A look back at our work the past season
“The harvest is plentiful…”
By Julianna Jones
Last week our All Nations Cape Town hub team spent time reflecting on what we’ve done and learned since the start of the pandemic. Last year, lockdown forced us to cancel in-person trainings more than once. It was disappointing and challenging for our team, but now that we look back on this past season we can see so many things that the Lord has done. These changes brought new opportunities to fulfill our mission in creative ways.
Online trainings
Like so many others around the world, much of our work has shifted online. Although not as rich as in-person meetings, we have found so much life in gathering with people online. We’ve launched an online basics-of-mission course that people can complete at their own pace. We hosted several online trainings for people outside of All Nations. We hosted two trainings for our ANCT members working in catalytic roles. We also spent some of the strict lockdown time organizing and writing down our CPx curriculum so it’s even easier for us to multiply trainings in the future.
Greater connections
As everyone within All Nations got more comfortable with online calls and video meetings, our connection to our field workers has increased. There are more opportunities for ongoing learning and praying together online from locations around the world. We also worked to make sure each hub member has someone from ANCT meeting with them regularly (online or in-person) to help them achieve their goals more effectively.
Financial sustainability
At the beginning of last year, ANCT was in dire financial straights. Our financial sustainability had leaned on grants, which had recently come to an end. Lockdown crushed our plans for raising funds through renting out Africa House for events. We had to pivot, and the Lord answered our prayers through gifts of support from many of you, a huge matching gift, and also a new relationship with a church. A local church, Common Ground, now shares our expenses at Africa House, using the facilities at the times when we had been leaving it empty. We are still looking for more financial partners to help sustain us into the future, but we are so thankful to the Lord for meeting our needs in this challenging time.
The future
We have high hopes and expectations for the future of ANCT. We are continuing to improve the training and equipping we give our members. We have new trainings and recruitment events planned for those outside of ANCT. We hope to be able to host an in-person CPx in September. But even if the third wave in South Africa interrupts our plans, we know God will continue to use our work to disciple people and raise up leaders to ignite church planting movements around the world.