JANUARY 2015

AFRICANHARVEST

LEADERSREACHING FUTURE

PROCLAIMING JESUS TO THE STUDENTS OF AFRICA

FEATURING: Letter from CEO, Stephen Mbogo From fear to freedom - A Muslim man finds Jesus Looking ahead: Missions in 2015

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CONTENTS from the CEO

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

3 The Lost are Found in Kenya Ireen’s Testimony

4 Celebrating Life Campaign in Rwanda.

5 University Outreach - Ethiopia Mankessim Outreach - Ghana

6 Fear to Freedom - A Muslim man accepts Christ.

Power of Prejudice - South Sudan Testimony

7 Final Word from Stephen Mbogo

Dear Friends,

“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you…” 1 Peter 5:5-9

In recent years, we’ve seen the immense effect that a few small voices can make on a nation. Revolutionary whispers with the power of social media behind them have overthrown governments and sparked worldwide movements. We’ve seen how powerful humanity can be when given the proper tools. The youth of this world have seen that change is possible and they are passionate enough to make it happen.

As the popularity and accessibility of higher education grows in Africa, young and educated leaders are being released into their communities. They are passionate about their nations and about making positive change. This is greatly exciting to us in African Enterprise. We believe that godly leadership will change nations and the effects will trickle down into every portion of society.

Be encouraged as you read these stories and testimonies from university campuses across Africa. It’s because of your partnership that young leaders have been introduced to a life-long relationship with Jesus Christ. Pray for them as the future of Africa. Ask God to humble them under His guidance so that at the proper time he can raise them up to lead nations.

Editor: Krista Burns / Ruth Garvey-WilliamsDesign & Layout: Krista Burns

African Enterprise AFRICAN HARVEST is published four times a year for distribution to friends and supporters of the African Enterprise ministry.

Addressees have the right to have their name and address removed from the mailing list and to request that the source from which the name and address was obtained be identified, and to ask that their name not be given to any other organisation.

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ife has never been very easy for me. I left home as soon as I was old enough with the hope of making a better life for myself. I was able to get

a job in a small market, but I soon found that the wages were not enough to support myself and my family back home. I began working in prostitution after work to make extra money.

I was willing to live with what I was doing because it was getting me by, but I always had a feeling that what was happening in my life was not right. I felt an emptiness within me. One evening I was going home from my job at the market when I saw a huge crowd of people at an open air meeting, being preached to by uniformed police officers! I was shocked by the sight so I stopped to listen. It is not common to get even one police officer, let alone twenty police officers, preaching!

The preacher talked of many things but I honestly cannot recall much; all I was thinking about was my own life and how I had rejected God. The preacher said Jesus was the only one able to take away all our cares

and heavy burdens. “Even mine?” I asked from within me. I suddenly realized that this police officer-turned-preacher, was describing me! If one of my friends had been there, I would have asked her why she had shared my story with a stranger. When the preachers called forward all those who wanted to receive Jesus as their personal savior, the voice within me said, ‘it is the time to let Jesus take over.’

I am a different person now; the craving for money has disappeared and I am committed to my work at the market. I look forward to getting an even a better job so that I can continue to support my family.

I am grateful to those police officers who preached at that open air meeting, to the follow-up team here in Deliverance Church where I now attend church and a weekly discipleship course.

Thank you for coming to my town and telling me about Jesus. You’ve saved my life and I have been changed forever.

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“All I was thinking about was my own life and how I had rejected God... When the preacher called

forward all those who wanted to receive Jesus as their personal savior, the voice within me said, ‘It is the time to let Jesus take over’.”

The Lost are Found in Kenya - Ireen’s Testimony

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Celebrating Life Campaign - Rwanda

ccording to Alice Muhizi, finding ones’ purpose in life only comes in knowing God. “Life without God is meaningless,” she said, “It is nothing”. Alice is Rwandan University student and was one of the many campus leaders involved in this year’s university mission to Rwanda, Celebrating Life Campaign.

The campaign trained over 500 Christian students in evangelism and discipleship, and used them to reach un-evangelised students with Christ’s gospel.

The mission used unique methods to encourage participation and follow-up, asking participants to give feedback, share their prayer requests or ask questions by texting them to a response phone number. This was popular with students and helped organisers in following-up on new Christians. “Many students responded by asking for help and prayer for different issues of life and salvation,” said Sengoga Desire, campus mission coordinator at the College of Arts and Social Sciences.

By the final day of the campaign, about 23,000 students had been exposed to the gospel through one of 98 evangelistic events. A total of 847 new believers came to Christ, with 213 people re-committing their lives to him. “I am thankful to God for giving us a spirit of boldness in spreading the good news,” Alice said.

Badukunze is a student at the College of Science and Technology. He accepted Christ during the mission and his life has been forever changed. Badukunze says, “I used to have strong feelings against God and Christianity; I couldn’t stand to be in a place where the word of God was being taught because I knew that it went against my actions and my desires. I kept company with people who were engaged in bad habits and we were all addicted to drugs, alcohol and sex. It made me uncomfortable when I heard people talking about God. I knew what I had done and was doing in my life was wrong and being around people of God made me uneasy.

But, when I heard the gospel at Celebrating Life Campaign, when I heard that Christ came and was crucified for me, a sinner, so that I am not condemned but that I receive eternal forgiveness – then I was convinced in my heart that I was being pulled by the power of the devil to destruction. Thanks to my Saviour God, He has destroyed this power and drawn me close to him.

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Students dedicate their lives to Christ during one of the outreached in Rwanda.

NOW I KNOW THAT I AM FORGIVEN, I AM A CHILD OF GOD, AND I AM FREE IN

MY LORD“ “The Celebrating Life Campaign has been a bridge to

the best place I have known; a place I could not have known without it. I thank God for the follow-up group, a group of caring people who have become my true friends; you have banished my loneliness. Now I know that I am forgiven, I am a child of God, and I am free in my Lord.”

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E’s October 2014 mission to Mankessim aimed both to encourage those churches and to reach out to locals within the town needing the gospel.

Seminars were organized for people from every section of society: teachers, youth, couples, singles, church leaders, pastors’ children, politicians and business people.

One of the creative ways AE used to reach people, particularly the youth of the city, was by screening the movie The Passion of the Christ. The response to this was extremely positive. One young lady, Mary, was deeply touched and said, “Now I know how much He suffered for me. Today I want to live the rest of my life for Him. I don’t want to go to hell.” A young man, Eric, was overcome with emotion watching the film and told counselors, “I have lived a reckless life for a long time but now is the time I have to start living right. Looking at how Jesus suffered because of me, I can only appreciate His love by surrendering my life to Him so that He will control it.”

Besides the film screenings, several youth seminars were organized and Victor Obeng, General Secretary of Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Students, told the young people to make good use of their energy. He challenged them to stop the current trend of sexual immorality in the city and encouraged Christian youth to use social media to promote their faith.

here wasn’t an empty seat in the house during the gospel outreach meetings to students in Ethiopia. It was clear to everyone there that there is a hunger

for the truth of the Gospel. The University of Bahir Dar in Northwestern Ethiopia

currently has a student body of 44,700 students. Despite being in a country that has Christian roots dating back to the 4th Century, only about 5% of those students are Evangelical Christians. African Enterprise in Ethiopia puts a large focus on student outreach. By collaborating with the students’ fellowship groups, the team is able to spiritually nurture and empower Christian students for mission within their own community. In all our work there, we are seeing God’s faithfulness. This culminated in the 2014 Ethiopia mission from November 14th – 16th.

Prior to mission week, the campus was flooded with student evangelists who engaged students in one-to-one witnessing and invited them to the main gospel meetings. As the students gathered at the main meetings, the mission coordinator was encouraged. “The venue was packed and we saw many first time salvations and many more people who rededicated their lives to Christ. We also saw many people being healed

from various sicknesses. The most exciting thing is that the effects will continue to reverberate in the campuses throughout the year because the students have been trained on how to effectively share the Gospel. I expect many more, the Nicodemus types (Jn 3:2), who will come “by night” and throughout

the year,” he said. “In addition a lot of students recommitted

their lives to the Lord and many were healed from

various illnesses. We can say that the mission was astonishingly successful,” he went on to say, “especially with the number of people who came to the Lord. This is not something that happens everyday.”

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Through all these efforts – the youth meetings, cinema evangelism, seminars and work of the counsellors – the mission to Mankessim reached about 12,500 people. The AE team recorded that 1,922 people came forward to commit their lives to Christ, and out of this, 1,505 were youth. These new

converts have been contacted by local churches and invited to attend services or be involved in discipleship classes.

The results of the mission are evident not only in the numbers of new Christians but also in the effect on the Mankessim churches. Joana Amegashie, AE Ghana Secretary, said she has noticed a spiritual revival among the churches. “They

now have a deeper understanding of mission work, and of their duty towards

the church and their town. The Queen mother’s participation in the mission

showed that the church and traditional leaders can work closely together to for the welfare of the town.”

The mission has had a lasting impact on God’s people within the city. “It was difficult to rally pastors together but you made it work for us,” said Mission Chairman, Richard Green. “We have seen the fruit and we hope to maintain the fellowship. You came to show us the power of unity.”

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Hunger for Truth - Ethiopia

IT WAS CLEAR TO EVERYONE THAT THERE IS A HUNGER FOR THE

TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL“ “

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Communities healed by the Gospel - Ghana

1,922 PEOPLE CAME FORWARD TO COMMIT THEIR LIVES TO CHRIST, AND OUT OF THIS, 1,505 WERE YOUTH.“ “

Students in Ethiopia fill the venue to overflowing in order to hear the Gospel.

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was born into a Muslim family. My fathers’ relatives are strong Muslims and though my mother came from a Christian background,

she had to convert to Islam when she got married. My father hates everything to do with Christianity and any association with Christians warrants punishment from him. This is the life of any Muslim child.

When I was in high school, my father’s fortunes increased and he became richer than any of his relatives. Some of them became jealous and began using witchcraft to send evil spirits to torment us: snakes, frogs, rats and strange insects appeared in the house from nowhere. Sometimes, we would all get sick and doctors in the best hospitals could not find the cause. We lived in constant fear. Though my father tried to get ‘protection’ from another witchdoctor, it did not help – the invasions and torment continued. We were rich, but very unhappy.

My mother’s family became concerned and started visiting us. One of my uncles would pray Christian prayers whenever he came and because our situation was so bad, my father felt he had no choice but to allow it. Whenever my uncle prayed, the invasions would cease for a time. My younger sister and I began asking him to come pray for us. I really wanted to pray to the God of my uncle who seemed to be more capable than our god, but I could not even think of converting to Christianity if I wanted peace with my father.

From Fear to FreedomWhen I went to university, I stopped going to the mosque

but I was still too afraid to go to a Christian church. One day, I was out to lunch when I met two gentlemen

and I stopped to hear what they had to say. They told me they were preachers and had come from Nairobi. I told them I was in a hurry but would be glad to have a discussion with them later in the day so we exchanged details.

That evening I received a call and we agreed to meet. He shared his testimony with me and listened as I told him about my life as a Muslim, about the prayers of my uncle, and about my fear of becoming a Christian. He

asked me, “What have you been waiting for? There are so many Christians among Muslims

communities who know Christ as their personal savior.” I realised that he was right; I was away from home, I had not gone to a mosque since I left

home. It was time to make the decision I had been longing to make. My new friend prayed for me and I accepted Christ as my personal saviour.

My friend gave me the contact details of the African Enterprise Mission team and they in turn led me to one of the local pastors. Since then, we have been meeting twice a week to study the Bible. I attend a morning church service and am now very happy to be worshipping God from a personal conviction and not from a family demand.

Thank you for coming to my town and telling me about Jesus. Thank you for putting me in a local church. My life has been changed for good.

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he people of South Sudan have been left deeply wounded following the violence that rocked the nation this year. AE Kenya has

been on the ground since the beginning, engaging with the residents and bringing healing those most deeply affected.

Our team recently held a third peace and reconciliation training session for community facilitators. The training was aimed at giving community leaders the information and tools to propitiate peace and reconciliation between tribes in their own communities.

Augustine, the missions director of AE Uganda joined the AE Kenya team as a facilitator. “I felt deeply privileged to be among the facilitators of this training.” Augustine said. “It was immediately obvious to me that the people of South Sudan have been left traumatised by the recent conflicts. I thanked God that he brought us here in his perfect timing. I facilitated a session about Christians being the salt of the earth, the God-mandated agent of healing for society and

The Power of Prejudice - South SudanChrist’s ambassadors. I was also personally touched and greatly impacted by the teaching on the topic of The Awful Power of Prejudice”.

At the conclusion of the meeting, participants wrote down their hurts and took turns nailing them to a wooden cross as a symbolic act of Christ taking their

burdens when he died on the cross. “As they stood one by one and shared the ways they had personally experienced prejudice I could see the weight being lifted from their shoulders.” Augustine said. “One could clearly see that this training has started a genuine process of reconciliations among those in attendance.”

Those who attended the training will now return to their communities to conduct

similar sessions. Similar courses will continue to be held

in the future so that we can equip the maximum number of training

facilitators who will in turn spread the message of healing and reconciliation to the areas the AE Kenya team aren’t able to reach.

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I COULD SEE THE WEIGHT BEING LIFTED FROM THEIR

SHOULDERS.

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I REALLY WANTED TO PRAY TO THE GOD OF MY UNCLE WHO SEEMED TO BE MORE CAPABLE

THAN OUR GOD“ “

Course graduates in South Sudan

THE FINAL WORDR

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Dear Friend and Partner,

Reaching out to leaders and engaging them in the Gospel is one of the most exciting things for me. The Lord sends us to them as agents of change. He even gave us advance notice when he said, “you will be brought before Kings and governors as my witnesses” Mt. 10:18 It’s an honour to bring the gospel to those that have so much control over nations and communities. However, ministering to those in high leadership positions is inevitably expensive, daunting and the results are not always immediately visible.

The saying holds true, it is indeed hard to teach old dogs new tricks. This was highlighted to me nearly a decade ago. We had just concluded a large campaign that produced an exciting response in the amongst the leaders. However, the changes failed to trickled down to effect the nation and bad governance was still prevalent. It was clear that there was much work left to do.

When the challenges became evident to me, I began asking the Lord, “What do we do to make a significant difference?” It’s then that I started thinking, “If your busi-ness was all about trees and forests, where should your focus be?” The answer was simple - in plant-ing trees!

As a boy I recalled grow-ing seedlings in seedbeds and transferring them once they were a certain height. The attention you give your seedlings de-termines how they grow and develop into trees and ultimately building materials.

It is at that point the Lord directed my attention to the fact that we needed to focus on future leaders as well as current leaders. Focusing on emerging young adults in universities gives us the unique opportunity to influence them toward god-ly governance while their values and ideologies are still being shaped. That shift of attention to student leaders in institutions of learning in addition to our ongoing foxfires ministry that fo-cuses on young people in high-schools brought a new thrust of meaning to our engagement with leadership.

This year, we conducted several major university mis-sions. Our outreaches to campuses in South Africa and Rwanda alone saw more than 500 students trained in evan-gelism and nearly 40,000 people exposed to the Gospel. The results are exciting. These future leaders have been trans-formed and inspired as they listened to other exemplary Christian leaders from different professions.

In 2015 we have missions in …. that will have a rich young leaders component.

The youth are not just the leaders of tomorrow but the leaders of today. When

a young leader is changed, he has the ability to change many current and future leaders. Thank you for being part of that change through your financial partnership. I also salute those who have partici-

pated in our university missions as speakers and volunteers. Contact us to find out how YOU CAN make a difference in the lives of the young leaders of Africa in 2015. Visit www.africanenterprise.com for details.

Yours for the extension of God’s Kingdom,

Stephen MbogoInternational Team Leader

OUR OUTREACHES TO CAMPUSES IN SOUTH AFRICA AND RWANDA ALONE SAW MORE THAN 500

STUDENTS TRAINED IN EVANGELISM AND NEARLY 40,000 PEOPLE EXPOSED TO THE GOSPEL.“

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Confirmed Missions for 2015Kenya Great Eldoret Mission July Rwanda Kigali City Mission JulyUganda Mbale Mission SeptemberGhana Madina Mission OctoberEthiopia Gondar Mission December