World Mission goes Coast-to-Coast for Africa

Africa (MNN) — Radical Islam is expanding its reach, and the entire continent of Africa is at stake. World Mission is entering the spiritual battle and equipping fellow believers by going “Coast-to-Coast for Africa.”

“Our passion is to empower the Christians and prioritize that area with our audio Treasure distributions,” World Mission’s Executive Director Greg Kelley explains. Each Treasure contains God’s Word in audio and shares Christ with 144 people.

Muslim extremists have a heavy presence in northern Africa; nations like Sudan, Eritrea and Libya top the Open Doors 2014 World Watch List of the world’s worst persecutors of Christians. Kelley says Islamic radicals are now broadening their horizons.

“Their desire is that Africa [becomes] an Islamic continent,” he explains. “They’re moving largely from the north into the southern part, and in the central part is really where Christianity and Islam collide.”

Central Africa is also the new focus of World Missions’ efforts. The ministry is sending 8,000 Treasures into the Muslim world this year, from Senegal to Somalia.

“That will allow more than one million Muslims to hear the Gospel. In many cases, it’s for the first time in their lives,” says Kelley.

According to The Joshua Project, Africa holds 216,076,214 of the world’s unreached individuals. The “Coast-to-Coast for Africa” campaign is equipping national believers in eight adjacent countries, stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, to share the Gospel with their neighbors.

“They [the believers] are positioned in communities that are 50-50 between Christianity and Islam; these are villages that are highly illiterate,” Kelley explains.

“Oral cultures prefer doing things in groups. And so, when we put one Treasure in the hands of a national leader, they facilitate a group of 12 people.”

These 12 people each form a group of their own, and a multiplication effect results in 144 people ultimately hearing God’s Word from a single Treasure.

“What we’re seeing is Muslims responding to Jesus as they connect the dots [between] Old Testament truth…with who Jesus is, and that He came to save them from their sins,” shares Kelley.

But in Africa, salvation doesn’t come without a price.

“In many instances, they essentially get kicked out of their family. All hereditary rights are gone, just in an instant, because they become followers of Jesus,” Kelley says.

“Their family members are being persecuted. They’re being thrown in prison. Physical property of theirs is being taken, or it’s destroyed. The most severe cases obviously [lead] to death.”

Will you help national believers fulfill the Great Commission in Africa? First, pray that he Lord gives national believers a heart for the lost. Kelley says tribalism is a huge challenge in Africa and often results in indigenous Christians “sitting on the sidelines” when it comes to evangelism.

“We need to pray that the Holy Spirit would convict Christian men and women and children in the continent of Africa to get a burden for their lost neighbors, who in many instances are Muslim.”

Secondly, you can equip national believers by sending a Treasure. $50 helps World Mission send one Treasure; click here to learn more.