Published here: https://www.diu.edu/jlcr/volume-4-number-2/
I attended a very friendly African American church. The adult Sunday School class resounded with biblical truth, and was permeated with humility. The pastor was strongly evangelical and missions-minded. He spoke of love and forgiveness from the pulpit. Yet he ignored me when walking by and I was the last one he acknowledged at the end of the service by the pulpit. Some years previous he had asked for my help to raise money for an addition to his church. Judging from the expensive cars in the parking lot at that time, instead I offered to teach a financial stewardship seminar at no cost—an offer not taken. The new addition was up and in use the day I came. Only God knows the reasons for the coldness, but finances perhaps had some part. Much mistrust between black and white clergy exists in America, with some very notable exceptions. Because Christ lives in all born-again Christians, we have the best chance of any group on the planet to be reconciled, through our oneness in Christ and through the grace He provides to forgive and love.
A new PowerPoint slide deck is posted HERE that you can download to help you teach Biblically why the so-called "Prosperity Gospel" is unbiblical, unhelpful, and unwise, for as the Apostle Paul said to the Galatians, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!" Galatians 1:8&9 NIV.
RMNI has worked with many overseas partners in Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia since 1993. Can a fruitful partnership develop between Americans and other Christians, despite clear differences in what each brings to the table? Yes, if assumptions, expectations and goals of both are clearly understood and agreed upon at the outset and reiterated as necessary, and if the aim is to serve the other. There is no completely equal partnership between individuals or organizations, cross-cultural or otherwise. As in marriage, partnerships are complementary. Each brings strengths and weaknesses. Americans lack cultural intelligence, and knowledge of local languages and needs, but have money, educational resources, operational systems and technical expertise. Africans and Indians, for example, bring cultural and language proficiency, knowledge of local needs, networks, and often exemplary Christian lives, but frequently need what American have.
No research documenting African American overseas missionaries has been available for over 20 years, of which we are aware. That research in 1998 was in an unpublished doctoral dissertation, also available on this website. An article summarizing some of that earlier research, primarily to assist mission executives in recruiting African Americans, can be downloaded here (PDF). Prior to 1998, systematic research by Wilbur Harr (1945) and Sylvia Jacobs (1982) focused upon Black missionaries in Africa. We hope this work will inform, assist, and motivate toward realizing the huge potential of the African American church for global Christian mission!
This is the accepted manuscript for the (very slightly updated) article appearing in the April, 2023 edition of Missiology: An International Review. We deeply appreciate the assistance of many in the African American mission mobilization community, as well as significant help from mission executives. Walt Robertson, our webmaster, posted research surveys and oversaw data-gathering since around 2000. We’re grateful for invaluable critiques of peer reviewers, and encouragement provided by Missiology. Unusually, we credit the assistance of intercessors who prayed for years that this work would reach the academic and, hopefully, the general missions community.
While the authors hold the copyright, and while you may freely download and print the article, Sage Publications controls reproduction beyond personal use—please see the text box on p. 1 for permissions.
https://rmni.org/files/afam/HistoryandResearch/African-American-Missionaries-Serving-Overseas.pdf