What does Church mean to you?
For many of us, church is familiar, and it likely has always been there. Church is a rhythm of life—Sunday mornings, midweek groups, kids church. Familiar faces and songs. It’s where we hear the Word of God and are encouraged in our faith. It’s where we worship. It’s community, friendships and support. A place to belong.
The Church itself is not a building, nor a denomination and not limited by geography. It is the Body of Christ — a living, spiritual community of believers around the world who trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, spanning across continents and cultures.
But in many places in Africa, church often looks very different. In some places, it gathers under trees or in flimsy tin structures. In others, it needs to meet in secret. And in far too many places, there is no church at all.
Yet God is building his Church. One Church, many places. From South Sudan to Mozambique, from ancient cities in North Africa to African communities in bustling capitals across the world, worship is rising where there was once silence. Believers are stepping out in faith—planting churches, reaching their neighbours and bringing light to dark places.
Walking with God
Imagine a place where your faith, if discovered, could mean danger — where following Jesus might cost you your life. A place where faith burns like a gentle flame in the dark, fragile and desperately hoping not to be seen.
In the Horn of Africa, church looks different. We use the phrase ‘creative access’ for nations where there is great hostility towards Christianity. In such places, gathering openly is not an option — but walking is. Prayer walks have become important; through markets and neighbourhoods, praying for people’s hearts, and asking God to open doors for the gospel.
Living in a country where almost the entire population is Muslim, our workers can only meet as foreigners among foreigners. Local believers cannot openly join without facing serious persecution. Despite challenges, God is at work. Some local believers meet in small, secret groups or join our teams on these walks to encourage them to gather and grow in their faith. Prayer walks become sacred routines and shared moments become quiet fellowship where soft-spoken prayers drift heavenward. Where local believers find both courage and communion.
Taking ownership
To some, it’s just wooden beams, nails, rope, and corrugated iron pieced together. But to the believers, it’s a place to gather, grow and shine with the light of Christ.
South Sudan has endured decades of instability and conflict, driven by resource struggles and political and ethnic rivalries. Since independence, the country has teetered on the brink of renewed violence, with deep-rooted tensions threatening full-scale civil war.
Yet, in this fragile land, among an unreached people group, something beautiful is happening. AIM missionaries have served this village for over a decade, and now courageous believers—once the ones hearing the gospel— have risen to help it take root in their own community. They gave and brought wood, the missionaries added nails and corrugated sheets, and they have built their own church. A remarkable testament to the resilience of the Christian faith amid chaos and conflict.
Some walk over an hour each Sunday to attend, and one key leader, a blind man, is passionate and, despite his inability to read, has an extraordinary knowledge of the Word. This simple building symbolises both a gospel breakthrough and a deep shift from dependence on missionaries to local leadership, and from being unreached to reaching others.
More than a building
When a cyclone swept through a remote village in Mozambique, it left devastation in its wake. The little tin church was no match for the storm’s fury.
Rather than succumbing to despair, the congregation gathered at the very site where their church had stood. Amid the debris, the congregation worshipped under open skies, offering prayers of gratitude. The building was gone, but the church—the body of believers—was very much alive. Their worship did not cease and neither did their faith.
In this remote part of Mozambique, where traditional beliefs, Islam, and witchcraft are entangled, planting a church is no small feat. It begins with someone willing to go—someone ready to learn the culture and language. And then a “person of peace” must be found, someone open to receiving the gospel and sharing it with their family. Then the family need to be discipled and challenged to risk rejection and to witness to their friends and call them to join in fellowship. Through intentional relationships, small fellowships are forming. Here, whether under the roof of a tin church or the vast Mozambique sky, the body of Christ is alive and growing.
Hope in the Islamic quarters
In the heart of an ancient city, where minarets pierce the skyline and the call to prayer echoes through narrow alleyways, God is at work.
Church planting in North Africa demands more than just courage—it calls for deep-rooted perseverance, creativity and a daily dependence on God amid persecution. Daily, our workers immerse themselves in Scripture and prayer, seeking wisdom, learning the language and customs to reach those around them. They gather in small groups to intercede for their neighbours and meet weekly, discreetly, to worship.
In a city of 1.3 million people, there is just one Protestant church building—and even that has become unsafe to use. Given the predominantly Muslim population and legal restrictions on Christian worship, this congregation is the only permitted in the city. For now, our team has stepped away from that place, unsure of what the future holds. Yet, hope stirs.
Our team is involved in a church building project where, surprisingly, government leaders have shown support. Though this may be a way to maintain control and local believers will be prohibited from attending, it is also clear evidence that God is at work—even in the hardest places. Who would have imagined we’d be part of establishing a church, a home where Christ’s body can gather, grow, and shine, in North Africa?
Beyond the walls
In a bustling community in Europe, a church welcomes immigrants and refugees, offering practical support and genuine love.
This church has found its mission in the heart of a diverse estate. Surrounded by immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from all over the world, this church is committed to making a tangible difference. For many years, church members have been actively involved in meeting the needs of their neighbours, from helping with employment and housing issues to teaching English and offering legal support.
Instead of waiting for people to walk into the church, the church community meets people where they are – in the community centre and through prayer walks. Though the local community is often hesitant to step into a church building, the church members have built relationships by showing love, sharing practical support and opening up conversations about faith.
Through outreach events and ongoing personal connections, the church is seeing God open doors. As the church continues to step outside their comfort zones, they’re encouraged by the growing trust and openness in the community.
A church that cannot be contained
In a remote corner of Uganda, 50 to 100 believers gather—some walking miles—to worship together under the sparse shade of a tree. There are no walls, no roof, no pulpit. Just a stretch of ground and the eager voices of God’s people lifting praise.
Many are new believers, full of passion but lacking formal training. There’s no sound system, and often not even a Bible to read from. Still, they come. They sing. They pray. They share stories of what God is doing in their lives. They are hungry for the Word, desperate to know the One who has rescued them.
Pastors here are doing all they can, many of them shepherding several congregations at once. They carry the weight of discipleship on tired shoulders, knowing the harvest is ready but the workers are few. And yet, people are responding to the gospel and the church is growing. Like a shoot breaking through dry ground.
What they need is simple: Bibles in their hands and teachers in their heart language.
From mission field to mission force
Born out of the work of Africa Inland Mission from 1895, the Africa Inland Church (AIC) Kenya has grown into a dynamic, indigenous denomination deeply rooted in Kenyan culture.
With a network of churches and ministries across the country, not to mention those that spilled into other African countries, AIC Kenya is committed to holistic transformation, addressing both spiritual and physical needs. They are not only training pastors, but today they also provide disaster relief and community development through initiatives in healthcare and education.
Drought conditions have persisted in northern Kenya, with inadequate rainfall devastating pastures for nearly two decades. Amid drought, displacement, and systemic poverty the AIC and AIM deliver food and water to unreached communities in the Hurri Hills. Recipients embraced the gospel after witnessing the church’s tangible care: “No one has cared for us like you do”.
The AIC’s relief efforts—from evacuating Sudanese refugees to training African missionaries—prioritise indigenous leadership. In Kenya, seminaries equip pastors to address poverty and persecution, while lay leaders devote their time to visiting the sick and preaching.
These initiatives reflect a significant shift, as communities once dependent on outside aid are now spearheading their own transformation, leading and serving their own communities through training pastors, providing disaster relief and driving community development.
Igniting missionary zeal
In Madagascar, a vibrant Christian community is emerging, yet many believers lack the resources and guidance to answer God’s call to missions. Discover how AIM is partnering with local churches to ignite missionary zeal and empower Malagasy believers to reach the unreached.
In 2024, a Malagasy couple approached AIM workers in Madagascar, burning with a desire to preach the gospel in a closed country. However, they faced significant hurdles: church approval, financial support and uncertainty about life in a new culture. This is a common challenge, as many Malagasy churches lack awareness of the Great Commission and struggle with limited resources.
To address this, AIM members formed the Madagascar Mobilisation Committee. Their goal is to envision, equip and help Malagasy churches to send long-term, cross-cultural missionaries. This involves raising awareness within the Malagasy Church, walking alongside churches with prospective missionaries and assisting with logistics, immigration and member care. One denomination has even established a missions training school and invited the committee to teach their students. The team’s passion is to see God’s Church in Madagascar raise up passionate missionaries to spread the gospel for his glory.
And in many places...there is no church!
For many of us, church can feel like a given, but for many people across Africa there’s no church down the road.
No building to walk into. No gospel witness. No fellowship. No pastor. No one to preach. No worship. No Bible in your own heart language. No one to pray with you, cry with you, rejoice with you. No one to stand beside you in faith or to remind you of who Jesus is and what he’s done.
They lack a community of believers. A place where Christ is known and made known.
This is why mission still matters.
So, until every person has access to a Christ-centred, Bible-believing, gospel-preaching, disciple-making, Spirit-filled church…the Church must go.
Let us be the church where there is no church
Through prayer, giving, going and sending, you can help awaken worship among unreached people groups and see Christ-centred churches established where none exist. We get to witness God’s promise being fulfilled—
“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my scattered people will bring offerings for worship” (Zephaniah 3:10).”
Here is how you can be involved...
Pray
Prayer isn’t preparation for the work—it is the work. Are you an intercessor, ready to stand in the gap for those going and yet to hear?
Give
Supporting Africa Inland Mission helps facilitate Christ-centred church planting across Africa and among all of Africa’s unreached people groups.
Send
Can you and your church champion those ready to go—encouraging, equipping and sending them to be the hands and feet of Jesus where the Church is not yet?
Go
Could God be calling you to go? To serve, to immerse yourself in another culture, to learn a new language, and be the light where the Church is yet to rise?
Give
These stories are presented in a generalised form for illustrative purposes. To protect the identities of individuals and the integrity of ministries, names, people groups, locations, and specific details have been changed or omitted.