BOARD MEMBERS

A man in a dark suit, white shirt, and patterned tie smiling at the camera against a plain background.

AVLIN SMITH (CEO and Founder)

Pastor Smith was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson from 1980-1986 when he gave his life to Christ. In 1989, he and his wife Renee left Tucson to pioneer a church in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa, where their two girls were born. Despite the terror of war and frustrations of endemic corruption, he nurtured an evangelistic vision in that nation by preaching the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ, and today more than seventy churches in West Africa continue to carry out that vision in church planting.

Pastor Smith was inspired to begin Into-Africa, a foundation dedicated to increasing the quality of life in poverty-stricken areas by planting churches and introducing schools, medical assistance and clean water. An ever-increasing number of African communities are being touched by this ministry. With over 170 churches planted in Africa, Pastor Smith continues to lead Into-Africa, and ministers to churches in nations throughout the world as Director of International Churches at The Door Church in Tucson.

A middle-aged man with light skin, white hair, black glasses, wearing a dark suit, a checked shirt, and a striped tie, smiling at the camera against a gray background.
A smiling middle-aged man with glasses, a beard, and a gray and white polka dot shirt against a plain white background.
A professional headshot of a smiling bald man in a dark suit, yellow shirt, and patterned tie against a white background.
An older man with gray hair, beard, and glasses standing indoors with a blurred audience or crowd behind him.