And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people … and have heard their cry … for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them… Ex 3:6-8a
Christopher Djatta was born into the Islamic Kotokoli tribe, the second largest people group in the West African francophone nation of Togo. When I met him in 2001, he was one of only 200 professing Christians among his tribe numbering 600,000. In 1992, he established Warriors for Christ, with the goal of sending a gospel witness to every village in Togo, especially to the remote northern villages.. The journey to reach this goal has proven a long, dangerous, and discouraging one, fraught with persecution and betrayal. Though he is grateful for the many souls set free from Islam through his ministry during the past two decades, he has watched in dismay as Muslim missionaries, backed by massive amounts of power and money, have flooded the small country to successfully convert multitudes of people.
The great challenge of the century is the power of Islam. Muslims are the least evangelized people, and their numbers are increasing every day worldwide.
Although we work hard and are prepared to die for Christ if necessary, we lack the numbers and the financial support of our enemy. After 20 years, we remain weak and challenged while the Muslims have only grown in strength, money, influence, and power.
Traditional churches filled with nominal Christians are apathetic to this tragedy. They have closed their eyes to the great need for gospel workers in our nation, and have refused to help us. In fact, they persecute us. Foreign missionaries have tried to take over our work. Christian Aid is our only support.
After training our missionaries, we send them only to the unreached, not to those who have already heard the gospel. This is how we reached almost all of northern Togo in less than eight years of mission work. We have suffered greatly for this labor and are disheartened that the body of Christ is not behind us. If the bride of Christ is not fighting with us, how can we resist the enemy and fight until the final victory?
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WFC missinaries return to their fields after a training conference |
Our needs have increased but our finances have not. Not only do we have familial responsibilities, but we also have 102 Muslim converts under our care, including 30 of them in total financial dependency upon our mission. Because of the dangers of confessing Christ from Islam, we must shelter and care for new Christians while we disciple them. We need $50 per person, per month. We also have 14 missionaries on the field, most are married with children. Ten of these fulltime workers receive no support. Those missionaries who we have enabled to start small businesses within the communities they are reaching need equipment and supplies ($900 each). In many cases, having a small shop is the only way to successfully
enter an unreached tribal village.
Each missionary has up to 50 house churches in his charge, some which are more than 20 miles away. They try to visit each group at least twice a week to ensure proper teaching and discipleship. Transportation is essential for them. We are in desperate need of ten motorcycles ($1000 each), and to
repair seven of our motorcycles ($500 each).
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A WFC missionary welcomes a customer to his store |
We also need approximately $4,500 monthly to meet the financial needs of our mission center, where we are secretly receiving and discipling converts from Islam, printing teaching materials, and recording our radio broadcasts. Christian Aid sponsorships have helped to provide some stability here, but we have yet to reach this minimum monthly need. A powerful computer to centralize all of our data ($1,500) is essential as well.
We have been training missionaries every year in the Missions Center Christian Aid enabled us to start
building in 2003. It is still not finished.
God has opened our eyes to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It is clear that we will be persecuted, but God has raised Christian Aid to help us in this final battle for soul winning. We don’t want to build our own kingdom, but the Lord’s Kingdom. We need your help.
Other Stories about Serving Jesus Christ
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Cries from the Heart of Togo (Feb. 13, 2012)
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Togo Missionaries Prevent Tribal War (June 30, 2008)
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