Our God is a Missionary God. His Bible is our missionary Book. His incarnate son is our Missionary Model.
"Into Africa" is our response to embrace God's Mission, and God's Heart.
...it is the villages that are neglected – without sufficient churches, without sufficient trained pastors, and without clear strategies to overcome these shortfalls.
The Great Commission can be fulfilled in a generation by a Church fully committed to this end.
...God still invites you and me to be His heart and hands in the work He performs.
Despite poverty, illiteracy, and rampant diseases the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit continue to build their Church in Africa. Despite years of regional and inter-ethnic conflicts that have ravaged the continent, Christ has been establishing His church -- and the gates of Hades cannot overcome it!
What a privilege it is to have been invited to work on this winning team!!
One Mission Society’s Into Africa Project has seen the establishment of ministries in 16 African countries since 2001. It is a remarkable story of God’s grace and goodness. Into Africa is seeing thousands of new churches being birthed every 12 months, over 200,000 new conversions, and widows and orphans being cared for by transforming villages.
These miracles can only be explained by a mission that is born in the heart of God and set aflame by the Holy Spirit. Our God is a Missionary God. His Bible is our missionary Book. His incarnate Son is our Missionary Model. His Church is our Missionary Community. His Love is our Missionary Call. And His Great Commission is our Missionary Vision. “Into Africa” is our response to embrace God’s Mission, and God’s heart.
OMS Africa is privileged to partner with a number of church associations, ministries, and individuals without which the Into Africa Project could not have been birthed. We are grateful to the many co-laborers who have joined hearts and hands in this collaborative project that we call "Into Africa." We acknowledge our many varied partners and give tribute to their collective wisdom and endeavors that are featured on the following pages.
Together we have belief in a great future for our African Village Church Planting ministries. As we look across sub-Saharan Africa we see that all too often the villages have become the hidden and neglected peoples of Africa. When we look at the church in sub-Saharan Africa it is the villages that are neglected – without sufficient churches, without sufficient trained pastors, and without clear strategies to overcome these shortfalls.
This is the challenge to which the Into Africa Project rises: to develop clear strategies for populating un-churched African villages with churches led by trained pastors and church leaders who are passionate about discipling their members.
The church has for too long overlooked the need to develop viable village pastoral training strategies. City colleges and seminaries are not suited to the economic and literacy realities of training African villagers as pastors. City folk trained in city seminaries have also been slow to move out to establish and pastor churches in villages. The Village Church Planting program aims to overcome these shortcomings by encouraging partner churches to establish village training centers as a catalyst for both a church planting movement and a village pastoral training program.
It is our belief that God has given the Church a doable mission. The Great Commission can be fulfilled in a generation by a Church fully committed to this end. The Church has the resources to accomplish the task. The question is do we have the will, the faith, and faithfulness to be led by Christ to the triumphant conclusion of the task set before us?
Part of the Into Africa vision is to demonstrate that the Great Commission is doable. We implement projects that we hope will serve as a model for others to copy. We also cast vision and consult with churches, making our strategies, training and training materials readily available to others in the belief that networking and collaboration are vital in the speedy execution of the Commission.
The following saying is true: The Gospel still changes hearts, brings about Kingdom perspectives, and leads to effective humanitarian action. It is true that God is still in the business of transforming the world. It is true that God is the author of transformation. Yet it is also true that God still invites you and me to be His heart and hands in the work He performs.
As you navigate through this site, it is my prayer that God will break your heart for the transformative needs of Africa. In our generation God is doing new things through church planting. Today there is a vital church planting movement springing up all around the world. Thousands of churches, perhaps hundreds of thousands of churches are being convicted by the Spirit of God that the only effective way to accomplish the Great Commission is through daughter church planting. It is this conviction that birthed the Into Africa Project.
OMS Africa has helped facilitate the planting of 13,334 churches with a membership of 768,073 since the launch of the Into Africa Project in June 2001.
As of 15 June 2011, Into Africa had birthed:
- 5,695 First Generation Churches
- 4,297 Second Generation Churches
- 2,148 Third Generation Churches
- 694 Fourth Generation Churches
- 500 Fifth to 12th Generation Churches
We currently have 448 village training centers with thousands of registered students receiving pastoral training. Most of these have already planted churches, and many are still due to give birth to daughter churches. Through these training structures we have set faith targets for birthing more than 3,000 new churches during calendar year 2012. Join us in praying toward this end.
Implementing effective strategies requires the development of appropriate partnerships. Should you wish to collaborate with the Into Africa Project, we encourage you to make contact with us.
In the only cause that counts,
Bruce Bennett
Regional Director: Africa
One Mission Society
