It is incumbent upon us to help create a desire and opportunity for Americans to connect with the works in Africa. IAM will create a bridge that reaches directly into the heart of Africa.
It is said that “the man is the work in Africa.” At IAM, we focus on the lives, families and ministries of God’s faithful men. There are many ways to support the men and mission in Africa.
Proper training can help prepare those for the uniqueness of Sub-Saharan Africa. Being around Bobby Bonner will help show that the Gospel is enough for the mission.
As we see clearly in the example of Paul, missionary work is the heart of God. It isn’t about going to a far away land and trying to convert people into Americans — it is about helping them find Jesus and spread the Gospel to others in their native land.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12
Bobby Bonner trusted Jesus as his Savior in 1978 while playing professional baseball for the Baltimore Orioles. After retiring from the game, Bobby followed the call of God in his life. In 1989, he moved Becky, his wife, and their four daughters to Zambia, Africa to serve as missionaries. Upon arrival at the Kafulafuta Baptist Mission in Zambia, the Bonners inherited 16 existing churches around the mission station. During their first year there, Bobby helped re-establish those churches, in addition to starting three new churches. North Star Bible Institute was founded out of the desire to teach and train nationals to pastor their own people. As Bobby and his team evangelized, discipled and trained the leaders of the churches they planted, they also began to teach the Africans how to evangelize and teach as well. During his time in Zambia, God used Bobby to establish over 100 churches as well as train men to be leaders of those churches.
Bobby’s burden is for all of Sub-Saharan Africa to come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. When Bobby’s health kept him from going back to Africa, he prayed for God to still use him to fulfill the vision and desire to reach Africa. International African Missions (IAM) was birthed as an answer to that prayer.
Bobby, along with his duties at IAM, serves as the Associate Pastor at First Bible Baptist Church. He and Becky currently reside in Blue Springs, MO and have 10 beautiful grandchildren.
Randy Adams trusted Jesus as his Savior at the age of eight. When Randy was 19, he went on his first missions trip, to Bogata, Columbia. A heart for mission work was born in Randy as a result of that trip. In 2003, Randy went to Zambia, Africa for the first time. While there, Randy fell in love with the country and the work being done there. He and his wife, Linda, began directly supporting national pastors after that trip.
In 2013 Randy was elected as the Director of IAM. Randy’s vision for IAM is that it would be a training ground for nationals to become pastors. In 2014, Randy was ordained to the Gospel Ministry by First Bible Baptist Church in Blue Springs, MO.
Randy says, “When I think of IAM, I think of a God-started, God-led organization that He would use to reach Sub-Saharan Africa. IAM truly is all about reaching Africa for Christ.”
Mark “Brownie” Brown came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior in July 1983, while playing baseball in the Baltimore Orioles organization. After leaving professional baseball, he settled at First Bible Baptist Church in Rochester, NY. It was there that he was trained in the gospel ministry as a leader in Discipleship, Sports and Youth ministries.
In 1998, God called Mark and his family to Blue Springs, MO, where he ministered as Youth Pastor for 11 years at First Bible Baptist Church. Mark became a full-time staff member in January 2002 and was ordained to the Gospel Ministry in May of that same year.
In addition to working closely with the leadership team at IAM, Mark is the Lead Pastor of First Bible Baptist Church in Blue Springs, MO. Mark, and his wife, Sheryl, have three daughters.
African Proverb
Sub-Saharan Africa is the area of the continent that lies south of the Sahara Desert.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the most linguistic diversity in the world. The region contains over 1,000 languages!
Sub-Saharan Africa consists of all the African countries that are fully or partially located south of the Sahara.
Sub-Saharan Africa is predominately Christian with those in North Africa largely Muslim. However, there are Muslim majorities in various regions, especially in parts of the Horn of Africa and the Swahili Coast.
Sub-Saharan Africa has a wide range of climate zones (or biomes).
In 2007, the population of Sub-Saharan Africa was 800 million. It is predicted to reach a population of nearly 1.5 billion by 2050.
Radio is the major source of information in Sub-Saharan Africa (average coverage is about one-third of the population). Television is the second major source of information with about 8% of the population having a TV.
Sub-Saharan Africa art is very diverse with some common themes. These common traits include the use of the human figure and a preference for sculpture. Sub-Saharan Africa art is meant to be experienced in three dimensions, not two.
The most popular sport in Sub-Saharan Africa is football (soccer). In order, the next three most popular sports are rugby, boxing and cricket. Of course, over the years, Ethiopia and Kenya have produced many well-known long-distance runners.
At IAM, we want you to feel like you are really contributing directly to a need and/or a faithful man and his family. Please choose from the following options if you want to be specific on how you want to get involved!
Your gift will go to the National Pastor to help him take care of his family’s basic needs: food, clothing, education, etc.
Your gift will purchase one bicycle for a National Pastor to use as he ministers from city to city, town to town and bush to bush.
Your gift will purchase Bibles for the National Pastor to give away and get God’s word in the hands of Christians.
Your gift will go toward the purchase of training and discipleship materials that will be used in the various African churches.
Please note: If you donate toward any of the above items, the entire amount will be used for that project. To make a general donation to International African Missions (IAM), please use the donate button below.
We want you to get to know these faithful men, their families and ministries. Take some time checking out their Facebook pages and watch for new updates (including newsletters, personal stories, photos and needs from the field).
Henry Lunda has been ministering in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with his family since 1999. Henry’s great burden for the lost is shown through his bravery and boldness. Though the Congo is one of the roughest places to minister, Henry fearlessly shares the gospel of Jesus to everyone he meets. Over 25 churches have been established in the Congo as a result of Henry’s trust and faithfulness to God. Many times Henry will go days without food, commuting by bicycle and sleeping on the jungle floors, just to reach remote villages where the name of Jesus has never been proclaimed.
Henry says, “I am very grateful to God for our brother Dr. Bonner and his family for allowing them do what they have done, and are still doing for the work of God in Africa. I have both been trained by and worked with Dr. Bonner ever since. Whilst he was in Africa he did not only inspire some of us to cross borders with the gospel, but also made sure that the goals were achieved. He never feared to reach whereever his disciple was, in spite of the wildness. We are happy in that even most of us still look up to him in many things, even in times of making some difficult decisions. We miss his presence very much but we continuously feel his love in everything he does for Africa through IAM.”
Douglas Sakuwaha trusted Jesus through the ministry at Kafulafuta Baptist Mission in the 1990s where Bobby Bonner then personally taught and trained him. Since then, Douglas has taken the gospel to many areas of Zambia, and even beyond Zambia’s borders in to the country of Burundi. Douglas says, “My vision is to see Africa reached out, and that Africans who are truly called and spirit filled would reach out to their native people. This way we will have no cultural barriers and limitations. We need to hasten the coming of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. My hope is to see a Bible-believing church planted in every country of Africa and other parts of the world. Missions is the heartbeat of God.” Douglas, along with his wife and children, have successfully established 15 churches thriving under the leadership of native pastors that he has trained in the Bible institute that he is the dean of. He is currently praying for God to raise up a national to take over the work in Burundi as he continues his outreach to the military and youth of Zambia.
Douglas’ admiration for Bobby Bonner’s influence in his life is echoed through these words: Bobby is a man who knows that every need that we have, God will supply. He is always obedient to the leading of the spirit and God’s word. He knows the purpose of living, and has principal, plans, priorities, and he knows he has a quest to accomplish before his death comes and that is doing the will of God. He reads the Bible and loves it so much. A very generous man. A man of wisdom. He is a mystery now here in Africa, though his works are still going on.
Brian Kaoma, a graduate of North Star Bible Institute, followed God’s call to the country of Malawi. His heart for the people there came as a result of a young man who showed up at the Kafulafuta Baptist Mission, where Brian had trusted Jesus as his Savior and was training. When Brian heard this man’s testimony, he knew that God was calling him to Malawi to teach and train the people there who were desperate to know more about the word of God. Brian, along with his wife and three children, have been in Malawi for five years now, and have planted four churches and one preaching station. Brian’s passion for training pastors demonstrates his belief in discipleship. He never leaves people who have just gotten saved to fend for themselves.
Brian says this of Bobby Bonner and IAM, “I always thank God for the life of Dr. Bonner. I came to know Dr. Bonner in 2003 when I went to Northstar Bible Institute of Zambia at Kafulafuta Mission. He was my teacher in the book of Romans that year. He is a good teacher with a great passion to teach. I have been blessed by travelling with Dr. Bonner as his translator. He has been supporting my family and ministry both spiritually and financially. In short, he is a great servant of God. We really miss him so much here in Zambia.”
Mathews accepted Jesus as his Savior and began studying under the teaching of Dr. Bobby Bonner at the North Star Bible Institute at the Kafulafuta Mission in 2002. Mathews understood the necessity of Africans being reached by their own people, and became burdened to take the gospel of Jesus to Tanzania. Currently, Mathews, his wife, and children hold services at Mpemba Bible Baptist Church. Due to the collapse of their church building’s roof, Mpemba Bible Baptist Church is currently meeting in the Chilekwa’s apartment. Mathews asks for prayer and financial support to rebuild the church’s roof while he faithfully continues to evangelize, disciple and train the people of Tanzania.
Orphaned as a baby, Yohannes Getaneh was adopted and raised by his deaf aunt, Gomeju. After Yohannes trusted Jesus as his Savior, he realized how great the need was for the deaf in Africa to hear about Jesus. For three years Yohannes lived with Bobby Bonner, learning the Bible and training to be a pastor. Eventually Bobby turned over the work of the deaf church in Zambia to Yohannes. God is currently using Yohannes as the sign language interpreter to the Zambian government. He and his wife and children are also building a school for the deaf that will house over 200 people. Because the deaf are seen as cursed in Africa, many never learn to communicate and are societal outcasts, unable to get jobs, food, and homes. Yohannes ministers to the deaf culture through housing them, feeding them, and teaching them to communicate through sign language. Once they are able to communicate, he is then able to give them the gospel and many come to know Jesus as their Savior. Bobby said of Yohannes, “If ever I had a son, I would want it to be Yohannes because of his integrity, his honesty, and his love for God.”
As a young child, White Katota was forced to kill another child when his village in the Congo was invaded by guerillas. The guerillas then took White and trained him to be one of them. After years of pillaging, plundering and killing, White encountered a missionary by the name of Henry Lunda, who shared the gospel with White. White repented and accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Henry then sent White to the Kafulafuta Baptist Mission to learn more about the Bible from Bobby Bonner. Bobby said he will never forget the night that White Katota gave his testimony at the mission. White told them that his only desire was to “go back to the villages where I took life, and give them life.” White, along with his wife and children, faithfully works with Henry Lunda to take the gospel of Jesus to the people living in the jungles of the Congo.
African Proverb
We’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have about International African Missions (IAM). Send us a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
