Partner: African Evangelical Christian Mission (AECM)
Location: Togo
The Gozem car rental project is not only providing a reliable service to the community in Togo, but it also financially supports the work of the AECM ministry and its missionaries serving vulnerable communities in Togo, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast.
For over 30 years, Mission ONE has partnered with indigenously led organizations to bring the gospel to unreached people groups in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
African Evangelical Christian Mission (AECM) has been a Mission One partner since 2006. During that time, Mission One has supported the ministry through quarterly support and occasional special gifts, including a one-time purchase of a Ministry car that has since broken down and was never repaired or replaced. Presently, AECM needs more funds to support its ongoing ministry in Togo, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and a possible expansion to Ivory Coast. AECM has over 100 Pastors in the organization, all of whom are struggling to make ends meet given that they serve in very poor communities that cannot support them consistently.
THE PROBLEM AND THE SOLUTION
On a recent partner visit, Mission ONE found that AECM has been struggling to financially provide the resources necessary for them to continue their ministry. With over 100 pastors spread out across multiple rural communities in various countries, the quarterly support sent by Mission ONE is not sufficient to meet their every need.
Currently, Joseph Ayigah, AECM president, and his wife Graciah, survive off of the occasional honorarium they receive when they travel to share Graciah’s testimony of being resurrected from the dead. They, along with their numerous pastors, also do not have reliable transportation to continue to facilitate travel to rural villages to serve their communities. Each village pastor needs a motorbike to travel across her or his area and minister to people. Without more funds, they are unable to provide these resources for their ministry.
Both Mission ONE and AECM desire to collaborate on projects that will enable the operational cost of the ministry to become locally sustained in the next few years. This helps their ministry bring in more revenue which in turn allows them and their pastors to continue serving and sharing the love and freedom found in God. After much prayer and consideration, they decided to start a car rental project which both generates immediate cash flow as well as meets their day-to-day expenses.
OUR PLAN
The plan is for Mission ONE project funds to purchase three vehicles and then run a car rental through GOZEM, an Uber-type company based in West Africa. GOZEM would install their software in the car and monitor rides through a GPS tracker. Customers for the rental cars would come through the GOZEM platform. That would guarantee a steady stream of customers and, therefore, a steady revenue flow. The plan's first step was to research the car rental business idea through conversations with others who have done a similar project.
The AECM team also met with GOZEM to understand their requirements and expectations for starting this project with them. GOZEM stated that once the car had been purchased, it would have to be installed with a GPS tracker to track the rides.
In addition, GOZEM also provides training for the driver operating the car on how to use the GPS tracker system to track rides properly. So far, the project has already purchased one car as a pilot initiative to determine whether or not the business is viable. Since January 2023, the car rental business has been operational and generating revenue of up to $500 monthly for the Ministry of AECM. The next step is to purchase two additional cars for the project, which will allow the project to be fully successful and generate enough revenue to cover the operational costs of the Ministry eventually.
DESIRED IMPACT
The desired long-term impact for this car rental project is that it will replace the quarterly support that Mission One currently sends to AECM. In addition, revenue from the car rental as it continues to grow can support the purchase of a Ministry car and motorbikes for AECM’s pastors. Since the Pastors work in rural communities often covering large geographical areas, having access to transport will significantly improve their ability to perform pastoral care in the communities in which they serve. In addition, for the AECM leadership team based in Lomé, a ministry car will make it easier for them to regularly travel across the Country and to Benin to provide ongoing training and ministry for the local Pastors. Finally, this project will provide jobs for at least three drivers long-term in addition to the many indirect benefits of operating a locally sustained Ministry in Togo.
MEASURABLE GOALS
01.
Replacement of quarterly support six months after the project is implemented (December 2024)
02.
Purchase of 4 motorbikes for the AECM ministry team two years after the project is implemented (February 2025)
03.
Purchase of a Ministry car four years from when the project is implemented (February 2026)
04.
Five stories of impact from AECM local pastors three years after the project is implemented
OUR IMPACT
- The first car was purchased the car rental business has been operational since January 2023.
- The car is being rented out and generating revenue of up to $500 monthly.