Almost half a century ago, Edwin Weaver said, “We missionaries have tried to squeeze our converts into a mold rather than give them freedom to express Christ in their own way of life.” He and his wife, Irene, bucked conventional mission strategies. Instead of replicating denominational structures and doctrines of North American Mennonites, the Weavers empowered African Christians to understand the Bible and to worship God in ways that were meaningful within their own cultural contexts.
Bruce Yoder examines this mission strategy in his doctoral thesis that traces strands of Mennonite Mission Network’s history in West Africa.
Though Yoder’s thesis is a work-in-progress, some of his research has been published in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.
Yoder and his wife, Nancy Frey, engage in ministry in Burkina Faso, where they live with their two school-aged children. They also teach at Mennonite-related leadership training institutions throughout West Africa, such as Good News Theological College and Seminary in Ghana, Benin Bible Institute, and the training seminars of Mennonite Church Nigeria.
“This research has provided me with a new lens through which to understand mission work and relationships in West Africa, and continues to stimulate new visions of how African and North American Christians might collaborate fruitfully in the coming decades,” Yoder said.
For more on the Weavers’ ministry, see Missio Dei #8, A New Day in Mission, http://new.mennonitemission.net/Resources/MissioDei/Pages/NewDayInMission.aspx.
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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact news@mennonitemission.net.
