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal and MissionalLeadership 3 no. 1 (2012):13.

. Comparing Apples and Mangoes Towards Assessing theAAGA Missions Enterprise, PneumAfrica, 2 no. 1 (2016).

Chakwera, Lazarus McCarthy. The Development of the Eleventh-Hour Institute to be Utilized as a Means of Mobilizing, Training, andSending Missions Workers from Malawi and Nearby Countries toUnreached Peoples. DMin Diss., Trinity International University,2000.

Flett, John G. The Witness of God: The Trinity, Missio Dei, Karl Barth,and the Nature of Christian Community. Grand Rapids, MI: W.B.Eerdmans, 2010.

Gibbs, Eddie and Ryan K. Bolger, Emerging Churches: CreatingChristian Community in Postmodern Cultures. Grand Rapids, MI:Baker Academic, 2005.

Goheen, Michael W. A Light to the Nations: The Missional Churchand the Biblical Story. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011.

Guder, Darrell Guder & Lois Barret, Missional Church: A Vision for theSending of the Church in North America. Grand Rapids, MI: WilliamB. Eerdmans, 1998.

Kraft, Charles H. Why Appropriate? In Appropriate Christianity,edited by Charles H. Kraft & Dean S. Gilliland. Pasadena, CA: WilliamCarey Library, 2005.

Loder, Allan The Classical Pentecostal Doctrine of Spirit-Baptism:Some Exegetical Considerations, Didaskalia (2002), 13 no. 2 (2002),73-88.

Miller, Denzil R. & Enson. M. Lwesya. Globalizing PentecostalMissions in Africa: The Emerging Missionary Movement in the AfricaAssemblies of God Alliance. Springfield, MO: AIA Publications, 2011.

Mkwaila, Andrew, Contextualization and African PentecostalMissions, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal and MissionalLeadership 2, no.1 (2011).

Mvula, Gregory Chawanangwa and Enson Mbilike Lwesya. Flames ofFire: The History of the Malawi Assemblies of God and Pentecostalismin Malawi. Lilongwe, Malawi: Assemblies of God in Malawi, 2005.

Mwamvani, Milward Missionary Care: How is the Two Thirds WorldChurch Doing?, Ethne: The Online Journal for Pentecostal andMissional Leadership 1, no. 1 (2010).

Newberry, Warren B. Contextualizing Indigenous Church Principles:An African Model, Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies, 8, no. 20.(January 2005): 96,http://www.apts.edu/aeimages//File/AJPS_PDF/05-1-WNewberry.pdf.

Nwaigbo, Ferdinand Tribalism Versus Evangelization in sub-SaharanAfrica, AFER, 47 no. 3 (2005): 131-159.

Pedrozo, Antonio and Brad Walz, Missional Mentoring: HowNational Churches with Strong and Effective Missions OutreachesCan Mentor Those Without. In Globalizing Pentecostal Missions inAfrica: The Emerging Missionary Movement in the Africa Assembliesof God, edited by Denny R. Miller & Enson. M. Lwesya. Springfield,MO: AIA Publications, 2011

Shenk, Wilbert R. Write the Vision: The Church Renewed. ValleyForge, PA: Trinity Press International, 1995.

. Changing Frontiers of Mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999.

. Recasting Theology of Mission: Impulses from the Non-Western World, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 25 no.3, (July 2001), 105. 98-107.

Turaki, Yusufu. Evangelical Missiology from Africa: Strengths andWeaknesses. In Global Missiology for the 21st Century: The IguassuDialogue, edited by William. D. Taylor, 271-283. Grand Rapids, MI:Baker Academic, 2000.

Van Engen, Charles Gods Missionary People: Rethinking the Purposeof the Local Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1991.

Walls, Andrew F. Missiological Education in Historical Perspective.In Missiological Education for the Twenty-First Century: The Book, theCircle, and the Sandals, edited by J. Dudley Woodberry, Charles VanEngen and Paul E. Pierson, 11-22. Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock,1997.

ANDREW MKWAILAAndrew Mkwaila is the executive Pastor of International ChristianAssembly, Lilongwe Malawi and an adjunct faculty member at MalawiAssemblies of God University (Lilongwe, Malawi) and Pan-AfricanTheological Seminary (Lome, Togo). He may be contacted [email protected].


12

CHRISTIANITYSENCOUNTER WITH

GHANAIANINDIGENOUSRELIGIOUS

COSMOLOGIESBERNARD APPIAH, PH.D.


CHRISTIANITYSENCOUNTERWITH GHANAIANINDIGENOUSRELIGIOUSCOSMOLOGIESAbstractThe relationship between Christianity andindigenous religious cosmologies in Ghana duringthe pre-colonial missionary days was said todivergent. However, this essay argues that therewere many points of convergence between the tworeligious worldviews. The relationship betweenChristianity and the indigenous religiouscosmologies was a major determining factor on thesuccess or failure of the early missions efforts, andit is still a significant factor for Christian churchestoday. Consequently, the success of contemporaryneo-Pentecostals depends upon the ability of thegroups to contextualise their beliefs and praxiswithin indigenous society.

Keywords: traditional religions, neo-Pentecostals, African Pentecostalism, mission.

Early Missions to Ghana andContributions to NationalDevelopmentRoman Catholic Franciscan Friars who came withthe Portuguese traders as chaplains were the firstmissionaries to arrive on the coast of West Africa.Initially, the focus of their mission was to providepastoral care to the traders and not to Africans. Assuch, there was no notable presence of Christianmissionaries on the coasts of West Africa untilabout 1828. The first missionaries to arrive in Ghana

(formerly the Gold Coast) came from the BaselMission in 1828 and they were based at theAkwapim ridge of the Eastern Region. Physicaltraces of their presence in the area arecharacterised by the stone buildings, stone wells,and tombs of those who died on the mission fielddue to tropical diseases. In 1835, Wesleyanmissionaries arrived and established their base atCape Coast. They were soon followed by theGerman Bremen Society in 1847 who settled in theTrans-Volta area. In 1881, 1898, and 1906 theCatholic missionaries, the African Methodist-Episcopal Zion missionaries and the Anglicanmissionaries arrived respectively.1

One important factor that helped the growth andexpansion of the missions activities was thecontribution they made to national development.Socio-economic development formed a significantpart of their mission strategy.2 The earlymissionaries to Ghana made several contributionsto national development. Among these were thesetting up of colleges and schools, some of whichremain the best schools in the country. Theseinclude teacher training colleges such as thePresbyterian Training College established in 1848 inAkropong (the oldest college in West Africa apartfrom the Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone); theWesley Training College in Kumasi; AdisadelCollege; and a number of secondary schools suchMfanstipim Senior High School, Presbyterian BoysSenior High School, Holy Child Senior High School,and Aburi Girls Senior High School.3 Similarly,hospitals were built, such as the Agogo Hospital bythe Presbyterians and St Josephs Hospital by theCatholics in Koforidua. The missionaries alsodeveloped the reading and writing of theindigenous vernacular languages.4 Thosemissionaries set a precedent with their nationaldevelopment agenda that most of the olderchurches have continued to follow; and, lately, theneo-Pentecostal churches are following suit withthe building of schools, universities, hospitals andstudent hostels.5 Despite the successes highlightedas the missionaries major contributions and legacyto the nations development, there were also somefailures.

1 Emmanuel Kingsley Larbi, Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity. Studies in African Pentecostal Christianity 1. Accra, Ghana:Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies, 2001, 16.

2 Pascal Fossouo, Missionary Challenges Faced by the First African Church Leaders in Cameroon and in Ghana, Exchange 37 (2008): 265-266.

3 Florence Mable Bourret, Ghana: The Road to Independence, 1919-1957 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1960), 133.4 Noel Smith, The Presbyterian Church of Ghana, 1835-1960: Younger Church in a Changing Society (Accra: Ghana University Press 1966),

271.5 Examples of churches with such initiatives include: The Royalhouse Chapel International; International Central Gospel Church; Lighthouse

Chapel International; Action Chapel International; Perez Chapel International.


14

Attitude towards Akan CosmologyThe main area of perceived failure of themissionaries activities among the Akans was theirreluctance and inability to contextualise themessage of Christianity. In an argument explainingwhy Akans perceived Christianity as a foreignreligion, Kofi Busia noted that:Those who have been responsible for thepropagation of the Christian gospel in other landsand cultures have not shown sufficient awareness ofthe need for an encounter between the Christianreligion and the cosmology of the people alongsideEuropean cultures and traditions.6

In this sense, they built Christian congregations thatwere in opposition to the indigenous way of life. Ina much stronger critique, Kofi Asare Opoku statesthat, the church in Africa [] was part of thecultural invasion of Europe which did not havemuch regard for the dignity of African culture andwhich therefore adopted a disdainful andcondemnatory attitude to things African [].7

Contrary to Opokus critique, there seems to be noevidence to suggest this was a deliberate attempt toerase the cultures of the people. It appears to methat what happened was a clash of civilisations over and against a clash of cosmologies wherethe missionaries had the upper hand because ofpolitical and imperial authority. Christian groups,even today, are often suspected of trying to eraseindigenous cultures. Some strands of PentecostalChristianity in Ghana are often accused of this.8However, it was the processes by which themissionaries tried to propagate the gospel andbuild Christian communities in Ghana that gave riseto these allegations. For instance, they built salems(exclusive Christian communities) with the intentionof separating converts to Christianity from the restof the communities. This caused some locals torefer to Christianity as the white mans (sic) religionand associated it with what they thought was asuperior culture. Of course, Europes history ofslavery and imperialism did not help. In many cases,the social development work of the missionariesmade Christianity unattractive even after themissionaries were long gone because it wasthought to replace of slavery and because of this,

some have considered the Western missionaryenterprise an offence to African society.9 To many,Christianity became synonymous with civilisation,and was therefore not accepted for its religiousvalue but rather as a religion that offered materialblessings.

Smith observes that the three factors of (1) literacy,(2) the ability of the European to control his (sic)environment and (3) the ability to evolve a materialculture that seemed superior were bound togetherwith the white mans worship of Christ, and that tothe African, they provided a strong motive forannouncing oneself as a baptismal candidate.10 Thisintriguing observation by Smith of the materialisticnature of European Christianity happens to be thesame criticism levelled against neo-Pentecostalchurches today. These are today criticised for beingmore concerned with the existential needs of theirmembers. The difference, however, is that many ofthese neo-Pentecostal churches place their beliefwithin the indigenous cosmology that tends toaddress the needs of the whole person andprovides answers to the anxieties of their members.The neo-Pentecostal church recognises malevolentspirit forces, while at the same time proclaims thesupremacy of the All-powerful Benevolent Christ[] setting the whole cosmic struggle in the contextof the supremacy of Christ. This approach wouldhave affected the worldview of the Akan from thecentre, thereby influencing his entire religiousoutlook.11

The missionaries attitudes towards Akancosmology significantly hampered and underminedtheir evangelistic efforts. These attitudes manifestedthemselves in many ways; for instance, theyquestioned the validity of Akan cosmology and ofthe cosmic powers and the relationship betweenChristianity and that cosmology. Instead ofconnecting Christianity with this indigenouscosmology (which many indigenes could identifywith) they were suspicious and sometimes outrightnegative. As a result, they produced Christians whowould attend a mass or church service in themorning and go to tigare in the evening; thiscreated a double allegiance and later led toaccusations of syncretism.12 The denial of the

6 Kofi Abrefa Busia, Has the Christian Faith Been Adequately Represented? International Review of Missions 50, (1961): 86-89.7 Kofi Asare Opoku, The Baobab Tree of Truth: Reflections on Religious Pluralism in Africa World Council of Churches, wcc-

coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/cd34-08.html.8 Birgitte Meyer, Make a Complete Break with the Past: Memory and Postcolonial Modernity in Ghanaian Pentecostalist Discourse. Journalof Religion in Africa, 28:13 (1998): 317.

9 Fossouo, Missionary Challenges, 264.10 Smith, The Presbyterian Church of Ghana, 101.11 Larbi, Ghanaian Pentecostalism, p. 29.12 Tigare is considered one of the powerful deities in the southern part of Ghana. It is a deity known to originate from the northern regions

of the country. Southerners generally consider these deities from the north as more powerful. The northern regions of Ghana have gainednotoriety in the country as being home to some of the powerful deities.


existence of spiritual forces such as witchcraft,sorcery, amulets, charms and other abosom, (god),contravened the beliefs of the indigenous religions.Because Christianity failed to acknowledge theindigenous cosmology of the Akan, there was abasis for people to reject the Christian messagewhile publicly claiming allegiance to the ChristianGod for other reasons. According to Asamoa:

[] anybody who knows African Christiansintimately will know that no amount of denial onthe part of the church will expel belief insupernatural powers from the minds of theChristian, and he becomes a hypocrite who inofficial church circles pretends to give theimpression that he does not believe in these things,while in his own private life he resorts to practiceswhich are the results of such beliefs.

Both African Independent Churches (AICs) andPentecostal/neo-Pentecostal churches quiteunconsciously operate within the framework of thereality and impact of spirit forces on humans.However, neo-Pentecostals consider all spirit forceswithin the indigenous religions as malevolent eventhough they also often resort to the indigenousreligious practitioners for spiritual help. Some neo-Pentecostal pastors are reported to visit indigenousreligious practitioners for spiritual powers to enablethem to function effectively in their supernaturalgifts.13 Despite the continuity of some aspects ofindigenous religions in neo-Pentecostal churches,some neo-Pentecostal Christians still consultindigenous religious practitioners. This, in myopinion, demonstrates how Pentecostalism andindigenous religions complement each other inmany ways even though there are often clashesbetween them resulting from their differences inpraxis. Of course, most neo-Pentecostal churchesand their leaders argue that their holistic gospelleaves little to no room for their members toconsult the agencies of the indigenous religions forsolutions to lifes problems.14 However, it is evidentthat some of their members do actually visittraditional religious shrines which makes one towonder how much neo-Pentecostal preachers areplacing the cosmic struggle under the supremacy ofChrist instead of considering indigenous religionsas demonic only to realise that their memberspatronise these practitioners. These doubleallegiances one to Christianity and the other to

traditional religions will continue to be achallenge. The gospel of neo-Pentecostals involvessubstantially presenting a Christian God who isinterested in the total affairs of all those whoworship him, hoping to maintain relevance toindigenous religious adherents. It will be interestingin years to come to see how neo-Pentecostalchurches will negotiate this challenge.

Socio-economic Developmentamong Neo-Pentecostals andIndigenous ReligionsThe early Christian missionaries to the Gold Coastmade several contributions to nationaldevelopment and churches within the variousstrands of Christianity have continued in theseefforts. Kwame Bediako is of the view that, Thedistinction between the historical churches, ofmissionary origin, and the independent or Africaninstituted churches, have become less meaningfulas features which were once thought to becharacteristic of the latter have been found to beshared also by the former.15 Ogbu Kalu adds,Pentecostals believe that Jesus has bequeathedenormous power to the body of Christ and they aremeant to re-establish the divine claim in everycommunity and entire nations, not only throughprayer but also by translating that power to meetpeoples physical needs.16 As such, since the late1990s, neo-Pentecostals in Ghana have developedan emphasis on socio-economic development.There have been many contributions: The LightHouse Chapel, Perez Chapel (formerly Word MiracleChurch), Action Chapel International, and theChurch of Pentecost. Some have built universities,while others have built hospitals, schools, drugrehabilitation centres, professional and executivetraining centres, and many other socialorganisations. Notable among these initiatives isthe Winners Forum, a trade fair that was initiated in1996 by the International Central Gospel Church(ICGC). The aim of the fair was to encourageentrepreneurship among the members of thechurch and Christians generally. Besides the forum,the ICGC set up a Central University College in 1997which only received its Presidential Charter as afully-fledged liberal arts university in March 2016,offering courses from certificate to doctoral level.17In addition to these examples of developmentinitiatives, the Royalhouse Chapel International set

13 Asamoa, E. A. The Christian Church and African Heritage, International Review of Mission 44, no. 175 (1955), 101.14 Modern Ghana, Online News, 14 May 2010, Pastor in Juju Scandal http://www.modernghana.com/newsthread/162109/1/117853.15 An interview between this writer and Rev. Derek Amanor, Royalhouse Chapel International in Accra, Ghana.16 Kwame Bediako, Christianity in Africa, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1995), 66.17 Ogbu Kalu, The Third Responses: Pentecostalism and the Reconstruction of Christian Experiences in Africa, 1970-1995, Journal of AfricanChristian Thought, vol. 7, no.1 (1998), 14.


16

up The Compassion Ministry in the year 2000. Themain focus of the ministry has been the alleviationof poverty and pain of individuals inunderprivileged communities, and help for thosewho have suffered natural disasters and tragedies,through their Outreach for Comfort and Rescue tothe Needy Ministries.18 Some churches have also setup various philanthropic initiatives towardsreintegrating the homeless and street children intotheir communities, providing spiritual support andrehabilitation for drug addicts and commercial sexworkers, supporting single parents with developingemployability skills, and supporting widows,widowers and the aged by providing them withfinancial and material support.19 Some of thesechurches have set up hospitals and prison-outreachministries, with members visiting to donate itemsand fete with whoever is inside at times like Easterand Christmas. There have been instances wheresome of the leaders of these churches havecelebrated personal milestones of their lives withinmates of prisons, at orphanages, witch camps andat disaster relief centres.20 Some have even gone tothe extent of refurbishing offices of stateorganisations, such as the police, prisons anddoctors and nurses residences as a way ofmotivating these public servants to continue withtheir services to those deprived communities.21Such acts complement the work of the state inreducing poverty and bringing relief to those inneed.

These examples make it clear that the contributionsof these churches to socio-economic developmentrepresent a shift from being organisations led byreligious entrepreneurs milking their followers inorder to enrich themselves to actually adopting astrategy that combines spiritual and scripturally-based beliefs, praxis, and initiatives to assist theirmembers facing socio-economic deprivation.22These churches have simply followed in the

footsteps of the older mainline churches and theearly missionaries. This prompted Ogbu Kalu tonote that this lack of understanding by someWestern scholars is the source of agitation for atype of Christianity that fits into the Africanreligious worldview, and this, he adds, is partlyresponsible for clearing the grounds for theestablishment of the Pentecostal movement andsubsequently neo-Pentecostal churches in Africa.23To the contrary, indigenous religion practitionershave, over the years, not established many socio-economic development initiatives, apart from theirapprenticeships to train younger priests, such asexist at the Akonnedi Shrine in Larteh-Akwapim; AtaaAhia Shrine in Bubuashie in Accra; and theObuotabiri Shrine in Koforidua. Thus, it appears tome that the main difference between indigenousreligions and neo-Pentecostal Christianity in Ghanaso far has been their leaders orientation towardssocio-economic development. That said, I have toacknowledge that we are seeing changes as some ofthe leaders in indigenous religions, like Nana KwakuBonsam, are showing a change of heart. Quite a fewof indigenous religious practitioners have claimed toprovide scholarships for needy children in theircommunities.24 Some have spoken of developmentplans to build primary and secondary schools toaugment the efforts of the government foraccessible education for all. Bonsam has stated thathe has already built one primary school and handedit over to the government for management. Amongother community-based initiatives, he founded afootball team called Nananom Eleven Football Clubto develop talent among young people. In hisdefence, Bonsam added, I have also built roads,tarred them and put streetlights on them. I would domore when I become MP as I already have mymoney and cannot steal the peoples money. Mygods would even kill me if I did that.25 Thisfavourable orientation towards socio-economicdevelopment among some of these followers of

18 Brief on Social Interventions of the International Central Gospel Church,http://www.centralgospel.com/?id=10433&PHPSESSID=be43d267964501dfef6d88159a0d54e3.

19 A link on the homepage of the churchs website. http://www.royalhousechapel.org/Christian_Leadership_College.aspx.20 Sam Korankye Ankrah, The Rising of the Sun: Shining from Obscurity. (Accra: Royalhouse Chapel International, 2010), 121-133.21 Bishop Korankye-Ankrah celebrates 50th birthday with prisoners, Ghana News Agency, 26 February 2010,

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=177542.22 A news and events item on the church website at

http://www.royalhousechapel.org/Events/Rev_Sam_Korankye_Ankrah_fetes_Nsawam_Prison_Inmates.aspx.23 In his book, Ghanas New Christianity, Paul Gifford infers that some neo-Pentecostal pastors in Ghana are in the ministry to fleece the

flock and enrich themselves. See Gifford, Paul. Ghanas New Christianity: Pentecostalism in a Globalizing African Economy. Bloomington:Indiana University Press, 2004.

24 Ogbu U. Kalu Yabbing the Pentecostals: Paul Giffords Image of Ghanas New Christianity, Trinity Journal of Church and Theology 15, No.1 (2005): 3-15.

25 Nana Kwaku Bonsam, also known in private life as Steven Kwaku Osei Mensah, was raised as an Adventist who attended the Seventh DayAdventist Church very regularly. See list of functions and areas of expertise at http://www.kwakubonsam.com/service.php. Nana KwakuBonsam attempted to run for the parliamentary seat of the Offinso North Constituency in the Ashanti region in 2012 and in 2016. Boththese attempts did not materialise. See Jed Lipinski, The Devil is Running for a Seat in Parliament, The New York Times, 15 November2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/nyregion/the-devil-is-running-for-a-seat-in-parliament.html?_r=0.

17MISSIO AFRICANUS: THE JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MISSIOLOGYISSUE 3 | 2017VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1

traditional religions connects with the consciousnessof the influence of the spiritual. Bonsam believes theawareness of the people to the spiritual and thecontinuing relationship between humans and thespirit-world can be greatly harnessed to inculcatediscipline for development and to eradicatecorruption the bane of Africas development. This isthe same line of thought held by the neo-Pentecostal churches in Ghana.

Creating a New Neo-PentecostalsIdentity in GhanaMany African scholars, such as Afe Adogame,Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Cephas Omenyo, AbamfoAtiemo, Ogbu Kalu and Emmanuel Larbi haveobserved over time that the indigenous religionshave influenced the organisation, beliefs, and praxisof neo-Pentecostal churches. Although mostPentecostals would vehemently deny it, a great dealof neo-Pentecostal ecclesiology in Ghana is shapedas a direct result of the influence of indigenouscommunities that create their social context. WhilePentecostals branded indigenous religious traditions,as doorways to demonic oppression, neo-Pentecostals seem to be reclaiming some of thosetraditions for themselves.26 Indigenous religions andneo-Pentecostalism are not mutually exclusive ofeach other. Abraham Akrong commends neo-Pentecostals in their work in helping to redefineAfrican Christianity in African culture, with all thepeculiar concerns defined by the indigenousreligions.27 Ambivalent relationships exist betweenindigenous religions and neo-Pentecostals, forAfricans are religious and spiritual, almost unable toexplain life without reference to religion and thespirit world.28 This can be explored further byexamining how both indigenous religions and neo-Pentecostals contest for space by the use of mediaand other forms of communication.

Contesting for Space: Use of MassMedia and CommunicationPlatformsThe continuous and ubiquitous growth of neo-Pentecostal churches in Ghana has given churchleaders who want to have a presence in the

religious marketplace few options to be seen andheard. It is a difficult thing to say of religion, andparticularly of Christianity, but great competitionexists among the various churches for space andrecognition in Ghana. According to David Maxwell,what is new about African Pentecostalism is itsrecent growth, enormous vitality, and itsappropriation of the electronic media to the pointthat this has become part of Pentecostal self-definition.29 To add to Maxwells observation,electronic media has become a tool for neo-Pentecostal churches to create a new identity forthemselves that blurs any influences fromindigenous religions on their history, ethos, beliefsand praxis. The media is used as an icon ofmodernity which the indigenous religions have notas yet fully taken advantage of, although a fewindigenous practitioners have a media presenceand virtual following.30 It has become a contestedspace for prominence by a younger generation ofleaders in some of the neo-Pentecostal churchesalongside the established status of leaders such asNicholas Duncan-Williams, Mensa Otabil, GordonKisseih, Charles Agyin-Asare, Dag Heward-Mills, andSam Korankye Ankrah. Some of the youngergeneration of leaders of neo-Pentecostal churcheshave used the media to settle scores and quarrelsabout the authenticity of the source of theirspiritual powers. The younger generation seems tobe obsessed with creating an identity of superiorityover the previous generation in order to createspace for themselves in the religious arena, basicallybecause there is saturation. Due to this saturation,they have often turned on one another to eliminatecompetitors and to remain relevant. Public feudshave continued, as some clergy, claiming others arefake and do not come from God, call for a contestto prove superiority in supernatural gifts creatingmore uneasiness within the church body byquestioning the ability to work miracles purportedto come from God.31 The contests not only occurwithin the churches. On numerous occasions theyhave occurred with practitioners of the indigenousreligions too calling for the re-enactment of thebiblical contest between Elijah and the prophets ofBaal.32 Such contexts seem to be embedded withinthe Pentecostal self-understanding; demonstratingthe power of the Spirit is proof of authentic

26 Daily Guide, 16 March 2011, Nana Kwaku Bomsam to run for Member of Parliament,http://www.ghanatoghana.com/Ghanahomepage/nana-kwaku-bomsam-run-member-parliament.

27 Abamfo Atiemo, Deliverance in the Charismatic Churches in Ghana, Trinity Journal of Church and Theology 4, (1994 -95): 43.28 Abraham Akrong, Salvation in African Christianity, Legon Journal of the Humanities XII, (1999-2001): 8-10.29 John S. Pobee, West Africa: Christ Would Be an African Too (Geneva: WCC Publications, 1996),10.30 David Maxwell, editorial, Journal of Religion in Africa 28, no. 3 (1998): 255.31 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Anointing through the Screen: Neo-Pentecostalism and Televised Christianity in Ghana, Studies in WorldChristianity 11, no. 1 (2005): 13.

32 A spat between Bishop Daniel Obinim and Rev Sam Korankye Ankrah and the eventual intervention of the Ghana Pentecostal Council. Seehttp://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/religion/Obinim-accuses-Sam-Korankye-Ankrah-of-fornication-421623 andhttp://citifmonline.com/2016/03/08/gpcc-chides-charlatan-obinim-for-insulting-korankye-ankrah/.


18

ministry, the gospel and the Christian God.33 Theresponse of indigenous religions has also been tostep up to these contests to prove their authenticityas worshipping the Supreme Being who, they argue,is the same as the Christian God.

Stepping out of the Shadows: UsingMedia to Create a New IdentityIn the 1990s, after the liberalisation of the airwavesby the government, several television stations andFM radio stations were opened. Some neo-Pentecostal churches, such as Christian Action FaithMinistry International, International Central GospelChurch, Lighthouse Church International and WordMiracle Church, quickly took advantage of thesituation and registered their presence on theairwaves to feature their own programmes. Theiradvertisements for these programmes featured apresentation of their worship services thatpromised something new and spectacular; yourimpossibilities shall be turned into possibilities, yourlack shall turn into abundance, and your failuresshall be transformed into successes.34 Thiscontinues to be their unique selling point and hashelped most of these neo-Pentecostal churches torise to prominence in Ghana. Harvey Cox arguesthat indigenous churches like neo-Pentecostals inGhana help people to reclaim ancient spiritualresources that seemed lost [and] are growingbecause they help people to apply those resourcesin a new and bewildering context.35 Such churchesgive members confidence that with the aid of theHoly Spirit and prayer they can overcome all thevicissitudes of life.36 This helping people apply oldspiritual resources in their Christian life has for along time helped neo-Pentecostals to stay relevantin the society. These churches contextualiseChristianity by making it look like a product of theirmembers cultures and this enhances theiracceptance.37

It is worth noting that the way neo-Pentecostals usethe media resonates with the primary task of thenew movements; to advertise Gods new salvific

plan in Christ through the power of the Spirit.38Leaders are often presented as icons or exemplarsof the message of wellbeing that they carry. Therepeated airing of their programmes on televisionand radio turns them into religious superstars asGifford has referred to them.39 The content of thesetelevision and radio programmes usually includespersonal testimonies of the preachers portrayingthemselves as having been redeemed by God frompoverty, moral failure, and captivity by the devil.The programmes are a way of giving the audienceopportunities to deal with evil in their lives todemonstrate the superior power of God inovercoming the negative influences of Satan andevil spirits.40

However, this appropriation of the media is also notentirely new. Only in the sense that it is a modernmedium of communication that indigenousreligions have not fully and widely utilised couldone say that it is new. Asamoah-Gyadu observesthat what we see in the Pentecostal/Charismaticchurches today are contemporary Christianappropriations of what has always been a crucialpart of indigenous religions in Africa.41There was,for example, a radio and TV broadcast in the late1980s to 1990s by the Afrikania Mission led byOsofo Okomfo Kwabena Damoah, which airedevery Wednesday evening and ceased a couple ofyears after the demise of its founder andcharismatic leader. Therefore, the domination of theairwaves by these neo-Pentecostal churches doesnot in its entirety represent a break in theinfluence of traditional religions on neo-Pentecostalchurches. It is their message and promise toprovide their followers with the supernaturalweapons they need to confront the forces of evil asthey manifest themselves in disease and discordthat makes the difference.42

33 The biblical narrative of a contest between Elijah and the Prophets of Baal in a contest to prove whose object of worship is superiorrecorded in 1 Kings 18.

34 Frank D. Macchia, Pentecost as the Power of the Cross: The Witness of Seymour and Durham, Pneuma: The Journal of the Society forPentecostal Studies, 30 (2008), 3.

35Asamoah-Gyadu, Anointing through the Screen, 11. Other promises include, your life will never be the same, come and receive yourbreakthrough, God will change your destiny. and the Spirit will meet you at the point of your need.

36 Harvey Cox, Fire from Heaven (New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1995), 258-259.37 Cephas Omenyo, Charismatic Churches in Ghana and Contextualisation, Exchange 31, (2002), 252-277.38 Robert Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1985), 150.39 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Of Faith and Visual Alertness: The Message of Mediatized Religion in an African Pentecostal Context,Material Religion 1, no. 3 (2005): 343.

40 Gifford, Ghanas New Christianity, 32.41 J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Of Faith and Visual Alertness: The Message of Mediatized Religion in an African Pentecostal Context, 351.42 Asamoah-Gyadu, Of Faith, 351.


Indigenous Religious Response toNeo-Pentecostals Use of MediaBonsam has to some extent become the new publicface of the mainstream indigenous religions inGhana, making use of modern media technology toreach out to the wider public to extol the virtues ofthe indigenous religions. He has followed in thefootsteps of Okomfo Kwabena Damoah. But, unlikeDamoah, Bonsam remains conventional in hisunderstanding and expression of the indigenousreligion. His regular pay-per-view use of the mediaposes a pound for pound challenge to neo-Pentecostals who have dominated the airwavesafter the death of Damoah. Overall, indigenousreligions use of the media follows a pattern alreadyused by neo-Pentecostals. Bonsam, like many otherindigenous religious practitioners often narrates hisencounters with his god, Kofio Kofi, in a verysuccinct but subtle manner, stating that his chargefrom the nananom (ancestors) is to help humanity.He has stunned viewers and listeners by insistingthey offer Christian prayers before the start ofinterviews and proceedings at functions where he isinvited. He has managed to create an image forhimself through the media which De Witte observesis usual in the neo-Pentecostal churches.43 Again,like other leaders within the neo-Pentecostalchurches, he has a fully functional website.44 Topromote his famous god, whom he claims provideshelp to people from diverse backgrounds (includingpastors), Bonsam is presented as the perfect imageof wellbeing. Bonsam features videos and picturesof himself divining, dancing or being possessed andproviding solutions to peoples problems.45Generally, most of the stories presented in thesepictures and videos depict the priest interveningwith incantations to cast out malevolent spirits andgiving akwankyer (prophetic spiritual direction)free people to enjoy Gods grace and materialprosperity. Bonsam also maintains internationalconnections just like neo-Pentecostal religiousleaders. He pays frequent visits to Europe, althoughhe has not yet established a shrine on thecontinent. He is aware that for many Ghanaians, if apastor belongs to an international network, it

legitimizes the gospel that he or she advocates.46He therefore uses his trips abroad as a medium toobtain recognition to legitimise what he does.Videos of his events and functions are then carefullyedited, with special sound effects with Akantraditional music for appeal, and posted onYouTube.

Bonsam and other indigenous religiouspractitioners use mass media to espouse the virtuesof indigenous religions and to convey that they arenot evil as some Christians have made them to be.They also argue that intentions of god and theancestors are to provide the weaponry needed todefeat evil, witchcraft, and any negative forces thatcreate discord and disharmony with the cosmos. Inan interview with an Accra-based newspaper, TheDaily Guide, Bonsam tried to differentiate theposition of the Creator and his famous god, KofioKofi. He claimed, I am a Christian and cannotchallenge the Almighty God. I am called StevenOsei Mensah. I give unto Caesar what is Caesarsand to God what is Gods.47 In effect, Bonsamidentifies with some aspects of Christianity. He is,however, very emphatic about the role of othergods like Kofio Kofi who serve as mediums of theSupreme Being to humankind. In a YouTube videoat a divination function in Amsterdam he is seenpraying in Jesus name before beginning hisactivities.48

ConclusionThe awareness of the Supreme Being (God) waspart of the cosmology of the indigenous Ghanaianpeoples long before the arrival of the missionaries.Despite the early missionaries efforts, theindigenous Ghanaians still wanted to be identifiedas Christians who sympathised with the indigenousreligions. This was largely because the missionariesfailed to contextualise the gospel in ways thatrecognised the role of indigenous religions. As aresult, many people went to the church during theday and visited the traditional shrine at night. Themissionaries of old were accused of imposing theirEuropean understanding of Christianity on theGhanaians while totally ignoring the powerful role

43 The Afrikania Mission a neo-traditional movement sought to reform and update African traditional religion, and to promotenationalism and Pan-Africanism Peter B. Clarke, Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements (London: Routledge, 2006).

44 Marleen De Witte, Altar Medias Living Word: Televised Charismatic Christianity in Ghana, Journal of Religion in Africa 33, no. 2 (2003),180.

45 The website of Nana Kwaku Bonsam Shrine: www.nanakwakubonsam.com.46 Video of Nana Kwaku Bonsam at a function: http://www.kwakubonsam.com/video1.aspx.47 Asamoah-Gyadu, Of Faith, 34748 The Daily Guide, Nana Kwaku Bonsam declares, I am a Christian. http://news.myjoyonline.com/news/200805/16604.asp49 A YouTube video of a divination function in Amsterdam where Nana Kwaku Bonsam is seen chanting Praise the Lord, a popular Christian

chant among neo-Pentecostals in Ghana. He begins his function by praying in the name of Jesus; link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtVX5dzVZeI, accessed on 23 June 2011.


20

of the indigenous religions. The same problemexists today, even though neo-Pentecostal churcheshave been able, in small ways, to place the Christianmessage within the context of indigenous religionsin order to make the message more meaningful fortheir converts. However, this overlap betweenindigenous religions and the neo-Pentecostalchurches causes conflicts between the two asindigenous religious practitioners want to claimauthenticity and originality in providing the

foremost understanding of the existence of God.One can assert, therefore, that both the indigenousreligions and neo-Pentecostal churches need eachother to remain relevant to their communities. Thecontest for space in the religious market placeprovides them with the impetus to out-do eachother to gain the recognition and approval of thepeople, and to remind them of their relevance tocosmic balance both in private and national life.

Bibliography

Akrong, A., Salvation in African Christianity. Legon Journal of theHumanities, XII (1999-2001): 8-10.

Appiah, B., Christianity in Indigenous Cultures: African religiousworldviews in Neo-Pentecostal Churches in Ghana. MTh Dissertation,University of Edinburgh (2011).

Asamoa, E. A., The Christian Church and African Heritage.International Review of Mission, 44:175 (1955).

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K., Anointing through the Screen: Neo-Pentecostalism and Televised Christianity in Ghana. Studies in WorldChristianity 11:1 (2005).

Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K., Of Faith and Visual Alertness: The Messageof Mediatized Religion in an African Pentecostal Context. MaterialReligion 1:3 (2005).

Atiemo, A., Deliverance in the Charismatic Churches in Ghana.Trinity Journal of Church and Theology, 4 (1994-95).

Bediako, Kwame, Christianity in Africa. Maryknoll: Orbis Books,1995.

Busia, K. A., Has the Christian Faith Been Adequately Represented?International Review of Mission, 50 (1961): 86-89.

Clarke, P. B., Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. Routledge,2006.

Cox, Harvey Gallagher, Fire from Heaven: The Rise of PentecostalSpirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-FirstCentury. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Pub., 1995.

De Witte, M., Altar Medias Living Word: Televised CharismaticChristianity in Ghana. Journal of Religion in Africa 33:2 (2003):180.

Bourret, F. M. Ghana: The Road to Independence, 1919-1957.Stanford University Press, 1960.

Fossouo, P. Missionary Challenges Faced by the First African ChurchLeaders in Cameroon and in Ghana. Exchange, 37:3 (2008).

Gifford, Paul. Ghanas New Christianity: Pentecostalism in aGlobalizing African Economy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,2004.

Gyekye, K. African Cultural Values: An Introduction. Accra: SakofaPublishing Company, 1998.

Kalu, O. The Third Responses: Pentecostalism and theReconstruction of Christian Experiences in Africa, 1970-1995.Journal of African Christian Thought, (1998).

Kalu, O. Yabbing the Pentecostals: Paul Giffords Image of GhanasNew Christianity. Trinity Journal of Church and Theology, 15:1(2005): 3-15.

Larbi,

Documents

ISSN 2059-173X - Missio Africanusmissioafricanus.org/.../MAJAM/3-1/Missio-Africanus-Journal-3.1.pdf · MISSIO AFRICANUS: THE JOURNAL OF AFRICAN MISSIOLOGY VOLUME 3, ISSUE 1 2 Editor’s