AIM’s Values

God-Centered:

  • We acknowledge the absolute and final authority of God and His Word in all things.
  • We believe that our highest calling is to bring God the glory and worship He so richly deserves.
  • We are committed to being disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • We embrace the essential role of individual and corporate prayer.
  • We depend upon God as the ultimate provider for our spiritual and material needs.
  • We recognize the centrality of the local church in the plan of God.

Ministry Focused:

  • We are committed to making disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • We are committed to establishing maturing churches among unreached peoples.
  • We are committed to developing Christ-like leaders.
  • We believe that ministries are enhanced through a lifestyle consistent with the ministry context.
  • We are committed to learning local languages as an essential tool for effective ministry.
  • We express the life of Christ through teaching and practical demonstrations of His compassion.
  • We enter into partnerships with churches as an autonomous, nondenominational, mission organization.
  • We hold that integrity is essential in all that we do both as a mission and as individuals.
  • We look to the Lord in faith to supply all our needs while sharing information appropriately.
  • We cooperate with like-minded organizations to enhance accomplishing our purpose.

Member Oriented:

  • We are an organization governed by and accountable to its members whose opinions regarding ministry direction are valued by those in leadership.
  • We acknowledge that decisions are generally best made by those closest to the ministry.
  • We respect God’s personal guidance in the life of individuals.
  • We respect the role of mission leadership and seek to identify, equip, and empower servant leaders.
  • We value our families and commit ourselves to maintaining and enhancing the well being of our marriages and our children.
  • We are committed to help each member grow as they are transformed into the image of Christ.

css hidden

AIM Statement on Racism

In God’s grace, the message of the kingdom that missionaries helped take to Africa has become yeast that has transformed the lives of millions. It continues to grow. Like a mustard seed, tiny in places but determined, it can be smothered, crushed, set back, but it keeps growing. It grows despite, or because of, its weakness. In large swathes of Africa, it has become ‘the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that birds can perch in its shade’ (Mark 4:32).

The glorious gospel, that we as followers of Jesus share, starts with our sovereign creator God making mankind in his image. Each person created with equal dignity. The Bible is clear that all people should be treated with equal value. Racism – prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, even if done unconsciously – is contrary to the gospel. It is sinful.

As you read the history of the growth of the church in Africa, there is no shortage of evidence of mission agencies and individual missionaries displaying attitudes and behaviors that do not reflect our calling as followers of Jesus, to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39). There have been times in AIM’s 125 year history when racism has occurred; we are not immune to racist attitudes and behaviors today. We reject them and repent of them.

In obedience to Christ, and spurred on by the fact that there are millions of Africans still living and dying without an opportunity to hear of Christ, we cannot keep the gospel to ourselves. We proclaim Jesus to the lost in multi-cultural teams, working together as equals, bound together through our unity in Christ. We partner with Africans and African churches as they pioneer work among unreached populations. We go, as Jesus commanded, as an overflow of God’s love to us, a love that cannot be contained.