Biography
Michael Cassidy is a South African evangelist and the founder of African Enterprise, a ministry that has carried the gospel to the cities of Africa. He was born in 1936 in South Africa, into a family of English descent. He grew up in a land that was ruled by a white minority and divided by race. He was educated at schools in Natal and then went to Cambridge University in England, where he studied theology. At Cambridge, he came to a settled faith in Christ under the influence of the Christian Union. He later studied at Fuller Theological Seminary in California.
In 1962, he returned to Africa with a burden to reach the cities with the gospel. He founded African Enterprise, with the aim of carrying out evangelism in cooperation with the churches. The method was to hold city-wide missions, in which a team of evangelists and pastors would work with local believers over several months. The missions brought together churches of different traditions and races. This was an unusual idea in the South Africa of apartheid, where the churches were largely separate. He insisted on mixed teams of black and white workers. The first missions were held in Pietermaritzburg and Durban, and they were followed by campaigns in cities across Africa.
He took an interest in the troubles of his country. He was a man who spoke against apartheid, though he was not a political activist. He called for repentance and reconciliation. He believed that the church must be a bridge across the divisions of the nation. In the 1980s, as the violence in South Africa grew, he became involved in efforts at mediation. He met with leaders on all sides, including those of the African National Congress, the government and the Zulu movement, Inkatha. He worked behind the scenes to bring them together. In 1994, at the time of the first free elections, he took part in a last-minute effort to persuade the Inkatha leader, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, to take part. The effort was successful, and a bloodbath was avoided.
He wrote a number of books, among them Bursting the Wineskins, published in 1983, which described the work of African Enterprise and the revival in the church. He also wrote The Passing Summer, which told the story of the struggle against apartheid and the part that the church played in it. His books were widely read. He was a fine speaker, with a clear voice and a manner that was warm and humorous. He took part in the Lausanne movement and was a friend of Billy Graham and John Stott.
He has been criticized by some who thought that he was too cautious in his opposition to apartheid and too ready to work with those in power. Others have faulted him for putting too little stress on social and economic justice. He has said that he sought to do what he could and that he was driven by the need to reconcile. He has acknowledged that he made mistakes. He also has paid a price in terms of the stress of work and the toll on his family.
He is a man who has lived a long life, and the record is still being written. What can be said with confidence is that he has been one of the leading evangelical figures in Africa in the second half of the twentieth century. His life shows what can be done by a man who holds together the call to evangelize and the call to reconcile.