ACCTS, along with our partners Military Ministries International  (MMI) in England and the Mission support Organization (MSO) in South Korea, are the three principal support organizations for the world-wide Association of Military Christian Fellowships (AMCF).  Here's what you need to know about this unique military ministry.

AMCF is an association of national Military Christian Fellowships (MCFs) and individual military Christians voluntarily working together to honor Christ in their respective uniformed forces. MCFs are independent, self-governing, and financially self-supporting; they develop along national lines to meet the needs of their own national uniformed services. The AMCF is nonpolitical and non-denominational in character and seeks to interact with all traditions of the Christian faith. The AMCF is an association with no central organization, office, budget, or staff. The AMCF motto is "All one in Christ Jesus." (Galations 3:28) The AMCF mission is to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to men and women in uniform of every nation in the world.

The AMCF goal is that every nation of the world has an MCF that becomes mature and effective.  A mature and effective MCF is defined as follows:

 

AMCF History: AMCF traces its beginning to 1851 when a British cavalry officer serving in India felt the need for Christian fellowship and prayer. Sharing his need led to the vision of what would become the Officers' Christian Union (OCU) in Great Britain. OCU began as a prayer fellowship. Over the years, military Christian leaders in various countries formed varieties of military Christian Fellowships (MCFs). In 1930, God led a British officer to establish an international fellowship of these MCFs, which met periodically for fellowship and training.  In 1980, the group decided to change its name to AMCF, and in 1984, it was decided to hold a world conference of MCFs every 10 years. Recently the focus of AMCF ministry has been on the uniformed services of the world, which includes police, fire, military, and others who desire to gather for Christian fellowship.

 

AMCF Structure: AMCF is led by a "Presidential Bench," consisting of a president and 14 regional vice-presidents. The president sets goals and other guidance for the association, and the vice-presidents implement that guidance within their regions as they encourage and collaborate with the MCFs in their areas of responsibility.  The "Presidential Bench" meets every five years for prayer, mutual encouragement, discussion of emerging issues, and fellowship.

 

AMCF Functions:AMCF is a community of prayer. Once a year the President designates a worldwide Day of Prayer, and the association relies on the Pray and Plan process to discern God's will for its activities.  The vice-presidents travel often throughout their regions, and the president attends as many conferences and other gatherings as resources permit. Conferences and other times of coming together for training, prayer, encouragement and fellowship. Newsletters and other publications share how God is working around the globe through the uniformed services as both local and national MCFs minister cooperatively to spread the Gospel.

 

AMCF Ministry Tools:  MCFs use four primary ministry tools to train and equip their members for discipleship:  Inductive Bible Study, Conversational Prayer, Personal Testimony, and the Pray and Plan method of seeking God's guidance.  The AMCF Reference Handbook also offers guidance on establishing MCFs, training for spiritual growth, conference planning, and other material that MCFs may find useful.

 

When ACCTS was established in 1972, there were 12 nations known to have MCFs.  There are currently more than 150 nations with at least one MCF - many countries have numerous fellowships.  God is clearly blessing the mission and ministry of the Association of Military Christian Fellowships!  Praise God for superintending this spread of the Gospel around the world.