Page 51 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

African Christian Heritage

development of the African church. A good way to demonstrate
this idea is for you to consider a tree. I like to think of the African
church as being like a mighty tree with many limbs and branches.
The roots of the tree are grounded in Jesus Christ, who is the
foundation of the Church. Above the roots is the trunk, which
represents the heroic first five centuries of the Church. From that
main trunk spring the main boughs that represent the different
geographical areas of Africa. These limbs in turn produce
branches that represent the various new churches of Africa. Does
this mean that the new churches sprang directly from the early
African church? No, but there is a relationship that in the past has
been overlooked. (10)

In concluding Chapter 3, we can easily see that Africans have a
marvelous Christian heritage. They were key players in God’s divine drama
of the ages, which included the ancient
patriarchs, those who surrounded Christ
while He was on this earth, and those who
carried the good news to the then-known
world. This has a powerful message for
the church today. The early church was
harvest-oriented. The Holy Spirit provided
the power to enable the church to bring in
the harvest of souls in those early years of
church growth, and He is doing the same Figure 3.1 – Baobab Tree
today (James 5:7).

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