For Ann Rader Pfisterer, leading the campaign to launch Africa University’s endowment fund would draw on all of her experience as a fundraiser and trailblazing leader in The United Methodist Church.
The year was 1988, and the denomination’s General Conference had approved the proposal for creating Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Almost a century earlier, in 1898, Methodist Bishop John Hartzell had gazed down into the valley in Old Mutare and envisioned students from all over the continent attending school there. Now, his vision was taking form.
“I just was so thrilled with the idea of what the church was going to undertake,” Pfisterer recalls. “I recognized that it was what many others said, it was the missional opportunity of our generation.”
Now 99, she remembers those early days of selling the vision for Africa University while it was still just a dream. “From a dream to reality – and that’s the way we spoke about it,” she says.
Africa University Gets Approval From General Conference
General Conference had approved a $20 million budget for Africa University for the 1988-92 period, but $10 million of that would have to be raised, so the delegates created a World Service Special — a church fund to receive donations. Shortly after the effort began, Pfisterer’s supervisor asked her to take the lead in establishing the permanent endowment scholarship fund for the school. She was named campaign director and project manager.
While the vision for Africa University had strong support in the church, there were naysayers, including one church leader who said that supporting the effort would be like pouring money down a rathole.
Pfisterer helped organize the campaign launch at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, in 1991, which raised more than $155,000 in pledges. By the end of that year, United Methodists had contributed more than $6 million in apportioned funds for buildings and grounds and $2.3 million in World Service Special gift funds to endow scholarships for students, Angela Current Felder says.
Passing The Baton
When a cancer diagnosis forced Pfisterer to take several weeks off in late 1991, she continued to stay in touch with the campaign and was back to work in early 1992. Later that year, the project transitioned from the fundraising stage to the development stage and passed on to James Salley, who today serves as president and chief executive officer of Africa University (Tennessee) Inc. “He has done a fantastic job,” Pfisterer says of Salley. “I so admire him.”
Despite her work, Pfisterer never visited the campus. Her general secretary, the Rev. Randolph Nugent, told her the board would pay for her travel, she says. “And I said, ‘Randy, I don’t want to cost the board that much.’ I said, ‘It’s a dream … I know it’s going to happen, but I just don’t want to spend that kind of money when I think it could be used in other ways.’
She also contributed to the university herself and continues to do so.
Asked what she felt when the school opened, she replies: “Just joy, joy, joy.”
After Africa University’s launch, Pfisterer went on to lead other campaigns for the church, finally retiring in 1994. When asked about her longevity, she laughs and says she doesn’t know how she got to be 99.
More than 13,000 students have graduated from Africa University over the past three decades.
Pfisterer is pleased that so many graduates have returned to their home countries to share their knowledge and leadership. And she is proud of her denomination for making the dream a reality.
“It’s just a tremendous story of when people work together what we can accomplish.”
You Can Start Your Own Legacy
Your financial contribution can also become a legacy for your descendants. By creating a scholarship to help World Service Special Gifts’ you can help fund several needed causes such as Africa University Endowment Fund, the Leonard Perryman Communications Scholarship for Ethnic Minority Students, the Methodist Global Education Fund, the National Anti-Gambling Project and the Lay Missionary Planting Network.
Andra M. Stevens, Director, Communications and Creative Services, Africa University Development Office
This story shows the impact of the World Service Special Gift to strengthen the mission and ministries of The United Methodist Church around the world. Gifts support global programs in education, health, leadership development, disaster response, and social justice—helping the Church respond to real needs and share God’s love in tangible ways.
When your church or you give to the World Service Special Gift, you join the connectional Church in making a lasting difference in communities near and far.
