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MANI Southern Africa 2008 Consultation: "Working Together to Finish the Task"

By Reuben E. Ezemadu and Dean Carlson

In February 2008, official delegations from thirteen nations in southern and Portuguese-speaking Africa converged in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the MANI SA 08 Consultation. This was a unique moment for the Church in Africa as three hundred leaders of national, regional, and global influence gathered to discuss the next steps involved in completing the Great Commission.

 
United by the theme, "Working Together to Finish the Task," MANI SA 08 encouraged leaders from nearly two hundred denominations and organizations to celebrate the advance of God's kingdom across the region and to assess the status of the remaining task.

Leaders were inspired to prayerfully and creatively envision the day when…

  • life-giving churches express the love of Jesus in every African community and among every kind of people
  • Christians from all backgrounds join hands to pray and live out the good news within their communities and nations
  • thousands of Africans are sent around the world as bearers of hope for the least-evangelized peoples of the world

MANI: An African Movement
The Movement for African National Initiatives (MANI) is a grassroots African movement committed to catalyzing the Body of Christ in Africa to work in strategic partnership to disciple the nations and to send Africans in mission around the world.

MANI emerges from a 40-year history of African national movements. Building upon this legacy, in 2001 leaders from thirty-six African countries gathered at the Africa Millennial Consultation in Jerusalem. They affirmed God’s powerful work across the continent and committed to accelerate the advance of the gospel through networking and collaboration. This gathering gave birth to a continental network called the Movement for African National Initiatives.

Five years later, the world watched as 520 leaders from forty-nine African nations gathered at MANI 2006 in Nairobi to pray, share best practices, and assess the unfinished task in Africa. They celebrated the dynamic growth of the African Church and faced up to critical challenges. Commitments were made to advance national initiatives and to cooperate regionally to advance the Great Commission.

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Rev. Reuben E. Ezemadu (left) is the international director of Christian Missionary Foundation, having served previously as general secretary and chairman respectively of Nigeria Evangelical Missions Association. He is also the continental coordinator of MANI (Movement for African National Initiatives). Dr. Dean Carlson (right) is a member of the MANI continental team and a facilitator of MANI SA 08. Having served in Africa for twenty years, he is currently moving into a new role as vice-president of field ministries for OC International.