Inaugural Post -- Strategic Missional Thinking for Africa

Despite the title of this blog, I do not presume to be the authority on strategic missional thinking for Africa. I don't even presume to be an authority on that topic. Thus, any opinions I post here are tentatively held (not, though, my foundational beliefs) and not intended to describe the best way to do anything. Instead, I would like for this to be a forum for thinking, discussing, and sharing ideas on missions in Africa in the 21st century -- I simply want to serve as a catalyst for that.

I've lived in East Africa most of the last 24 years and work under a large missionary sending agency in the US. During that time, though my job titles have varied, I've primarily been responsible for either training missionaries or filling administrative roles. I have also had the privilege to be involved in starting a few churches and training church leaders. Currently, I serve in a position that our organization calls Strategy Training Associate. In that role, I'm responsible for coordinating a wide variety of training opportunities for our personnel, for national partners, and for local church partners in the US and other non-African countries.

So, part of my desire to start this blog comes from my need to stay current on strategic thinking for missions and training for Africa. I also want to have a place where folks working in Africa can find resources and talk.

I would welcome guest posts. If you're interested in writing a guest post, contact me by e-mail: sta (dot) ssap (at) gmail (dot) com (I do reserve owner/author rights over content).

At this point, I don't have specific editorial guidelines. Those will develop as needed. I do think we need to adhere to biblical standards of relationships, interactions, and discussions -- civility and respect, even when we disagree, are high values. These scriptural guidelines come to mind:

• Ephesians 5:4 (5:4)
• Galatians 5:22-24 (5:22, 5:23, 5:24)
• Philippians 2:3-4 (2:3, 2:4)

Let's see where this goes.

For the Kingdom,
Bob A