The life-changing impact of our missions continued across Africa in 2021. We conducted 11 missions that were able to provide essential opportunities to preach the Gospel to the unreached. We were able to share the Gospel with over 12 million people through radio, television, social media, street evangelism, mission events and door to door evangelism. More than 46,000 people made decisions to follow Christ through these activities.
Over the last 5 years, we have reached 22 million people, and praise God, 450,000 souls committed to following Jesus! These numbers are extraordinary, and only possible through the support of our partners. Many of you have courageously held up AE through prayers, hard work and financial giving. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, God has been incredibly faithful.
Following the KAYONZA mission in Rwanda, Pastor Gatera was blessed to receive 7 new converts in his church. He has also helped young girls who faced unwanted pregnancies, and after preaching them the gospel, bought goats for them to start businesses.
“We have another group of new converts that we gave 30 Bibles to,” says Pastor Gatera. “We are intentional in helping these new brothers and sisters in Christ with their growth both spiritually and economically.”
God is using His disciples to transform entire communities and bring hope and healing to some of the most impoverished nations in the world.
With your support, more and more people in Africa are receiving the life-changing message of Jesus.
The Lausanne Covenant, certainly one of the great faith statements in the whole history of the Church, was the outcome of the first congress on World Evangelisation in Lausanne in 1974. It was a Covenant entered into by over 3000 evangelical leaders from around the world. It also became enshrined in the constitution of AE International and all its teams as the key faith statement of this ministry.
The Covenant was basically the work of John Stott, but John put his first second and third versions to the whole congress for review, correction, subtraction, and addition, etc. So several thousand minds were in fact applied to John’s basic statement.
This makes it an extraordinary and highly historic document and maybe the most comprehensive faith statement in the history of the Christian Church.
From AE’s point of view the most key clauses are no.4 on The Nature of Evangelism and no.5 on Christian Social Responsibility. Everyone in our teams should know and understand these two clauses which first of all make it clear what evangelism is and what it is not. And secondly how Social Responsibility and Compassionate Action fit together with the evangelistic enterprise as two complementary wings of the same bird. In order to fly the bird must have both wings working properly. It was this bringing together of Evangelism and Social Action which emerged as perhaps the most distinctive theological contribution of the Lausanne movement to the World Church.
Read the Lausanne Covenant here
We are so excited to share an update with you about our Pastors Training Course (PTC) that is currently running in Kenya. It is such a privilege to partner with you in this ministry. You are helping empower students to influence the transformation of the church in Africa.
Alice Auma is a young teenager from Nairobi, who recently completed her PTC. She loved learning about the Old and New Testament, and the process allowed her to reflect deeply on how the laws of the Bible could be applied to her own life.
The lessons from the Old Testament stories of the Israelites being rescued from Egypt helped strengthen Alice’s faith to wait on God’s perfect timing. The New Testament helped her to understand the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for all of us in dying on the cross for our sins.
“I have learnt how to spread the gospel to people of all different backgrounds,” says Alice. “And I also know how to interpret scripture and to distinguish between true and false prophets. I have really benefited from this course, and I thank Almighty God for allowing me to participate. It has changed me as a person.”
Jeff Wafula is a student at Mt Kenya University, and says that completing his PTC was the best thing that happened to him in 2021. The course content and teachings have transformed his life.
Going through the Bible so thoroughly has helped Jeff to equip himself with knowledge and a better understanding of Biblical principles. It shaped the way he viewed the scriptures, and brought him into a closer relationship with God.
“Since doing PTC, I can handle many different situations and people,” Jeff says. “Through the Bible teachings, I have understood the word better, and am able to share with people whenever I get the chance.”
AE is looking forward to teaching more PTC courses, and equipping students just like Alice and Jeff to become church leaders and proclaim the good news of the Gospel throughout Africa.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17),
As we draw towards the end of 2021, we want to thank all our faithful supporters for donations, prayers and partnerships that has enabled us to take the Gospel into Africa this year. Thank you to everyone who shared our mission with your church, small group, friends and on social media and who encouraged us along our path. We could not have done it without you. At AE we give thanks for countless blessings received and rejoice in the impact you have helped make in the lives of thousands of people.
As we move into the new year, we value your prayers and support over Christmas and the new year to help all our teams plan missions with certainty. Our 60th anniversary missions planning processes are well underway, including establishing mission outreach in Togo, Zambia and South Sudan. This is a significant move forward for AE to reach out into more countries and cities of Africa, and your support is vital to mobilise churches for mission in each of these areas. Africa is one of the youngest continents on earth, so strengthening our Foxfires youth evangelism teams is vital. Our development programs are assisting hundreds of vulnerable women and children to move off the streets and provide for their families, and water and sanitation programs are saving lives of the very young in slum areas.
In the past year we have seen 2,700 enrollments in the pastor training program. Praise God that through your support we are able to provide online theological education with the support of local and Australian teachers.
We Thank God for:
- faithfulness to the Great commission, equipping workers in Africa within God’s harvest field
- the readiness to share the Gospel in word and deed to the glory of God, every single day in Africa
- Our partnership in Christ to reach out to all nations in Africa, through all challenges, recognising the very great needs and doing something about it.
- Our supporters, and raising up of support and prayers to fund mission and development in Africa
Please pray with us for:
- Those reached with the Good News, who have made a decision for Jesus, to be faithful in meeting together for church, discipleship and outreach.
- Funding of all our future missions, development, and for the AE coordinators and evangelists
- For all those suffering through conflict, poverty, disease, economic and environmental issues – that God will show a path through of hope, certainty in Christ and healing.
- The leaders of Africa, through the love of God, that all Christians can live a godly and peaceful life dedicated to glorifying God.
- For all team leaders, support office staff, boards and volunteers that they might be blessed in the love of God and sow peace in Christ for a harvest of righteousness
I guess the very heart of the AE vision that has brought us to this great sixtieth anniversary day would lie in the very nature, context and wording of the Lords clear call to me in Madison Square Garden in 1957 during the Billy Graham New York crusade (photo). Can you imagine. I was visiting relatives in USA during a summer vacation during my university studies in England and was invited by a student in Fuller seminary to go down to some of the crusade meetings. There, night after night, I heard Billy Graham faithfully and clearly preaching the Gospel. I was touched and stirred. In fact, inspired.
One night after one of the meetings I was down in the basement of Madison Square Gardens where people where respondees were being counseled. I was pensively walking up and down and reflecting on what I was seeing. Then, like Isaiah, I can say, “I heard the voice of the Lord…” (Isaiah 6: 8) It was a pivotal moment in my life and the Word was clear and unmistakable. “Why not in Africa? I want you to do evangelism in the cities of Africa.” Over and out! I was startled, even shocked, because I only saw myself as capable of evangelizing young school boys as a Christian School master and I was terrified of public speaking. I tried to protest my inability but the message of the Voice persisted and that night I left Madison square gardens a called man.
And it was on that word and that experience that AE came forth with its vision “To Evangelize the cities of Africa through word and deed in partnership with the Church.” The Lord brought many others to share in this call and that is why 60 years later we are here celebrating the anniversary of the launching of our ministry in the mission to Maritzburg in 1962.
Praise His Name!
AE Tanzania has worked for many years in the Mwanza and Magu areas, where the impact of AIDS and an influx of refugees have devastated the local economy. The prevalence of witchcraft, and corruption within the government, are also issues that AE is working hard to overcome.
AE recently completed a successful Back to God Mission where thousands of people committed their lives to Christ. We would be deeply grateful it if you would join with us in prayer as AE continues this important work in Tanzania.
Mrs. Amosi, a mother of four, used to worship gods and idols all her life. When the AE Tanzania team came to her door and told her about Christ, she was humbled and allowed Christ to intervene in her life. She told AE Tanzania to burn her idols and everything she used to worship the gods
Please pray for:
- funding programs to equip young people to join the workforce
- developing partnerships across Tanzania to evangelize in new cities
- the board to appoint a permanent Team Leader
- the defeat of demonic forces including persecution and dismemberment
- well-trained Christian leaders to evangelize in rural areas
- skilled leaders who will usher the nation into peace and prosperity
- the AE team, missionaries and supporters
