While teaching on the faculty of an ILI National Conference, I got a call from the organization I had served with for 17 years. They informed me they were scaling back and my position was being cut. The room went silent... all I could hear was, “You’re fired.”
I returned to the conference at a loss for words, but God immediately gave me affirmation, “This is not the end.” Suddenly, I had peace about losing my job, and God laid Romans 5:5 on my heart.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His
love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
As I sat in the back of the conference, the word "hope" continued to stir in my heart, and I believed God was calling me to start a ministry focused on hope.
After three months of praying and planning, Hope Ministries was finally born. We have a vision to bring the hope of Jesus Christ to people of Africa where the need for leaders is great. With fresh fire, we started equipping men and women in the ILI Eight Core Values to accelerate the spread to the Gospel.
Later that year, we held a National Conference and encouraged participants to complete the 90-day challenge of multiplying their training. By God's grace, in the last two years, 1,201 men and women have been equipped.
ILI is more than a training event.
It is a way of life.
In 2012, Jabulani attended an ILI National Conference in Kenya under the leadership of ILI Director for English-Speaking Africa, David Thagana. Today, Jabulani is a pastor and the National Director of Hope Ministries in Zimbabwe. His dynamic Bible teaching continues to be a great encouragement to his fellow pastors and hundreds of men and women equipped through Hope Ministries' seminars and conferences.
Tabitha loves the Bible and loves children, but when faced with the daunting reality of nearly three million orphans in her nation, she lacked the vision to make a difference. Little did she know, God had BIG plans to use Tabitha's love for the Word to make history in Kenya.