Mark Driscoll on his Trip to Africa

Mark Driscoll:

A preacher in my position can start to live an isolated and idealistic life. We can become hard, callous, ignorant and cold hearted. We can fly in and speak to stadiums, have our photo taken, and autograph our books, and every minute get further and further from human suffering and need. So, I thank God for the opportunities he gives me to be wrecked. Seeing Haiti was life changing and I want to publicly thank those who have given more than $2 million total to Churches Helping Churches, including our Mars Hill gifts, which were more than $600,000. I also thank God that I get to not just be a preacher, but also a pastor dealing with rape victims, single moms, and those who have a tough life because of sin committed against them. And I’m glad I came to Africa, even though the few weeks away from my family were very difficult for us all, and I do hope that I can get out today or soon to see them and return to work.

Still, God has opened a great opportunity here. In my two weeks between the cities of Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg, I have learned a lot about what I believe God may have in store for the three premier cities in South Africa and from them to the townships and the rest of Africa. We are ironing out a few details, but it seems like a robust, gospel-centered, Jesus-loving, Bible-believing network of churches is being pulled together. These churches have some amazingly godly pastors, and enough people and horsepower to plant hundreds of churches. Those churches can help raise up a new generation of men who love women and children like Christ loves the church and declare a spiritual war on the darkness that permeates this culture of rape. I think we can help network and resource the African church to do the African work, as the last thing this country needs is idealistic, ignorant Americans running things from a distance and throwing money at problems without the gospel. We come to serve, not to solve.

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