Born to Serve
Presented Monday, July 4, 2005

Geoffrey Mbwana
President

At the birth of a child in an African community, a shout of joy is made to announce the arrival. All who hear the sound repeat it, and soon the air is filled with melodious sounds of joy. One can hear it from the housetops, valleys, hills, and mountaintops. Soon you see a stream of women, filled with laughter and thanksgiving, walking toward the home of the newborn with baskets of gifts on their heads.

In January 2003 the East-Central Africa Division (ECD) was born amid celebrations by men, women, youth, and children in colorful parades. With its seven union missions and three attached fields, ECD spreads across 10 countries of the east-central Africa region: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The general population in the region is reported to be about 247 million inhabitants. In 2003 ECD had 2,064,561 members, but the 2004 figure stands at 1,972,637. This negative growth is a result of extensive membership audits that were carried out in some of the unions. Whereas some countries, such as Rwanda and Kenya, enjoy high Adventist concentrations (1:23 and 1:55, respectively), other countries are almost without Adventists. The employed workforce of the church, including ministers, teachers, and medical workers, stands at 7,135.

ECD was born to serve, and in keeping with the strategic issues of the General Conference, ECD has identified five areas of engagement. They are: evangelism, spiritual nurture, self-support, leadership training, and unity. A strategic plan was developed, and steps were taken to embark upon its implementation. It is with great joy that we can report what the Lord is doing through his church in ECD.

Evangelism
By sharing their personal joy and warmth of love they experience in Jesus Christ, Adventists in ECD have received into their various fellowships friends, relatives, and neighbors. Through formal and informal interactions such as at home, in the workplace, through public meetings, and in music ministries, contacts were made. Discussions were carried on, Bible studies were conducted, and decisions were made by many to accept the Lord Jesus Christ into their lives. A total of more than 281,430 people made decisions and were baptized in the years 2003 and 2004. Adventist women, youth, pastors, and lay evangelists have all worked enthusiastically to share their faith and hope in the Lord. Music has done much to brighten the lives of many friends and neighbors. Many groups of friends from outside the division joined hands with our members in reaching out for the Lord. Schools and colleges, through inreach and outreach programs, have provided hope to many a people in their own localities.

In Rwanda last year more than 10,000 people were baptized through the evangelistic series conducted by Mark Finley. Groups of young people trained by a youth in Kenya, Enock Mogusu, make satellite dishes with locally available materials for churches and church members in the region. The establishment of radio and television ministries in Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, and Tanzania has ushered in a new day for evangelism and the nurture of members in the ECD region. The Hope Channel is watched in the homes now, and plans are under way for local television programs to be aired. Broadcasting licenses have been secured for Kenya, and almost every union is currently working to establish radio and television ministries in one of their major cities.

Global Mission projects are successfully implemented in each of the unions. The General Conference has made large amounts of money available for this program. ECD, unions, fields, and churches have joined together to send out Global Mission pioneers. Some church members are personally sponsoring pioneers in unentered areas. Narratives about the working of the Holy Spirit through these frontliners clearly show the joy of serving with the Lord. We thank our friends who provided us with picture rolls, which are useful tools for these pioneers.

Go One Million, Sow 1 Billion, Year of World Evangelism, and other programs of the church during this quinquennium were implemented with success. The challenges we face are such things as printing sufficient Bible lessons to respond to thousands of people who have indicated interest in studying them. Housing the numbers of people joining the church for worship is also a major challenge, as is nurturing these members and enabling them to grow and enjoy the full joy of being disciples of Jesus Christ.

Through the Roofs for Africa program and special donors, the ECD was able to roof about 1,600 churches in the past two years. There are many more to be roofed, and this program has sparked a great building interest. We applaud the efforts of all the church members for their initiative in building houses of worship. ECD members are very grateful to the Light Bearers for sending us more than 10 container loads of literature, including badly needed Discovery Bible study lessons. Unions were able to print only limited amounts of this literature, far from meeting the demands. Pastors and the laity have found these to be very handy tools for evangelism.

Services to the Community
Education: There are 984 schools in ECD, of which 717 are elementary schools, 254 are secondary schools, seven are worker training institutions, and six are tertiary institutions. These institutions realized an enrollment of 262,380 in 2004 and employed a total of 8,667 teachers. In the same year, 621 students graduated from our universities and colleges, and 9,940 from secondary schools. Institutions reported student baptisms in the quinquennium through 2004 as follows: 158,309 in tertiary institutions, 6,502 in secondary schools, and 3,923 in elementary schools.

In those countries where the church renders educational services to the community, local governments have repeatedly shown appreciation for the quality of education and the church's commitment to raising the educational level of the communities it serves.

Churches in several countries within ECD conduct adult literacy classes. In some countries evening classes are conducted for adults with various levels of education, in efforts to raise the educational levels of both working and nonworking adults.

Medical services: ECD has six major hospitals, with a total bed capacity of 587, and 169 clinics, with 4,065 inpatient beds. In 2004 hospitals rendered services to 18,517 inpatients and 76,814 outpatients, while clinics served 660,047 outpatients. These hospitals provided charity care worth more than US$81,000. These centers are known not only for their curative services but also for the promotion of healthful living, primary health care, family planning, community health, the HIV/AIDS counseling services, etc.

The church in ECD decided from the time it was organized that it will not remain silent on the issue of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Commissions have been established in different levels of the church to develop programs aimed at raising awareness and combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic, both within the church and in the community. Two colleges have developed a curriculum to teach this crucial subject. Counseling services have been established, and counselors from across a wide range of denominations have been trained. Orphanages for the HIV orphans have been established, and some churches are now supporting orphans by providing school fees, school supplies, and food.

Other community services: Relief programs for refugees, provision of clean water, poverty alleviation programs, and school rehabilitation programs are among the many ventures that ADRA has initiated and that have impacted many lives in ECD.

Church members in ECD also reach out to their communities to evangelize and respond to their needs. They visit prisons to offer food, basic supplies, and tailoring classes for the inmates. Church members also visit schools to provide school fees and school supplies to students in need. Food and used clothes are gathered and distributed to the needy.

Self-support
The church in Africa is blessed by an increasing willingness of its members to support fully the mission of the church--financially and by personal involvement in evangelism. In 2003 an overall increase in tithe of about 25 percent was recorded. And an even higher percentage is expected in 2004. The growing levels of self-support can also be seen in the manner in which members are involved in building churches and schools.

At the time of organization, ECD had six organized conferences and 32 fields. An additional field was organized into a conference in March of this year. The remaining fields have developed plans to lead them into becoming conferences. ECD does not have a union conference as yet. But two of the union missions are not receiving any appropriations for operational expenses, and plans are well under way to prepare them for union conference status. Of the remaining union missions, three have charted their way toward attaining conference status based on the guidelines provided by the global church.

Unity
Although a significant section of ECD is reported to be unstable because of wars, the church in Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo is vibrant in bringing messages of hope in these devastating situations. Some of our members live in refugee camps, but even here they have carried with them the message of salvation in Jesus Christ. In almost all of the major refugee camps in ECD in which Adventists are present, churches have been planted.

The church is playing an active role in encouraging reconciliation and forgiveness within its ranks. Stories and experiences coming out of Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, and Ethiopia clearly show manifestations of the working of the Holy Spirit. A large number of our brothers and sisters who left our fellowship have come back to the church. Those who at some point thought they could not work together because of their different backgrounds are teaming up in the accomplishment of the mission of the church.

ECD is blessed with a large ethnic variety; however, the potential is present for the devil to use it to accomplish his ends. The church is sensitive to this situation. Since we are also bombarded by large varieties of teachings that are contrary to the established beliefs of the church, there is a determination to carry out nurture programs that help maintain unity in belief and practice. These include increasing the distribution and study of Sabbath school guides. One union mission has reported an increase of about 20 percent in the past two years. We also encourage active personal and family devotional times. We cherish living with one another in Christian love, and radiating the same to our neighbors.

Leadership Training
The ECD office has joined hands with all of the union missions in upgrading the education of the workers. A pastoral training program has been established in the southeastern Congo as well as Burundi to address a serious need of trained leadership created by the wars that plagued the area. An M.B.A. program for the training of financial personnel has been established at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. Loma Linda University has graduated some leaders with M.Ph. degrees.

As a whole, a permanent plan for the upgrading of workers in ECD is operative and bearing promising results. In addition to the formal upgrading of workers, seminars and workshops on leadership are conducted at the grassroots level with the intention of building strong leadership for the church.

Conclusion
On behalf of the leaders in ECD, we thank our heavenly Father for enabling us to do what has been done in the past two years. We also thank church members for their faithful work and support. These achievements are a result of their commitment.

On behalf of the members, I thank those of our friends from outside the division who have provided of their time and means to work with us as we build the kingdom of Jesus. Through this united effort and dedication, the Lord has enabled us to realize these achievements to His honor and glory, and for the salvation of humankind.

The work is not yet finished. The challenge before us is still huge. The growth of membership is posing some major challenges. Yet with our heads lifted up we move on courageously, knowing that this is God's church, and this is His work.