Mission Expedition

Abuja, Nigeria, West Africa

October 20, 2025

Special Notice Regarding Delay Of The 2025 Expedition

Unfortunately the expedition to Nigeria, scheduled for October 20 thru October 31, has encountered an unexpected delay due to the Nigerian Immigration Service.

All was progressing well and right on time when a notice from The Nigerian Immigration Service was received stating that the visa application had been received and was complete and that the visa would be sent by October 18.  

Based on a promised Visa arrival by October 18, flight reservations were confirmed with American Airlines. Unfortunately, when the 18th came, instead of the visa arriving as promised, another request for information was received stating that a new arrival date of Oct 24 had been assigned!

As of now, with flights already confirmed, American Airlines refuses to allow rescheduling to the week after the visa arrives or even issue a refund.

Our booking agent is now working to resolve these issues to see when the trip can be rescheduled.

Please pray that this issue will be resolved and the airline ticket costs of $1300 will be refunded so that the expedition can be rescheduled.

Fruits Since 2023
…The ministry has grown to over 91,000 followers in 189 countries. …Pastors and Spiritual Leaders trained now average 4000 per year. …Church Planting now averages 3 per week. …Bibles donated now average 2,750 per year. …Commitments to accept Christ as Savior now average 1,000,000 per year. …Cost per profession of faith now averages a penny per soul.

The main purpose of our 2023 Mission Expedition To East Africa between October 21 and November 2 of 2024 was to install Executive Pastors over the regions, and districts in Uganda.

The main purpose of our 2024 Mission Expedition To East Africa between October 21 and November 2 of 2024 was to install Executive Pastors over the regions, and districts in Kenya.

The main purpose of our 2025 Mission Expedition To West Africa between October 20 and November 1 of 2025 was to install Executive Pastors over the country of Nigeria and the 8 Regions and 36 States therein as we have in East Africa in Uganda and Kenya.

For this year in order to manage such a huge multi-country team of missionaries, we are building an Executive Pastor Management team with an Executive Pastor over the country of Nigeria, each of the 6 Regions in Nigeria, and each of the 36 States in those Regions of Nigeria.

Just to manage Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria this will require an Executive Pastor Team of 250 representing coverage of a population of 76,558,815. For Nigeria it will require 44 representing a population of over 300 million.

We plan to have our Uganda and Kenya pastoral management teams in place by the end of 2025 and the Nigeria pastoral management teams by the end of 2026.

What You Should Know About Africa

• Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both aspects. It covers 20% of Earth’s land area and 6% of its total surface area. With 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world’s human population. There are 54 different countries in Africa and thousands of languages.
• Africa is considered by most paleo-anthropologists to be the oldest inhabited territory on Earth, with the Human species originating from the continent.
• The Sahara is the world’s largest desert and covers the northern section of the continent. Central Africa is mostly rainforest. East Africa is tropical. There are vast savannahs populated by elephants, lions, cheetahs, and countless other animals.

Things You Should Know About West Africans

West Africa is home to a diverse array of peoples and cultures, with a rich history and complex ethnic makeup. Major ethnic groups include the Hausa-Fulani, Yoruba, Akan, and Mandinka, among many others. These groups have distinct languages, traditions, and social structures, with some, like the Fula, having large nomadic pastoralist communities.

In general, West African rural villages have a relatively young population, with a large proportion of inhabitants under the age of 15. The share of under-15s in the West African population grew from 42.1% in 1950 to 44.1% in 2005. However, it is important to note that the age range within rural villages is diverse, and there are variations across different West African countries.

Here are some specific details regarding the age range in West African rural villages:

• Young Population: The median age in West Africa is around 18 years, indicating a large youth population.
• Declining Fertility Rates: Although the share of young people remains high, the broad base of the population pyramid representing children is starting to narrow in some countries like Nigeria, indicating a decline in fertility rates.
• Longer Youth Phase: In some areas, worsening living conditions can lead to a lengthening of youth, making it harder for young people to reach traditional markers of adulthood like leaving home, starting a career, and getting married.
• Older Adults: While the proportion of older adults (age 60 and over) is relatively small compared to other regions, the number of older adults in Africa is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades.
• Life Expectancy: Life expectancy in West Africa is generally lower than in more developed regions, but it has been increasing over time due to factors such as technological advancements and improved healthcare. The current average life expectancy for Western Africa in 2025 is estimated to be 58.62 years. 

In summary, West African rural villages have a youthful population, with a significant number of individuals under 15 years old. However, changes in fertility rates and a projected increase in the number of older adults indicate a gradual shift in the age structure over time. 

Life In The Remote Villages Of Africa Hasn’t Significantly Changed In Hundreds Of Years

• An African village consists of a settlement of several families living together. These villagers have never experienced urbanization as they have no electricity, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and transportation services. The education gap is noticeable in most villages.
• Villagers grow their own crops and raise their own animals primarily for family consumption with little or nothing left for sale. Thus, in the rural areas of most East African countries, people engage in subsistence farming as a way of making ends meet.

Our Duty, Mission, And Passion:
The Great Commission

• As Christ’s followers, we have the Holy Spirit residing within us, which means we have His power to fulfill The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). We can’t save anyone, but it’s our responsibility to tell people about the God who can. How will they believe unless they hear (Romans 10:14)? This is what we do at FaithByTheWord Ministries! Believers bear the responsibility of carrying the message of redemption to the lost. We are saved to save others.
• East Africa is the fastest growing region for Christians on this planet!
• More Christians live in East Africa than any other African region and by 2060 forty percent of all Christians in the world are expected to live there!

Our Organization

Africa is the world’s second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth’s land area and 6% of its total surface area. With 1.4 billion people as of 2021, it accounts for about 18% of the world’s human population.

The African Continent is organized by

• Countries (54)
• Regions (Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern, and more per country)
• Districts (25-50 per Region)
• Parrishs / Counties (10-50 per District)
• Towns / Villages (2,500 per Region)

In order to manage all of our ministry efforts in countries around the world, FaithByTheWord Ministries International assigns pastors to each geographical area. Shown above from left to right is Executive Pastor over Uganda Pastor Alex Kitakufe, Executive Director of FaithByThe Word Ministries Pastor David Winstead, and Executive Pastor over Kenya Pastor Collins Wafula.

Our Primary Goal

• Our primary geographical focus are the small remote rural villages of East Africa surrounding the major cities in the countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Sudan.
• Our primary short term goal is reaching out to the remote villages to plant a church, including the construction and furnishing of the church, supplying all members with a Bible of their own, and staffing the church with a trained pastor who will also serve as a school teacher.
• Our primary long term goal includes safe water development projects (spring protection, bore holes), support for schools (establishment of a school and the education projects needed to sustain it), support for village medical needs (covid medication, typhoid medicine, mosquito nets).

There Is A Growing Missionary Presence Needed

• 1 person dies every 5 seconds without knowing Jesus.
• There are still 1,657 unreached people groups who have never heard about Jesus.

There Is A Desperate Need To Get Bibles To The People

• There is only 1 Bible for every 300 Christians in East Africa primarily due to the cost of shipping.  FaithByTheWord Ministries was quoted a price of $2,000 to deliver a case of 24 Bibles to a remote village.
• To overcome the prohibitive shipping costs we are blessed to partner with Project Bible Runners – a Godly blessed ministry that specializes in delivering The Word Of God around the world.   Project Bible Runners is globally focused on gathering and running Bibles to every nation, tribe and person until every faithful follower of Christ Jesus holds in their hands The Word Of God. 
• The common language of all 2,500 East African villages is English. Our mission is to take The Word to all 2,500 rural villages in East Africa and train and ordain a pastor for each village within 5 years. Experience shows that for every Bible sent to East Africa 10 lost souls will accept Christ as their Lord & Savior in the first 12 months and the number only goes up each year thereafter.

The Most Precious Possession They Have Is Their Bible

• When the people hold their Bibles they hold them like they’re holding baby Jesus Himself!  When they came out to show us the Bibles they had tears of joy!  
• Many have waited their whole lives to have a Bible of their own. 
• Many churches still only have a single Bible which they divide up into 20 or 30 sections and swap around every few weeks.

There Is A Desperate Need To Train Pastors & Sunday School Teachers

• FaithByTheWord Ministries, in its efforts to to share The Gospel throughout the world, has created the Theological Bible Studies Institute. At FaithByTheWord we have been focused on training pastors in the rural villages of East Africa and within the first 6 months of 2025 we will be moving into India. This ministry has been so well received that we can hardly keep up with the requests for more and more classes and seminars. Please pray for this ministry and prayerfully consider a small gift to share The Word around the world.
• With the completion of the above class on Sound Doctrine & Ministry Skills on December 28, 2023, The Theological Bible Studies Institute of FaithByTheWord Ministries has graduated over 2,000 students in Uganda during 2023 and is on track to graduate over 4,000 for 2024.
• The main purpose of the institute is to train pastors who will be able to train other pastors who will be able to train others. If we train 10 who train 10 who train 10 who train 10 we will have trained 10,000 pastors – enough to plant in all 2,500 remote villages of East Africa and all 10,000 remotes villages of India!!! Our plan is to have a trained pastor in all 2500 remote villages in East Africa by 2026.
• Our mission also includes making sure everyone has access to The Word Of God anytime and anywhere they desire regardless of whether they can read or not. To meet this objective we partner with Project Bible Runners and Faith Comes By Hearing – two Godly blessed ministries that specialize in delivering The Word Of God in unique and powerful ways.

There Is A Desperate Need For Simple Church Structures

• The villagers in these remote rural areas feel they dishonor God by not providing a church from which to worship Him.
• The goal of every village is to build a church albeit a very basic structure of poles and tin sheets.
• Without aid from outside ministries, such as FaithByTheWord, to buy materials, it can take years for a village to save money a little at a time and buy materials as they go even though it may only be a few poles or a sheet of tin.
• However, when the first pole goes in the ground they have established a church and will worship there every Sunday even though they may be drenched in the rain. They don’t have umbrellas and overcoats but they are honoring God!

There Is A Desperate Need To Feed The Orphans

• In the entire continent of Africa, there are an estimated 52 million orphans. Statistics for orphans show most have lost their parents through diseases such as typhus, yellow fever, malaria, ebola, and diarrhea.  32 percent of orphans in Africa have had parents die from AIDS.
• With approximately 140 million orphans in the world, Africa’s 52 million make up more than 30 percent of the entire world orphan population. 
• Close to a Quarter of all African Youths are Orphaned.  In East Africa, around 20 percent of the population under 18 is considered orphaned.
• Many orphans have no support and are forced to fend for themselves and find that extended family members are often unable to provide any support at all.

There Is A Desperate Need To Teach The Children

• There are approximately 9 million children of primary school age unable to attend schools in Africa due to various reasons. 
• For every two children who attend school in Africa, one will drop out before graduating. 
• Approximately 8 of the 10 countries with the lowest primary enrollment rates are in East Africa. Only 7 in 10 children who live in rural areas will ever set foot in a school.  
• Parents often can’t afford the cost of education, including books, uniforms, and tuition fees for their children to attend schools in Africa. In response, 15 countries have abolished school fees since 2000, enabling more children to attend primary school.  
• Many private schools cost over $9,000 per year.

There Is A Desperate Need For Medical Care & Clean Water

• For the traditional African, health is not just about the proper functioning of bodily organs. Good health for the African consists of mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional stability for oneself, family members, and community.
• Less than half of Africa’s citizens (52%) – some 615 million people – have access to the healthcare they need, the continent’s quality of health services is generally poor and the family planning needs of half the continent’s women and girls are unmet.
• In Eastern Africa, deep water wells of at least 1,000 feet are needed to provide parasite free water. 
• East Africans walk 3 miles each way every day to get clean water. 
• Diarrhea is a major cause of death due to the parasites in the water.
• In East Africa, 75% of the population is under age 25 due to lack of disease control.