TIMO is Training In Ministry Outreach. It is a two-year programme that trains new cross-cultural workers from around the world to do ministry in Africa. Joining TIMO, you’ll be part of a team of cross-cultural workers which has an experienced couple serving as team leaders. With a common goal of sharing Christ, you’ll live together as learners among an unreached people group. As a team member you’ll learn how to learn a language, then put into practice what you learned. You’ll discover methods of outreach—creative ways to reach out Christ’s love in word and deed. Every day you’ll put into practice what you learn—theory will be fleshed out as you live and interact with your host people group. TIMO has also a required reading curriculum and there will be papers to write. All of this is an integral part of building a solid foundation for a lifetime of ministry.
Compelled by Christ’s love for Africa’s Unreached People Groups, TIMO exists to plant reproducing churches by training gospel-centred teams from the global church.
Compelled by Christ’s love
What motivates us? It is Christ’s love, made clear in the gospel that compels us to participate in the mission of God for his glory. And so, we train people to plant churches among the unreached. These three priorities are seared into our souls because of Christ’s love for us and for the unreached.
Africa’s Unreached People Groups
There are over 1000 identified unreached people groups in Africa alone. We are committed to doing whatever we can to provide access to the gospel for those who have the least opportunity of hearing the good news of Jesus Christ.
To plant
This is why we exist. We are committed to the planting of new churches. To plant means to show up, to learn, work the spiritual ground, till the soil, plant the seeds, water the seeds and watch Jesus do his miracle of creating new life. We are committed to being faithful to our task of making disciples who make disciples who make disciples, and to catalysing this work where others will carry it on.
Reproducing churches
A plant that does not reproduce is a plant that is dying. We want to see churches that plant churches that plant churches. We long for gospel centered, missional communities to dot the landscape of Africa and to be a vibrant part of the global church, sent from Africa to their neighbours and to the world.
Training
Training new cross cultural workers is integral to seeing churches planted among the unreached people groups of Africa. We train new workers’ heads, hearts and hands to serve faithfully and effectively in the harvest field.
Gospel-centred
The gospel is the centre of all that we do and all that we are. We have nothing worth sharing with anyone without it. At our core, the gospel saves us, transforms us, enables us to love God and neighbour and motivates us to mission as individuals and as teams.
Teams
TIMO is about teams. Teamship is one of our values. A team is a small number of people with complementary gifts who are committed to each other, a common purpose, and a set of values to live by. A healthy team holds each other accountable to these commonly held beliefs.
From the global church
Jesus’ church is a global church. Our team members and team leaders come from everywhere and anywhere in the world, serving together for the sake of the unreached of Africa. We are committed to forming new partnerships with people from the global church, especially among our African brothers and sisters. We are committed to serving alongside and learning from all of these global partners.
Chris and Beka both grew up in Africa with a desire to share the good news of Christ with unreached African people groups. Having led teams on the Indian Ocean Islands for 15 years, they are passionate about the role and importance of teams. Their work now includes coordinating AIM’s Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) teams. So, what’s a TIMO team?
Steve Orner shares about the ministry among the Antakarana following the completion of the TIMO team on the island of Nosy Mitsio in Madagascar.
Simon and Sue French look back on their experiences serving on a TIMO team from 2005 until 2007 among the Datooga in Tanzania. After the team ended, they stayed in Tanzania to serve the new churches until 2018. They tell us what the benefits of serving on a multi-cultural team.
A new TIMO team began ministry in South Sudan at the end of last year. They share about their location and their vision.
How do you run a TIMO team in a creative access location? We asked one of our former creative access workers and TIMO team leaders to share their thoughts.
AIM is starting a new team in Kondoa beginning in July 2020, partnering with the Africa Inland Church Tanzania. Led by Jared and Megan Hood, AIM missionaries from the US, the team will focus on lifestyle and proclamation evangelism and discipleship.
