A Personal New Normal

 With the world becoming more and more a post-pandemic place, some surprising ministry opportunities have emerged for me. The bottom line is that the “semi” in semi-retired is becoming increasingly true! A short list of some really neat ministry involvements from the past few months should prove my point.

Last June, I returned to Africa for the first time in two years (the longest hiatus of international travel for me since 1982). After a great two-day planning retreat with the OC Africa team outside of Johannesburg, I flew on to Harare, Zimbabwe, where I had been invited to give a three-day seminar on steward leadership. Thanks to some great groundwork by Dr. Lovejoy Chabata, we had 62 participants who were all national-level church leaders, professors of theology, and presidents of theological institutions. The response was quite astounding. Many of the concepts I covered on becoming a faithful steward leader dovetailed with what these leaders call integral mission, a topic of keen interest for those wanting practical applications of African theology. This interest has now blossomed into more invitations for me to be involved with online training of teaching facilitators, followed by a possible second trip next year to participate in a national conference on the subject.

As some of you may remember, I spent much of the past two years putting my steward leader seminar into a downloadable form with both video lessons and printable workbooks.

Now, finally, I am starting to see the fruit of that labor. Last month, a young couple in Burkina Faso (who I have never met personally) got a hold of the course and decided to offer it to local pastors and leaders. Thirty-five participated, using the video series I had recorded in French. I jumped in only at the very end with a Zoom appearance to congratulate them on completing the course. Once again, I was quite amazed at their testimonies of personal impact. I understand one elderly lady was in tears as she explained how much the section on identity in Christ meant to her. Being single and therefore childless had brought her lifelong ridicule and condemnation from the African community that identifies successful womanhood only with being a wife and mother. Clearly, God was using the basic theology lessons of this course as important reminders to help many grow and mature in their understanding of God’s truth. Already the young couple there has been approached by seven other churches who want the course to be taught again.

On August 30, I am heading out on a second trip to Africa, this time to Nigeria and DR Congo. The first part of the trip will consist of three leadership events led in partnership with a good friend of mine, Todd Ostlind. We’ll be offering a strategic planning retreat for a large church denomination in Lagos followed by two-day seminars called In His Grip—Leadership Strength in an Insecure World in Lagos and Abuja. Then, I fly on alone to Kinshasa, DR Congo, where I will once again offer my steward leader seminar in an event hosted by Pastor Nubako Selenga of ReachAfrica. I look forward to being able to write another report on all that happens during these next busy weeks of travel.

I am definitely not interested in returning to the intense travel and teaching schedule I maintained for the past decade, but it certainly has been wonderful to be able to respond to these very rewarding opportunities for ministry. So, for now, I will accept that being semi-retired is the new normal for this current season of life!