For the next two years, the national Royal Rangers office will present Master’s Toolbox projects that will assist Royal Rangers International with initiatives to strengthen existing ministry overseas and to plant new outposts internationally.
Doug Marsh, director for Royal Rangers International, says, “We hope to accomplish three goals in the near future: (1) provide Royal Rangers training and resources in Swahili, (2) equip and build new structures at the national Rangers training center outside of Nairobi, Kenya, and (3) establish the Royal Rangers ministry in seven new nations. Our challenge for Africa is that you will help us plant 700 or more African outposts.”
Rangers Materials in Swahili
Swahili is considered by Africans in that region as “the language of our grandfathers.” Royal Rangers resources offered in Swahili bring about a higher level of comprehension and application while also adding to the perceived integrity of the resources and ministry.
Royal Bridging Centre (RBC)
“The RBC is an extension of the Royal Rangers ministry in Kenya and was created by Kenya Assemblies of God Pastor Patrick Kawe as an “alternative rite of passage for adolescent boys,” says Missionary Andy Whitman. The tradition of African families is to take 13-year-old boys through a right-of-passage ceremony that is conducted by witch doctors. Since this ceremony is so steeped in the tradition of Africans, even Christian families engage their boys in this ceremony.
“Rev. Kawe points out the tragedy of training up a child in their early formative years but then abandoning them to the world during their critical adolescent period,” says Andy Whitman. “He describes it, in a classic African way, as ‘leading a child by the hand until we reach a river, and because there is no crossing, we ask a crocodile to ferry the child to the other side. Of course, the child never arrives because the crocodile eats him on the way. Instead, we should be building a bridge across the river to safely guide the child on the way to adulthood.'”
Expanding the Royal Rangers Ministry
Karl Fleig, national director for Royal Rangers, states that the goal will be for outposts in America to sponsor the development of brand-new outposts in Africa. The dollar amount needed to birth a new church outpost was not determined at the time of writing, but Karl notes that the sponsorship would cover the cost of everything needed to start a Rangers outpost in a given church.
More details will be shared at the March 2017 Royal Rangers National LEAD Conference in Springfield, Missouri.