On a recent partner visit, Mission One found that the partner is struggling, and their ministry is suffering as well because they just don’t have the resources to do the work that needs to be done. The organization needs a ministry car to facilitate travel to rural communities. Each village pastor needs a motorbike to travel across their area and minister to people. Currently, Joseph Ayigah, AECM president, and his wife Graciah survive off the occasional honorarium they receive when they travel to share Graciah’s testimony of being resurrected from the dead. The quarterly support that AECM receives from Mission One is not sufficient to meet all the needs of the organization. With over 100 pastors, spread out across multiple rural communities in four countries, the amount of $1600 each quarter cannot meet the needs of the organization members. Both Mission One and AECM would like to collaborate on projects that will enable the operational cost of AECM’s ministry to become locally sustained in the next few years. This is a shared goal that also aligns with Mission One’s current strategy.

Initially, the partner had proposed the idea of starting a Soybean farm to support the ministry. However, during the Mission One partner visit it became clear that while this idea has merit, the partner needs a project that can generate revenue in the short term compared to what is possible with an agriculture project. After further discussion, the partner suggested starting a car rental service as a project that would generate immediate cash flow and meet day-to-day expenses. The idea came because Joseph and Graciah have a neighbor who has already had some success with a car rental and shared the idea with them.