ABOUT US
Every Nation Southern Africa is part of a worldwide Every Nation family of churches and ministries established in 1994, dedicated to establishing church-planting churches, reaching the next generation on the campus, and preaching the Gospel to every nation. Every Nation has been making disciples, training leaders, and planting churches all over the world. Within the Southern African Region we represent a great diversity of people groups. Our vision is to see a multi-ethnic, multi-generational church that will seek first the Kingdom of God for the glory of Jesus Christ. For more on our global movement, go to www.everynation.org
HOW EVERY NATION STARTED
by Steve Murrell, EN President
Every Nation serendipitously started in my home when a couple of old friends had a layover in Manila. The date was March 4, 1994. The time of day was late, close to midnight. The place was my house in Pasig City, Philippines. Our fledgling ministry had no legal documents, no headquarters, no budget, no plan, no logo, but we had a clear call from God and a sense of stewardship for the university campuses of the world.
Six years after the demise of the ministry and mission agency that sent us to the Philippines, I received a call from Rice Broocks that would change our lives. Every decade or so, I get a call like that from him. Rice called to ask if he and an old friend, Phil Bonasso, could crash at my house in Manila for a couple of nights on their way to Singapore and Malaysia. Rice and Phil’s Asian adventure was a response to a “Macedonian call” from a friend of a friend asking them to consider assisting two new church-planting opportunities in Asia.
I’ll never forget that late night in my house in Manila. Rice and Phil were talking about the open doors in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and then one of them said, “We need to plant churches in those cities.” I responded, “Who is ‘we?’ There is no ‘we.’ There is only you, and you, and me.” In 1989, when Maranatha Campus Ministries ended and we all went our separate ways, any semblance of “we” had abruptly ended. I can’t remember the whole conversation, but by the time Rice and Phil left my house, there was a “we” that the three of us agreed to call Morning Star International. God had connected us together for the purpose of “church planting, campus ministry, and world missions.” Phil and I agreed to join our ministries together if Rice would take the lead. We never imagined anyone would want to join with us. We simply wanted to plant new churches, not gather existing churches. To our surprise, as soon as Rice and Phil landed in the USA a week later, old friends started calling to ask if they could join our little church-planting group. A few years later, we changed our name to Every Nation, but we never changed our commitment to church planting, campus ministry, and world missions.
When God reconnected Rice, Phil, and me that night in Manila, it was not because we were all struggling and failing. Quite the contrary—all three of us were leading what most people would consider growing and successful ministries. Every Nation came about because the three of us believed we could accomplish more together than apart. We believed we could be better together.
That’s how we started. It has been quite a ride. Together we have made a lot of disciples, a lot of mistakes, and a lot of great memories. I thank God for allowing me to preach the gospel, make disciples, and plant churches with good friends all over the world.
By his grace, eventually we will reach every nation with the Gospel.
MEET OUR APOSTOLIC LEADERSHIP TEAM
Every Nation Southern Africa
Roger Pearce
REGIONAL APOSTOLIC & CLUSTER LEADER
Phillip Pretorius
ALT MEMBER: LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, CHURCH PLANTING& MISSIONS
Simon Lerefolo
ALT MEMBER:
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY &
NATION BUILDING
Carol Gossman
ALT MEMBER:
GIFTS, MUSIC & PRAYER
Gilian Davids
ALT MEMBER: PASTORAL CARE & REGIONAL KIDS MINISTRY
David Rajh
EX-OFFICIO, GOVERNANCE
Carol Mkize
ALT MEMBER:
REGIONAL CAMPUS & YOUTH
OUR MISSION
We exist to honour God by establishing Christ-centred, Spirit-empowered, socially responsible
churches and campus ministries in every nation.
OUR CORE VALUES
LORDSHIP
Because Jesus is “King of kings and Lord of lords,” we believe that whole-hearted submission to God’s will and his Word is the starting point of the Christian faith and the foundation of all spiritual growth.
COLOSSIANS 2:6
EVANGELISM
Because God’s heart is to reach the lost, we’re passionate about preaching the Gospel and doing ministry in a way that engages people outside of the Christian faith. We seek to build churches primarily through evangelism, not transfer; through birth, not adoption.
JOHN 3:16, LUKE 19:10
DISCIPLESHIP
Because we’re called to make disciples, our primary focus is establishing biblical foundations, equipping believers to minister, and empowering disciples to make disciples—not conducting meetings, facilitating programmes, or building buildings.
MATTHEW 28:19,20
LEADERSHIP
Because we’re called to establish churches and campus ministries in every nation, we’re committed to a culture of empowering leadership. We’re intentionally multi-generational, and we deliberately create opportunities and platforms to develop the next generation of leaders.
II TIMOTHY 2:2
FAMILY
Because the family is the foundation and validation of ministry, we refuse to sacrifice our marriages and our children on the altars of temporal success. And because we believe God has called us to be a spiritual family, we embrace community, reject the idea of disposable relationships, and choose to walk in love, respect, and unity.
PSALM 127:1,3