Our Distinctives
CHURCH-STRENGTHENING
ACTION Zambia (AZ) is committed to strengthening local Zambian churches. This is central to our ministry and shapes our overall ministry philosophy. We believe our calling is to strengthen and equip local churches to respond to the urgent needs in their home country, nearby nations, and around the world. We believe this church-based approach is consistent with Scripture and fits God’s design for building His church in Zambia.
We believe that the biggest need in urban Zambia is for stronger churches, not necessarily more congregations since there are already hundreds of evangelical churches. Many of these are led by untrained pastors who are desperate for help. Church-planting is an important task, especially in rural areas, but the crying need in the cities is for more discipleship, doctrinal training, and leadership development.
We believe that a key aspect of our role is to strengthen existing ministries in local churches and to help churches start new ministries based on their vision and calling. We encourage such vision, provide training, and bring resources in order to equip local churches to fulfill their God-given gospel mandates of proclaiming Christ to sinners, ministering to those in need, and discipling the saints to godliness in word and deed. We seek to strengthen and equip entire churches, not simply individuals within a particular church. We seek to partner with churches that have a passion and commitment for their ministries and who are willing to give sacrificially of their time and money for the good of these ministries.
AZ works with churches of various denominations that have a passion for creating disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ and that agree with the Action International Ministries Doctrinal Statement. We encourage local churches to demonstrate unity within the body of Christ, crossing denominational barriers. We are committed to unity, but not at the expense of sound doctrine. We encourage churches to teach the truth and remain faithful to all that Scripture teaches.
VISION-CULTIVATING
AZ seeks to foster and strengthen Christ-honoring passions and visions derived from within local Zambian churches. Such vision arises out of an individual church’s giftings, resources, and cultural context. This is desirable since often the local church best understands their capabilities and the deepest needs of its own community. Our experience is that when the vision comes from within the church itself, there is deep ownership and commitment to the ministry.
Church vision may be inspired or spurred on by ideas from missionaries, but the ultimate ministry vision should be of the sort which arises from Zambian contextual realities (cf. I Cor. 9:19-23). We seek to “cultivate” the seeds of Zambian vision rather than plant foreign seeds and induce growth through Western vision and methods. We believe that ministry sprung from a Zambian context is more likely to produce long-lasting, true fruit.
We seek to help cultivate vision that is realistically attainable by the local church. Our desire is that churches acquire the knowledge, skills and resources to grow and sustain their own ministry without needing to rely on Western churches or missionaries. There may be cases where AZ provides resources or expertise that a local church can never realistically be expected to provide in order to expand the scope or effectiveness of a ministry. However, such situations are likely to be exceptional rather than normative. We believe that a church’s ability independently support and sustain a ministry is a crucial factor influencing long-term ministry fruitfulness.
GOSPEL-FOCUSED
The Great Commission calls us to “make disciples” of all nations (Matt. 28:18-20). As followers of Christ, we have a great desire to live out the love of Christ by helping the Zambian church meet the needs of those who are suffering. In a country such as Zambia, these needs are profound and immense. While we have a passion to alleviate temporal suffering, our highest desire is to see the eternal needs of the Zambian people. Making true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate means by which AZ will bring praise and honor to God.
The gospel is central to every ministry activity of AZ. Being gospel-focused means that we constantly evaluate each and every ministry to ensure that the gospel is a prominent feature of the work. Each missionary is committed to sharing the gospel on an individual level and each ministry makes this a top priority.
God created man as both a physical and spiritual being. Therefore, man must be ministered to in his totality of being. This is accomplished as the proclaimed gospel bears fruit in the lives of Christ’s disciples. Virtually all of our ministry areas mirror the areas addressed by non-Christian NGOs. But many humanitarian organizations concentrate on the physical, emotional, or psychological needs of the individual, and neglect the spiritual needs. Our conviction is that only the transforming power of the gospel of Christ can truly change a life and deliver a soul from eternal damnation to eternal joy in Christ’s presence.
INVESTMENT-MINDED
The work of missions usually takes years to mature and bear fruit – years to learn language, understand culture, build relationships, and make disciples. Being truly investment-minded means that we focus on activities that will bear the most fruit for the kingdom in the long run. Surrounded by such urgent need, our hearts may yearn to start seeing needs met immediately! Yet AZ is committed to a long-term investment strategy.
We believe that the best investments are in people and churches rather than programs or buildings. There may be times when it is strategic and right to build facilities, but we believe that the most strategic investments are in the lives of people and churches rather than facilities. We are also committed to investment in our Zambian colleagues – our co-laborers in the ministry of the gospel. Our investment mindset means we prefer to invest heavily in a few, godly leaders with the potential to lead others for years to come.
Our strategic objective is to invest in the Zambian church in order to strengthen and equip them for fruitful ministry. Investing in the Zambian church is a long-term strategy, but we believe the pay-off is worth the wait. We are strongly committed to long-term investments – in missionaries, Zambian staff, and particularly in the Zambian church.
TEAM-ORIENTED
AZ seeks to minister as a team, working cooperatively to accomplish goals which otherwise would be impossible. AZ has an established leadership structure and most decisions are made within this governance framework. Team-orientation means that we have an attitude of deferring to one another in love, that we naturally seek the inputs and comments of others about our ministries, and that we love and value the AZ team (both missionaries and our Zambian colleagues). The foundation of team unity is a humble, Christ-like attitude (Phillipians 2:1-8) and the conviction that all of us have much to learn about life and ministry in Zambia.
The New Testament is filled with exhortations to appreciate the gifts and abilities of one another. The church is described as “the body of Christ” and we, as members of this body, are “members one of another” (Rom 12:5). We have differing gifts, experiences, and skills and “the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’” (I Cor 12:21). Accordingly, we believe God has supplied each member of AZ with different, but interdependent, gifts and skills and that we are healthiest when we use this diversity.
Finally, we are painfully aware that most missionaries leave the field because of difficulties with other missionaries. Strife among the body of Christ brings dishonor to the name of Christ (I Cor 6:1-8) and hinders the work of the Gospel. Accordingly, we are committed to working on our relationships with each other.
