About John

I am a freelance educator, working on developing practical, relevant and accessible discipleship textbooks appropriate for African leaders and learners and studying for a doctor of missiology degree with Fuller School of Intercultural Studies

Missiology…what’s all that about then?

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“Missiology”…what’s all that about then?

That’s a reaction I often experience when telling people about what I have been or am studying. My Dad, for example, usually needs reminding “What is that degree again?” Somehow ‘Intercultural Studies’ doesn’t communicate or stay well in the memory and missiology doesn’t fare much better.

So what are they all about and why might they be significant or relevant to life today? Here’s ten reasons why I believe missiology is important in the third millennium.

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John in Burkina, 2005—The Full Story—Part 3

A Week in Léo

Straight after completing the RESJSED School of Mission I was met by my good friend, Pastor David Zopoula. It was great to meet up after many months of only being in touch by email. We immediately set out for Léo, hoping to make the journey before nightfall.

Progress was halted early on at one of the military-style gatehouses out of the city. It seemed to take an inordinately long time for his few documents to be checked. David said that when they stop you like that it can be that they are looking a bribe, particularly if they see you with a westerner. Eventually we got going again.

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John in Burkina, 2005—RESJSED School of Mission Photos

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This gallery contains 73 photos.

Precious memories from the RESJSED “Young Servants of God Conference” and School of Mission, Ouagadougou, 2005 I conducted this School of Mission over a five-day period, on behalf of a conference of around 250 young people, members of the Mouvement des Jeunes … Continue reading

Léo, Burkina Faso, 2003

My first and only previous visit to Africa focussed upon the countries of the East African Rift valley and began with a hail of well-aimed bullets which ripped through the shell of the Sabena aircraft that Sarah and I were travelling in.

Before we would finally arrive at our intended location of Nakuru in the uplands of Kenya we would also spend a night in Bujumbura, Burundi, under armed military guard, our passports taken from us, and about two hours stranded in darkness on a main highway in the middle of Kenya’s bandit country.

How would I fare then, in West Africa, visiting the small, landlocked country of Burkina Faso, just south of the Sahara? Continue reading

Nakuru, Kenya, 2000

Anthony, Josephine, en route to Nakuru, from Nairobi airport

In December 2000, Sarah and I flew to visit Pastor Anthony and his wife Josephine, who had organised a conference in their church, in Nakuru, in the uplands of Kenya, inviting me to teach on the subjects of Prayer, Intercession and Overcoming the Powers of Darkness.

Neither Sarah nor I had ever visited the African continent before. As our plane began to descend into Bujumbura airport (in Burundi), en route to Nairobi, a loud piercing, grating noise was emitted along with sparks of white light which could be seen out of the left hand side windows. An electrical fault? Something exploding from within the hold? People speculated about these things, as the plane came to rest safely and passengers for Bujumbura disembarked. Continue reading