Page 15 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

Introduction to Church History

mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit for many years. As a young person
worshiping in an Assemblies of God church, I had a vision of a harvest
field. The Lord moved me to respond by serving Him in Africa. It has
been a privilege to be involved in this tremendous African church growth.

When my family and I arrived in East Africa in 1967, there were
approximately 100 local churches affiliated with the General Council of
the Assemblies of God. Presently, the churches number in the thousands
with hundreds of Africans coming into the kingdom of God on a weekly
basis. I am encouraged by the number of leaders who are being trained
to reach those who still have not confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior. The study of His church is important to understand where we
have been and where we are going to accomplish this task.

What Is the Focus of Church History?

The focus of history is God and the coming of His Son in the power of the
Holy Spirit. Bishop Desmond Tutu has
defined this focus correctly: “Christians
take history seriously because God
takes history seriously, so seriously that The focus of history
He became a particular man at a is God and the
particular point in human history in
order to redeem all history” (Tutu, coming of His Son
Foreword). As you study African church in the power of the
history, may you always be conscious
of the priority of the Person of Jesus Holy Spirit.
Christ. The poem “One Solitary Life”
states this truth beautifully:

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a
carpenter’s shop until He was thirty.
Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never had a family or owned a house.
He never went to college.

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