And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
- Matthew 28:18-20
What's new this week
According to the 2026 Open Doors World Watch List, 20 of the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution are in Africa. Among the top 10 countries, five are African. Persecution has become a primary context of missions in Africa, and is here to stay. When our default responses to this reality lean towards immediate extraction, humanitarian aid, and high-level political advocacy, we miss the daily lived realities of frontline gospel workers and the people among whom they serve. In this issue of AfriGO, our writers challenge us to see persecution not as a crisis to be avoided, but as a crucible where indigenous movements must learn to survive and multiply, without losing sight of what it means to stand with the suffering Church with empathy and deep care.
new for you
From GMNI - Thriving in the Midst of Persecution: The Church in Nigeria
The Nigerian Church continues to face sustained attacks from extremist Islamists in certain regions of the country.
In the Middle Belt and the far North of the country, Christians have been killed and continue to experience structural and systemic forms of persecution. Though attacks on Christians are mostly in the North and the Middle-Belt, the attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, in Ondo State in 20223 indicates that Christians in other parts of the nation are not entirely free from such targeted attacks. The freedom enjoyed by Christians in the Southern part of Nigeria sometimes makes the plight of those who face persecution in the far North and Middle often to be overlooked.
This paradoxical reality of prosperity of the Nigerian Church in the South and the persecution faced by Christians in other parts creates a contradictory reality. Yet this paradox reflects the lived reality of the Nigerian Church. So, we have a situation in which we have a
Missionary Profile - Irene Isiguzo
I worked among the Hausa in Northern Nigeria, and one of the things that I witnessed as a young missionary was the manifestation of a bori spirit. It transpired as we were living among the Maguzawas, a particular Hausa group who are not called that anymore.
We were living in our thatched hut made of mud with a grass roof, among the other huts and very close to others in the community. One day suddenly we saw one of the ladies begin to spin. In that place, the bori spirit was one which would come upon women, especially barren women, who have been known to be married for many years with no children. The spirit is usually invoked by a particular kind of instrument, a harp. When the harpist begins to play, then the spirit is invoked and it comes upon the barren woman.
I can still see the scene in my mind, even though it was more than 30 years ago. She suddenly began to twist and turn like a drunk person or someone in a trance. It was clear she had been possessed by something.
From GMNI: "the temptation to pursue the spectacular"
Are there certain temptations in ministry in general, and in mobilization ministry in particular, that leaders need to recognize and guard against? The answer, as we all know, is a resounding, YES!
Professor of leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary, Dr. Bobby Clinton, who also happened to be one of my mentors, suggested that relatively few ministry leaders finish well. Through his extensive research, he identified six common barriers that often derail leaders:
- Finances—their use and abuse
- Abuse of power
- Pride
- Illicit sexual relationships
- Family issues
- Spiritual plateauing
Every ministry leader should take deliberate precautions against these dangers. Yet there is another temptation that is often overlooked and sometimes even excused. Though far more subtle, it can be equally damaging to our
Missionary profile – Kassum and Assita Balbone
Growing up in one of Abidjan’s most difficult and dangerous areas, we were young, obstinate, insolent, and Muslim. That once young stubborn boy is now a missionary and a mobilizer in Burkina Faso doing research awareness, mobilization, church planting, discipleship, and training.
Life was tough in a foreign country on a meager watchman’s salary. One afternoon, a young man met us and started talking about Jesus. The Lord captured my brother, who was the worst among us, and changed his life. He no longer argued with our parents, didn’t beat me like before, and even stopped climbing over our neighbour’s wall to steal things.
I wanted to know what happened to my brother, so I started following him. I noticed he was speaking to others about Jesus, and within no time, I, too, was converted. It was shameful for my dad—it looked like he couldn’t control his children.
Missionary Profile - Amos and Janet Epau
The Ik people were abandoned many years ago in terms of education, health care and outreach. In 2022, I signed up for only one year to serve in their community, but when I got there, I saw so many needs that broke my heart into pieces.
I knew that I had to sacrifice to serve the Ik, and became involved at the school in ministry to the children. I also encouraged the children to attend school regularly. We started Bible study groups and discipleship classes. I became so bonded with the community that when I took two months away, the ministries began to collapse and children stopped attending class. People were searching for me, until I returned.
Until this time, I am deeply involved in serving the Ik and even though the ministry is so challenging, I keep on trusting God because he is my everything. I have such a passion for the Ik people, and what motivates my heart is listening to the call of God and what his word speaks into my life.
I recently married, and we have agreed in our
Missionary Profile - Lucky and Maureen Mogakane(opens in new tab)
Back in 2017 while I was pursuing my first theological degree, I learned that Malagasy pastors needed theological training. These pastors were not just serving in their communities, but were planting churches among the unreached of Madagascar. This seemed like the best and most strategic place to use the knowledge and skills I was acquiring to equip those pastors, who could not afford formal theological training.
When my wife and I left for the mission field in 2024, we knew we would be equipping and strengthening four of these church plants by offering informal theological training. A new church plant was started in a nearby village within one month of our arrival.
When we asked how it would be pastored, we were told the plan was that the pastor at another church plant at Ambatozavavy would travel every Sunday to the new church plant, and then return for the service in his church, until a young man could be trained to take over.
Missionary profile – Peter and Irene Kapinga
My first demonstration of Christian service was my dad – he was and still is an evangelist. I didn’t want to be a preacher like him; I wanted to be an army officer. Dad said that wasn’t my career. I disagreed with him, but time has vindicated him. God’s plan for me was to be a missionary and mobilizer.
My wife, Irene and I now work with Africa Inland Mission (AIM), mobilizing and training the Church in Zambia. We have a supporting team.
Before becoming a missionary, I was a casual labourer at Copper Belt. I worked in the mines for a year before realizing that mining copper wasn’t my calling either. I enrolled to do social work at the university. My dream was to become a lecturer in a Bible school, so I applied to do theology.
When we studied Church history, the stories of the early fathers of faith and their passion and dedication inspired me a lot. I wanted to change the world as they did.
From The Lausanne Movement: From ‘What Do You Have?’ to ‘What Will You Leave Behind?’
For decades, if we’re honest, for centuries, Africa has been considered a continent waiting to receive what wealthy countries have to give: the good news of Jesus, financial resources, discipleship materials, leadership training, imported solutions to its problems.
Open the glossy ministry brochures. Read the email campaigns. Watch the donor videos. And you will see a remarkably consistent narrative: Africa receives. The Global North sends. Africa learns. The Global North teaches. Africa needs. The Global North provides.
Sadly, this pattern extends beyond fundraising appeals into the resources created to help churches grow in stewardship and generosity. Ministries based in the Global North develop generosity curricula then they invite African
From Clarity to the Nations - The Sending Force Is Already Next Door
If you want to understand the future of missions in Africa, start with 2 numbers. The first number is 5,413. That is Joshua Project’s estimate of the cross-cultural workers needed to reach every frontier people group on the continent. The second number is 123 million. That is the estimate of evangelical believers already living in just four countries: Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, and Ghana.
Set those side by side, and it comes to roughly one worker for every 23,000 African evangelicals. The African church does not lack people. It lacks awareness, mobilization, and equipping at scale. That is a solvable problem, and the timeline is years, not generations.
Our team just ran a fresh analysis of Africa’s Frontier People Groups on late-July 2026 Joshua Project data. Frontier peoples are the hardest edge of the unreached: 0.1% or fewer Christian adherents and no known movement to Jesus.
It forms one contiguous belt. The frontier runs from the Atlantic coast, across the Sahel and
Missionary Profile - Keriya Mohammed
I grew up in northern Ethiopia in a Muslim family as the third of four children. As a child, I regularly attended the mosque to learn how to read the Quran. When I was eight years old, I joined a child development programme run by Compassion International. It was there that I first began hearing Bible stories and learning about Jesus.
Those stories stayed with me. I became curious and started reading the Bible privately. When I was 12 years old, while walking to a tutorial class one day, I experienced a deep inner conviction that Jesus was calling me to follow him. It wasn’t anything dramatic, just a deep inner conviction. That moment marked the beginning of my personal journey of faith.
As I grew in my faith, the church community played an important role in my life. I began serving as a Sunday school teacher, sharing Bible stories with younger children.
Later, I pursued theological studies and had the opportunity to study Christian–Muslim relations
From SIM: "they look like Ethiopians"
Ethiopian couple Iaka and Liya offer a wonderful example of how God has used SIM’s Faithful Witness initiative in amazing ways.
They are part of the Faithful Witness team serving the Fulani people in Nigeria. The Fulani are the largest nomadic people group in the world and have had a very complicated and adversarial relationship with Christians historically.
Iaka, Liya, and their family have been serving in this community for three years. They were sent by the East Africa Sending Office in Ethiopia and have since developed trusting relationships with local Fulani village leaders, established a women’s ministry through Ethiopian coffee ceremonies, and have even distributed audio Bibles.
SIM’s East Africa Sending Office Director, Seble, recently shared how unexpected cultural and ethnic ties between Ethiopian and Fulani people have created new opportunities for relationships.
Missionary profile – Ezekiel Jako
While on a trip to the USA, a church in Canada invited me to go over and speak. I applied for a five-day visa – and instead, I got a 10-year visa! A friend and fellow missionary quipped, “Ezekiel, you have a Canadian 10-year visa; go serve the Lord!”
But I didn’t feel called to be a missionary in Canada. Besides, I didn’t know anyone who’d host me. So I took my pre-planned five-day trip and returned home. But the Lord worked in my heart and confirmed my calling through other brethren. Two years later, I embarked on my journey as a missionary in Canada. I have been serving as the City Director with International Students Ministry for three years now.
But my journey as a missionary started many years ago as a teenager when I accepted the Lord as my Saviour during a Christian Union weekend rally. I knew I wanted to serve God,but I didn’t know how or where.