AE is so excited to report on the progress of our work in Ghana. The Togo Farming Project, the Children’s Apprenticeship project, and AE Ghana Vocational Training are all programs that are ongoing thanks to the grace of God, and the generous support of our donors.
The first beneficiaries of the Togo farming project have started preparing the land ready to plant seeds. They have received assistance in the form of farming tools, seeds and a monthly allowance to enable them to care for the land.
The Agricultural Regional Director visited the farmers and donated two litres of Bio Pesticide to support the project. He also praised AE for starting the initiative to help young people in Togo, and offered to send Agricultural Officers to provide some technical assistance.
25-year-old Enid Ohene Akrofi, is thankful to God and AE for changing her life through vocational bakery training. Enid became involved with AE during the Akwapim Mission youth events and was then recommended for the Street Children Apprenticeship Project.
Enid completed High School, but was unable to fulfill her dream of tertiary education because she had no financial support. But her diligence and hard work paid off, and Enid committed herself to intensive bakery training – including entrepreneurship, costing and packaging.
After completing training, Enid baked and sold a variety of bread, chips, and other pastries. She was able to save some money and eventually enrolled at the Accra Technical Institute to study Home Economics. Enid is grateful to God and AE for giving her this opportunity.
Prince Aboagye’s church, New Fountain Ministry International Ghana, participated in the 2018 AE Akwapem Mission. When it came to counseling, Prince was an enthusiastic participant, and he was rewarded for his efforts by God.
He was offered the opportunity to learn computers as part of the AE Ghana Children’s Apprenticeship Project. “God never forsakes His own people”, says Prince. “Perseverance always pays off”. Prince was able to enroll in the Computer training program in 2019.
It’s a privilege to see the work of AE continuing to transform the lives of young people all across Africa because of your support. God’s faithfulness is inspiring!
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.
The Mombasa West Mission in Kenya is the first one to be conducted in the year 2021. The mission is scheduled for 1st to 11th July. The mobilization of missioners and preservation facilitators took place in the month of May. The AEE Kenya team intends to host 300 visiting missioners in 9 zones. The rest of the missioners will come from within Mombasa. This month, there has been a series of continued mobilization and trainings.
The Kayonza Mission in Rwanda was scheduled for 20th – 27th June but following the Volcanic eruption in the neighboring DRC, the mission was postponed to 15th – 22nd August. Preparations for the same are ongoing. At least 127 homes are targeted to be trained to conduct Home Based Evangelism (HBE). Though this is an ongoing activity, 42 households were reached in May this year using HBE and 9 people accepted to follow Christ.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), preparations for the Mont-Amba Mission, which is set for 16th to 24th October, are ongoing. Mont-Amba is located South East Kinshasa in DRC. AE DRC Team conducted School of evangelism in the targeted location of the Matete, Ngaba, Kisenso and Lemba districts and a total of 276 participants from 99 local churches were trained. Currently, the team is mobilizing for prayer and funds for the mission. Earlier, 19 different local churches were equipped for further church members’ mobilization in the target area.
AEE Tanzania is set to have its mission between 22nd and 29th August in the capital city, Dar es Salaam. The team has been meeting the Pastors, equipping them through trainings towards the mission and conducting prayer for the 2021 Mission. Mobilization of evangelists and partners to participate in Dar Back-to-God Mission has as well been ongoing. In the month of May, a group of intercessors from different Churches gathered to purposely pray for the mission preparation and all programs at AEE-Tanzania.
In September, AE Uganda will have a mission in Jinja from 19th to 26th. The AE Team conducted a Vision Casting seminar for the mission where 52 leaders from Jinja City attended. This meeting brought together both the Anglican church leaders and Pentecostal church leaders in one house for the same purpose bridging the gap and dealing with misunderstandings that have always been there. Mobilization teams have been established and tasked to draft their strategies to aid achieving the mission targets. An overall steering committee with 18 members was constituted in May to help oversee the preparations. AE Uganda facilitated a training held in Entebbe for 120 evangelists by our partners in ministry who are planning a citywide mission in that city. The training was organized by the Joint Pastors Network in Entebbe city.
AE Southern Africa Region (AESAR) which is comprised of the Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe teams is set to hold a mission from 19th – 25th September in Zomba, Malawi. AE Malawi held three training sessions in Zomba ahead of the mission where 85 people were trained. The second phase of training the same group was set for the month of June. In April this year, task team leaders for the Zomba Leadership Mission were successfully appointed and a meeting with Church leaders in Zomba to review mission plans was held.
The AE Zambia team continues to go through the AE Manuals to adequately prepare for both the Kitwe and Lusaka mission scheduled for this year and next year respectively. The AE Zambia team visited Kitwe at the invitation of the Maranatha Pentecostal Assemblies of God church to help with the mobilization of the church for evangelism. Close to about 100 church members turned out for the evangelism outreach in Kalulushi.
In Ghana, the AE team is preparing to have a mission in Lome, Togo from the 15th to the 25th of October. An online meeting with the leaders in Togo was held earlier to aid preparations. The leaders were also able to meet the working committees in person. A HBE online training is scheduled for 30th June.
Preparation is ongoing for AE Ethiopia’s mission scheduled for 22nd – 26th December in Kotebe, North East of Addis Ababa. Last month, the AE team held a Home Based Evangelism training as part of the preparations steps for the mission.
African Enterprise has been running a ‘Street Children Apprenticeship Program’ in Ghana since 2007. This program has successfully trained hundreds of youth in skills that allowed them to be employed or become entrepreneurs in order to improve their circumstances.
AE Ghana is now excited to kick start this program in Togo in March 2021.
According to the World Happiness Report 2020, Togo is the saddest country in the world. The report ‘ranks cities around the world by their subjective well-being and digs more deeply into how the social, urban and natural environments combine to affect our happiness.’
The SCAP program has proven to be successful in Ghana for many years. Vulnerable children face unimaginable futures of prostitution, rape, crime and juvenile delinquency. AE Ghana therefore regards this opportunity in Togo as an absolute must.
The program will aim to empower youth with skills training to better not only their circumstances but also uplifting and supporting their families and communities.
Research has shown that the following vocations are needed in Togo:
– Dressmaking and Tailoring
– Vegetable Plantation
– Aluminum fabrication and tiling
AE Ghana is reaching out to Church Leaders to identify 50 vulnerable children in their communities. The recruitment will be done without any religious, political or tribal bias. These partner churches are encouraged to begin community transformation groups with the beneficiaries and meet on a regular basis where the students can share ideas, receive counseling and have access to prayer support in order to grow and transform together.
Your gift of $15 a week will support a vulnerable student in the program and help them to acquire skills, get off the streets and provide for their families.
Selorm Dunyo from AE Ghana completed his tailoring apprenticeship and has built up his own client base. He is now a qualified tailor currently building his own shop with the savings he makes.
“I am very grateful and thankful to God and also to AE Ghana for transforming my life. I can now support my family through the tailoring business. God bless AE and all donors who made it possible for me to come this far. My new challenge is to save enough money to open my own shop so that I can also help or reach out to other street children”.
Support Togo SCAP
Missions in a COVID-19 world.
Our teams have refused to give up on the Great Commission, despite incredibly challenging circumstances in Africa.
Evangelism is the heartbeat of African Enterprise. We exist to share the eternal hope of the Gospel, and this hasn’t changed. In 2020, AE has developed a home-based evangelism (HBE) approach to share the Good News of Jesus, in spite of COVID restrictions.
The HBE model equips believers to share the Gospel with their families and neighbours, in a structured and effective way. The approach focuses on personal evangelism, on a large scale. Mission volunteers facilitate home gatherings, where a pre-recorded or live Gospel message is shared using television, radio, mobile phone or social media platforms. The Gospel broadcast is followed by a personal testimony and an invitation to follow Christ, extended by the HBE facilitator.
Between mid-April and July 2020, our AE teams trained 2,590 pastors and volunteers in the HBE approach, and have found the approach holds enormous potential for evangelism, as well as discipleship. For example, one church in Lukunga, DRC, was able to share Christ with at least 945 people, in multiple homes, on a single Sunday.
One mission volunteer in Kenya, Nancy, has shared the Gospel with over 300 people since the HBE approach was implemented there in May. When she shared the Gospel with a Facebook acquaintance, the 24-year old Margaret, Nancy had no idea that Margaret was suicidal. Nancy describes:
“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 come her way, she would possibly not be alive!”
Our brothers and sisters in Africa are passionate for the cause of Christ, and our support means so much as they choose to “preach the word of God” and “be prepared, whether the time is favourable or not” (2 Timothy 4:2).
Prayer is such an important part of supporting African Enterprise. It’s one of the gifts you can give Africa – your time in prayer. And Africa needs your prayers now more than ever.
A couple of months ago when we compiled our Prayer Diary for May, June and July, we did not know the challenges that we would be facing. As always we look at our calendar and prepare the prayer points around the mission activities happening during that month. This time however, what we planned three months ago has changed enormously from what we are currently facing. The number of coronavirus infections are increasing drastically daily in Africa and more than ever we need to pray for our teams and the people in Africa.
As our CEO, Ben Campbell mentioned in the Prayer Diary:
“Please pray especially for the vulnerable refugee populations, and other marginalised communities, that have less access to help. In all things, our hope and confidence remain firmly in the Lord! As Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) says: “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” May God bless, strengthen and encourage you today, as you continue to pray for the salvation and healing of people in Africa. “
Throughout June and July, please join with us in prayer for all of our AE Teams. They are all facing unprecedented times. We will keep you up to date with all the latest articles and responses from our teams as far as possible on our website and facebook page.
Updated prayer requests will also be uploaded to the PrayerMate App.
We are also in the last few days of our Prayer and Fasting Season ending on Pentecost Sunday with a Global Day of Prayer.
Additionally, let us know if you are interested in starting or joining a prayer group. It can be among you and your friends, families, colleagues or members of your church. You can meet face to face or online and as frequent as you want. Let’s gather in the name of Jesus and pray for Africa. Please send an email directly to ae@aeint.org if you would like to be part of or to start a prayer group.
Thank you for spending time in prayer for African Enterprise.