Originally known as Upper Volta, Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in the French-speaking area of West Africa. Slightly larger than the state of Colorado, or about half the size of Manitoba, it adopted its new name in August 1984.

Gently rolling hills of wooded savanna in the South and West merge into the drier grass and shrub transition zone toward the Sahara Desert in the north. The climate is warm to hot, though relatively dry. The economy, based on limited agriculture and herds of cattle, is often drastically affected by drought conditions. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries of Africa. A large portion of the male population migrates to neighboring Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana for employment.

Independent as a nation since 1960, Burkina Faso's heritage includes the nine hundred-year history of the great Mossi Kingdoms still influential in the culture. The majority of the 10.4 million people retains traditional religious beliefs, while forty-eight percent are Muslim and nineteen percent identify themselves as "Christian". Five percent are Protestant.

AIMM workers are primarily based in the Kenedougou Province. Several AIMM teams are involved in linguistic work leading to translation of the Scriptures into previously unwritten tribal languages. Evangelism, discipleship, church planting, leadership training, development and literacy accompany these efforts.