We believe that God will work through our team to plant clusters of indigenous churches among the Banyankore people of Uganda.

Our goal is to establish bodies of new creations in Christ who develop the ability and maturity to evangelize to the fringes of their group and beyond.

The "Mission to the Ankole" is the work God is doing through our team and many supporters to reach the Banyankore people of southwest Uganda. The current team is committed to living among and serving the Ankole people until 2007 and beyond (the first families arrived in 1997). The first few years were for the most part spent learning language and culture, and the emphasis has now shifted towards planting and nurturing churches, as well as training Ugandan church leaders. We have also been able to begin several development projects.

It is our desire to grow indigenous, Ankole churches, not "transplanted" American ones. Our ultimate goal is that although this movement began with the Lord working through our efforts it will continue to spread long after we have left Uganda. We acknowledge that it is not us, but God who will do all of this as he draws the Ankole people to Himself!

Some Facts about the Ankokle Mission:

• We work within the Ankole region of Uganda, which is about the size of New Jersey.


• The people of this region are referred to as the Banyankore.


• There are approximately 2.6 million Banyankore people living in the Ankole region (2005 poplation estimate).


• The team lives in the town of Mbarara (pop. about 70,000).


• This mission includes rural church-planting efforts, a town ministry, development projects, and ministries to women, youth, and children.


• We hope to establish a unified, inter-connected movement of churches that work together to mature each other as they begin new churches in their "clusters" (a group of geographically and spiritually linked churches).


• As of November 2006, there are twenty village churches and one in town.


• Also in November 2006, there are five other "preaching points" - new places where missionaries and Ugandan church leaders are beginning the process of planting new churches together.


• Ankole Bible School (ABS) is now a vital part of this work. These are monthly 4-day seminars offered to church leaders on various topics: church leadership, counselling, textual courses, how to study the Bible, etc. We also host a quarterly "leadership meeting" for a larger group (and ever growing!) of church leaders; the primary focus of these meetings is fellowship and prayer.

The Team

The initial team met at Harding University and began meeting, planning, and praying together in August 1994. They moved to Houston in 1996, where they spent a year with their coordinating congregation, the First Colony Church of Christ, in order to receive further training, raise their remaining work funds, and develop lasting relationships with the members. They departed for Uganda on October 1, 1997. Since that time, others have joined the team to begin new ministries.

Click here to learn more about the team.

The Ankole People

The people to whom God has led us are the Ankole (ahn-koh-lee) of Uganda, East Africa. They live in the beautiful hills of southwestern Uganda, around the major town of Mbarara. The Ankole are mainly subsistence farmers, although some raise cattle as well. The average family lives on the U.S. equivalent of $400 per year. There are great differences, however, between the culture and economics of the villages and the larger towns like Mbarara, which are becoming more "westernized" and "modernized" every year. Uganda is said to be predominantly Christian, with a growing Muslim population. However, many Ugandans are still practicing traditional religions (worshipping ancestral and territorial spirits; using witchdoctors, curses and charms, etc.). While "religion" has been a part of their culture for a some time, many people do not know what it means to be saved by God's grace and live in a relationship with their Creator and Father.

How you can be involved...

The "team" is really much more than just the missionaries who live in Uganda -- this is an effort that involves many people. Our families, our friends, our coordinating congregation, our supporting churches, and many others are involved in this misison.

We ask you, first of all, to pray for the Ankole Mission, and secondly, to consider how else the Lord may be calling you to join us in this, His mission!

Feel free to contact us (team @ ankolemission.com) if you have any questions, or if you would like more information about this work.