Sharing the Mission exists to support indigenous Christian missionaries working in West Africa. We are not associated with any particular denomination, but are open to cooperating with any Christian organization spreading the historic Christian faith in West Africa. All of our board members are active participants in local denominationally affiliated churches in their communities, but they are not all of the same denomination.
Our beliefs align with the Nicene Creed and the Lausanne Covenant
From the beginning, the followers of Jesus were noted for their sharing, their koinonia: “All who believed were together and held everything in common, and they began selling their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need.”[1] Later it was noted that there were no needy among them.[2] In this they were pointing to the new Kingdom of Jesus, the just King who would ensure that all would be cared for and satisfied.[3] A century or more later, this remarkable Christ-like sharing among local believers continued. In the Epistle to Diognetus, the author notes that Christians “share their meals, but not their wives,” they may “live in poverty, but enrich many” and may be “totally destitute, but possess an abundance of everything” and also that they “flourish under persecution.”[4] This would not have been possible without radical sharing among believers. Tertullian describes the trust fund that “everyone contributed to” weekly or monthly to “feed the poor and bury them, for boys and girls who lack property and parents . . .”[5] The Didache [6] also expresses the same principle: “You shall not turn away from someone in need, but shall share everything with your brother, and not claim that anything is your own. For if you are sharers in what is imperishable, how much more so in perishable things.” We can find examples of radical sharing throughout church history, and it continues to this day especially among those in the world who have very little to share. Our willingness to seriously consider our responsibility to address the needs of our brothers and sisters is one important way we make the Kingdom of Jesus plausible to the world. It is part of how we communicate the Good News of Jesus’ reign.
Paul clarifies that the goal is not for the giver to become poor so that the receiver can become rich, but so that everyone would have enough.[7] This is not about private property and communal living, but rather about loving what Jesus loves, as he says “when you have done it to the least of these, you have done it to me.”[8]
So our primary sharing partners are the brothers and sisters we meet day by day, but as Paul demonstrates, we should also consider those who are far off. Paul put considerable effort into collecting donations for the poor believers in Jerusalem from believers as far away as Rome, Macedonia and Corinth. These were days or weeks long journeys, and ethnically very different areas. These were mostly Gentiles raising money for Jews who they would never meet.[9] This sort of distant, cross-ethnic giving was not immediately understood by all early believers, although some, like the Macedonians eagerly participated.[10] As David Downs notes, the reluctance of the Corinthians to contribute to the poor of Jerusalem may “have arisen out of their inability to understand why they were obligated to financially support a people so geographically distant and ethnically different from their own.” [11] Giving in this more distant way, was apparently for Paul an act of worship, a response to God’s grace and provision. But not “just” an act of worship, but one that is vital, as he urges his Gentile “brothers and sisters, through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf” so that he would be able to deliver the gift to those in need in Jerusalem.[12]
So what does this have to do with West Africa? On the one hand, there is both a great deal of poverty and a great deal of persecution among our brothers and sisters in West Africa, and Nigeria in particular. Nigeria has seen the largest number of Christian martyrs of any country in the world for several years running. Its standard of living is worse than any country in the Americas and most of the rest of the world, yet it is still a bit better than the other West African countries.[13] So we have poverty and persecution on the one hand, and on the other, we have brave African missionaries who are striving to point to Jesus with the minimal support that local churches can provide and the “tent making” that they themselves can do to put food on their tables. Surely, as we live in the abundance of the United States, we have a Christian obligation to help in some way.
Finally, it is clear in scripture that God is glorified when we love well what God himself loves. It is also clear that maturity of our faith comes through disciplines such as sharing. The Kingdom can become more visible both there and here, more believable both there and here, when we seriously share. The love of God can bring diverse believers together which can make it tangible to those who haven’t seen it before, both there and here. And as we develop relationships with those who are far off in Africa, as we hear and retell each other’s stories of God’s faithfulness, as we share in the global mission of proclaiming the Kingdom and the Way of Jesus, we truly become partners in the mission not only in Africa, but also here in America where we live. The money may be flowing one direction, as Paul says, “at the present time, your abundance will meet their need,” but as with the Jerusalem church, there is much of spiritual value to come back the other way from our mature and tested African brothers and sisters. “One day their abundance may also meet your need.”[14] It is true that we have funds that are needed in Africa now, but it is also true that they have spiritual insights and gifts that we need now in America.
[1] 2 Corinthians 8:1-6
[2] Joshua Jipp reviewing The Offering of the Gentiles by David Downs
[3] Romans 15:30-31
[4] By any accepted measure, West Africa is in need, with the possible exception of Ghana. Consider for instance, the United Nations Human Development Index or the World Bank’s Multidimensional Poverty Measure
[5] 2 Corinthians 9:14
[6] Acts 2:44-45 NET
[7] Acts 4:34
[8] Matthew 12:18-21, Isaiah 25:4-6, 32:15-20, Revelation 7:16-17,
[9] Epistle to Diognetus Chapter 5
[10] Helen Rhee Loving the Poor, Saving the Rich: Wealth, Poverty, and Early Christian Formation p.107
[11] Didache 4:8
[12] 2 Corinthians 8:13
[13] Matthew 25:34-40
[14] Romans 15:25
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