Freedom Church is part of the Issachar Alliance, a partnership of a number of church planting spheres in Southern, East and Central Africa with partnering churches and church planting movements in India, Europe and North America. Together we are seeking to get in on what we believe God is doing in the nations which is gathering a family from every tribe and tongue and nation.
Above: Regions Beyond East Africa Trip, November 2018. A gathering of a church in Zanzibar. The church was gathering in a public park because they had been thrown out of the buileing they had been meeting in. Christians are a tiny minority in Muslim dominated Zanzibar. On the left, Paul Simpson, who at that time was leading the Africa section of a church planting movement called Regions Beyond, speaks to the church. On the right, Timothy Larsen was one of the Regions Beyond team members. Next to him sits Nashon, the leader of the Zanzibar church. At that meeting two young men arrived. For the one it was his first time at church. The night before he had been having a terrible aparition of something choking him. It persisted until he had gone to his Christian friend who prayed for him and the spirit left him. At church he heard the good news of what God has done for all of us in Jesus Christ and he committed his life to Jesus.
We are passionate about being part of establishing communities of disciples of Jesus in cities and towns across many nations, particularly among people groups that have never heard the good news about what Jesus has done to deal with their sin and include them in the family of God. In pursuit of this goal we have been given grace to get behind and support local men an women upon whom God has his hand for the work of initiating new churches that are able to infiltrate and advance the Kingdom of God in their local area and, in time, to reach out into new cities, towns and rural areas starting yet more churches.
Above: A team from Grace Generation Church in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal joined team members from Grace Community Church in Harding, KwaZulu-Natal and a church based in Mthatha, Eastern Cape to visit a rural community outside the town of Willowvale in the Eastern Cape. The team spent two days going door to door explaining the good news of what God has done for all people through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and then praying for needs in the household. Those who were responsive were invited to evening meetings held on the Friday and Saturday and also to a church service on the Sunday. We found a great openness to the message that was shared and numbers of people availed themselves of the evening and Sunday morning meetings. The aim is to start a new church in that community that will be supported by Pat and Nombini Mbukuqu, who lead the Mthatha church. The team stayed at the homestead of Pat's cousin while at Willowvale.
Issachar Alliance is a third generation church planting movement that started in the 1970s with Newfrontiers which gave birth to other church planting movements including Regions Beyond. In 2020 the churches that had been relating with Paul Simpson were released from Regions Beyond to become their own apostolic sphere called Issachar Alliance.
Above: Dr Michael Eaton preaching at Grace Generation Church in 2012. Grace Generation Church played an important role in raising up key leaders of what has become the Issachar Alliance. Dr Eaton was a significant part of that. Originally from the UK, Michael spent much of his life living in Africa, first in South Africa, then Zambia and finally in Kenya. He was a Biblical scholar committed to Reformed doctrine, charismatic expression and missional impact.