When St. Paul was standing before King Agrippa to make his defence, he told how Jesus had given
him a task to carry out and a mandate to obey couched in these terms—”to open their eyes (the
Gentiles), that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they
may receive forgiveness of sins, and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts
26:16-18}.

An extraordinary mandate, you will agree. Yet in reality not different from the mandate given to AE
60 years ago to take this Gospel and this challenge to the cities and leaders of Africa.

In Paul’s testimony to Agrippa he went on to say, surely with great credibility, “AND I WAS NOT
DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY VISION.”

Now, beloved brothers and sisters, precious colleagues, dear fellow-partners in the Gospel, and
committed sharers in the calling of AE, here we have both our mandate as couched in Pauline terms,
AND the proper response required of us, namely that we NOT BE DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY
VISION.

Our calling is holistic evangelism in the cities of. AFRICA. And we must be obedient and get on with
the job in all haste, as the times are urgent, and the needs of Africa are desperate. So we need to
be energetic in constantly exploring new opportunities, prising open new doors, researching where
we have not yet been, and then pressing in to possess the land.

Africa is ours. Africa is our parish. It has already been given to us. And the Lord has said GO. And go we must and “ work while it is day, because the night is coming when no one (including no one in AE!) can work.” (John 9:4)

In her great prayer bulletins our sister Biggie Paul lists a key African city for us to pray for each
day. I use this religiously and unfailingly EVERY NIGHT. Tonight it’s Addis Ababa & the beloved Mel,
last night it was Accra, tomorrow night it is Algiers. And so on throughout the month. If you are not
doing this, I urge it on you. The big thing is that it reminds us daily of the heavenly vision and the
mandate we have as AE members. As I pray I also register how many cities we have NOT YET been to, and I call on the Lord to open those doors to those cities. To be sure, there is much land yet to
be possessed.

Brothers and sisters, please join me in cultivating this habit and in resolving every day or night that,
along with St. Paul, we will NOT BE DISOBEDIENT TO THE HEAVENLY VISION

Michael Cassidy – Founder African Enterprise