Page 237 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

The Twentieth Century and Beyond

Hemisphere nations, “Africa” and “missions” were synonyms;
linked together like the proverbial horse and cart. The result was
that Africa became a focal point of attention, prayer and sending!
Early missionaries embraced Africa with relentless consecration.
Many of them shipped their possessions in their own caskets. They
stayed in spite of danger and the demonic, linked arms with early
believers and pastors, and together, laid an immovable foundation
for internally self-sufficient local and national churches. Many of
them are reaping an extraordinary harvest today! (1)

Several missionaries who had served in Africa were present at
Hot Springs. Within a few years, the
Assemblies of God approved over 20
missionaries for service on the continent.
Among them were H. B. Garlock (Field The Assemblies
Secretary for Africa 1943–1954) and his of God was born
19-year-old sister, Blanche, who ministered
in Liberia. Between 1914 and 1945, the with missions in
Assemblies of God also sent missionaries its bloodstream.
to Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), Sierra
Leone, Nigeria, Belgian Congo (now the
Democratic Republic of Congo), Gold Coast
(now Ghana), and Togo. A number of the early pioneers paid the ultimate
sacrifice, and we can find their gravesites on the continent today.

I have already highlighted the ministry of Lillian Trasher, who
joined the Assemblies of God Mission in 1919 and served in Egypt. Her
dedication was typical of many who went to Africa.

Early Missionary Strategy
In the second General Council of the Assemblies of God that convened
in Chicago in November 1914, the elders of the movement made a bold
declaration: “As a Council, we commit ourselves and the movement to
Him for the greatest evangelism that the world has ever seen” (Minutes
of the General Council of the Assemblies of God, 1914). How would
they implement this strategy? The Assemblies of God was only a small,
struggling fellowship in 1914. How would it impact the world? The
answer is that the Holy Spirit had a strategy, and we are witnesses of
the results today.

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