Kwong Christians make up a very small percentage of Kwong
society - something like 3% is our estimate (500 out of a population of 15,000).
If the church in Kwongland is to endure over the long haul - like still be here
in 50 years - it needs to penetrate Kwong society to a much greater extent than
has been the case so far. The alternative is to be swallowed up by the dominant
culture or by Islam. (Remember, Kwongland is the last non-Muslim people group as
you move north in Chad.) However, with virtually no tradition of evangelism in
the Kwong church, the growth of the Kwong church has stagnated, and no-one seems
to care.
We have been working with Francois, the fellow we sponsored through seminary, to develop both a message and an approach which Kwong Christians can use to challenge their neighbors and friends with the realities of the Kingdom of God. Our message is (not surprisingly) the Kingdom of God (à la Jesus). Our general approach is to arrange with a head-of-household - sometimes a pagan, sometimes a Christian - to call together 10 or so of his relatives and neighbors on an appointed day to hear the gospel from one of us plus one or more of our Chadian coworkers. We have found that this is an effective, non-threatening way of gaining a hearing. Since we began doing this in February, we have shared the gospel with about 70 adults on 7 occasions. 5 individuals have indicated a desire to enter the kingdom of heaven. The bonus in all this is that while in general we are tired and stressed by our ministries among the Kwong, we have found this new facet of our ministry to be surprisingly delightful.