Sharing our story at the GEMA Missions Fest, University of Ghana.
This world is full of stories. A bitter or better story it may be. It might be laden with love and pain. However, the stories are a testament to the life and its experiences on earth. Every country has its own unique story. The people we meet in our various interactions are stories. They are a total sum, an intricate and complicated mass of information and experience. They know things we cannot imagine, and may not have time to imbibe. Behind every edifice, picture, song, book, and group, is a story. Stories are pregnant with untold emotions and actions.
One difficulty is how one may access such stories without the willingness of the owners to share them. It is difficult to look and discern all the details behind an object. Archaeology, with all its sophistication, is still unable to provide fuller details on the various discoveries it makes on various cultures in the world. There is however a good attempt to decode much from the various sources that the previous generations left in the forms of inscriptions, carvings, paintings, buildings, etc. However, non can march the details provided by an insider; one who has lived and experienced the story.
The Good book, Bible, fully subscribes to this idea that stories are best told by those who have lived and experienced it. And so covenant people are mostly admonished to erect monuments from place to place. The monument tells a story of a condition and an experience these covenant people had. They demonstrate the sovereign acts of God with and among his people. The monument points an enquirer to one who knows the story and can share the story. Through this means, the great acts of the Lord; his mercies demonstrated to His people are shared through generations. The faith of the fathers and mothers are thus preserved in the community. A lack of this strategy leads to extinction. First, it drains passion, destroys existing structures, promotes corruption and adulterations of the mission, erodes identity, and finally, extinction.
Thank God for better ways of preserving our story. This generation is indeed blessed with a technology that can capture almost all the experiences of a people. This can then be shared with successive generations.
Reaching the Unreached: The CMRF Model is the experience of a people who became united by their faith in the Lord Jesus and a passion to be an extension of grace to others. They received a light to draw upon and maximize existing resources for the betterment of underprivileged, poor and marginalized individuals and communities. At a time when transportation and communication networks were poor, they reached out to areas that were neglected. They were involved in preaching the good news, counselling, providing Medicare and praying for a people long neglected. Their enthusiasm proves the capacity of the human spirit to do good even in times of adversity.
We must not allow this story, the rendering of loving services, the ministration of those who render to others the offices of Christian affection, their Christian witness through service, and their service of love inspired by Christ's example, faith, and endurance, to fade away like footprints on the beach.
As we launch and inaugurate this book, we are hopeful that there will be a transfer of knowledge and grace that will inspire innovations in the fulfilment of the Great Commission. Congratulations to all members of the Christian Missions Resource Foundation (CMRF). Indeed, it is our story, and we will share it with the world.