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.
Our African Enterprise South Africa (AESA) team, under the leadership of Theuns Pauw, has hit the ground running this year with two new mission staff members that have joined. The team has a great dynamic and the members are skilled in the various areas of ministry, from conferencing and team building to community development and missions.
Charlene, Theuns’s wife, is making good headway with the AE Legacy project where she is helping Michael Cassidy with editing his books and content for the Michael Cassidy and Friends website.
The team is in full preparation for the 60th anniversary this year. They will be commemorating the anniversary with a gala dinner followed by the “Mission to Maritzburg” in partnership with the local churches. The Gospel will go out in every area of Pietermaritzburg and our founder, Michael Cassidy, will also be part of this exciting mission. Back to where it all started with the first “Mission to Maritzburg” in 1962.
The vibrant and energetic foxfire team has just finished their training and are ready and eagerly waiting to bring their unique and dynamic youth ministry to schools and churches as they proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
This godly team is still busy with COVID-19 relief actions and has already distributed 160 food parcels this year.
Another focus for the year is the Ngezandla Zethu sewing project, which has been running since 2018. The AESA team are excited to announce that 2022 looks brighter and better as the project opened its doors for skills training to 30 participants enrolling this year, up from 20 when they started. By the Grace of God some of the graduates from this sewing and fashion design course have successfully formed Community Transformation groups. (CTG’s). The AESA team is hoping to form another two CTG groups for 2022.
“As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5b
Please pray:
- for our Foxfire youth team as they conclude their initial training and prepare for their commissioning service and subsequent ministry
- for our 60th anniversary “Mission to Maritzburg” planned for 12-21 August, that we will be able to secure the funding and venues required, and that the training and ministry will have a great impact on our city
- for our community upliftment projects, especially the NgeZandla Zethu sewing project where 30 women has been enrolled this year.
- that the gospel may spread quickly during this time of uncertainty, bringing hope to the hopeless.
- that AESA will financially continue to sustain through the pandemic.
- that our documentary “The Threatened Miracle of South Africa’s Democracy” may reach multitudes through social media in South Africa and beyond.
- for our 60th anniversary preparations for this year and unity on the steering committee.
Ministry Update – March 2022
Thanks to your ongoing support, our AE teams have enjoyed some wonderful success in our outreach programs across Africa. By the grace of God, our Togo farming project has begun, with participants preparing the land ready for seed planting. They are also being educated on the correct way to grow vegetables for sustainability.
In Kenya, the local church leaders are helping to train up missionaries to reach even more people with the good news of Jesus. The Foxfire program has also had great success, with high schools now participating in forums to expand and continue the harvest. One young student, Boaz, says that he ‘feels strengthened to keep pure and serve God and His people.’
Our sewing school in Malawi has seen many graduates become trained in tailoring and professional dressmaking. These skills enable people to generate an income to meet their basic needs, and some have even gone on to open their own businesses.
The Hope for Girls Project will also soon launch in Malawi, with the aim of providing essential re-useable sanitary products to young girls aged 10 and over. This will be incorporated into the needlework program to ensure the sustainability of the program.
AE Ethiopia continues integrating new believers from the Kotebe mission into the mainstream church. New believer Gelan Megersa says she was met by someone on the street who told her about Jesus. “I was convinced and became a believer, and have been attending discipleship classes for the past 3 months. I have seen such a transformation in my life.”
In Uganda, the Omoo Youth Skilling and Production Centre has been training young people to bake cakes, mandazi, samosas, chapatis and buns to sell to the local market. They were able to raise more than 200,000 Uganda Shillings (approximately AUD 73.74) through the sale of their products.
Once again, AE has been able to outreach successfully in South Africa. In partnership with other ministries, we have been able to bring food relief to those who continue to suffer from unemployment, the ravages of the pandemic and the aftermath of recent unrest.
One recipient said that she had been praying for God’s intervention after both her mother and sister succumbed to COVID leaving her with the responsibility of caring for her brothers, all of whom are unemployed. Her response to our outreach was, “I feel I have hope now.”
Your prayers and support are invaluable to AE, and we give thanks to God for enabling us to bring some relief and minister to communities in desperate need. Please continue to pray with us that those whose hearts are moved by the Holy Spirit may grow in their journey of faith and be a witness to others.
