From Mission Field To Mission Force
In 1999, a friend of mine from Eswatini told me that he was called to be a missionary in Mozambique. That same year, he ministered with us for a month in Massinga, Inhambane. In 2001, another friend of mine (a Mozambican) told me that God was calling him to be a missionary to Uganda.
Missionary calls are strange in our context and worldview since “being a missionary” has been more of a “white man’s enterprise.” Missions has been seen as what outsiders have come to do to evangelize to our people. The idea of us going beyond, to make disciples of all nations, has been more theory than practice.
In 2011, I was appointed as the National Director of Missions for The Wesleyan Church (TWC) in Mozambique even though we didn’t fully understand missions. By God’s grace, I started mobilizing the Mozambican Church for cross-cultural missions beyond our borders.
In 2012, I had the privilege of sharing at Emmanuel Wesleyan Bible College’s “Missions Emphasis Week,” where seven students professed their missionary calling. Later, more expressed a call in Mozambique in 2014 (14 youths) and again in South Africa in 2019 (nine). During this period, Malawi became a mission field. The Church in Mozambique was ecstatic and we began to face the new challenges of doing ministry in a strange land.
Although it was a great joy to see young people respond positively to their missionary calling, it became a challenge as I repeatedly saw their passion and commitment die and become a memory of yesteryear. Something was missing.
In 2018, I enrolled at Bethany Global University to search for ways to better do missions in our context. I discovered that one of the things we lacked was relevant structures, but I feared that creating them could kill(or limit) the bigger vision God had laid on my heart. I couldn’t see how to go about it until I met with Nikki Nettleton from Global Partners, a fellow student in one of my classes.
During a Zoom call, Nikki sensed my concerns and the magnitude of the vision and asked me a key question, “Who else should be invited into this process?” God used that to lead me to two people who had the same heart and passion – Rev. Doctor Galela (Regional Superintendent of the Southern Africa Region of TWC) and Rev. Thabsile Thwala (TWC National Superintendent in Eswatini). 
Together, we drafted the “Mission Sending Path Framework” to guide how to move from being a mission field to a mission force.
Our vision is to be a responsible and faithful mission force, accelerating the spread of the Gospel and make disciples from Everywhere to Everywhere in accordance with the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18- 20. Our mission is to mobilize every local church to participate in reaching unreached people groups and strengthen existing mission work among unreached people groups. The following are our objectives:
- Establish National and Regional Mission Structures
- Regional Mission Emphasis
- Raise Up and Train Missionaries
- Provide Participation Opportunities
The fire is spreading! We have grown from being the vision of three nations to six: Mozambique, South Africa, Eswatini, Zambia, Kenya and Uganda. In April 2023, we held our first “Everywhere to Everywhere Mission Conference.”
OUR MISSION IS TO MOBILIZE EVERY LOCAL CHURCH TO PARTICIPATE IN REACHING UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS AND STRENGTHEN EXISTING MISSION WORK AMONG UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUPS.
One hundred thirty-five leaders from five nations attended, and a mission task force of 17 people was put together to spread the vision and lead a movement of prayer for unreached people groups. Zambia is on the verge of sending its first commissioned missionary. Together we are focused on planting churches among the Yao people of Malawi and partnering with Operation Mobilization for missionary training.
Our vision is compelling. Our mission is clear. Our baseline purpose is to reach unreached people groups with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ in accordance with Matthew 28:18-20. We are moving from a mission field to a mission force!