Africa – Wide Open for the Gospel

BibleTransmission has been surprised over and over with the great responses from the African nations for the Gospel on mobile. The responses to ad campaigns in the central and northern regions have proved that Africa is ripe for hearing the Gospel today more than any other continent. One might think that the poorer nations would not have as much access to the Internet. Think again. According to ITNewsAfrica, the African mobile user’s most common activity is Facebook at close to 50%, while games hover closer to 30%. SMS usage varied between 30% and 55%.

As though that were not impressive enough, mobile Internet usage in Africa is predicted to increase 20-fold in the next 5 years. According to The Guardian, “Declining prices of handsets and data, along with faster transmission speeds, mean Facebook, Twitter and cash transfer services can reach both the growing African middle class and the remotest rural areas, where villagers often find ingenious ways of keeping phones charged.” Frederik Jejdlin said, “We have seen the trend emerging over a few years but in the past 12 months the digital traffic has increased over 100%.” Cheap Smartphones costing less that $50 are an important part of the explosive growth.

This growth has been a Godsend to BibleTransmission. Millions upon millions of Africans have acquired mobiles, but they have not yet been bombarded with countless online advertisements. Hence, our cheapest ads worldwide and greatest response to the Gospel remain in Africa.

CNN says the continent “is on track to hit one billion mobile subscriptions by 2015 according to Informa Telecoms.” The youth are a major component of the growth equation. “Access to social networks has given youth a platform for self-expression and civic participation in ways that are having real impact on elections, governance and accountability.”

Gallup polls tell us additionally that 55% of the poorer households have a mobile as compared to 80% of the wealthier households as of 2013. Clearly the less fortunate families have substantial mobile access, even as of 2 years ago.

BibleTransmission’s experience has been that youth make the best evangelists. Since mostly youth under the age of 25 dominate the mobile world, why not give them the Gospel on mobile? They like nothing better than to share it among themselves using every conceivable method known to mobile!

Africa has always had some degree of Christian presence since the times of the disciples’ dispersion related in the Book of Acts. “North Africans were the first to receive and embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The early church in North Africa went through severe persecutions A.D. 64 thru 311” yet the Good News message has never been quenched.

The same holds true now: Africa remains open to embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Good News message is being sent to Africa today, and it will not be quenched!