Bekele Shanko GACX Vice President Cru Campus Crusade Church Planting Global Alliance Church Multiplication Never Alone
Finish Line Podcast Episode 51

Bekele Shanko, President of the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication, on Planting a Healthy Church for Every 1000 People Globally

You may believe God can do extraordinary things through His church while still finding it difficult to imagine what your own prayers, generosity, or obedience could contribute to a task as large as reaching billions of people with the gospel.

What might change if you began asking God for outcomes far beyond your own capacity and saw your role as one part of a united, global body working together to multiply disciples and churches?


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Meet your guide

Bekele Shanko, President of the Global Alliance for Church Multiplication and Vice President for Global Church Movements with Cru, grew up in a rural Ethiopian village shaped by animism, poverty, and spiritual fear. After his family came to Christ through a remarkable series of events, Bekele witnessed the gospel transform not only his home but eventually much of his surrounding community.

That experience formed a conviction that continues to shape his leadership: believers should trust God for goals far beyond what they can accomplish alone. Bekele describes mobilizing churches across Africa, building church planting movements through Cru, and helping launch GACX as a collaborative network where ministries share strategies, tools, people, and resources rather than working in isolation. His vision centers on multiplying healthy churches, prioritizing places with little gospel access, and strengthening cooperation across the global body of Christ.

By the end, you may find yourself thinking differently about the size of your prayers, the resources God has entrusted to you, and what becomes possible when Christians pursue the Great Commission together.

What you’ll gain

  • Why your prayers should reach beyond what you can accomplish
  • How persecution can accelerate discipleship and church multiplication
  • Why clear vision can attract people, resources, and collaboration
  • How partnership helps ministries reach places they cannot alone
  • Why every contribution matters in multiplying healthy local churches
  • How generosity can help accelerate the global Great Commission

Inspired? Take your next step

Try the Game of Life Simulator

Step into a four-minute interactive experience and see what unfolds as you decide how to manage your resources.

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Inspired? Learn how to partner with ministries well.

A compelling ministry story can inspire you to respond. But wise partnership often begins with better questions.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Focus

What is the ministry really seeking to restore?

Learn to look beyond visible needs toward people, context, relationships, and flourishing.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Fruitfulness

How do you recognize meaningful impact?

Consider how ministries learn, evaluate their work, and pursue lasting change.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Faithfulness

What does genuine ministry partnership look like?

Explore how to foster trust, alignment, and shared mission in your giving.

In our Intervention Series on the Applied Generosity Podcast, we’ll help you become a more thoughtful, discerning, and faithful partner.

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Quotes to Remember

  • “I’ve experienced the power of God. The Gospel has transformed me. And that’s why I’m so passionate about reaching people who are lost without Christ and sharing the good news that has the power to transform lives.”
  • “Missiologists believe that the center of Christianity has shifted from the global north (the western church) to the global south (Africa, Asia, and Latin America).”
  • “There is a sense of lukewarmness in the church, a sense of spiritual apathy. We have many Christians, but not many committed disciples.”
  • “I had this faith in God that I can ask God for anything as long as it is in His will.”
  • “I asked God what he wanted me to do for him and God just opened my eyes to trust him for what we would call impossible.”
  • “Whatever you ask God to do for His glory and for the advancement of His kingdom, He is able and faithful to do it. But sometimes we limit what God will do because we don’t believe and we aren’t asking God for great things. So I always encourage people to ask God for something bigger than themselves, for something they cannot do themselves.” 
  • “When there is clear vision, people are attracted to that vision.”
  • “We want every planted church to become a great grandmother church, giving birth to a new church which gives birth to a new church.”
  • “How can we help the 2 billion self-identified Christians to be part of God’s vision?” 
  • “We all believe that there is one church, one body, one kingdom, and one King.”
  • “How can we work together for the glory of God, so God’s glory is at the center, and fulfilling the Great Commission is our motivation? One kingdom, one body is our philosophy.”
  • “We are closer to the end times than yesterday.”
  • “Prayer is so powerful. When we pray, we are aligned with God’s heart.”
  • “Write down what you are praying and see if God answers those prayers.”
  • “God is calling you to fulfill his purpose, and there is limited time.”

Links from the Show

Bible References from the Show

Revelation 7:9 | Every Tribe and Nation

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,

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Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.
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Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.
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