Equipping Ministries Global
Equipping men and women for ministry with biblical, theological, and discipleship training.
About Equipping Ministries Global
Our Mission
Welcome to the online home of Equipping Ministries Global (EMG). The mission of EMG is to equip men and women for ministry through biblical, theological, and discipleship training. The primary focus of EMG is village pastors in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. These men and women are people of deep faith, calling, and giftedness, but they lack access to formal theological training.
Ephesians 4:11-13 provides EMG's guiding focus:
11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (NIV).
Why We Go to East Africa
Join Equipping Ministries Global in Changing Lives
The Church is growing exponentially in Africa. According to the 2023 Status of Global Christianity Report, Christianity in Africa grows annually at 2.76 % per annum. (In North America, the rate is 0.29 % per annum.) The church’s explosive growth in Africa is incredibly exciting. However, only 5% of global pastors have received formal biblical and theological training. In the United States, there is one trained pastor for every 230 people. However, in the Majority World, there is one trained pastor for every 450,000 people. The need is desperate and continues to grow as Christianity spreads in the Majority World. Equipping Ministries Global seeks to do its part in equipping the people of God for works of service (Eph 4:11-13).
Melissa's current areas of ministry are Longido, TZ, Siaya, KE, and Kireka, UG. In each location, her primary focus is training village pastors who do not have easy access to biblical and theological training. While she is in country, she also participates in the worship life of the tocal church and participates in ministry where opportunities arise. All funds raised by EMG go directly to this ministry. Our organization is dedicated to providing hope and support to those who need it the most. We believe that everyone deserves a chance to live a fulfilling life, and that through our efforts, we can make a real difference in the world. Join us in our mission to change lives and make a lasting impact on the world.
Our Founder & President
Melissa Davis, PhD
For as long as I can remember, two kinds of ministry have captured my heart: Global Mission and Discipleship. My first taste of short-term missions work was when, at the age of 22, the Lord called me (through my pastor) to co-lead a short-term missions trip to Mexico as part of Youth Mission International's ACTION Program [YMI is now part of Multiply, the Global Mission arm of the Mennonite Brethren Church]. We spent nearly a month in Mexico City and Querétaro. The trip stretched me and cemented in me a desire to live a life of mission. In the years following, ACTION took me to Kinshasa, DR Congo, and southern Japan. All three of these trips were leaps of faith that stretched me. When I left Kinshasa, I knew I would be back to Africa, I just didn't realize it would take me almost 14 years to return.
In 2017, a good friend of mine at Church invited me to join her as a cohort leader for what is now Women's Discipleship International. WDI seeks to train women to be disciple-making disciples. This program equips women relationally through biblical, theological, and discipleship training. The program is three years long, with two-week intensives in the summer and monthly Zoom meetings. After the first year, I realized that I needed more training if I was going to serve my new Ugandan sisters well, so I enrolled in a PhD program at Regent University. I traveled to Uganda three more times prior to the global shutdown that was the COVID-19 epidemic. I traveled to Uganda for a fifth time in March 2023, just prior to my dissertation defense. The ministry that launched me into PhD studies also closed out my time as a PhD student and I couldn't be more grateful. On March 20, 2023, just two days after returning home from Uganda, I successfully defended my dissertation. I graduated from Regent University May 6, 2023 with a Ph D in Renewal Theology, specializing in Systematic Theology.
March 2023 also brought my first trip to Siaya, Kenya as a teaching associate with Empowered Living International Ministries (ELIM). ELIM seeks to educate, equip, and EmPower Pastors, Leaders, Congregations, and Individuals to live the life they were created to live through sound biblical teachings & humanitarian action. When I serve at ELIM's Theological Institute in Siaya, Kenya, I teach as part of a team. I have been there twice now (March and October 2023) teaching on worship and the church (or doxology and ecclesiology). I eagerly anticipate my next trip to Siaya in March 2024.
Through my time in Uganda and Kenya, the Lord has confirmed to me that a significant part of my ministry will be spent equipping men and women for the ministry God has called them to in East Africa. Back here in the states, I have served the local church as a Bible study leader, an Elder, an Associate Pastor, an Adult Christian Education Director, and a Pastor of (Adult) Discipleship. I serve as an Adjunct Professor of Theology at Regent University School of Divinity where I primarily teach Hermeneutics (biblical interpretation) and Introduction to Systematic Theology. My husband Mac and I are members of Galilee Church, where I assist with teaching and preaching.