It is not very often that I feel that I am involved in something that might be truly significant in the future. The discussion on the Missions Africa Trust Fund (MATF) on 30 March and the presentation of the Fund to the Lausanne Africa Strategic Partnership meeting on 31 March near Nairobi, Kenya, was such an event. Nana Yaw Offei Awoku, the Lausanne International Deputy Director for English and Portuguese speaking Africa, started thinking in 2011 about a fund that could mobilize financial resources from Africa and elsewhere to support mission initiatives in Africa and from Africa to the rest of the world. Rosalind Darkwa from Ghana then developed this concept into a fuller proposal for discussion and presentation. I was privileged to have been part of a small group of 9 who discussed the proposal and then part of the larger meeting of African Christian leaders who gave their unanimous support to the proposal.
The Missions Africa Trust Fund could present a major change in mission resourcing to, in and from Africa. African Christians will take much greater responsibility for their own mission funding and distribution of mission funds in future. This could have important implications on mission resource mobilization, mission resourcing in Africa and relationships with donors from outside Africa. Please pray for Nana, Rosalind and others who are presently refining the MATF operations. Please pray also for an MATF think-tank on 23 October in Ghana and possible generosity and resource mobilization training in Ghana on 24 and 25 October.
An historic meeting? Discussing the proposal for the Missions Africa Trust Fund (MATF) were Jonathan Onigbinde (Nigeria), Gideon Parra-Mallam (Nigeria), Victor Nakah (Zimbabwe), Esme Bowers (South Africa), Nana Yaw Offei Awoku (Lausanne Africa Leader from Ghana), Sam Darkwa (Ghana), Rosalind Dwarka (Ghana), Emmanuel Ndikumane (Lausanne Africa Leader from Burundi) and Sas Conradie (South Africa/UK).
Dr. Sas Conradie
Coordinator Global Generosity Network