Purpose
Firm Foundation aims to mature the African church through evangelism and discipleship.
Background
Africa is the world’s second-most populous and second-largest continent. The population is estimated to rise to nearly 2.5 billion by 2050, constituting more than 25% of the world’s population. Africa will be the continent with the largest number of Christians. However, discipleship has been neglected. Firm Foundation was founded in 2020 to help empower the church in Africa with training and resources. Although Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 42% under the age of 15, the church focuses programs on adults, neglecting Sunday school and “children’s church.”
Core Programs
Children’s Camp Ministries
Without church programs to meet children’s needs, children are losing interest in church and are not being introduced to Jesus Christ. District and national level camps focus on children 9 to 15 years of age. Conducting Children’s Camps with trained leaders and relational discipleship follow-up draws children to the power of the gospel, transforms them, roots them, and builds them up in Christ. During the past five years, we have witnessed young lives flourishing with hope amid great despair.
Christian Education and Training of Children’s Camp Leaders
Zimbabwe lacks trained Sunday school teachers and resources for Christian Education programs. We train Christian Education teachers and camp leaders from each of the 15 districts in Zimbabwe. They are provided with resources for implementing successful Sunday school programs and for discipling both new converts and mature believers once they return to their districts and local churches.
Children’s Feeding Program
Children in one of the most underprivileged communities located on the outskirts of Harare were living on one meal a day. Almost half of the children were not attending school because of hunger. We started a feeding program in May 2025 to address the need. The number of children receiving mid-morning porridge grew from nearly 250 to more than 500 children within a fortnight. The program also serves children who are not formally enrolled in school due to family financial difficulty, but arrive for a portion of food.
Before providing the porridge each morning, we read scripture and pray. The feeding program has opened new opportunities to minister to the children both physically and spiritually.
Theological Education of Pastors
The annual number of graduates from all theological schools is not sufficient for the number of churches being planted. In Zimbabwe, more than 95% of pastors do not have a seminary education. One of Firm Foundation’s goals is to produce godly disciples qualified to disciple others. Toward this goal, Firm Foundation’s director and field officer, Rev. Tarcisio Magurupira, serves as academic dean and lecturer at the Evangelical Theological College (ETC) in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. Rev. Magurupira holds an M.A. in systematic theology from Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois and a Th.M. from Western Theological Seminary, Holland, Michigan. He is continuing a project that he began in Wheaton, Ill. to acquire theological books sufficient to build a library at the ETC and achieve accreditation of its graduate programs.
