Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa

Mark 16:15-16 

King James Version (KJV)

¹⁵ And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Last week our efforts were devoted to the meeting of the Fellowship of Adventist Missionaries to Africa or FAMA for short. Sylvia and I were very involved, doing tasks from finding the venue to arranging for housing and food. Our meetings began Thursday evening and ended Sunday morning with attendance varying from about 20 to over 70.

Several of the attendees told of their experiences. For example, Fred Wilson, who spent many years in Africa from the late 1960s on, shared his latest endeavors. Even though he is over 80 years old, he is still very active. He has spent the last few years raising funds and building over 35 buildings in Malawi. Many of these buildings are for the new Malawi Adventist University.

Adventist work started in South Africa in the late 1800s. Their first endeavor amongst non-Christian peoples began in 1894 at Solusi Mission in what is now Zimbabwe. In the late 1950s and early 1960s my Dad, Dr. C.F. Clarke, converted Solusi from a 10 grade school to a four-year college. Today it is one of the major universities in Zimbabwe and the only university in the country to remain open during the crisis days when Zimbabwe’s economy collapsed.

Today there are roughly 18 million Adventists world-wide. Fully one-third of these believers are in Africa, a testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit and the tenacious efforts of missionaries like those who attended the FAMA meetings this year. Scattered across these many lands are the graves of missionaries who gave their all to Christ and Africa. These include my mother at Solusi and my grandfather who is buried at Helderberg in South Africa.

Thank You, Lord, for richly blessing those who have gone to Africa over the years and the tens of thousands of Africans who are working with your Holy Spirit today to bring Africa to Christ.