“You will be My witnesses to the ends of the earth,” Jesus told His followers. That includes the inlands of Africa! We are extremely grateful and happy with the new phase that has begun for our missionary work in Africa.
As a continent, Africa has the youngest population in the world. About 40% of the population is under 15 years old. In the African educational system, Christianity has been largely removed so that the youth is led away from the truth. Yet there is a deep hunger and receptivity for the gospel of the Kingdom. These numbers confirm the conviction the Lord has placed in the hearts of DPM mission leaders in East Africa: We must reach the tremendous potential of young people—without delay!
That is why work has been done on a multi-pronged approach in 2023, including the translation and printing of books and educational letters in almost 20 African languages. Websites are also being built in various local languages where people can download Derek's Bible teaching for free. In recent months, for example, websites have already been launched in Amharic (Ethiopian), Luo and Swahili (See go.derekprince.com).
Our teams reach out to prisons, schools, universities, military outposts, hospitals, and refugee camps—teaching the Bible and distributing Derek's Bible teaching. They also train leaders so that they in turn can train others to go out on the mission field. These harvest time laborers bring the good news of the Kingdom and make disciples in the Word of God and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Derek Prince Bible School
In addition, the DPM team in Kenya has worked hard over the past few years to establish an accessible Bible school program based on Derek's teaching. Classes take place during 3 days a month at nearly 30 locations. During Covid, teaching and training continued via WhatsApp, so that participants from different countries joined. The Bible School now has almost 1,200 students and we have been asked by neighboring countries to offer a similar program there. That requires further translation of Derek's teaching and training of new teachers.
We asked Pauline Auma (DPM Kenya) to talk about this Derek Prince Bible School and its impact. “We see a rise of false prophets and false teachings today. Many people, including Christians, are being misled. So this Bible school comes at the right time. One of the benefits is that there are so many people who would like to attend Bible college but cannot afford it. This Bible school is a great blessing, especially for pastors in the villages. We meet many pastors who have little knowledge of the Bible. We spoke to someone who had been a pastor for 10 years, but who didn't really know how to read the Bible. In fact, he didn't even have a Bible. Then I wonder: what has he been teaching the people in his congregation all this time?”
“One pastor had been pastoring for 10 years, but he did not know how to read the Scriptures and didn’t even have a Bible. So you keep wondering: what has he been teaching the people all those years?”
Watch Pauline's full story on YouTube (captured by mobile phone).
Below are some testimonials from students.
Mirindi Olivia (Uganda)
“I live in the Kyangwali refugee camp. I thank God for revealing to me the truth about His Word through Derek Prince Ministries. Studying this teaching has taught me to praise the Lord with gratitude, because it helps me defeat the spirit of melancholy. Praise invokes God's supernatural intervention. Without Derek's teaching, I would not have known how to use this spiritual weapon to achieve victory.”
Lazarus Fanuel Masumbuko (Tanzania)
“I am so thankful for Derek Prince's Bible teaching. In our church I had never heard anything about spiritual warfare. I did not know that there is more than one heaven and that Satan has a kingdom. I was shocked to realize that I am involved in a fight with persons without bodies, without my knowledge. Derek's Bible teaching was such a great eye-opener. I now see how blind I was to the truth. Now I apply what I learn and I see clear changes in my situation. Praise God!”
Phionah Atungoza (Uganda)
“I am a pastor in the Pentecostal Church of Elimu. Through teaching Derek Prince, I discovered how blessings and curses work. It made me realize that I was dealing with a curse of occult family practices. But God is good! I have thoroughly studied every page of Derek's book on Blessings and Curses. Believe me when I say it has changed my life!”
Derek Prince Ministries in Africa
It has been 65 years since Derek and Lydia Prince first set foot in Kenya with two of their daughters - Anna and Elisabeth. In the five years following their arrival in Africa, Derek led a teacher training program in Nyang'ori near Kisumu in Western Kenya. At that time, they adopted their ninth daughter, Joska, a beautiful African girl.
Later Derek and Ruth Prince made many more missionary trips to Ghana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Kenya and Zambia. In addition, many thousands of Bible study materials were distributed free of charge to leaders in Africa through the Global Outreach Leaders Program.
In 1984 the office in South Africa was established, from which mission projects were managed in various South African countries. The French-speaking countries in Africa, meanwhile, were served by the DPM team in France, while the Egypt office focused on the Arabic-speaking areas. In recent years, the desire to work more closely together for mission work in Sub-Saharan Africa has grown.
That is why leaders of Derek Prince Ministries Africa gathered in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2022 for a time of prayer, encouragement, networking, and seeking the Lord for His vision for the work in Africa. It was a lively conference, with participants from Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Madagascar, Malawi, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and Nigeria.
