2022 African Missions Conference Report – “Compelled by the Spirit!”

Greetings from the Motherland of Africa & the Mid-Atlantic US! The 2022 AMC participants were on FIRE for the LORD as we went to the streets of Lagos to serve as MERCY ambassadors! “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.” (1 Corinthians 2:12) Dear Kip, Elena, and FOMM Family, Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa as we have just returned from the 2022 African Missions Conference (AMC) in Lagos, Nigeria entitled “Compelled by the Spirit!” (Acts 20:22)  Despite many visa challenges, we witnessed 248 souls in attendance with delegates from 10 nations: Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda, South Africa, Ethiopia, Brazil, Mexico City, United States, and of course, Nigeria!  The LORD blessed us with the baptism of a medical student despite heavy persecution, the restoration of my dear friend and the hope for Ethiopia, Tamru Belhu, as well as two Nigerian ICOC leaders who are eager to join God’s new movement!  In addition, the saints cheered at the appointment of Tolani & Kate Abiodun as Evangelist and Women’s Ministry Leader at our First General Session on Friday night, as well as Osas Atohengbe as Evangelist on Sunday before he preached the Word!  If all that were not enough, our 1st annual Day of MERCY walk through the streets of Lagos and the beautiful wedding of Ayodeji & Gbemisola Aregbesola were unforgettable!  Our Blaise Feumba also reported that the French Africa churches had 23 baptisms this week!  The AFRICANUS World Sector has thoroughly embraced the theme of being “Compelled by the Spirit”  as we pray for the Spirit to guide us in planting 25 churches in Africa and three states in the mid-Atlantic US over the next eight years!  Please pray for us! 2022 AMC HIGHLIGHTS! Sophia Anozie (middle), is an 18 year old Medical Science diploma graduate of the University of Lagos who was baptized!  She fought through persecution from her family to get baptized early Sunday morning before her parents physically dragged her home!  Please pray for her to be courageous during this trying time. Tamru Belhu, a dear brother in Addis Ababa, sadly allowed acedia, drunkenness and even brawling to pull his heart away from God.  He is grateful for this “golden chance” to repent and is praying for the Addis Ababa planting to come much earlier than the scheduled 2026!   Kehinde Akande and Akin Lewis (a current family group leader and former Evangelist respectively in the ICOC) are eager to join God’s new movement!  Akin (right) is a now famous actor in Nollywood since leading churches in Guinea, Lagos and Joburg in the ICOC.  Both men traveled over 2 hours to join us for worship on Sunday, simply stating with joy, “This is the church I was baptized into!”  They are currently reading Ron Harding’s historical account entitled, “The Untold Story: Chronicles of Modern Day Christianity.”  Please pray for them as they are sure to face persecution for their faith and courage! THURSDAY: SPEAKER’S DINNER After I preached on the topic of “Whose Sake I Have Lost All Things,” we surprised Patricia Feumba for her birthday!  She was very encouraged!  Tolani & Kate Abiodun, along with newborn Kayla and my beautiful bride Patrique shined at the Speaker’s Dinner! Chris Wooden (seated), our Joburg Shepherd-in-training, is a great example of giving up “all things” to serve the kingdom, as he has left family and friends in Chicago to serve on the Joburg mission field as a pensioner!  He and his wife Lerato generously sponsor our Joburg MERCYww project known as the Kreative Mindz Academy, an after-school program in the Meyerton area! FRIDAY: CHURCH BUILDERS WORKSHOP Our Church Builder’s session was packed as our brother Blaise Feumba preached the word powerfully!  Despite having malaria, he boldly challenged everyone in the room to be on one of the mission teams that constitute our Operation Motherland plan by 2030! Operation Motherland is going to be achieved through the power of the Spirit!  We look forward to celebrating the Inaugural Services of the first 2 churches on this list on September 4th (Casablanca, Morocco) and September 18th (Kampala, Uganda)! Our brother Amadou Sountoura (left), the Evangelist of the Yaounde, Cameroon planting, shared powerfully during the segment on Leadership Practicals!  The Yaounde planting has set a movement record by baptizing 147 souls and 2 place memberships from the ICOC in their first year!  His bi-lingual translator, Marius Beniet (right) has also led the Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire campus ministry from 168 to 228 since the start of this year!  To God be the glory! FRIDAY NIGHT: GENERAL SESSION The LORD blessed Tolani & Kate Abiodun’s appointment as the entire audience cheered in approval, along with Tolani’s father and Kate’s mother, who were also in attendance!  The Smellies and Abioduns wore the same Ankara material (Nigerian native attire) to symbolize our love and devotion as a spiritual family! Lagos Evangelist Bolaji Akinfenwa preached the powerfully as he called us to “Complete the Task the Lord Jesus has Given Us” as we dream for Operation Motherland!  Please pray for the Lagos Church to reach 250+ souls by the end of this year! SATURDAY: MEN & WOMEN SESSIONS Ron Harding and Patrique preached powerfully for the Men’s and Women’s sessions respectively as they spoke about “The Good News of God’s Grace!”  The men were reminded that our salvation must be our motivating joy, and God was compelled to give us His best so that we could save the rest! Nick Bordieri from Mexico City inspired us to rely on God as he preached on “The Hardships Facing Me” from Paul’s admonition in Acts 20:22-24!  It was a great reminder that our greatest pains can become our greatest victories! SATURDAY:  MERCY WORLDWIDE EVENT! It was both a joy and sobering to visit and tour The Real MERCY School in Okobaba before heading to the streets for our 1st Annual International Day of MERCY Walk!

Our MERCY Ambassadors sang and held up signs as we traveled through the streets of Lagos to proclaim the good news of “compassion in action!”  This picture is right before crossing a large flooded area – we got through it safely! Jacques Groenewald (center) from Johannesburg enjoyed his time with the Lagos disciples during the MERCY Walk! SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE! Nick Winn from Johannesburg kickstarted our worship service with the talented Lagos Church Choir before also sharing vulnerably for Communion!   The flag ceremony featured all 8 nations where we will have churches by the end of this year!  Pictured here are the flags of South Africa and the United States held by Rotshidzwa Mugaga of Joburg and Belinda Turner of Washington, DC as the Lagos Choir sang the “Circle of Life!” After a convicting Contribution message by Abidjan campus leaders, Marius & Marie-Louise Beniet, it was a privilege to appoint my dear son in the faith, Osas Atohengbe, as the first Nigerian-born, Nigerian-converted, and Nigerian-appointed Evangelist in our new movement!  This picture is a keepsake as it features all our present Nigerian evangelists in Lagos (Bolaji), South Africa (Tolani) and Osas (Kampala)!  Osas went on preach the Word powerfully for our service! After Osas’ inspiring message we put the Kampala Mission Team before the LORD in prayer as they were officially “sent out” to win the “Pearl of Africa” – Uganda! We ended the service by singing the Glory Song with an African twist!  The wedding of Deji & Gbemisola Aregbesola was beautiful – we were all inspired by how quickly Gbemisola changed her attire from an East African dance to her Mission Team clothes to her wedding dress! Mr. & Mrs. Deji Aregbesola! On behalf of all the saints on the Motherland, THANK YOU for all your prayers and support to make this AMC the best one…yet! With all our love, Andrew & Patrique s