An article and book recently written by Baylor professor Philip Jenkins got me thinking about just how strategic the training of African church leaders is for the growth of Christianity, throughout the African continent and around the world. He wrote, “As the century proceeds, Christianity will become ever more markedly a religion of Africa and the African diaspora.” Add to that the fact that 85-95% of African church leaders have never received any formal training, and a strong case can be made that the ministry of equipping African church leaders to study, understand, and teach God’s Word well is desperately needed. Africa is projected to be the hub of Christianity in the near future. Here are some of the facts:

• Faith and fertility work hand in hand. Philip Jenkins argues convincingly, “Societies with high fertility rates have high levels of religious faith and practice, while declining fertility correlates closely to shrinking institutional faith, and to secularization.”
• By 2050, six of the 20 countries with the largest population will be in sub-Saharan Africa (more than 1.1 billion citizens). All are marked by high fertility, in contrast to many other high population countries that are decreasing in size. It is also reported from a 2015 survey that the top three nations that “felt religious” are in sub-Saharan Africa. Religion play a central role in African lives. “Jenkins says, “Already by 2050, Africa will be home to more than a billion Christians, by far the largest concentration on the planet.” Many of the top ten nations with the largest Christian populations will be in Africa, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, DRC, and Uganda.
• In Kenya, for example, where we continue to train pastors in several networks, the population has grown from 1.5 million in 1900 to 50 million today, and is expected to nearly double again by 2050. The Christian population is likewise exploding, from 4 million in mid 1960’s to more than 40 million today. In Uganda in 1950, there were perhaps 3.5 million Christians. Today, there are 37 million, expanding to possibly 80 million by 2050.
• Plunging fertility rates in the West, Latin America, and East Asia lead us to take note of the explosion happening in Africa.
• For more information, visit: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/future-christianity-african/

Please pray for God to open doors for us to return to our beloved and hungry African pastors so that we can continue in His calling on our lives of equipping brothers and sisters to handle His Word well.