Dr. Mario Li Hing Visits the AEA Secretariat

The Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA) was honoured to welcome one of the most distinguished continental evangelical leaders on Tuesday, 2 June 2025. Rev. Dr. Mario Li Hing paid a visit to the AEA Secretariat at its headquarters, and brought with him a message from the Lord based on the Sermon on the Mount. Dr. Mario, who served as Executive Board Chairman of the AEA from 2001 to 2025, making him one of the longest-serving leaders in the organization’s history, was received by AEA Secretary General, Dr. Master Matlhaope.

Drawing from Matthew 5, 6 and 7, Dr. Li Hing anchored his message in the Sermon on the Mount, describing it not as a sweet moral story but as a vivid constitution of the Christian church, a base for transformation and a blueprint for how a disciple should be, act, and minister. “We need to meet God in the secret place where He realigns us with His divine order,” he said, setting the tone for all that followed.

Referencing Matthew 6 and Psalm 91, he pointed to the word secret as a signpost of intimacy, noting that Moses himself, in Exodus 3, encountered God in a secret place before stepping into his world-changing assignment. Dr. Li Hing urged the members of the secretariat to go beyond merely setting aside a physical place and truly spend time with the Lord.  He added that after spending time in God’s secret place, the believer is now expected to go out and live the faith; to be the salt and the light.

Dr. Mario also drew richly from John 4, the account of the woman at the well, offering a fresh and compassionate reading. He traced the woman’s progressive revelation of Jesus: first as a Man, then as a Prophet, then as the Messiah, and finally as the Saviour of the world all because of a personal encounter.

“After conversation with Christ, conviction takes place, then conversion follows, and confession comes after. The woman of Samaria became the first to be sent to a non- Jewish world because of personal encounter.”

Dr. Mario also lamented that for many believers today, the journey stops at conviction. The challenge he placed before his audience was to press through into conversion and confession, to move, as the woman at the well did, from worship to witness.

In his closing remarks to the secretariat, Dr. Mario reminded them that as believers of Christ, it is our responsibility to spend time with our Father so He can reveal what He wants us to be and to do.

Dr. Master in his remarks thanked God for the gift that Dr. Mario, is, whom he termed as a general of the Christian faith, a seasoned shepherd, shaped by decades of service across Mauritius, Africa, and the world. Dr. Matlhaope also appreciated Dr. Li Hing for creating time to visit the AEA secretariat. The members of the AEA Secretariat were honoured by this visit and grateful for Dr. Li Hing’s continued investment in the body of Christ in Africa and beyond.