John & Karen Ames
As single adults in our mid-twenties, God called both John and I independently to missions. Full-time ministry and missions were on both our hearts as we began to date and get married. John and I spent 16 years, from 1985-2001, in cross-cultural ministry, first in France for language school and then onto Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) West Africa. Our three children lived with us in the urban area of Abidjan.
God was leading us home to the USA for family reasons in 2001. John worked in Regional and Pastoral ministry until 2017. God was stirring our hearts once again to jump back into cross-cultural missions. We were re-appointed by Converge in September 2017. John is the Converge Africa Impact Team Leader for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Current Mission:
The Converge Africa Impact Team (CAIT) exists to come alongside African Christian leadership to serve, enable, empower and enhance gospel movement ministry among least reached peoples.
John leads a team of 4 other couples, and we are ministering currently in 7 African Countries, with more looking for our help. God is raising up African men and women who have a passion to reach those in their country who have never heard the Gospel. It’s exciting to be a part of what God is doing – He’s on the move!
John travels to various countries 3-4 times/year to teach and train men and women. The rest of the time, he works from our home in PA. Zoom and WhatsApp makes it possible to mentor men even though he is not on the ground.
Biggest support needs:
We currently have 3 projects that we’re promoting- DDL project, Zinindo Church Plant in Northern Ghana, and Vision Into Africa: Ames Ministry travel. All three of these projects are important.
Special Challenges:
The increased costs to travel are straining our budget