ZAMBIA – FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST FELLOWSHIP
Followers of Christ Fellowship
PO Box 221362
Mongu, Zambia
Zambia is a land filled with over 10 million people, which are divided into 72 tribal groups. Larger than Texas by 23,000 sq mi, Zambia stretches over 290,320 sq mi. The largest tribes are the Bemba, Lozi, and Tonga.
The vision of planting churches among the unreached Lozi tribe of western Zambia was
planted in the heart of Allen Avery in the mid-1970s. Allen found that the Lozi were
almost without Bible believing churches in the rural areas of western Zambia where
the Lozi lived. In 2000, AOM began partnering with Pastor Martin Mulyata and his
wife Grace. Martin had been given a vision from God to plant churches among the
Lozi several years before the Averys met him. He took up a position as the head
of the Math department at a government High School in the southern area of the Lozi
tribe and learned their language.
Martin and Grace Mulyata
In 2000, Martin was able to enter into full time ministry through the help of AOM.
Since that time, Martin and Grace have started a church planting movement which, as of
2007, has over 18 churches among the Lozi people. The joint vision of AOM and the
Mulyatas is to establish churches throughout the Lozi tribe and to plant additional
churches throughout Zambia. They have expanded to several urban centers with a church
in Kabwe, Chipata and Livingstone.
Timothy and Jane Katoka
Under the supervision of Timothy Katoka and the Chipata congregation, three churches
have been established in Malawi. Timothy and other leaders are encouraging these new
church plants through leadership training and evangelistic efforts.
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ZIMBABWE - ZIMBABWE CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP
PO Box FM 186, Famona
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
From arid semi-desert regions in the west to the forest and tea plantations in the eastern highland, the former Rhodesia covers 150,300 sq mi, which is the size of California, and has a population of over 12 million. Two-thirds of the country speaks various dialects of Shona, while twenty-five percent speak Ndebele. The other main tribal groups are Tonga, Venda, and Twsana.
The vision of planting nondenominational churches in Zimbabwe was implemented in August 1980, when the Averys moved to the second largest city in Zimbabwe, Bulawayo. They had asked Robert and Marietta Reese to join them in this ministry. Robert had been born in Harare, Zimbabwe to missionary parents. They moved to Zimbabwe in 1981 to join the Averys. The churches that were planted through the ministry of these two families grew into Zimbabwe Christian Fellowship. There are now over 40 churches scattered over the western provinces of Zimbabwe among the Ndebele, Tonga, and Twsana speaking peoples. Many Shona speakers have come to Christ and joined the four urban churches in Bulawayo.
These churches are now independent and function on their own with each having their own leadership committees and pastors. AOM provides encouragement, leadership training seminars, and financial assistance for rural travel and leadership training.
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Mozambique
God gave us a vision to expand the ministry into Mozambique in 2003. A country that had lived under Portuguese colonial rule for almost 400 years, then suffered 15 years from a war for liberation and then another 15 years of civil war. These wars destroyed much of the infrastructure of the country. Now Mozambique is slowly coming out of its dark days. Aid for new roads and foreign investments in mining and tourism is pouring into the country. Mozambique is blessed with hundreds of miles of white sand beaches that are perfect for tourism.
The AOM team has taken many survey trips into Mozambique since 2004 to determine if there was an unreached tribe that we could engage. This search took us up and down the length of Mozambique. In April of 2006, we believe God led us to select the Tonga tribe that is found in the Inhambane province. The Tonga tribe has approximately 300,000 people but they are less than 1% evangelical. The Catholic Church entered the area with the first Portuguese colonizers, and the oldest Protestant denomination in the area is the United Methodist who arrived 100 years ago. The second largest Protestant Church in the Inhambane Province is the Assemblies of God. Additionally, there are other smaller Protestant Churches working in the province, but the Tonga have remained stubbornly resistant to the gospel.
In 2007, AOM entered into a partnership with the Sugar Creek Baptist Church to start a discipling movement that, Lord willing, will result in a Church Planting Movement among the Tonga. Our vision is to find the 1000's of "men and women of peace" who will accept Christ, disciple others, and open their homes to host these new groups of disciples. Our prayer is that these discipleship-chains that will result from this effort will spread all over the nation.
In May 2008, Scott Harris and his family will move to Inhambane to become the field team leader of the combined AOM and Sugar Creek effort. Gustavo and Bia Fuentes will be joining the Harris family in May. The Fuentes spent 9 months in 2007 as apprentice missionaries in Inhambane helping to lay the foundation on which the team will begin.
Join us in our prayer that God will reveal to the team the key individuals who will be able to start the discipling-chains, resulting in the saturation of the Inhambane province with living fellowships of vibrant disciplers.
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South Africa
Allen and Janelle Avery are serving as disciplers and coaches for other Christian leaders in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Their goal is to form simple house churches through making disciples in their area.
Also, to assist the South African Church, AOM is using an informal curriculum called Bible Training Center for Leaders (BTCL) designed to train church leaders in the Third World. This program is very effective because often the lack of time, money, or educational background prevents many of these church leaders from receiving effective Bible training.
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