c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ For generations, Christian missionaries from the United States journeyed to Africa to teach their religion.

Now, however, amid an explosion of Christianity in Africa, churches there are sending thousands of missionaries overseas to preach the Christian message in their own unique style. And many of those missionaries are coming to the United States.”We have been blessed by the U.S. and now we want to give back to them through the gospel of Christ,”said Badeg Bekele, pastor of the Emmanuel Ethiopian Church in Los Angeles.

African ministries are springing up in America because”the church in Africa is on fire, while the church in America is, for the most part, losing its zeal,”said Pastor Ivey Williams of the Tallahassee, Fla., congregation established by the Nigeria-based Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). Williams is the first African-American pastor of an RCCG church.

Nobody knows how many African churches exist in the United States, but estimates range from hundreds to thousands.

Some of the churches are affiliates of larger bodies such as the Nigerian-based Deeper Life Bible Fellowship, which has congregations across America, while others are independent, such as the fellowship of French-speaking Africans who gather in Congolese pastor Daniel Kapepula’s home in Takoma Park, Md.

Regardless of size or national origin, African churches share common characteristics of exuberant worship, heavy emphasis on prayer and a strong mission to plant new churches and win converts.

The Rev. Ndugu Tofori-Atta, who coordinates an African religious heritage project at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, said that the growth of African ministries in America is a natural byproduct of Christianity’s African growth. In 1960, 10.7 percent of the world’s evangelical Christians were Africans; by 1993 this figure had climbed to 20.9 percent, according to Patrick Johnstone, author of”Operation World.” Researchers also estimate that by the year 2000, 338 million of Africa’s 700 million people will be Christians. Thousands of churches have opened across Africa and many of them are now setting up branches in Western Europe and America.

Action Chapel, a Ghanaian church, exemplifies the migration of African Christianity.”We’ve found that the many Third World nationals in D.C., from all over the world, had spiritual needs that were not being fulfilled by existing churches,”said the Rev. Joshua Shonubi, pastor of Action Chapel, Washington.

Shonubi also runs a weekly Bible study at the World Bank office in Washington that draws participants from many continents.”No three people at that fellowship are from the same country,”he said.

Stephen Gyermeh, a Ghanaian who founded the Church of the Living God in Hyattsville, Md., stressed that although the church has a predominantly black congregation, members come from several non-African countries including Venezuela, Panama, Dominica and the United States.”We don’t classify ourselves as an African church,”said Gyermeh.”It’s not for Africans. It’s an all-nations church. We have 30 or more different countries worshiping here.” Gyermeh started the church in 1983 with 15 converts, little money and no building. The Hyattsville church now has about 1,500 members, more than $3 million in assets and has spawned five additional congregations in the United States.

Nigerian churches have had perhaps the greatest success in starting congregations in America.

Nigerian-based Christ Apostolic Church has 15 churches across the United States from New York to Fresno, Calif., with the largest congregation of 300 in Houston.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God, based in Lagos, Nigeria, already has 18 parishes in major cities on both coasts, with new ones planned.”The goal of Redeemed in Nigeria is that within 5 minutes walking distance there should be a Redeemed Church. Here in America I guess that would be 5 minutes driving distance,”joked Williams.

When African Christians speak of that kind of growth, they include non-Africans in their evangelistic visions.

Action Chapel has succeeded in broadening its appeal by making the atmosphere as international as possible.”The fact that I am from Africa doesn’t mean that we sing songs in my dialect,”said Fii Pentsil, pastor of Action Chapel’s branch in Columbia, Md., where the 78-member congregation includes whites and Asian-Americans.”We have to be accommodating. We make sure it is comfortable for everybody.” Korean-American Charlie Wang, who worships at Action, said it is the most racially diverse church he has ever attended.”There is no language barrier, the emphasis is on spiritual issues not cultural issues,”said Wang.”The African flavor is very refreshing not having experienced it before, but otherwise it’s irrelevant that the church is African. It’s about knowing God.” Joyce Peterside, one of the few African-Americans who attends Redeemed Christian Church of God in Tallahassee, Fla., said that she is impressed by the international flavor of the church whose congregation includes white Americans, Africans of different nations and Caribbean islanders. For her, the major appeal is the worship and the focus on prayer.”The Lord is the Lord,”said Peterside.”If you love the Lord, you love the Lord. The fact that your accent is different, doesn’t matter.” Despite their growth, African ministries face a number of obstacles. One of these is the uncertain immigration status of some of the ministers and church workers.

The pastors are often in America for a limited time.”If the pastor was just sent here by his organization for one or two years, then he cannot look to more long-term projects,”said Shonubi of Action Chapel, Washington.

He predicts that those pastors who can become more rooted in the United States will involve their African churches in the community, running food banks, homeless shelters and other such programs.

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A further obstacle is the insularity of the African church and what Gyermeh, of Hyattsville, Md., called a”lack of cohesiveness”between the African church and the African-American churches.

For example, few African churches have joined any American Protestant alliances. Bishop Carl Montgomery, assistant presiding bishop for the Cleveland-based United Pentecostal Churches of Christ, said that only about 10 African churches belong to the predominantly African-American organization. He said that more should join because membership in such an organization gives a sense of kinship and practical assistance.”Our aim is not to strip the African churches of their ethnicity or flavor but if they are going to be in the United States they can’t segregate themselves,”said Montgomery.”We both have something to give and something to receive,”he added.”When we do come together for fellowship it’s celebration time. It’s radical. There is a learning and sharing that takes place that can’t happen when we stay in our little worlds.” African churches also rarely interact regularly with each other. Often there is segregation between the different nationalities and even between different ethnic groups within the same nationality. Bekele, of the Emmanuel Ethiopian Church, said that needs to change:”We are not islands. We need to get together and discuss, mingle and share experiences.” (OPTIONAL TRIM ENDS)

Bekele suggested that African pastors need formal training on how to work within American culture.”Our reference point is our African culture, our reactions to what we see are based on our African worldview. But our ministry cannot be confined to only the Africans. God has called us to be ministers to the whole world,”he said.

Shonubi predicted that over the next 10 years, more ethnic and social barriers will come down as people see that African churches have a lot to contribute both to the American church and to society at large.”It is time for the African to spread the gospel,”said Gyermeh. “I think the Lord wants to make sure that our particular way of worship and praise and prayer is known to the rest of the world.”

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