Having served with African Leadership for more than 2 decades, Allan Knowles has committed his life to rooting the Word of God deeply in the heart of those he teaches.

Allan grew up in a large family and in a rough neighborhood but found the Lord drawing him in in an unmistakable way. He started learning the Bible and preaching on street corners by the time he was 16 – but was only imitating the untrained preachers he was hearing in the church and feared people asking questions in return as he felt he didn’t have the answers. But his desire to learn and call to preach was so strong that when he received the chance to go to a Bible institute at 24 years old, he went.

In the early 1990s, Allan was exposed to the African Leadership training material and recognized it as a way to equip people like him who come from communities with weak churches and doctrine. “I have a kindred spirit, I can identify with many of my students. So the classes I teach, I see myself in many of them. I see how that through the training and through the Word of God, I can help be a redeeming influence in their lives.” Today, Allan pastors a church and oversees and teaches theology classes in South Africa. Known for his deep knowledge of Scripture and deep conviction of what it calls us to do, Allan became AL’s Director of Theology in 2024 and travels to other countries in the African Leadership network to lead teacher development workshops.

Allan and his wife, Lorraine, live in Cape Town.