How your Arizona church can be ready to meet needs overseas

Two years ago, Ashley Evans traveled to Sub-Saharan Africa as part of a vision trip with a group of pastors to see how Arizona churches can use practical skills to meet needs and share the gospel.

While there, Evans, now the missional engagement director for the Arizona Mission Network, connected with Jackson*, an International Mission Board missionary who oversees teams in Central Africa.

As Jackson and his team share the gospel in countries such as Zambia and Mozambique, they aim to train and send out local believers to share with people in their own communities, while also equipping those believers with the job skills they need to support themselves.

Jackson showed Evans one example of how he tries to meet this need.

In 2024, Jackson used funds from Send Relief to purchase a generator and grinder wheel to offer a tool sharpening service to a community. As Jackson and a local pastor worked together, one sharpened tools for community members while the other shared the gospel. This gave the pastor a way to learn a skill, engage the community and support his family.

Building relationships

Arizona churches can assist projects like these by sending individuals skilled in various trades to help mission teams in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, planning a mission trip is no easy thing, and specific projects are often only available for a short time. Because preparing to send a team overseas for the first time can take at least three to six months, projects can disappear before churches are ready to participate.

That’s why building relationships with missionaries is so important.

“The best way to know about what might be coming is … to develop and maintain a relationship with a missionary so you know what their ongoing needs are and how to support them,” Evans said.

Providing job skills training allows volunteers to help equip local believers and leaders to support themselves and their ministries. (Photo courtesy of Jackson)

 The Arizona connection

The good news is that churches in the Arizona Mission Network have ties to Sub-Saharan Africa that go back decades.

Missionaries John and Wanne Dina once lived in Phoenix and attended Royal Palms Baptist Church. When the Dinas chose to serve with the IMB in Sub-Saharan Africa, they maintained their relationships with Arizona pastors and churches.

While serving in Mozambique, John worked with Jackson and his wife, ultimately connecting them to Arizona. The couple has been in Mozambique for 14 years and has partnered with Arizona churches in the past.

“Partnership is an important part of our ministry,” Jackson said. “We are actively seeking skilled tradespeople, business owners and professionals.”

They also need people to help with theological education, evangelism and discipleship, he added.

The power of partnership

Jackson’s vision for partnership includes working with several churches to provide a six-week training experience. Each church could send a small team for a week, with another church team taking a turn the following week. Teams could consist of people skilled in various trades including, “welders, mechanics, bakers, seamstresses, craftsmen or others with practical vocational expertise,” he said.

Over the course of five weeks, these teams could provide training to national ministry partners to equip them with the skills they need. The final week, the focus would shift to entrepreneurship and small business development. During this week, business owners and professionals could help the partners learn how to turn their vocational skills into businesses that could support their families.

As your church seeks to discover the next place you can serve, consider the value of the different skills your church members possess. The Lord is using people and their gifts and skills in creative ways in Sub-Saharan Africa. Could this be your “Next”?

*Name changed for security.

Chelsea Bush, a freelance writer living in Phoenix, is a member of Foothills Baptist Church, Phoenix.