Reaching Senegal's people through holistic church planting
Leadership
Born in the Cape Verde Islands, José Oliveira grew up in Dakar, Senegal, after the separation of his parents. When he was 12 years old, his mother remarried to a man who was a believer. Through his witness, José put his faith in Christ. As a young man, his church sent him for training to the European Bible Institute in France where he met his wife, France-Lise. In 1983 the Oliveiras returned to Dakar where they began serving in ministry. In 1997, Jose and France-Lise helped found Inter-Senegal Mission. Jose is ISM’s Director and France-Lise serves in the women’s ministry. The couple has three children.
Ministry Vision & Strategy
Partners International is working together with Inter-Senegal Mission, the first church-planting agency in Senegal, to spread the Gospel to rural villages, specifically reaching the Wolof and Serer people groups. Villagers are often initially resistant to Christianity, so the ministry works through holistic projects, such as medical ministry and micro-enterprise, to build relationships with the people and gain acceptance and establish churches. The lives of an estimated 50,000 people are touched by the ISM ministry each year.
Since I Began Walking With Jesus I Have Peace
Siga is 55 years old and lives in rural Senegal. Before she became a believer she practiced witchcraft and wore amulets all over her body. Her body was often inexplicably hot. She visited many Muslim leaders, trying to find a solution. When an ISM women’s team came to her village, Siga would come to hear the Bible stories, but always wore all her amulets. However, as time went by, she opened her heart to Christ. She removed all the amulets, giving them to the pastor to burn, and was baptized. The burning in her skin has stopped. Siga has a remarkable memory of the Bible, and has become an advisor to other women in the Scripture. Siga’s oldest son has asked her to return to Islam, but she said,
"No. Since I began walking with Jesus I have peace."
Context
Senegal is a sub-Saharan country located on the westernmost tip of Africa. As a secular state, it boasts of religious freedom, but the vast majority of the country’s 12.5 million people are Muslim. Far less than one percent consider themselves evangelical Christians, most of whom are concentrated in several large cities.
Some people groups, like the more than three million Wolof, are almost 100-percent Muslim. Having a strong cultural identity, the Wolof fear that putting their faith in Christ will mean they must also leave behind their treasured social and cultural traditions. More openness has been seen among the 1.5 million Serer people, yet the Christian population is still only a small minority.
Senegalese village life is one of hardship. The majority survive through subsistence farming, but in years of drought, crops fail to provide. For this reason, men often seek work in other areas, leaving the women in the village, who are for the most part uneducated, to provide for the family on their own.
Recognizing both the need and opportunity, Inter-Senegal Mission (ISM) was launched in 1997 with a focus on holistic witness and a creative vision for partnership, service, and community involvement.
Investment Opportunities
>EVANGELISTIC OUTREACH: $16,145
Wolof/Serer Village Outreach
Help NowISM carries out a wide array of church-planting and evangelism activities in unreached villages each year. Having already established ministry work in 65 villages, ISM’s vision is to reach a total of 400 villages with the Gospel by 2020.
One of the ways they do this is through the Jericho Project, a three-day celebration modeled after a local cultural festival called a “gamou.” The celebration typically includes praise of an Islamic leader such as Mohammed or one of the local Muslim holy men. In the “Jericho” rendition, several Senegalese ministries join together to host a celebration with the goal of sharing the Good News with the Wolof and Serer peoples. During the event, guests from neighboring villages gather together to listen to preaching, testimonies of Senegalese who have come to Christ, a Senegalese Christian choir, and watch dramas and films. Games are enjoyed by children and youth, and communal meals are shared by all. And with a mobile medical clinic on site, hundreds of people have access to low-cost medical and dental treatment, something that is not usually available to the villagers. The ultimate goal of this project is the transformation of Wolof and Serer communities through the planting of culturally relevant, visionary, and vibrant churches.
Gifts to this project will help cover the costs for the Jericho Project, partial support for ISM’s church planters, and four other evangelism campaigns.
>HEALTH & MEDICAL PROGRAMS: $51,813
Medical Center
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Operation Barthimaeus is a large hospital and medical outreach established by ISM in the city of Thiès to meet the country’s serious need for medical care. The hospital’s services include surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, cardiology, and ophthalmology. The medical team also provides prenatal consultations, child growth monitoring, nutritional counseling, vaccinations, dental care, and lab analysis. Last year, more than 35,000 patients received medical care through Operation Barthimaeus.
This compassionate work touches people’s lives in a very real way: people are grateful to be treated medically, prayed for, and introduced to the God of grace and love. The approach of caring for people’s physical needs has given ISM credibility among the Muslim-majority population and has helped the ministry gain recognition by the government.
With the increased size of the hospital and its outreaches, the number of staff needs to increase as well. Partners International has committed to providing partial support for three doctors who will help to raise the variety and standard of services. We also hope to further equip the hospital with needed equipment including an x-ray machine, computers, and furniture for various offices and treatment rooms.
In addition to treating patients at the hospital, teams of medical workers also travel to rural villages to provide medical care to the sick, nutrition programs, and vaccinations for babies. Nearly 10,000 patients benefit from these services each year. Partners is supporting the costs of transportation, supplies, and medicine for these mobile medical camps.
>GIFTS-IN-KIND SHIPMENTS: $43,750
Gift-In-Kind Shipments
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Through our Gifts-In-Kind program, Partners International sends sea containers of goods to our partner ministries in Africa. Requested directly by the ISM hospital staff, these items range from pharmaceuticals to medical supplies to medical equipment. In many countries where
our partners work, certain medicines and equipment simply cannot be found locally or the expense is beyond the ministry’s capacity. Each shipment of medical equipment is valued from $300,000 up to $1,000,000 or more. The cost to Partners International for filling and shipping each container of these life-saving supplies to Senegal is just $25,000 per container. Partners would like to provide part of the costs to send two shipments to ISM this year to stock their pharmacy with needed medicines.
>COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: $25,016
Village Water System, ISM
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ISM’s Social and Economic Development Department seeks to not only bring sustainable community development programs to poor villages but also looks for ways to creatively finance the outreaches of local churches.
A significant effort within their community development program includes providing clean water. In the arid interior of Senegal, water is a scarce resource. Tainted water supplies are often utilized because there is no other water available, causing diarrhea, cholera, and worm infections. In some villages, women and children have to walk several miles to the nearest water source. Then, they have to carry back full containers of water. This chore has to be repeated daily, cutting into time that could be spent doing more productive tasks.
Water systems alleviate many of these difficulties, either through digging a well or by piping water in from the nearest water source. In villages where water systems have been installed, ISM sees greater openness to the Gospel.
ISM is also initiating income generation projects that serve rural villages, provide local jobs, and raise money for church ministries. Several projects to raise chickens and sheep are operating currently. In the sheep project, as the animals are distributed and bred, each recipient family gives a lamb to one’s neighbor. They call this approach “passing on the gift.” With regular follow up by ISM’s evangelists, the project helps families earn an income, develop community spirit, and helps reduce persecution and ostracism of new believers. This project also benefits the church as believers are built up and able to support their local churches.
>CHILDREN'S MINISTRY: $18,071
Children's Camps
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More than half the population of Senegal is under the age of 20. In the rural areas, kids have very few options for entertainment and are eager to get involved in programs that offer education, sports, or any kind of fun activity. This year Partners is supporting a number of outreaches to children through ISM.
One part of the project involves evangelistic camps called Kids’ Clubs. Children are divided into two age groups to study the Bible, correct misconceptions about Christianity, and encourage biblical values. A total of 400 boys and girls will join these three-day camps.
This year we are also supporting ISM’s program to reach out to street children. Nearly 100,000 of Senegal’s children live on the streets, begging for money and food. They are often called talibé (“disciple” in Arabic). Due to poverty, parents will send their children, mostly boys, to the city to study the Koran, not knowing that their sons will be expected to beg on the streets to pay for their education. The children often live in an environment of abuse and drugs and suffer poor health, malnutrition, and isolation. In partnership with a number of evangelical churches in Thiès, they provide lodging, education, food, and medical care to hundreds of street children, as well as income-generating activities for older children. This program provides a place of safety, physical help, social integration, and hope. ISM aims to help about 1,000 street children each year.
We believe these programs will bring young people into God’s Kingdom and reinforce ISM’s church-planting efforts in unreached villages.
>CAPACITY BUILDING TRAINING: $23,058
Capacity Building Training, ISM
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ISM has tremendous opportunities to expand their ministry to new areas. But like every organization, they must have the human resources to do the job. Partners is investing in an array of capacity building training events for ISM staff and volunteers, ensuring they are equipped and encouraged in their ministry.
First, ISM has just 25 church planters to serve the 40 new villages where there are open doors for ministry. This number of workers is too few compared to the task, especially considering ISM’s goal to see 400 villages reached by 2020. This project will offer training to 15 church planter assistants in a three-month program. With additional workers, ISM will be able to expand the reach of the current team, increase the number of churches planted, and provide local people with the vision, training, and resources to multiply the ministry on their own.
Partners is also providing funding for the training of several people in key roles within ISM’s ministry. These include an accountant and administrator for the hospital, a coordinator for the community development program, and 17 people who will serve in ISM’s village libraries.
With trained staff in these key areas, ISM will be able to continue to expand in the years to come.
>WOMEN'S MINISTRY: $16,250
Women's Outreach
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As in many African cultures, it is more appropriate that women, rather than men, minister to other women. Because of this, Christian women from the churches in the cities of Dakar and Thiès travel to the villages for outreach each week. They engage the women in classes on nutrition and literacy and also provide fortified milk for malnourished babies. This ministry has brought great returns—not only in improved health for children, but gratitude and friendship with the mothers. The women’s ministry team also shares the Gospel and holds Bible studies. Through this ministry, a number of Muslim and animistic women have come to know Christ.
In addition to spiritual and health ministry, ISM’s women’s teams provide training in income-generating skills such as sewing and tie-dye. Once women have completed the training, they have valuable income-generating skills, but no seed funds to start their own small businesses. With your gifts, Partners provides micro-enterprise loans which allow them to start a small business and contribute to the support of their families. The loans are repaid within six months, and the funds are used to help another woman. For many, this extra income gives them their first chance to provide proper food, medicine, and education for their children. This project already has 500 women in various cycles of repayment.
Partners is also sponsoring two three-day seminars for a total of 60 women to help them grow in their ministry skills.
West Africa 
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