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All Posts By

Geoff Holder

For Prayer…

By Prayer

Please pray with us for our partners in Africa.

“Pray that God will give us the resources so the community of Kibalya can have a maternity health facility, that we would be able to buy bibles for rural churches, and have the resources to train pastors for ministry.”

Bishop Nason BalukuSouth Rwenzori Diocese, Uganda

“With AMISOM peacekeeping force came Christians in uniform and other humanitarian peacekeepers including myself. Pray for all working for the salvation and restoration of this beautiful nation and its people.”

Daniel MasigaChristian Leaders Fellowship Mogadishu, Somalia

“Pray for the economic stability of Uganda as the inflation rate keeps rising. Lack of essential items always triggers a wave of crime so please pray for those who find themselves in desperate times and cannot afford basics.”

Brenda AbejaEagleLite Associates, Uganda

“Our prayer for our ministry at Juba in South Sudan is for funds to buy additional land for new churches. Secondly, we need a financial break through to open a school to provide education for local children.”

Alex SokiriNew Nation Church, South Sudan

“Please pray for me as I try and publish two books , for Judie’s PhD studies, for our three sons at university and for my elderly parents. Pray for Kenya and the continued spread of God’s transformative Word across the nation.”

Chris Khatela and Judie MmosiNgong Restoration Assembly, Kenya

“We’re constructing one of our local church’s buildings, please pray so we can complete the building soon. Our church community school want to construct a school building so please keep us in your prayers..”

Clinton GbawohCentral Christian Assembly, Liberia

“Give thanks that our training in marginalised areas of East Pokot is going on well. Please pray for the Pokot Bible Project and for the Pastors Camel Project. Also please pray the nation of Kenya as we prepare for elections.”

Shadrack Maiyo KomaNorth Rift Pastors’ Fellowship, Kenya

“Thank you for your prayers for my sister-in-law, Sally. Her operation was successful but doctors found cancer. She begins chemotherapy soon and has lots of pain. Please keep her, her husband and children in your prayers.”

Abraham KoechAfrica Inland Church, Kapsabet, Kenya

“Pray with me for donors to help fund ABS student tuition and administrative costs, and that ABS will be chartered to offer Certificate of Theology courses by National Council for Higher Education in Uganda.”

Francis EsomuAtirir Bible School, Soroti, Uganda

“TCN members elected a new board last year. Lets pray that they will catch up and take TCN to greater heights. Pray with us to get enough funding for income generation projects and for leaders graduating from TCN courses.”

Walter RuttoTransformational Compassion Network, Kenya

“Please pray with me for the funds to pay for my Master’s Degree in Theology and for our plans to start a Bible School in Lumbumbashi. Pray also for clean water provision in the local communities as this will raise the standard of living.”

Bertin MwanyaCongo Pastors’ Fellowship, Lumbumbashi, DRC

“Pray for my ministry as I am planning to do church planting in another area within Lusaka. I believe it will be a great opportunity to share the gospel and train new leaders using the eVitabu resources in this new area.”

Lawson LimaoWord of God Ministries, Zambia

“According to Rwandan law governing churches, an uneducated pastor cannot lead a church. If APF did not support my theological studies our church would now be disqualified. Give thanks to God for this support.”

Victor ImanaturikumweEglise Evangélique de la Bonne Volonté au Rwanda

“I feel a heavy burden for the pastors in this generation who need help. Pray that I will remain focused and for our coaching, counselling and training activities and programmes in Mukono and ministry target areas.”

Peter MugabiCephas Leadership Foundation, Uganda

“Pray for pastors who are suffering due to inflation to reach their churches in remote areas, and for 25 Baptist churches closed by the government as their buildings only have grass roofs or are too close to other churches.”

Jean Jacques MasaboBaptist Union of Burundi

“Please pray for revival in our churches in the Central Rift Region, pray for peace for our country during this election period, and pray for God’s provision as I attend a conference in the US in October and November.”

Simon LabosoCentral Rift Baptist Regional Convention, Kenya

“Following tropical storms and Cyclone Gombe that devastated our crops and infrastructure, praise God that we have replanted the maize we lost with assistance from APF. Pray now for a good winter crop harvest.”

Lloyd ChizengaNew Life Christian Church, Malawi

“Please pray for me as I pursue my Doctoral program in church ministry and leadership. Pray for the provision of ministry partners who will walk with the PDN women’s ministry team to bring training to women leaders.”

Rose MugabiPastors’ Discipleship Network, Uganda

“We pray for the ministry of evangelisation in Gakenke and Rulindo Districts in Rwanda and for students at Wisdom Bible School. Heavenly Farther, let the Word of God become light in these days affected by war in Ukraine and DRC.”

Charles MunyamahoroWisdom Bible School, Rwanda

“Please pray for me, for more grace in my God given gift to help pastors and church leaders. Pray for Tanzania, we’re facing inflation and life seems to be so tough as the Russia-Ukraine war shakes out our country’s economy.”

Heavenlight LuogaDeeper Life Ministries, Tanzania
June 23, 2022
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Download our July 2022 newsletter

By Impetus

July 2022 Impetus.

I have always prided myself on being able to recall names, faces and details of the people I meet. As a pastor, it’s a very useful skill. In many African contexts where local dialects and languages make pronunciation and recall more difficult however, this can be more challenging. But I think the same is true in reverse. Only this morning, I received an email from someone I recently met digitally addressed: ‘Dear Steve’!

Names are important.

This is especially true in Biblical thought: Adam means ‘man’, Eve means ‘life-giver’, Ruth means ‘friend’ and David (I have always liked this one) means ‘beloved’.

Above all, Jesus means ‘God who Saves’.

Ever since my early involvement in APF there have been conversations about the name ‘African Pastors Fellowship’. How does it communicate to a largely white British supporter base? Does it adequately describe organisational priorities around training and equipping Christian leaders? To what extent does it suggest a forward thinking and pioneering 21st century mission?

The most common response I get when I tell people I work for African Pastors Fellowship is, “but you’re not African!”. We need to be serious about the possibility our name could actually be a barrier to some opportunities.

The conversation is on-going and I would warmly welcome comments from supporters and friends of APF, both positive and negative concerning our name.

In the meantime, I hope you will be encouraged by this edition of Impetus which contains a significant section of prayer requests submitted by African friends and partners and has been prepared in response to your requests for more of a focus on prayer.

Every Blessing,
Dave (not Steve!)


Revd Dave Stedman
CEO

Download 'Impetus' here
June 23, 2022
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Celebrating 60 years of St Paul’s College

By Kenya

On a recent visit to the Anglican Diocese of Kapsabet in Kenya, APF’s Chair of Trustees, Rev Canon Richard Suffern was able to attend the 60th anniversary service and celebrations of St Paul’s Theological and Bible College. Richard writes:

At a colourful and vibrant service members of staff and students, present and past, celebrated the diamond anniversary of the establishment of St Paul’s College. Five hours of worship, testimony, prayer and presentations followed by an excellent lunch made for a day of praise and thanksgiving to God for all that He has done through the College. St Paul’s serves four Dioceses in particular, but students come from all over Kenya. Over 600 students have trained here, the largest Anglican theological college in Western Kenya.

St Paul’s has always aspired to be at the cutting edge of theological training, both academic and applied. This makes APF’s involvement in the life and teaching of the College very relevant. St Paul’s has devised a five-year development plan which includes APF’s flagship eVitabu. As College Principal Rev Elizabeth Cheruiyot says: “Our priority areas include utilising modern technology by going digital and exploring the opportunities therein.”

Many of the graduates have gone on to senior leadership positions in the Church, and the preacher for this occasion was the inspiring former student Rev Dr Sammy Wainaina, Provost of Nairobi Cathedral. The training is also very relevant to ministry in remote and less developed areas of Kenya which include West Pokot district where I worked for five years with Tearfund. I was also able to go to West Pokot to visit the newest Diocese of Kenya, Kapenguria, in May. This Diocese was a parish when I lived in Kenya! There are now hundreds of local churches with their leaders who need resourcing in the way that eVitabu makes possible.

I returned from Kenya even more convinced of the great value of eVitabu training and resourcing work of APF. I give thanks to God for calling APF into existence for such a time as this as well as for times and conditions of the past. Well done to all our team who work in such a dedicated and inspired way to see vision become reality!

June 23, 2022
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Village discipleship in Malawi

By eVitabu, Malawi

The church in Africa is growing faster than anywhere else but training leaders for the new churches isn’t keeping up. The vast majority of rural church leaders have never had even a single day of formal training. In Malawi, Patrick  Steven Mateketa is finding eVitabu to be an invaluable tool to support his vital training work with village church leadership teams.

My name is Patrick Steven Mateketa. I am a Malawian from the Central Region, District of Kasungu but I was born and have lived most of my life in the southern region. For ten years now, I am living in Balaka District.

I joined African Pastors Fellowship in the year 2020 and was introduced to the eVitabu app. I am a pastor and teacher by calling. Teachers need to be very resourceful so that they can better communicate hidden meanings of the Word of God, so I wanted to see how eVitabu could help me.

By the time I was joining APF, I was running village discipleship training workshops with rural pastors and leaders not far from where I live. I had prepared three lessons from the books given to me by an American pastor from California which I translated into Chichewa. That was the beginning of my village discipleship ministry programme.

In our villages, most of church pastors and leaders are handpicked. They don’t have any training or even basic knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. You find a pastor leading a big congregation but lacking both theological understanding and the resources to guide them.

After six months of village discipleship training, the American funding ended. I was also concerned about a training focus that seemed to me to be about personal gain. Nevertheless, other pastors and leaders in villages also called me, asking for training. This made me realise exactly what office God set for me in my calling.

I now started searching for resources to use to train and coach village pastors in depth. Among them, I found the eVitabu app from APF which I use regularly. In eVitabu, there are resources touching almost every area of ministry. For example, when I am teaching on discipleship, I look for discipleship books. When I am teaching on pastoral formation, I look for resources focused on theology, the art of preaching, eschatology, and the like.

eVitabu is simple to use and very handy. Once, a pastor from the UK bought me a laptop but it was not safe to carry it on the bicycle I use to cycle very long distances. I ended up breaking it, soaked in the rain. With eVitabu, I have many powerful resources just there on my phone, but it is easy to carry and protect.

Sometimes, a learner asks me a question from a topic that I don’t have much knowledge about. When this happens, I ask them to let me finish the current teaching point and say I will come back to that question later. I can then get my phone, open eVitabu, search for that topic and I have this great support. This is only a problem when I am in areas where the network is weak.

Many of the resources on eVitabu are in English but I teach in our own languages. One of the things I do is to choose a portion of a relevant resource and translate it either while I am preparing or even while I am teaching. I would love to see more resources on eVitabu in Chichewa, Tumbuka and other languages spoken in Malawi.

Another thing that would be a great help is for supporters of APF to support my training by donating data bundles for my phone. Data bundles are a problem to most of us here.

In our monthly APF discussions on Zoom, I heard APF staff Dave and Geoff talk about a future development of doing formal Bible school training by extension learning through the eVitabu app. This idea must be promoted, encouraged and marketed with a catchy advertisement.

I like the eVitabu app because it does not only teach about the spiritual things but also covers agriculture, economics, the environment, our society and other people. Christian leaders are agents for change and positive change should be seen across all aspects of our lives.

In the village where I borrow a piece of land to grow my crops, people do not believe they can harvest good crops without first securing the farm with magic. But of all the village farms this year, my small field has better crops than any other fields. Villagers are now beginning to trust God in their farming.

God bless you!
Patrick Steven Mateketa

June 23, 2022
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Fostering fellowship across Africa

By Rwanda, Zambia

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a very challenging time for many of our partners right across Africa. But tough situations inspire creativity and new ways of working. For example, instead of travelling to meet with the pastors and church leaders we work alongside, we set up monthly gatherings on Zoom. Now travel is possible again, our online meetings are continuing especially because they are creating a greater sense of fellowship between our African partners, something that was lacking before.  It’s great to listen to church leaders from Malawi, Kenya, Uganda, Liberia, Mali and DRC discussing and learning from each other’s experience. Recently, one of our partners from Rwanda spent several months in Zambia to study English. While he was there, he sought out a familiar face from the APF online meetings. Emmanuel explains…

My name is Revd Emmanuel Gatera from Kamembe in Rwanda, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. I lead a network of churches called Word of Life Church.

I would like to share with you something about the connection I made while I was in Lusaka, Zambia.

Since March and up to June 2022, I was in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia at English language school. During the time I spent there, I had the privilege of creating friendships with pastors and organisations.

Through the connection with the APF Zoom meetings, I had already met Pastor Charles Mwampe from Zambia Youth Ministries online so we met in-person while I was in Lusaka.

Pastor Charles then invited me to attend the Zambia Youth Ministries conference. It was wonderful to speak at this conference on the theme “Why is it wise to trust in God not in men?” using Psalm 146:1-10 and Psalm 125:1-2. Many of the youth responded to the message and decided to put their trust in God.

There are many benefits of networking with pastors and organisations pan-Africa. It is so important for African pastors to grow in friendship and work together in growing the Kingdom of God by sharing the opportunities they have.

During the three months I spent in Lusaka, I was hosted in the home of a ‘bishop’ of a young Pentecostal church group. He is the Chairman of 100 different churches in this network and these churches showed me love as I ministered with them.

It was good to learn about their unity as churches. They meet each Monday between 4pm and 6pm for praying, sharing God’s word and helping each other so that each one can have a business of doing.

My prayer is that this fellowship can grow up.

Thank you!
Emmanuel Gatera

June 23, 2022
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Join our Team!

By UK

We’re looking to recruit a Head of Fundraising

APF offers an exciting opportunity for an experienced fundraiser to help this pioneering charity reach dedicated but marginalised communities in Africa with practical, spiritual and sustainable transformations.

APF is a well established UK charity that exists to enable effective Christian leadership which brings community transformation through local African churches. Our innovative e-learning app, eVitabu, was launched in 2018 and is now being used by approximately 1000 African church leaders in 25 nations, reaching thousands of churches and hundreds of thousands of Christians. In order to continue to develop and improve the app, ensure sustainable expansion in Africa and appoint African Partner Workers to deliver in-country training, we now seek to appoint a creative, strategic and experienced fundraiser, willing to work as part of a small team to help us increase income from a variety of sources.

You will be expected to:

  • Build on the work already done to manage relationships with individuals, churches, charitable trusts and other sources to support the work of APF, managing existing donors, database and adding to this portfolio to secure significant growth in income.
  • Research and identify appropriate funders, whose criteria match our developmental needs, preparing cases for support and submitting compelling digital campaigns, written bids and complex grant applications, as appropriate.
  • Maintain and develop relationships providing updates and arranging visits as required.
  • Deliver growth in income from other fundraising activities such as trading and events, and mobilising supporters to do the same.

You will be:

  • In full sympathy with the Christian values and ethos of APF
  • Experienced and with a track record of success in, preferably Christian, fundraising and/or digital marketing and management systems.
  • Having excellent inter-personal skills and able to work as part of a dispersed team (there is an office in Faversham, Kent, but the post-holder could work remotely)

Terms:

  • One day per week (can be worked flexibly)
  • 40kGBP per year, pro rata
  • Four weeks annual leave
  • Six month probationary period

For a copy of the job description and person specification, or to enquire further, please email Revd David Stedman

Download Head of Fundraising Job Advert
May 25, 2022
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Shockwaves from Ukraine reach Africa

By Politics

The eyes of the world are rightly turned to Ukraine where, at the time of writing, Russian forces continue to wage war. How have African countries responded to the conflict and what does it mean for the churches and communities APF works alongside?

The most prominent voice on the conflict in Ukraine from Africa has been Kenya’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Martin Kimani. In a powerful speech, Kimani drew historical parallels between Africa’s anti-colonial struggles – and agreement that Africa’s borders be respected in the aftermath of decolonisation – and Putin’s desire to roll back the years on Ukraine’s independence. He denounced “irredentism and expansionism on any basis, including racial, ethnic, religious or cultural factors.”

Ghana’s permanent representative to the UN Security Council stated that Ghana stands with Ukraine in the wake of the “unprovoked attack”, and Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister said his country was prepared to impose sanctions on Russia and comply with UN resolutions.

While a united African voice in opposition to Russia would send a strong message to Moscow, this remains unlikely. This is in part due to Russia’s economic and military influence at home.

Russia has been courting African leaders over the past few years. Chinese influence in Africa might be far more obvious but Russia has increasingly provided military and intelligence support to countries including Mali, Sudan, the Central African Republic, and Mozambique.

This may in part help to explain the African Union’s muted response to the conflict, simply urging a ceasefire, and why seventeen African countries including South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Senegal, and Mali abstained from the UN Security Council vote to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Away from international politics and diplomacy, what happens in the mud and snow around Kyiv and Mariupol is likely to be felt far away in the dusty streets of Kampala and the villages of Tanzania.

East Africa’s increasingly unpredictable weather patterns have forced African governments, especially Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, to compensate by increasing grain imports. The bulk of Kenya’s wheat imports originate from Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In neighbouring Tanzania, consumption of wheat is estimated at 1 million tonnes per year. The country imports more than 90% of that wheat from foreign markets including Russia and Ukraine.

Pastor Heavenlight Luoga, who oversees one of APF’s key partners in north-west Tanzania, told us that people in his church were praying for Ukraine and were worried about what the conflict might mean for them. “We’re all very worried on the price of wheat flour coming up” he says.

The dynamics of rising food prices are complex in rural market economics but generally the poorest households suffer the most as they spend a larger percentage of their household income on food compared to wealthier households.

Another impact of the war in Ukraine is an increase in the price of fuel. In Uganda, Revd Peter Mugabi explained how fuel price rises were being felt across the country:

“The fuel board now reads 5,140 [Ugandan shillings] per litre… it’s too much and this affects everything in the market space. It’s really tough and the masses are complaining but to deaf ears of our political leaders. So prayers should go up for us. Covid and now the new combination of fuel prices have intensified the crisis we are in.”

As people of faith from across the world pray for Ukraine, let’s also remember the poorest in Africa who, despite living thousands of miles away, are nevertheless feeling the shockwaves of this terrible conflict as well.

April 1, 2022
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Download our April 2022 newsletter

By Impetus

April 2022 Impetus.

Thank you so much for reading our April 2022 newsletter.

Greetings from Kasese in the far south west of Uganda close to the border with DR Congo. Despite being overshadowed by the Rwenzori mountain range, Kasese is at a lower altitude than many other parts of Uganda and the March weather is seriously warm. As the evening breeze comes through my window and the fan in my room is spinning to keep me cool, I am reminded of ruach, the breath of God’s Spirit.

As you will read elsewhere in this edition one of the highlights of my visit to Uganda was the privilege of meeting Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba. I promised that the APF family would pray with him for his vision to see Uganda transformed through the conversion of:

Heads – improved access to education at all levels.
Hearts – compassion and social justice for the most vulnerable.
Hands – practical action and campaigning against corruption.
Homes – family life and an end to sexual violence against women.
Hospitals – improved access to clinical care.

Archbishop Stephen’s vision is brilliant in its simplicity but profound and far reaching. Together we discussed how eVitabu speaks to each of these aspirations through its various contributors and resources.

Please take a moment to pray for Archbishop Stephen and his team at Namirembe Cathedral in Kampala.

Pray also that APF, through the gift of eVitabu, might be part of seeing a nation changed. Pray for the life giving breath of God to blow in this land and among this people.


Revd Dave Stedman
CEO

Download 'Impetus' here
April 1, 2022
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Training in Burundi

By Burundi, Tanzania, Training

Heavenlight Luoga is a key APF training partner from north-west Tanzania. Alongside Kesia, his wife, they use eVitabu to run workshops for untrained pastors from rural communities such as the recent programme they provided in Burundi.

The training was an amazing time. My wife, Kesia, and I based our training on resources from APF’s eVitabu app. eVitabu was a great help in preparing the programme for the pastors and wives. The key resources we chose on eVitabu were from Next Leadership and written by Revd Dr Kate Coleman.

Revd Kate’s material covered many important aspects of family life and marriage. We explored together how marriage was designed to reflect the God who created us in His image, both male and female, and who is recreating us to be like Him in loving relationships, deeply connected with each other and in partnership through agreement and cooperation in a way that honours the marital bond.

We looked at how unresolved issues can wreck marriages and destroy families and discussed problem solving and conflict resolution in marriage.

We also talked about repentance and forgiveness within family and married life. At the end of the training, there was an opportunity for husbands and wives to renew their marriage covenants together.

So many pastors told me that this teaching was completely new to them. Wives were praising God and even during breaktimes they gathered into groups to continue to discuss the teaching. Pastors were so happy to sit down side-by-side with their wives. This is not a normal thing!

Altogether, over 60 attended the training. We had hoped for 50. But success is not just about numbers, it was found in seeing husbands and wives together, repairing and building their relationships and hearing their testimonies after the training.

One of the pastors at the training was a Church of Burundi pastor called Revd Maendeleo. He enjoyed the training so much that he made a call to Bishop Evariste Nijimbere from the local Buhiga Diocese. I then received a voicemail from the Bishop asking me to come and join him in June to lead some seminars for the Diocese.

In more good news, a wider door has been opened for the next year. All pastors in the training programme agreed to sponsor themselves for three days of training next year if I can cover the transport cost for Kesia and myself. Kesia will facilitate the pastor’s wives training and I will facilitate the pastors training, then in the evening all of us will come together. We are told to expect 100 or even 150 for that training. I am not the one who asked to do this but the idea came from within the group themselves. Of course, for me this is a great fruit.

The journey from Karagwe in Tanzania to Buhiga in Burundi and back is long. We travelled by bus, taxi and motorbike and had to negotiate the Covid-19 testing challenges at the border between the countries. I was tired and suffered from fatigue at the end of training and after the journey but I had no regrets at all.

I look back to what God has done for me and for all participants and, for the sake of God’s Kingdom, I am full of joy in my heart.

April 1, 2022
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A Tale of Two Villages

By Farming, Malawi

Southern Africa, especially Malawi and Mozambique, have suffered repeated destructive storms in recent years attributable to climate change. Revd Lloyd Chizenga from New Life Christian Church describes how the region’s most recent cyclone, Tropical Storm Ana, has impacted some of the communities he trains in sustainable farming skills.

Tropical Storm Ana started last January in Madagascar. It passed through Mozambique and came to end up in Malawi. The cyclone caused a lot of damage when it landed in Malawi. There were three days of very heavy rains, very strong winds and a lot of infrastructure was destroyed. Roads, schools, crops, animals and houses were swept away.

The government has reported that nearly 40 people have been killed in Malawi and something like 200,000 had to leave their homes due to flooding, especially in the southern areas of Chikwawa, Nsanje and the Lower Shire Valley.

In these places, many of the village communities where we have been running the Growing Greener sustainable agriculture training programme with support from Operation Agri and African Pastors Fellowship have really suffered.

One of those communities is Dwanya village on the East Bank of the Shire River in Chikwawa District. Here, all the crops that the project participants planted so carefully with manure, compost and mulch were washed away by heavy floods that came with the storm. As the water overwhelmed the village, family heads carried children and vulnerable people to safety. Families sought refuge in trees and the wind and water rushed across the fields, through their simple homes and stripped away their crops.

While the community in Dwanya are now in desperate need for food aid, basic household utensils and seeds to replant in March, villages in our training programme located in some other districts escaped the worst effects of Storm Ana and are doing very well. Ulongwe village in Balaka District further up the River Shire is one such community.

Here the situation is totally different. The fields are doing well with good, green and tall maize. With this strong yield, the community will be able to store more of their crop surplus to sell later in the year when food prices are higher. This will help pay school fees for their children. It will mean they can invest in animals such as breeding goats to diversify their household income. It will enable them to give more in tithes to support their church and their pastor.

As a leader in the New Life Christian Church network here in Malawi and the main coordinator of the Growing Greener agriculture training programme, it is so hard for me to see so many of our projects so suddenly and so badly affected. My heart goes out to the people in Dwanya and the other villages that are suffering. But I get strength seeing that our work has not been for nothing. We give thanks that Ulongwe and other places away from the path of the storm are doing so well.

Please continue to stand with us in prayer and thank you for all your support of this important agriculture training work with vulnerable communities in southern Malawi.

April 1, 2022
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