Released: April 28, 2006

AIMS Launches a Vision to Reach the World through International Epicenters

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA: After 20 years of cross-cultural ministry, Accelerating International Mission Strategies (AIMS) is refocusing its international mobilization efforts on six key regions. Churches within Africa and Asia are growing faster than ever before. More people have come to Christ in the past 25 years than in the entire history of missions combined. The Church is finally in a position to see the Great Commission realized in this generation, and through focusing resources on these six epicenters, AIMS hopes to create an international harvest force.

"We believe that these epicenters will be focal points through which the earth will be shaken and the unreached will be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ," said Daniel Crosby, president of AIMS.

Our epicenter focus is built on the idea that reaching the heart of a region will enable us to make a bigger impact in the area as a whole. The staff believe that the Horn of Africa, India, the Malay World, Tanzania, and the United States are key regions out of which God will raise up the resources needed to complete the task at hand. As AIMS trains pastors and leaders in the focal centers, the Word of God will spread throughout each region and claim hearts throughout the world in the name of Jesus Christ.

During the past 20 years, AIMS has developed lasting partnerships with key leaders and organizations throughout these six regions that have the potential to greatly increase the Kingdom of God. Throughout the next five years, leaders trained through each epicenter will become strategically involved in advancing the Gospel throughout their respective regions. Leaders in Tanzania plan to initially focus on reaching the 31 remaining unreached people groups within the country and then begin reaching other groups throughout Central Africa.

AIMS will continue to use Equipping for the Harvest conferences to train key leaders and church networks within each region, but each epicenter will have its own unique strategy. Some of these regions have already seen great results on the mission field for Christ. In 2001, AIMS equipped 100 top Ethiopian leaders to train others around the country to mobilize churches within their district. Since then, Ethiopian churches have sent missionaries to all 60 unreached people groups within their country and established a growing church in 35 of those groups. AIMS will focus 80% of its global mobilization efforts on developing these six epicenters, leaving time to develop partnerships and conferences in other regions around the world.

AIMS has proven to be a leader in global mobilization. The organization has equipped more than 75,000 national pastors and businessmen to minister more effectively, produced dozens of seminars, and launched a humanitarian outreach called Compassion Aid Network. As a result, 29 million people have heard the Gospel (many for the very first time), 14,000 churches have been planted in partnership with national denominations and church movements, and more than 2.2 million people have received Jesus Christ!

For reprint information, please call the AIMS publication office at (757) 495-5850 or email the editor at aims@aims.org.

Return to Press Release Index