Prominent American preacher Rick Warren has told African evangelists that it is their time to lead the global church as Christianity’s "centre of gravity” is shifting towards the Southern Hemisphere.

He was speaking in Kigali on Wednesday, November 29, during the All Africa Baptist Fellowship (AABF) gathering.

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The AABF is a regional arm of the Baptist World Alliance, established in 1982 to serve as a platform to unite and coordinate Baptist organisations on the continent for missions, evangelism, church planting, and so on.

Warren is a famous theologian, preacher, missionary, and Bible scholar, who founded Saddleback Church located in Lake Forest, California, one of the eight largest congregations in the United States.

"I believe God sent me here to tell you this: Africa must lead the Christian church around the world. You must lead the church,” Warren told the people attending the conference in Kigali.

"A hundred years ago, 90 per cent of all Christians lived in Europe or North America. Today, it is the exact opposite: 90 per cent of all the church is not in North America or Europe. There are 400 million Christians on the continent of Africa. Let me put that in perspective, there are more Christians in Africa than there are people in the United States,” he added.

Using examples of how African preachers are currently leading big congregations in some countries in Europe, he said Africa should now take its rightful place of leadership in the church.

"The largest church in the United Kingdom is pastored by an African, the largest church in all of Europe is now pastored by an African, and the largest church in Russia is now pastored by an African. And so I came here to Kigali to beg you to take your rightful place of leadership,” he said.

"We are going through the greatest shift in history right now. The centre of gravity of the church has moved already from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere,” he added.

In a media interview, Mackey Thomas, the president of the World Baptist Alliance, said Africa is so important not only in the Baptist world alliance but the world "and we are learning from you.”