Ivory Coast

Country & Reformed Church Profile

Population: 17 Million
Capital City: Abidjan (4 Million)
Church Membership: 60
Pastors/Church Planters: 5
Students currently in theological training: 1

Cultural Context and Challenges

Ivory Coast is the ‘functional capital’ of West Africa. Peoples from all the surrounding countries are heavily represented; as such, it is possible to reach out to people from neighboring countries without leaving Ivory Coast. The country is roughly 50% Muslim. Being a Christian in a Muslim context in Ivory Coast presents challenges. At conversion, Muslims converts are often radically separated from the family and lifestyle in which they have grown up. The challenge in addressing the problem of discipleship of Muslim converts who have lost a sense of home is to provide a contextualized approach that does not radically separate converts from their culture, yet to remain at the same time consistent with biblical principles.

PDL Vision

To develop church leaders
To start house churches in all 10 districts of Abidjan
To empower the church with the relevant tools for evangelism outreach
To network with other Muslim converts to bring the gospel to
Muslim cities and villages in West Africa.

PDL Strategy

For a long time the church has struggled with how to address the everincreasing challenge of Muslim converts. The strategy of PDL is:

Beginning with Abidjan, survey the large mosques and gather resources.
Seek to start a church planting movement in Abidjan and then branch out through it into rural areas and other countries.
Establish a prayer ministry for the Muslim converts
Know the names of imams, pray for them individually and engage them in discussions about the Gospel.

Five Year Goals of the National Church

Church Planting and Evangelism
Estimated Cost: $15,000/year for the next five years (2008-2012)

Goal: Reach out to all 10 districts of Abidjan, as well as have work begin outside Abidjan. Start five house churches each year with a goal of 20 house churches in five years. Each house church will have average attendance of 50 people. Recruit five new church planters each year, resulting in 25 leaders.

Theological and Missiological Training
Estimated Cost: $7,937/year for the next five years

Goal: Develop a church planter- training program using both WATI and
local missionary training school.

Church Planters Support
Estimated Cost: $27,300/year for the next five year
Goal: This fund will provide a basic income for the church planters. Being a church planter in Muslim context is very challenging. Typically, Muslim converts doing this work encounter serious opposition from their families, rejection and humiliation by the community, and difficulty in finding employment.

Ministerial Expenses
Estimated Cost: $8,050/year for the next five years
Goal: Cover all office expenses necessary to run the ministry Other national goals for current year (2008)

Send out church planters into 3 new districts of Abidjan
Continue pastor and church planter training program
Facilitate seminars promoting Muslim-Christian understanding at spiritual levels.
Retreat(s) for Muslim background believers (MBBs) and married couples
Network to seek resources necessary for our national church planting Vision to be implemented.