Africa’s Hope training
“300 Gideons” in Angola
By Dan Kersten
In a small Angolan village, a local pastor holds an evangelism service.
An elderly woman completely shrouded in black enters. Bracelets and beads dangle noisily from her wrists and neck. She chooses a seat up front.
She is feticieria, one who practices witchcraft, an authority on spirits, charms, sacrifices and spells.
As the pastor tells the story of Jesus and explains God’s plan for salvation, the Holy Spirit breaks through in many hearts.
“Your sins can be forgiven!” the pastor says. “Come forward and meet Jesus at the altar!” With tears in her eyes, the witch comes forward and commits her life to Jesus Christ.
The next morning, she comes to the church and presents a basket to the pastor. He looks inside it and recoils in shock. He begs her to take the basket away. In the basket are all her tools for practicing witchcraft. She wants the pastor to burn them, but he is terrified to touch them. His reaction makes many in the village wonder which is stronger — witchcraft or Jesus?
Angola Assemblies of God pastor Isaac Abrantes says this true story illustrates the need for biblical training in Angola. “A lack of understanding of the Bible creates fear,” he says.
The Angola Assemblies of God has grown very rapidly in the past two decades. They now number about 1.8 million, yet many of its churches teach and practice the wrong things because biblical training of leadership has not been able to keep up with church growth.
“That young pastor in Isaac’s story had never been taught that Jesus has authority over witchcraft (1 John 4:4),” says Dr. Bill Kirsch, director of Africa’s Hope. “We need to help this national church properly train its pastors and leaders.” Africa’s Hope is working with the Angolan churches to train “300 Gideons” who will spread throughout the country to train other pastors.
Of the nearly 10,000 pastors in Angola only about 500 have any formal Bible training. Furthermore, Mormon texts have been found with Assemblies of God pastors who have no access to anything else. The “300 Gideons” project focuses specifically on training these pastors.
Working with Life Publishers, Africa’s Hope is making the Roots of Faith discipleship program available in Angola.
Roots of Faith textbooks were distributed to 150 of the “300 Gideons” in Gabela, Angola, recently by Africa’s Hope missionaries. Thousands more have been shipped to Angola in containers. Now Africa’s Hope needs help funding the distributions.
“We believe trained leaders are the hope of Angola,” Kirsch says. “With these teaching resources we can help train ‘300 Gideons’ who will train many others in the Word. This is the key to Angola’s spiritual future.”
Africa’s Hope works with national churches in Africa, and 200-plus training programs, to facilitate their teaching and training needs. To learn more about Africa’s Hope, or how to help with the “300 Gideons” project in Angola, call toll free 866-330-4896, or visit the Web site at www.africashope.org.