Transcription

00:11

Welcome to the 4:18 Podcast. I’m your host, Emily Frenzen, and today we have a special episode for you. In this episode, we’re answering your questions, and by we, I mean me. The following questions were submitted on our social media pages, and I’ll do my best to answer what you submitted. So, first question–how is the Possibilities Africa model different from other organizations that serve communities in Africa? The biggest difference,

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I would say in the Possibilities Africa model is that we invest in people through training and loans rather than handouts and projects. And this foundational belief ultimately is standing on the rock that we believe the answer is not another handout but rather hope found in the person of Jesus Christ. But beyond this belief there are a couple other things that make our model unique. First we emphasize holistic transformation.

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And when we say holistic transformation, what we mean is that our approach encompasses more than one part. So instead of addressing only one crisis in Africa, we address three crises. The first is the spiritual crisis. The second is the economic crisis. And the third is the next-generation crisis. We address the spiritual crisis by training pastors. We address the economic crisis by helping people start small businesses. And we address the next-generation crisis by ultimately teaching the value of children.

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The model is driven and executed by Africans, and we believe that locals who know the language, the culture, and the context are best suited to share Jesus with their neighbors and teach them what it means to follow Him in every area of life. So to explain the value of having this model be led by Africans, consider this scenario, for example. You’ve probably heard the famous quote, “If you give a man a

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fish, it will feed him for a day, but if you teach a man a fish it will feed him for a lifetime. But really think about this: is this true for overseas missions? What if our method of fishing for example, is to rent a boat, go into the deep water with a fancy fishing pole, catch some game fish, and put them in the freezer until we thaw them to cook on the grill? Your method of fishing might be a little bit different, but generally speaking, it’s probably similar to what I just shared.

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We can try to teach someone else to do this in a different country, but what if the people we are trying to help don’t have access to the equipment, money to rent a boat, or what if they don’t even like to eat fish? So the problem or the shortcomings of the “teach them to fish” model in the context of being Americans who seek to bring about change in third world countries is that number one, it assumes the person’s most pressing need is to have fish, and secondly, it assumes that our affluent methods for fishing

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can be modified to work for the people who we want to help. But most of the time, neither of these assumptions are true. So again, just to emphasize, there is great power in having a model that is led by Africans because we don’t have to jump through the hurdles of learning the language, learning the culture, and learning the context.

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There have been a lot of ministries that have had well intentions of doing really great work in other countries and God can definitely still work through all of them. But ultimately, we have to ask the question, is it getting to the root of the problem, and are they actually helping? Okay, second question that was submitted from our audience on social media is, what is one of your favorite stories of what God has done through Possibilities Africa?

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The other question that kind of goes with this is what have you learned about God’s character through Possibilities Africa? And there’s so much that I could say about what I personally have learned about God’s character through Possibilities Africa in my time with this organization. But I think the biggest thing I can say again and again is that His love never fails. And I’ll piggyback on the last question that said, what is one of your favorite stories of what God has done and what have you learned about God’s character? These go together. And I think…

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This is one story that is another example of God’s forgiveness and grace and mercy. But ultimately, it’s God that is offering love and we respond to love because we’ve been loved by Him first. So the story I’ll share is actually a story in Rwanda and it’s a story of a man who received Possibilities Africa training and went back to his community. And in his community, they were both perpetrators of the Rwanda genocide and victims of the genocide.

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living in the same community and because this pastor had gone through Possibilities Africa training, he had the opportunity to consider what he wanted to do when he returned to his community. And that’s one of my favorite things about this organization is that it’s not a prescriptive method that says here’s how you go do this work. The pastors have ownership and freedom to choose and they also know the context of their community. Every community is so unique and different so it’s only fitting that they

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have the freedom to choose what they want to implement when they return. So this man decided that he would create a program of reconciliation between the two groups of people, the perpetrators and the victims of the genocide, through Christ. And these people are not only seeking reconciliation and forgiveness, but they’ve reconciled and forgiven each other so much so that they own businesses together. And I think the piece that’s really beautiful is that…

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Possibilities Africa focuses on both the spiritual and the economic need and they often have accountability groups where church members meet for prayer and Bible study, but those same groups will do table banking and loan money to each other’s businesses. So they’re doing so much of their lives together and the beautiful thing is it’s not just a situation where it’s a one-time moment of forgiveness and then they just move on with their lives and never see each other again. But…

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They’re living among each other and likely the victims had family members or close friends that were killed by perpetrators of the genocide. So it’s just a really incredible testament to the power of God’s love, that His love is both patient and powerful. It took years for reconciliation to happen and come about. The genocide happened in the 90s and here we are, you know, 30 years later. And

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God has brought about reconciliation. So I think something that I would also say with his love never failing, I would say that there will be suffering, but his love never fails. And in this case, there’s great tragedy for the story of the Rwandan people that have seen great devastation and loss and grief and suffering, but yet God’s love redeems all things.

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What is your biggest goal this year for Possibilities Africa? That is our next question. So switching gears, Possibilities Africa is currently positioned in East Africa with eight countries that touch each other. So all of these countries border each other in one strip if you were to see it on a map. So the eight countries are Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia, and…

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The three to five-year goal is to create hubs similar to what we have in East Africa with the ultimate long-term goal of reaching all of Africa. It’s important to note here that Africa is the second largest continent with Asia being the largest in the world. But to give you a perspective of the size of Africa, let’s say we were to pick up the United States, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe, India,

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Japan, the UK, and all of China, and we move all of these countries into one continent, all of them could fit into the entire continent of Africa. So creating regional hubs in the next three to five years, therefore, is the most strategic plan our team in Africa has created to reach all 54 countries in Africa in a continent of this size. So what this looks like in the next year is adding new countries.

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In 2024, we added Uganda, but if we want to see all of Africa reached in our lifetime through Possibilities Africa, there needs to be progress each year. Something significant to remember is that this ministry has reached 1.3 million lives in Africa after 20 years, but it started in one village in Kenya with one cow. Twenty years ago, one cow, and now 20 years later, 1.3 million more lives in Africa.

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And a lot of those early years were spent testing what was going to work, what didn’t work, a lot of pivoting, a lot of shifting. And God has grown and sustained what has been built, and we’re trusting Him to do the same in the next 20 years. He has done more than imaginable at that time 20 years ago, and we believe He can do it again. So you can be part of this goal by partnering in prayer for more open doors for countries and for Him to raise up leaders in these countries who align with the mission and vision of Possibilities Africa.

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And the second way you can partner with us in this goal is through giving. To sustain and grow this ministry, we ultimately need to grow the amount of financial support raised in the United States. So if you would like to partner with us or if you’re interested, you can definitely reach out to Doug or me, but you can go to usa.possibilitiesafrica.org/donate for more information about giving. Okay, next question. How did you personally get involved with Possibilities Africa?

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This is a fun question with a fun story. So I actually got connected with Possibilities Africa through Jill Reed. And the backstory is that I found myself in a position of doing photography full-time. I had done a year of college ministry with a church and stepped down from that position and decided I wanted to do photography full-time. And after about six months, I felt like I wanted to do something for the kingdom of God and I felt like God was stirring something in me.

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So I talked to a friend on the phone and I was telling her about my position with my career and saying how I just wanted to do something more for the kingdom of God. And she said, “Emily, when would you like to have something? We should pray about this.” Like, what do you want to ask God for? And I said, “Maybe in a few months, like that’d probably be nice. Maybe by March.” And then this was January at the time. And then she left. And then I…

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interpreted her laugh as like, God can do more than that, you know, like that’s so silly. And then I was like, “You’re right, I should ask for more. So I said, let’s pray and just see what he does and ask if I can have something in a week.” So we prayed on the phone together and this hasn’t always happened in my life, but it’s a really cool reminder for me of God’s intention in calling me here. But I

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applied for a different job and then Jill had been my mentor over the last year since I’d lived with her daughter and when I told her that I was applying for a position she said to me, “Well why don’t you come work for Possibilities Africa?” And I said, “I didn’t know you were hiring.” And she said, “Well Doug has been looking for someone.” So a couple days later I got in the fun with Doug and we had a conversation and that was the end of it. I was working for Possibilities Africa within a week and…

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Got to go with a team to Kenya and Malawi in 2024. So I’ve been involved with the ministry personally since January of 2024, about a year ago at this time of recording, which is a really fun celebration. But since then, it’s been amazing to see how God has moved in me. It’s kind of a funny thing when you step into a position to serve and He does more for you. And I know that I’ve been blessed by

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the relationships with the people that I’ve met in the U.S. and Africa through this work. And with that, the next question is, speaking of a trip, that leads us into the next question. What are the trips to Africa like through Possibilities Africa? So I’ll break this down into what trips are like and what trips are not like. So what trips are not like? We’ll start there. This isn’t really a situation where…

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We give any handouts. It’s not a situation where we build physical structures and it’s not a situation where we, as Americans, go into African countries to evangelize. What it does look like is what we call a ministry of presence, and this looks like providing care for people by offering ears to listen and words to encourage the staff that we encounter in the communities that are involved with Possibilities Africa programs.

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It looks like accountability in the strategic partnership that exists between the United States and African countries. It’s a trip for coming to see what God has done. It’s an opportunity to witness the work of His hands and the work of the people that live there and seeing how they are worshiping the Lord, seeing how they do business, seeing how they are faithful in hardship, seeing how they love one another, seeing how they are so

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sacrificial and hospitable, and it’s a beautiful gift to go to different countries and witness God’s love in a whole different culture. Oftentimes what’s really surprising on trips like these is getting closer with the team that we go with. So there’s usually a group of ten and twelve people that go together from the United States and from there it looks like building relationships with the people that we get to meet that are on staff or in the communities of Possibilities Africa.

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And lastly, what I would say, it definitely looks like being open to what God wants to do in you. And I think the beautiful example of this is that people often leave this trip with some kind of idea of what it looks like to return home. What could I start? What could I create? How could I bring something like this to the U.S. if it fits my community? And what does He want to do in me here while we’re in Africa? So I think that’s twofold of being open to what God wants to do in the here and now while we’re there. If it looks like praying with people,

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listening and encouraging, like I mentioned, being a champion of the ministry when we return home, starting a different type of ministry, or serving in your local church when you get home. I think there’s really beautiful ways that God can prompt and the Spirit can lead. And ultimately we are looking for champions of the ministry, so it’s been beautiful to see champions built upon returning from trips. Okay, and the last question, how can we spread Possibilities Africa’s mission and grow more awareness for your work?

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There are probably about five ways to do this. And the first I would say is to pray with us. We believe prayer is the fruit of our ministry. So we host 30 minutes of virtual prayer over Zoom once a month. It’s a gathering where people have the opportunity to pray out loud with us. People are welcome to come and not pray and just be there with us, but it’s a really sweet time to lift up specific requests for that month. And then the other option for prayer specifically is to join

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our prayer team, which is separate from the virtual prayer meeting. And anyone can sign up on our website to receive specific updates about how to pray for Possibilities Africa. And you can do that by going to usa.possibilitiesafrica.org/home/praywithus to join our prayer team. The second way you can spread this mission and grow awareness for Possibilities Africa is to invite

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Doug or me to share more about possibilities Africa with your small group, with your Bible study, with your family, or with your friends. We have a 30-minute presentation that we can share anywhere and we’re happy to drive to you and share that with the people that you love and we’re also happy to share the presentation over a meal if that’s what you prefer. It can also just be a conversation without the presentation. We’re definitely open to whatever suits your group or the style that’s best.

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The third way is to consider church partnership. So there are some churches that partner with us through giving, but other churches also ask us to come share about the message with their church body. And Doug has preached at the churches we partner with and other churches that are interested in Possibilities Africa on Sundays. So the message can be catered to the book that you’re going through at that time or your sermon series.

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Doug has also preached on the book of Nehemiah because this book of the Bible is foundational for Possibilities Africa. He’s gifted at preaching, and this is a great way for people to be exposed to Possibilities Africa in a setting where further connection can happen after Sundays with individuals in your church. It’s also a really sweet way to serve your church. If you are interested in partnering, we love to think about how we can serve you as you bless this ministry. So, if it is a blessing to your church to have

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a pulpit be filled on Sunday, we are more than willing to do so. The fourth way to spread Possibilities Africa’s mission and grow awareness is to share our social media posts and podcast episodes with people you love who might be potential partners or who might be interested in this work. You can find Possibilities Africa USA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, subscribe to our channel, like, share, follow, comment.

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Please engage with us. Our podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, and additionally, you can find the audio recording of the podcast and the transcription on our website. The last way to spread this mission and grow awareness is to sign up for our email newsletters. You can do this by going to our website, again, usa.possibilitiesafrica.org and click the subscribe to newsletter button in the menu bar.

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The email newsletter has a minimum of one update a month and it shares testimonies and stories of what God is doing. You will also find prayer requests and recent updates there. This is a great way to stay in the know and in order to spread this mission and grow awareness, it’s a sweet opportunity to have information to share with the people that you encounter. And it’s also just really fun to see what God is doing. I’ve been a storyteller for almost six years now professionally and

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what I love about storytelling is that we’re all connected by stories. So, in all of these spaces, it ultimately has to do with storytelling and storytelling specifically about what God is doing and what he has done in the past. So as we do storytelling, we want to invite you into that and be champions of this ministry through your own storytelling, whether that looks like sharing about Possibilities Africa with someone you know, or sharing a post and sharing the way that it impacted you. We are so, so grateful. So thank you for being a

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champion of this ministry already. We are so blessed by having you with us today. Be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share with a friend so we can grow this podcast and share this good news. Thank you for being here. We appreciate your partnership in prayer and in giving. If you’re interested in partnering financially, be sure to head to usa.possibilitiesafrica.org and hit the donate button. God bless you.