The School of Evangelism was started in Chad in 1998 to equip people to share the gospel and plant churches there. As the concept grew, The School of Missiology was started in 2009 to further equip gifted church-planters in cross-cultural ministry. As a result, the number of Charis Alliance churches in Chad grew from 75 to 400!

During Bruce Tripplehorn’s first trip there, he was amazed that the Bible Institute had only graduated three students when the country had over 300 churches without trained pastors. He says, “Lisa and I saw the needs in Chad, and next thing we knew, we were off to France for three months of French lessons before moving to Chad.”

Fast-forward to today, and you’ll see that our investment in Chad has been paying off. Bruce says, “Several of us from the Encompass team have developed an evangelism tool called ‘La Reconciliation’ for French-speaking Africa.” The tool includes 17 Bible stories with illustrations to convey key truths related to the Gospel—and Africans are using it on a wide scale! “They are using it, and people are getting saved!” Bruce says. They are even translating it into other African languages.

With the success of La Reconciliation, Bruce and Lisa have been developing a similar tool for discipleship. They’ve finished the first part, “Seeking God,” which they view as an important continuation of “La Reconciliation.” Embracing the material, African leaders have proofread the French, formatted it to their liking, and have already begun using it. “The fact that they took the initiative is huge,” Bruce says.

We praise God for allowing “La Reconciliation” to gain traction across Africa, and we celebrate the fact that a sequel on discipleship is now in the works! May God continue using these resources to make Himself known across Africa!