Equipping for Expansion: Making Disciple Multipliers in Africa 

Dear David,

In late April, we surpassed a major milestone: we are training more than 10,000 students. Only through God’s enablement and your partnership could we achieve this goal!

Our strategic focus this year revolves around ministry multiplication. As Acts 6:7 emphasizes, “the word of God continued to increase, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem.” We continue to equip national church leaders, empower faithful men to serve as coordinators overseeing trainers and classes, and evangelize the lost with the gospel to glorify God.

This concerted effort reflects our dedication to expanding our impact, reaching more people with the transformative gospel message, and making more disciples. We want to highlight some new countries in Africa that CCI began reaching in 2023 and how the Lord is growing the ministry in these places. 

CCI Class in Gbarnga City, Bong County, Liberia

In the last 100 years, Africa has experienced phenomenal church growth. David Stevens explained, “It is estimated that the number of Christians in Africa increased from 9 million in the early 1900s to about 380 million by the end of the century. While such rapid growth is encouraging, it brings with it the urgent need of leadership training for the local churches. It is estimated that 90 percent of all pastors in Africa have no formal biblical, theological, or pastoral training.” Christianity in Africa is a mile wide and an inch thick in terms of Bible and theological understanding. 

CCI Expands into West Africa for the First Time! 

Liberia

Liberia was established in 1822 as a settlement for freed slaves returning from the Americas. These freed American slaves introduced Christianity to Liberia. The name Liberia, meaning "land of freedom," reflects the freed slaves' newfound liberty. Present-day Liberia is a blend of American and Indigenous customs, Christianity, and traditional tribal religions. It is a nation with a unique history and a significant community of believers. However, the poverty in Liberia is severe, with 83% of the population living on less than $1.25 per day, and 16% of families lacking consistent access to food, leading to malnutrition among children. 

The first Teacher Training Workshop (TTW) in Liberia was held in February 2023, with 25 participants. In March of this year, I returned to Liberia and led the second TTW there with 40 pastors. Pastor Emmanuel Jonah and Pastor Augustine Morris are two contacts the

Lord directed us to who organized both TTWs. As I met with them and discussed our vision for Liberia and what the Lord was doing in their hearts, it became apparent that the Holy Spirit was guiding us to form a team of coordinators and trainers for Liberia.

Pastor Emmanuel Jonah (right) and Pastor Augustine Morris (left)

Emmanuel was appointed national director in March, and Augustine was appointed country administrator. Under their leadership, they have 18 trainers and have started classes in six counties of Liberia. These classes meet one day a week, studying for six hours each day. They will finish in about two years. Currently, Liberia has 13 classes with 230 students. Two more TTWs were organized this year in June and August. Fifty (50) more pastors were trained, vetted, and screened as possible new trainers to be added to our team. 

Please enjoy this testimony from a CCI Student in Ganta:

CCI Expands Further into East Africa: Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi 

In 2018, Aaron Issler initiated classes in Uganda, expanding to four classes by 2019. After his passing in September 2021 due to COVID-19 complications, Bob Loeffler, who had previously worked with Aaron in Uganda, was challenged to continue the mission as the Regional Director of East Africa. By 2024, the ministry has expanded across East Africa to include Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Burundi, with coordinators in Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda. By God’s grace, we now have three (3) country coordinators, 24 trainers, 26 classes, 485 students, and 13 graduates (trained disciples). 

Rwanda and Burundi

Rwanda, despite its small land mass, is densely populated, with approximately 13.78 million people living in Rwanda. Before 1994, Rwanda was not widely known. After the country's tragic genocide in 1994, where more than one million lives were taken in 100 days, the world learned of Rwanda. Our coordinator from Rwanda, Dr. Protais Nshogoza, lived through the genocide. His faith was severely tested during the 100 days of violence when he lost 46 family members, including his wife and most of his children. He survived an attack, hiding by the edge of a river for 41 days until it was safe to come out. 

Protais said, “In 1994, I was full of heart damage. I was full of anger, hatred, and hating my perpetrators. If I had the opportunity to kill them, I would have done it because of hatred, which was in my heart. But again, God is good. In 2003, I had a prayer partner. One day, we are meditating on Matthew 6, the Lord's Prayer. As we pray, reaching verse 12, ‘Forgive us our debt as we forgive others,’ the voice of the Holy Spirit asked me, ‘How many have you forgiven?’ From that moment, after hearing that question, I started to act with God in my thoughts.” 

Protais is standing to the right of David 

With a heart of forgiveness, Protais visited the men who had murdered his family and led them to Christ. This marked the beginning of healing and reconciliation. We are grateful to the Lord for bringing Protais to serve with CCI. His past and profound faith are a testament to how Jesus can heal those who have endured great hardship and use them for His glory. Protais teaches and coordinates the ministry in both Rwanda and Burundi. Currently, there are five (5) classes with 210 students in Rwanda and two (2) classes with 60 students in Burundi. 

Tanzania

In Tanzania, most citizens are either Christians or Muslims, with Christians making up 63% and Muslims 34%. A small percentage (5%) follow traditional African religions or others. Christianity, introduced by European missionaries, is widely practiced, but persecution still occurs in Muslim- majority areas along the coast and in the western regions. The severity of persecution against Christians varies across the country.

In July, Bob and Andrew Victor, our Ugandan Coordinator, trained seven (7) new teachers (pictured above) and shared our vision with 35 church leaders in Zanzibar, Tanzania. We now have seven (7) classes in Tanzania with 70 students. Praise the Lord! 

Kenya

Similar to Tanzania, Kenya’s main two religions are Christianity and Islam, with 85.5% identifying as Christian and 11% as Muslim. In August 2023, Bob led a seminar for 81 church leaders in Nairobi and held a TTW for 30 leaders. We currently have one class with 25 students in Tanzania. 

As we look to the future of CCI's ministry in East and West Africa, we are praying for the Lord to open doors in every country across these regions. Bob, at 75 years old, has served faithfully but is now facing health challenges, so we are seeking a replacement for him. We are also praying for a regional director to oversee West Africa and coordinators for each country.

Our vision is to equip evangelists, church planters, missionaries, and disciple makers from local churches who will spread the gospel and make disciples in each county or province of every country. This is a vast vision, but we trust that the Lord will fulfill it in His time through His gospel, His Word, His provision, and His chosen servants.

We invite you to join us in this vision of making disciples throughout Africa. The continent needs a heart change through the Word of God and the gospel, which will transform lives, families, and communities—all for the glory of God. 

With a $300 monthly commitment, you can provide essential support for an area coordinator for an entire year. This enables a coordinator to continue their crucial work: training and guiding CCI teachers, launching new classes, and fostering the ministry's growth. Support a coordinator at www.cciequip.org/donatetoday.

Additionally, we have a National Coordinators Fund, which raises support for all coordinators at http://weblink.donorperfect.com/Coordinators. Your generous donation helps us train thousands of leaders, empowering them to become strong disciples and extend their reach to even more people for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. 

Grace and Peace,

EXCITING NEWS!!! My new book has been published. I've included a description below. To buy a signed copy of the book, click on the button below.

God has not only created us with the ability to multiply through having children, he has also given us the power to multiply disciples who multiply disciples through the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. In Genesis and Acts, we read how God enabled man to multiply biologically and spiritually. We read how the number of disciples greatly increased and multiplied during the era of the early church. In his book, Dr. David Nelson, explains eight principles for building a ministry of multiplication. These biblically based principles will empower you to see a solid ministry that will grow into a ministry that multiplies disciple makers.

We regret to inform you that the 2025 tour to Israel has been canceled.

September Edition CCI Equipping and Multiplying News

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