About Joshua Campaign

From pioneer aviation to a field-led movement.

Joshua Campaign was founded in Ethiopia in 1997. These photographs and the founding story are the public record behind today’s work.

Karl Härgestam and members of the early mission team beside a Heli-Mission helicopter

Karl and Jennifer Härgestam founded Joshua Campaign in Ethiopia in 1997. Karl, raised in Storuman in Sweden’s Pentecostal tradition, began mission work in Tanzania in the late 1980s. A call to reach unreached peoples took him to California for helicopter training, where he met Jennifer. They moved to Ethiopia in the early 1990s, and Karl flew with the Swiss organization Heli-Mission before launching Joshua Campaign.

Today the ministry has offices in Ethiopia, Sweden and California, with partners around the world. Since 1997, millions of people—mostly in Ethiopia—have heard the Gospel through its work. The Swedish archive records an earlier milestone of more than 3.8 million salvation books distributed; the campaign’s current milestone is 5.2 million.

Joshua Campaign’s Swedish history also places the ministry within Ethiopia’s wider evangelical growth, describing a rise from about 2% of the population around 1992 to about 20% in its later account. Campaign meetings reach hundreds of thousands in a year, with local churches carrying the work forward.

Since 1997, the work has recorded 4.2 million decisions, mostly in Ethiopia. About 3.37 billion people remain unreached. The aim is to give every person one chance to hear the Gospel.

1997Joshua Campaign founded in Ethiopia

3 officesEthiopia · Sweden · California

ECFELocal umbrella partner for campaigns

The Joshua Campaign archive

A rich history.

These older photographs preserve the story behind today’s work: Karl and Per serving together, mass campaigns taking shape, teams forming, and field tools changing as the mission reached farther.

Karl Härgestam and Per Åkvist in conversation together on a Joshua Campaign stage — Shared leadership history
Karl and Per on the platform.
An enduring picture of the handoff between Joshua Campaign’s founding vision and the leadership carrying the mission forward.

Karl Härgestam and Per Åkvist standing in front of an outdoor campaign billboard announcing Evangelist Per Åkvist — Campaign history
One message, across the years.
Karl and Per together at a public campaign announcement—an older image with a continuing story.

Mass campaigns through the years

From daylight fields to evening crusades, the scale changed from place to place while the purpose remained constant: preach Jesus clearly and connect people with local churches.

A panoramic historic crusade crowd stretching toward the horizon — A field filled to the horizon

Karl Härgestam preaching with a Bible raised before a crowd holding umbrellas — Preaching before the crowd

Karl Härgestam and another evangelist standing on stage before an enormous crowd — Together on the platform

An aerial historic view of a dense Joshua Campaign crowd around the stage — The campaign field from above

An older aerial photograph of a massive seated crusade crowd — Thousands seated to hear

A dense historic crowd raising hands during a campaign — A public response

An older crusade crowd raising hands before the stage — Hands raised before the stage

A massive historic crowd seen from the stage beside a wooden cross — The cross before the crowd

A historic night rally with a huge crowd and illuminated stage — Night campaign

A night crusade with a lit stage, wooden cross and gathered crowd — The cross lit at night

A large dusk crusade crowd before a stage with a choir in white robes — Choir and crowd at dusk

A historic crowd with colorful umbrellas seen from the campaign stage — Rain could not stop the gathering

Karl Härgestam at the pulpit with an interpreter before a massive crowd — Preaching with an interpreter

Tools that changed with the mission

Sound-stage trucks, tents and aviation made open-air campaigns and remote access possible. The equipment evolved over the years; the field purpose stayed the same.