Apostle Stanford was born on the west side of Chicago in the late 50s. As a young boy, he had an entrepreneurship attitude, starting a shoe shining business before 10 years old. His mind was always set on helping people and changing the trajectory of him and his family’s life by breaking generational poverty and creating generational wealth.

 

In his early teens, Apostle Stanford gave his heart to God, becoming eager to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. His dedication and zeal would pave way to him becoming assistant pastor in his late teens and going to establish the AFC World Outreach Ministries at 24 years old with 12 faithful members. 

 

Apostle Stanford and members quickly started experiencing growth and Apostle saw that AFC would be more than “church” in the traditional sense. Inspired by God, Apostle saw the AFC being as a beacon of light to the community and world, by providing housing, employment, leadership development, education, and other tools to enhance and elevate God’s people.

 

In 1990, God directed Apostle to purchase our current location AFC Center; a 2000 fully seated theater that also has incubator space. Apostle came up with the concept to provide spaces to young pastors who were temporarily and permanently in need of services.

 

With the groundbreaking idea, AFC became a center that served over 10,000 parishioners a week and more than 50 independent churches. Not only that but AFC has truly provided light to the community, providing theatrical productions, concerts, and conferences that have aided the growth of the community. 

Apostle didn’t stop there. In fact,  the work has birthed state politicians, CEOs, CFOs, Business owners,  multiple 501 © (3) organizations, churches in Three Rivers MI, South Bend IN, Elkhart IN. The work has even spreaded to Capetown, South Africa and Harare, Zimbabwe, where collectively  a successful school, bakery,  construction, and internet company has been birthed to house,employ, and equip   the people of God. God has given the man of God a vision to touch the lives of God’s people. 

 

Inspired by Mark 16:15 “Go ye into the entire world and preach the gospel to every creature”, Apostle truly is a testament to making an impact in the world.