Elkhart, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network, Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary) – Africa is the continent with the fastest-growing Christian population in the world today, and churches there take many forms. Mennonite Mission Network has a long history of relating to churches in Africa, and has planned a learning tour of three countries where a wide variety of church life can be experienced.
Two of the trip leaders, James and Jeanette Krabill, lived in West Africa over a period of 20 years, and James has built relationships in the region for another 20 years as a Mission Network leader, most recently as senior executive for Global Ministries. The third leader of the trip, Ed Bontrager, has extensive experience in logistics planning for tour leadership.
Women of Eglise Evangélique Universelle (Universal Evangelical Church) in Cotonou, Benin, dance forward with their offerings. Photo provide by James Krabill. Download full-resolution image.
During a 15-day period from July 11-24, 2016, the group will visit Christian faith communities and ministries in three countries, Burkina Faso, Benin and Ghana. They will experience how churches live out their faith in contexts of religious diversity and challenging social and economic conditions.
Included along the way will be food and fellowship opportunities; shopping in local markets; and visits to an experimental farm, a children’s village, a fishing village on stilts, various worship sites, and the Elmina Castle – a centuries-old fort on the Ghanaian coast, which housed captives awaiting transport during the peak of the transatlantic slave trade.
The trip is advertised as “Markets, Museums, Mosques and Missions in West Africa” and is cosponsored by Mission Network and TravelVenture Tours. The cost is $3,998 per person from Washington, D.C. You can access the full trip description and reservation form through TravelVenture Tours. Registration and deposit is needed by the end of March.
COURSE CREDIT: For travelers interested in a more substantive encounter, AMBS is offering three hours of course credit, supervised by James Krabill, adjunct professor at AMBS.
