The Missions Leaders from Africa meet to Discern God’s Direction for the Next Decade

The Alliance in Africa is willing to expand its missionary effort, especially targeting unreached people groups inside their countries, in North Africa and among the diaspora population. This is the conclusion of the discernment process that took place during the AWF Africa Missions Consultation in Cotonou, Benin, January 23-25.

In the first day, AWF President Jura Yanagihara presented an overview of the worldwide Alliance missions and the opportunities for the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of Africa. Africa represents 40% of the total membership of AWF. Its 293 missionaries, mostly working in cross-cultural missions inside their own countries, represent 17% of the global Alliance missionary work. There are many unreached people groups that live in or near countries with an Alliance presence. This was the background for the discernment process that took place in those days.

With the leadership of the AWF Africa Regional Coordinator Celestin Koffi, thirty representatives from the Alliance Churches of Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo DRC, Côte D’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinee Conakry, Mali and Togo prayed and shared their views about six aspects of the missionary work: (1) Inland Missions, (2) Missions in Africa, (3) Diaspora Missions, (4) Missionary Formation, (5) Mobilization of Human Resources and (6) Fundraising for Missions. As a result, a comprehensive list of strategic actions was elaborated by the six working groups.

The emphases were put on: (1) more church planting among unreached people inside their respective countries, (2) reaching out to some countries in North Africa that are closed to the gospel, (3) targeting the unreached diaspora population, (4) providing theological and missiological formation with professional training and other competences such as story-telling skills, (5) strengthening the mission mobilization programs in the churches and (6) improving fundraising and fund management.

This is the second meeting of this kind. The first occurred in Kinshasa, Congo DR, May 25-28, 2010, when the decennial objectives and actions for missions were established for 2010 to 2020.