MIKE ARNOLD

Mike is a lifelong global missionary and entrepreneur. As a committed disciple-maker, Mike has advanced the Kingdom from US campuses, board rooms and Capitol offices, to Third World prisons, orphanages, and a Nigerian leper colony. A few highlights of ministry include, leading a team in dugout canoes to be the first outsiders ever to reach a Mosquito Coast jungle village, where they shared the gospel and slept in grass huts. Along the way, he’s dodged machine-gun-toting drug runners and narrowly escaped radical Islamic Boko Haram bombers. In the US Mike founded and spent a rewarding decade working full-time to build a thriving, coast-to-coast, youth discipleship ministry. He’s personally led to Christ, baptized, and discipled hundreds of all ages. His missionary journeys have inspired countless men and women to find their calling, and helped numerous pastors and ministry leaders revitalize their vision and fruitfulness. During his Nigerian travels, Mike encountered the thousands of widows and orphans in the IDP camps who escaped the horrifying persecution of Boko Haram. He was forever changed. These displaced Nigerians were the targets of radical Muslim soldiers who confiscated their property and displaced over 2 million Christians, including killing over 300,000 children, along with moderate Muslims in their purge. They have lost family, property and belongings, their past and their future. As Mike visited the camps he heard the heartfelt cry of the mothers, “Please educate our children,” he’s now focused on meeting the needs of the lowly and marginalized through mobilizing people and resources to support Africa Arise Academies in Nigeria. Boko Haram, literally means “western education is forbidden.” A businessman with an executive MBA, Mike has founded numerous enterprises, including a successful broadcast television network. He currently serves on several boards of directors — including that of an international construction company alongside an esteemed former president of Nigeria. Recently he’s stepped into the role of mayor in an iconic Texas town. He’s a cross-cultural connector with a heart for community building, financial integrity, and a generous, compassionate spirit. Africa Arise holds his heart and he asks that you consider the beautiful children of Nigeria. Help serve the children and build a future filled with hope.