Ministry as TEAM

The AIM teaching team gathered together leaders from our previous discipleship classes for a next-level training on spiritual maturity. This class focused on identifying the five-fold gifts of the Spirit (as found in Ephesians 4:11-12), and the participants came to understand how God intends them to work together as team to equip the church to become effective and influential in their communities.  This picture of working together as team within our spiritual gifting was a whole new model for them to begin to grapple with.  When we began to compare the way churches work today (one person, usually the pastor does 90% of the work and 100% of the preaching) with the scriptural model stressed in Ephesians 4, these leaders began to see how identifying the spiritual gifts and intentionally helping them to mature would result in a much more effective and potentially growing church.

After working through Scripture, a hands-on exercise of assembling simple balsa wood airplanes (5 gifts, 5 parts to the planes) was fantastic fun!  They had never before seen such a thing. But they figured it out in teams, even without any help from the Americans!  With carefully assembled planes, each team then walked outside and got a chance to launch their plane! Laughter and excitement! What a great visual of how every gift is needed in order to help the church to “fly.”  It was a day they will never forget...and a spiritual lesson that stayed in their hearts.

A Community in Transformation - Katesh Village

In 2010:

• People walked where they needed to go
• Very limited resources, stores or shops
• Little or no opportunity, change, or advancement
• The witchdoctors were prominent and feared figures, eliciting honor and respect, and operating openly and publicly
• A small group of Christians began to choose unity, and gather to pray for their community 3 nights a week, crying out to God to see a change,…

 In 2015:   

• Quality paved roads stretch through town bringing bus and truck traffic. There are many travel options now including bus, taxi and motorcycles. People move about much more freely.
  
• New shops, stores and repair shops are opening all the time. More economic opportunity
• New businesses and factories are planning to open in the area, bringing even more economic opportunity, jobs, and skills training.
• The witchdoctors no longer hold positions of prominence. The church is maturing, and people are learning the ways of God, so they will no longer tolerate the open work of witchcraft in their village. At least one witchdoctor has come to Christ, showing up on the steps of the Katesh Prayer group, declaring that he cannot fight against their prayers any longer!
• That small group of Christians from several denominations still meets 3 nights a week, but they have grown and matured. Their numbers vary from a few dozen to well over 100, and they have reproduced themselves, starting several other prayer groups in villages circling Mt Hanang. These prayer groups are boldly crying out to God for their communities.
  

Focus on Prayer

When the AIM team traveled to Tanzania in 2014 we learned some very interesting things!  God has really been at work in the Manyara Region!  Some of our friends reported that many denominations came together for a national day of prayer held in June.  The Christian leaders called all who were gathered to repent and to lift up their nation to God.  We are seeing a growing sensitivity to the Spirit and a willingness to come together across denominational lines for the Kingdom.  For this we praise God!

Shortly after the national prayer gathering, ministry leaders throughout Manyara Region also decided to gather to pray for their district. By the time we arrived in July, we heard the leaders' reports: over 100 years ago, witchdoctors and regional leaders of this region made vows and sacrifices that continue to impact life even today! With these alignments with darkness now exposed to the light, believers now knows how to pray. Together they have been repenting, tearing down the spiritual strongholds that have thwarted several generations, and ushering in the expansion of Kingdom territory!