McPhaill Family
About the Founder
John McPhaill is a church-planting missionary to Africa. He currently leads his third church-plant in Mukono, Uganda, and he is engaged in regular mission trips to other parts of Uganda and East Africa at large.
John is an American identical twin, born in 1996, and saved by grace through faith in Christ at about the age of 16. He was led to Christ and baptized by a pastor of a non-denominational Bible church in the small-town of Mohave Valley, Arizona.
After years of learning and serving in that church, he moved to attend university, majoring in pre-medical studies, with plans of becoming a physician. He also began attending an independent Baptist church, with a strong desire to learn how to preach the gospel to others more effectively.
Within a couple years, he felt called to full-time ministry. He sacrificed his educational and vocational aspirations, and trained for his calling through extensive self-study. A short-term mission trip to the African country of Malawi helped him to realize that his calling was to preach the gospel in Africa. Since June of 2019, John has been serving as a full-time evangelist in Africa.
John is happily married to his favourite and most beautiful disciple, Angela, and, together with their highly favoured daughter Modest, they live in Mukono, Uganda.
Ministry Results
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” – Matthew 28:18-20
A Christian ministry is successful in relation to how effectively it fulfills the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. The Great Commission is comprised of three distinct commands:
(1) Evangelism – “teach all nations”: preach the Biblical gospel of eternal salvation by faith alone through grace alone, and lead lost souls to salvation in Christ.
(2) Baptism – “baptizing them”: baptize new converts Biblically as a public profession of their faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
(3) Discipleship – “teaching them to observe all things”: teach and train new converts in the Biblical essentials, and bring them to maturity as faithful disciples for Christ.
These three (evangelism, baptism, and discipleship) are the Biblical ways to measure the success of a ministry. These results are not the work of one man, but mostly of dozens upon dozens of persons who were personally led to the Lord, discipled, and trained, by the American twin founders of this work.
Here are approximate totals covering our labours as part of Baptists for Africa from 2019-2025:
Evangelism
- • The gospel has been thoroughly presented to over 120,000 people in a personal, face-to-face format on roads and at homes.
- • We have distributed millions of gospel tracts, which all contain a clear explanation of the gospel.
- • We have had a couple opportunities to broadcast the gospel message to millions in Uganda, being interviewed twice on one of the biggest radio stations in the country, Capital FM.
Baptism
- • Of those who gave an understanding profession of faith in the gospel, over 1,000 people have been baptized.
Discipleship
- • We have had over 3,000 people to whom the gospel was personally given come for at least one church service or Bible lesson, and most of them have come multiple times.
- • We have fully trained approximately 150 people to give the gospel in a thorough way to others, as soul-winners.
GNFA Statement of Faith
1. The Doctrine of God
We believe in GOD, the first and greatest of all beings (Psalm 145:3), the Creator (Genesis 1:1), Sustainer (Acts 17:28), and Judge of all (Genesis 18:25). God is eternal (Psalm 90:2), unchangeable (Malachi 3:6), all-powerful (Revelation 19:6), all-knowing (Psalm 147:5), all-present (Psalm 139:7-8), and all-good (Exodus 34:6). God is a Trinity, and exists as three distinct, co-eternal, and co-equal Persons (1 John 5:7); the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14). The Father is the First Person of the Trinity, greater than all (John 10:29). Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternally begotten (John 1:18) Son of God (John 6:69), who became a man (John 1:14) by being conceived in the womb of a virgin (Matthew 1:23-25) through the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Jesus is fully God and fully man (Colossians 2:9; Philippians 2:6-7), who lived a perfectly righteous (Matthew 5:17) and sinless life (1 Peter 2:22). The Holy Spirit is the Third Person (John 16:8, 13-14) of the Trinity, divine (Acts 5:3-4) and doubly subordinate to the Father and the Son (John 15:26), and he through whom all work of God and for God is accomplished.
2. The Doctrine of Creation
We believe in the CREATION OF GOD, which was created by God for himself (Proverbs 16:4), all things visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16). God created everything perfectly and wisely (Genesis 1:31), through his word (Hebrews 11:3), in six, literal, consecutive days (Exodus 20:11), about 6,000 years ago. God created angels as spiritual, immortal beings (Hebrews 1:7). God uniquely created mankind in his image (Genesis 1:26), with a free will (Genesis 2:16-17), with a body and a spirit (Genesis 2:7), as male and female (Genesis 5:2). Mankind’s purpose is to know God (Jeremiah 9:24), to glorify God (1 Corinthains 10:31), and to enjoy God forever (Philippians 4:4).
3. The Doctrine of Sin
We believe in the FALLENNESS OF THE WORLD FROM GOD, which began with the Fall of Satan, the prince of the demons (2 Corinthians 4:4), who by his proud rebellion against God and his kingdom (1 Timothy 3:6; Isaiah 14:12-15) took with him part of the angels from the service of God to the service of himself. Mankind sinned (Genesis 3:6), and as a result of the Fall of Man, man’s nature became sinful (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Proverbs 20:9) and mortal (Romans 7:24-25; 8:4-5), and God cursed the whole creation (Genesis 3:17-19) with corruption and death (Romans 8:20; 5:12).
4. The Doctrine of Salvation
We believe in the SALVATION OF GOD, which is and has always been (Acts 10:43) by grace alone (Ephesians 2:5) through faith alone (Romans 3:28; Acts 16:31) in Christ alone (John 14:6), not of works at all (Ephesians 2:9; Romans 11:6). Salvation is a one-time event received through repenting from unbelief (Mark 1:15; Acts 17:30) and trusting in the finished work of Christ (Ephesians 1:12). Christ died on the cross for the sins of all mankind (Hebrews 2:9), rose again (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and ascended up to heaven (Mark 16:20), where he now makes intercession for the saints (Romans 8:34), and is the one mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5; 1 John 2:2). Through faith in the blood of Christ, a believer is elect (Ephesians 1:4), redeemed (Romans 3:24), justified (Romans 5:9), sanctified (1 Corinthians 6:11), and destined to be glorified (Romans 8:30). Salvation is eternal, secured by Christ once for all (John 6:37; 10:28); once saved, a believer is always saved (1 Peter 1:5), can be personally assured of their salvation (1 John 5:13), and will naturally, though not automatically, manifest the fruit of good works (Romans 6:22).
5. The Doctrine of the Bible
We believe in the WORD OF GOD, which is the Bible, the first and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. The 66 books of the Old and New Testaments are divinely inspired (2 Timothy 3:16-17) by the Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:20-21), complete (Revelation 22:18-19), inerrant (Psalm 119:160; John 17:17), and sufficient (Psalm 19:7-9). The Bible has been preserved in every word (Psalm 12:6-7; Matthew 5:18) to every generation (Psalm 119:89-90), and will be so forever (Isaiah 40:8). The Bible has been most faithfully and accurately translated into English in the King James Version. God communicates with man today through his word (Psalm 119:105) and through the leadings of his Spirit (Hebrews 3:7), which is always in accordance with the scriptures (John 16:13-15).
6. The Doctrine of the Church
We believe in the CHURCH OF GOD, which is the local assembly of believers in Christ (Hebrews 10:25; Matthew 18:20), who gather together for the purpose of furthering the Great Commission of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18-20). The church congregates to worship God (Ephesians 3:21; Psalm 107:31-32), learning from God’s word (1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 4:2), fellowshipping with God’s people, and serving in God’s work (Acts 2:42). The Head of the church is Jesus (Colossians 1:18; 2:10, 19), and all believers are members of his body (1 Corinthians 12:27) through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). The two symbolic ordinances which show the Lord’s sacrifice for his church (Ephesians 5:25; Acts 20:28) are: (1) water baptism, which is by immersion (Matthew 3:16; Romans 6:4-5; Acts 8:38-39), and is exclusively for believers (Acts 8:12-13, 36-37) as a sign of their faith in Christ (Mark 16:16); (2) the Lord’s Supper, which is the commemorative (1 Corinthians 11:24-25), celebratory (1 Corinthians 11:28-29), and corporate (1 Corinthians 10:17) partaking of bread and juice (1 Corinthians 11:27; Luke 22:18-20).
7. The Doctrine of the End Times
We believe in the JUDGMENT OF GOD, which is certain and determined by God (Acts 1:7; 17:31). Upon death, every person shall immediately and consciously pass into the world to come, believers into the comforts of heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8), and unbelievers into the torments of hell (Luke 16:19-24). There shall be a great tribulation of the earth (Matthew 24:29; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2), immediately after which Christ shall physically return to the earth in his Second Coming to execute judgment upon the world (Jude 15; 2 Thessalonians 2:8), and to give rewards unto the saints according to their works (Revelation 11:18; 2 Corinthians 5:10). After which, Christ will set up his millennial kingdom where he will physically reign on the earth for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:6). There shall be a resurrection of the dead, first of the saints at the coming of the Lord (Revelation 20:5-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17), and after for all at the day of judgment (Revelation 20:12; Daniel 12:2; Acts 24:15). The world will end in Judgment Day, when all the holy and evil angels shall be judged (1 Corinthians 6:2), and the unsaved will receive their due punishment in hell forever from Christ, and be cast into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:11-13). God will then create a new heaven and a new earth for the redeemed to dwell in forever with him (2 Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 21:1, 3).
Join Us In Finding the Pearl of Africa
Africa’s time to be evangelized is now! God has raised us up at Good News for Africa, and hundreds of local African believers who can preach the gospel, for such a time as this. Soon this spiritual harvest will be past.
Come and help if you can, pray and give if you can’t.