Pioneers – Togo, West Africa

Cause: Church Planting

Christophe Kibalou and Eliphaz Tanama

Scroll to bottom of page to see an urgent COVID-19 message

We were introduced to the Pioneers church planting team in Togo, West Africa by close friends of ours. Years ago, on our trip to West Africa, we had the opportunity of meeting Christophe Kibalou and Eliphaz Tanama. Pioneers has a very effective church planting strategy and the team in Togo has done an excellent job.

Mission Statement

Pioneers was founded in 1979 by former businessman Ted Fletcher and his wife, Peggy. The mission of Pioneers is to mobilize teams to glorify God among unreached peoples by initiating church-planting movements in partnership with local churches. The unreached are cultural and ethnic groups without a self-sustaining witness to the gospel in their own cultures.

From business and education to healthcare, agriculture, the arts, and more, our 3,000 global members use their diverse gifts and experience to serve in needy communities. As they do, they see God transform lives across cultures and people groups everywhere.

Reaching the Unreached

Whether in sprawling cities or rural villages, our teams make their homes in unreached contexts and learn new languages. They use innovative and creative means to build relationships and make disciples. They introduce people to the Bible and share the gospel in culturally understandable ways.

Working Together

We work in partnership with the local church. Each missionary is commissioned by a sending church. The sacrificial gifts of friends, family, and churches provide financial support. This makes it possible for cross-cultural missionaries to work alongside local believers with a heart to see disciples making disciples, worldwide.

Pioneers values integrity and accountability. For this reason, we link arms with other evangelical mission organizations and submit to godly leadership.

Core Values

Eight core values shape the personality of Pioneers. Here’s how we describe them and how we try to live them out.

Passion for God: The Great Commandment is our motive for the Great Commission. We want to live our lives fully surrendered to Him so that all nations may know that He alone is God.

Unreached Peoples: Pioneers focuses on those with the least opportunity to hear and understand the gospel.

Church Planting Movements: We want to see new believers united in fellowship with other believers, forming churches that plant churches - until all peoples are reached.

Ethos of Grace: We understand that each person bears the image of God. We therefore endeavor to cultivate an atmosphere of mutual acceptance and respect in all our relationships. We encourage each one to attain his or her full potential in Christ.

Local Church: Pioneers partners with sending churches to plant new communities of Christians and works alongside local, indigenous fellowships wherever possible.

Team Focus: Teams that are both task- and member-focused are the core of Pioneers. This is crucial since many of the world’s remaining unreached peoples are in difficult and isolated pockets of the world.

Innovation and Flexibility: Reaching the world’s remaining unreached peoples requires creativity and a sensitivity to the unique calling, vision and needs of each missionary.

Participatory Servant Leadership: Pioneers has a decentralized leadership structure. We are also principle- rather than policy-driven. We use an interactive approach to decision making that is based on trust.

An urgent COVID-19 message from Eliphaz Tanama, Pioneers Togo

The situation here is very difficult. The communities are confined. The schools are closed; the cities and the villages are cordoned off. A curfew is instituted from 8 p. m to 6 a. m. the churches and the mosques are closed, the gatherings are forbidden. It becomes difficult for people to do their daily activities to get what to satisfy their needs, especially the food. In order to help our missionaries’ families, the volunteers and the children in the communities, we planned to raise some funds.

PROVISION PLAN

We planned to raise each month $200 for each missionary family, $50 for sanitizers and nose caps, $150 to help the children in the communities and $60 for each volunteer’s family. Our plan is to get financial provision to cover at least 03 months (May, June, July). This financial provision will also help people to get nose caps for protection, soap and sanitizers because it has become expensive in the market place.

Praise God, the situation has improved. The communities are no more confined, the curfew is lifted. But the schools, the churches and the mosques are still closed, the gatherings are forbidden. The pandemic is still there, the cases are still increasing despite the efforts of the government to stop it

COVID 19 CHALLENGES:

1) CLOSING OF CHURCHES

Since March 20, the government has taken measures to fight the COVID-19. Among these measures the closure of churches. This measure has a very negative impact on the ministry of Pioneers Togo. There are no more evangelism sessions, no church services, no training; all this led to the relaxation of certain people in their faith, especially the new converts. Some church members do Bible studies and prayers in their homes, but not everyone. The missionaries sometimes try to visit the church members but it is very difficult

2) NO VISIT OF THE STAFF TO THE MISSIONARIES

To encourage our missionaries and support the ministry on the field, the staff used to visit the field to encourage the missionaries, pray for them and their families, and exhort the volunteers. But because of COVID-19, there is no more visit when this is the time they need more encouragement

3) INCREASED POVERTY

Because of the confinement and closure of towns and villages, economic and commercial activities are slowing down. The consequences are the increase in the poverty of the populations, which affects the missionaries and the ministry on the field, especially the volunteers who are the pillars of the ministry. The consequence is that the poor church members hope for the help of the missionaries to help them. Unfortunately the missionaries face the same situation. Our prayer is that God will put an end to this pandemic as soon as possible to allow people to do their daily activities