Thread by @SandmanGrant

Welcome to my final day of live-tweeting from #gafcon23 at Kigali Convention Centre. The land of a thousand hills is also a land of morning mists (& maybe a little wood burning smog?) and this week, morning rains. But here’s today’s dawn from out 11th floor hotel room.

On 3 of my 5 mornings here, I’ve run a 5km circuit of the centre. Seen institute of forensics and statistics, bank head offices, also small traders, coffin shops, many small pharmacies (which will please mum & dad), endless motos, and many large bags of bananas on people’s heads!

It’s pretty much all up hill & down hill, with not much flat, & all at altitude of ~1500m. For comparison the highest point of the Blue Mountains is 1100m. So I was puffing but on the day I was on my own I was able to go at 4:49/km pace! Thanks for indulging a personal interest!

Here’s a report of how @archbishopsyd @KanishkaRaffel explained the importance of #Gafcon - useful to those who want to know the backstory.

anglican.ink/2023/04/20/kan…

It’s a been a privilege to meet so many fine and diverse Anglican Christians from around the globe and one of them is Bishop Mwita Akiri, absolutely focused on promoting biblical gospel ministry and the good works that accompany it. And he loves the work of @AnglicanAidSyd

Mwita is building a secondary school for girls who often otherwise miss out on it. My daughter here with me works for @AnglicanAidSyd & we heard he’d turned down tens of thousands of dollars from liberal dioceses out of principle, so they value our support anglicanaid.org.au/projects/tarim…

Anglican Aid is supporting 100+ gospel projects around the world bringing help & hope to people & churches around the world, seeing communities transformed by grace. They have sponsored the @pastors_heart broadcast this week

See more of what they do: anglicanaid.org.au

Today’s Bible study is from Colossians 3:18-4:18, delivered by Dr Stephen Kaziimba, Archbishop and Primate of Uganda, the first mitred preacher of the week, and possibly the deepest voice out of many deep African voices we’ve heard! Deep also in spiritual depth and authority.

Summarising so far, the Archbishop says - to loudest Amens - What is real is Jesus Christ. He is the real thing!

Not human philosophies, not elite insights, not OT laws, just shadows!

The thing behind the thing is Jesus Christ - the supreme one!

He outlines chapter 4:
1️⃣ The duty of prayer, vv2-4
2️⃣ The conduct of believers, vv5-6
3️⃣ Partnership & ministry mentoring, v7-18.

1. The duty of prayer, vv2-4. Prayer is the energy source for our ministry. Pray before you go out into the world to preach because you need the power of Jesus at work.

Brothers and sisters, pray for your pastors for clarity of the message and open doors = open ears and hearts!

There are so many distractions. Listeners are tired, busy or hopeless…

Or very humorously, they are thinking this preacher is tall… this Archbishop is handsome!

No! That’s not the point, pray for message clarity & open hearts. [Loud amens & 200 Ugandans singing in support!]

2. The conduct of believers, vv5-6. Character is essential. Our actions speak louder than words.

3. Partnerships. The Archbishop highlights Luke in v14 - a doctor! - and the evident way Paul had invested in him. He encouraged us not just to focus on pastors but on people in their professions. We need lawyers, accountants, business people etc. they can do stuff pastors can’t!

He noted the strength of GAFCON is not the size of the conference but the implementation of God’s Word back home. This includes generous support from our varying incomes. We also need partnership between seminaries so we don’t allow liberals to train our pastors!

We cannot grow Gafcon until we learn to partner with each other. This is not just West and Global South but, for example, partnership within Africa, for example Uganda and Kenya and so on!

Once again the conclusion of Bishop Stephen’s address was greeted with 200 Ugandans singing their response to the Word preached!

Peter Jensen has been charged with leading prayers of repentance specifically in response to the word preached each day. Not easy after such a response. But he reminded us Jesus’ last earthly words were to preach globally the gospel - of repentance.

He noted that like the Laodiceans, to whom Colossians was secondarily addressed, our works can be lukewarm and often pitiably weak… So help us ee the world as desperately in need of Jesus, and so constantly to pray.

Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, Primate of Nigeria, is now reading the conference statement. It will be published immediately after the reading, on the #GAFCON23 website. But for now I just want to concentrate on listening!

The background to and process behind the statement’s production is here…

gafcon23.org/media-release-…

And here is a link to the #Gafcon23 statement itself in several languages… the introduction is pictured here.

gafcon23.org/gafcon-iv-conf…

Further thoughts on that to come, but we are in the conference Holy Communion. Preacher Ben Kwashi prefaces his sermon with thanks to Chairman of GAFCON, Archbishop Foley Beach, the Primates, our Bible study preachers each day and those who have interceded for us all while here.

His sermon text is John 6:60-71. He says to be called a disciple of Jesus is the highest honour we can have this side of heaven… not Doctor, Professor, Archbishop!

And his character is humility and integrity. And if we lead with such simplicity, humility, integrity & generosity, we shall be called his disciples.

He notes “food” is a big theme of the chapter, with amusing reflections on one importance of food to a conference and different cultural culinary preferences - most Nigerians are clearly not salad fans! The serious point is when Jesus says he is the bread of life, people grumble.

In the current context it’s notable that our section opens in v60 with some of Jesus’ disciples finding his teaching hard, leading many to turn back and no longer follow him (v66). He issues a strong warning to us also against grumbling, a characteristic of superficial disciples.

This brings us to “rooted disciples” - in Jesus who alone has the words of eternal life, vv68-69!

Kwashi - It takes courage to say: I’m not going with progressive white people, I’m going with Jesus!

(image courtesy of Faithlife)

And from vv70-71, we are asked: Will we continue to follow Jesus, or will we betray him?

Archbishop Ben recalls his multiple oaths to teach the words of Jesus, and nothing contrary to God’s Word, and asks us - especially those ordained: Will we betray our oaths to God?

He gives ironic thanks for very early morning Muslim calls to prayer which kept waking him up so he could read the Scriptures at length each day, because he wants to know Christ more and more! Amen.

Ben reflects on the time his home and his church (and another 100 like it) were bombed and burned in 1987. Nothing left but jeans, T-shirts and sandals.

When he brought his wife Gloria to see the burnt remains, he expected tears. She replied: you preach heaven and earth will pass away. Now you get to live by the what is eternal!

At the end of the Communion service, Archbishop Foley Beach announced his 5 years as GAFCON Primates Council are over and they have elected Archbishop Laurent Mbanda as new Chair with Archbishop Miguel Uchoa and @KanishkaRaffel as Deputy Chairs, commissioned with prayer.

A few quick reflections on the #Gafcon23 statement from when it was being read, while I wait for the bus back to the hotel to fill up after lunch!

There was a very clear, strong, positive statement on the authority of God’s Word and its place in our lives.

Then a clear summary of the current crisis in the Anglican Communion as a climax to 25+ years of departure from orthodoxy, addressing the failure of successive Archbishops of Canterbury, including the current one. We cannot walk together in so-called good disagreement on basics.

The failure is profound but we still pray for repentance.

Aware of our own sin and frailty, there is a clear statement of pastoral care regarding human sexuality including this…

And an absolute ‘No’ to vilification of any person since all are made in the image of God.

Later significant weight is given to the fellowship and cooperation between GAFCON and the GSFA (Global South Fellowship of Anglicans).

A couple of street photos from our final little shop in Downtown Kigali - including one of many pharmacies… for Mum and Dad!

It's been one of the privileges and joys of my life to be able to experience the deep gospel fellowship with so many wonderful Anglican servants of the Lord Jesus Christ from around the world, at Gafcon IV in Kigali - with one of my daughters, Hannah.
And that's a wrap!
#gafcon23

@threadreaderapp please unroll!