About Togo
The common item all African countries have in their background is the colonial rule of the European nations over them from the 19th Century. The peculiarity of TOGO's case resides in the plurality of its colonial masters.
It all began in 1884 when the German explorer Gustav NACHTIGAL signed a protectorate treaty with MLAPA III, traditional chief of one costal village.
It is in honour to this diplomatic success that the Germans later gave
the name to the entire territory they conquered in that region. Thus from 1884 to 1914, a period of 30 years, TOGO was a
German colony. At the beginning of the 1st World War, Von DOERING, the German interim governor of TOGO proposed to the British governor of
the then Gold Coast, present-day Ghana, the French governor of the then Dahomey, present-day Benin, and the French governor of the then
Upper Volta, present-day Burkina Faso a neutrality deal. These having rejected the deal, attacked TOGO from the West, East and North
respectively. The Germans lost the three week long battle August 26, 1914. Consequently, they lost TOGO, their MODEL
COLONY, their pride in Africa.
Quickly, the British and French governors made a temporal division of TOGO, the land they had conquered. Each colonial master
directing the affairs of his allocated portion. This was from 1914 to 1919, a period of 5 years during which TOGO
was administered partly by the British and partly by the French. At the signing of the Versailles Treaty on
June 1919, TOGO was placed under the mandate of the League of Nations. This worldwide organization
entrusted much of the land the Germans had colonized to Great Britain and the rest to France. The French
portion is the present-day TOGO. Thus from 1919 to its independence in 1960, a period of 41 years, TOGO was a
French colony.
As is its historical background, so is its religious one. Before the arrival of the Europeans,
idolatry was the religion of the people. The Germans and the French introduced the Christian Faith. The
very first denominations were: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. These were active in the South whereas Pentecostalism was
gaining strength in the North. Many years later, the Southern Baptist and the ABWE missionaries came in.
To God be all the glory that in His graciousness, He honoured His Word and as at now, in all the five regions of the country,
there are a good number of Fundamental Baptist Bible believing, Christ centered, gospel preaching Churches of varying sizes. Souls are
being saved, new churches are being rarely planted, and Christians are being edified, equipped and trained to serve the Lord in the local
churches, weddings are being conducted, marriages are being saved from breaking... With the advent of democracy late 1990 with its
subsequent freedom of worship and the liberalization of the Media, cults that have been banned, preachers of the prosperity gospel,
charismatic miracle workers and the rest have invaded the country from one end to the other.
The carnal man will see this and say TOGO is covered from one end to the other with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But as far as
salvation by grace through faith alone in Christ alone is concerned, TOGO remains an opened but needy country. As at now, Lome the capital
city, with about 1.5 million people, where all the various religious groups are mostly active, there are many neighbourhoods, and vast
areas were no Fundamental Baptist Bible believing, Christ centered preaching church could be found. This situation applies to all the
other big cities and surrounding villages in all the other regions.
TOGO is an opened country; its people are friendly and hospitable. There are many wonderful
opportunities for ministry from one end of the country to the other. Some areas of ministry are: church
planting, training of those whom the Lord has called into His vineyard, children's ministry, Christian
Schools, church building projects, media ministry, orphanages, community health facilities.
With the opened door and the ready acceptance of the gospel the Lord has blessed TOGO with
and the invasion of cults and fast growing falsehood on every side, the country could be rightly
compared to Gibeon which was invaded by hostile forces because they made peace with Israel.
From Pastor Mawouli
It is in view of this religious background that I wholeheartedly thank the Lord for
enabling me to serve Him with the Mount Abarim Baptist Mission International family as the missions
representative in my dear country. As such, I count it the highest privilege and greatest responsibility
to call on you with the same urgency with which the men of Gibeon called on Joshua and all Israel to
join us to send the gospel to the vast unreached majority.
Our hearts and hands are widely opened to warmly welcome anyone willing to visit TOGO and
see things for himself. With the Lord's return drawing closer and closer every split second, would
you henceforth as you consider foreign mission fields consider TOGO?