Before the Lord formed him in the womb God knew him, before he was born, the Lord set apart and appointed him to help take African Christian College to greater heights. Our vice president, Dr. Alan Martin, has been through plenty of sharpening and moulding in his life. So much so that he believes God has always been preparing him for the work that he is currently doing for the college. In three phases he narrated his journey, and we were convicted by the grace of the almighty God towards African Christian College.
The first phase: born and raised in South Africa during the apartheid regime, Alan was called by God to ministry. Immediately after completing high school, he enrolled in a preaching school in the USA. After graduating, he returned to South Africa and started proclaiming the good news of the gospel, assisting in the planting of churches in many parts of Cape Town. As always, the harvest was bigger than workers; so, together with other church leaders, he started a preaching school to help nurture more preachers.
People were saved; the spiritually dead and blind were raised and began to see clearly. But Dr. Martin encountered a problem – how to sustain the churches. Many people were experiencing marital issues, but due to his lack of knowledge, he could not help. So, God sent him back to the USA, where he obtained his Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy (counselling). After graduation he returned to Africa and helped fix numerous marriages in the church and outside. This was the second phase.
In the third phase of his life, Dr. Martin returned to the States to acquire more knowledge, and through the grace of God he received his PhD in Marriage and Family Counselling at Michigan State University. However, he was unable to return to Africa. So, he took a position as lecturer at Oklahoma Christian University. There God began dropping hints about his purpose. He met Lyle Harms, a founding board member of our institution who told him about African Christian College. Alan fell in love with the institution so much that he ended up serving on the Board of Trustees. However, Dr. Martin soon resigned, as he was still committed to the work that he was doing in Oklahoma and later in the church in Houston.
When Jesus says yes, nobody can say no. Eventually, he decided to come back to ACC, and he is currently serving as the Vice President of Academic Affairs. “I feel like God has always been preparing me for the work that I am doing now,” he said.
One of his main goals at the college is to help bring into reality the vision for which God is working on for ACC. Apart from the administrative work that he is doing in the United States for the college, Dr. Martin is also teaching classes to the counselling majors. We are very blessed to have him on board.
Glory to the Almighty God, who gives us far more than we can ask or imagine.
Glory be to God, our college that made us who we are is really moving forward. I am proud of the kind of people and qualifications that God is adding to ACC. Congratulations Dr Martin. Welcome to the African giant in Chrisitan education.