You are one of our Reformed Family in Africa’s seven million members and, like all the others, you are represented by your church’s General Secretary.
The General Secretaries of our Dutch Reformed Church family in Africa held their first RFF (Reformed Family Forum) meeting in 2015 and, since then, have come together once a year in one of the member-countries. In 2015 the first meeting was held in Lusaka, Zambia and last year they came together in Salima, Malawi. This year the 13 churches gathered in Benoni (close to Johannesburg) from 28 – 30 July.
Not only does this event strengthen our collective memory as a church family, it also provides a valuable platform where we can share our challenges and success stories with each other every year. Our sister churches in Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mosambique, Kenya and Nigeria have developed and grown since the 19th century, thanks to the missional drive of missionaries from the Dutch Reformed Church, and now form part of the Reformed Family Forum (together with the DRC, URCSA in South Africa and Namibia).
This year’s meeting in Benoni was a valuable rediscovery of what an indespensible role the church currently plays in our various societies. Serious discernment is needed to know the way forward. The book, A Family of Reformed Churches in Africa – Remakable stories of God’s grace (pg 16), was also introduced during this event.
Next year this formidable team will be meeting in Maputo, Mosambique where they will continue to effectively network and work together to address the challenges of the church in Africa is facing.