AN INTRODUCTION TO MISSIONS

For over 50 years, AE has been committed to this mission:

“To evangelise the cities of Africa through Word and Deed in partnership with the Church”.

This vision given to AE founder Michael Cassidy has brought the Gospel to millions of Africans over the years. AE is unique for our focus on stratified evangelism – reaching people at whatever place they are in, be that a presidential office, business board room, slum, marketplace or many other locations. There is no one audience for a mission audience, AE evangelists have been able to share the Gospel with every strata of society in any given city selected for a mission. AE tries to run at least one large city mission in each of our 10 African Office countries, as well as a number of smaller outreaches and evangelistic events.

There are Three phases of a city-wide mission, as outlined below:

PREPARATION:

Over the course of a year, the church of the selected city will trained and prepare for the Proclamation week. Training will typically begin with church pastors, then lay leaders and local evangelists, and finally mission volunteers. Often counsellors are trained also, in order to help with the Preservation phase of mission. Training courses may include Preliminary Theological Certificate (PTC) training in core subjects such as New Testament or Biblical Theology, evangelism skills, caring for new believers and more.

During this time, AE National Team Leaders and Mission Directors are in communications with government and local authorities in order to secure large venues for use in the Proclamation phase. Missions are not a secret, and because teams are trying to reach every strata of society, having good relationships with local or national authorities is crucial to successful missions.

PROCLAMATION:

A typical mission lasts 7-10 days. It is a combination of word and deed events, to correlate with our overall mission statement. Every mission begins with a physical (and symbolic) city wide clean-up of the streets as we are anticipating that Jesus is going to sweep and clean the hearts of people.

A National Team will also run a Leadership Dinner, if possible, to share the Gospel with the political leaders of a city through speaking about what good Christ focussed governance looks like.

Then, hundreds of evangelists go out into the streets to engage with every strata of society: professionals, business people, school children, academics, factory workers and street dwellers. There may be as many as 2,000 separate meeting events in a single mission!

“What a joy it is to see people from all walks of life coming into the kingdom of God!” – Stephen Mbogo, AE CEO and International Team Leader

The expectation is that not only will many hear and respond to the message of salvation found in Jesus Christ alone, but also that Africans will reconnect with the Gospel if their hearts have grown cold, and become mature believers. The mission is also about rebuilding and encouraging the churches of Africa to press on in the faith as increasingly mature believers who can go forth to proclaim the Gospel further.

PRESERVATION:

The final stage of a mission is lifelong! As soon as a mission is concluded, mission volunteers follow up new believers through ensuring that these new believers get connected in to local church parishes. Prayer for these new believers is vital. Ensuring that local churches are ready to care for new disciples is critical, as we anticipate a great influx of new Christians after every mission. Sharing experiences and stories, especially testimonies, discipleship classes, forums and other events are all valuable ways to follow up and preserve the harvest of souls post mission.

Looking to the future, it is important to encourage believers to mature and grow in their faith through committing to lifelong, mature lives lived for Christ. Attending church every week, participating in Bible study groups and training events, and supporting subsequent missions in their cities and beyond are important. Theological training through AE funded courses such as Explore (through George Whitefield College), Preliminary Theological Certificate (through Moore College) and many other locally adapted evangelistic programs, help to strengthen and deepen the knowledge of the Church in Africa.

MISSIONS IN 2018

We are looking forward to seeing God at work in Africa in 2018. Please join us, as we commit the missions listed below to the Lord in prayer, eagerly anticipating that He will bring many people to know His son Jesus this year.

[Updated 23 January 2018]