PAN-AFRICA SPEAKING TOUR FINDS GROWING LOVE FOR ISRAEL

In November, ICEJ Vice President & Senior Spokesman David Parsons conducted a three-week speaking tour that took him to diverse parts of Africa, where he continued to encounter a growing love and interest in Israel across the continent.

The ministry trip began in the Ivory Coast, in West Africa, where ICEJ national chairman Apostle Apollinaire Gboagnon invited David to his home church in Abidjan to address a three-day ministry and prayer conference focused on the theme “The Mount of Transfiguration”. Dr. Gboagnon enjoys much respect nation-wide as president of the Evangelical Alliance in Ivory Coast, and together with our national director Rev. David Kuhen Silue, they are having a strong impact for Israel in their nation and across French-speaking West Africa, especially in building interest among Christians to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.

Next came a visit to Zambia in southern Africa to speak at a four-day leadership conference hosted by Bishop Festus Mulwanda in the capital of Lusaka. Bishop Mulwanda had just attended the Feast in Jerusalem for the first time and was eager for his network of church pastors and leaders to learn more about Israel. David presented a teaching series that explained why Christians should stand with a restored Israel from the perspective of both Kingdom and Covenant theology. Bishop Mulwanda is now exploring with fellow church leaders the launching of a new ICEJ office in Zambia.

The final leg of the journey took David to Tanzania, in East Africa. This was his fifth visit to the country in the past seven years, and national director Stanton Newton and his team once again had a very busy and productive speaking schedule planned. The first stop was Arusha, near Mt. Kilimanjaro, to meet with Dr. Ben and Hellen Lema, founders of Safina Radio, the largest Christian radio station in Tanzania. They are faithful servants of God, and over recent years their listeners nationwide have donated generously to fund Aliyah flights for hundreds of Ethiopian Jews to return to Israel. Afterwards, the packed schedule included speaking in churches in Mwanza, Shinyanga, Tabora, Singida, Dodoma, Morogoro and Dar es Salaam. It was a special treat to help Bishop Moses Fimbo dedicate his new church sanctuary near the shores of Lake Victoria. In all locales, there was a great hunger for teachings on Israel and open hearts to support our work, particularly the Ethiopian Aliyah.