A United Witness

April 17, 2006

African Enterprise will be supporting a mission at Rhodes University (RU) in August this year. This follows the successful Yizani Mission to the City of Grahamstown led by AE in 2002.

On 10/11 March an AE team led by Greg Smerdon, Songe Chibambo and Mvusi Gwam kicked off the mission preparation process. Greg preached to a packed Chapel during the Christians@Rhodes First Term Service and met staff and students afterwards at a hot dog social on the lawn in front of Chapel. Staff and student society delegates then met for the Shared Vision Encounter mission planning meeting which went on until Saturday afternoon. A mission Committee was elected and the countdown to August 2006 has begun. The mission statement was provisionally set at:"A united witness of relevance to the Christian Faith at Rhodes University".

Professor Peter Rose of RU articulates the motivation for this mission: It was Blaise Pascal who said: 'There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man.' Some students are aware of that hunger for God, while others, are searching for the meaning and purpose of life. The world today has deprived them of any prior contact with God's saving grace. I think that hunger for Him is widespread and the greatest need amoung students at Rhodes is to hear God's word (many for the first time), and His message to each one of them; that He has a purpose for each life and a mission for each one to fulfil.

We would like to establish a base for ongoing mission at Rhodes campus. AE has agreed to assist us in running the mission this year and also to lay the foundation for subsequent annual missions. Student half-life on campus is so short that we can't afford to hold a mission on campus every 3rd or 4th year.
RU had been part of the Yizani mission where it became apparent to students from different denominations and churches that they had had very little, if any, contact with each other. Christian staff at the University had the same experience, and contact between Christian staff and students was found to have been just about non-existent. After the mission, these groups met to pray about the problem and the idea of a joint Christian fellowship, and witness, in an academic life that has become increasingly secular. This led to the establishment on campus of a body calledChristians@Rhodes. This is an ecumenical association of all Christian societies, groups and denominations on campus and it meets for a combined service of worship and praise once a term in the University's chapel.

In the course of the past three years C@R has also been used by students to run a number of combined events including prayer vigils, sports events and choir programmes. During this time the need for a follow-up mission has been under constant discussion.

Michael Cassidy has agreed to lead the week of Rhodes Mission 2006 and AE will use this event to prepare and train campus staff and students for ongoing follow-up evangelistic activity. The churches in Grahamstown have committed their enthusiastic support and assistance for the process.