In May of 2003, an easygoing American evangelical pastor named Rick Warren took a fateful trip to South Africa. Although few public health professionals will recognize his name, Warren’s visit may someday be remembered as a turning point in global health. That day in Johannesburg, Warren enjoyed a celebrity’s welcome. When he spoke at a conference on HIV/AIDS hosted by American missionary Bruce Wilkinson, more than 90,000 African pastors used digital radio technology to tune in to Warren’s message. Following the conference, Warren asked Wilkinson to take him out into the surrounding countryside.

When the pair arrived in Tembisa, an impoverished township outside Johannesburg, a South African man noticed them immediately. He approached Warren, declaring, “I know who you are. You’re Pastor Rick.” As it turned out, the man was himself a preacher and had been taking inspiration from Warren as he ministered to destitute South Africans in his informal, tent-congregation. Once a week, he walked to a post office several miles away to download Warren’s newest sermon from Pastors.com. “You are the only training I have ever had,” he professed. Upon hearing the man’s story, Warren began to cry. At that moment, he recollects, he determined that he would “give the rest of [his] life for guys like that – the real heroes out in the bush.”

To the disinterested observer, this storyline might appear predictable: white minister visits impoverished African village, has life-changing revelation, and dedicates self to continent. Western medical missionaries have been traveling to Africa for centuries, often without invitation. In recent years, the U.S.’s booming evangelical movement has infused the international missionary scene with new life, but most missionaries’ objectives remain similar to those of the legendary Dr. Livingstone. In nearly every African nation, small, faith-based NGOs (non-governmental organizations) rely on American volunteer power to attempt various development projects. For every American evangelical minister who moves his family to an African village, there are hundreds more at his congregation back home sending monthly donations to fund his work.

Outside America’s religious communities, no one seems to be paying much attention to these international forays. The fight over abstinence- only education continues, but its liveliest battles are domestic. When it comes to evangelicals in Africa, the uninitiated are tuning out. But Rick Warren is no ordinary missionary. Utilizing technology like a twenty-first century expert, Warren has attracted a diverse assortment of supporters who are preparing to face global poverty head-on. In 2005, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. This is a man who should be taken seriously.