Update from AE founder Michael Cassidy

Me and grandson Matthew enjoying bonding time at Kenton-on-Sea.

Beloved Friends and Family,

I am starting this letter to you on 15th January from Hyrax Cabin on the Kariega River on Doug and Edie Galpin’s farm in the Eastern Cape. We can only get here by 4x4 or boat. So the solitude is complete. Magic.

I am just wrapping up my four-day annual retreat and wish I had another week. The cabin in the forest on the edge of the river is simplicity itself – no electricity or flush toilets – just candles and a long-drop up a forest track in the bush! Delicious beyond measure. And I love it.

My companions are birds and bees, insects and butterflies, with plenty of busy little dung-beetles plus an array of little kite spiders who weave exquisite webs everywhere which need modest skills to negotiate. Then the final bit of orchestral accompaniment, behind the chorus of crickets, are the lapping waters of the Kariega just a few metres from my door. The sunsets take one’s breath away (see pic) and the night skies are of such brilliance that they seem to be arched just over one’s head and within reach of an outstretched arm. All this gets one’s doxologies really going.

I am just back from a one hour run through the riverine bush and farm lands and am now about to have a quick swim and then exercise my legendary culinary skills to fix myself some breakfast. Later on I want to add a few extra comments out of my time here.

Foxfires Student Testimonies 2010 - Nairobi, Kenya

AE's Foxfires teams in Kenya had an amazing impact over the course of last year. Here are testimonials from some of the lives who were touched by their youth ministry at Nembu Girls High School in Nairobi:

Susan Nyambura

"The foxfire youth team was very open and free to us. I personally felt close to them and they boosted my confidence. They have helped me to relate well with my friends and gave me a bigger understanding of the word of God."

Felista Kalunde

"They are friendly and know how to talk freely with us youth. You should continue with your work for I know it is God who sent you. Actually, I never knew that there were people who cared for teens. Most of us were lost in darkness. Bad company brought me down but when foxfires came, they counseled me and I was able to rise up again. Thanks a lot and may God bless you people and May you reach many other youths."

Esther Mureithi

"The year 2010 has been an year like no other with foxfire team who have helped build our hearts, body, mind and soul. This team has build our character, social life and academically. They also helped me to develop my personal relationship with Christ. They have also helped me to relate with my mother, in that I didn’t know how to best relate with her thus it was difficult to approach her in time of need but now I can relate well with her. I pray that the foxfire program be supported by all who are able to reach out to many schools and advise other peers in similar situations."

Ministry Update, Rwanda (Oct-Dec 2010)

A preacher shares the gospel during the Huye Mission for Jesus.

The year 2010 for African Evangelistic Enterprise (AEE) Rwanda was a year of harvesting many souls for Jesus Christ since thousands of people were transformed by the gospel. We praise God for the wonderful power of the gospel we experienced during the last term of the year. After the “Huye Mission for Jesus” (August), a mission carried out in collaboration with Mission Africa, that reached more 50,000 people in the city of Huye out of whom 10,035 gave their lives to Jesus Christ; another mission showed up: “Gicumbi Arise and Shine Mission” was extremely significant to the churches and the lives of people living in that area.

We are very grateful for the power of God which changed the hearts of people during "Gicumbi Arise and Shine Mission" in November. We have seen emerging leaders recommitting themselves to the Lord and expressing keen determination to become world changers for the kingdom of God during their time.

With other ministry involvement in various areas of our society, we were exceptionally excited about God’s dealings with the youth especially those in schools. When our young people receive the Gospel, they are encouraged to build a culture of peace and harmony amongst themselves and others. In addition, they are also led to ponder about leadership principles and individual commitments they can apply constructively to build a hopeful future. Their personal interest and active involvement in life-transforming initiatives are highly emphasised.

Ezra Generation Conference 2010, Rwanda - Testimony

Student Elizabeth Yambabariye was strongly challenged by the conference.

Elizabeth Yambabariye, a fourth year student of Geography/Environment at National University of Rwanda gave this testimony after attending the Ezra Generation Conference in Rwanda late last year:

"I thank the Lord for the opportunity to attend Ezra Generation Conference. Before coming to this conference, I was satisfied with my knowledge about God because I’ve been saved since 1997 and I have always been a choir member in my church. Indeed I had had other learning opportunities before, but this conference has strongly challenged me. I actually feel like I have been kept too busy in choir practices and other things without taking much time to fellowship with my God and read the Word of God. In fact I thought that if God wants to tell me something He will use prophets. I didn’t know that the Bible contains all things about God and my life. I even used to read one verse without considering the context. Briefly I was blind and naïve in matters related to hearing the voice of God, but now I am convinced that the Word of God, the Bible is life and I have to tell others that amazing Word even though I may suffer for it, or incur people’s opposition. After this conference I have set some principles:

• Developing my fellowship with God especially setting up a quiet time praying and reading the Word of God on a daily basis
• Applying or using Manuscript Bible Study and Inductive Bible Study in order to know what God says
• As a future graduate, taking my profession as a mission and using my life to serve God• Wisely changing what is not biblical that people had built up as stronghold, e.g.: Relying on prophesy rather than the Word of God.
• Introducing the Bible study in my community where I can have influence like in my choir where I sing."

Rwanda Holiday Camps 2010 - Testimony

Holiday camp attendee Fred Kayitare is helping his parents forgive.

Holiday camps were organised for students in primary schools in Gatsibo, Nyamagabe and Nyamata districts and brought together 800 students. The training topics included:

1. To promote the culture of peace and objective judgement
2. The rights of the child in the Rwandan society
3. The plan of God for young children
4. To help students to attain their dreams for tomorrow (building a tree of hope)

The students appreciated the training they received and they all made a deliberate decision to continue to be agents of reconciliation in the community. The main message from the training was to promote the culture of peace wherever they are and to avoid conflicts and by all possible means try to attain their vision for the future.

The following testimony comes from Fred Kayitare, a student at Nyamagabe primary school in level 5:

“I have a very dear friend of mine, but my parents have always tried to stop me from relating with him. My mother told me that his parents are killers and commanded me to put an end to my friendship with their son. That was so sad for me to hear and I told my mother that the boy was not responsible for the mistakes of his parents, given that he was not even born when the genocide took place. Unfortunately, my mother did not want to listen and instead she decided to keep beating me up every time she found me with my friend. I was so lucky to be together at the holiday camp since we got ample time to share more about our problem. I assured him that I’m committed to continuing our friendship, because in my judgement I didn’t see any reason for us not being friends. He too assured me that he would continue to be my friend. Since our parents were not among the parents' representatives that were trained on reconciliation, we decided that we would request one of our trained teachers who is also a parent to help us facilitate the reunification of our families. We trust that through these efforts and the efforts of the parents who have started reaching other parents with the training on reconciliation and healing, our families will eventually be unified.”