An Important Article on the New Apostolic Church

Dr. Victor Kuligin has graciously granted us permission to post his article on the New Apostolic Church to the ACFAR web site. The article, which first appeared in the Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology (Vol. 24, No. 1—2005), offers a rare critique of a cultic movement that’s growing rapidly across Africa with little resistance.

He writes: “With over ten and a half million members worldwide in over 72,000 congregations, the NAC is a church to be reckoned with. Nearly three-fourths of its membership is in Africa, making it one of the largest single denominations in the entire continent....with nearly sixteen times more members in Africa than in Europe. From the surface, the NAC appears to be just another Protestant denomination, but a deeper investigation yields some disturbing theology and practices in this church.”

In conclusion, Dr. Kuligin states that “we can conclude that the NAC is not simply another church or denomination but is in fact a cult.” He adds: “Whereas often we find ourselves concentrating on the ‘classic’ cults such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons, neither of these compare to the NAC in terms of membership numbers and influence on the continent. In the next decade, the membership of the NAC will approach ten million Africans. Teaching concerning this cult should play a more prominent role in the education of evangelical church leaders and pastors, and subsequently of evangelical believers continent-wide.”

The Prosperity Gospel in Africa: “Did Jesus Wear Designer Robes?”

The November issue of Christianity Today (pp. 38–41) offers an important new article about the damage wrought by the Prosperity Gospel on Africa. You can read the article here, watch the related video here, and go “behind the scenes” with the filmmakers here.

Excerpt: “The gospel of Jesus Christ—with its promise of liberation, deliverance, forgiveness, grace, and restoration—can never be a gospel of poverty. But just as the Bible does not glorify poverty, neither does it glorify greed. Scripture consistently warns that the pursuit of worldly interests can lead us to neglect the deeper values of the kingdom of God. Yet this is exactly what happens in the biblical interpretations favored by prosperity teachers.”

Why I'm Excited about the Future of ACFAR...

“Many leaders can’t tell the difference between true orthodox faith and cultism....
As a trained minister, and as a former victim of the above, I believe it’s my mandate to go out and teach the centrality and essentiality of Scripture—the Christ-centered Christian worldview and the integration of faith with the rest of life”
Rodgers Atwebembeire, new Ugandan Coordinator for ACFAR

Dear Friend,

After the deadline of my family moving to East Africa by the end of May came and went, I wondered about the future of ACFAR. As it turns out, God was about to answer our prayers in a wonderful and unexpected way.

But before I explain, consider how much Christ has already blessed our ministry! Thanks to your support…

• We’ve developed a strong network of strategic partnerships with ministries here and in Africa
• We’ve taught in various venues—including over 200 pastors at last month’s conference in Kampala
• We’ve conducted substantial research into a wide range of cults and false teachings in East Africa
• We’ve built a blog and web site—both of which will serve as a growing and ongoing resource
• We’ve begun distributing tracts, pamphlets, books, CDs, and DVDs to Christian workers and organizations across Uganda
• We’ve laid the foundation for long-term outreach in the region, including training events for pastors and Christian workers

My most recent trip to Uganda confirmed the great strides we’ve made in advancing biblical discernment in Africa. Over the last few years, our Lord has allowed us to do far more than I imagined possible. So many wonderful things happened in Kampala last month that I can’t recount them all.

But one meeting in particular has enabled us to finalize our transition period and launch a revised strategy for equipping Christians across East Africa...

When we met with Pastor Gerald Sseruwagi of New City Church in Kampala, he strongly recommended Rodgers Atwebembeire, one of his personal disciples, as a candidate to coordinate ACFAR’s work in East Africa.

Who is Rodgers? A Ugandan minister who just graduated from Africa Bible University at the top of his class. He comes highly recommended by everyone with whom we’ve spoken, from his professors to his pastor. And he has a heart for apologetics, having already done live question-and-answer radio programs in English and other languages to help Ugandan believers, along with many other ministry opportunities.

With Rogers as ACFAR’s new coordinator, the future is bright. Our strategy for the next phase of ministry includes:

Tools

• Literature—including all-new tracts in English and local languages, and a practical quarterly newsletter on discernment for evangelical pastors
• Electronic resources—including the multilingual apologetics resource collection

Training

• Conferences for pastors and university campus workers in 2010

Research

• Monitoring cultic movements via group-specific research and mass media sources
• In-depth interviews with denominational and parachurch leaders, as well as Christian educators, on how to address the challenge of the cults and false teaching

Therefore, I’m stepping down as ACFAR’s director, though I’ll continue in an advisory role as my time allows. Dr. Sam Waldron, one of the pastors of Heritage Baptist Church in Owensboro, Kentucky and Academic Dean at Midwest Center for Theological Studies, has asked me to assist him in some of his ministry responsibilities. After much prayer, fasting, and counsel, Jennifer and I are preparing to move our family to Owensboro.

I’m grateful for all that God has done over the last several years. And while this may be a time of uncertainty for me, I continue to trust in the One in whom I live and serve. Now we have a local African willing to continue our vision. I can’t wait to see what will happen in the upcoming years through Rodgers’ faithful service to Christ.

ACFAR is moving forward—and it needs your support now more than ever! I ask you to continue praying for our ministry and for Rodgers. And I humbly request that you join Jennifer and me in supporting ACFAR in every way possible in the months and years ahead.

Because of His grace,

John Divito, Director
Africa Center for Apologetics Research (ACFAR)

P.S. Let us renew our commitment to helping our African brothers and sisters follow the instruction of the Apostle John: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

I'm Back With Exciting News!

Now that I have returned from Uganda, I wanted to post the updates which were sent out to our prayer partners and supporters. Below is a message I sent on Friday, August 7th. Do you feel left out? You don't need to be! Simply sign up for future e-mail updates here.

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Dear Friend,

Last week I wrote to thank you for your prayers, and about the tremendous response to our ministry at the Calvary Chapel pastors’ conference in Kampala, Uganda.

Here’s the rest of the story.

Our final three days in Uganda focused on strategy meetings with Christian leaders. And here’s what stands out.

They didn’t just ask us to help them; they offered their facilities, their manpower, and other resources to get the job done. A large-scale training event in early 2010, focusing on cults and false teaching, now appears very likely. Two highly placed leaders made a startling offer to use radio and other mass media to give us a national platform for exposing error. We also interviewed two gifted nationals who could serve as ACFAR’s “feet on the ground” in the months ahead.

Even though my family isn’t moving to East Africa, God’s hand on ACFAR is plain to see. We now have a strong basis for developing a new ministry strategy in these last days of our transitional period.

I’ve never seen so much hunger from African church leaders who want to grow in biblical discernment.

We must help them.

God has used your prayers and support to bring us this far! Please continue standing with us as we lay the groundwork for the future of ACFAR.

Because of His grace,

John Divito, Director
Africa Center for Apologetics Research (ACFAR)

I Have Great News from Uganda

Now that I have returned from Uganda, I wanted to post the updates which were sent out to our prayer partners and supporters. Below is a message I sent on Wednesday, July 29th. Do you feel left out? You don't need to be! Simply sign up for future e-mail updates here.

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Dear Friend,

I’m sending you this quick note to let you know that the Lord is hearing your prayers! Our ministry has had a wonderful response at the Calvary Chapel pastors’ conference here in Kampala. Yesterday I taught two workshops. The first session was on how to practice biblical discernment using the five “Solas” of the Reformation: Scripture Alone, Christ Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone, God’s Glory Alone. The second session applied these five principles to the widely popular “health-and-wealth gospel.”

How were our workshops received? Well over half of the pastors and Christian workers at the conference chose our sessions from among the various topics offered. We ran out of ALL of our tracts and booklets by the end of the first session, and we could have easily distributed double or even triple the amount we brought. The reason? A deep hunger for resources on the cults.

So far, the most frustrating—yet exciting—moment was when a pastor came up to me after the second session and asked, “What is this grace thing you’re talking about?” I was amazed—a pastor was asking me this question! So I shared the Gospel with him. He seemed to be “getting it” for the first time. Praise God!

Another conference speaker told me about a pastor who expressed his gratitude for my message on the “prosperity gospel.” Apparently, some of his family members are involved in churches that proclaim this false gospel, and he hasn’t been able to respond to them well from the Scriptures. Now he feels that he can. It’s humbling to know that God has used our ministry here to help hundreds of church leaders in such ways.

Today is the last day of the conference. After it ends, we’ll remain busy by meeting with Christian leaders and defining a future strategy for ACFAR. Please pray that Christ continues to bless our efforts here. We have so much to accomplish in the brief time remaining. Nevertheless, we’ll continue to trust in our sufficient and gracious Savior here in East Africa.

Thank you again for your prayers—keep them coming!

Because of His grace,

John Divito, Director
Africa Center for Apologetics Research (ACFAR)

Will You Pray for My Return to Uganda?

Tomorrow I will finally be flying out to return to Uganda! Paul Carden (the Executive Director of our parent ministry) and I will be in Kampala from July 25th through August 3rd—and we're asking for your prayers!

I’m to lead workshops at a major pastors’ conference, training hundreds of Christian leaders in biblical discernment and teaching them how to respond to the many errors in their midst. I’ll even have the chance to confront the errors of the “prosperity gospel” among pastors who sympathize with this corruption of God’s truth. (Benny Hinn brought his false teachings to adoring crowds in Kampala last month, and the need for a thoroughly biblical response is great.)

We also plan to continue developing a revised strategy for ACFAR. By meeting with a number of our East African partners, our transitional plans will progress into a more concrete strategy for the future.

Will you lift us up before the Lord daily during our time in Uganda? There’s so much to accomplish—but as always, we want above all else to glorify Christ in His strength. Thank you for your encouragement and support!

What is the Future of ACFAR?

Below is the latest update sent to my prayer partners and supporters. I will not be blogging during our ministry's transitional period. But please stay subscribed and check back for the latest on advancing biblical discernment in East Africa!

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“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8–9

Dear Friend,

Over two years ago, we established a vision and set goals to advance biblical discernment in East Africa. I’ve been devoted to making that vision a reality ever since. However, we’ve now passed our prayerfully determined goal of launching our ministry. The end of May has come, and we have less than 1/3 of our needed monthly financial support.

What does this mean? My family will not be moving to East Africa in the foreseeable future. In His providence—and in the midst of a global recession—our Lord hasn’t opened this door to us. I’ve found it unproductive to ask “Why?” and accept full responsibility for any shortcomings. As in all things, my only hope is in clinging to the cross of Christ, knowing that it’s by staying close to my Savior that I can serve and glorify Him.

At the same time, we’re just as committed to the vision for ACFAR. Our African brothers and sisters in Christ continue to ask us to come and help them defend our common faith. As a result, we’re beginning a 90-day transitional period to re-assess our approach to ACFAR.

During this time we’re exploring a number of options to move ACFAR forward —and even flourish! So we need your prayers just as much as ever. And if you financially support our ministry, we need you to keep doing so. Every dollar will go toward the cause of equipping pastors and other believers to defend the Gospel and win cultists to Christ in East Africa.

I still have a heart for East Africa and a deep desire to see African church leaders grow in their devotion to Christ and their ability to counter corruption and error. With this in mind, we’ve begun planning a strategic short-term trip to Uganda later this summer. Please pray as I prepare for this important trip!

You’re a tremendous blessing to my family and me, and we’re grateful for your ongoing prayers and support. I look forward to seeing what God shapes in the coming months!

Because of His grace,

John Divito, Director
Africa Center for Apologetics Research (ACFAR)