By Rae Burnett

WAR! Poverty! Famine! Street children! Widows! Orphans! Rampant disease! Corrupt governments! Genocide! HIV/AIDS!—all these problems and more, well-known by the world, only increase even as billions of dollars in foreign aid continue to pour into Africa.

The only solution is to bring the light of the gospel into this darkness. After 14 years of traveling in 45 African countries, I am convinced that it is only indigenous missionaries, not foreign programs (Christian or otherwise), who are successfully addressing these problems.

African ministries are awakening to the call for discipleship and missions, but workers must be trained. And they must be trained by their own people, Africans who know first-hand what is required. There is a marked difference in fruitfulness in the work of those who are SOM-trained, compared to those who have no specialized missions training at all, or who have received training from Western mission agencies/schools.

Christian Aid's priority is to support Schools of Missions to properly prepare this mighty army to bind the strong man and reap the harvest, and to support missionaries sent with such training.

Millions are converting to Islam as billions of dollars pour into Africa through well-trained Muslim missionaries, providing schools, hospitals, food and clean water. Christians often ask, "Don't our brothers and sisters care as much as the Islamic world?"

A school of missions can train and send up to 100 workers a year at a cost of $600-$1500 per student.