Educating for Mission: A Celebration of Highlights From the East-Central Africa Division

The East-Central Africa Division (ECD) comprises 11 countries with a population of about 500 million. Within this territory, the Seventh-day Adventist Church has more than 21,000 churches. The division territory includes the nations of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.¹ This vast and diverse region is home to 5.3 million Adventists, making it the largest division in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Established to coordinate the church’s activities and mission work in the region, ECD is committed to the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ who will live as His loving witnesses and proclaim to all people the everlasting gospel in preparation for His soon return (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, Revelation 14:6-12).²

Through its various ministries and programs, ECD has significantly contributed to community development, health improvement, and educational advancement. The division supports numerous educational institutions, from primary through tertiary level, that foster academic excellence and spiritual growth.³ ECD’s commitment to service, compassion, and justice embodies the core values of the Adventist faith, positively impacting the lives of many and advancing the mission of the church.⁴

ECD Education Ministry

With the theme “Every Adventist teacher an evangelist, and every Adventist school the House of God and the gate of heaven,”⁵ the ECD Department of Education seeks to provide quality Adventist education and training for development and nurture to all youth and employees of the church, and others who desire to study in a Christian atmosphere. The education and training provided cover the spiritual, mental, physical, and social dimensions of life.

ECD oversees the largest network of Adventist schools in any division, with 4,012 schools (see Box 1), including 11 full-fledged universities (see Box 2), with an enrollment of more than 850,000 students in December 2023). Evangelistic and discipleship activities result in about 35,000 baptisms annually.

The Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The impact of COVID-19 is still with us. In addition to the loss of lives, the most significant negative impact was on finances. During the pandemic, many Adventist schools lacked income and incurred debts. Some schools continue to be adversely affected and are struggling to pay off their bills.

Another remaining area of great concern is the mental health and wellness of students and educators. Many will continue to need short- and long-term counseling. Other challenges schools continue to address include teenagers who became pregnant during the pandemic, families experiencing divorce, and cases of substance abuse and addiction.

The COVID-19 pandemic also exposed difficulties such as inadequate resources and capacity to respond to crises due to a lack of electricity and internet to support online education, digital illiteracy, and a lack of trained professionals to address and provide mental health counseling.

Despite the adverse impact of COVID-19 on Adventist education in the ECD, none of our schools closed during the pandemic. Student enrollment and the number of Adventist schools actually increased. More attention is now being given to e-learning and developing online platforms. Within the ECD, Adventist education has rebounded.

ECD School of Medicine (ASOME)

The Adventist School of Medicine of East-Central Africa (ASOME) enrolled its first cohort on March 9, 2021, in Kigali, Rwanda, on the main campus of the Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA). The school currently has 154 students enrolled from across Africa.⁶ Founded on the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s philosophy of health and education, ASOME is committed to preparing medical missionaries and professionals with knowledge, skills, and attitudes to provide and promote Christlike, wholistic medical care.⁷ Students trained here are the next generation of medical professionals who will extend Jesus Christ’s healing ministry in ECD, throughout Africa, and worldwide.

ECD 2025 Evangelistic Impact and 2024 Homecoming

The ECD 2025 Evangelistic Impact and Homecoming 2024 initiatives were the highlight of all ECD activities during the past three years. Within this period, ECD has conducted widespread evangelistic campaigns and community-outreach programs to share the message of hope and salvation.⁸ These initiatives were more than ambitious evangelistic efforts; both were strategic discipleship initiatives aimed at deepening the faith and practice of every believer so that the Holy Spirit can powerfully impact this territory through them.

The ECD Department of Education actively participated in both events.

Indeed, every ECD department is driven by a deep passion for evangelism, believing it to be the heartbeat of our mission. As Ellen G. White counseled, “Every true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life.”⁹ ECD emphasizes the importance of personal evangelism. Each Adventist teacher and student is encouraged to share his or her faith journey, invite others to study the Bible, and actively participate in outreach.

The 15th Anniversary Celebration of Creation Sabbath

The Seventh-day Adventist Church has designated the fourth Sabbath in October each year as Creation Sabbath, a special day set aside to refocus our attention on the central themes of the Bible: Our Creator loves us, has earned salvation for us, and offers us abundant life (John 10:10). In 2024, the ECD conducted division-wide celebrations of the 15th anniversary of Creation Sabbath with a week-long program of planting one million trees throughout the division territory to create awareness and sensitize the people within and without the church that God is the Creator of heaven and earth. This campaign involved all of the division’s schools and churches. ECD is committed to aggressively promoting the biblical creation model in all Adventist schools and beyond.

On November 22-29, 2023, the Geoscience Research Institute (GRI) organized a seven-day field conference in Tanzania. Forty ECD educators received training on origins and the geological study of rocks in Tanzania’s Serengeti and Manyara National Parks. The field school and tour were exciting and interesting for the educators, who returned to their schools to start Edenic farms, set up nature corners, plant trees, and promote a better understanding of Creation and the Sabbath.

Celebration of 150 Years of Mission at 2024 ECD Teachers Convention

The 2024 ECD Teachers Convention was held in Arusha, Tanzania, on December 10-14, 2024, and was attended by about 800 teachers. The theme, “Educating for Mission,” was a part of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s celebration of 150 years of international mission since the sending of evangelist and scholar John Nevins Andrews with his two children to Europe on September 15, 1874, as the church’s first official foreign missionary. This convention inspired Adventist educators to prepare the next generation of “J. N. Andrews” missionaries to finish God’s work.¹⁰  The convention further inspired the participants to advance Adventist education to the next level in ECD. Ellen White wrote that “in the highest sense the work of education and work of redemption are one, for in education, as in redemption, ‘no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 3:11).”¹¹

Major Education Highlights in ECD 2022-2025

The following are major highlights and accomplishments during 2022-2025:

1. 2022 Education Advisory. In late 2022, a Zoom advisory was scheduled for stakeholders and representatives from all the Adventist universities in ECD, as well as the union directors of education, in order to chart plans for future education work.
2. Development of new educational institutions. Three hundred new Adventist primary and secondary schools were established during this period, as well as three new tertiary institutions and proposals for two new universities.
3. The Adventist School of Medicine (ASOME) at the Adventist University of Central Africa (AUCA) in Kigali, Rwanda. On November 12, 2021, ASOME held its first white-coat ceremony and dedicated 34 medical students. This US$50 million project continues to train and prepare medical evangelists to extend the healing ministry of Jesus in ECD, Africa, and beyond. The institution is in its fourth year and has admitted four cohorts of students.¹²
4. New Adventist teacher certification program at Adventist University of Africa (AUA). Many Adventist teachers in ECD did not attend Adventist schools, so we seek to train them in Adventist education philosophy and ethos to improve Adventist identity in our schools. In 2023, more than 30 Adventist teachers from the East Kenya Union Conference graduated from this program.
5. Regular yearly higher education consultations at various Adventist universities. In the past three years, consultation meetings have been well attended and have facilitated training, collaboration, and cooperation among the institutions of higher learning in ECD. The most recent one was held at the University of Arusha in May 2023 and focused on in-reach and outreach evangelism.
6. 2024 ECD Teachers Convention. About 800 Adventist teachers attended this four-day convention. Attendees attended seminars relating to the Adventist philosophy of education, integration of faith and learning, school board training, and educational leadership. Science teachers and higher education professors participated in training sessions offered by the Geoscience Research Institute.
7. Student enrollment campaign. The enrollment goal of one million students by 2025 resulted in a 25 percent increase to about 900,000 students. Research has shown that students who attend Adventist schools are more likely to become and remain members of the church for the rest of their lives.¹³
8. TMI evangelistic campaign and baptisms. Due to in-reach and outreach evangelism by ECD schools, we have baptized about 100,000 new believers. Our Adventist schools are indeed centers of evangelism.
9. Adventist textbook project. Safeliz Publishing House’s development of Adventist textbooks for teaching Christian Religious Education (CRE) in East Africa was an important milestone. Published and circulated in Kenya, these books follow and incorporate the government curriculum and Adventist philosophy of education. Plans are in place to develop Adventist textbooks for science and other subject areas.
10. ECD Human Resource Development Master Plan: The division and unions have provided more than 300 bursaries worth US$1.7 million to develop leaders and human resources. Many recipients are already serving at various levels of the church, including administration. This includes more than 200 graduates sponsored for master’s degrees in theology and leadership at Adventist University of Africa (AUA). The unions are sponsoring 15 medical students in ASOME.

Plans for the New Quinquennium (2025-2030)

As we look toward the future, the ECD Department of Education remains committed to advancing the mission of Adventist education throughout our territory. Plans include the following:

1. Organize an aggressive promotion of Adventist education and recruit more than one million students to attend Adventist schools.
2. Construct new tertiary institutions in every union.
3. Encourage each church district to launch a pre-elementary or kindergarten program and each local conference to sponsor and operate elementary and secondary schools.
4. Establish an education fund to support needy students attending Adventist schools at each level of the church organization, especially local conferences and unions.
5. Foster commitment by members to encourage Adventist children and youth to attend denominational schools through verbal encouragement, financial support, and sponsorship to students, especially those from impoverished backgrounds.
6. Encourage each local conference and church district to conduct an education week as part of a massive campaign to promote and encourage church members to send their children to Adventist schools, thereby increasing the percentage of children from Adventist families attending denominational schools by 5 percent annually.
7. Encourage each union and conference to produce quality and regular TV and radio programs that promote, advocate, and encourage Seventh-day Adventist families to send their children and youth to Adventist schools.
8. Foster investment by each union and conference in training local church education secretaries to support and market Adventist schools and develop a database of potential Adventist students in every local church.
9. Develop Seventh-day Adventist textbooks in all academic disciplines, especially STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
10. Ensure that at least 70 percent of teachers in Adventist schools are active Seventh-day Adventists and denominationally trained and certified.
11. Encourage and plan regular seminars and workshops for Adventist teachers on integrating faith and learning and the Adventist philosophy of education.
12. Ensure the construction of Djibouti Adventist International Primary School as soon as donors’ funds and authorization from the government are available.

Conclusion

With the growing number of church members in ECD, there is a need to build more Adventist schools. A better funding model for Adventist education that supports online education and focuses on training teachers to integrate faith and learning is also needed. In the new quinquennium, there will be a further need to train teachers and create greater capacity for Adventist schools to address mental health and wellbeing.

The ECD Department of Education will continue to focus on the church’s mission and evangelism, and through Adventist schools, nurture a new generation of Adventists and train the church’s future leaders. By extending our commitment to developing and strengthening Adventist education, we will continue to prepare many youth and young people not only for mission but also for eternity.

Andrew Mutero

Andrew Mutero, PhD, is the former Director of Education for the East-Central Africa Division, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. He also served as a consultant on The Journal of Adventist Education® Advisory Board.