Discipleship And Spiritual Growth Throughout Africa

Purpose

To assist the churches in each city of Africa to reach every resident through stratified evangelism, prayer, leadership training and quality discipleship. 

Overview

In reaching the cities, AE uses a stratified evangelism strategy.  This has been developed over many years and has shown to be the most effective means of reaching people for Christ within the African cultural context.  Rather than using one or two key evangelists, AE utilizes scores of evangelists (predominantly local persons) who blanket a city during the campaign.

Hundreds of smaller meetings are held in schools, factories, businesses, government offices, universities, prisons, hospitals, open-air markets and any venue where people gather.

AE's mission methodology promotes long term effects with high priority being placed on the encouragement and training of the local Church.  Several years can go into preparing for a mission.  Fostering and building unity amongst the local churches and para-churches is primary, as is the training of God's people in key areas such as evangelism, prayer, discipleship, pastoral care and follow-up.  Witnessing and participating in a successful model of partnership also encourages the local church to continue on in this manner after the mission is over.

After some of our missions, police have reported a significant drop in crime and even secular newspapers have reported community changes.

Undoubtedly however, it is the increased hope, strength and zeal of the local city churches and its leadership after the mission that is so encouraging.  It is they who continue to be Christ's primary representatives in that city.

Pan African Mission Reports

Llilongwe Leadership September 2006 | Soweto Summer 2006 | Antananarivo Leadership 2005

Llilongwe Leadership Mission September 2006

A wonderful 'poem' by one of the ladies from First Presbyterian Church of Monrovia, CA that attended the Lilongwe Leadership Mission in September 2006. These experiences are indeed worth encouraging:

Our African Enterprise Mission 2006

We were strangers.
We were affluent by comparison.
We were American – ugly or otherwise.
And we were women.
In many lands on our globe
These traits would work to our disadvantage,
Would give us no entry to opportunity or privilege.

But we were Christian
And we were arriving by invitation.
We were traveling to a country
Striving for integrity,
Acceptance among the nations.
We sought neither advantage nor privilege,
Only acceptance from them and a time to learn,
Only the opportunity to encourage and support
Their striving.

We came to join other Christians
In the work of encouraging
The country’s struggles,
Uniquely, the people’s struggles,
To form a land of hope.
We came to encourage the Christians
In their witness to Jesus Christ
By their demonstration of love and caring
For the desperately ill,
The hopelessly poor,
And the manacled ignorant.

Our Christian friends met us at the airport,
Lugged our luggage into a van,
And seated us in a comfortable sedan
For our journey to the hotel.
Every level of leadership
>From the top down,
On that day and eight days following,
Were committed to our comfort,
Our availability, and the use of our resources.
Not for one moment were we ignored.

But what we treasured more than anything,
More than “royal” treatment,
More than appreciation for our contributions,
Was their enfolding of us into their fellowship.
Breakfast. . .we three appeared at the morning buffet
Ordering our “to order” eggs and toast,
And coffee, of course,
And choosing to sit at one of the round tables:
The room was sparsely occupied.
Within minutes the leaders of the conference,
Dressed for the business of the day,
Strode through the doorway,
Headed for the food,
And pulled up extra chairs to join us
At our round table.
Without pretense, they wanted to sit with us.
And so the day began
     With food
     with easy welcome
     with laughter
     with casual reference to the day’s plans
     and with prayer.

There were quick lunches snatched,
And late night suppers with weary talk,
Disjointed sentences, truncated comments.
At night the guest speakers often longed for home,
Sometimes worried about a problem
They were unable to attend to,
Sometimes sharing a disappointment
At a lack of preparation. . .
Inadequacy, frustration, longing all haunting at the same time.
We heard it all. . .
We were part of the family,
Accepted, and perhaps even loved
In those few short days.
What I treasure most about the journey
Was the intimacy of those golden moments together.
And I remembered something
A friend of mine once said
“Whenever you eat and drink together,
Think of Me.”
And in the midst of us,
HE was there.

E. L. O. - October 14, 2006

The next phase of this Mission to Lilongwe the capital city of Malawi, will be a city-wide mission in September 2007.

^ Return to Pan African Missions Reports

Soweto Gospel Uprising

"Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it she will call in her friends and neighbours to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin. In the same way there is joy in the presence of God's angels when even one sinner repents." Luke 15:8-10

Had the Soweto mission seen just one person come to faith, it would have been worth it, as who can put a price on a soul? As Michael Cassidy addressed the missioners at the commissioning service, he encouraged each person to find their one Ethiopian - that one soul to save. As it turned out many came to know Christ or rededicated their lives to Christ. At some venues there were just one or two, at others up to 100. With over 70 meetings every day many people were reached.

The Lord brought to Soweto a huge team of AE evangelists, staff, Foxfire evangelists, plus an astonishing overseas contingent from New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, UK, Canada, USA, Bolivia, and Egypt.

Our post-lunchtime, briefing and report back meetings, which ran about an hour and a half, had over a hundred people and there was a stunning buzz which was omnipresent as all the stories and reports were presented. There was worship, a devotional, then reports from any who wished to tell stories about where they had been ministering.

I think the headline happenings of the mission were really the extraordinary tales of the very effective witness and evangelism first in the schools, then on the commuter trains going in and out of Johannesburg, then in the prisons, among the police, and in hospices, clinics, open-air meetings, evening zonal rallies, and daily on the radio which reached many, many people. Highlights of all these were the amazing individual stories of individual lives deeply affected.

Our young evangelists and overseas teams addressed assemblies every day in 30 or more schools and then usually were involved in six or seven classes in a row teaching life skills, sharing their testimonies, answering questions, and challenging youngsters to accept Christ. Class numbers ranged from 35 to 80 so a vast number of young people were exposed to our young messengers of the Gospel. One lass from Egypt told me that in her classes some 60 young people professed commitment to Christ. Students asked the most extraordinary questions such as: "Are you a virgin? Do you abstain?" And other such leading and provocative questions. One of the Egyptian girls said that youngsters were totally startled and amazed and wondered how on earth it could be possible that she was a virgin and abstaining from sex until married. That gives just a kind of a notion of the mindset and attitude of youngsters in our schools. Having sex is almost like buying a Coke or getting a hamburger. There just is nothing special about it. We need to be praying much about youngsters in our South African schools and with this kind of line on things, it's not surprising that South Africa as a country has the highest number of HIV/Aids cases in the world.

Prisons: City of the Son

We checked through one gate, then another, and another, and another... I think after 5 gates I lost count. They call the Johannesburg prison "Sun City", because, with the spotlights on at night, it seems the sun never sets. However the chaplain there has renamed it the "City of The Son".

Michael Cassidy reported that he and Stephen Lungu spoke one morning to some 120 of the top prison officials, including the boss man, and again the reception to the Gospel was amazing. Every single person asked for our follow-up literature. In some of the mass cells, including one where each person was dying (most of them of HIV/Aids), we shared Christ and prayed with the inmates. In another cell, and not that big, there were about 100 beds, tiered in three stories/levels. We shared Christ with some of the men who were in there with the interpretation being done by a guy who was inside for life for highjacking and murder, but has now come to Christ. For several nights in a row I went to sleep meditating on Hebrews 13:3: "Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them." I think the mental images of what I saw there in those two days will be with me forever. Pray for the Chaplain there, Billy Joubert by name, that the Lord will continue to use him in an extraordinary way. He has 102 students in his prison Bible school (a three-year course) and 28 graduated last year. Every second official we met seemed to be a believer and the place is amazingly well run with hundreds of prisoners coming to Christ. We were glad to contribute to this process and see some really great responses. Needless to say Stephen Lungu's story blew them away and melted many tough hearts. My heart was overwhelmed in one section being with about 30 children round about two years of age whose mothers are in prison. Prison workers help in giving wonderful love to these little ones and the creche and playschool are really something else, a Holy Spirit happening indeed. At times I felt as if I was being taken on a guided tour round a vast mega-church where virtually everyone one met was a believer! A slight exaggeration, but not as great as you might imagine.

Grace Masalakulangwa (AE Tanzania) and the Foxfire team were ministering at the woman's correctional facility. What a touching experience. The sign in the waiting room reads: "Inmates are human, treat them with respect and dignity". Not only are they human but women with hopes and dreams like you and I. I spoke to several inmates, but then God led me to my "Ethiopian". As many came forward to commit their lives, one lady caught my attention in the crowd. It is not easy to ask a person why they are in prison, but as she shared her story I felt the liberty to do so, she was in for murder. As her story unfolded so did my compassion. It was such a privilege to be able to reassure her of Jesus' hand on her life and offer her my prayers.

Do please hold this JHB Correctional Centre (Soweto) in your prayers and that the Lord will continue a mighty work there.

The Waiting Room

As I sat in the clinic waiting room I looked around at the patients, many of them elderly, and I saw faces marred with the pain and suffering only illness can bring. It struck me that the waiting room to eternity is also full of pain and suffering, that which sin paints on the soul. It became apparent to me that as these people were here waiting to be treated for physical illnesses, we are all in the waiting room of eternity; awaiting treatment for our souls... and for this there is only one remedy... Jesus. Would these people's prognosis be death or life? I prayed as Mbulelo Hina (AE SA) shared the gospel in three waiting rooms on that day and rejoiced as hands went up to accept Christ. Many other patients and staff were lead to the Lord during the week as several clinics were visited each day. What joy for those who responded, for them the prognosis is eternal life with Him.

The bed was empty!

The day before Sandy (Australia 'young at heart' team) had prayed with a dying aids patient who was in a lot of pain, the next day her bed was empty. Assuming the worst, Sandy stepped outside, only to see the lady sitting out in the sun, rejoicing that all pain was gone. The hospice building was so small that only a few of the team could squeeze into the room to witness to the outpatients, but the 'young at heart' team were enthused by their daily visits and saw a number of patients respond to Christ. Sandy, as a nurse, was the only team member to be allowed to go into the ward where the dying were. She was able to pray with a woman as she died and lead 2 to the Lord who were within days, maybe hours of dying. What a pleasure, in their final hours, to see God snatch a life from darkness into light.

It was when the first child came forward that the tears began to flow.

I had been watching the children earlier on in the service, many of them ragged with sadness in their eyes, nothing breaks my heart more than sadness in a child's eyes, that vacant look born of hardship. We were in a tent meeting in Zola, an area, I am told, of Soweto considered the most dangerous and depraved. There are many young children in this area as teenage pregnancy is rife. But it is here that God led Pastor Tony (New Hope Community Church), through a number of dreams, to establish his church. God had given him dreams of the state of the children and youth in the area and it is predominantly to this age group that the church ministers. I attended the church the Sunday before the mission with Leonard (AE Congo) where we had seen a number respond to the message. But it was in an evening tent meeting when Greg Smerdon (AE SA) spoke that I was moved to tears as his alter call elicited the response of the children. As the week went on Greg saw about 60 come to Christ, almost doubling the size of the church. Many of the Sowetan churches meet in tents, unable to afford a building but faithfully serving the Lord with what they have. However, on the Thursday, I attended with Mvusi Gwam (AE SA - PE office) a church that was in a building, if one could call it that. Our flippant remarks of needing a four-wheel drive to reach the church were close to truth. This Church was in an ‘informal settlement', one room of a tin shack. The church catered for a small crowd of 20. With no electricity in that area, only the immediate neighbours could come to the service as darkness and danger prevented others. Maybe it was because the room was small and ‘God's presence could not spread out', but I have rarely felt His presence so intensely. Tent or tin shack, God was moving in the Churches of Soweto.

Story after story...

At the age of about 5 her father had left home, only to discover that he was not infact her father. At the age of 6 she was raped but had never had the courage to tell anyone. As she got older she suddenly found her friends distancing themselves from her. On confronting them they confessed that her neighbour was spreading rumours that the same man had in fact raped her at the age of 2. On asking her mother to confirm this, her mother became very angry, refusing to give a straight answer. On remarrying her mother had a son with her stepfather; a favoured child who received all the attention in the household while her mother berated her constantly with words of unworthiness. With this, hatred grew for her family and she attempted to kill her younger brother by smothering him, but as he struggled she was overcome by remorse and let him go. Instead, she tried to kill herself, not once but several times by several different means. On discovering the man who had raped her had died she now feared HIV/aids and had recently begun to have a number of very disturbing dreams about dead people... On the Wednesday of the mission Thembisa (ex AE SA foxfire) shared her testimony in a school. That break she was approached by Ana who shared the above story.

I wish I could say this was the only such story I heard while in Soweto, but no, it was one of story after story relayed by those working in schools, of young people; abused, raped, prostituted out by parents, fearing HIV/aids. In another school of 1800 learners, Rose (PE foxfire team) shared her testimony of abuse and the redemption she had found through Jesus. However as she made an alter call, no one moved. Then Rose did something she has evidently never done before - she began to sing - "Come to Jesus" - and first one learner then another started to come forward, bold enough to say 'yes I want to meet this Jesus, I want my life to change'. It was at this point the sniggering began; we would find out later that one of the schools biggest "gangsters" had responded. To come forward in front of 1800 of your sniggering peers, God has to have touched your heart. In school after school learners and teachers responded to the Gospel, their only hope in the darkness of their world.

Thembisa was able to go with Ana to the clinic where she tested negative for HIV/aids and later in the week, led her to the Lord.

How many of us have been physically harmed because of our faith? Ben (Sowetan train ministry) has on several occasions. The worst being when, whilst preaching, he was thrown from a moving train. A compatriot of his had been shot and killed after preaching on the trains. However Ben still continues to minister faithfully, as he has done for the last 17 years, on the trains from Soweto. Ben was instrumental in coordinating and accompanying the AE evangelists in their daily train ministry. It would seem that in some carriages, so many have come to Christ that it is almost like a mini church service where a time of worship and devotion is held. However, this is not an easy ministry as often people are reluctant to publicly come forward for prayer and thus one does not always get to see the fruit of such a ministry. Needless to say, Ben recounts many instances where people have approached him in other arenas and thanked him for his ministry where they had, although not publicly, privately given their lives to the Lord. Who knows how many seeds were sown during this mission.

On speaking in one of the clinics, Philip (AE SA associate) was approached by one of the Matrons who tearfully asked him to pray for her husband, a commander in the military. Phillip took down his cell number and the following day sent him the message, “Be still and know that I am God”. Phillip's phone rang! Little did Phillip realise the impact of one sms as he received an angry phone call from the man. Little did the man realise the impact of one phone call, as Phillip was able to explain the Gospel to him and lead him to Christ. God works in unexpected ways.

The hustle and bustle of a taxi rank may not seem conducive to ministry. But add to the mix, the foxfires dancing and a powerful testimony by Stephen Lungu and lives are touched. The taxi ranks was not the only target for open-air ministry during the week; another target area was shopping centres. On one occasion the evangelist preaching was not aware of anyone listening to his message, however on making an appeal to those who wanted to accept Christ, a cleaner came forward, bucket, mop and all. God had met her as she busied herself with her work and although the preacher thought no one was being reached, God was at work.

Three rallies were held during the proclamation week, an opening, youth and closing rally. I was touched at the closing rally after Michael and Stephen gave an alter call, as I watched as one young man run across the stadium up to the front, isn't this how we should all come to Christ... running?

^ Return to Pan African Missions Reports

Antananarivo Mission to Leadership

Thursday, July 07, 2005

African Enterprise

THIS IS THE WAY WALK IN IT.

It has not been easy for the AE team to leave the Island.  God has got His children everywhere and indeed he is building His church.  It was a team of 5 people which traveled to Antananarivo having Michael Cassidy (AE International Team leader) as evangelist/Teacher, Rev Esme Bowers (Chairperson for AE South Africa)  evangelist/Teacher, Antoine Rutayisire (AE Rwanda Team leader) as evangelists/Teacher, Udo Kruger (Pan African Administrator), and myself. 

As you can read from the top headline, the key verse for this leadership mission came from Isaiah 30:21, "This is the way, Walk in it." The mission started with the Press Conference, which was held at the bible society. Members of the Press from different Newspapers and organizations attended the conference. The main aim was that the journalist would have the right picture of what African Enterprise is all about and the purpose of our coming to Madagascar/Antananarivo.  This was one way of publicity and indeed during the course of the week we saw and read articles from different papers concerning what AE was doing in the city.  

THE MEETING WITH THE PASTORS AND CHURCH LEADERS.

The meeting with the Pastors and Church leaders went very well.  It was so good to see different pastors from different churches coming and working together.  For some of the Pastors who came for this meeting, it was their first time to work together with other churches.  There is a big gap between some of the mainline churches and those that are just growing so much so that some of those churches that are considered to be big do not want to associate with the others.   But for this leadership mission, most of the church leaders were available and attended the seminar.  In attendance on this leadership training, was Monsignor Joseph Rabenirina, the Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Madagascar/Antananarivo and also the Moderator of the Presbyterian churches in Madagascar and other senior Church Leaders and Pastors.

In his sermon Michael shared about the "Life in Jesus and the character of the Local Pastor and the Church." He spoke on life in Jesus as a journey that Pastors and Church leader have been called to walk in.  He spoke on the needs and challenges that Pastors and Church leaders do face in the ministry and as the session was coming to an end, he divided the audience into the groups of threes and fours and prayed for each other.  Almost everyone who came appreciated the meeting and suggested that this must be done often.  The total number of those who attended was 75 and we thank God.

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