Working Together With Rose Publishing

As we prepare to launch the ministry of the Africa Center for Apologetics Research, we’re always on the lookout for good material to help East African believers grow in their ability to defend the Christian faith. Thankfully, we’ve developed excellent partnerships with several other ministries, allowing us to bring some of the best material available to Africa. I’ve already described our partnerships with Stand to Reason and the Institute for Religious Research; today I want to focus on Rose Publishing.

You may have seen Rose’s fine work without realizing it. Chances are good that their Bible charts and maps are being used in your local church. Interestingly, the company was started by a Sunday-school teacher and a public-school teacher who were having trouble finding good visual teaching materials for their classes. They began to create their own, and as time went by more and more people starting requesting them. Today, Rose produces some of the very best Christian books, pamphlets, wall charts, timelines, PowerPoint presentations, and maps available.

A number of Rose’s apologetics-oriented resources (including the “10 Questions and Answers” series) are edited by CFAR’s own Paul Carden. And with Rose’s permission, CFAR has already translated and/or adapted a number of their pamphlets on the cults and apologetics into Russian, Hungarian, Spanish, and other languages. By making such high-quality resources available to CFAR, Rose helps us to put otherwise unavailable discernment tools into the hands of pastors and Christian workers. Whenever pastors and other church leaders receive Rose pamphlets, they’re immediately impressed and want to know how to get more.

And thanks to Rose, we’ve already taken many pamphlets and wall charts on cults, comparative religions, the Trinity, and Islam to East African Bible colleges and seminaries. In the future we plan to create special African editions of the Christianity, Cults and Religions pamphlet and other materials to meet the unique needs of believers there.

As my family moves to Uganda to start ACFAR’s ministry, it’s certain that materials from Rose Publishing will be critical to our success in inoculating and equipping Christians. Rose is a treasured partner in our work, and we praise God for their help in advancing biblical discernment.

Note: A number of the pamphlets we use are gathered in The Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps, Time Lines and Rose Bible Basics: Christianity, Cults & Religions.

Working Together With the Institute for Religious Research

As we continue preparing to launch the Africa Center for Apologetics Research in Uganda, our ministry has been blessed to have many partnerships with other Christian organizations who are also devoted to defending our common faith. I have already mentioned our partnership with Stand to Reason. Now I'd like to focus on another apologetics ministry. By working together, we are already making a different for the kingdom of God in East Africa!

One of ACFAR's most important partner ministries is the Institute for Religious Research (IRR), based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. IRR is widely known as a model ministry, characterized by its balance, integrity, and innovation. Led until 2007 by the late Luke Wilson, IRR is now headed by veteran apologist Robert M. Bowman, Jr.

In my mind, Bowman is one of the foremost Christian apologists alive today. He has written or co-written many books and journal articles, including one of my favorites on defending the faith: Faith Has Its Reasons. As a former Mormon, I also appreciate IRR's Mormons in Transition ministry.

Additionally, we have a long history serving Christ together. IRR was one of the founding sponsors of the first Center for Apologetics Research in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993. Since then, IRR and the Centers for Apologetics Research have teamed up on a number of projects, including the translation and adaptation of IRR’s tracts, pamphlets, and videos in Russian, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Portuguese.

IRR is one of the few North American countercult ministries that shares CFAR’s vision and commitment for international, cross-cultural apologetics outreach. We look forward to distributing their English- and Swahili-language resources in East Africa and to partnering in the translation of key materials into other local languages across the continent!

Working Together With Stand to Reason

In East Africa, we often have Christians asking us for more resources to help equip them to defend our faith. While the development and translation of new materials is something that will have to wait until our ministry begins full-time in Uganda, we have been blessed to find other apologetics ministries with a global vision willing to help Africans now.

One ministry that has been very helpful is Stand to Reason (STR). Founded by Greg Koukl, STR is an organization dedicated to training Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square. On a personal note, I would like to point out how important this ministry has been in my own spiritual growth. I still have old cassette tapes from Koukl on the Trinity, the relationship between grace and works, and decision making and the will of God. I have also read Solid Ground for years. STR has been a blessing to thousands of believers throughout America.

So you can imagine my excitement when I heard of their willingness to partner with us as we seek to advance biblical discernment in Africa. Over the last several months, we have been working together to make a CD-ROM that will help Ugandans to grow in their knowledge of God's Word and to defend Christianity against falsehood. The result is a self-contained CD, including all of the contents of their web site in PDF format, MP3s of some of their most critical audio resources, and even QuickTime videos answering fundamental questions about Jesus.

The STR Resource CD—developed specifically for ministry distribution outside the U.S.—is an efficient and inexpensive way of placing a large amount of solid information into the hands of the many Christians in East Africa who have some access to a computer but little or none to the Internet. As you can see, this is one example of how we can work together to help our African brothers and sisters in Christ.

I appreciate STR's willingness to produce such a wonderful resource. And I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish together in the future. Koukl himself has been very gracious and supportive. As a matter of fact, he has agreed to speak at our upcoming event "Awakening Africa: Guarding the Gospel" next month at the historic Bowers Museum in Southern California. If you will be in the area on September 27th and would like to know more, please let me know.

God is truly blessing the Africa Center for Apologetics Research. Momentum is growing. Churches, ministries, and individuals are coming together to make a difference. I can't wait to see what God will do next!