African American Mobilization
Help us to pray to the Lord of the harvest, to send out more laborers. Over the past five years I have served Wycliffe USA as Director of African American Mobilization. When I started out in 2000, all we had was a desk in a small office at the Wycliffe USA headquarters in Orlando and a very small budget to make things happen. I was my sole human resource until Kevin came along in 2001.
Today, we are part of a virtual team of mobilizers located around the USA. Some of them are Wycliffe members, while others are church mission directors, or partners from other mission organizations and corporations. It is exciting to see God raise up African Americans in strategic places to recruit and to go to the mission field. Lately I discovered more African Americans serving with Wycliffe Associates, a volunteer organization of Wycliffe. When we moved to Dallas, I found that the Lord had raised up an African American recruiter for the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics-where we train missionary linguists.
More doors are opening for us to speak at student conferences and on college campuses and for mentoring new recruits. In January of this year Wycliffe USA held its first Mobilization Convention. Although, I was one of two African Americans attending, I enjoyed reuniting with some Wycliffe mobilizers and meeting others for the first time. Again, I discovered that the Lord was allowing more of my colleagues to meet and mentor African American recruits in addition to collaborating with pastors. In one of the workshops I attended, the topic was about the 'new paradigm in missions.' Wycliffe leadership worldwide recognizes the changing face of missionaries. There is greater ethnic diversity on today's foreign mission field. It was said that over fifty percent of today's missionaries are non-white. Not only that, but the mission needs overseas are requiring fewer independent individuals and more teams working together to get mission tasks done. Even the personality types of missionaries going with Wycliffe are changing. Not only are introverted, academic types needed to go to do Bible translation but extroverted, relational types are needed to make sure the Scriptures are used and disciples are made. 
So, what has that to do with African American Mobilization. Everything! Increasingly, people in other countries are asking, "Where are the African Americans? Why don't more of African Americans come to help us?" Why indeed?! African Americans have "a charge to keep, a calling to fulfill" on a global scale. God has given the African American Church what today's mission field needs to make a difference. Kevin and I praise God for what he is going to do with African American Christians in the Bible translation movement. We look forward to more people of color in the harvest. Help us praise Him now for the victory!
Created on ... February 14, 2006..................................Last edited March 13, 2006