Transition is part of life! It’s not easy, and it doesn’t come with a manual. There are no set time-limits within which to define a successful transition. It’s unavoidable and can be scary. Depending on one’s expectations, it can also be exciting. Therefore, finding ourselves at a juncture where we realize it’s time to pass the baton, we’re happy to transition Executive leadership into the hands of a younger, dynamic emerging leadership team.
With that, we want to stress that we’re not retiring. How can we? I remember well the retort of an elderly missionary whom I once asked when he planned to retire. He responded, “Young man! Someone with a call does not retire. You re-fire!” And so, our goal is to continue actively serving God’s call upon our lives until He calls us home. For us, this transition means a role change, and hopefully the advantage of getting up each morning being able to say, “What do I want to do today!” rather than “What must I do today!” And, most days, I’m sure, we will continue doing what we have over the past decades.
Having spent the past 35 years of our lives serving in Africa, we’re happy to report that one of the most thrilling rewards of our lives has been to see and participate in the continued spread of Christianity across our continent. Operation World reported that Africans are turning to Christ at a faster pace than on any other continent. In just a century, the number of African Christians has increased from 7 million to over half a billion. Indeed, the African Church is on the move!
African Believers are now carriers of the Gospel, not only across Africa but also to least-reached nations across the globe, including Europe, the Americas, and Asia. As a networking agency, AFnet is therefore also committed to being an ongoing catalyst, helping to facilitate the global conversation and build bridges of cooperation between the African Church and Mission leaders with their counterparts from the West.
A specific role that we can play is discerning local, regional, and global opportunities, and encouraging strategic collaboration towards the advancement of God’s kingdom. But, with that, I learned early on that while thinking globally, the Church should never forget to act locally. Hence, AFnet’s active focus on local church-planting, training, and equipping leaders, and reminding local churches about their responsibility to the needs of the community, such as taking care of its orphans and widows.
A word from Johan
Thanks to the support and contributions from you, our friends and supporters, AFnet has been able to provide quality, ongoing pastoral training, to thousands of African Christian leaders, while directly contributing towards a mass multiplication of churches and centers of Hope across the continent. But we’ve also enjoyed the privilege to invest into the lives of countless numbers of destitute orphaned children, providing food, clothing, educational opportunities – all the way from pre-primary through Tertiary College, university and post high school skills development programs.