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About

Allen Temple Baptist Church Global Ministries

Mission Scripture

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

Our Director

Rev. Theophous Reagans, Director of Global Ministries, believes the paradigm for mission has changed and that mission work has become increasingly bilateral rather than unilateral. These sojourns and the humility they engender cause all of us, missioners and hosts, to be more concerned about others, which in turn causes us to become more active partners with God in bringing about justice.

Our Mission

Global Ministries promotes Allen Temple Baptist Church’s awareness of and involvement with issues that concern people globally, and especially Africans and people of African descent. The Ministry provides opportunities for service and education, and for cultural, religious, and economic exchange.

Our Activities

The Ministry facilitates cultural, economic, and religious exchange, in part, by sponsoring sojourns globally, and particularly to the African continent. Global Ministries provides experiences that help participants affirm their personal connection to Africa as her sons and daughters.

What We Believe

We believe that the African American Church should heed Pan-Africanist calls for African economic cooperation, and Black historical and cultural awareness.

Our Pastor Emeritus, Dr. J. Alfred Smith, Sr., often said, “just as those of Jewish heritage advocate on behalf of the State of Israel, and those of Irish heritage advocate on behalf of Ireland, and those of Italian heritage advocate on behalf of Italy, so we of African descent must advocate on behalf of African people worldwide.”

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has said that one of the principles undergirding South African society is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu is an Nguni word that describes a particular African worldview in which people can only find fulfillment through interacting with other people. Thus, it represents a spirit of kinship across both race and creed that unites humankind to a common purpose. Bishop Tutu has said: “Ubuntu is very difficult to render into a Western language… It is to say: My humanity is caught up, is inextricably bound up, in what is yours.” People who embrace this principle are known for their generosity.

We believe there are many ways that African people can continue the incarnational mission of Christ and practice Ubuntu, helping one another, and helping people worldwide.

In our modern western society, people think of themselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another. However, we have come to understand that we cannot live isolated from one another in this country or in the world. Our humanity is caught up, inextricably bound up, with that of our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

We believe that going on spiritual sojourns and sharing with others will cause a deeper expression of our humanity.

Ultimately, what motivates us is our desire to answer God’s call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. We will do our part to bring about global justice, to show love and compassion, and to eliminate human suffering. We will strive to remain humble remembering that God has called us to this work, and that it is God, who enables us to accomplish it.

Take a look at our newsletters

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Global Mission

Overview

Global mission work increasingly has become bilateral rather than unilateral, perhaps even polycentric. This recognizes that we all have spiritual, emotional, social and material needs that are mutually being addressed by missioners and hosts alike. In her book, The Spiritual Lives of Young Africans, Almeda Wright postulates that African American Christian youth, some of whom are even working as social activists, are trying to figure out how to respond to social issues but do not see this work as remotely connected to a larger history of Christian social witness or to any Christian community. There appears to be a disconnect between these arenas for them, such that neither informs the other and their spiritual lives are fragmented or compartmentalized. There is a gap between their praxis and theology. The changing paradigm of global mission offers promise for better integration between shared, multilateral, global social activism and spiritual development and practice.

For ten years, we have led missioners from Allen Temple Baptist Church to South Africa. Our brothers and sisters in South Africa always receive us with love and warm African hospitality. Our sojourns often include youth missioners. Our youth participants, together with local South African youth, engage in a variety of educational and charitable activities, that not only provide opportunities for didactic and service learning, but that provide an opportunity for meaningful religious and cultural exchange and for forging close friendships that last beyond the time frame of the trip. Our young people are greatly blessed by their visits to South Africa and their interaction with young South Africans. They see a glimpse of their past. The young South Africans are also deeply touched and encouraged; they see hope for the future. Both groups realize they have a lot in common and that they can learn from each other in finding solutions to their common challenges.

The experience of Allen Temple Global Ministries offers important lessons about the changing paradigm for doing international mission work, particularly on the African continent. The prophet Micah summarizes God’s design: “He has told you, oh man, what is good and what the Lord desires of you—that you love mercy and do justice and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Loving mercy and doing justice together leads us to holistic involvement. Global Ministries has developed a program that encourages youth and young adults to create bilateral community service programs that serve as agents of change. For example, South African participants established a women’s support group targeting young women living on the streets in Kliptown and a computer-training program targeting youth and seniors living in an impoverished community near their church. Experiencing these trips provides a unique crucible within which our youth can operationalize and internalize the Global Missions call “to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God.”

From Our Participants

Alexandria is a graduate of St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California and a seminary student. Of her two mission trips to South Africa, Alexandria has stated the following:

It changed my outlook on life as far as the role I am to play as a Black person in the world, showing me that my history makes sense, and directs who I am. I will say also, it helped change or helped shape my identity or my perception of who God is. It has broadened my range of who God is, and personally, I was called from being a regular church member to a messenger for God in ministry.

Major, a graduate of Marquette University, traveled to South Africa with Global Ministries while he was a student. Major has stated the following:

I guess it changed me because it changed my outlook. It changed how I look at things. It changed my perspectives. It definitely enhanced my humanity. It gave me the ability to open up to people. It gave me the opportunity to let others see me being vulnerable. I am not used to letting people see me like that especially in...

Nombuso is a young adult member of W.W. Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Soweto, South Africa who began participating with our cultural exchange several years ago. She submitted a winning proposal to the Global Ministries Community Service Project Competition. As a result, she traveled to the U.S. and Allen Temple Baptist Church, and attended the Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference. After attending the Conference, Nombuso stated the following in a letter:

I visited Allen Temple and was introduced to some of the ministries that take place at the church… I learned that ministry work is not only the teachings of the spirit but it can also be teachings of well-being, good health, and personal developments of people and family...

[At] Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference… We learned about strengthening churches, empowering leaders, and transforming our communities. I gained good knowledge and gained some sense of empowerment and encouragement to take back home to help uplift my church and my community...

Caesar is also a young adult member of W.W. Brown Memorial Baptist Church. Caesar began participating in our cultural exchange when he was in high school. He is now a graduate of American Baptist College. Caesar has stated the following:

Interacting with Global Ministries and speaking with the young people and hearing about the work that they do in Oakland and how the church work affects the community has given me a different view of what my responsibility is as a Christian in terms of representing Christ in the community and how that should affect the people that I come into interaction with on a day-to-day basis. This has manifested itself in terms of the ministry that I have been working on establishing in Nashville where I now attend school. I have come up with an organization that we call “Servants on a Mission.” We try to have community service with the Nashville Rescue Mission and have bible study. We speak to the people at the Mission, share our experiences and also hear about their experiences. We try to help them cope with the challenges of life and their plans to come out of their situations that they find themselves in.

Young people on both sides of the Atlantic were transformed as a result of their religious and cultural exchange. To the extent that our young people have been moved toward humility and service, they have been transformed in the most important ways as servants of, and partners with, God.

From Charity to Justice: The Changing Paradigm of Mission
By Rev. Theophous H. Reagans, Esq.

Testimonials

“It is one thing for one to go on a trip and meet a few people, share a few gourmet meals, sleep on goose down pillows and Egyptian cotton sheets then return home unbothered and with one more notch on your travel belt. However, it is a completely different and distinct blessing and honor to have a genuine experience that puts a notch on one's consciousness and in one’s heart.

My attendance of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference through Allen Temple Global Ministries was without shadow of a doubt, the latter experience.

Prior to our departure for Norfolk, I and I am sure a few others had no idea what to expect from the Proctor Conference. I must admit, that indeed, I was a tad disgruntled about missing school and getting behind on school work to go to this conference that I knew so little about—in the cold and all the way on the East Coast. Nevertheless, setting my emotions aside, I boarded the plane and took off to Norfolk, Virginia. All apprehension disappeared at first step into the lobby of the Waterside Marriot Hotel. Rather than meeting awkward introductions and forced pleasantries, I was greeted with genuine, jovial hugs, handshakes, and hellos from a myriad of people, none that I knew, but all as brothers and sisters who had come together for a common cause.

From that moment on I had fellowship with people ranging from: concerned pew members to seminarians; theologians to famed preachers; civil rights icons to prophetic educators; and activists to world changers of all classes and creeds. As if the networking, diversity of people and variety of interaction were not enough, we had our minds expanded, theologies bent, twisted and challenged in the best ways possible. We had our eyes opened to a multitude of issues and causes in the immensely informative breakout sessions and classes. We had the opportunity to learn from local, national, and international leaders, preachers, and teachers.

I must say that in four days I gained a lifetime worth of experiences and knowledge but moreover, a charge to be a beacon of light within my own church and community. And, I received a refreshed theology template that will allow me to eliminate some of the prejudices and oppressive practices that the church has allowed to hurt and abuse people for so long.

Above all, the Proctor Conference gave me a renewed vision and purpose and a deep rooted investment in the progression of the world. I am most grateful.”

– Daniel Mastin

Watch Video Testimonials (created by one of our participants)

Video

Donate

Our charitable work and leadership development are only possible through fundraising and the generous support of donors. The gifts we received have enabled us to: build homes for families living in shack communities, renovate dilapidated unsanitary bathrooms for a nursery and church, give clothing to children, purchase school uniforms and shoes for children without the means to pay for them, and provide school supplies and appliances needed to keep a nursery school running. Your support will make a difference and literally change the lives of dozens of children and youth in South Africa and Ghana, and help local youth learn to live their commitment to service in a global context.