Testimonies from pastors as we near the start of the upcoming Conference | Preparing Church leaders to spread the love of Jesus and make disciples | ||||
LEAD CONFERENCE ’24 We continue to press onward as we train and equip front-line pastors and evangelists here in Africa! Coming up very soon is our annual LEAD Conference ‘24, from October 15-18. We will host hundreds of men and women serving on the front lines of ministry. They’ll receive training, fellowship, and personal ministry at Agape headquarters in Accra. We believe they will return to their churches and communities energized and prepared to expand the work of God’s Kingdom across the continent. In October 2023 we shared this about LEAD Conference ‘23 Agape Gospel Mission has been training African Pastors and church leaders since 1984 – and we are convinced that LEAD Conference ‘24 will be our best Pastors’ conference ever! We are confident that God will transform not only the individual leaders who attend but also entire communities as the leaders return with cutting-edge knowledge to reach the lost and disciple the church. LEAD Conference is a vital investment in the future of the church in Africa. But we need your financial support to maximize this critical opportunity. Many pastors attending the LEAD Conferences come from poor communities and rural areas. Some of them are facing real persecution as they minister in Moslem-dominated regions. They cannot sponsor the costs of attending, and they need you to stand with them to make this fantastic training opportunity available. By supporting LEAD Conference ‘24, you will impact Pastors and churches who need this training the most. We aim to provide sponsorships for 1,000 pastors and church leaders. To provide for transportation, housing, meals, training materials, and more we need $75,000. To sponsor a single pastor or church leader is $70. | |||||
RIGHT TEACHING EMPOWERS THE CHURCH Africa is in the foreground as the Good News of Jesus advances. There’s a hunger in many for God’s love and care, opening the door for numerous testimonies that come from the Holy Spirit’s power in people’s lives. The harvest is plentiful! While people seeking basic needs respond rightly when meeting the Savior who can multiply what they have, the risk is also there for exploitation by false teachers, who control people through deception and vain promises. You know them as false prophets. They are also plentiful. In an article on Ghanaweb.com, columnist Rockson Adofo posed this question, “How credible is a pastor or a prophet who charges the sick or the needy a fee before he prays for him or her?” In another example cited by Moses Owojaiye from the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, an “African preacher encouraged his followers to eat grass and drink fuel, while another sprayed insecticide on congregants to exercise deliverance from evil.” Mr Owojaiye went on to write, “It is urgent that the church promotes the kind of biblical literacy and discipleship that will address the contemporary problems that lead congregants to these prophets.” The urgency for more trained, vetted, God-loving pastors to lead the Church is immediate. This is why we give so much attention to training church leaders at Agape Bible College, and at the Ablaze and LEAD Conferences. We aim to develop church leaders, both new and experienced, who can plant and lead churches with dynamic faith in God’s redeeming power.God has called us to Empower the Church, and many of you have stood with us through faithful prayer and by giving towards the costs to train church leaders. Please prayerfully consider giving again now to Agape Bible College or the upcoming LEAD Conference. In doing so, you’ll be investing directly in the spread of Biblical Christianity in Africa! | |||||