Teach English & plant churches on an Indian Ocean Island

Could you use your TEFL skills to build relationships, share the gospel and plant churches with a team on an Indian Ocean Island?

Background

Our organisation has been serving on the Islands for about 40 years, meeting the country’s development needs by providing volunteers who serve in areas such as medical work, education, indigenous language resource development, and agriculture. In the last decade the approach has moved towards using teams to increase our impact on communities.

Vision and Strategy

We want to see reproducing, indigenous churches throughout the Indian Ocean Islands. We want to see these built through relational seed-sowing, intentional transforming discipleship, and empowerment of the local church. We hope to realise this vision through working in towns across the northern coast of one particular island.

Ministry and type of work

Teaching English is the primary way that this team serves their community and is building relationships.

We approach this ministry as a team. A team is the incarnation of the body of believers, a collection of individuals with different talents contributing towards a common goal: the glory of God on the Islands. Teams fortify and sustain our faith, model Christ-centred communities that worship together, and achieve goals that lone individuals cannot.

This team helps us to grow together in knowledge, wisdom and maturity through the weekly study of a curriculum, good discussion and accountability. Towards this end, the team will pursue a “medium” intensity curriculum of study together.

Experience & Qualifications

The most important characteristic for team members is of a life abiding in Christ with clear evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in their daily interactions. We value this above all others.

All team members are required to have either professional teaching experience OR have completed a TESL certificate with at least 12 hours observation or experience. We can provide recommendations of online courses as needed.

Ideally it would be good if you also had:

Prior experience working among Muslims
Prior experience with a church planting team or other types of ministry teams
Prior experience working on the Indian Ocean Islands
Knowledge of other languages especially French, Swahili, or other Bantu languages

Language learning is often a step than can be completed during workers’ preparation to go to the field, although any language skills you have already will beof benefit to you and the team.

Other Information

When can I join? Anytime from now onwards!

FAQS

How long does the application process take? How soon can I be on the field?

The long term application process normally takes between six to twelve months, with at least another six months following acceptance into AIM to raise support before going out to the field.

Our aim is to be thorough and diligent and we want to make sure, so far as we are able, that our missionaries are of a suitable calibre, have an assignment which is appropriate to their skills and giftings, and that they are adequately trained and equipped in order to be able to thrive and be effective in the ministry that they are called to.

Listen to missionaries talking about their preparation:

What are the education options for my children?

We’ll work with you to explore the best education options available for your children. Some families homeschool their children, some enrol their children at one of AIM’s schools as boarders or day students (Rift Valley Academy in Kenya, Wellspring Academy in Chad or Haven of Peace Academy in Tanzania), and some enrol their children in a national school.

Hannah who now works at Wellspring Academy talks about the role of missionary teachers:

How do I raise support?

We believe that God will provide for those he is leading into cross-cultural mission with AIM. The first step is to be praying, and to share your needs with your church and supporters, so that they can be praying with you that your needs would be met. Once your assignment is agreed and confirmed, a detailed budget is prepared for you which outlines the overall amount needed to be raised or pledged for your first term (2-3 years depending on location). You will need to have 100% of this amount pledged before you can travel.

The budget is shared with your sending church and we will work with you and your church to help you think about this further. Our European Based Orientation programme provides some training on partnership development, and we will provide other resources for you to share with potential supporters too, such as a prayer card, a page on our website with an online giving form and a standing order form (if needed).

Listen to a pastor talking about offering support:

Indian Ocean Island Team Leader

On the islands we now all work in teams, recognising that we cannot do this work alone. To stay here long term we need one another. Together we achieve goals we couldn’t do alone, we sustain and fortify one another’s faith, and our unity is part of our witness.

Interested? Get in Touch

Long term ( Over a year )

Our passion is to see Christ-centred churches among all African peoples. Currently there are over 1,000 people groups in Africa or 316 million people, who are waiting to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Our vision is to engage with these unreached people, partner with churches in Africa to raise up gospel workers and equip African church leaders to strengthen the church. Could you play a part?. LEARN MORE

Indian Ocean Islands

These beautiful tropical islands are 99.9% Muslim and for security reasons we refer to this area as the ‘Indian Ocean Islands’ rather than naming individual islands. Islam is deeply rooted on these islands and to be an islander is to be a Muslim. There are a small number of believers on each island but many follow Jesus secretly for fear of rejection and persecution.

LEARN MORE

Church Planting

Our desire isn’t just that there will be individual Christians among every people group in Africa but that there would be Christ-centred churches among all African peoples. LEARN MORE

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