African Centre for Mission Mobilization
& Research
Knowledge-based total mobilization of the most numerically Christian continent this century for the mission of God.
THE THREE LEVELS OF TOTAL MOBILIZATION
LEVEL ONE
DISCOVER
(Luke 10:2) – identifying
people with passion and burden to “Go” or “Send” [all believers]
LEVEL TWO
DEVELOP
(Ephesians 4:11) – equipping/
training Goers and Senders [specialized in Bible School etc.]
LEVEL TWO
DEPLOY
(Romans 10:15) – setting up
sending structures and systems to send Goers
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES OF CENTRE
- Provide a reputable and sustainable platform and voice for total mission mobilization through all forms of media (in-person, online, audiovisuals, print etc.)
- Facilitate credible academic mission research and dissemination in Africa.
- Develop contextualized evidence-based tools and resources for missions.
- Provide cutting-edge training personnel and platforms, products and services for general missional living for all Africans as well as specialized training for career missionaries.
- Provide accredited missional education, training and development for the church of Africa.
- Develop strategic direction and partnerships with other institutions on the continent and around the world.
- Provide a base for furlough, contemplation and solitude for returning missionaries.
ACMMR
HISTORY
Rev. Ebenezer Aryee of Afro Diaspora Missions Network had been pondering over the prospect of an ‘Africa Centre for Mission Mobilization and Research’ since about 2017. Ebenezer, an ordained minister of the Assemblies of God UK, is also a board member of Pioneers UK and had mooted the idea with them as well. Pioneers has more than 3000 international missionary members, working in 324 missions teams, in 104 countries, among 202 unreached people groups, mobilized from 10 international missions bases.
Meanwhile independently Dr. Yaw Perbi, President of International Student Ministries Canada and Global CEO of The HuD Group, and also a Lausanne Movement catalyst for international student ministries, initiated discussions with Steve Shadrach’s Centre for Mission Mobilization in the first quarter of 2018 about the possibility of partnering to pull off an ‘African Centre for Global Mission Mobilization’ in Ghana. Yaw actually launched it at his fortieth birthday dinner on 16th March 2018 at the Fiesta Royale Hotel in Accra, Ghana.
While at the Global Mobilization Network’s conference in Sao Paolo, Brazil in December 2019, both gentlemen found out that they had a similar vision from the Lord and decided to explore what a possible convergence and synergy could result in for the sake of the greater Kingdom of God. They agreed the said centre would serve well as a flagship project of the Send Africa Network, which both men are co-founders of, whose aim is to mobilize the church in Africa to become a missionary sending church.
ACCELERATION
Many other African men and women from all over the continent, and in the diaspora, ranging from mission practitioners to academics, have since been consulted and/or roped in. After an initial year of various research, discussions and SWOT analysis by this array of consultants, it became so overwhelmingly clear that not only was the ACMMR an idea whose time had come, but that it was an urgent one for that matter. An interim board was set up by Send Africa comprising: Dr. Harvey Kwiyani (Malawi/UK), Prof. Philip Antwi-Agyei (Ghana), Dr. Lazarus Phiri (Zambia), Dr. Andrew Mkwaila (Malawi), Dr. Esther Mombo (Kenya), Dr. Joshua Bogunjoku (Nigeria/USA), Rev. Ebenezer Aryee (Ghana/UK), Madam Angéle Kalouche Biao (Benin) and chaired by Dr. Yaw Perbi (Ghana/Canada).
The centre was outdoored, online, at Send Africa’s first summit, online, in 2021. This interim board, among others, determined that Ghana might be the most suitable place to physically site the ACMMR, with possible satellites across the continent. After physically scouting a number of possible places and holding various bilateral talks, the Akrofi-Christaller Centre for Theology Mission and Culture (ACI) was finally settled on as the most germane.
At the November 2022 Send Africa Summit in Accra, Ghana, a hybrid summit, among the several dignitaries present was Dr. Rudolph Gaisie, Director of the Centre for the Study of Early African Christianity (CESEAC) at ACI. A fundraising event was held for the ACMMR and a permanent board commissioned comprising: Dr. Harvey Kwiyani (Malawi/UK), Rev. Dr. Solomon Aryeetey (Ghana), Mr. Alan Webster (South Africa), Dr. Lazarus Phiri (Zambia), Rev. Daniel Hyde Appiah (Ghana), Ps. Kassum Balboné (Burkina Faso), Mr. Sam Ngugi (Kenya), Rev. Ebenezer Aryee (Ghana/UK), Madam Angéle Kalouche Biao (Benin) and Dr. Yaw Perbi (Ghana/Canada). Rev. Dr. Solomon Aryeetey (Ghana) was elected as the substantive board chair, at the board’s meeting in December 2022. Dr. Lazarus Phiri (Zambia) is his vice, while Mr. Alan Webster (South Africa) serves as the secretary.
A delegation from the new board and some delegates from the Send Africa Summit paid a courtesy call on the Registrar of ACI, Mr. Ben Asiedu, at the Akropong premises. Dr. Rudolph Gaisie took the group on a tour of the facilities, while sharing some of the vital history of the institute.
ACMMR MOU WITH ACI
The African Centre for Mission Mobilization & Research (ACMMR) and the Centre for the Study of Early African Christianity (CESEAC), a part of the Akrofi-Christaller Institute for Theology, Mission & Culture (ACI), are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on supporting and promoting their respective objectives.
With Africa being home to the largest number of Christians in the world today, ACMMR aims to mobilize the continent for the mission of God in a knowledge-based manner. On the other hand, ACI, recognizing the shift in the center of gravity of Christianity towards the continent, seeks to develop academic programs and research opportunities focused on African Christianity and its contribution to the world. The Interim Director for ACMMR, Dr. Yaw Perbi, who is also a Lausanne Movement catalyst, stated that the objective of the MoU is to foster a synergistic partnership between ACMMR and ACI’s CESEAC to achieve the following goals: Provide a reputable and sustainable platform for total mission mobilization through various media channels; facilitate credible academic research and dissemination on missions in Africa; develop evidence-based tools and resources tailored to the African context.
“The purpose of this Memorandum of Understanding is to facilitate the provision of comprehensive education, training, and development opportunities in Africa. Additionally, it aims to establish strategic partnerships with other institutions on the continent and globally, to further enhance the direction and impact of our work,” he remarked.
Again, it aims to offer cutting-edge training and development opportunities for both general missional living and specialized missionary careers; provide accredited missional education, training, and development for the African church; and establish a base for furlough, contemplation, and solitude for returning missionaries.
Dr. Perbi further explained that under the MoU, CESEAC will provide logistical and technical assistance to support ACMMR’s activities in missions research and mobilization. This includes hosting ACMMR’s physical office space in Ghana and utilizing ACI’s library, archives, residential, and other facilities as a furlough base for missionaries.
ACMMR commits to raising funds to cover operational costs with the support of CESEAC. Both ACMMR and CESEAC will actively promote each other’s work on their respective platforms and within their spheres of influence.
The MoU, co-signed at the Akropong campus of ACI following an inaugural colloquium on ‘Mission Research and Scholarship in Africa Today: Prospects for Academics and Practitioners’, is now operational and will initially be in effect for two years.
Rev. Prof. B.Y. Quarshie (Rector of ACI) and Dr. Rudolf K. Gaisie (Director of CESEAC) signed on behalf of ACI/CESEAC while Rev. Dr. Solomon Aryeetey (Board Chair of ACMMR) and Dr. Yaw Perbi (Interim Director of ACMMR) did so on behalf of ACMMR. Regular coordination meetings between ACMMR and CESEAC staff will ensure effective implementation of activities. Addenda to the MOU will outline specific technical, operational and financial activities, including roles and responsibilities.
Sharing their thoughts on the development, a number of academics and missionaries present, in-person and online, commended the two institutions for the partnership, which they believe will highlight and enhance the vast contribution of Africa to the Christian faith. They expressed conviction that it will also help strengthen the work of local missionaries while equipping them with the requisite knowledge, attitudes and skills for global mission.
Aim of acmmr
Knowledge-based total mobilization of the most numerically Christian continent this century for the mission of God.
About the Andrew F. Walls Centre for the Study of Early African Christianity (AFW-CESEAC)
AFW-CESEAC is a research center within the Akrofi-Christaller Institute for Theology, Mission & Culture (ACI). It focuses on studying and promoting early African Christianity and its relevance to contemporary African Christianity and world Christianity.
ACMMR board members
Rev. Dr. Solomon Aryeetey
Chair / Ghana
Dr Lazarus Phiri
Vice Chair / Zambia
Dr. Yaw Perbi
Interim Director Ghana/Canada
Mr. Alan Webster
Secretary / South Africa
Mr. Sam Ngugi
Kenya
Rev. Ebenezer Aryee
Ghana/UK
Dr. Harvey Kwiyani
Malawi / UK
Ps. Kassum Balboné
Burkina Faso
Rev. Daniel Hyde Appiah
Ghana
Madam Angéle Kalouche Biao
Benin