The Free Methodist Church in
Africa
FMWM IN AFRICA
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FMWM West Africa Area Fellowship 2022
Praying Together
The prayers of the early church in the Book of Acts are remarkable and instructive to us. Their steadfast engagement in prayer and the powerful responses from heaven brought an expansion that flourished to far-reaching places long after the records of Acts. One prayer includes portions incorporated from the psalms and portions born from their hearts. Note how this appears to be a unitedly articulated prayer:
“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father, David: “‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One.’”
“… Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your Word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal …” (Acts 4:24-26, 27-30).
And it happened! They were filled with the Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.
Those of us privileged to spend time with our Free Methodist brothers and sisters around the world are often impressed and challenged by their prayers. We sometimes wish we could export the experience of some prayer meetings. Although it is not possible, we are praying together.
We celebrate the deepening work prayer brings within the church and the expansion that follows as people boldly speak the Word of God, just as prayer brought it about in Acts.
I thank you for participating in the intercessory work the church has been doing since the beginning. I invite you to experience the joy of realizing you are praying right along with our African church and missionaries, seeking the face of the Lord for his kingdom to come.
Mike Reynen, Africa Area Director
Countries
Africa Area Director
Mike Reynen
Area Director Newsletters
Missionaries
Scott & Natasha Edinger
Scott and Natasha Edinger provide pastoral care for FM missionaries in Africa. This role includes encouragement and spiritual nurture via emails, phone calls and field visits; special care in emergencies or times of crisis; and organization of prayer support.
Jordan & Audrey Kaufmann
Jordan and Audrey are from McPherson, Kansas, and have been active members of the Free Methodist Church for five years. Audrey’s background as an administrative assistant for the Central Region Conference of the Free Methodist Church has prepared her for their current mission. Jordan graduated with his ministry degree from Central Christian College and has served in missions in several countries, including Mexico, Haiti and Mozambique. Jordan will facilitate partnerships between African leaders and U.S. churches, and Audrey will serve through administrative work supporting effective partnerships.
Tim & Connie Kratzer
Scott and Natasha Edinger provide pastoral care for FM missionaries in Africa. This role includes encouragement and spiritual nurture via emails, phone calls and field visits; special care in emergencies or times of crisis; and organization of prayer support.
Glenn & Wendy Lorenz
Glenn and Wendy Lorenz, both ordained elders in the Free Methodist Church, were appointed career missionaries in April 2015. In January 2017, the Lorenz family moved to Costa Rica to work with Free Methodist World Missions, where Glenn coordinated the development of healthy leaders for FMWM Latin America. In October 2022, Glenn began serving as the Africa Area Associate Director. His work focuses on recruiting, onboarding, training, and coaching missionary teams to live in West Africa. He also assists in supporting and developing Free Methodist leaders in West Africa.
Emmanuel & Rachel Nzungize
Emmanuel and Rachel met in Kibogora, Rwanda, in 2015 while Rachel was volunteering as nurse at Kibogora Hospital. Emmanuel, a Rwandan, was her translator. Their friendship developed and they were married in 2018. After a few years in the United States, they feel God is calling them back to Kibogora. Both Emmanuel and Rachel are nurses and are excited to care for patients and provide education for other nurses and nursing students. Rachel recently completed her master’s degree in global health and hopes to assist hospital staff with quality improvements as needed. The Nzungizes also look forward to welcoming short-term volunteers and serving as a bridge within the community. They have two young children, Noella and Matayo.
Mike & Vickie Reynen
Mike Reynen works on the formation of churches in Africa by collaborating with African leaders to develop the various aspects of well-rounded church life. Church planting and ministerial education are vital. Mike and Vickie both encourage the missionary team in empowering national leaders. Vickie puts much of her energy into Tumaini Women Kenya, a discipleship-oriented micro-savings and loan ministry, and Thrive (also Kenya), a young women’s ministry discipling and advocating against gender-based violence and sex trafficking.
Hendrik & Kaylene Smidderks
As FMWM missionaries, Hendrik will lead a team supporting church leaders and mission districts in West Africa and assisting in pastoral training and formation. Kaylene will serve the work of the international missionary team to West Africa, focusing on financial administration and communication.
Moisés & Jacione Souza
Sent by the Free Methodist Church in Portugal, Moisés and Jacione Souza serve as international missionaries to the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe off the west coast of Africa. They launched the first Free Methodist church in São Tomé in January 2019 and now work consistently through various discipleship ministries for children, youth and adults. Many believers are growing in their faith. The couple’s next goal is to identify and train leaders for pastoral ministry. Both Moisés and Jacione were ordained as elders at the 2020 annual meeting of the Free Methodist Church of Portugal. Because the church in Portugal is the sending church, this mission district is under the European area.
Children: Filipa, Giovanna
Dosseh Takpale
Dosseh Takpale is superintendent of the Togo Provisional Annual Conference and pastor of the FMC in Lomé, Togo. As an international missionary, he also supervises several other countries: Guinea, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau, and Burkina Faso. In addition, Dosseh serves as the director of the Wesley Missionary Institute.
HEARTBEAT
Resourcing the African Diaspora
"When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love...
Malawi: 2,000 Souls for Christ by 2025
I envision a church outside the building, reaching 2,000 souls for Christ by 2025. Being a pastor and a superintendent, I realized I must lead by...
Obedient to the Call
When he was 9 years old, Jordan Kaufmann heard a missionary share at church, and he went home and told his mother he was going to be a missionary...
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Africa VISA Voyagers: Resident Teachers for Ministerial Education
Potential locations for assignment include Great Commission Bible School, Malawi, Wesley Missionary Institute, Togo, or Liberia in its pastoral education program. Individuals would commit to a year or longer service. There are great opportunities to help individuals develop in ministry. Malawi and Liberia systems are modular, Togo is residential. Interested teachers will discuss with field leadership to discern a best place of service.
Africa VISA Team: Church Construction/School Repairs
This is for teams who wish to participate in the project of constructing a church or repairing school buildings. In most cases this would include working under the direction of local builders. It could include cement block laying, cement work, basic woodworking. Often the projects are in hot environments. Good health is a necessity. Team size could be between four and ten members.