CMS in Kenya
Grappling with grace
Kenyan missionaries Joe and Sue Radkovic share the challenges they faced during recent Bible and theology meetings with Kenyan pastors.
Unfortunately the hype here is prosperity gospel. Even the churches and colleges that say prosperity gospel is wrong still teach and preach it. Very few people understand another way of approaching the Bible and gospel.
Traditional religion is still widespread here - doing things for spirits, especially ancestor spirits, to stop them from harming you (which is apparently their default behaviour) or even asking them to benefit you (bless you).
So a prosperity gospel that says you must attend church and give a lot and pray a lot and ... in order to be blessed and not cursed is the religion they know from their pagan days. That makes it easy to accept.
One of the pastors, Joel, can't quite accept that the gospel is all by grace on God's part. He sees we also must do our part, not as a response to God's generosity but to achieve it.
The pastors here just feel they must pay something for the gospel, even if it is just a token amount.
Thank goodness for Romans, where Paul makes it clear grace is a free gift.