What is the
Uhakika Program? ‘Uhakika’ is a Swahili word meaning ‘certainty’. Through Bible study workshops on ‘Sonship’, Christian leaders discover for themselves what God says about ... his gospel. The strategy is ... to teach pastors to teach their people to teach themselves from the Scriptures, where there is ‘uhakika’. This should make for strong churches, and national missionaries going out with ... God's gospel. |
Evangelizing 'Evangelists'.
Sadly, many “evangelists” in East and Central Africa have never heard the gospel themselves. It is widely believed that you get into salvation by grace—i.e. when you don't deserve it– but you stay in by living a holy life. They’ll tell you that if you’re a believer and you sin, you’re not covered by Christ’s sacrifice any more – at least not till you repent. And if you die before repenting of that sin, since you’re not covered, you’re lost! Grace Clinics ... "How can they hear without ... [effective communication]?"
One reason for this thinking could be that people can 'hear' a different message from what the missionary speaks. We can tell them accurately what the Bible says about the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, but in traditional African religion, everyone knows that an offering to the spirits covers the community's past offences only. The idea of a sacrifice that covers future sin, in advance, can be so strange that it is easily filtered out and not heard - even by people who may be generations removed from traditional religion. This shows the importance of looking for feedback to test what has got through any anti-grace filters. And how best to do that? Ask questions. Surveying (diagnosis) is an important part of the Uhakika Program. The next task is to help people to weigh up their 'Christian' thinking on the scales of God's word, where there is 'Uhakika'. That's what we do in a Grace Clinic. The Uhakika coursebook on Biblical Sonship asks two types of questions: 'What do you think?' (the doctor's diagnostic questions) and 'What does the Bible say?' (the Bible administers the medicine). That's why we call it a clinic. |
