Oasis International

A Letter from Paul Mouw

Dear Friends of Oasis,

How many times have you been able to say with certainty, “This is of God”?

That’s my story, and that’s the way I feel about the Africa Study Bible.

Let me explain: Time after time in my life, whether it was finding my early employment, moving to a twenty-year career in Christian and Bible publishing, or transitioning to twenty-three years as a professor at Judson University, I have felt the gentle guidance of the Lord. A couple years ago, one of the greatest opportunities of my life came after asking the Lord, “What shall I do next?” I prayed that prayer on a Saturday, and on Monday the answer came: Oasis and the Africa Study Bible.

For the past two years, I have served the African editorial team. My publishing and teaching experience has given me just the right skills and perspectives, equipping me to help manage this complex project. It has been very gratifying to see the Lord put my unique background to use!

For example, one feature of the Africa Study Bible is the use of more than 500 African proverbs and stories. When I taught Media Studies, I constantly emphasized story-telling as a powerful medium for communicating truth. That idea is part of African culture. Africans naturally turn to “proverbs and stories” as a way to impart wisdom and values from generation to generation. As I read these illustrations, I am stunned by the depth and insight found in these sayings and aphorisms, and I see familiar passages in the Bible in a whole new light. The African church has an amazing heritage that will enrich the global church, east and west. 

Another connection I’ve made from my days as a Media Studies professor is the realization that the Africa Study Bible could only happen during this time of “digital revolution.” It echoes my experience from many years ago when I marveled at how my desktop computer could be used to create The Illustrated Bible, a first-of-its-kind color Bible that went on to be a best-seller across the world. Today, the Africa Study Bible project has more than 300 writers from multiple language groups and cultures across the vast African continent. They are writing, editing, and translating over 2,100 editorial pieces. Multiple times each day, I use electronic tools to recruit, guide, edit, translate, and project manage—a massive undertaking that would be next to impossible without the global connectedness and efficient workflows technology facilitates.

God is constantly reminding us that he holds all aspects of the Africa Study Bible in his hands. Here are just some of the things he has done in the last months:

• Need: Contributors representing the diversity of Africa.
  Answer: God has connected us to numerous writers from 42 countries! But we still need input from Mauritania, Seychelles, and Somalia—so we keep praying.
• Need: First-hand insights for Christians who are facing warfare or a national crisis.
  Answer: Twelve Africa Study Bible contributors are from war-torn South Sudan, five face the day to day chaos of Central African Republic right now, and eight are from the beautiful country of Rwanda that was torn apart by tribal genocide.
• Need: Content to reach Africa’s enormous youth and student population.
  Answer: The International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (InterVarsity) is crafting a study guide to use with the Africa Study Bible.
• Need: Electronic distribution of the Africa Study Bible.
  Answer: Tecarta, a Bible app developer, has donated a Gospel of John app. Download the free app at africastudybible.com/app.

These are only a few of the amazing answers to prayer I have seen personally.

Years ago, Barbara and I were accepted by African Inland Mission as missionaries to Kenya. However, the Vietnam War interrupted our plans. The late Jim Johnson, a passionate advocate for indigenous Christian publishing, prayed that someday I would assist in building African publishing. Forty years later, his prayers have been answered. I never dreamed I could be used in such a project, but here I am. God is using born-in-the-USA people like me to assist Christians across the African continent to produce this first-of-its-kind Bible.

I want to add my witness to what Matthew wrote to you a few weeks ago. Have you sincerely asked God what he wants you to give toward the ASB before 2015 comes to a close?

2016 is the year of greatest financial need as we finish the editorial process, print, and distribute the Bible. God is doing something special! Join us as we launch the Bible in Africa. You have the chance to be part of accomplishing something very special. Right now, we can give the gift of “God’s Word through African Eyes” to the 400 million Christians of Africa. We can only do this as you “prime the pump.” Your gift is critical.

After seeing what God has done so far, we know that he will bring this project to completion!

As I often end notes to our African writers—

Grace and Peace,

Paul Mouw
Director of Strategic Projects
Oasis International Ltd

Remembering Brian Anderson, Friend of Oasis

Brian Anderson went to be with the Lord on Thursday, February 19th. Brian was a godly man, a good man, a man who cared deeply for his family and for Nigeria. Twice, Elaine and he chose to live with the people of Nigeria, their friends and coworkers. They served God with their whole hearts. Brian lived well, a life pleasing to the Lord. Though they may not have known him, many Christians in Nigeria have access to Bibles and Christian books because of his efforts. 

What follows below is an adapted section of the eulogy given at Brian's funeral, which speaks of the Andersons' journey in Nigeria: 

The Anderson family first left for Nigeria in January 1966, arriving in Kano the day before the first military coup when the whole country was in an uproar. When things calmed down, they flew to Jos, and Brian Anderson was introduced to the Bookshop ministry. Challenge Bookshops was a chain of 35 stores throughout the country. At that time, Nigeria was prosperous, and the shops provided Bibles and Christian literature to the Christian population. In addition to the shops, Brian Anderson managed book-mobiles which went out to the small towns and villages, showed Christian films in the evening and provided bibles and Christian literature to people who were a very long way from the shops. Brian managed shops in Lagos, Ibadan, Ilorin, and Port Harcourt, and then became Purchasing Manager in Lagos when the business was taken over by the church denomination which had grown from the ministry of SIM.  

In 1977, the Andersons returned to New Zealand for a while. Brian had trained his Nigerian replacement, and the family settled in to stay for a long time. 

But in 1995, Brian was asked to go back to Nigeria to rejuvenate Challenge Bookshops. Nigeria’s economy had slumped dramatically, which affected all businesses. In 1977, the Nigerian currency (called a naira) was worth more than the American dollar, but in 1995 the Naira was worth less than a cent. Ed Elliott, the founder of Oasis International, offered to help with the project. He and his wife Ginny visited New Zealand in January 1995 to discuss details—at that time the biggest problem was that Nigeria did not allow funds to be paid from Nigeria for imported goods. They tossed around ideas like buying cocoa or peanuts and selling them in America—a very complicated procedure! Ed and Ginny were in New Zealand for ten days, and during that time the law changed in Nigeria to allow payment for imported goods!  To Brian and his wife Elaine, this was a miracle. They left for Nigeria in June 1995.

It was a difficult job. The bookshops had very little stock, mostly locally-produced books, and Bibles were in very short supply. Dad ordered Bibles by the container load.  Business in Nigeria is never easy and clearing goods through customs is a nightmare!  One container of Zondervan books took 18 months to clear from the docks and when it finally arrived on the compound in Lagos the staff stayed behind to unload it—manually of course—carrying the heavy cartons of books on their heads—and they were singing and dancing as they did,  thanking the Lord that the container had finally arrived! All without electricity in 90 degree heat and 85% humidity! Amazing people!

I write with full knowledge that the grief is temporary and only for those who are left behind. Brian is experiencing life as it was meant to be. We weep with his family but rejoice with Brian. And at the same time, we rejoice with his family whose hope is true and eternal.  

Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns! How precious in his sight is Brian, now in his presence!

Maranatha!

—Ed Elliott, Chairman and Founder of the Oasis International

 

Nigeria Field Report: Bringing Food and Bibles to Christian Refugees

FIELD REPORT FROM SHEHU GOJE, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE OASIS DISTRIBUTIONS LTD. IN JOS, NIGERIA

"We have visited the interally displaced peoples camp at Hwolaza in the Bassa Local government Council of Plateau State today.

The camp is holding about 100 families. The majority of these people had direct contact with Boko Haram face to face. Most of the men you will see in the pictures had homes and possessions that were all either burnt or confiscated by the insurgents. God in his infinite mercy made a way for them to escape to Plateau State. 

[In the photo to the left], you will notice the oldest woman among them. She wept upon receiving a bible and a hymn book. She was quiet for two minutes before saying "thank you". That it was a miracle to own another bible and hymn book again in life.

The food provided will last them for a month. This is very impressive, the leader (Reverend Hosea) said and were full of praises for the provision and to Oasis for transporting the essential commodities to them.

The government seems to be overwhelmed with the number of people in the different camps. The chief of this community provided a church school that served as their accommodation but without adequate water. Children normally go out and fetch from other people's homes in the community for drinking and other uses. 

There is no doubt that this work has brought smiles and hope in the minds of these persecuted Christians. None of them came with anything apart from what they wore on their bodies as they had to escape through the bush for three or more days before help of transportation came their way. 

Some of their relations, according to the live testimony, had their hands tied backward and starting from the toes, will be cut off one after the other if you refuse to denounce Christ. Many people didn't and these several cuts caused them to bleed to death. 

I spoke for 10 minutes as I encourage them to be steadfast in the Lord, forgive those who hurt them and to continue to pray for them.

This is the first time they are seeing a huge amount of food items in the camp since their arrival two months ago. Please continue to pray for an end to this problem in Nigeria."

The Path is Made By Walking: Summiting the Africa Study Bible Project

By Hannah Rasmussen, ASB Editorial Assistant | Nairobi, Kenya

In January 1995, my family flew into Tanzania. Exactly twenty years later, I saw Tanzania from a bird’s eye view again—standing at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

This time, I earned the view. I walked.

I walked through a rainforest thunderstorm, over bridges lined with Seuss-like cacti, through a cloud in the artic desert. I walked in wet clothes, with aching muscles, warding off the equator’s sun with a hot pink sunhat. I clambered over rocks in the freezing moonlight.

“The path is made by walking.” In the hours of hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro, I told myself to focus on the moment, not the distance ahead.

My hike gave me perspective on the Africa Study Bible project. As far as we know, no one has ever created a study Bible with 250 different contributors, and certainly not with writers from over fifty countries speaking different languages. If you stare at the mountain ahead, it can seem insurmountable.

I doubted that I would make it to the top of Kilimanjaro. I’ve never climbed more than a hill—could I really climb the tallest freestanding mountain in the world? To my surprise, my upbringing prepared me. Living in Nairobi the past few months helped me deal with the altitude. My college years in “Minne-snow-ta” helped me differentiate between slippery and soft snow along the crater’s edge. 

The day my friends and I summited Mount Kilimanjaro, we walked a full day through clouds to the last hut. After two hours of sleep, we began the steepest part of the hike. My teammate in front of me wore a headlamp, but I walked by the light of the nearly full moon. I recalled the Swahili version of “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less.” One verse in that translation says, “If my path is long, he gives me salvation. If the clouds hit me, his strength is my light.”

The complexity and scope of the Africa Study Bible project have produced challenges and delays. But although the Africa Study Bible work seems like unknown traversed terrain, I recall what God says in Isaiah 42:16: “I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.”

The summit of the Africa Study Bible project is still months away, but as we grow closer, the trail is also growing steeper. I believe God is at work in the Africa Study Bible project. If we could accomplish it easily on our own, where would his glory be? But as we trust God with every step in the process, we blaze a new trail.

At the highest peak in Africa, I saw the sun rise in splendor, brighten tiny farms and towns out to the horizon, blind in brilliance off of pale blue glaciers and a snow covered crater.

With the Africa Study Bible, we are going to see Africa at its height. We will see the landscape from the heavens’ perspective. We will see that what God creates is magnificent.

So all of us—the hundreds of writers, partners, designers, and editors scattered across the continents and across languages—continue to make our path by walking, one step at a time.

Hannah Rasmussen is our on-site Africa Study Bible Editorial Assistant. She is based in Nairobi with our African editorial team.

Want to support the work of people like Hannah on developing the first study Bible written by Africans, for Africans? Give online here.

Read more about the project at www.africastudybible.com.

Reports from the Field: Print on Demand in Demand

Keith Wiederwax, Director of African Operations

The arrival of the POD system was highly welcome in Jos and this is not just for Oasis Bookshop but for aspiring and local authors as well. Its existence was made known mainly through word of mouth advertisement and the fact that any quantity of a book could be printed made it really appealing.

For Oasis Bookshop, it helped greatly to print books that we are out of and new titles gotten from Publish For All’s website. One particular title was a hit among those we printed and it is Colour My World, a children activity book. Parents and teachers liked the book and we printed many of it but had to stop due to the laminating film problem we encountered. The Shop Supervisor for our Lagos bookshop requested we print at least 300 and send to them as soon as we solve the lamination problem. Even he couldn’t resist the book.

Aspiring authors used the opportunity to test run their manuscripts so we printed single copies of quite a number of manuscripts while some established authors printed their new books with the POD. The lowest quantity we have printed is 72 and highest is 300.

Reports from the Field: Surprising Surveys

The ASB Editorial Team

A research survey of 8,041 African Christians in three countries asked questions about Christian leadership and Christian organizations. One of the questions also inquired about their reading habits:  what do they read, how much do they read, and who are their favorite authors.

The survey of literate Christians in Kenya, Central African Republic, and Angola showed that they wanted to read and did indeed read African writers. However, when they read Christian literature, they mostly read American and British authors. Why?

In papers recently presented at the American Missiology Society Conference, the researchers said that both distribution and promotion were part of the answer. Books by these western authors were more available and were also more promoted. However, the important conclusion for the Africa Study Bible is that African Christian did want to read and would read work by African Christian writers, if their books were available. 

Favorite books were often in the categories of motivation, self-help, and practical living. The reports cites the following: “Again and again both in the religious and non-religious writers, themes of power, success, and human flourishing make their appearance against the backdrop of struggles with painful childhoods, poverty, and the challenges of modern life. Exemplars of success against such backdrop are particularly attractive – as with the Number 1 favorite author of Kenyans, Ben Carson. A high proportion of these authors are, quite apart from their writing, famously successful in other arenas of life.”

 

Putting ideas and concepts in the context of African life is important to these readers. “Contextualization” is a word frequently used, and we believe that the practical nature of more than 1,000 Application Notes, the contextualization through more than 500 African proverbs and stories, and the relating of the Bible to Africa through the 200 Touch Points will help not just these survey respondents but Africans across the continent understand that the Bible is applicable to Africa. In addition, the 50 Articles and 70 Learn Notes zero in on practical living, self-help and motivation, a theme that is repeated over and over.

Thus, the editorial team for the Africa Study Bible is highly encouraged by these survey results. We believe that the contribution from more than 250 African writers will result in a work that is both needed and wanted.

Reports from the Field: South African Connections

ASB Editorial Assistant Hannah Rasmussen

Recently, I had the privilege of attending a conference that the IFES, or International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, held in South Africa.My main purpose in attending was to recruit writers and partners for the Africa Study Bible. Fifty staff members who attended represented countries from all over the African continent: South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, and Lesotho. After presenting on the Africa Study Bible, I met with several other young leaders over dinner. Encouragement overflowed as I listened to the stories of how God using the youth of Africa to advance his kingdom. It was wonderful to build relationships and connect with these amazing leaders.

At this IFES conference, there were many different training sessions that addressed issues facing the African church. In the Southern IFES region, they’re confronting many false teachings (e.g. prosperity gospel), experiencing frequent staff transition, and trying to develop a local donor base. Health and sexual ethics are also on their minds, as they had sessions on how to respond to homosexuality, AIDS, and Ebola. The church’s involvement in politics was another hot topic. One speaker has been jailed for his activism against Uganda’s government corruption, and two delegates had to leave early to help with Botswana’s elections. We also visited the apartheid museum and mentioned South Africa IFES’ integration struggles.

I unfortunately had to leave the conference a little early, but before I left, I was invited up and presented with a thank you gift. I felt that I truly made a strong connection with the IFES staff, and I look forward to a long and fruitful gospel partnership between Oasis and IFES.

Africa Study Bible Testimony: Dr. David Ngaruiya

Dr. David Ngaruiya talks about how the Africa Study Bible will benefit both pastors and laypeople in Africa.

Bringing Bibles to Refugees in Northern Nigeria

Keith, our Director of African Operations, and Shehu, General Manager of our Jos-based distribution center, recently traveled to a Christian refugee camp in Bukuru, Nigeria. They went to distribute 300 full Easy-to-Read Bibles (ERVs) and 140 hymnals to these brothers and sisters who are fleeing violence from Boko Haram in the north of the country. Below is a report from Keith concerning their visit. 
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"Shehu and I went to the refugee camp today to deliver the Bibles and hymnals. The people there were most grateful! They had to flee from Boko Horam taking with them what they could carry and some could not even do that because they had to leave so quickly. Therefore, they did not have any Bibles or hymnals. The camp has only been open a little over a week and they have over 500 people and 180 families registered. It is a fully Christian camp because if they mix the Christians with the moderate muslims who are also fleeing, there will be disagreements between the two which can lead to real trouble. They fully expect even more refugees as time goes on. 

  

The camp is a former hostel of a secondary school located in Bukuru, and more work is needed to make it livable. One block has about 44 cubicles, subdivided into a bedroom and a little sitting room that could serve a family each. At the moment, the cubicles open unto a hall way like a dormitory with little privacy. Some windows are blocked. The Stefanos Foundation, which oversees this camp, is hoping that this will serve a temporary arrangement for IDPs (internally displaced persons) coming into Plateau State until they are able to integrate into homes within host communities.  

It was very sad and humbling to see the conditions and how little everyone had. Even the cleaned out old dormitory that the families are staying in provides little more than concrete cubicles with a towel or sheet strung up for privacy. Some have bunk beds, others sleep with mattresses on the floor, and some with no mattress at all. 

They told us just a few stories of what these folks had been fleeing from and the terrible amount of killing that is going on in the North Eastern states of Nigeria.  Please continue to pray for them and Nigeria!

May God bless the church workers and volunteers that are working to provide for these folks daily! What a blessing to give them the Word of God!"

"Africa Rising": Field Notes from Hannah, ASB Editorial Assistant

In August, Oasis was blessed to hire Hannah Rasmussen to travel to Kenya to serve as the on-site Editorial Assistant for the Africa Study Bible. A recent graduate of Macalister University, Hannah grew up in East Africa in a missionary family. Hannah will work with Supervising Editor Dr. John Jusu and Writing Coordinator Janice Muchai with the vetting and editing of African submissions, and will also coordinate reviews by the four Africa International University professors who are editorial screeners on that campus.
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Last week, I visited the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

I had been invited to Ethiopia to present about the Africa Study Bible. Gideon Para-Mallam, a regional leader of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students, had written for the Africa Study Bible himself. He was excited to partner with us to find young writers from a wider variety of countries. He invited me to a training for the leaders of Christian student movements throughout English-speaking Africa. He set up a meeting with national leaders over lunch and even sacrificed time from his own presentation to allow me to speak.

I told the group, “Africa is rising. Economies are growing. The population is growing, and with such a high percentage of youth, Africa has the potential to change the world in coming years. By serving Africa’s students you are doing valuable work on the front lines.

“We want to partner with you in your important work. The African church is also rising, while the church in the West is losing strength. The rest of the world needs to hear your perspective on the Bible. And African Christians need to know how to connect their faith with their culture. That’s why we’re creating the Africa Study Bible.”

I explained that the Africa Study Bible was designed with study features written for Africans, by Africans. We have 150 writers currently creating study content for this Bible, but we are looking for more representation from French- and Portuguese-speaking Africa, as well as female writers and writers from North Africa. Afterwards, so many people told me how excited they were for the project: “Can I write? Can I have a copy of the Gospel of John?”

I’d only come to present at the training and I’d never been to Ethiopia, but I didn’t feel like an outsider. As an undergraduate, I was a student leader in this Christian student movement, in the American branch called InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Most of the pivotal points in my college career were sparked by an InterVarsity conference. Now, I was with the staff leaders of the movement across the globe. The training was as high quality as ever.

So I fit in—mostly. I was the only white woman there. But that's been a lot of my life. So I switched between Swahili and my East African accent, relished the njera (sourdough flatbread) and helped myself to chai (black tea with milk and sugar, not the U.S. coffee shop version that tastes like pumpkin pie).

But then we took a field trip to the African Union.

 

In the center of the building stood the circular Nelson Mandela conference hall. Marble steps led up to its entry. Above them was a vast gold Africa. We took a picture beneath it, hands raised. Instead of “cheese,” we said, “Africa rising.”

Inside, the conference hall was like Congress, with seats for hundreds of delegates. Everyone scrambled to find the placard for their country. They posed for photos in the cushioned seats, hands poised on the light wooden table, wearing a headset.

I’m an American, but I only lived in the USA during college and on furlough from the mission field. I live in Kenya now, but only spent two years there. I spotted Tanzania, land of my childhood. But as an mzungu (white person) I don’t represent Tanzania. So I posed behind my seated Tanzanian friends, supporting them in a group pic.

We went outside to the statue of Kwame Nkrumah, who was Prime Minister and first President of Ghana as well as a pan-African activist.

We linked hands and prayed for Africa—that Africa would unite, that Africa would rise. The prayer rose in volume. Individuals saying “amen,” and “yes Jesus,” acknowledged becoming one through the prayer.

I felt honored to participate in such a powerful moment with my brothers and sisters. I also felt a little jealous.

When I returned to my room that night, I told God I wanted to belong to a country too. I wanted a flag, a national anthem, countrymen, national holidays, a history of heroes and battles.

Then I remembered some heroes. They too were “looking for a country of their own.”

Hebrews 11 describes the heroes of the Hebrew Bible as “foreigners and strangers on earth,” living in tents, moving when God said so, not knowing where they were going (sounds like me right before Oasis hired me). They were “looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

“People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:14-16).

That city will have a flag. Jesus “will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him” (Isaiah 11:10). People of all cultures will be one people: the people of God. With my compatriots, I’ll put my hand over my heart as we hear our national anthem:

 “You are worthy [because] with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.” (Revelations 5:9-10)

Then I realized: that’s what I had been doing all week.

In fact, that morning people from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Sudan worshipped together in their own languages. We’d even sung from Revelations: “Worthy is the Lamb to receive praise.”

We’d recited victorious battle stories of the Christian student movement—how groups were fighting Ebola, building peace in war zones, and promoting holistic health for students.

I even had national holidays in common with these people: Christmas was our Presidents’ Day, Good Friday was our Memorial Day, and Easter, our Independence Day.

I spoke Swahili and giggled and prayed and danced in worship with these people.

No wonder I had felt so at home here. I was.

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A version of this post was originally published on Hannah's personal blog.

African writers from across the continent are working to complete the Africa Study Bible right now. Click here to help fund the completion of the project.