ABSTRACT
The African continent has one of the fastest growing populations in the world with an estimated population of 900 million Africans living in sub-Saharan Africa alone.1 Interestingly, at the heart of this growing population, Africa also has one of the fastest growths of evangelical Christianity in the world.2 On the continent of Africa, millions of conversions are taking place every year, in mass crusades and revival programs, to a conservative form of Christianity.3 In its popular expression, African Christianity is stubbornly evangelical because in spirited sermons, prayers and songs, the lordship of Jesus Christ is readily acknowledged and his surpassing power over evil is openly celebrated.4 By default most African Christians underscore the salvific character of the works of Jesus Christ and place this concern at the center of their spiritual experience.5 Significantly, the African continent is presently poised to become the “new Mecca” of evangelical Christianity since a high proportion of all evangelicals in the world presently live in sub-Saharan Africa.6 In other words, there are now more Christians with evangelical convictions on the African continent than there are in the traditional hinterlands of evangelical Christianity in the West.7 Similarly, well-informed analyses suggest that evangelical Christianity will continue to record great strides among African people in the foreseeable future.8
