How ACRE began...

In 2007 Scott was preaching for the Crown Hill Church, in Seattle. One day he received an unusual email from a man named Benard Lusweti in

Chwele, Kenya. Benard had been looking at Scott's website, CrownHillChurch.com ( now www.faithfulpreaching.com), and he believed Scott was "the sort of man I need to teach me the Bible."  Scott replied asking what sort of education the man already had and what he was looking for - expecting any minute to be told he had just won the "Kenyan lottery."

 

In a way, Scott did win the Kenyan lottery as Benard proved himself to be a true blessing right from the start. His dedication to the truth led him to literally burn the books Scott told him were teaching error, and his dedication to God and others led him to take in more than 50 orphaned children following a political incident in the country. He established an orphanage and a school and raised the orphans as his own. Throughout this time, Scott was mentoring him via email in his Bible studies and Benard was attempting to pass along what he learned to the many area preachers he knew who were also hungry for the truth.

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In 2016, a reduction in Scott's workload inspired him to think about what more he could do for the kingdom, and Benard and the other Kenyan preachers came quickly to mind. Scott asked Benard what he thought about establishing a Bible college in Kenya, and Benard was ecstatic. He immediately began making arrangements and a fact-finding trip was planned.

 

In May of that year, Scott and his son, Stephen, traveled to Kenya to meet Benard face to face and finalize arrangements to hold a class in Chwele. The trip was successful and the two have been inseparable ever since. Scott drew on knowledge gained from his experience with Jamaica Christian College to organize what rapidly became African Christian Restoration Evangelism - ACRE. As of 2025, Scott has made 16 trips to Kenya to teach or escort teachers for ACRE. While Scott is in the U.S., Benard manages things in Kenya.

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ACRE is unique:

Unlike other mission efforts which begin when the missionary arrives and are suspended until he returns, with ACRE the students come to class to learn and recharge so that between classes they themselves are working in the mission field.  With this model, there is zero down-time! Even during COVID when Scott was unable to go to Kenya due to travel restrictions, ACRE was flourishing. As of this writing, dedicated ACRE students have been responsible for establishing more than 70 New Testament Churches and teaching and immersing hundreds in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Barundi, and beyond.

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How ACRE works:

ACRE students are living in 3rd world poverty Americans can not truly imagine. It is not possible for them to leave their families to be in classes for long periods of time, so we have to make the most of every hour. Each trip represents one complete semester of a college level class taught in one week. Students are in the classroom for 8 - 10 hours of concentrated study each day.  After class each evening, the more advanced students hold special study groups to help those who are new or who do not speak English as fluently to be sure they have understood the day's lessons. A final exam is given on the last day of class. It's very intensive, but the people of Kenya are extremely hungry for the meat of the word! Every teacher who has been there has expressed a desire to return because the enthusiasm of these people is very hard to walk away from. 

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Why does your support matter so much?

ACRE teachers do NOT provide their own support! Each trip is fully funded by donations from dedicated churches and individuals who long to see the Lord's work flourish everywhere. This means that ACRE pays for the plane tickets, the car fares, and the meals for the entire trip. The teachers donate only their time and energy. This is not the norm - most mission efforts require those who go to find a way to pay for the trip themselves. Airline tickets vary greatly in price from one trip to the next. The travel cost is between $5,000 - $7,000 per trip.

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ACRE charges no tuition, and all study materials are provided free of charge. ACRE students are only responsible for their transportation expenses. Once they arrive at the ACRE campus, they are provided three meals daily, and a place to sleep at no charge. There are usually about 75 - 100 students present for the week. It costs about $2,500 to feed them, bed them, and produce materials for them. It is only through the generosity of people like you that we are able to offer this great work to the glory of God.

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ACRE is a 501c3 tax exempt, non-profit entity.