Getting to know Stephen Mbogo, our International CEO
Stephen Mbogo has a passion for the transformation of Africa through the power of the Gospel. He also has a heart for godly leadership, and its potential to transform nations.
Stephen was born into a family with traditional, animistic beliefs. After his parents committed their lives to Christ, Stephen became a “pretending” believer. But that changed when, at 19 years of age, he turned on a cassette tape. Intending to listen to Michael Jackson, the recording on the tape was in fact a powerful Gospel message. Stephen responded to the Gospel and recalls that it was the “best day of my life, as I laid down my burdens and received reprieve”.
Looking back on his childhood, Stephen remembers that a primary school teacher told his mother that he “would amount to nothing” academically. Stephen’s mother cried, and then resigned from her government managerial job and went to study teaching – for Stephen’s sake. Today, Stephen credits his doctorate to his mother’s support and belief in him.
Stephen and his wife Rosemary now have their own kids, Victor (24) and Joy (18), and they have also welcomed several other kids into their family. Stephen takes delight in mentoring young people and providing guidance in terms of life issues, godly values and career decisions.
Life for Stephen has been a journey of faith. He recalls how, having a preaching appointment at a high school 65 km away, he once got onto a bus without money for the trip. Some drunk men on the bus paid his fare for him, but after preaching, he had to walk most of the way home.
Since becoming our international CEO in 2012, Stephen has had to trust God for provision for AE’s entire ministry. Altogether, he has been serving at AE for nearly 30 years. And after decades of extensive evangelism, leadership and community development in Africa, Stephen still holds fast to the faithfulness of the God that saved him.
Understanding the influence of traditional healers in Africa
When he met Pastor Chikumba, Prince* was deeply troubled. Trapped in an extra-marital affair, Prince believed that his mistress had given him a love potion to make him her slave. Prince told the pastor that he was on his way to borrow money for his demanding mistress, and begged the pastor to refer him to a witchdoctor who could break the spell.
The traditional African worldview involves spirits and ancestors, and these are believed to influence all aspects of everyday life. African traditional healers are consulted for birth rituals, death rituals, and just about everything in between: illness, relationship problems and bad luck.
Traditional healers believe they are able to access guidance and exert power by calling upon ancestral spirits. And their influence on African people is profound.
Nearly 60% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa consult traditional healers, and our AE teams are all too familiar with the bondage of their spiritual practices. In Africa, many live in constant fear, and a lack of discipleship has often led to syncretism between Christianity and traditional beliefs. But the undiluted truth of the Gospel has the power to set captives free.
In many ways, African people are more aware of spiritual realities than we are. Perhaps that is why they are so open to faith. And for Prince, faith in Christ changed everything.
After being prayed for, Prince no longer felt compelled to give money to his mistress, and went home to his wife, Lynda*. Prince and Lynda have now joined Pastor Chikumba’s church, and are seeing ongoing restoration in their marriage and family. To Prince and Lynda, and to so many believers who call Africa home, the Gospel of Christ means true freedom, from real curses.
Reaching people like Prince and Lynda is our mission, and our privilege, at AE. As our partner, your prayers and generosity are bringing lives from darkness to light. From fear to love. And from captivity to freedom.
*Names changed for privacy
Ministry Update: May – July 2020
We look back at May, June and July with awe and wonder as God has enabled African Enterprise to do so much in our communities.
Your support, prayers and gifts have changed the lives of many. Thank you for being a part of African Enterprise.
Highlights:
- Trained 2,590 church leaders, pastors, associates and mission volunteers on HBE all across Africa.
- All of our teams have been able to donate food and facemasks to vulnerable people in their communities.
- Our sewing projects in Kenya (Mathare Women Empowerment Project) and South Africa (Ngezandla Zethu Sewing Project) has made hundreds of reusable cloth facemasks for distribution.
- Our PTC program has seen massive growth all over Africa during the pandemic with students enrolling and completing courses online and in small groups.
- Malawi’s Health Programs Offices, Mrs Tamandani Nazimera has facilitated training sessions with Foxfire Teams on “Youth Response to COVID-19”, equipping them with the correct knowledge about the pandemic and how they can raise awareness in their communities.
- AEDRC partnered with television and radio stations for public awareness and sensitisation campaigns as there was confusing messages on social media about the pandemic causing panic and reckless behaviour in the community. They also started a kids a Bible Study at home, using the opportunity to share the gospel with children while schools were closed.
- AE Ghana was able to donate hospital beds, hand washing stations, sanitizer and soap to the Mother and Child Hospital.
Another highlight is the following story from AE Kenya, a heartwarming story of how we can inspire and uplift others through the gospel:
GOSPEL CHALLENGE BEARS FRUIT
AE Kenya challenged its members and associates to share the gospel with at least five people each during the month of May. Unable to gather people for outreach in schools, hospitals, offices etc. as usual, they were encouraged to share the gospel with those within their reach. Nancy Kuria took her gospel campaign online. “I have been hosting online sermons, sending short messages on WhatsApp among my contacts, especially those that I know are not born again. I have been sharing my testimony whenever I get an opportunity. This far I have spoken the word of God to 306 people, out of which 11 have made commitments to salvation.”
Margaret Wambui, who is 24, watched Nancy’s testimony on Facebook. She got in touch and the two ladies started a conversation online and via phone calls. According to Margaret, she was desperate and had come to her end. She had been frustrated in life to a point of being suicidal. She had lost her job and even meeting her basic needs was impossible. After listening to Nancy’s testimony, she thought of turning to God. Nancy says: “I shared the Gospel and she made a commitment for salvation during one of our phone calls. The following day we met and from that time, we have created a relationship that is exceptional. It is wonderful to see the great transformation Christ has brought to this sister. She is now happy in the Lord. Today, as I see her smiling, I often have the sobering thought that, if the Gospel had not came her way, she would possibly not be alive!”
Prayer Points:
- Pray that many will hear the gospel through different channels and that as many will turn to the Lord during this challenging season.
- Pray for the ongoing mobilisation and training on Home Based Evangelism (HBE), and that those trained will remain motivated and committed to implementing the strategy.
- Pray for the AE staff members and volunteers in Africa’s frontlines carrying out Covid-19 community response across all teams.
- Pray for all AE friends and supporters during these challenging times of Covid-19 pandemic, for providence, protection and healing.
‘…Marvelling at Mandela, and the spirit and humility of the man…’ – Michael Cassidy reflects on one of his meetings with South Africa’s first democratic president.
18th of July, Nelson Mandela’s birthday, is celebrated internationally each year, to honour the legacy of this great leader. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, also affectionately known by his clan name, Madiba, was elected as president in South Africa’s first fully representative democratic election, in 1994.
After 27 years of imprisonment by the apartheid government, with its institutionalised racism, Nelson Mandela chose to lead South Africa’s new coalition government, and the nation, in reconciliation. Declining a second term as president, he then chose to focus on philanthropy rather than politics.
AE founder Michael Cassidy, in his autobiography, ‘Footprints in the African Sand’, gives a fascinating account of South Africa in the 1990’s, and his encounters with Mandela at the time. He recalls his sense of awe at meeting Mr Mandela, and Madiba’s teasing humour as he remarked to Michael: “I have heard good things of AE’s work. But perhaps they only tell me the good things!”
Michael reminisces on another meeting where he was able to give Mr Mandela one of Billy Graham’s books. Madiba, speaking of Billy Graham, remarked, “I was much touched by one of his sermons which I saw on television when I was in Pollsmoor Prison. In fact, you know, when I was on Robben Island I never missed a church service or Bible study and I appreciated very much my regular visits from a Dutch Reformed minister. I wanted to send a gift from me to his wife, and all I had was a guava from my breakfast that morning. So that’s what I gave. But when the wardens realised I was developing a friendship with this minister, they disallowed him from coming to see me. I thought that very sad.”
In 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president following a peaceful national election that was deemed an absolute miracle. In 1996, when violence threatened to sabotage South Africa’s provincial elections, Madiba told Michael:
“You know, we politicians can’t fix this thing. That’s why we need you people and the Church to come to our aid and see what you can do.”
In remembering Madiba, we honour his legacy: humility, forgiveness and reconciliation. And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes us ministers of reconciliation too.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
A Hunger for the Word
What struck me the first time I visited Kigali to teach PTC in 2015 was the hunger of the students for God. In a country where many crave physical nourishment, I saw a deeper hunger – a voracious appetite for learning about God’s word, and delight at the feast of ideas laid out in the training material provided by Moore Theological College.
Our students come from diverse backgrounds: pastors, evangelists, church planters, university campus workers and aid workers; some with tertiary educations and others with much less formal education; some with excellent English, but most working in an English-speaking ministry setting for the first time. Regardless of circumstances, these students each relish the opportunity to be further equipped to handle the Bible correctly.
As a former school teacher, my favourite element of class time is the discussion around Bible ideas. Given the non-denominational setting of our classes in the African Evangelistic Enterprise Rwanda headquarters, we enjoy a rich diversity of churchmanship and theological perspective. Our free-flowing conversation, discussion and theological reflection is marked by a godly humility from men and women who understand the weight of their calling. Where differences occur, the cohort is learning to go to the Bible to assess the validity of individual preferences and practices, rather than assuming them as concrete principles.
Whenever we spend time outside of our normal setting, our eyes are opened to new perspectives and experiences.
I feel deeply blessed by my time in Rwanda, and my learning and fellowship with so many gospel-hearted brothers and sisters. God has taught me about the spiritual richness of his people in other parts of the world, the way other Christians enjoy the blessings our Father bestows, and their fervour to follow Jesus. I often observe a hunger for God that is missing in my own country where bellies are always full.
Perhaps we all need reminding to hunger and thirst for what is most important in this life…
Having ministered at Anglican Churches in Sydney since 2012, Dan Bidwell is now the Senior Pastor at Yountville Community Church in California’s Napa Valley. He was involved as a visiting PTC lecturer in Rwanda from 2015-2018, and is currently developing a partnership with IFES and GBU Rwanda to enable the theological training of university campus workers.
Tamandani Nazimera, a phenomenal and passionate woman of faith, recently joined the team at AE Malawi in a voluntary capacity as Health Programs Officer. Originally from Blantyre, Tamandani studied nursing and midwifery at the University of Malawi. After working for eight years as a nursing officer with Malawi’s Ministry of Health, Tamandani served as a family planning coordinator in the rural district of Neno. However, she recently resigned from this position, in order to focus on her family and the ministry that she feels called to.
Her long-term vision, together with African Enterprise, is to open faith-based primary healthcare clinics and youth development centres, in underserved urban districts in Malawi. In these areas, poor health outcomes are exacerbated by poverty, and simple health interventions have the potential to save countless lives. Healthcare for pregnant women and young children, as well as family planning services, will be the main focus of these clinics.
Tamandani laughingly describes that “it was the uniforms” that first attracted her to nursing, and explains that her mother had always encouraged her to become a nurse. Raised in a middle-class family, Tamandani’s parents modelled entrepreneurial skills for their four children. Her dad was a manager, and her mum a teacher, and they also ran several businesses. As a result, Tamandani learnt from a young age how to embark on small business ventures, and is currently the managing director of LAWTANA investments. She is also founder of Women of Faith, a non-profit organisation that sponsors underprivileged students at Neno’s Chikonde secondary school.
Tamandani grew up in a Christian family, but describes how she first encountered Christ and began her “own life with God” after a Campus Crusade in her first year of college. Together with her family, she attends Calvary Family Church in Lilongwe.
Tamandani met her husband, Lawrence, at a youth fellowship event in 2011, and they were married in 2014. Lawrence is a doctor, and currently works as the national coordinator for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. (Gavi is a global health partnership which increases access to immunisations in low-income countries.) They have three beautiful daughters, aged 4, 2 and 1. They named their first daughter Kuwala (“Light”), as she “brought light in our lives after we suffered from a miscarriage”. Ungwiro (“Integrity”) and “Watipatsa” (“The Lord has provided”) are Kuwala’s two younger sisters.
Currently, at AE Malawi, Tamandani is assisting with COVID-19 sensitisation for staff and volunteers in preparation for the upcoming mission in Zomba. She is also conducting COVID-19 education programs in churches (which are not currently under lockdown in Malawi), where she provides COVID education for young children in Sunday schools. As part of the upcoming Zomba mission, Tamandani hopes to assist the team in hosting pop-up medical clinics. Some of her former colleagues, who are also Christians, have already volunteered their time for this effort. AE Malawi is also getting involved with an “Adopt-a-ward” program at the Burns Unit at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe. While working several shifts as a
volunteer nurse in the unit, Tamandani plans to assess the best way for AE to partner with the unit in relieving the suffering of burns victims.
Tamandani’s humility and servant-heart are so evident in her unassuming manner, and we look forward to partnering with her, and the team of AE Malawi, to see the love of Christ shared in both Word and Deed, in this nation.