Dreaming With God

By Ron Barnard

I was only a kid when I first fell in love with Africa, watching Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I was hoping against hope that some day I could travel to this land of marvel. But the dreams I dreamed then were dreams of cheetahs and leopards, and of lions and zebras. And although I enjoy the amazing land and landscape of South Africa, it’s the people I love.

I first traveled to South Africa in February 2004 with E. Scott and Crystal Martin and Jenny Eggy McJunkin. There at the request of AGWM missionaries and local pastors we found some of the most amazing campuses. Campuses filled with students not only from South Africa, but from all across the continent of Africa. We found friendly students happy to have an opportunity for study, and open to a friendly God witness. The pastor most responsible for that first invitation was Dennis Solomon. Dennis pastors Cornerstone Assembly of God in Peitermaritzburg. The church sits across the street from the University of Kwa Zulu Natal.

Shortly after Dennis became pastor of the church, he began to realize the need and potential that existed literally just outside the church doors. But how to meet that need? Though Pastor Solomon is an amazingly effective man of God, he saw the need for help in attempting student ministry on this level. He mentioned this need to missionaries Joel Watson and Steve Evans, who put out a call for help. That’s where we come in. God spoke to me on that first trip about making a strong and long commitment to help plant campus ministry in South Africa. On my first walking tour of the campus at Kwa Zulu Natal I believe I heard the voice of God saying, “From this place students can be reached and a continent can be impacted.”

At dinner that night I found myself, along with the rest of the team, casting vision like a crazy person, and that’s how I must have sounded. I didn’t say anything I didn’t believe was true, but I would be leaving later that night. After much dreaming with Dennis and a key student, Glenn Cooke, I was left dealing with one of the most profound questions I had ever been asked. Dennis, with some skepticism in his voice, simply said, “All of that sounds great, but what do I do on Wednesday?”

That was a very good question, especially considering that this was Tuesday! After several minutes of silent prayer and contemplation, while dessert was being eaten, I spoke up with an answer to Dennis’s question. “I’ll come back,” I said. His reply: “Now we’re getting somewhere.”

That was the beginning of what has become an amazing relationship. I have now been to Peitermaritzburg six times to work with Dennis and the newly born Chi Alpha group there. That Chi Alpha crew had a beginning of only a half-dozen or so students and now numbers well over 300. Our first effort was to gather the small group for a two-day Reach the University seminar. We also did a RUI at the University of Cape Town and have a great working relationship there with Geoff Bond and the People’s Church of Constantia. We laid groundwork for teams at the University of Pretoria and Rhodes College in Grahamstown, South Africa. At each of these universities new Chi Alpha ministries have been started with amazing God results.

Chi Alphans from Louisiana Tech, Grambling State, Sacramento State, Louisiana State, Virginia Tech, Southwest Missouri State, Idaho State and Marshall Universities have since made trips and in many cases a three- to five-year commitment to a sister campus in South Africa. Still, we have only scratched the surface of what is possible in South Africa. We still need Chi Alpha groups here in the States to make three- to five-year commitments to help plant and partner with campuses in South Africa. We need campus pastors to help do more RUIs for start-up ministries. We have strong pastors and leaders in South Africa who want to see ministry go forward. Greg Johns, the new area director, is a Chi Alpha advocate and has been a real blessing. John Sloan, the pastor in Grahamstown, has an ambitious goal to start a Chi Alpha internship and work to raise up campus pastors to help plant ministries all over South Africa.

Speaking of campus pastors, earlier I mentioned Glenn Cooke. He was the key student I met on that first trip to UKZN. I met Glenn on the first tour we had of the campus. After spending much of the rest of the day with Glenn I made the comment that with all of his passion for and discernment about reaching the campus he could be a campus pastor. This past October, Glenn and his fiancée Lucy have made a five-year commitment to be full-time campus pastors at UKZN. How amazing is the God we serve?

As for me personally, I know I will always be involved on some level with what God is doing in South Africa. What God has done there has opened doors to many other African nations. In the next year I hope to travel to five other South African nations to build relationships and partnerships, to help plant Chi Alphas there. It really is a dream come true, not just my dream, but as it turns out, God’s dream for Africa.

If you want to find out more how you or your campus can partner with XA in South Africa, contact Ron Barnard at Ronbarnard@ araog.org or visit www.ukzn.ac.za/chialpha/. Ron has served as the Chi Alpha Director at Louisiana Tech University, Virginia Tech University, and currently serves as the Arkansas District Chi Alpha Director.