Conclusion: Our Missional God: The Call and the Promise
- The Call: It is the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel and the God of Judah, the God of Africa and the God of the UPCSA who calls us in righteousness and who has taken hold of our hand. We are confident that we will not lose the way, as People of the Way, because it is OUR God who has made the Call. Our ministry has been wheel-aligned into God's Call and Will. We are not self-commanding soldiers, pulling in every direction we will for ourselves. We are a people who have been called, who have been led, who have been appropriately aligned.
- The Promise: It is the Lord Yahweh, who promises to be with us and lead us - the same God who divided the Red Sea for Israel to cross it on dry land; the same God who saved the three Hebrew boys (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) from the furnace; the same God who saved Daniel from the ravage of the lions in the den. It is the same God who expects us to live by the divine Code of Ethics, to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. The God of Promises will lead us on the missional trajectory.
- The Mission: To become a Covenant People and a Light to the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, free the captives and get back to light those who are sitting in a dark dungeon. If our God is missional God, our missional direction through the Call and the Promise is sealed. May God bless the UPCSA!
| This is what God the LORD says-- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. (Isaiah42:5-7) |
Rev. Sipho Mtetwa is the Moderator-Designate of the UPCSA, married to Xoli and with three kids and numerous grandkids. He is Minister at St. David's in Pietermaritzburg with the Drakensberg Presbyter. He is a poet and a jazz-fan.
-------------------------------
This brings our Month of Mission to an end. Thank you to all those who have contributed to what has been, I think, one of our most significant series yet.
Thanks and acknowledgments go to our authors: George Marcinkowski, Peter Langerman, Sipho Mthethwa, Lungile Mpetsheni, Vusi Mkhungo, Allan Mchulu, Nigel Chikanya, Natalie Barnard, Shingi Masunda, Jane Nyirongo, Wonke Buqa, Godfrey Misiska, Greg Howse, Austin Dzeka, Melanie Cook, Faresy Sakala, Panji Nkosi, Rod Adamson, Elisha Gobvu, Teddy Zimba, Bonga Bosiki, Pascal Sibanda, Richard Mkandawire, Ruth Armstrong.
Additional thanks go to Richard Mkandawire, Ruth Armstrong and Elias Simango who organised the authors in Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe and to Johan Opperman and Wayne Van Heerden who promoted the Month of Mission on Social Media.
But at the end of the day the Glory, Praise and Honour belongs to our God whose missionality extended to the abundance of Creation, the giving of His Son, the outpouring of His Spirit and His sharing of His Mission with you and me!
