Traveling Across Africa
Ministry in West Africa
The Baptist family in Togo received the Rev. Johnson into their beautiful country with great excitement and love in January 2026.
The first meeting point was the residence of Pastor Elias Apetogbo, Continental President of All Africa Baptist Fellowship (AABF) and Regional Secretary of the BWA.
Thereafter, the team proceeded to Eglise Baptiste Le Rocher (led by Pastor Rev. Adjenou Joseph), one of the biggest Baptist Churches in Togo with approximately 500 representatives in attendance. The meeting was glorious and impactful.
The Chair shared with the Baptist family that they belonged to a global Baptist family that truly cared for and continued to pray for them. Gifts were given and lots of connections were initiated.
Rev. Johnson and his host, Pastor Elias, visited four Baptist Churches in Lome:
- Eglise Baptiste Jéhovah Shammah d’Amadenta
- Eglise Baptiste la Vraie Vie de Vakpossito
- Eglise Baptiste la Foi de Gblinkome
- Première Église Baptiste Boulevard
The Churches were full of God’s love and the services fully attended. In fact, the first Church in Amadenta area is a pure local Church with traditional drums and the people sang and prayed wholeheartedly. They were so happy to know that beyond the local church, the convention and continent, there is a global family that continues to pray with them.
Rev. Johnson visited two other churches and finally was received at First Baptist Church, Lome (Première Église Baptiste Boulevard) where he preached. The Church showed appreciation through an award of recognition and gift of a traditional Yoruba attire called Agbada with a Buba (for his wife).
The executive of Togo Baptist Convention later hosted BWA Chair Johnson and the AABF President at their headquarter in Lome. It was a time of learning more about what God is doing with the youthful leaders and their projections for the future. Indeed, the future of Baptist witness in Togo is very bright.
The Church in Togo is truly a living Church. This can be affirmed through the gathering of young people on Sunday evening, with everyone in white, praising and praying their way into the new year. BWA Chair Johnson and his host shared words of encouragement with them, prayed, and acknowledged their commitment to God at a time when young people are often distracted by technology. They found joy worshipping God in his temple.
On January 26, while the team was headed to Benin Republic, the group stopped at a slave house where underground slave tunnels used by the slave masters were seen and the BWA Chair was fully engaged in the experience by entering the tunnels with AABF Elias Apeotgbo, BWA Horizons Director for Africa Koffi Soké Kpomgbe, and other team members.
He was deeply pained at another visible reminder of the atrocities and evil meted out to God’s people and expressed the hope that one day justice for the sin of slavery will become a full reality.
To cap the visit to Togo, the team returned to Lome while traveling to Ghana on January 27, and the BWA Chair and his national and continental hosts paid a courtesy visit to the Minister for Urbanization, Housing, and Land Reform in Togo (Immediate Past President of the Parliament), Mr. Kodjo Sevon-Tepe Adedze. The BWA Chair was well received by the Minister who is also a devoted Christian leader and a strong advocate for the Church.
The host shared about the activities of the government, how the Church in Togo has been a watchman for the country, and about the introduction of National Thanksgiving Day with a commemorative service to affirm the reign of God in the country. The minister apologized for the inability to meet with the President during the visit and asked that a letter be sent which he will deliver to the President of the Council of the Republic of Togo.
BWA Chair Johnson personally thanked the leadership of the country and asked for more to be done to promote Religious Freedom. After a shared photo opportunity, the minister graciously bid our delegation farewell and Godspeed.
We give thanks for this fruitful time of ministry in West Africa and pray for God’s continued work across the region.
