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South Africa
NewsUniversity Missions It is in a nation’s universities that ideas are developed and debated, where young people spend some of their most decisive years transitioning from childhood to adulthood and where future leaders are molded and launched out into society. Many graduates remain committed for the rest of their lives to ideas they embraced as university students. This was so in a positive way for Michael Cassidy, who was challenged by a fellow student to follow Jesus Christ within weeks of his arrival at Cambridge University. Thousands across Africa and around the world are now in the Kingdom because of this commitment Michael made as a student. Unfortunately, many university students are influenced negatively to abandon their faith on today’s secular campuses. And it is these university graduates who go on to steer the direction of the country. As Greg Smerdon, AE South Africa’s Team Leader, has said, “Nebuchadnezzar knew that if you want to cripple a nation, go for its academic and brainpower resource.” Greg and the AE Team in South Africa have realized afresh how crucial the university years are for their country’s future leaders and have developed a powerful strategy for impacting students for Christ. They recognize that many in their country are apprehensive about the future of South Africa, wondering what can be done to reverse the tide of moral decay, violence, crime and corruption that is threatening to engulf the nation. One of AE South Africa’s most effective responses is to invest in the lives of the country’s youth and young adults through effective evangelistic university missions. South Africa has 18 major universities: as finances permit, the team is aiming to launch a mission to each one every three years, with smaller follow-up missions in between. In this way, no student would complete their degree without having had an AE mission in their university. AE’s university missions involve a dynamic week of exciting ministry, having enlisted the regular participation of leading South African Christian celebrities, such as former cricket player Gary Kirsten and his wife Deborah (Michael’s daughter), Olympic swimming gold medalist Penny Heyns and junior flyweight boxing champ Baby Jake Matlala. Top musicians headline evening events through the week where packed-out audiences hear well-known Christians speak of how Jesus has become real to them. AE speakers like Michael Cassidy or Greg Smerdon will then bring a winsome Gospel presentation and appeal. Hundreds of students have come forward at these events to give their lives to Christ. In addition, lunchtime functions allow for topical messages, such as on marriage or Christian sexuality. Often Christian attorneys speak to future lawyers about the faith from a legal perspective. Or Christian doctors contend for their belief from their medical background. “Bull sessions” in dormitory lounges allow for AE evangelists to speak informally with students, spending hours answering questions and relating directly to students’ needs. Many opportunities for prayer come through these meetings, as young people feel free to share their hurts and questions in a smaller-group setting. Undergirding the effort is a serious commitment to prayer. A prayer tent centrally located on the campus during the mission allows for intercessors to keep the evangelistic thrust before the Lord. Students are also welcome to come in anytime to seek counseling or prayer for any needs they have. Jesus said, “look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” and indeed the AE South Africa Team has found this to be abundantly so on the university campuses. Yet there are many obstacles to this crucially needed university ministry. The missions are not inexpensive, costing between $20,000 and $30,000 each. Universities are, not surprisingly, difficult places to minister, with much intellectual hostility to the Christian faith. It is essential for AE evangelists to be conversant in the heady academic matters which engage students’ minds in these days. And there are numerous distractions in the lives of students, from permissive sexual ethics, to the lure of money and materialism after graduation, to the attractiveness of fashionable ideologies that leave no room for God. But the Kingdom benefits of AE’s recent forays onto university campuses are astonishing. Hundreds of graduates are now venturing out into the South African workplace with a commitment to follow Jesus rather than living for themselves or for an ultimately empty human ideology. Christian university groups are now finding themselves working together for common godly goals after uniting in a shared vision of working with AE to impact their campus. Students who were Christians already are filled with new excitement at the results of their prayers and efforts, and find themselves newly equipped and emboldened for further ministry. Christian professors find new converts they can invest into not only as students but as disciples. AE South Africa’s renewed focus on reaching university students is an exciting Kingdom venture that has proven itself fruitful over the past several years. The methodology is being honed while the AE team grows in its skill and expertise in engaging today’s students. The Lord is blessing these efforts with His favor and touching the hearts of students to respond. All that is needed is for good friends to come alongside in prayer and generous giving. Won’t you consider joining the AE South Africa Team in investing in the future of the country by offering the country’s university students the opportunity to hear an authentic and winsome presentation of the Christian Gospel? US Contact: Malcolm Graham You can donate to South Africa University Missions Now Wits University
Win the minds and hearts of a nation’s universities for Christ and the nation will follow. With this in mind, the African Enterprise team in South Africa tackled Wits University – more formally known as the University of the Witwatersrand – at the end of August. Wits is one of South Africa’s largest universities, in its largest and most influential city – Johannesburg – and has educated a huge percentage of the leaders now running the country.
With the AE South Africa team’s renewed focus on presenting the gospel to university students, Wits has been probably the biggest quarry in the team’s sights. More than a year of preparation yielded some astonishing ministry carried out by Michael Cassidy and other AE evangelists, augmented by well-known South African Christians.
The opening rally kicked off the outreach, with 800 students gathering to hear Greg Smerdon, AE’s South Africa team leader, give a gospel challenge. More than 60 of these made commitments to Jesus Christ, setting the stage for further fruit through the week of ministry.
Wits is a major urban university campus with tens of thousands of students, but the mission aimed to enable virtually all students to hear a gospel presentation by featuring lunchtime lectures, early evening meetings in dormitories and main evening meetings in the main campus hall or sports arena. Students heard not only from AE evangelists, but from Christian professors and South African celebrities. For example, Wits astrophysicist David Block stunned students with his audio-visual spectacular The Universe – Accident or Design?, which leaves little room for doubt that our universe has a Creator. World-renowned junior flyweight boxer Baby Jake Matlala gave his testimony, followed by a gospel challenge from Michael Cassidy. TV celebrity Michael Mol spoke on “Moving From Success to Significance” and was again followed by a Cassidy gospel presentation.
Cricketing sensation and Cassidy son-in-law Gary Kirsten spoke on “Life After Cricket” and Michael enjoyed sharing the stage with his daughter Debbie, as they spoke about the merits of marriage and of finding the right husband or wife. Said Michael after this event: “What a thrill to find the meeting absolutely jammed out beyond capacity. The Lord gave Debbie and me wonderful liberty and joy in sharing. When I gave the appeal at the end for those to stand who wished to give their love destinies to Jesus Christ, I would say that some 98 percent of that packed-out auditorium stood immediately to their feet! We prayed a commitment prayer for those wishing to give their lives to the Lord and followed that with another prayer of surrendering their marriage destiny into Christ’s hands.”
The AE team was moved by the response of so many of the students who gave their lives to Christ, as well as by the Christian students on the Wits planning committee, who said the mission went way beyond any of their expectations. One Wits professor said just wept when she saw the enormous response in answer to the prayers of so many for so long. “Praise God,” Michael concluded. “The young are hungry for spiritual reality and when they hear the gospel clearly proclaimed, they are eager and ready to respond. This is awesome and it calls for great doxologies.”
Rhodes University Mission: "Filling the Gap & Changing the Nation"African Enterprise endeavors, above all else, to evangelize the multitudes that live within the cities of Africa. What better way to begin a revival than to reach out to the young adults in university with the leadership capacity to change the future? Seeing this great potential, Greg Smerdon, the new AE South Africa team leader reinstituted AE's university missions in 2006 after a twenty year gap, and continued it this year with an unprecedented success at the renowned Rhodes University in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. read more A United WitnessApril 17, 2006 African Enterprise will be supporting a mission at Rhodes University (RU) in August this year. This follows the successful Yizani Mission to the City of Grahamstown led by AE in 2002. On 10/11 March an AE team led by Greg Smerdon, Songe Chibambo and Mvusi Gwam kicked off the mission preparation process. Greg preached to a packed Chapel during the Christians@Rhodes First Term Service and met staff and students afterwards at a hot dog social on the lawn in front of Chapel. Staff and student society delegates then met for the Shared Vision Encounter mission planning meeting which went on until Saturday afternoon. A mission Committee was elected and the countdown to August 2006 has begun. The mission statement was provisionally set at:"A united witness of relevance to the Christian Faith at Rhodes University". Read More... AESA Team Leader, Greg Smerdon SpeaksApril 13, 2006 Dear Partners in the gospel, I trust this publication finds you well and still reflecting and reminiscing on the grand triumph of the Easter story. It deeply warms my heart that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were greeted by these astounding words: "Don't be alarmed," [the angel] said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." Mark 16:6 Missions Report for Support Offices Issuedby Mike Odell 2005 has been a very busy year for our missions department. We have a number of missions on the go which have kept everybody extremely busy. The Role of a Godly Mother is an Awesome Responsibilityby African Enterprise Phineas Dube spoke recently to a large group of women on the subject "Born for a Purpose." |
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Team Leader
