Thanking God for each of you and wishing you His abundant blessings this Christmas.

“The most significant trend within global Christianity over the last century has been its profound demographic shift from the Global North to the Global South”, according to Hickman, A.W. (2014), Sage Journals 1 . The writer states that whilst in 1900, about 80% of Christians resided in the Global North, by 2010, that figure had fallen below 40%”. This trend is confirmed by The Travelling Team (“missions conference on wheels”, targeting students at university campuses). They describe the Global South as LAFRICASIA, “the location of the world’s most Christianised area – Latin America, Africa, and Asia”. In their article 2 the Team predicts that these continents will be home to the largest community of Christians in the world within 20 years. It is the Global South that is now driving the “reverse mission” movement of taking the gospel back to the North (Europe and North America).

It is in this context that in 1980, a six-member multi-national music team of Youth For Christ (YFC) International, Kenya, Upper Africa, set out on a missionary tour across the US. The team, led by TVO. Lamptey, comprised of three Ghanaians, one Sierra Leonian, a Kenyan and another from Zaire. They travelled all year, starting from East Africa (Kenya, Zambia); then to Europe (France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland) preaching the gospel through music, while raising funds for the work of YFC in Africa. In the summer, they arrived in the US, travelled from the East to the West Coast, then up the north to Montana and further up to Canada. The US leg of the tour brought the group to the Germantown Christian Assembly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That night, an African American woman, Jacqui Everett, who was visiting the church, gladly opened her home to two members of the team, when the pastor asked for volunteers to host the team members. Jacqui gladly took in Lamech Uzele (lead singer, bass guitarist, trumpeter and team driver!), and Sackey Bennin (guitarist, tenor singer). Little did she know that this would lead to a life-long friendship and partnership in God’s work.

Since that day in Philadelphia, Jacqui has kept in touch with Sackey, and responded to God’s call on her to do missionary work initially in Nigeria, and subsequently in Uganda where she is currently based. Jacqui and her late husband, Wesley Forde, co-founded Windows of Hope (WOH) International Children’s Ministry over 20 years ago. The Ministry was formed after the founders saw how wars, HIV/AIDs, poverty and hardship had negatively impacted the lives of children, including orphans. WOH supports these children in practical ways, through fostering; education from primary to university level; vocational training, and providing them with food, shelter, clothing, medical and spiritual support in a loving, empowering home environment. Through her on-going friendship with Sackey, Jacqui has been connected with the Men of Faith, a UK-based Charity which partners with WOH and has adopted a child under the Child Sponsorship Programme.

So, in a manner of speaking, the Global South’s “reverse mission” has come full circle. The Liberation ’80 team of Africans brought the gospel back to the US, which inspired a Black American sister of African descent, to go back to Africa as a Missionary. After all, “one good turn deserves another”.