DNA’s work in Africa: Finalist for World Magazine award

Last week, World Magazine released this year’s finalists for its prestigious Hope Award for Effective Compassion, and we were so excited to see the work of Chris Ampadu, West Africa Coordinator for Samaritan Strategy Africa (SSA), selected as the only international ministry on the list!

Read the full article here.

Chris, a native of Ghana, was one of the first DNA trainers in Africa. After attending a Vision Conference in 1999, he walked away from a successful business career to be mentored by DNA co-founder Darrow Miller. He has been a highly effective trainer and mentor of church leaders in West Africa since. Today, Chris serves on staff with Harvest.

Chris (right) is on the leadership team of Samaritan Strategy Africa. SSA and DNA share the same mission: To encourage, prepare and equip local churches with a Christian worldview (mind-set) to carry out wholistic ministry in their communities.

Since 2005, Chris and his fellow SSA colleagues have worked to raise up indigenous training teams in every African nation. Since they began:

• More than 400 African trainers have been certified
• National training teams now exist in 26 African nations
• More than 600 Vision Conferences have been conducted
• Nearly 30,000 African pastors and church leaders have been trained
• Thousands of Seed Projects have been implemented

These African leaders offer a shining example of DNA’s prayer to see local believers catch a vision for their communities and run with it in a way that multiplies impact.

The Hope Award began with 200 nominations, from which five finalists were selected. Each finalist received a $4,000 prize, and votes from the public will determine who wins the $21,000 grand prize.

World Magazine’s editor-in-chief, Marvin Olasky, and his wife saw Chris’ work first-hand earlier this year.

Click here to cast your vote by September 30!

SSA’s mission aligns perfectly with World Magazine’s criteria for the contest: “programs that are not just evangelical and not just economic, but unite body and soul.”

A full-length article in the September edition explains: “DNA sees Christian worldview teaching as the missing link between evangelism and economic development. Without that understanding, Africa’s Christianity takes a gnostic form, with extravagant worship on Sunday but no connection between that and their lives the rest of the week, or between the spiritual and the material.”

DNA is privileged to partner with Chris and SSA, acting as a behind-the-scenes catalyst and supporter for this movement which continues to gain speed. Just a few months ago, three new teams took root in Niger, Benin and Lesotho.

If you’d like to vote for Samaritan Strategy Africa to win this $21,000 prize, please do so here. To financially support the spread of a biblical worldview across Africa, give through our website (choose dropdown “DNA’s work in Africa”).

If you give $30 or more, we’ll send you a free copy of Against All Hope: Hope for Africa, written conjointly by the DNA and SSA.

A “new” way of evangelism takes root in West Africa

Indeed, wholistic ministry really is the oldest tool for evangelism–Jesus invented it. But in West Africa, where “open-air crusades” have been a preferred method for so many generations, today’s Christian leaders are discovering the power of extending Jesus’ love to the whole person, operating from a biblical worldview.

“The reception to our message was just overwhelming, and participants called for more time since it has been just a day’s vision casting,” says Chris Ampadu, a DNA partner working in Ghana.

In the past couple of months, Chris has helped conduct in Ghana:

• a mentorship program for Christian professionals from six countries.
• a training for 169 church leaders on “Love Action as a Tool for Evangelism.”
• an annual Wholistic Club meeting with 10 leaders, each of whom has 30-60 members demonstrating God’s love in profound ways at the grassroots level.
• presentations on wholistic ministry to more than 800 evangelistic leaders, followed by new plans for a four-day Vision Conference.

“A church elder from Katanga said [the church’s] demonstration of love to the needy and poor has shocked many people in the village such that two Moslems and three animist women have joined the club, saying they have never seen poor people coming out of their poverty to show such compassion and love,” Chris says.

Breakthrough Training in Togo

In our last issue we reported about Chris Amapadu’s new training opportunity with Mercy Ships. Here, Chris shares some further fruit from a training in Kara, Togo.

Last week’s experience in Kara with Mercy Ships was just wonderful as almost 400 community leaders were mobilized to be trained. On the last day, l started the day by asking the participants to share a discipline of love done the previous day as a result of what they had learned. Over 50 people, including Moslems, told of transformed attitudes towards their wives. Many showed true love toward their spouse for first time. Others had started planting flowers in their homes, creating beauty and taking the mantle of stewardship of nature and their environment.

l made a presentation of a copy of Hope for Africa to the chief Imam. Even though he was very grateful, he insisted in buying for himself If Jesus were Mayor to my surprise!

A steering committee of 15 was appointed to encourage further implementation of the teaching. They have already met twice! The Moslem youth leader was full of praise and appreciation for our teachings and promised that they will do whatever it takes to realize the aim and objectives of Mercy Ships i.e. “Partnership for Development.” To God be the glory!

Mercy Ships Incorporates DNA Training

An innovative ministry of wholistic service has embraced DNA training for its Africa volunteers. For the first time, Mercy Ships sent a volunteer crew to a four-week Worldview and Development training led by Chris Ampadu, West Africa representative for Samaritan Strategy Africa.

“We are very excited about this program and we count ourselves as privileged to have this opportunity to serve Mercy Ships,” Chris said.

“Starting this year they want to send all their new African crew members through this Worldview and Development course before they are admitted into long-term work on the ship. A big opportunity, and we give God all the GLORY.”

Twelve crew members from Liberia, Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Sierra Leone lived for one month at the Samaritan House Fse-Amasaman campus in Accra.

The four weeks included over 50 presentations including all 43 topics of the BASICS 1 course. Chris was joined by his Ghana team – Patience Mensah, Nora Naana, Joseph Antwi, and Victor Owiredu as presenters. The trainees celebrated their graduation February 4.

“Two guests from the Human Development Deptartment of Mercy Ships joined us to graduate these first crew members from the new Africa Gateway,” Chris said. Gateway is Mercy Ship’s term for their training program.

DNA founders Bob Moffitt and Darrow Miller have been associated with Mercy Ships for years. More recently, Chris has served multiple times as the main speaker for the ship’s pastors conferences in Liberia, Benin, Togo, and Sierra Leone.

“It is just wonderful, the first opportunity to have people stay with me for such a long time and to do a detailed study of these lessons,” Chris reported.

“I have already planned for three conferences in Togo with Mercy Ships this year: March 4-8, 13-16 and April 1-6.”

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