DEWAYNE HOLLOWAY|dewayne@mcnews.online
A personal commitment to spiritual growth has led a Montgomery County couple to minister to thousands in Africa through Heart Transformation through Kingdom Living.
Keith and Karen Peterson started their ministry in 2005, but their journey began long before that when they decided they wanted to be more like Jesus.
The pair have been involved in church leadership and the pursuit of Christian living for many decades. Just over 20 years ago while living in Colorado, they realized that they were not doing the things Jesus did. They didn’t believe they were overflowing with love, joy, hope, thanksgiving and God’s power. They asked themselves the questions: “Is this all there is; must it be this way? Why are our lives not exhibiting the life promised by Jesus?”
It was at that point that the Lord revealed the need for them to love Him with all their hearts. They began doing studies and God revealed a process for learning to love Him wholeheartedly, step by step.
As their study process developed they began sharing it with churches, study groups and finally businesses. It was through a business that they became involved with Youth for Christ. Through their work with Youth for Christ they were approached by an African pastor who believed the Heart Transformation for Kingdom Living study process was what was needed in his country of Ghana.
Emmanuel Dusu, who is now the African Director for the ministry, convinced the couple to bring their training program to Africa. While the ministry had been used in over 60 countries, it had never been reproducible.
In 2016 the Lord gave them an enhanced plan. The plan included doing Heart Transformation but they would do it all in Ghana.
They started 2021 with 150 training centers in Ghana. Radical transformation is taking place and it is all the work of local ministries. Heart Transformation is the torch bearer which travels to training centers to ignite and invigorate local pastors and church leaders. They anticipate they will have grown to 450 training centers by the end of this year.
Each training center serves around five churches. Currently their network includes around 7,000 churches. Their ministry has grown beyond Ghana’s borders to include training centers in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and a small work in Cameroon and South Africa.
Keith shares that the training is simple. “Transformation doesn’t take place unless it takes place in the heart.”
He added that we read about the heart, but we aren’t taught how to transform the heart.
The Petersons believe that the heart is where we collect our treasures. Whatever we treasure is what we store in our heart. As a result, sin patterns we develop settle in our heart. These things keep us in bondage. These things can be removed, but we must turn it over to God.
The Heart Transformation study materials are filled with 75 percent scripture, 25 percent incisive questions to help understand the scripture.
We want to have the joy of the Lord, but we can’t produce it. It must come from God. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit.
The Lord led them to Africa where there is a hunger for the Lord. However, many churches suffer from religiosity. They need something to help them live a life for Christ instead of just going through the motions.
Heart Transformation strives to help church leaders transform their hearts first before taking the training to their churches. The Petersons estimate that the success of the program has impacted over 750,000 people in Africa so far.
Keith stated that he believes they can expect the number of training centers to double each year.
Keith and Karen Peterson, along with Emmanuel Dusu, work diligently to continue the work God has given them to do. A move to Montgomery County Arkansas a few years ago has placed the Petersons in an area they believe better suits their religious convictions. The ministry has grown dramatically in the past year. Another trip to Africa is planned for February 2022.
For more information visit www.hearttransformation.org
Couple working to transform hearts in Africa
