Short Term Opportunities
Eager to learn more about your place in cross-cultural mission? A short-term assignment is a good place to explore this. Our hope is that AIM short-term volunteers will grow in their vision for cross-cultural ministry, and one day enter full-term ministry. We have developed our assignments to nurture that vision. Short-term assignments help to fulfill long-term goals. Service can be individual placements or in teams. If you have some questions then check out our Frequently Asked Questions before you scroll down to search for opportunities.
If you live in Africa, click here to go to AIM’s African Mobilisation Hub.
Team Placements
Team members will experience the type of work AIM missionaries are involved in with a strong focus on cross-cultural training and learning. You will need to raise your own funds to participate. There are several team programs that run regularly each year including…
Inbound Teams
Africa Inland Mission’s Inbound teams exist to equip participants for a lifetime of service among Africa’s unreached. You can also participate in Inbound for just one year to gauge whether God is calling you to serve long-term.
Upcoming Inbound team opportunities exist in the following countries…
- Uganda
- South Sudan
- Tanzania
- Madagascar
- Kenya
Go – 2 months – Kenya & Tanzania or North Africa
The Go program is designed for young adults. Based in Africa and facilitated by experienced missionaries and national leaders, Go is a two month discipleship and mission training program that seeks to develop Christ-like character and to instill basic skills for outreach among unreached people groups. The program is two weeks of preparation; followed by a five week internship serving among an unreached people group in either Kenya, Tanzania, or North Africa facilitated by one of AIM’s full-term missionaries; then one week of debriefing to include lessons learned, preparing for returning home, and consideration of next steps.
Kenya & Tanzania (June – August)
North Africa (June – August)
FUEL – 6-8 weeks – Madagascar
For young, single men. Each team member will be partnered with a national missionary. Together, you will share in the ups and downs of ministry and day-to-day life and learn more of who you are in Christ and the part you can have in making Him known among the nations.
Madagascar (July – August )
Farm Quest – 3 weeks – Lesotho
This is an introduction to the sustainable agriculture in a ministry context. Held on a demonstration farm run by Growing Nations in Lesotho, southern Africa, Farm Quest provides participants with opportunities to learn Conservation Agriculture as a means of outreach and discipleship. Farm Quest combines classroom learning and hands-on demonstrations.
February – March
ABO Children’s Program – 1 month – Nairobi, Kenya
AIM’s Africa-Based Orientation (ABO) is held three times a year (usually January, July & October) in Kenya for our new missionary personnel. Serve as part of the team that runs the structured children’s program designed to immerse the children of AIM missionaries into life and ministry in Africa at an age-appropriate level.
African Diaspora Dream Teams – 2 weeks – Europe
Each AIM Dream Team provides an opportunity for you to experience diaspora ministry alongside local organisations who are engaged in ongoing diaspora ministry. You will be equipped to share the good news of Jesus in an intentional manner while also serving vulnerable communities in practical ways. You’ll build friendships with African refugees and immigrants who have turned to Europe to find hope and a better life. Many of the people you meet will come from a Muslim background and you may be their first Jesus-following friend. Dream Teams are an excellent way to gain experience in serving people of other cultures as you grow your understanding of the complexities and challenges immigrants face as they move to seek a brighter future. You will also be encouraged as you partner with local Christians who demonstrate their love for Jesus, through a generous spirit of hospitality and a commitment to make Him known to others.
AIM’s Dream Teams are run in a variety of European cities
Click here to go the African Inland Mission Borderless website for more information…
… and/or click here to fill out a Ministry Interest Form.
Short Term Specific Placements
If you have a particular skill, like teaching, building or nursing and you feel God calling you to Africa, AIM could have a placement to suit you. You will live alongside long-term missionaries and be immersed in African life; gaining an insight into different ministries and obtaining a real understanding for life on the mission field. Take a look at some of our current opportunities below and/or fill out a Ministry Interest Form to discuss these and other options. For each of these assignments, you will typically need to be available for a least six months and will need to raise your own funds.
Children and Youth Ministry
47% of Africans are under the age of 18, which means it’s hard to do ministry in Africa without affecting young people. There are so many ways to minister to children & youth in Africa, from working amongst street children, to running a kids club to Sunday school lessons! Our desire in all of these activities is to share Jesus, make him known and encourage children in their own walk with him.
Outreach and Church Development
We have outreach opportunities in both remote rural regions and dense urban centres. We need people who are passionate about developing relationships and eager to share Jesus, to go to those who have never heard. Church development work can mean being involved in fledgling churches, supporting new church leaders as they seek to be godly role models, or helping to develop discipleship methods. It can also mean providing theological education, or hosting seminars where church leaders can learn from each other within the ever changing context of many parts of Africa Current Outreach and Church Development opportunities…
Teaching in National schools or Home-schooling
Africa needs teachers desperately within their national schools; and AIM need teachers to come and home-school their missionary’s children. At the same time, you can be a light for Jesus Christ in word and deed to those who represent the future of Africa. If you have a gift for teaching others and a heart for young people, AIM has many opportunities that will enable you to exercise those gifts while investing in the lives of others – and in the future of a continent. You will need to be available for a least six months and will need to raise your own funds.
Support and Pastoral Care
Missions requires a team effort, and many of AIM’s personnel play a vital role in our overall ministry through the support services they provide. Some are pilots, flying supplies into remote airstrips. Others make sure our computers and communication systems stay up and running. AIM need Counsellors, Administrators and Media Producers and much more to enable us to work towards the goal of Christ-centred church among all African people.
Community Development
Many African communities lack basic necessities like clean drinking water, a good supply of firewood, adequate buildings, or nourishing vegetables from a healthy garden. If you have skills in Community Development, Construction or Agriculture, AIM has opportunities for you to make a difference in Jesus’ name. Community development work goes hand in hand with our desire to see Christ-centred churches among all African people. Not merely as an inroad to facilitate our mission work, but as a goal in itself. Our heart is to see people’s whole lives redeemed by the love of Christ, and communities changed as people understand their value in God’s eyes. AIM personnel work to improve communities by teaching improved farming methods, finding reliable water supplies, teaching reforestation methods, and through community health education.
Creative Access
In many countries across Africa, Africa Inland Mission are looking for ‘creative’ ways to ‘Access’ countries where being a traditional Missionary is not welcome. To do this AIM are looking for people with valuable skills and professions, as a mean to connect, evangelise and make disciples of unreached people groups. Whatever you do for your ‘job’ at home, with a bit of modification you could probably do it in a creative access area. Do you have a heart to serve in a creative access nation? Do you have professional skills and experiences you could use to connect with locals and share with them the Good News of Jesus Christ? Our opportunities can’t be published online, to find out more about Creative Access opportunities, fill out an Inquiry Form.
Theology Education and Discipleship
There is a great need to equip African church leaders, preachers and evangelists so that they can serve their churches well and be a part of reaching the unreached through Biblical teaching and Christlike discipleship. AIM puts a high priority on providing and supporting theological education through Bible colleges and seminaries and through lay leadership programs like Theological Education by Extension (TEE). Discipleship opportunities exist in all of AIM’s ministries and are central to our leadership training ministries. You will need to be available for a least six months and will need to raise your own funds.
Healthcare Ministry
Africa Inland Mission’s medical ministries take on many forms, from mobile clinics providing basic medical care in isolated communities to work in large hospitals providing complex surgeries, longer-term care, education, and prevention. In addition to meeting incredible physical needs, AIM’s medical ministries play a central role in opening doors for other ministries, being a Christian witness to unreached people groups and in developing Christ-centred churches in Africa.
Short Term 4 to 8 week Medical Elective program: We are able to provide a limited number of medical elective slots for students preparing to be medical doctors. Numbers are limited because of AIM’s desire to train national health care workers and give priority to them within the hospitals in which we work. Contact us well in advance of your needed placement and we will let you know if there is a spot available.
