Advancing the Church is a strategic alliance of ministries and investors strengthening local churches and developing leaders in under-resourced, restricted, and unreached areas.
Join us in bringing the hope of the gospel to the hardest places.
3 Billion People Live on Less Than $2.50/Day
Millions of people today live in places where poverty, isolation, and limited access to the gospel intersect.
We believe that the most powerful form of mercy ministry in these contexts is a healthy local church. A church rooted in the gospel not only proclaims eternal truth but also becomes a refuge of healing, restoration, and discipleship.
But in many of the world’s most impoverished and forgotten places, these kinds of churches are either absent or dying. And where churches do exist, they are often marked by weak doctrine or ill equipped leaders.
Faithful pastors in these areas are frequently isolated and overwhelmed.
Most have little access to sound theological training or meaningful support.
As a result, churches struggle to grow, leaders burn out, and discipleship remains nonexistent.
22,000 Children
Die each day due to poverty (Unicef)
1.3 Billion People
Live in extreme poverty (less than $1.25/Day)
WHO WE ARE
Reaching the world’s most impoverished and hard-to-reach places requires a collective effort.
By working in close partnership, we provide comprehensive, context-sensitive support to pastors, church planters, and ministry leaders serving in under-resourced, remote, or marginalized communities around the world. Our strategy focuses on four key areas:
Theologically robust training, tailored to local realities and delivered in accessible, reproducible ways.
Practical ministry resources that meet real needs and strengthen on-the-ground church work.
Ongoing relational care and mentoring, providing personal encouragement and accountability.
Sustainable support structures that promote long-term health, resilience, and ministry faithfulness.
Through this holistic approach, we seek to see vibrant, gospel-preaching churches planted and strengthened in places where they are most needed and least accessible.
The Alliance
Each ministry within the alliance plays a vital and strategic role in advancing our shared mission.
20schemes and Mile One Mission focus on identifying, training, and deploying men and women for church leadership in deprived and marginalized communities. Through ministry internships, church planter assessments, residential training programs, and women’s discipleship cohorts, they equip leaders with the character, theological grounding, and practical skills needed to serve faithfully in the world’s most challenging contexts.
The Church in Hard Places Apprenticeship offers a two-year, non-residential training program specifically designed for indigenous church leaders serving in hard-to-reach and under-resourced communities. Available in eight languages and active in over 40 countries, this apprenticeship is equipping hundreds of leaders with solid biblical theology, hands-on ministry tools, and a global peer network for mutual encouragement and accountability.
Practical Shepherding provides holistic care for church leaders and their families through revitalization and rural pastor cohorts, personalized mentoring, pastoral counseling, and spiritual renewal retreats hosted at “Shepherd’s House” locations around the world. Their mission is to ensure that pastors in hard places do more than just survive—they thrive.
Together, we’re not simply delivering programs—we’re cultivating a movement. A movement committed to strengthening the global church where it’s weakest, investing in leaders where they’re most vulnerable, and planting a lasting gospel witness in places long neglected or forgotten.
WHAT WE DO
We provide comprehensive support for pastors, planters, and other church leaders from poor, remote, or marginalized communities worldwide. Our focus is on delivering theologically robust training and resources tailored to the specific needs of church leaders working in challenging contexts.
Strengthening local churches. Supporting church leaders.
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Planting
We train men and women to be sent out to deprived and marginalized places around the world. Through our ministry internships, church planter assessments, and residential training programs, we equip individuals to become effective church planters and women's ministry leaders.
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Pipelines
The Church in Hard Places Apprenticeship program is a two-year non-residential training designed by and for church leaders from marginalized and deprived communities. Available in six language groups and spanning across 35 countries, this apprenticeship program is making a global impact.
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Pastors
Practical Shepherding leads the way in providing holistic care and support to pastors, planters, women’s ministry leaders, and their families. Through church revitalization cohorts, pastoral counseling, mentoring services, and spiritual renewal retreats at “Shepherd’s House” locations, we empower church leaders to thrive in their ministry.
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Partners
By partnering with Advancing the Church (ATC), you’re supporting all of these ministries equally. Join us in prayer, generosity, and active participation as we work together to bring hope, healing, and transformation to the hard places of the world.
