Striking While the Iron is Hot in Africa

By Ron Barnes

Africa is seeing one of the greatest evangelical movements in the world. Source of Light Ministries has been involved in the front lines of this from the earliest days of its existence. But the momentum of the Gospel is evident in all our countries.

Currently, we have Branches in Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, DR Congo, and South Africa. These Branches also reach into neighboring countries with training and discipleship resources in Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Republic of Congo, Benin, and Burkina Faso. Our materials span many of the rest of the languages throughout Africa.

Our desire in the coming years is to expand into new Branches where we have laid some initial groundwork and have trained workers on the ground and so our desire is to raise about $400 per month support for Burkina Faso and Benin in the next year, and slowly adding additional ones in the coming years. Please pray that God would provide supporters for the vision of establishing these two new Branches.

Expansion obviously comes with a price, and one of the things we are aiming to do is to have many of the costs covered by in country self-supporting possibilities like micro-enterprises.

Ivory Coast

In Ivory Coast, “Pig Farming” has been determined to be an excellent way of doing such a project. It would help cover many of the costs of running the Branch as well as helping to meet the needs of the orphanages that SLM has. It would also be used to be the seed for some of the orphans as they grow up learning the trade to be able to start their own farms whether they became full-time farmers, or they choose to use it as a micro-enterprise for their own ministry ambitions. This type of model opens the door for more ministry to be accomplished and less need from foreign resources. It has been the vision of Ivory Coast Director, Isaiah Bernasko, for many years, and to see this come to fruition would be an answer to his prayers and ensure the expansion of the ministry of Ivory Coast.

Ivory Coast– Pig Farming Project: Please pray for the Ivory Coast Pig Farming Project and the $13,000 it will take to see this off the ground.

DR Congo

Expansion in Africa will also entail creating facilities that can accommodate a broader future of ministry. In DR Congo, we are looking to establish a ministry center that would house our offices and material in a location more easily accessible to schools and partners. Vedette Nlandu is the Director of the SLM Branch in Kinshasa, DR Congo, and it has been his vision to see the ministry center used very broadly to accommodate the offices as well as to serve to accommodate the visitors who often come from great distances to carry the courses back to their remote areas. He would love to have a place where they can be housed, trained, encouraged, and then send these partners back to their home areas well trained and refreshed!

Over the years of ministry in DR Congo, they haven’t been able to trust the mail system and delivery methods that were in place, so many times shipments of much-needed literature never arrived. And often they would wait extended periods of time uncertain if the delivery might eventually come before they would place another request.

This has caused many of the schools to travel great distances, by boat, by motorcycle, and by car on some of the most dangerous roads imaginable.

So, having a place where someone could come to get rest after such a trip as well as to receive better training and tools would be an excellent way to minister to our partners.

Vedette hopes that some of the land would be used to also restart some of the micro-enterprises they have attempted in the past, but with less overhead by using their own land. The vision to expand the future ministry of Congo will really be possible when the groundwork of this project is laid.

D.R. CONGO– Ministry Center and Offices: Please pray that God would provide the necessary funds, approximately $24,000 for the completion of the ministry center.

Liberia

Liberia has been a focus of instability on and off for nearly its entire history. SLM’s early work in Liberia was all but erased as civil war destroyed all its offices and materials, sent the workers into exile, and saw any trace of its official existence burned.

But the Gospel, the discipleship, and the burden of those early missionaries allowed the smoldering flames of the ministry to be rekindled. Exiled missionaries, who studied for the ministry in Ghana while in exile, returned to Liberia to reestablish an office and attempt to pick up the pieces of ministry and put them back together.

After a few years now, they have seen ministries, churches, and individuals reconnect with SLM Liberia with great zeal for the Word of God and a great desire to grow through the use of the lessons. Nelsen Cyrus and his wife have been spearheading the effort as the DTB Director and have been doing so with extremely modest resources, but a clear and evident calling from God.

The Lord allowed them to establish a small school where the community has embraced their passion for education and their commitment to excellence. The community has seen their love and have continued to ask for them to expand. The school has been an excellent way to attract unbelieving families into their ministry and church as well.

Several years ago, the Lord put it on their hearts that education was a way into the community that would broaden the influence of the Gospel and they have continued to see that to be true. The Lord further put on their heart the establishment of a larger school on a different property which they would own, thereby bringing the costs down which would allow for more resources for the ministry, and allow the campus to also house a pastors’ training facility for pastor and ministry leader training.

Liberia: Construction of a School Building and Offices– Please pray that the Lord would provide the resources for the school and offices at a cost of $46,831.

SLM Lessons for Africa: Paper Partners for Africa 2021

The current 2021 printing budget for the entire continent of Africa is $82,000 US. It is our prayer that God would provide the entire amount so that we can fully provide what we anticipate being the needs for all Branches in Africa for 2021!