Church of the Nazarene
A word from the Regional Director
Welcome to the Africa Region! Greetings in the Powerful name of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is a blessed privilege for my family and I to serve the Lord in the great continent of Africa.
The Dream
I still vividly remember the dream I had about Africa a few years ago. In that dream, I saw the African continent. Suddenly, a cross came from the sky and was planted right in the middle of Africa. The cross made a hole from where blood started to burst and gradually cover the whole continent from West to East and South to North and I heard three words: Healing, Reconciliation, Restoration.
The Symbol
In the late 1960s, the West-African poet David Diop wrote one of the most famous poems about Africa where he symbolizes her as a Baobab Tree. One stanza says: “That tree over there, splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers, that is your Africa springing up anew patiently, obstinately and whose fruits acquires the bitter taste of liberty.”
The Two Anchors
Africa is an old continent with a young population and is known for her passion, resilience,
faith, and hope for life. As a Church, the Lord has given us the opportunity to share the Full Gospel in such a time as this. We won’t be able to fulfil His mission without these two anchors:
- The Manifest Presence of God in each of our initiatives. (Knowing who we are serving).
- Being driven by the reason of our mission. (Knowing why we are serving).
The Four Values
We are longing to see the four values of Authenticity, Presence, Relevance, and Interdependence drive all our regional initiatives.
Our Mission Opportunities:
- Africa Diaspora
- Sahel – Sahara
- Urban Ministries
Our Regional Initiatives
As we discover the reality of the Church in the African context, we collectively identified our areas of focus:
• Leadership Development: Since 2018, we have started story-centric leadership trainings across the continent with two cohorts (one in Lusaka, Zambia and one in Dakar, Senegal).
• Women’s Leadership Development: Women’s conferences are strategically organized in several parts of the continent.
• Orality Discipleship: Orality training of pastors and laity is happening in several fields of the Africa Region.
• Urban Initiatives: We organized our first Africa Urban Forum in May 2019 to address the challenges of the city as the new frontier and set up a resource team.
• Sahel-Sahara Initiative: A movement of national missionaries is targeting the cities and communities of the Sahel and Sahara countries.
• Africa Diaspora Initiative: There is an increasing population of Africans that have relocated from the continent to live in other parts of the world. Our goal is to develop leaders that will unite the communication between the diaspora churches and connect them to our region.
Dr. Daniel A.K.L (Dany) Gomis
Africa Regional Director