GBUAF's History

In the World

Spontaneous biblical witness on university campuses can be traced way back to the past. It is only from 1877 onwards in Cambridge University that a few students, led by the Holy Spirit, decided to take some time together to study the Bible and share their faith in Jesus Christ with their fellow university students. Other similar cases happened in famous US universities and spread in Europe, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Australia, China, etc. In 1947, delegates from nine national movements founded the IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students) in Boston (USA). Stacey Woods, head of the American movement, became the first General Secretary. He was a "true pioneer" and a great administrator.

In 1973, the IFES office was moved to London, UK and Chua Wee Hian, Associate General Secretary for the Far East took over from Stacey Woods. He is known for his perspicacity, his leadership skills as well as his ability to cultivate personal relationship with his co-workers.

In 1991, after 20 years of fruitful and blessed ministry, Chua Wee Hian handed the position over to Lindsay Brown, a Welshman, previously Regional Secretary for Europe. He is well known for his skill as an evangelist and as a pioneer.

In 2006, Daniel Kad;eacute;bé Bourdanné, a Chadian national, took over from Lindsay Brown becoming the first African General Secretary. He was previously Regional Secretary for the GBUAF (University Bible Groups of French Speaking Africa). As of today, IFES is active in about 150 countries throughout the world.

In Africa

GBU in Africa began with exploratory trips by Mr. Tony Wilmot, a British businessman, to several English-speaking universities.

The Bible Groups were founded in 1958 as the "Pan African Fellowship of Evangelical Students" (PAFES) with Ghana and Kenya as founding members, followed by Nigeria. Kenyan Pastor David Gitari was the first General Secretary. He was later replaced by T.B. Dankwa from Ghana who led PAFES from 1980 to 1993. The current Regional Secretary for English and Portuguese speaking Africa is Femi B. Adeleye.

In French-speaking Africa, the French-speaking Switzerland GBU decided, in 1964, to send Louis Perret to set up Bible Groups in several universities. He started in Dakar in 1965 and in Abidjan in 1966.

In 1968, a conference with about 15 students took place in Abidjan. The GBUAF pan African movement (University Bible Groups of French Speaking Africa) was born with Alastair Kennedy as first Regional Secretary.

The following conferences helped shape the movement:

1970	second conference in Abidjan	GBUAF Regional Team
1972	admission of GBUAF as members of the IFES during IFES International Conference in Mittersill, Austria
1972	third conference in Yaoundé: new GBU movements affiliated to GBUAF
1975	fourth conference in Yaoundé: Isaak Zokoué, from the Central African Republic, becomes Regional Secretary
1978	5th conference in Yaoundé
1981	6th conference in Bingerville. Solomon Andria from Madagascar becomes Regional Secretary
1984	7th conference in Kinshasa, Zaïre.
1988	8th conference in Lomé, Togo. The Federation of GBUAF Friends is born
1992	9th conference in Douala
1995	mini consultation in Nairobi: one for the National Secretaries and one for GBUAF Friends
1996	10th conference in Ouagadougou
2002	11th conference in Bamako
2007	First Pan-African Conference in Kigali, Rwanda

Sub-regional conferences also took place in

1980	in Yamoussoukro
1982	in Kinshasa
1983	in Ouagadougou and Bangui (about the Scriptures)
1985	in Bangui and Antananarivo (Theology Students Session) and in Butaré (Sub-regional conference)
1986	in Dabou and Bangui (GBUAF Friends conference) and in Ouagadougou (Secretaries meeting)
1989	in Kinshasa (training session for Secretaries)
1990	in Ouagadougou (Session on Islam and Bible Study)
1991	in Bujumbura (Sub-regional conference)
1993	in Antananarivo (training session for Secretaries)

Also worth noting is the considerable help in human resources brought both by the French speaking Switzerland GBU and IVCF / USA to support develop GBUAF. The first one sent Jean-Claude Schwab to Kinshasa, Claude and Anne-Marie Decrevel to Yaoundé as well Nancy Félix to Abidjan. The second one sent Stan Lequire to Abidjan, Ann Maouyo (born Benninghof) to Yaoundé and then Lomé and Harris and Michelle Scott to Gabon.

Since then, the GBUAF have developed considerably: 19 national movements with National Secretaries, thousands of students, hundreds of GBUAF graduates, 4 Traveling Secretaries. But confronted with the huge task, there is a lot left to do; GBUAF is indeed the biggest region of IFES. This implies that each of us working for this movement needs to give ourselves totally to the One who called us, in other words we should "offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is (our) reasonable act of worship." (Romans 12:1b).

GBUAF National Movement Secretaries