The last time that Phil and Deo were able to be in Africa was their trip to Senegal in the fall of 2019. As we know, much has happened globally in the interim. Not the least of which, Deo has needed a kidney transplant and is now able to travel again (he is based in the USA). In August Deo and the American missionary (who was his kidney donor) went to Deo’s native country of Democratic Rep. of Congo (DRC).

As you may recall, some 25 years ago Deo was a leading Imam living in Tanzania, teaching Islamology at a university in Dar es Salaam. After his dramatic conversion (his testimony is on our YouTube channel: MCNet International), he and his family moved back to DRC to serve with ICM there before relocating to the USA several years ago.

In August Deo joined the “Genesis Waters” team (genesiswaters.org) in serving local leaders in DRC with training, as well as distributing audio solar Bibles and water filtration kits. It was been a privilege to partner for years with a man of the caliber of Deo. If you would like to help cover some his costs for this trip you may do so through ICM Canada.

Phil and Rafik have also had a hiatus from travelling to Africa since 2019, partly due to travel restriction and Rafik’s major heart surgery. Together they will be returning to Tanzania in September and are looking forward to sharing with these leaders in person (technology is great but just not quite the same). As mentioned in our last newsletter, they will be following up with several leaders who have continued to mentor others throughout the last few years, and teaching several leadership seminars. Additionally, they will be introducing our new approach to more formal ministerial training, our MCNet CLI (Christian Leadership Institute) Competency Based mentorship which has already begun in Latin America/Caribbean.

Thank you for your continued prayer for the training of leaders in Africa. While ICM Canada has expanded its ministry beyond Africa, it was the continent we first began our ministry on over three decades ago and its people remains close in our hearts.