Imagine watching the spread of digital ministry unfold in real-time across Africa! Dave offers a glimpse into a typical Tuesday at APF, where new eVitabu registrations from across Africa demonstrate the app’s growing influence and vital role.
eVitabu workshop at the University of Rwanda
It is Tuesday 25th February and I login to the eVitabu management system (EVM) on my phone, while I prepare a funding application, sup coffee and answer emails on the laptop. I can see dozens of new eVitabu registrations from Rwanda and remember that Rev Victor Imanaturikumwe, our most active training partner in Rwanda, is leading an in-person eVitabu induction seminar at the University of Rwanda Education Department. By the end of the day, more than 70 students from the university downloaded and registered accounts on the app.
eVitabu is exceptionally valuable to the church in Rwanda where strict government legislation around leadership training, organisational governance and building standards has resulted in thousands of church closures. Where a lack of resources makes compliance with the government regulations impossible for many congregations, APF’s digital teaching and training solution is a great opportunity and enables churches to function. Throughout 2025, Victor is receiving an annual grant so he can plan as many similar training events as possible.
Victor Imanaturikumwe
Meanwhile, I see several other new registrations being automatically approved on the eVitabu management system, but these new app users are from Christians living in Cameroon. As Victor is training on-campus in Kigali, Rossa Wanjiru, in Nairobi, Kenya, is delivering an online eVitabu induction for Baptist pastors in Cameroon.
As an IT specialist, Rossa has provided eVitabu support in Kenya and Uganda for several years. She is now developing a portfolio of online training options for eVitabu users from across Africa. Next week, she will gather a cohort of leaders from Reverb Network when delegates from Burundi, Malawi and Uganda will also gather online.
Returning to the eVitabu management system, a couple of new registrations catch my eye. One is a pastor from Angola and another is from Eritrea. These represent ‘organic’ growth in uptake of the app. Perhaps these leaders have had a recommendation, done some online research looking for training tools, or have simply happened upon eVitabu while searching online for something else.
Rossa Wanjiru
People who discover eVitabu in this way often turn out to be some of the most engaged and innovative eVitabu users, perhaps because they are motivated and already digitally literate when they first install the app.
Being able to offer eVitabu to dedicated, but under-resourced Christian leaders like these from Rwanda, Cameroon and elsewhere is a unique privilege. It is an expression of ministry I would never have imagined pioneering. Being able to clearly track activity (not just in terms of new users but also see how users are engaging with the resources on the app) makes it relatively easy to monitor the app’s impact and offer additional ministry support when it is sought.
This approach is also revolutionising how APF operates. We now have an exceptional and highly motivated network of African training partners whom we are releasing to serve their peers with training both in-person and online. While there will always be a need for UK-based APF staff to visit Africa, building on this growing network of training partners rather than delivering training ourselves is proving wonderfully effective.
As I got on with some other charity admin tasks, it was very special to see in realtime on my phone the spread of the Word of God, potentially reaching thousands of people through Victor and Rossa’s efforts.
By the end of the day, I had seen more than a hundred new eVitabu registrations from four different African nations. It was a good day at the APF mobile office!
