Our Vision for the Next Five Years
The Road Ahead | Ethiopia & East Africa Regional House Church Planting Initiative
We envision reproducing, locally led churches taking root among every unreached people group across Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa, and East Africa — each one grounded in Scripture, led by its own people, and known for tangible love toward its neighbors.
Multiplying simple house churches through relational discipleship.
We plant simple, reproducible house churches through personal evangelism and relational discipleship, training local believers to lead and multiply that work themselves. We create and translate Christian teaching, audio, and video content in the mother-tongue languages our communities actually use, paired with practical care — clean water, health education, and literacy.
People, not programs — starting from natural relationship networks.
Everything we do starts with people, not programs. We build on existing relationships and community networks, gathering new believers into small, resilient house fellowships led by their own neighbors — a model that travels easily into rural villages, cities, and mobile communities alike, thriving even where buildings and formal structures aren't possible.
Young Adult Church Planting
Targeted urban hubs in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar.
Leader Development (500 Goal)
Developing 500 trained local church leaders across the wider ministry within five years.
Three New Primary Schools
Foundational classroom facilities established as a cornerstone of holistic community presence.
Healthcare Evangelism
Pairing basic medical outreach and maternal care with living Gospel witness.
Clean Water Initiatives
Meeting life-saving tangible needs through deep water wells alongside home church multiplication.
Northern Uganda Church Planting
Pioneering decentralised fellowships among unreached refugee and border communities.
Scaling Across 9 Zones & 15+ People Groups
Over the past three years, these teams have planted 871 house churches and trained 1,966 leaders. The plan ahead extends that same model into 9 zones toward roughly 6,300 house churches region-wide.
| Zone | Key People Groups | 5-Year Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Tigray | Tigrayan, Saho (Irob), Kunama | 1,580 |
| Gojjam | Amhara, Awi (Agew), Woyto | 1,150 |
| Gonder | Amhara, Qemant, Tigrayan | 950 |
| Benishangul-Gumuz | Gumuz, Berta (UPG), Shinasha | 720 |
| North Shewa | Amhara, Argobba (UPG) | 450 |
| Tulema Oromo | Tulema Oromo | 420 |
| Somali Region (Ethiopia) | Somali sub-clans (frontier UPG) | 380 |
| Hararghe Oromo | Hararghe Oromo (Harar, Dire Dawa, Chiro, Gelemso, Babille) | 450 |
| Somaliland | Somali clans (Hargeisa, Berbera, Burao, Borama) | 200 |
| Total, All Zones | 9 Frontline Regions · 15+ People Groups | 6,300 |
135 Leadership Pipeline
Multiplication happens along a disciplined, 3-stage generational leadership pathway. Leaders reproduce leaders up to 4 generations deep before commissioning:
Church Multiplier
Starts churches that produce other churches, up to four generations deep; equips seed sowers and planters; releases disciples to work independently, with supervision.
Multiplication Trainer
A multiplier himself, with a proven chain; trains other multipliers outside his own chain; casts multiplication vision and removes barriers.
Movement Catalyst
A proven trainer across multiple chains; oversees several trainers across a region; carries region-wide strategy and represents the work externally.
135 Multipliers, Trainers, and Catalysts
Tested and ready in field corridors across 4 generations deep.
Tested and field-ready: This isn't a request to build capacity from scratch — church multipliers, multiplication trainers, and movement catalysts alike are already trained and tested in the field, simply waiting for the partnership to launch them into these 135 assignments.
Why We Believe This Is Achievable
This growth is not a leap of faith. It is the same proven model, in the same hard-to-reach ground it has already proven itself on, simply given more workers and more time to multiply:
Twelve years of experience in the hardest ground
Planting churches in Ethiopia's least-reached and hardest northern regions for over a decade. The teams already know this terrain, these languages, and these communities. The five-year plan extends a proven work into new towns, not an unproven idea into unfamiliar ground.
A track record already in hand
In just six months, 60 planters have raised up 483 local leaders — roughly 8 leaders for every planter — and gathered 207 home churches. The multiplication engine is already running; the five-year plan scales it, not invents it.
A method we are not experimenting with
The Discovery Bible Study approach behind these results is the same approach the five-year plan builds on. Growth comes from repeating what already works in more places, not from new, untested methods.
A real training, coaching, and follow-up pipeline
Every planter and emerging local leader moves through a structured training and coaching process, with ongoing follow-up that sustains new leaders and churches long after they are planted. Mentorship prevents headcount from outrunning quality.
Leadership that is growing faster than staffing
Indigenous leaders already outnumber outside planters by roughly 8 to 1. That local ownership, not missionary headcount, is what actually drives long-term multiplication, and it is already trending the right direction.
Steady evangelistic momentum
In six months alone, these teams reached 2,660 people with the Gospel and welcomed 108 new believers. That is a real, ongoing stream of new disciples ready to form the next wave of house churches.
A team size that grows in step with capacity
Field teams scale gradually — 35, then 70, then 100 — matched to the region's demonstrated ability to train, mentor, and send new workers, rather than an untested jump in headcount.
A lay-led, decentralized model built for hard ground
Ordinary new believers are equipped immediately to facilitate oral Discovery Bible Studies and start new fellowships themselves. Home fellowships meet in private homes with no buildings to fund or target, keeping cost and exposure low.
A built-in path to local sustainability
As field teams grow, regional elder councils progressively take over local support — the model is designed to become locally sustained over time, not permanently dependent on outside funding.