Côte d’Ivoire is home to more than 32 million people and over 60 languages and people groups. While the Church has experienced remarkable growth in the south, much of the predominantly Muslim north remains unreached, with many cities and villages having little or no Evangelical presence.

The Assemblies of God of Côte d’Ivoire is taking a strategic step to address this need through the development of a new Bible school in Korhogo, the largest city in the north. This initiative reflects a growing conviction among national leaders: Spirit-empowered, biblically trained leaders are essential to reaching unreached communities with the gospel.

Where Leaders Are Trained, Churches Grow

In a recent interview, Rev. Dr. Charles Marie Kondé, general superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Côte d’Ivoire, described the impact of the country’s four existing Bible schools.

“What we have noticed,” he explained, “is that wherever we have Bible schools built in some areas, the growth—I mean, in planting churches and the conversion of people—goes faster.”

These schools are doing more than preparing pastors for ministry. They are helping accelerate church planting, bring people to faith in Christ, and strengthen the Church’s presence in communities across the country. Building on this experience, Dr. Kondé envisions similar growth throughout northern Côte d’Ivoire, where the need for trained leaders and new churches remains significant.

Equipping Leaders for the North

This new training center in Korhogo will be the Assemblies of God’s fifth Bible school in Côte d’Ivoire and its first in the north. It will equip pastors, evangelists, and church planters through biblical instruction and practical ministry experience, preparing students to serve in cities, villages, and smaller settlements.

Dr. Honoré Daplex Ouentchist, president of the National Committee for Theological Education, believes the school will become a strategic center for evangelism and church planting throughout the region.

“We believe that by establishing this school here in northern Côte d’Ivoire, we will have the most effective means of reaching not only the cities, but also the villages, and even the smallest settlements with the gospel throughout this region,” Daplex said. “Our desire is to see northern Côte d’Ivoire evangelized.”

Students will have opportunities to travel into villages to teach, evangelize, and plant churches, putting their training into practice among communities with limited access to the gospel.

A Vision Beyond Côte d’Ivoire

The new initiative builds on the Assemblies of God’s achievement of planting more than 5,000 churches over the past decade. Although that goal was reached by God’s grace, most of those churches were established outside the north. National leaders now see an opportunity to extend that growth into one of the country’s least-evangelized regions.

“Now the time has come for the north,” Daplex said. “We must evangelize northern Côte d’Ivoire by planting churches in every city, every village, and every settlement.”

The vision also reaches beyond national borders. As leaders are trained and churches established, the school could help prepare future missionaries to serve neighboring Guinea and Mali.

Join Us in Prayer

Pray for the development and success of the Bible school in Korhogo, for the national leaders guiding this vision, and for the students who will be equipped to reach their communities. Ask God to raise up a movement of Spirit-empowered, biblically trained leaders who will plant churches, see lives transformed, and carry the hope of Jesus throughout northern Côte d’Ivoire and beyond.