Luke Herrinย
In Acts 18:10, the Lord told Paul that he should keep speaking clearly because he
Taking the good news of Jesus to Africaโs hardest to reach people does not always mean a move to Africa.
Today, millions of Africans live outside of Africa: in North America, Europe, and around the globe โ the African diaspora. There are pockets of Sudanese in Nebraska, Moroccans in the Netherlands, and Senegalese in Spain. Reaching out to these populations, and others like them, is called diaspora ministry.
Godโs original call on AIM was to go to the โInlandsโ; Africaโs unreached; those who have yet to hear of the saving gospel of Christ. Many of those people groups remain unreached because they are difficult to access; because of their geographical location or increasingly, because adherence to Islam means that traditional mission work is not possible in their countries. But now, people in those locations are coming to us.
Thousands of Africans are journeying every month. Some are moving for economic reasons, some are escaping political oppression, and others are seeking to avoid religious persecution. Africans also come as students or as international employees.
AIMโs Diaspora Outreach Teams serve in strategic communities where significant populations of ethnic Africans live, and we seek partnerships with Christ-centered, biblically-based churches. Working in cooperation with these churches, AIM missionaries have a unique opportunity to build relationships and share the hope of Christ with people groups we would not normally have the opportunity to work among.
In Acts 18:10, the Lord told Paul that he should keep speaking clearly because he

Bring your gifts and skills to a TIMO team sharing the gospel with unreached Africans right here in Europe. You will be prepared and equipped for a lifetime of minstry, as you live and serve among African diaspora people in Belgium.

A missionary couple share the blessings and challenge of working among Africans in the UK.ย

If you were to walk along the streets of Cardiff, it wouldnโt take long for you to notice the ethnic and religious diversity.

What has changed in 125 years? Missionaries from the early 1900s would not recognise much about the AIM of 2020. And todayโs missionaries might not recognise the AIM of 2050. Or even 2030.

Bringing the Good News of Jesus to Africaโs hardest to reach people does not always mean a move to Africa.