Mission & Vision

Again and again, Scripture warns us about spiritual counterfeits.

• Believers are in danger from those who intentionally bring “another Jesus…a different spirit…or a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11).
• The Apostle Paul warns: “See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception” (Colossians 2). Such deceivers come as “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7), and they “disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11).
• Peter describes them as “untaught,” “unstable,” and “unscrupulous” people who deliberately—and destructively—“distort the Scriptures” (2 Peter 3). He adds: “You, therefore…knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by [their] error.”

In most of Africa, denominations and pastors, parachurch ministries and Christian workers, and lay believers lack a robust and reliable source of factually sound, biblically informed information and analysis addressing the wide range of false and defective religious groups posing a constant challenge to the proclamation of the Gospel and the building of the church. Even the most dedicated pastors lack the time, tools, and training to investigate and evaluate the many new and controversial groups that constantly appear on the scene.

In response to this need, in 2010 the Africa Centre for Apologetics Research (ACFAR) was established in Kampala, Uganda.

ACFAR is a full-spectrum ministry that seeks to equip the Body of Christ to recognize and resist harmful and heretical doctrines brought by cultic groups in our midst.

We seek to equip believers to respond to suspected cults in six ways:

• Identify the group based on common patterns of cultic teaching and behavior
• Understand its false claims and practices—and how they differ from biblical truth
• Answer its false claims and practices based on Scripture and other evidences
• Evangelize its followers sensitively and strategically (2 Timothy 2:24–26)
• Embrace those who find Christ, and integrate them into a local church fellowship (because out of the cult is not necessarily into the truth)

We seek to fulfill these objectives in the following ways:

• We monitor and continuously compile accurate data and new and controversial religious groups active in East Africa.
• We analyze the beliefs of such groups in the light of Scripture and develop practical apologetic responses.
• We warn and inoculate the greatest possible number of lay believers against both indigenous and imported cults and aberrant Christian movements, using literature, broadcast media, and online platforms.
• We equip pastors, seminary and Bible college students, Christian workers, and lay believers with tools and training to enable them to recognize and respond effectively to such groups and their teachings (both apologetically and evangelistically).
• We seek to raise up African apologists who will model balanced, biblical reasoning and contextualized responses to the challenges posed by heretical movements.