God's Calling

How God found a laborer for the harvest

In 2001, the General Overseer of a Trinitarian Pentecostal Organization in Zimbabwe came into my office in America seeking a home church for his daughter and son-in-law who had moved to my area. He said he was considering recommending our church because it is "Pentecostal" just as he was. In response, I explained that "Pentecostal" means different things to different people and that we needed to discuss our doctrine to make sure we were on the same page.

In order to do so, I asked him to treat me as a sinner he had just met on the street who wanted to know how to be saved. He told me it was very easy to be saved - all I needed to do was to accept the Lord as my personal Savior, and I would be saved. I asked him to show me where that is found in the Bible. He replied, "John 3:16," and began quoting the verse. I told him that although that is a wonderful verse, it does NOT say what he said. He told me to "accept Christ," and I wanted to know where such a phrase was found in the Word of God. After some consideration, he admitted it does not appear in the Bible. I then asked why he would tell a sinner to do something the Bible does not tell them to do. He had no answer.

As a result of that discussion, we had a day-long study of Scripture, where I informed him that the Scriptural plan of salvation was found in Acts 2:38 and confirmed that repeatedly with many passages from God's Word.

When we finished, he invited me to Zimbabwe to speak to the pastors in the organization over which he was the head. A few months later, my wife and I went, and I preached truth to them. Some accepted it, some rejected it, and it seemed the organization would split. As a result, the man who invited me decided to try to force his followers to reject the teachings I had presented. I was not allowed to contact the people, or to give them my information. They were told not to contact me.

Other than one man who left the group to start a church that baptized in Jesus' name, it seemed my efforts were thwarted. For the next 12 years, I had no further contact with any of them.

Although it appeared there was no lasting fruit from that original seed we planted, life sprang forth more than a decade later. It was around the end of 2012 that I received a phone call from the man who had served as the General Secretary of the organization with which I had met in 2001 and had been in that original meeting. He asked me to return to Zimbabwe to explain the Apostolic message more fully to his church. I agreed to come, but ONLY if I could meet with a group of pastors, and not just with one particular church.

We established a meeting date in June, 2013, and plans began to be made for a doctrinal conference in the city of Harare. However, a number of circumstances discouraged me to the point I was ready to cancel my trip. In fact, I sent an email to the man who had called, telling him I would not be coming. Within a matter of a day or two, I received a phone call from a pastor in America I knew. He asked if I would allow an African minister named Bishop Phillip Aston from Kenya to preach for me, and I agreed.

When he got to Olathe, we discussed the request I had received and Bishop Aston told me he would pray about it. The next day, he came to me very excited and said, "Brother Riggen, the Lord wants you to go to Zimbabwe. God is going to do something very great there. In fact, I feel so strongly about it that I am going to meet you there when you go." Once again, the trip was on, and the conference would indeed become a reality.

When we arrived in Zimbabwe that summer, we were exhausted (it takes two full days of traveling just to get from the United States to southern Africa). Upon arrival, however, we found out that a special service had already been announced for that night, so we agreed to attend. Bishop Aston preached that night with a heavy anointing, and some 50 people came forward to receive the Holy Ghost. We do not know how many prayed through that night, but there were several - our trip was ALREADY a success!

The next day, we began a two-day seminar on Apostolic Doctrine. In attendance were more than 50 pastors, pastors' wives, and church leaders who were hungry to hear what we had to say, and came expecting God to speak to them. The venue was packed. Furthermore, we actually received requests for others to attend, but we simply did not have room to accommodate them.

During the meeting, they realized that they had come to accept many things as truth that were actually nothing more than traditions. They were ready to hear more. When I reached the point that I felt it was time, I introduced water baptism in the name of Jesus to the crowd. What happened during that session was phenomenal! Some of the pastors were waving their hands, exclaiming, "MY GOD! MY GOD!" as they realized the formula for baptism which they had been using was wrong.

Before the day was over, one of the pastors stood up and began to speak. He started weeping and fell to his knees, publicly repenting for having preached false doctrine all these years! He exclaimed, "I MUST be baptized in Jesus' name!" This resulted in a phenomenal prayer meeting.

When we taught on the Oneness of God, we had much the same reaction - a miracle of Divine Revelation swept the room! The next day, we made arrangements to rent the public swimming pool so we could begin baptizing those present. I told them that I would baptize three of the leaders, and they, in turn, would baptize the rest of the crowd. And so it was that we experienced the first fruits of our efforts. A seed that had been planted 12 years earlier had finally come to fruition, fulfilling the promise which God made in Psalms 126:6: "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

After the conference, we returned to America and these men returned to their churches. When they did, they began teaching their people the truths God had shown them. As a result, literally hundreds of people were baptized in the name of Jesus.

Word of this message began to spread, and the three leaders I had baptized began asking me to return to Zimbabwe. They said they were telling others about this and they, too, wanted to know more.

In October of that year, we returned to Zimbabwe, and taught the Apostolic message to a crowd of more than 300 pastors and wives. There were representatives from every province in Zimbabwe, governmental leaders, and preachers from eight different countries!

Again the glory of God met with us, and again we had moments of divine intervention and revelation. Once again, we baptized a large group.

By the time this conference was over, we began to realize that Bishop Aston's words had been prophetic - God was, indeed, doing something GREAT! Plus, we recognized that this was going to be a long-term involvement, and that many doors would be opening to us. That is when A2Z Missions was born!

We decided to name the mission "A2Z," which is an acronym for "Apostolics to Zimbabwe." However, the name has proven to be prescient, inasmuch as "A to Z" is generally understood to signify something that is "all encompassing" and, because of God's grace, that is exactly what is happening for A2Z. Although our first year focused solely on the nation of Zimbabwe, in 2014 we were invited to the nation of Botswana. In 2015, we began holding seminars in the country of Malawi - one of which had around 600 in attendance and another had over 800! Since then, we have taught this truth in Zambia, South Africa, Eswatini (Swaziland), Kenya, and Liberia! We also have had invitations to a number of other countries as well.

From the Front Lines

What God is doing in Africa

As a result of the efforts mentioned above, we prayed for someone to be "boots on the ground" so as to further train our converts. Brother Jessie Stewart answered the call and went to live on the continent six years ago. As a result of his labors, we currently have approximately 1,000 (formerly Trinitarian) ministers of the gospel actively participating in ongoing training. Thus, this mission truly is an "A to Z" mission for the continent of Africa, because we hope to take this truth to every country from Algeria to Zimbabwe!

With that in mind, let me very simply explain the fourfold purpose of A2Z Missions. It is to Evangelize, Establish, Equip, and Encourage ministers across this continent and around the world. For each of these goals, we have dedicated a specific effort which is designed to accomplish the task.

The doctrinal conferences are our effort to evangelize. During these seminars, we are spreading the message which the Apostles preached. We are doing what we can to reach pastors, bishops, founders, and other ministers with the truth, recognizing that anyone who does not know this message is lost. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) We seek to further equip those we convert through leadership seminars conducted in the various regions following our doctrinal conferences. These seminars take our converts deeper into the truths of Scripture.

Missionary Stewart has designed an online training portal that is meant to establish them and strengthen their relationship with God, His people, and the lost. These free classes provide them with keys to successful lives and ministries.

Each country in which we have taught seminars has its own WhatsApp group. The purpose for these chats is to provide them with ongoing communication so as to encourage them in their endeavors.

Dreams for the Kingdom

What your support would mean for Africa

My vision is to reach all of Southern Africa, and anywhere else that God opens the door! My vision is to have an Apostolic movement sweep the continent of Africa, bringing many thousands into the Kingdom of God. My vision is to see men not only converted, but convicted and convinced of this message to the point that THEY are teaching conferences in places I may never be able to visit. A2Z is all about the SPIRITUAL aspects of promoting, propagating, and preserving the Kingdom of God.

Each doctrinal conference we host costs about $10,000, not including transportation and expenses for my wife and me. The cheapest airfare I can find (basic fare - not any upgraded seating) is about $2,500 per person. Thus, for the two of us to just get there is an additional $5,000! On top of that, we have our hotel and meals - another $2,000 (at least). Therefore, each conference is costing us about $17,000. We try to do two conferences each year, meaning we need at least $34,000 just to make ends meet. Brother Stewart covers the cost of the additional training, but we are responsible for the evangelist efforts of the doctrinal conferences.