In 2003 there were 4 Assembly of God churches in the United States established for the primary purpose of reaching immigrants from the continent of Africa. Today, there are over 60 such churches and there are soon to be a whole bunch more. And they won’t just be reaching African immigrants. These churches are poised to be part of a God’s intention to expand His Kingdom into the hearts of millions of Americans from all perspectives, nations and backgrounds.

How do I know this? I spent all day Wednesday with a powerful group of African leaders who believe God has sent them to America to start hundreds of multicultural communities of faith that will be characterized by tenacious faith and persistent prayer. They invited me to come meet with them to discuss how they might partner with the Church Multiplication Network to multiply the church in the United States.

You may not be aware that the Assemblies of God has 18 Ethnic Fellowships representing groups of immigrants who are now living in the United States. These Fellowships are not “districts” unto themselves. Rather they provide a point of contact and connection for immigrants from a variety of nations and regions of the world. Some of the Ethnic Fellowships include Tongan, Samoan, etc. I wrote about a meeting of all the Presidents in another recent post on this blog.

The president of the African Fellowship is Samuel Asiedu. Samuel’s country of origin is Ghana, but he may be best known as the leader of the Nigerian Decade of Harvest. Under his leadership, the number of Nigerian Assemblies of God churches nearly doubled. Samuel believes God can do even greater things in the United States.

After spending just a few hours with these wonderful brothers and sisters, I have to agree with him. Everything these friends do is bathed in prayer. It occurred to me that people like me, whose country of origin is the United States, have much to learn from these wonderful folks who come from a cultural place with characteristics and strengths that I need to be influenced by. They are eager to share their passion for God, their penchant for prayer, their commitment to personal relationship and their faith that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think! At the same time, they manifest a spirit of humility and an eagerness to learn from others. They are humble teachers and teachable friends.

I came away thinking, “God is good and He is up to something wonderful!”