Missions Trip Chronicles: Baptism in Dapaong

Last month when the missions team was here we were able to repair a church roof and also show the Jesus Film in two villages where we saw several folks come to the Lord. However, another highlight of the 3.5 drive north was the opportunity to stand out in a village on the bank of a pond and watch as sixteen folks follow the Lord in believer’s baptism.

The day started out early. Usually church here in Togo will begin around 8 a.m. and goes till about 10 or 11. This particular morning we had people to bring from three villages. I, having borrowed another missionaries 15 passenger van was elected to start picking up folks from the church and transporting them down to the lake. We took two trips and literally over 50 people come to the lake in our van. Randy arrived with some folks and yet others arrived on bike. I remember seeing one man. The drive to his village alone is 45 minutes but he woke up early, mounted his bike and began to peddle to this other village so that he could participate in the attendance of with his fellow believers.

Soap having led most of the folks to the Lord himself also took them through a discipleship/baptism course which lasted several months. At the end, after having given a clear testimony of their salvation in Christ they huddled on the bank of this lake. In Togo, it’s important to understand that elders and wisdom are virtually synonymous. So it only made sense that the younger Sopa would defer the actual baptizing to Randy. Sopa stood on the bank and called of each name and as he called off the names they would one by one walk forward, face the crowd and give their testimony of God’s redeeming grace. They would then slowly walk into the lake to meet Randy who had waded about waist deep. One by one we watched young, old, men, women and teenagers enter the waters and emerged having followed Christ in this feat of obedience.


Dapoang can be rough and difficult at times but it is so awesome to head up there and be reminded just how much God is working. The tangible evidence can be overwhelming at times.

The Mission Trip Chronicles: Jesus Film and Roof Repairs

Several months ago, at the beginning of the rain season we experienced some pretty devastating wind storms. In Kara, we had a mango tree snap in half and tumble all over the wall and into the yard. But in Dapaong, out in one of the remote villages, we had about one sixth of our church roof break loose causing a complete lose to that section. Upon hearing of the damage, we took a quick trip up to survey the building and ultimately decided to tack weld the roof into place knowing that it was merely temporary fix. After ordering and having the necessary replacement items shipped from Lome which is 10 hours south and consequently, the only place in the country you can order these products we were ready to start our repairs.

With all the necessary items in hand by the time the mission team arrived, we decided to head up and knock out the work in a long weekend. The trip is about three hours and the ride from the town of Dapaong to the actual village was another 40 to 45 minutes. We were really blessed because the first day it had rained off and on up till we arrived. But the Lord was good to us and He stopped the rains shortly after we arrived and got everything set up. The old damaged portion of the roof came off quickly but then due to some delays and coordinating materials from town, we actually didn’t start welding till the following day (Saturday).

Friday night, our first night in Dapaong after having spent the morning traveling and the afternoon doing the roof we showed the Jesus Film in Moba. It was funny in retrospect that the Africans were freezing because a late shower near dusk had dropped the temperature into the mid to low 70’s. Despite the African’s freezing they still braved the “elements” and there were probably close to 150 folks if not a few more that showed up to watch the film. You must remember that this village has no running water, no electricity, not indoor bathrooms and no basic modern conveniences. So the film was a big deal. It was the first time that many of these folks had ever seen a film yet alone the story of Christ. Can you imagine the very first film that you’ve ever seen being the story of Christ? Well, it obviously had an impact. We had been praying that God would do something amazing and miraculous. After the film, Pastor Soapa stood to his feet and laid out the gospel plan again for about ten minutes then gave an invitation and five teens and adults accepted Christ that evening. Truly God is good and all the Glory goes to Him.

The ride home that evening was a rather long one. You can’t really understand what it is to drive at night in a third world country unless you’ve actually done it before. Many times people don’t use running lights, tail lights or head lights. This combined with pedestrians, bicycles, pot holes and truckers running lights on high with fog lamps just make it a nasty drive. Despite all that, we were thrilled in our reflection to what God had done through out the day an especially in the service.

Over the rest of the weekend we were able to finish welding up the roof and place the new tin. We were also able to drive out to another remote village where there is another church and for the first time ever there we too showed the Jesus film in the Moba language. There God blessed again and we saw another eight folks come to Christ.

For me, Dapoang and her surrounding villages are a constant reminder of how God is still working but how we need more laborers to assist in the harvest fields. It was a blessing to spend three days in Dapaong with both the mission team and the villagers and to see how God so richly blessed there.