Planting and Growing Churches in Togo, Africa

Lee Stephenson: Welcome, everyone to the Unfiltered podcast. Lee Stephenson here, local church planter in Orlando, overseer of Church Planting for Converge.

Danny Parmelee: I'm Danny Parmelee, oversee Church Planting for Converge MidAmerica and Southeast.

Lee Stephenson: And today we've got a special guest all the way from the other side of the world. JJ Alderman. JJ, say hey, and why don't you just introduce yourself to our listeners?

JJ Alderman: Hey, everybody, I'm JJ. And my wife Melissa. And we have three little girls. Live over in Togo, West Africa, a French speaking country, in West Africa sandwiched between Ghana and Nigeria.

Lee Stephenson: That really clears it up for a lot of our listeners, I'm sure. Tell us a little bit of your story. Why Togo? And what are you focused on doing in Togo?

t my wife and I moved back in: 2009

Danny Parmelee: I have a question. So, when you say plant churches, did you plant a church where you were the lead pastor? Or are you working with church planters?

JJ Alderman: No. So from the beginning, we started with a national leader. And the dream in the vision from the beginning was that he stands up front as the as the pastor, as the planter. And so we worked together with just the four of us. Started on our front porch in this small town of now 60,000 people, and it started to multiply. And that's what we love.

Danny Parmelee: And was that a shift? Because for I mean, I think a lot of people, when they think of missions, they think of the missionary as the one doing all the work. Planting the church. They're the one that stays there, and then eventually, you know, five, 10 years. And then they find a national leader, put them in place, and then, you know, do it over again.

JJ Alderman: I've seen that in the model. And I've seen that happen over the years. But when it comes to multiplication, when it comes to reaching people groups, we have to try to elevate national leaders to that place where they influence society and culture. And that's the place where they're always going to reach people better than we do. We live in a tribal area of the world. So we even have to look at what tribe a person is from, and how they best reach their own and their neighboring tribes. And so from the beginning, for us, it's that role of coaching. And now as a Converge missionary team, we try to do the same thing. We try to coach national leaders.

Lee Stephenson: I've had the opportunity and the privilege to actually visit JJ and Melissa on site in Togo, and experience what they're doing. And it's an incredible thing of seeing the local churches and the church planters, you know, getting passionate about reaching their own people and their tribes in the country. JJ, talk to us a little bit about how has spiritual warfare influenced how you look at church planting? And even how you coach church planters and what they should expect? And how do they navigate those moments?

JJ Alderman: Yeah, I live in an area of world where people believe that it's spiritual before it's physical or more spiritual than it is physical. And we in the West sometimes have a hard time wrapping our mind around that. And so we have to find our area on the spectrum to be able to understand and say, Hey, everytime I stub my toe is the devil out to get me? And at the same time, saying I just took a couple intentional decisions towards a church planter. Towards ministry. And everything that could go wrong just did. And starting to identify those and saying, Hey, somewhere in the middle, Lord, what's going on here? And how do we figure this thing out? And so, we are in the middle of spiritual warfare. We identify it pretty quickly in West Africa. And our national believers would say the exact same thing. You'd have a really hard time convincing a West African leader, that it's not spiritual warfare, and that Satan's not pushing back when God's opening up doors and seeing things happen. And I think the thing we need to look at in church planting in the States is I can also see those same trends that carry over. It's global. Ministry is we're working with people. We're Christ followers. And so those commonalities do transcend cultures, and they cross oceans. And so you do see those around the world.

Lee Stephenson: Talk to us, too. What do you see as the biggest challenges to the church planting movement in that part of the world right now?

JJ Alderman: So, we start really at the beginning, when people meet Jesus. We'd say in the area that we work, nine out of 10 have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel. So, when someone meets Jesus, you might have 100 people in a church. Ninety-five met Christ in that context. So, they're learning in the first 90 days what it means to go public with their faith. They might have to burn idols before they get baptized the next day or right there, right there in front of the church family. And they're going to learn within probably the first four months what it means to share their faith. And so what we try to do from the very beginning is equip the believers to be able to share the gospel. And we'd look at things like: are 50% of the churches actively sharing their faith every single week? Are the 12, 13, 14-year-olds sharing in school? And when they are, you see a vibrant church. You see people who are living out their faith. Going back to it, you definitely see the spiritual warfare and the attacks that go in every direction, because there is resistance. But you're at a place where you're equipping the church to be able to look forward with a vision, which can be really simple sometimes. It means day one, when we open a church, under a mango tree, or under an overhang, we're going to have two offerings. And we're going to be intentional about this. The first one is here, this is what God's given you. And then the second offering that we're going to pass around is going to be able to say, this is church planting. This is gospel advancement. It has to be part of our DNA from the beginning. And we have to raise people up to keep moving forward. And when they do that, you start to see churches that multiply more quickly, even though they're not necessarily mature churches. But they understand the need, and they have a passion for the unreached up the road.

Danny Parmelee: What about for individuals there for them to say yes to Jesus? Is there more of a personal or even cultural sacrifice? Like, so for here, someone says yes to Jesus. Okay, maybe it's a little embarrassing with their old party friends or something like that. But in that part of the world, is there more at stake for someone to say yes?

JJ Alderman: There absolutely is. I think of one of our Converge teammates on the ground, started working with six young girls, trying to develop leaders. And that's where we try to spend our time. And so she said, "Hey, our goal right now is for you to be able to share your faith." And those six won six of their friends to Christ. And they became 12, and then the 12 won six more, and they became 18. And just a few weeks ago, there was a teacher standing up in school, just very antagonistic towards Jesus and the church and the gospel. And just badgering people to say, you know, "Who would believe that?" And belittling. And one of these young teenage girls there in the city of Aneho, stands up in the back of the class raises her hand and says, "Me. I believe this. I believe this Jesus, and I follow him." And one of her friends stands up as well and says, "Me too. I believe the same thing as well." And those are two of the 18 girls that are sitting there that learned how to follow Jesus less than two years ago.

Lee Stephenson: So fun.

JJ Alderman: It is. It is. It makes you want to cheer him on, that's for sure.

Lee Stephenson: How can a church planter here in the United States begin to build an ethos of being a missional church? Not just in their city, not just in their neighborhood, but having a global perspective? And to begin to write that kind of DNA, in their story from right off the bat. Because I think, sometimes in the church planting world, at least here in the US, we can get so focused on I've got to reach my neighbor, which is fantastic. But we sometimes forget too about what God may be doing on the other side of the world and our role in playing out Acts 1:8.

JJ Alderman: I think we have to be learners. I think we continually have to learn as we study. And that the world is changing quickly. Everyone knows that. That's not new to anyone. So we have to learn what's going on around the world. And we have to be intentional about doing it. Because sometimes we can focus on what's right in front of us, instead of looking out and realizing there's something on the other side of that horizon. And something else that we can be a part of. It's a both/and. And they feed each other. And they help grow us. And as we pursue the mission and engage in the mission, sometimes cross culturally, sometimes right across the street. They both help each other in developing us as leaders to be able to see the world.

Lee Stephenson: As an initiative leader there in Togo, you're building teams. You're recruiting people from the United States to help in furthering the goal of planting more churches. What kind of person are you looking for? Like who makes a good missionary in our world today? Because I know it's changed over the last century significantly. You know, organizations' approach to missions, all that. In your mind today, JJ, like who are you looking for to come?

Danny Parmelee: This is your open opportunity to recruit any listener right now. Speaking the very voice for God right now.

JJ Alderman: And we would say that we have open seats right now. So, we absolutely are always looking.

Lee Stephenson: I just lobbed a softball to you. Crush it.

JJ Alderman: Let's see. So, we're always looking for people that work well in teams. People that are teachable. People that are humble. We find people that have that entrepreneurial spirit do great, especially cross culturally where they're willing to learn and to adapt and be flexible. And people that can understand it doesn't always have to be all or nothing but let's see progress. And let's see how things can move forward. And understand that they can give a portion of their life for very, very meaningful work and help people follow Jesus. So, I would even say to young people, if we had 70 years on this earth, what if you gave seven to foreign missions? Working with an unreached people group? What if you give 10% of your life away? You can still come back and follow the American dream if you want to, and have the family and everything else, just by saying, "God, I'm going to put you first on this." And so because of that, we are seeing people that are saying, "Yeah, I would join a team somewhere." And it's changing them as they're being used to transform a location as well. And a people group.

Lee Stephenson: Great recruiting strategy right there. So, you can slip me the 50 later. But JJ, I love your passion. I love what you're doing. For you, what do you see the next five years taking place in Togo and Benin? You know, what other thing that's keeping you up praying, "God, I want to see this in five years."

JJ Alderman: Yeah. So, we're asking God for 190,000 disciples from 10 unreached people groups. And we're starting to see the multiplication happen right now. For seven years... So, church plant number one was seven years. We got to two after 10. Twenty-nine today. Trying to get towards 100 in the next three years. And just watching that multiplication happen. And raising up the leaders that provide covering over networks and people groups. Because the gospel is young in our area of the world, especially the French speaking countries. And so that's what keeps me up. Making sure that we have those leaders in place and being intentional with our time to try to invest in those leaders.

, "Twenty-nine churches since: 2009

JJ Alderman: No, it's about sharing with people. And we ask the question, "Hey, in a human sense, if you don't take the gospel to that family, to that village, up the road, who's going to take it?" Like, how will they hear if you don't? And so someone can say, "I'm going to be the one that's going to take the gospel there." And so it's spending time to invest in the leaders that are there, and equipping them to go out on the frontlines and share. And it means it's sloppy, sometimes. Sometimes it's not perfect. In fact, most of the time, it's not. But perfection is not the goal here. It's equipping believers to continue to follow God's call in their life. And to get out there and do it. One of my favorite people in this world is is a 22-year-old young fellow who shares his faith audaciously every single week. But my favorite part of that is that he also has a 14-year-old that he's pouring into, and that 14-year-old has an eight-year-old. And if you watch the line of the three of those guys, and the way they share the gospel. Every single week, they share with multiple people. Because they're watching out and they're developing a gift in someone else. And so in an area of the world where 70% of the population is under 30, we can't wait until someone has the right diploma. And they're at the right place in life to say, now you're ready. We have to say, we're going to empower you today. And you're not going to do it by yourself. We're going to help you in teams, we're going to give you good training and accountability. And we're going to do our best on this and follow where God's leading you.

Lee Stephenson: Incredible. Ephesians four, like actually being played out.

Danny Parmelee: It's biblical.

Lee Stephenson: Yeah. Paul knew something. Great picture, JJ. Kind of last question on my mind is, you have a lot of different components to your ministry. You're developing a camp. You have a already developed kind of residency slash internship process. Tell us a little bit of...a little more detail behind each of those kinds of things that are part of what you're doing in Togo. Why you're doing it. How others could possibly get involved in them.

JJ Alderman: Absolutely. And we love partnerships. We think that together, we go farther on this. And so we're always looking for the right partnership that goes in both directions. So, when we look at what's happening in West Africa, right now trying to see 190,000 disciples, we believe that we have to work with church planting. So that's both a brick and mortar and a house church strategy. It's a both/and for us. And looking at the city and the rural context, as we continue to spread out. So, we would define this as five different projects. The first is Togo church planting. So, it's that continuation of the church planting that we see going right now. The second project has been in church planting and that's just about 40 miles up the road. So, you and I would look at that as a campus. As another location to be able to send someone out. For us is just crossing a border. But it's targeting a city called Ouidah. Ouidah is a city of 100,000 people. It's one of those places that's considered the birthplace of voodoo. It's also the home of the python temple, where people still continue...

Lee Stephenson: I've been there. It's ridiculous.

t of our understanding, about: 5000

Lee Stephenson: Love your vision. And it's fun to see from even afar. Actually going there. And just seeing what God is doing is incredible. It's inspirational. So, thank you for your leadership, JJ. Thanks for what you guys are doing and for all the team there in that part of the world. It's been fantastic. So, to all our listeners out there, thanks for tuning in to the Unfiltered podcast. This is just real conversations about church planting. Until next time, keep it real.