Doors have been opened for us to equip the rural mountain territories, who have very little contact with churches, to impact their local community. We partnered with our good friend Pastor Attivi Kossi, who has created a team to go into these regions and minister a program that will prepare them for their role in this project. The program is progressive and starts with providing a gathering place. Many of these churches are in areas that have long rainy seasons and extreme heat. So gathering becomes a problem because they are meeting in the open and can only meet when weather conditions allow. The first step in our process is to provide a very simple shelter, designed like a pavilion, that can accommodate their congregation and encourage the believers to meet for worship services, gospel lessons and community functions.
The next step in the program is the a literacy program. These are indigenous communities and very few can read or write. They also have their own languages that are unique to them. We partnered with a missionary group who put us in touch with a source for Bibles in their language on listening devices. Now they can listen to the word of God and we can also use the Bible as a source of material for learning how to read and write. This opens up a whole world they have yet to experience. The program has not only given them a new excitement about the word of God, it also gives them much more confidence to share the gospel.
The final step of our program is to develop some individual sustainability. A step up out of severe poverty. The program works like this: The congregation determines the family most in need within the church and gives them $100. We then provide training for them to develop a source of supply for their family and income possibilities. Usually either agriculture or livestock or a combination of both. After one year we evaluate their situation. So far those who have taken advantage of the program have met their family’s needs, made a profit and now have become self-sufficient. The beauty of the program is that this family gives the original $100 to the next selected family so they also can take a step out of poverty.In the last two years we’ve been able to use this inspired model to plant 8 shelters that are now home for congregations of believers that are establishing The Kingdom of God here on earth.
Recently we have been approached by a missionary who has been working in this region and has joined our team. His name is Aboeba, which translates in the Akposso language to ‘It’s Better’. We’ve been able to equip him with a motorbike and a generator to set out and visit with these communities and aid them to advance the Kingdom. Attivi and I agree that this partnership has improved the mission. The vision is to have 10 congregations planted in this region. We just received funding on number 9, which will be completed by the end of 2025. This will equip us to be involved in spreading the love of Jesus to a forgotten community and bring them an opportunity to step out of devastating poverty into an abundant lifestyle.
