Togo
From the Field September 6,’15
In 1999 Elinore Gbedey, a CLC member of Peace thru Christ, Middleton, WI, was returning to the USA from teaching in the country of Benin.
She came through Lome, Togo to visit there, since she is married to a Togolese. While in Lome, she came across a Lutheran, Mike, and explained our church to him. He seemed to have some interest, so she contacted me since I had previously been her pastor at Peace Thru Christ. Email correspondence resulted. Literature was sent and Mike decided to remain with his Lutheran church. However he did put me in contact with Kossi Joffre Blewu and Gideon Abussah.
Kossi was a school teacher and a member of a Baptist church. I began correspondence courses with Kossi. Somehow in April of 2001 we missed each other and so it wasn’t until September of 2001 that we began the study. Going in and out of Nigeria I had classes with him in a hotel in Lome.The next year in March when I visited him, he stated that he could see through our catechism study that his Baptist church was wrong on communion and baptism.
Kossi had not yet received Baptism, but asked for it.On April 3rd 2002 I baptized Kossi in Gideon’s house.
In April of 2004 Kossi registered his small church with the Togolaise government. In December of 2008, Pastor Matthew Ude while visiting West Africa publicly ordained Pastor Kossi.
Throughout the decade since his first contact he has continued to work diligently at both his secular teaching job( head master) as well as his ministry. By the grace of God Pastor Kossi had established two congregations(Vakpossito, Segbe) and two more preaching stations in and around Lome, Togo.
In 2009 Kossi began teaching five men from his own congregation to be ministers in God’s church.
Kossi is constantly looking for new ways to do evangelism. He spends a lot of time with his home congregation in Vakpossito. Here he has classes and meetings almost every day. He also travels as much as possible to the preaching stations which are villages just outside Lome. When he can’t go himself he will often send one of his students to teach, preach, and do evangelism in these areas. He showed the Jesus film as one outreach effort. We have supplied French Bibles and catechisms as well as other doctrinal materials like Mueller’s “Dogmatics”.
Perhaps 50% of the Togolese are animists or have some remnant of this in their religious practices. Kossi also has had contacts in the neighboring countries of Benin and Ghana in 2013. Missionary Ude visits every year.
Statistics: 1 pastor, 5 men in training, 2 congregations, 2 preaching stations, over 200 souls.