Staff Missionary Reports
Reports and Experiences of the Godspeed
Staff
Martin Brooks: Report from Africa, September 2002
On our recent trip to South Africa and Mozambique, we were accompanied
by Martin Brooks. Martin is currently serving as senior pastor
of a church in Kentucky, but he and his family had served as missionaries
in Mozambique several years ago, and they are planning to re-enter
missionary service with TeamExpansion soon. The note below is
his report of our recent trip:
I had heard rumor that on the flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg,
because it was such a long flight, they spaced the seats out a
little bit to give you a little more room. If anyone ever tells
you that, it's a myth or maybe an urban legend. My experience
last week leads me to believe they actually squeeze the seats
up so they can get more people on the plane. After the 15 hour
flight I was ready to get off the plane in Johannesburg.
Barney Davis is a Psychiatrist that helps missionaries around
the world sort out issues relating to mission work. Because he
is also a medical doctor he sometimes has opportunity to help
address medical issues that are difficult to handle on the field.
Barney knew I had an interest in Missionary care and invited me
to return to my old stomping grounds to help him at a missionary
conference. He was to be the doctor/psychiatrist and I was to
be the pastor ready to help as the Lord opened doors. The conference
was held in Nelspruit, South Africa where a mission agency OMS
of Greenwood Indiana was meeting with the OMS people from South
Africa and a third mission group called Co-Mission. These three
mission agencies work in South Africa and Mozambique where Susan
and I had spent three years working with national pastors.
I was especially excited to be back in Africa in light of my
new position with Team Expansion. They have asked me to be their
African Field Coordinator which involves developing the works
they have started in Africa and opening new works. I knew that
OMS South Africa was working in a number of countries like the
DRC, Burundi, Sudan, Angola, Central African Republic and others.
I wanted to explore the possibilities of networking opportunities.
Also, OMS in Mozambique had recently started a seminary and I
was looking forward to catching up on what the Lord was doing
there.
It is interesting to hear the heart that many have to reach the
Muslim population with the truth of the gospel. How might Sept
11 have been different if this burden had been impressed upon
the church 50 years ago? Islam seems to be working its way south
across the continent. There are pockets of Islam in the south,
but it is generally stronger in the north. You may have read about
the girl facing death by stoning in Nigeria. It seems she had
a baby and was not married. What a contrast between the religious
system of laws and works associated with Islam and the grace and
forgiveness that is offered by Jesus. In South Africa they have
a new minister of education who is a Muslim. The schools have
had Christian education as a part of their curriculum for years.
Now they are phasing that out. Please pray for South Africa. If
South Africa goes the way of Zimbabwe, mission work and life in
general will be much more difficult in all of sub-Sahara Africa.
As I returned to Mozambique, it was heartening to see the college
going again. Some of the current students had been referred by
former students that I had the opportunity to teach. The floods
are gone. The roads are crowded with cars. The country seems to
be rebounding from the setbacks caused by the hurricanes. Now
is a great time to consider going to serve in Mozambique. They
are open to Christianity and they are anxious for help from abroad.
Maybe you could teach in the OMS school for missionary children.
Maybe you could teach in one of the Bible colleges or help as
a nurse or teacher in the local churches. There are lots of possibilities.
Co-mission is entering a new era of their work in Mozambique.
The Americans are leaving the country and turning the work over
to the nationals. Barney and his wife Karen and I had the privilege
of meeting with the two young men that will be heading up that
work. They are very impressive. One is a gifted administrator
and the other has the heart of a pastor. Their plan is to train
the local churches to use the Jesus film as an evangelistic and
teaching tool. I was impressed that they don't merely show the
film and ask for a showing of hands of those who want to follow
Jesus. Most missionaries know you can get people to raise their
hands apart from any conviction to follow Christ. These young
men only show the film when a local church agrees to go through
follow-up training prior to the showing of the film. Then, after
the film is shown, they help the church turn these decisions into
commitment.
I want to thank Barney and Karen for having me along on the trip.
I learned a lot about their ministry to missionaries. I learned
a lot about intercultural teams working together. I learned a
lot about myself and what the Lord is doing in Africa. Please
pray for my family as we transition from the security of being
a pastor in the States, to full time mission work with Team Expansion.
Currently we are in the deputation process and hope that the transition
will be complete by January 2003. If you ever get a chance to
go to Africa, you should. It will change your life. Listen to
the Lord. Obey His call.
In Christ,
Martin Brooks
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