How, Together, We’re Supporting the Increasing African Church
If you wanted to teach someone about following Jesus, what materials would you turn to? Perhaps you’d grab your Bible off your nightstand or look up Scripture on your phone. Or maybe you’d order a Bible study online and go through it with your friend over coffee each week.
Now imagine that you didn’t have adequate resources to help you disciple others. You may love the Lord with all your heart, but not having access to Bible-based materials not only makes it harder to support others’ faith journeys but grow in your spiritual wisdom.
Unfortunately, this is the reality for many believers in Africa, as the spread of Christianity has increased the demand for effective discipleship materials.
“‘The church is growing, but in our growth, the leaders are a mile-wide and an inch deep.’”
Dan Kramer
According to Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary’s Co-Director of the Center for Study of Global Christianity Dr. Gina A. Zurlo, “Christianity grew tremendously in Africa over the 20th century, from 9% Christian in 1900 to nearly 50% Christian in 2020.” The Pew Research Center even predicts that Sub-Saharan Africa will eventually become “the region with the largest number of Christians” with its Christian population rising from just 24% in 2010 to 38% in 2050.
This extreme growth poses a new demand for biblically-sound leadership in regional church networks.
“The need is a phrase that I kept hearing over and over again,” said Dan Kramer, Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODBM)’s Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. “‘The church is growing, but in our growth, the leaders are a mile-wide and an inch deep.’”
This feedback from African church leaders opened Dan’s eyes to how “resource-rich” many are in places like the United States, unlike some other areas of the world. “I can access Scripture on my phone or in print. I have curriculums at my fingertips,” he said. “This is what Our Daily Bread Ministries can bring to the world and the local church.”
What followed was an experiment. In 2022, Dan and volunteers reached out to Ugandan church leaders with a survey, asking them what specific biblical topics their members most wanted to learn about. Answers ranged from leadership and spiritual warfare to marriage and polygamy.
“Then the fun began,” Dan said. Utilizing ODBM’s wide variety of resources, Dan and his five-person team of volunteers set out to create year-long topical curriculums African church leaders could share with their congregations.
“We thought, ‘What can we give Sunday school teachers to teach these concepts in an African context every week? How can we prepare them Monday through Friday and equip them with rich material that reflects Scripture to teach on Sundays?’” Dan said. “They no longer just have a topic and a couple of verses. They have a topic and verses and a plan. And that plan is backed up by resources from Our Daily Bread Ministries.”

This collection of plans turned into ODB 4D, an online customizable discipleship curriculum library.
Standing for “Deep Dive into Developing Disciples,” ODB 4D allows African church leaders to choose and customize discipleship curriculums featuring ODBM devotions, Our Daily Bread University courses, and Discovery Series titles. Curriculums cover topics such as addiction, pregnancy, prison, politics, worship, prayer, and more, and Dan’s team is available to help new leaders create curriculums that aren’t already listed as well.
With your prayers and support, ODB 4D spread to being used in 1,800 African churches in Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, and Zambia. As of summer 2023, that number has grown to 2,400 African churches, including congregations in South Sudan and Ethiopia.
“This is a big milestone in my life as a servant of God,” said one South Sudan pastor after taking part in ODB 4D. “New Generation Church Ministries in Bor, Sudan says thank you!”
“I don’t want to hear, ‘We’re growing but leadership is a mile wide and an inch deep’ anymore,” Dan said. “I want to hear that African churches have the knowledge and the resources, and they can say just like I said, ‘We are resource rich.’”
Together, we’re making this hope a reality.