Kicukiro District is one of three districts in the Rwandan city of Kigali. In July 2023, it was the site of an African Enterprise mission that saw over 850,000 people reached and 2000 people turn to Jesus.
In the depths of the city is an area nicknamed ‘Sodoma’ or ‘Sodomu’, from the biblical narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah. The area has been given this nickname as it is known for its many sex workers, bars and drug trade.
The AE mission team selected this site for one of their open-air events. The preacher, a faithful woman named Mama Fabrice, shared her own testimony of deliverance from drug addiction and prostitution. She spoke from Luke 5, about how Jesus’s disciples left their livelihoods to follow Him, and urged the huge crowd of over 3000 people to leave behind their sinful professions and pastimes to follow the Lord.
People flocked to the AE missioners for prayer after the sermon, as gospel choirs sang praises to God.
A woman named Mukadusenge Shakira came forward to share her story with AE missioner Kezia. She had been working as a prostitute to try and earn money for her family, but said after hearing the sermon, “I wish that my life could be changed. That’s why I came here – that Jesus may deliver me and change my life to be free from all these bondages. I wish to be a Christian starting from today.”
A young man named Karinda Viater, who moved to Kigali to look for a job, also responded to the call to repentence. He shared with AE missioner Caleb, “I found myself staying here in Sodomu where I quickly picked up habits of fornication and a very deceitful life. I have been living like this for a lot of years which burdens my heart and I couldn’t do anything to change my life.
Today I heard the testimony of the mother who was preaching and I could relate a lot to her stories. She talked of how she used to stay on the streets, how she was a prostitute and how she used to use a lot of drugs and it’s as if she was talking about my personal life.
The greatest part is how Jesus changed her life which also gave me hope that Jesus could do the same for me as well. I am very happy that I have given my life to Christ and I trust him to help me in my life from now on.”
Overall, 104 people put their faith in Jesus at this event, and were swiftly followed up by local churches for ongoing discipleship. Praise God for His powerful work through the preacher on this night to bring about repentance and transformation in the lives of so many!
Mark 16:15 NIV
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
African Enterprise was founded in 1962 by Dr. Michael Cassidy. A man with a mission to evangelise the cities of Africa, through Word and Deed, and in partnership with the church. How wonderful that Michael is still here, looking back over the past years with all of us, and being grateful together, for the work that was done so far in the Lord’s Harvest field in Africa.
This year we are celebrating African Enterprise’s 60th anniversary. 60 years of sharing the Gospel, bringing aid to the needed, finding ways to overcome the unreachable.
All we can do is say thank you heavenly Father, for being able to bring the Glory of God to the African nations.
In 2013 Dr Stephen Mbogo became the third international team leader. A man with a heart for preaching the Gospel since he was a little boy. He once said: “We seek, with the help of God, to take this ministry, and the message of Christ it enshrines, to the territories that still remain unconquered with Christ’s love.”
Click on the link below to see Dr Stephen Mbogo’s message of prayer and giving for the 60th celebrations.
Video: 60 Days of the Gospel
Prayer Points – We are thankful to the Lord for the 60 years He has journeyed with African Enterprise, as we have sought to evangelise cities in Africa!
We will start our 60 Days of The Gospel from 29th July 2022. Please join us in these 60 days of prayer and thanksgiving.
Gratitude – Pray and be grateful for all the blessings given to us over 60 years, a milestone indeed. (29 July – 7 August)
Open heavens – Let us pray that God will continue to shine His light on the African nations. (8 August – 17 August)
Social Action – Let us pray for each one of the social action programs. Pray that we’ll be able to continue to reach out to more and more people each year to give them a hand-up in life, so that they may escape poverty and find new hope as well as sharing the wonderful news of the Gospel. (18 August – 27 August)
Proclamation – During proclamation week let us pray for thousands of people to gather in Jesus’ name, to hear the good news of the word of God. To drink the message in and to give their lives to Christ. (25 August – 4 September)
Empowering the youth – Pray that our Foxfire teams will reach the young people of Mombasa, show them who the True God is and win them over for Jesus. Pray that they will be able to see where their true Hope lies. (25 August – 4 September)
Loving the new believer – Pray that our new believers will be well supported and loved in a partnering church. Pray that they will continue to grow in their faith and become stronger in Christ. (5 September – 14 September)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9
Kenya Mombasa West Mission – 2 – 12 June – 382,880 – heard the Gospel – 20,492 saved by grace.
Rwanda Rwamagana Mission – 18 – 24 July – 60,251 – heard the Gospel – 4,815 saved by grace.
Uganda Festo Kivengere Mission, 24 – 31 July, happening now.
What a joyous moment it is when someone gives their life to Christ, when someone decides to follow Jesus. After a mission, I tend to stare at the numbers for a bit and just say thank you to Jesus for His grace, compassion, forgiveness and salvation. Each one of those numbers is a person like you and me. Long before our missioners reached the people from the stories below, God was there. Preparing their hearts and making sure they were on the right place at the right time where they could respond to the Gospel. All by the grace of God.
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. – Luke 15:7
Stories from the mission field:
Kenya
Located in a quarry area in Likoni, Ebenezer Worship Centre church sits in a unique raised place. Construction in the area was supplied by stones extracted from a quarry area which is now dormant. Settlements have now been set up in the area and Ebenezer Worship Center, led by Pastor Naomi Furaha, is their worship center. The fellowship has unique neighbors, drug addicts. The addicts spend their days in a cave situated just below the church – a cave formed due to the former quarry activity. Pastor Naomi, who is also part of the Likoni Pastors Fellowship, invited them for a hot cup of tea and a snack. Together with missioners at the Reach Mombasa and Diani Mission, they managed to feed 38 addicts – feeding them with the Word as well. Many of the addicts admitted that they were interested in a new life but the bondage has kept them there. The missioners led them in prayers with 12 giving their lives to Christ. Having their church as “their home”, they were receptive of the idea to go to church and Pastor Naomi mentioned that she will remain dedicated to reach out to them. With the church above and drug den below, the positioning seems as if holiness sits above while evil lingers below. What is unique is that those below are looking up – looking up to a new life in Christ. We pray that these addicts will be freed of their bondage and that through them, many will get to turn to Christ.
Rwanda
This is a new convert with joy – Niyomungeri i Emmanuel. He is 31 years and a father of 2 kids.
“I went through life’s challenges in my family at the extent of stopping my studies. This made me feel hopeless in life. Because of this kind of life, I took a decision of engaging in drug abuse leading to me being addicted by them. In the midst of this kind of life, I got married but my marriage was not successful at all just because of my bad behaviours. I ended up in divorce and I remained hopeless and vulnerable. But today, when the preacher was sharing his testimony about his journey of salvation, my heart was convicted that I have to repent and be saved and turn to my creator. After hearing the gospel, I have a plan of joining the local church so that I may continue growing in Christ. I want to bring back my lovely wife because she was innocent; I believe that she will respond positively to my repentant request.”
Uganda
During School Ministry at the Bishop Festo Kivengere Girls School, the school was filled with angelic voices singing spirit filled praise and worship. The students were dancing and surrendering their lives to Christ. The Holy Spirit was ever present and many of the students testified to the Glory of God.
At Trinity College, the young students were thirsty for the word of God. Ministering to them, Oscar Sabit encouraged the students to remain focused on the right path referencing his teachings from 1 Peter 1:24-25. By the end of his sermon, several students gave their lives to Christ.
Thank you our beloved supporter, for your prayers that carry our missioners through every day, thank you for praying for our missions and for every new believer. Continue to pray with us for the upcoming missions in South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Ethiopia. Pray for every new believer, that they will be connected to a church where they can learn and grow in their faith.
AE is delighted to provide you with an update on our recently completed Mombasa Mission in Kenya. Many of our missionaries were under the age of 25, and traveled hundreds of kilometers to join us. It warms our hearts to watch young people become inspired to share the gospel.
Due to the locals’ belief in witchcraft, our teams experienced a number of challenges. Many families have a connection to this destructive stronghold, and the local pastors joined us in praying for a divine breakthrough.
Despite this, our missionaries remained confident of winning souls to Christ. Mercy Njuru from Nairobi expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to join the mission. “We carry the love of Christ, and we know the Lord will help us reach as many people as possible,” she says.
Our teams were then given the opportunity to minister to prisoners at the Mombasa Remand Home as part of the Social Action Program. Prison Chaplains welcomed them to the Sunday service, which was attended by over 234 inmates.
Local leadership in outreach projects is also an important part of ministering to local communities. A dinner was held to educate officials from the county government, as well as business leaders and religious leaders, about the need for transformational leadership.
Radio broadcasting is another method used in Mombasa to reach out to people with the Gospel. Our missionaries were given the chance to participate in prime-time programming, allowing them to interact with and answer questions from listeners.
School ministry has always been an integral part of AE’s citywide mission. Discipling children in Christ ensures that our future is in safe hands. We had the incredible honour of being able to minister to over 60 schools, with 178 students receiving the gift of salvation!
Our team met a young man named Issa, who 15 years ago married a Muslim woman and renounced his faith. Since then, Issa has been estranged from his family. The team was able to remind him of the love of Jesus, and encouraged him to open his heart and renew his relationship with the Lord.
During their travels, the team discovered that the Mombasa Ferry branch of the Mombasa County Police Force is one of the busiest in the county. Despite their massive workload, they invited us to come in and speak, and 6 of them gave their hearts to the Lord!
We then moved on to The Ebenezer Worship Centre, which is built in a quarry and surrounded by drug addicts who spend their days in a cave directly below the church. They were invited in for a hot meal, and the team was able to feed 38 addicts – while also feeding them the Word of God.
Standing guard at Redeemed Gospel Church, a base for the Reach Mombasa Mission, Joshua Mwamburisays told us he would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness. “Young people get into drugs and substance abuse in this region,” he says. “Hiding in the Lord is the only safe haven.”
“I’m where I am thanks to His mercies and I’ll never stop serving him. I’m blessed for this opportunity to take care of the missioners in this centre. The daily interaction with them strengthens my faith and I’ll keep being a missioner in my own ways.”
This is just a small sample of the amazing work that AE is doing in Kenya thanks to your support! God is so wonderful, and we continue to see Him move ahead of us in the life-changing mission of seeing more people come to know Jesus.
The preparation for the Lusaka mission is in high gear.
AESAR in Zambia has partnered with the church in Lusaka and other like-minded organizations for the upcoming Continental Grand Mission in Lusaka, Zambia.
We shall hold this celebratory mission from 25th August to 4th September with over 2,000 national and 240 international mission volunteers from our key church & partner organizations. The target of the Lusaka citywide mission is to reach over 300,000 people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the African Enterprise’s Stratified Evangelism Model.
We have divided the Lusaka city into 7 constituencies of Munali, Mandevu, Matero, Chawama, Kanyama, Kabwata & Lusaka Central which will each host a number of visiting and the local mission volunteers through the proclamation week.
Prayer Points;
- Pray for other celebratory missions that will take place in Uganda and South Africa with the Zambian Grand Celebration on 2nd September 2022
- Pray that our time together at the 60th -anniversary celebrations of 2022 will be fruitful and impactful, leaving fresh impetus to Zambia.
- Pray that the Lord will turn many hearts of men to Himself during the proclamation week.
- Pray for all the speakers and facilitators that God will use them to accomplish His will.
- Pray for all travels, and that all logistics will run smoothly for the entire team.
The Student Discipleship Program run by AEE Ethiopia is a forward-looking spiritual investment on the next generation. The objective of the program is “Building the Church of Tomorrow, Today”. It primarily focuses on the next-generation, Christian students of grade 5 and upwards to high school and university. It is a Bible teaching undertaking, an age-graded; curriculum-based with seven rounds of training.
The discipleship program started by enrolling 794 students in 9 cities in 2003. Currently, it reaches more than 20,000 students in 100+ cities all over Ethiopia each year. The program is done in partnership with the local church.
Program impact over the years has shown that the youth now:
- have a better grasp of the Christian faith
- are more equipped to read and study the Bible.
- encouraged to share the faith with their peers in schools
- come to their local church services more regularly.
- the teachings had helped them overcome challenges and temptations the youth are facing.
- the program is fostering unity among churches
For 2022, the plan is to enroll 20,000 students in 100+ cities. Accordingly 50,000 textbooks have been made ready for the school holidays (July & August).
Testimony
Nazrawit was a student in the Discipleship program as a senior high school student in 2007 & 2008.
She says “I grew up in a Christian family and had a general orientation to Christianity. But I did not have a personal relationship with God and was not used to reading the Bible on my own.
I am so happy that I was able to pass through the Discipleship Program. The courses were very basic and very helpful. I have learned how to read the Bible and have personal quiet time. I have also benefited from the Christian fellowship among students and teachers. As I was in my formative years it has helped me to get prepared for life’s realities.
After high school, I did 2 doctorates; a doctorate in vet medicine and a doctorate in human medicine.
I am one of those who have greatly benefited from the program and now have volunteered to teach students, whenever I have the time. I wish the program could expand extensively and reaches more youth.
