Bishop Zac Niringiye

“Our dreams and visions of the future must be bigger than our memories of the past,” said SIM International Director Malcolm McGregor. So began SIM’s week-long Global Leaders Gathering in Nairobi, Kenya, on 22 March 2009.

This challenge was followed by an exhortation from Howard Brant to “align ourselves with God’s plan,” as Joshua learned to do in the battle of Jericho. When we do that, the result is beyond anything we can imagine.

More than 160 delegates, representing 72 countries, met together for the event, which McGregor referred to as “highly significant.” Earlier, he had identified 10 areas of focus for the Global Leaders Gathering:

Worship in God’s presence, giving him praise and honor.

Wonder at God himself and discover more of who he is and all he has done for us.

Consider and reflect on the Work to which he has called us.

Weep over our sin and failure, individually and corporately.

Reflect on our Weaknesses.

Consider what God’s Word has to say to us at this time.

Wrestle with God and all he expects from us in the future.

Wait on the Lord (in prayer) as we seek his face.

Welcome the responsibility and reality of leadership in a community like SIM.

Embrace the Week ahead with fellowship, prayer, and strategic planning.

“I feel my expectations have been met,” said McGregor. “[God] gave us time away from agendas, meetings, and the tyranny of the urgent to be together with him and each other, and to listen to what he has to say through his Word, through other people from outside SIM and through each other. He broke into our conversations, and helped us develop an openness and freedom that we have not previously been able to have. I am deeply grateful.”

Bishop David Zac Niringiye of Uganda spoke on “Following Jesus in His Mission,” quoting from Matthew 4:19, Acts 8, and Acts 10-11. He delivered some meaty studies on what it means to be a kingdom follower of Jesus, and emphasized that, from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, his message was about the kingdom of God.

However, the Bishop said, today the Church is often a counter-sign, pointing away from the kingdom, rather than to it. “The enemy of the Gospel today is Christianity as it has become,” he explained. Delegates were challenged to do a fresh study of the “Gospel of the kingdom,” as it relates to SIM, and to consider what true kingdom-centered mission will look like.

Rev. Oscar Muriu, of Nairobi Chapel, spoke about the changing face of mission. “We’re living in a new world, and we must ask uncomfortable questions,” he said. Muriu reminded the gathering that David could not use Saul’s armor. In the same way, we must not press the “New Initiatives in Mission” from the Global South into using the “Saul’s armor” of the Western missions movement. While it may have been appropriate for the West, does that necessarily mean it’s good for the Global South?

Several “uncomfortable questions” were posed by Dr. Funmi Para-Mallam, a Nigerian evangelical sociologist, who spoke about the plight of women around the world. “Poverty wears a woman’s face,” she quoted (UN). Dr. Para-Mallam shared from her experience in the Church in Nigeria and beyond, and from her extensive research on gender issues. She described how women are assigned to inferior places in many cultures, sometimes involving abuse and oppression. While SIM has proclaimed the Gospel and ministered to obvious human need, have we done as well at addressing justice issues?

Other speakers included Mutua Mahiaini, Director of The Navigators in Africa, who talked about the importance of discipleship, and Rev. Simon Walker, a former pastor from the UK, who now teaches leadership.

SIM leaders went away from the gathering reflecting on what the “kingdom of God” means for those involved in world mission today, and on the words of Bishop Zac Niringiye, “As we follow him, he will change us; he will transform us. …”

*Note: This article was originally published in Serving in Mission Together, Issue 126.