African missionaries are being trained to reach unreached African people because of the gifts of God’s people.

God has gripped the hearts of a key group of African people. He has placed on their hearts the burden to take His Word to fellow Africans who are currently unreached; lost people, hopeless and in need of the Gospel.

An exciting project has been funded and is under way. The project is to give these mature believers cross-cultural training as church planters.

The training is going very well. One of the instructors, Joel McMartin, writes that often students are asking questions and holding discussions late into the night, long after classes have ended.

“They have been challenged with new paradigms of church planting and ministry. Many of them have gained a new understanding and appreciation for cross-cultural ministry,” Joel shares.

Is this training valuable? Listen to a few of the comments Joel has heard from his students:

“This is really a new way of thinking and evangelizing for me.”

“I never really thought about how complex it is to learn new languages.”

“This gives me an appreciation for what missionaries do.”

Jean, an African who came to Christ after a long struggle to find peace and joy for his heart, subsequently ministered faithfully as pastor for years without having the advantage of being formally trained. Later, his ministry opportunities were increased when he was blessed to be able to take a three-year Bible training program.

Jean and Sylvie shared recently their vision for a new and challenging ministry. God has placed on their hearts as a couple the task of reaching unreached people for Christ. They both feel that NTM is uniquely equipped to train them effectively to fulfill this ministry goal of reaching lost people who are waiting to hear the message of the gospel.

Jean and Sylvie and other African students who have the same heart for those who have never been reached are now learning from experienced NTM teachers who are gifted with a long history and extensive experience in ministering to unreached people groups.

Since the culture and language of each unreached people group are unique, the ways to reach them and teach them are unique as well. These are insights that all of Jean’s years of preaching in African churches could not have prepared him for.

“I am conscious of the many people who still live without the light of the Gospel,” Jean writes. “I want to do my part in reaching them.”

Pray for Jean and Sylvie and other Africans who are currently in training. Pray that God will give them grace and wisdom to learn how to most effectively reach their unreached African friends in remote places—and see their lives and cultures transformed by the power of the Gospel.

Praise God for meeting the funding needs to train Africans for this ministry. Pray that the love and cooperation evidenced by missionaries with African pastors and the African church will exemplify the body of Christ working together for His glory.

Find out how you can train to plant a church among unreached people groups.