In West Africa, “the Holy Spirit worked in lives” at seminars for youth and parents, says Joseph Akakpo, who ministers with the Association of Biblical Baptist Churches of Togo.
He led four seminars in two locations. More than 500 people attended. At least 30 people trusted Christ as Savior, and many others made spiritual decisions.
Since the beginning of the year, Joseph has been filling in for pastors—preaching and carrying out pastoral ministries in their churches. Those tasks have kept him busy, he says. But he has seen firsthand the fruit of those churches’ work: some churches are renovating their buildings, one has built a parsonage, and others have purchased land to construct church buildings.
Joseph is thankful for missionaries who arrived in Togo 50 years ago “for the purpose of soul winning, planting local churches, and training nationals as pastors.”
“We, the Togolese once in the dark, have seen the light through these U.S. missionaries to Togo,” Joseph says. “They left pleasure and comfort for the sake of the gospel to accept the call to the field with a lot of challenges.”
Many of those missionaries are now with the Lord, but their influence continues. “Glory be to God,” Joseph says.