African Initiatives
Boston University hosts the second oldest African Studies Center in the United States, and is recognized by the federal government for its excellence in the study of African languages and cultures. The School of Theology is a vital component of African Studies at Boston University, beginning with the sending of graduates to Africa as missionaries over a century ago. Important African alumni include Bishop Josiah Kibira (1964 graduate), the first African head of the Lutheran World Federation; Dr. Kenaleone Ketshabile, Head of the Mission Desk, Methodist Church of Southern Africa; Yusufu Turaki, Professor and former General Secretary of the Evangelical Church of West Africa; and Professor Emmanuel Anyambod, Rector of the Protestant University of Central Africa.
Africa research in the CGCM grows from the work of retired Professor M.L. “Inus” Daneel. His over forty-year presence among African Initiated Churches in Zimbabwe culminated in the 1990s with the largest tree-planting movement in southern Africa, and a program in Theological Education by Extension. The son of missionary parents, Daneel served as a missionary of the Dutch Mission Councils, and then as professor of African theology and missiology at the University of South Africa. He and Professor Robert co-edit the African Initiatives in Christian Mission Series, published by the University of South Africa Press. The goal of the series is to reflect upon contemporary African Christianity, and to document its expansion. Other Africa projects include the digitization of Daneel’s photography and publications on the multimedia site Old & New In Shona Religion, and ongoing research into southern African traditions of earth-care.
See also the Dictionary of African Christian Biography (DACB) listed under Digital Projects.
Dr. Marthinus Daneel, Africa Research Director
Inter-University Council for East Africa
Representing the private universities in Burundi, Daewon Moon attended the recent meeting of the Quality Assurance Committee of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) which was held in Kampala, Uganda. Established in 1970, the IUCEA has strived for improvement of higher education and promotion of academic research among its 115 member universities. Academic cooperation among them has initiated and facilitated practices such as student exchange, collaborative research, credit transfer, and standardization of fee structures. Daewon Moon has been working since 2014 at International Leadership University Burundi, where he supervises the bachelor's and master's programs in theology.West African Pentecostalism
In Global Renewal Christianity: Spirit-Empowered Movements, Past, Present, and Future, vol 3: Africa and Diaspora, Nimi Wariboko surveys the everyday theology of West African Pentecostals. It is an opportunity to explore what Pentecostal faith looks like in Africa at home, work, among the family, and church.
Yale-Edinburgh Meeting
June 29 - July 1, the Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of Christian Mission and World Christianity met in New Haven, Connecticut. The topic addressed at this annual meeting was "Migration, Exile, and Pilgrimage in the History of Missions and World Christianity." It was the largest gathering in the group's history, which included a significant contingent from Boston University. Michele Sigg presented on "Women Missionaries, Intercultural Marriage, and Exile: Desert or Promised Land for the Early Work of the Lesotho Mission?" Daryl Ireland delivered a paper on "Migration and Conversion: An Exploration in the Journals of John Sung." Tyler Lenocker spoke about "The Impact of Post-World War II Immigration on American Evangelical Christianity in Boston." The Center for Global Christianity & Mission was also able to announce that the Old & New in Shona Religion website is complete, and that the Dictionary of African Christian Biography is being upgraded.
The Beginning of the East African Revival
The spirituality of the East African Revival took a distinctive shape in its early years. In a recently published article in the International Bulletin of Mission Research on "The Conversion of Yosiya Kinuka and the Beginning of the East African Revival," Daewon Moon argues that the revivalist spirituality was prompted by the conversion of Yosiya Kinuka, an African member of the Ruanda Mission medical staff. Highlighting the African initiative in the revival, this article critically assesses previous historical analyses of religious conversion in the colonial context and argues that the conversion of Kinuka served as an archetype that shaped the character of the revival as primarily a conversionist movement.
41st Korea Missiology Forum
A Korea Missiology Forum, which has been hosted by Korea Research Institute for Mission (KRIM) since 2004, was held on January 12, 2017 at Nam Seoul Presbyterian Church, Seoul, South Korea. Rev. Daewon Moon, who is Ph.D. candidate at Boston University, spoke about “Ancestor Cults in Africa and African Initiated Churches” and Rev. Chun Lee, who is managing director of KRIM, responded. The session was followed by a period of questions and answers, and and a fuller discussion. The presenter, Daewon Moon explained the nature of Africans’ ancestor cult and how African Initiated Churches have responded to the practice, while Rev. Lee noted connections with the Korean Confucian traditions of ancestor worship. 