West-Central Africa challenging, but instructions strong, President Wari says in 2009 keynote
Cote d'Ivoire, Abidjan
By Ansel Oliver
The West-Central Africa Division president opened Year End Meetings highlighting evangelism successes and challenges facing the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the region.
In a keynote address to delegates, President Gilbert Wari thanked previous leaders as he and his administration now mark one year of service.
This year, the church held a large-scale evangelism campaign earlier, after which, more than 1,200 people joined the church, Wari reported. He also highlighted the success of a Women's Ministries conference and the division's first Stewardship summit, highlighting the division's goal of self-reliance. Membership now stands at nearly 835,000.
"It is my single privilege to congratulate you for all the deliberations, all the actions taken to keep West-Central Africa Division focused and faithful to her mission," Wari told delegates.
While the church continues to grow, the West-Central Africa Division still has some of the biggest challenges in the denomination. It's a volatile region, politically and economically. Currencies fluctuate - the division this year lost nearly 30 of its appropriation from the world headquarters because of varying currency rates. Also, transportation in the region is expensive - it can be cheaper to fly to Europe or the United States than to travel across the division territory.
The biggest challenge, though, is self sufficiency, both for the church and for individual members, Wari said. He shared the story of a woman in Burkina Faso with no food to feed herself or her children.
"You wonder is this condition how you can tell the story of Jesus," Wari said.
Also, the region faces social challenges - illiteracy and unemployment - and religious challenges. About 50 percent of the region is Muslim, while some 20 percent belong to traditional African religions and 30 percent are Christian, Wari said.
"Reaching out to the first two groups for Jesus is a serious challenge," Wari said.
Despite many challenges, each of the three division's higher educational institutions are financially strong. This year, Babcock University in Nigeria is celebrating 50 years, while Valley View University in Ghana is marking 30 years. Those two instructions and Consendai Adventist University in Cameroon all operate with strong working capital, he said.
Wari also urged visiting General Conference officers to continue supporting the One-Day Church initiative, a program by Maranatha Volunteers International to provide a simple structure that can be built in about a day. His comments on the initiative received applause from the delegation.