African Christianity is thriving!  Protestant Churches here are thriving!  The commuter buses (“combies”) are just as busy Sunday morning as they are during the week.  United Theological College is flourishing—enrollment grows every year.  UTC is the primary venue for the education of ministers in mainline Protestant churches (The Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, the United Methodist Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe, the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and last but not least the churches with congregational polity related to Global Ministries, the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe, and the United Congregational Churches of Southern Africa) in Zimbabwe.  It is the largest, longest-lasting ecumenical theological school south of the Sahara.

Until we arrived at UTC, the students were not being taught Hebrew at all and they were not learning enough Greek to read the New Testament.  Now first year students in the Bachelor of Theology program are required to take a full year of either Hebrew or Greek, enough to read the prose portions of the Old Testament or much of the New.  There are a number of Hebrew students already thinking of going on to become teachers of Hebrew to the next generation of African church leaders.

African Christians must deepen their knowledge of the languages of the Bible, as well as the history of ancient Israel and the early church, and learn how to discern the Word of God in the text.  We are convinced that quality theological education is key if African Christianity is to take on the burden of leadership of the Christian church in this millennium.

Prayer

Lord our God, the peoples who once bore the torch of Christian revelation have lost their conviction and you have passed the torch to the newly converted areas in Africa and Asia.  Give these new churches the power to fulfill their calling, the wisdom to apply this inheritance in difficult and challenging situations, and the faith to remain true to the heritage that they have been given. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the whole world, Amen.

Mary and Dale Patrick    

Dale and Mary Patrick are long-term volunteers with the United Theological College in Zimbabwe. Dale is a professor of Hebrew and Old Testament.  Mary is a professor of Greek and New Testament.