Theology on Safari: How I got here from there

“Is theological education something new for you? Have you ever taught before?” I was sitting with a lovely couple from North Carolina a few weeks ago, talking about the possibility of their church supporting me as a missionary. If you know me well, you’ll understand why I was startled by the question. Then it occurred to me that their question made a whole lot more sense than my assuming everyone already knows my story. Apologies! Some of you have been on this ministry journey with me for decades but quite a few of you are just joining in. So for newer friends, let me try to explain some of the back story.

I first got involved in world missions through my InterVarsity Christian Fellowship group at the University of Virginia. I spent one college summer (1980 – yes, I’m that old!) in Benin, West Africa, in what felt like the middle of nowhere, helping a single woman missionary who was training local pastors. It was hard, exciting, crazy… and wonderful. And it’s what the Lord used to grab me for a future I certainly had never expected. To get the training and ministry experience I needed so that I could someday go back to Africa with something useful to offer, I worked in campus ministry with InterVarsity at UNC-Chapel Hill and the College of William & Mary for several years, then went to seminary at Gordon-Conwell near Boston, served on church staffs in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, moved to England to do a PhD in New Testament Greek, and became ordained as a Presbyterian minister. Along the way I got married and raised a family.

Finally, in 2000 my husband and I and two daughters (then 10 and 12) moved to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. For seven years I had the privilege of teaching New Testament, biblical interpretation, Greek language, and academic writing at the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology and other institutions. In 2008 we moved to Nairobi, Kenya, to teach at the Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology, the flagship institution of the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA). The Lord also gave me opportunities in theological education beyond Ethiopia and Kenya. From 2007-2011 I was Accreditation Officer for theological schools throughout Africa for the Association for Christian Theological Education in Africa (ACTEA), an agency of the AEA (fulfilling my inherent need to be in charge of everyone...). I still do occasional project work for ACTEA. I also started traveling to India to teach at the South Asia Institute of Advanced Christian Studies (SAIACS) in Bangalore, something I still do regularly and absolutely love.

Sadly, ours was one of the ministry marriages that didn’t make it. After exhausting the counseling resources available to us in Kenya we returned to the US in 2013 to seek more help, but in 2014 my husband chose divorce. I found myself ‘home alone’ in America, living in a culture that felt new to me after 17 years overseas, cut off from my work, my home, my friends and my church in Kenya, and not knowing what the future held for me. It was a dark time – as those of you who’ve faced your own dramatic losses, serious illness or other major life challenge can certainly imagine. I’m so grateful to have had space and time to grieve, for the surprising ways God provided for me financially, for old friends who’ve held me up along the way, new friends God’s sent into my life, and fantastic counseling support from Faithful & True (yes, this is a recommendation!). Then about a year ago, I felt God saying “It’s time” to move forward. I transferred my ordination into the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), started teaching online for Fuller Theological Seminary, and began reaching out to mission agencies to see what opportunities there might be at this point for someone like me.

And now here we are. Everything God has done in my life comes together in this new role as a traveling international Theological Education Specialist for Serge, in a co-operative appointment with EPC World Outreach. Years ago my husband and I were part of a group of friends looking to serve in Africa together. Serge, formerly World Harvest Mission, is the organization our group joined, eventually launching a new outreach in western Uganda. For the right reasons at the time, my husband and I went a different direction but stayed in touch with these friends. Now I get to pick up with Serge where I left off 25 years ago!

I’ll be based with Serge’s team in Dublin, Ireland – the least evangelized English-speaking country. (Learn more about it here.) My responsibility is to bring my international experience in theological education to Serge’s work in Africa, Asia and post-Christian Europe. Living in Dublin puts me five time zones and seven flying hours closer to these fields of ministry than if I tried to do this from my home in Charlottesville. I’ll get to serve the Kingdom of God by teaching in theological institutions alongside Serge’s church-planting efforts, helping Serge develop and strengthen partnerships in theological education, and inviting and equipping others to participate in theological training in cross-cultural settings. I’m in awe of what God is doing in this.

When does this all happen? Our target date is January 2017. But in reality I can’t go until there’s a solid base of prayer and financial support. One-time gifts are great, and ongoing monthly or yearly pledges are even better. It’s those promises of ongoing support that tell Serge and EPC World Outreach when they can ‘release’ me to move overseas. Maybe the Lord is nudging you to become a partner in this ministry? If so, you can give using the links to the left. Thank you!! Or, email me at sblack@serge.org and let’s talk about it more. (And a BIG thank you to those of you who are already giving!)

Meanwhile, I’m waiting as patiently as I can (admittedly not always that patiently) to see what God does with this and how he continues to provide for me in these unexpected twists and turns. Slowly I’m learning to trust that the story he’s writing for me isn’t finished yet. I'm right there with whoever that psalmist was who said (Ps 71:17-18):

O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might
to all the generations to come.

Our 'Africa Team', circa 1989. That's me on the right. (Was I ever really that young?!) This group - minus our family - became the nucleus of Serge's work in western Uganda.

Faces obscured of one family currently living in a high-security location