togo

Togo is one of the world's top five producers of phosphates (used in fertilizers), but the country remains poor and dependent on foreign aid. People with indigenous beliefs make up the largest religious group, but Christians and Muslims also make up a significant minority. Traditional healing methods are widely used in Togo with each center having an herbalist. Medical treatments usually involve frequent visits to the house of Voodoo and the local fetish priest. 

KEY CHALLENGES

The practices of worshiping idols and performing sacrifices keep people enslaved to a fatalistic system. In this belief system, people who are sick suffer without medicine and education is discouraged. In rural Togo, only about half of the population has access to clean water and less than 20% have access to basic sanitation facilities. 

Atakpamé, Togo - June 29, 2019: Mother and her children at her house in a Fulani tribe village close Atakpamé, Togo, West Africa. The Fulani live closely with their animals in their village. The people live in straw huts with thatched roofs.

our approach

We were never intended to live in poverty, divided against one another, with little hope for peace. In the Kingdom of God, poverty, violence, division, and hopelessness will not exist. We believe the Church is God’s primary transforming agent in the world, and that the local church exists to make its community more like the Kingdom of God.   

We partner with local indigenous leaders as they minister to the communities and cultures that they themselves are from. We start projects and programs in the hardest places and set up a plan for them to be self-sustaining in order for them to know independence and the value of reinvesting in their own communities.  

Read on to learn how communities are being transformed in Togo.

Our partners

Mission ONE has been working in West Africa since 2006 through our trusted partners at African Evangelical Christian Mission (AECM), led by Joseph and Graciah Ayigah. AECM focuses on discipleship, pastoral care through relationships, walking with broken families, and freedom from bondage through Christ. Through the local church, they have been able to establish schools and clinics to meet the needs of the community. They currently have over 100 pastors serving in Togo, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast. 
West Africa. Togo. Lome. 01/23/2014. This colorful image depicts a primary school student writing with chalk on a blackboard.

PROJECTS

Gozem Car Rental - This car rental project is not only providing a reliable service to the community in Togo, but it also financially supports the work of the AECM ministry and its missionaries serving vulnerable communities in Togo, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and a possible expansion to Ivory Coast.  

GIVE TO PROJECTS LIKE THESE

Gospel context

West Africa is a meeting point of different religions. Islam, Tribal religions, and Christianity all exist in the region, and often not peacefully. People living in pluralistic and tribal cultures are in tune with spiritual realities that we often miss in the "enlightened" West. The power of Jesus' death and resurrection is best applied when people see its capacity to address the struggles of their everyday lives, often associated with spirits.  

Learn more about the role of culture in contextualizing the gospel by reading The Global Gospel, written by Mission ONE Vice President, Werner Mischke. 

Avepozo, Togo - October 21, 2018: Female beach vendor carries a bowl with eggs on her head. She is looking for customers at the beautiful Coco Beach, which is a famous place for the coconut palm trees in Avepozo, Togo, West Africa.