Greetings from the Motherland of Africa & the Mid-Atlantic US!
|
|
|
|
“They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.” (Isaiah 60:21)
Dear Kip, Elena, and FOMM Family,
Greetings from South Africa! We just completed our first-ever Southern Africa Missions Conference (SALC) entitled, “GOD IS ABLE,” hosted by our sister church in Johannesburg! Many disciples commented that it was a “life-changing” time of inspiration and fellowship while experiencing the beautiful South African culture and landscape. From Thursday, March 7th to Sunday, March 10th, 30 visiting disciples from the US, UK, UAE, Zambia and Mozambique were welcomed to Johannesburg as we dreamed for the evangelization of the 10 countries of Southern Africa!
Patrique and I were encouraged with the faith of the Washington DC and Delaware disciples as 16 members (14 from Washington DC and two from Delaware) sacrificed to travel the 7000 miles to join the saints in Joburg. With 130 souls in attendance, the highlights of the Sunday Worship Service was the baptism of a campus student named Akuna; the appointment of Nick Winn as an Evangelist; and the sending out the Maputo (Mozambique) Mission Team “for the display of (God’s) splendor!” The Johannesburg Church is also to be commended, as their efforts to raise funds for Special Missions were vital to the success of the SALC – no funds were requested for missions for this dynamic conference – it was almost entirely funded with “African” monies!
Personally, it was a joy for Patrique and me to welcome our dear friends and fellow WSLs, Michael & Michele Williamson, to Johannesburg as keynote speakers for the conference! Remarkably, Michael and Michele were also able to celebrate their 21st wedding anniversary and Michele’s spiritual birthday while with us! After the SALC concluded on Sunday, I had the privilege to travel to Maputo, Mozambique for a “scouting trip” with a dear “adopted son” in the faith and the leader of the Maputo Mission Team, Yuri Oliveira. Yuri, along with Samara Santos and Bruna Oliveria (no relation) were graciously sent to South Africa from our sister church in São Paolo (Brazil) for training last February. Along with a South African brother, Musa Sibiya and two Mozambican sisters (Drs. Carol and Tânia Nhavoto) this valiant mission team of six souls are eager to plant our first Portuguese-speaking nation on the continent of Africa – Mozambique!
In English-speaking Africa, the LORD blessed the Joburg Church with two campus baptisms on Sunday and Monday from the University of Johannesburg (UJ), which has grown from 0 to 9 disciples at UJ over the past year. Our sister churches in Kampala (Uganda) and Accra (Ghana) also had campus baptisms, and our brother Blaise Feumba reported that the 19 French Africa churches celebrated 19 souls baptized this week! Please pray for my family as we return to Washington DC on Monday after I preach for the Joburg saints on Sunday. The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of faith and inspiration that is already raising up men and women to be used powerfully by God! |
 |
| 30 visiting disciples from across the world were excited to visit the Motherland as we celebrated our first-ever Southern Africa Leadership Conference entitled, “GOD IS ABLE!” (Ephesians 3:20) |
|
 |
| The purpose of the conference was to inspire and equip the Southern Africa saints to fulfill their part of Operation Motherland – the evangelization plan for all of Africa! Excitingly, the sending out of the Maputo Mission Team has now enabled us to have churches in three of the 10 Southern Africa countries – South Africa, Zambia and now Mozambique! Please pray for us to plant three more countries with cities over a million souls by 2030 – Zimbabwe, Malawi and Angola! |
|
 |
| t was a joy to return to Johannesburg with our family after leaving to serve the DC Church just four months ago. This pic was right before we headed out on Thursday afternoon with the SALC guests to the Elephant Sanctuary! |
|
 |
| The African elephants showed us gentle hospitality as they were guided by their expert handlers. We were able to feed, touch and walk with these highly intelligent creatures – the largest land mammals on earth! Next year, I’ll schedule an event to walk with the lions! |
|
 |
| After our time at the Elephant Sanctuary, we took an aerial cable car to enjoy panoramic views at the top of the beautiful Magaliesberg mountain range, where we saw the Hartebeespoort Dam and the lush surrounding areas of the North West province of South Africa. |
|
 |
| We came back from our road trip to sing and enjoy a scrumptious Welcome Banquet on Thursday night for all our SALC guests as I preached the lesson, “God is Able to Save” with Patrique! |
|
 |
| The Leadership Workshop on Friday morning was on FIRE as Michael & Michele Williamson (center) preached the keynote lesson, “God is Able to Raise Up Leaders,” along with powerful admonitions from the different aspects of the Jethro Principle in Exodus 18:21-23! |
|
 |
| A dear brother from DC, Mike Sesay (left), was renewed by the leadership workshop to dream greatly for the LORD once again! One of our South African brothers, Sibusiso (right), a former minister and “prophet” who became a true disciple last year, was inspired to see disciples from around the world! Please pray for both of these great brothers to be used mightily by our God! |
|
 |
| Remarkably, a minister named Robert Kgwete (center) traveled from Limpopo (approximately 3 hours drive from Johannesburg) after hearing about our conference and stayed with us for the entire weekend! Please pray for Robert to study the Bible and become a baptized disciple of Jesus! |
 |
Our First General Session on Friday evening was filled with disciples eager to learn how to impact the Southern Africa region of 160 million souls. Michael Williamson powerfully preached “God is Able to Deliver” from Daniel 3:17!
|
|
 |
| The Joburg Church’s vibrant AMS ministry was on display as authentic African dancing kicked off the night, featuring the different cultures of South Africa. South Africa’s diversity is unique as there are 11 official languages in the country! |
 |
| On Saturday morning, my dear son in the faith and the Joburg Evangelist, Osas Atohengbe, preached powerfully for the men during the Mens and Womens Breakout Sessions. His topic, “God is Able to Provide for All our Needs” reminded us that giving into the temptation to doubt is satanic and belittles the character and power of God! |
 |
After the inspiring Morning Sessions on Saturday, we bused our SALC guests to the famous township of Soweto, a nickname for “South West Township.” After being sobered by the tragedy displayed in the Hector Pieterson Museum, we were encouraged by the Nelson Mandela National Museum (Mandela House), the former home of the great anti-apartheid activist from 1946-1962!
|
 |
| Sunday Service was electric as we witnessed 130 in attendance, an Evangelist appointed, a three-part musical and the campus baptism of a University of Johannesburg student! |
 |
| It was an honor to appoint my dear brother and friend, Nicolaas (Nick) Cornelius Winn, an Evangelist in the kingdom of God! Nick (third from left) will be taking the helm of the great Lusaka (Zambia) Church which was planted back in June of last year! |
 |
| Several Zambian disciples came from Lusaka to celebrate the SALC and encourage Nick at his appointment as the new Evangelist of the Lusaka Church! |
 |
| Yuri Oliveira, the leader of the Maputo Mission Team, preached a fiery sermon on the SALC theme, “GOD IS ABLE!” I am so proud of how this young man from Brazil has grown in his humility, holiness and hunger to please God and win this lost world. |
 |
| The Maputo Mission Team is ready to take Mozambique by storm! Please pray for this dynamic group to make a powerful impact for the LORD! |
 |
| The 16 disciples from Washington DC and Delaware were inspired to take the zeal and perseverance of the Southern African disciples back home to the US! |
 |
| Akuna Nkuna, a second year student at the University of Johannesburg majoring in Information Systems was baptized at the end of service! He overcame his pride in the Pentecostal doctrine to hold the truth of God’s Word! He is a zealous young man who will prayerfully be a servant leader for the LORD on campus! |
 |
| Vuyane (center), was joyfully baptized on Monday night after the SALC! He is a campus student at the University of Johannesburg majoring in Sports Management. He overcame the fear of family and religious tradition to make Jesus LORD! |
 |
| Thanks again to Michael & Michele for joining us for life-changing conference on the Motherland! We love you! |
 |
| Patrique and I were encouraged to celebrate the successful conclusion of the SALC with our Assistant Directors, Osas & Ariel Atohengbe! Their hard work “on ground” in Joburg made our efforts to oversee the conference a joy! |
 |
| After the SALC concluded on Sunday, Yuri and I had the privilege to travel to Mozambique – a nation of 35 million souls – to “scout out the land” for the mission team! The capital city, Maputo, is just an hour away from Johannesburg by flight! |
 |
| At our arrival, Drs. Tânia and Carol Nhavoto (standing 2nd and 5th respectively) sang “We Love You With the Love of the LORD” in Portuguese! These special sisters (physical and spiritual) were incredible hosts during our three-day visit, providing us with a cell phone and a driver to take care of our needs. |
 |
| Yuri and I had the opportunity to stay at the beautiful Serena Polana Hotel in Maputo – established in 1922! Please pray for Lorena (middle) who is studying the Bible with the sisters and is eager to see the church planting arrive in Maputo! |
 |
| The Eduardo Mondlane University (established 1975) is the oldest and largest university in Mozambique, with an enrolled student population of 40,000. It is named after Eduardo Chivambo Monoplane, the President of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) until his assassination in 1969. He was an anthropologist by profession, and worked at Syracuse University (developing the East African Studies Program) before returning to Mozambique in 1963. |
 |
| By the grace of God, Yuri and I were able to meet two bilingual EMU students who were “coincidentally” English majors – God even pointed them out to us as David [2nd from left] was wearing a shirt that said “Drew”)! Both David and Nelson are eager to study the Bible – please pray that God will open the hearts of many students to become disciples of Jesus! |
 |
| Please pray for Lorena’s husband, Paulo (second from right), who is also eager to study the Bible with us! Paulo is an IT specialist who is fluent in English and graduated from a Bible school! We had a great dinner together hosted by Tânia at her home where we were able to help him to discover the truth of discipleship from Matthew 28! |
 |
| Please also pray for Carol and Tânia’s dad, Arnaldo, as we enjoyed lunch together – he is also open to studying the Bible with us. Arnaldo is the former Minister of Education for all of Mozambique! |
 |
| Please pray for all the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries in Africa – Mozambique, Angola, Sâo Tomé and Príncipe, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, and Equatorial Guinea, which adopted Portuguese as its third official language in 2011. These six countries, which comprise of over 60 million souls, were former colonies of the Portuguese Empire from 1474 to the 1970s. |
Kampala, Uganda
|
 |
| Reagan Busobozi was baptized into Christ into Kampala on Sunday! He is the physical brother of Kampala sister Rita Kemigisha. Reagan overcame bitterness and unforgiveness towards his Dad to become a true disciple of Jesus! |
 |
| Reagan and Ritah are now united as both physical and spiritual siblings in the LORD! |
 |
| Reagan and Ritah’s Dad joined the Kampala Church for worship on Sunday! He was blown away by the service, and told Deji Aregbesola, the Kampala minister, “I am happy both Ritah and Reagan are here, now I am coming, then my wife and the others!” Please pray for this entire family to be united in Christ! |
Accra, Ghana
|
 |
| Josephine Abiodun, a disciple from the Manila Church, placed membership in Accra after serving in Manila for eight years. Welcome to the Africanus World Sector! |
 |
| The Accra brothers were fired up to celebrate the baptism of Nigel Hotor (center), a first-year student at the University of Ghana majoring in Biomedical Sciences. Nigel overcame his Catholic traditions to embrace the word of God and become a true disciple! |
| God continues to do “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” as we continue to put our trust in Him. (Ephesians 3:20) Please pray all of the churches throughout the Africanus World Sector to be a “display of (God’s) splendor” as we seek to please Him! (Isaiah 60:21). As always, thank you for all your love, prayers, and financial support to make evangelizing the Motherland possible!
Much love,
Andrew & Patrique |
|
|
