Beyond the Surface

Beyond the Surface

“The church in Africa is a mile wide and an inch deep.”

This is a common saying used to describe the spiritual state of the church in Africa, and a challenge our church staff at AfricaHope face on a regular basis.  While the church in Maasai-land excels at door-to-door evangelism, crusades, and open-air seminars to preach the Gospel, it often lacks discipleship and a life informed by the biblical Christ.

Out of a desire to take the church deeper, AfricaHope recently hosted its first “New Believers” discipleship retreat with emerging church leaders from our 3 church plant communities.  Simon, a young believer from Letukunyi, attended the training.  During his time at AfricaHope, Simon studied in depth about the Gospel, Sin, Grace, the Trinity, and the spiritual disciplines.  He also spent time developing his personal testimony and learning how to share the gospel story with his neighbors.

At the end of the week during a time of thanksgiving, Simon told our staff “I have been to crusades,  and heard the preachings of many pastors, but I had never studied and understood the basic foundations of my faith.  We must share what we’ve learned this week in our communities.”

Simon went home from the training and immediately started sharing what he had learned with his church.  He and the other believers from the retreat also organized 3 weekend seminars in different communities to encourage other believers into a deeper relationship with Christ by sharing what they learned at the discipleship retreat.  Please pray for Simon and the other believers as they grow in their faith and love for Jesus Christ.