A/G Dream Team Helps Build Tabernacles Across Africa
Through the efforts of the Southern Africa Assemblies of God Alliance Dream Team and the Africa Tabernacle Evangelism, missionaries at Gobabis Namibia was able to erect a place of worship in just one and a half days.
"Historically, missionaries have asked churches to get the walls up, and then help would be given to put up the roof," said ATE’s Bill Moore. "Typically it could take a congregation five years to get money for brick and cement. Until that time, they'd be meeting under trees and in schools." Now the builders begin with the roof so that the congregation can immediately begin services under it.
ATE has helped place nearly 600 “Tabernacle” churches in 34 African nations since its inception in 1991.
"When a church in Africa gets a building, suddenly it's legitimate in the community," said Moore.
According to Moore, some churches virtually double in size overnight just by having a worship hall. Before the Gobabis congregation had the tabernacle, they worshiped at a rental schoolroom. Now other Namibians have joined the gathering and accepted Christ in their hearts.
The collaboration with the ATE is just part of the ongoing efforts of the A/G Dream Team to double the number of churches in Africa by 2005. Namibia was the first nation to benefit from their newly adopted four-nation evangelism and church planting outreach. The evangelistic focuses were placed on Namibia in 2002, Zimbabwe in 2003, Swaziland in 2004 and Durban, South Africa, in 2005
