TIMO brings teams of 3 to 12 new missionaries into places of engagement with Africa’s unreached people groups. With the guidance of an experienced team leader, and at times, working with national church partners, each team sets out to learn language and culture as they work through TIMO’s specialized curriculum. With an emphasis on church planting, TIMO provides practical hands-on training while engaging in real, transformational ministry: what you learn in the books you read and the papers you write is reinforced in your day-to-day life as you engage with your community.

TIMO is about training cross-cultural workers in context.

Some teams are in towns, some are in cities, some are rural, and some are really off the beaten path. While many teams serve among a specific people group, others live in crossroads-communities where multiple people groups can be impacted. Depending on the context, a team may focus on pioneering church planting among unreached people groups, or work with a greater emphasis on mobilizing and partnering with nearby churches to accomplish this work. Every TIMO team is seen as a strategic part of AIM’s greater work.

TIMO is about foundations.

Through deep relationships and active discipleship, teams lay the foundations for reproducing churches where they minister. And in the process of learning and doing ministry, team members themselves gain a foundation of knowledge and experience for long-term engagement with Africa’s unreached peoples.

For over 30 years, TIMO has been a doorway to long-term ministry for those who feel called to go, but don’t yet feel equipped for the task.

Go with a heart for planting churches among the unreached. Become a vessel shaped and refined for the Great Commission…

rooted

We start from a place of deep and personal relationship with Christ, and consistently return to this place in the daily unfolding of ministry. Everything flows from this. Communion with Christ, commitment to his Word, reflection, repentance, prayer: these nurture the roots of our outward expression of ministry to those around us.

compelled

Compelled by Christ’s love, we love, pray for, and proclaim the gospel to Africa’s Unreached – those who have little or no access to the good news. Through pioneering ministry efforts and partnerships with African churches, our desire is for reproducing local churches to spring up as agents for spiritual growth and the advance of God’s kingdom.

emptied

We remember that our sufficiency comes from Christ. We serve by his grace, and submit to his will. At times, our service will call us to sacrifice – and even suffer – for the sake of the unreached and the glory of God. Filled with the Spirit, we present ourselves as empty vessels, putting aside our dreams and desires for the cause of Christ.

reliant

Teams are the heart of how we function. We never go alone, acknowledging the value of dependence and the beauty of fellowship laid out for us in God’s design. We need one another: For living and learning, for encouragement, to sharpen, carry burdens, and share in the triumphs. We not only rely on our teammates; but also the local church and the host community. Our love and unity testify of the One we proclaim.

present

We show up, stay long, and go deep. Seeking to reach people in their context determines where and how we live. We come ready to embrace a simpler lifestyle and are committed to learning the language and culture – that we may reflect Christ as we dwell, invested and sincere, in the midst of a people who need to see Him.

relational

Ministry is always centered on people. We seek meaningful relationships marked by love, compassion, and trust – with teammates, national church partners, and in the friendships we foster among our host culture. We offer more than just our gifts or knowledge. We make ourselves vulnerable and offer our whole selves.

curious

We come as learners – humble, patient, with open hearts and minds. From the daily lessons in stumbling through language and life’s incidentals, to focused curriculum that informs the present and prepares us for future ministry – we are eager students of all that God, our teammates, and the host culture have to teach us.

luminous

A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Our faith is courageous and contagious, spilling over into a life that speaks the gospel in words, actions, and everyday life. Our motivations, attitudes, relationships, steadfast presence, team dynamics, and inner life reflect the light of our redeemer and hope, Jesus Christ.