Arizona Church Helps Launch PEACE Center to Reach Tura People in Cote D'Ivoire
For the past eight years, Palm Valley Church in Phoenix, Arizona, has been walking alongside local churches in Côte d’Ivoire by strengthening and resourcing the local church to lead. That partnership reached a new milestone this month as Pastor Marc Zando and the PD/PEACE Côte d’Ivoire team opened a new PEACE Center in the village of Biankouma with a specific purpose in mind: to build bridges of love to the Tura people — an unengaged and unreached people group of 74,000 who have little to no access to the gospel.
“We are very excited about the fruit we have been seeing from long-term implementation of the PEACE Plan. When a principle is Biblical, it’s transferable! We are so grateful for our partners in ministry: Pastor Marc Zando and the entire team at PD/PEACE Côte D’Ivoire and Pastor Rick Warren and the team at Finishing the Task.”
— Pastor Ryan Nunez, Palm Valley Church
The Strategy: Meet Needs First — Build Relationships — Introduce Jesus
Pastor Marc Zando and the Côte d’Ivoire PEACE team are not starting with sermons. They are beginning where Jesus began — with felt needs.
The PEACE Center in Biankouma is designed to serve the Tura community through:
- Education – training teachers and offering classes for children and adults
- Health – equipping local caregivers and hosting medical services
- Assisting the Poor – launching savings groups and business training
- Safe lodging for girls – reducing vulnerability and creating pathways of hope
- Leader development & church planting – training pastors using the Healthy Church model
All of it is intentionally local-church led. As relationships are built and needs are met with dignity and love, doors open naturally to share the hope of Christ.
Why the Tura?
The Tura people live in northern Côte d’Ivoire and have no established church among them. Their worldview is primarily animistic — seeing spirits in natural objects and events. Because they are unreached and unengaged, without intentional outreach, they could live entire lifetimes without ever hearing the gospel once. The PEACE Center is a direct response to this gap.
Not Just Programs — A Disciple-Multiplying Model
As Palm Valley’s teams have returned year after year, they have helped train pastors, strengthen healthy church systems, and model outward-focused ministry. Those pastors are now reproducing that same model:
“Each church we plant is based on the Healthy Church strategy… Because we have a process to build and grow healthy churches, we can plant more effectively.” — Pastor Marc Zando
We love seeing what a long-term partnership has looked like in this nation: local leaders equipped, churches strengthened, and new communities reached by their own neighbors.
Finishing the Task Together
The launch of the PEACE Center coincides with a gathering of hundreds of pastors in Côte d’Ivoire launching Finishing the Task initiatives across the region. One church’s faithfulness in partnership has helped catalyze a movement far beyond one village.
To learn more about how you can become a Great Commission Ally and finish the task of the Great Commission, visit https://finishingthetask.com/signup/
