Wanda Bolton-Davis isn't a fan of travel.
But this summer she felt divinely inspired to do something way beyond her North Texas comfort zone. She organized a religious mission to Kenya, to preach the word of God and bring comfort to those in need.
"This is the last thing I wanted to do, in all honesty," said Ms. Bolton-Davis, the founder of Victorious Disciples, a Christian ministry that focuses on the spiritual needs of women.
Denny Davis, pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Grand Prairie and Southlake, preaches to a crowd of more than 200,000 at Uhuru Park in Nairobi, Kenya.
"But ever since seminary, I just felt the Lord calling me to go abroad."
So when she got a call for help from Teresia Wairimu, a leading Christian evangelist in Nairobi, Ms. Bolton-Davis responded. Ms. Wairimu's Faith Evangelistic Ministry, founded more than 15 years ago with 17 women, now holds monthly crusades in Nairobi's Uhuru Park that can attract more than 200,000 people.
Ms. Bolton-Davis recruited a handful of others to join her in the mission, including her husband, the Rev. Denny Davis, pastor of St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Grand Prairie and Southlake. The church contributed close to $100,000 for the trip.
And the Davises were off to Africa.
They joined a growing number of African-American Christians who are following their faith back to Africa.
Missionary work is one way to honor what Christians of all races call "the Great Commission," Jesus' directive to his disciples (related in Matthew) to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
But for more than a century, societal, cultural and economic obstacles have made it difficult for most African-American churches to heed that call. Only in recent years, experts say, has that begun to change, as black American churches have grown more prosperous and more conscious of their role on the world stage.
The Rev. James Sutherland, who has studied and worked with black church missions, said he knows of at least 15 African-American churches that have sent missions to Africa over the past few years.
"Fourteen of those 15 were sending their first missionaries to Africa," he said. Dr. Sutherland directs Reconciliation Ministries Network, a Tennessee-based nonprofit group that helps mobilize and inform black churches about the need for foreign missions.
In 1998, he wrote a dissertation on the underrepresentation of African-Americans in mission work. He estimated that only a few hundred were involved in such overseas efforts, compared with tens of thousands of white missionaries.
In part, Dr. Sutherland argued, black churches for decades had to worry most about their own survival. In addition, he argued, slavery and post-Civil War institutionalized discrimination barred many black Americans from joining in missionary efforts. And, there was similar racial discrimination practiced by the colonial governments of many African countries.
But now, he said, many black U.S. churches have reached a level of prosperity that permits them to engage in outreach ministries.
"For many African-Americans, this is the first generation to have the opportunity to experience the American Dream," he said. "And a majority of churches are enjoying newly won and hard-won privileges." Previously, he said, these congregations "had not been interested in sending money outside their churches."
The newfound participation of black churches in African missionary work "is still a loosely organized and loosely affiliated effort, but it is happening," Dr. Sutherland said. He added that large, predominantly white missionary organizations also are seeing increasing numbers of blacks joining their missions.
The new wave of black missionaries going to Africa is not without historical precedent, said Ruth Tucker, president of the Association of Professors of Mission and a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Mich. She said some of this country's earliest foreign missionaries were African-American, pioneers like Lott Carey, William Sheppard and Eliza Davis George.
Mr. Carey, who is believed to have been the first American missionary to Africa, sailed with his wife to Sierra Leone in 1821.
Mr. Sheppard, sometimes referred to as the "black Livingston," traveled about 900 miles into the Congo in 1883. Ms. George, a teacher from Waco, traveled to Africa in 1911, setting up missionary schools in Liberia.
Bishop T.D. Jakes, who leads the 28,000-member Potter's House in southwest Dallas, has been to African countries eight times in recent years. He believes the efforts of black megachurches are just beginning.
On his trips, Bishop Jakes said, he preaches not only the Gospel, but also economic development.
"We as African-Americans feel about the continent of Africa much the same way that American Jews feel about Israel," he said.
"But it goes beyond our being African-American. ... I believe it is in the best interest of all Americans that Africa become a huge opportunity for democracy and spirituality to flourish – or it becomes a huge potential for terroristic flames to be supported."
In October, Bishop Jakes plans to lead a delegation of almost 500 people to Kenya. Among those traveling will be the 200-member Potter's House Mass Choir, which will record a concert there. Also among the group will be U.S. businessmen hoping to improve economic ties between the two countries.
Ushers lock hands to keep eager congregants back in Nairobi's Uhuru Park. Many Kenyan Christians walk 20 miles or more to attend services.
"They are coming in a spirit of brotherhood, not condescending," she said. "Beyond financially helping you, they motivate you spiritually, mentally and psychologically."
O. Sonny Acho, a pastor at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, said he knows firsthand about the importance of black missionaries.
Dr. Acho is a native of Nigeria who lived there until his 20s. He now leads groups of nurses, doctors and pastors to Africa every year, and said they're often greeted by thousands of people waiting for medical care.
"When I was growing up in Africa, I never met a black missionary, not even once in any school or church," he said.
Mr. Davis of St. John Missionary Baptist Church said that while this summer's trip was for only for two weeks, he hopes to establish long-term ties with Christians on the African continent.
"I would hope that in our going, we would be able to sow the seed," he said. "I would hope that it would develop a passion in the heart of some to become full-time missionaries."
Mr. Davis said he saw parallels between the missionary work of black Americans – many of them descendants of African slaves – and the Old Testament story of Joseph. "Joseph was sold into slavery, but it was really God positioning him to be able to do good, to help his people," he said.