Singing the Lord's Song in a Strange Land: a Practical Theological Investigation Into the Spiritual Experiences of South African Expatriates in Africa After 2000 A.D
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SINGING THE LORD’S SONG IN A STRANGE LAND: A PRACTICAL THEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES OF SOUTH AFRICAN EXPATRIATES IN AFRICA AFTER 2000 A.D. by CLIFFORD STANLEY FERGUSON submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY in the subject PRACTICAL THEOLOGY at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF. J.P.J. THERON OCTOBER 2013 ABSTRACT An evaluation of the spiritual experience of South African expatriates living in or migrating to other African countries, as a process of practical theology, established that expatriates do not isolate themselves from their churches in South Africa (SA). SA churches only make provision for traditional missionary outreaches and do not make provision for the SA expatriates, black or white, living in these African metropolitan areas. The subjects studied included SA expatriates, the relationships between SA churches, local African churches and expatriates, the act of migration, repatriation and its challenges together with the spiritual and social impact on individuals, marriages and families. A topical view implicates a direct relationship between fieldworkers, missionaries and chaplains deployment into African countries from SA. Furthermore, from research it is implied that the church in SA remains the spiritual home and resource centre of the migrant. The practical theological call for a realignment of mission praxis is vital and is linked to Christ’s parable of the ninety nine sheep, whilst one is lost (Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:4-7). This analogy produces the direct requirement of the Church to reconstruct missions to encompass combined support for their congregants in SA, the ninety nine, and those expatriates living in other African countries, the one. The missions to Africa should no longer be missions that only seek to convert African tribes to Christianity, but rather to serve Africans and others immigrating to countries on the continent. Church resources for SA expatriates would be made available when a visionary change occurs at the planning stages of strategies for African missions. Proposed mission strategies should include cell church, care group and discipleship models geared for missions and the African expatriate terrain. A realistic strategy that harmonises resources within the church to serve those abroad shall ensure positive impact on the spirituality, family and marriage of the expatriate. Finally two challenges are laid before the SA church, one, to continue with missions in Africa according to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, Matthew 28:19-20, with the second, to combine the expatriate discipleship models into its mission strategies. Key terms: Africa, chaplains, children, evaluation research study, family, local African church, marriage, missionaries, mission strategies, pastors, practical theology, South African expatriates living in Africa, South African church and spirituality. Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D. – CS Ferguson DECLARATION I declare that: Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D, is my own work and that all the sources that I have used, or quoted, have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Clifford Stanley Ferguson 12 October 2013 Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D. – CS Ferguson Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D. – CS Ferguson DEDICATION To my wife Salomè: James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 1Timothy 1:5 But the end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned. In you, I have found love and wisdom, patience and warning, peace and understanding. The journey of life, in God’s hand, takes us where He wills. We together, have learned through experience, that the ministry is not for the faint-hearted. Your lonely hours, my working hours, together we endured to deliver results that have made us spiritually stronger. Whilst the winds of life moved over us, the love of God caused us to endure in faith and we have learnt to stand strong. The most tiring part is over, let’s run the rest of the race, loving, caring, laughing and working together to please one another and the Lord. I pray that God will engulf you with His gentleness and that you will enjoy the fruits of success. I will always love you. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My Triune God- For the privileges I have without deserving any. I stand in awe when I Father, Son and Holy grapple and work with the matters pertaining to God, His endless work Spirit: of grace together with His love for humanity. Many a time I had to approach the throne of Grace in prayer, through Jesus the Son, to obtain mercy, knowledge and wisdom. Also, when there were no answers, or when I was puzzled, I experienced the Holy Spirit opening up the doors of my mind to reveal the then unknown. Thanks to my Father in heaven for the spiritual guidance on this research journey, God is omnipresent, omnipotent and the benefactor of knowledge. Professor For your dedication to this investigation. I argue that my promoter was Jacques Theron: humble, spoke with wisdom and knowledge, also with an inherent authority; he is a man that knows God. By spending a number of years with a keen thinker and a solution finder, I learnt the art of sowing seed so that the students find the answers for themselves. Thank you for your guidance and the continual prompting to find out more. Jan Raaths: For the hours spent in the development of the thesis referencing planning database and programme. Ilze Pohl: For the assistance with the graphic arts, drawings and layout advice. Sandi du Toit and For the language and grammar preparations, the dedication to the Fancesca Compaan: correct use of the English language in the research report together with your opinions on research matters. Justiaan du Plessis: For the statistical verification of the data in Chapter 3 together with your views on statistical formulation and triangulation. Nombelelo Boloyi and For the transcripts of the video and audio material into Microsoft Word Ivan Janse van documents from MP3 and MP4 formats. Rensburg: Pastors and For the time spent filling out the research questionnaires and for the Chaplains: love you have for God’s people. South African For the time spent filling out the research questionnaires and for Expatriates: allowing me to interview you about your personal and spiritual life. ii Page Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D. – CS Ferguson TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND ORIENTATION OF THE STUDY. 1 Introduction 1 2 Personal observations 1 3 Background and rationale 4 3.1 The theological problem 8 3.2 Research questions 8 4 Practical theology 9 4.1 Practical theology and other scientific disciplines 11 4.2 Practical theology for this investigation 15 4.3 The model for this practical theological investigation 19 5 Clarification of terms and concepts 22 5.1 The problem statement 22 5.2 Assumptions 22 6. Research: aim, focus and subjects 23 6.1 Aim 23 6.2 Focus 23 6.3 Subjects 24 7. Research objectives 24 8. Research methodology & Ethics 25 9. Limitations 27 10 Thesis layout 28 11 Conclusion 28 iii Page Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D. – CS Ferguson CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 1 Introduction 30 2 Historical perspective 30 2.1 Biblical accounts of expatriation 31 2.2 Early Christian expatriate missions to Africa 36 2.3 Early South African missions to Africa 39 2.4 Early South African migration to Africa 40 3 Expatriates in Africa post 2000 A.D. 42 3.1 World population 42 3.2 World migration trends 43 3.3 Africa as a continent 45 3.4 South Africans and their background 60 3.5 South African emigration patterns 66 3.6 South Africans migration to African countries 63 4 Migrating spouses and families 65 4.1 Marital issues 66 4.2 Family issues 70 5 Conclusion 75 iv Page Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D. – CS Ferguson CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1 Introduction 77 2 Research design 79 2.1 Testing the thesis statement 81 2.2 Common research designs 82 2.3 The evaluation research design for this Investigation 90 2.4 Project purpose 96 2.5 The research design layout 97 3 Strengths and weaknesses of this design 101 3.1 Strengths 101 3.2 Weaknesses 101 4 Methodology 102 4.1 Structure and process 102 4.2 Instruments 103 4.3 Data and data collection 106 4.4 Analysis 108 5 Limitations 111 5.1 Language and culture 112 5.2 Time constraints 112 5.3 Budget constraints 112 5.4 Data constraints 112 6 Ethical considerations 113 7 Conclusion 113 v Page Singing the Lord’s song in a strange land: a practical theological investigation into the spiritual 2013 experiences of South African expatriates in Africa after 2000 A.D.