In 2016, two e3 Church Planting Mobilizers named Alan* and Tanya* led a team to East Africa to share the Gospel and equip believers there. They had no idea that God had been stirring the heart of one woman in the village, Isla*, to reach the Islamic people around her with the Gospel. She had been praying for someone to show her how.
“Christians here, they are afraid to engage the Islamic community,” Isla said. “There might be violence. There is that kind of fear. But I could see in my heart that Islamic people are lost. And I felt a big passion to make Christ known to them. But I was missing a team to help me evangelize, and I was also missing the tools. In reality, I was afraid. It was a great cloud over my life. I didn’t know how to do it.”
Enter Alan and Tanya. They and their team set out to equip leaders to implement a church-planting strategy that could multiply.
“We modeled that strategy, and Isla ran with it!” Alan said. “With 20 years of working in difficult places, we have had the great privilege of serving alongside exceptional leaders with God’s heart for people far from Him. Isla is one of those people.”
Isla took the tools and strategy she learned from the e3 team and began putting it into practice in her community. She then went from not even knowing how to share her faith to helping plant 35 churches!
“The tools have a powerful message that changes the lives of people,” Isla said. “People started coming to Christ … I was so motivated! I started evangelizing from zero, and now 35 groups share the Gospel, and they are multiplying every day, planting other churches.”
Now, Isla is traveling to countries all over Africa to share Christ with others and teach them how to plant churches as well.
“My goal is to take the Gospel to the world,” Isla said. “There is no fear in me. I can go to every country where they don’t know Christ. I see great multiplication, and I see a lot of disciples coming to Christ!”
John*, an e3 Strategy Coordinator in Africa, met Isla in 2019 on a vision trip and was inspired by her faith and commitment to the Great Commission.
“Our job is to encourage and equip and serve people like Isla,” John said. “We are able to train people in simple tools they can pass on generation after generation. She’s a fantastic example of that. What’s most encouraging is this work began with a faithful sister and spread to a team, spread to a village, and now it’s spreading to other countries. That’s amazing.”
*Names have been changed to ensure safety and anonymity.