“It’s like the musical notes — Fa Do Mi!” exclaimed a French lady, new to the little wooden church in St. Nazaire, France, in 2018.
As she presented her husband to me, she could see I had no idea what she was saying. It was not the first time she had to explain her husband’s name. Fadoumi and Beatrice had recently moved to our area and were seeking a church. At the time, we had no idea what a gift God had given us by sending this precious couple.
Soon after that introduction, we had a workday at the church. As I was writing the list of chores on the chalkboard, there was one I hoped I would not have to do. “Weed the gravel parking lot.”
Give me all the windows to wash. Give me the toilets to scrub, but please do not make me weed the parking lot. In France, you cannot buy weedkiller. If you weed your lawn, it must be done by hand. If you miss one weed, the whole lot will be covered again in a few short months.
You can probably guess which chore no one else wanted. Weeding! I grumpily walked out the door of the church and began my task. I was having an Elijah moment. No, not a calling down fire at Mt. Carmel moment. I’m talking more about the time Elijah found himself in the cave in 1 Kings 19. “Lord, why am I the only one who has to pull weeds?”
Yes, missionaries can have pity parties, too. As I questioned my raison d’être in France, a voice called out to me. And no, it was not the Holy Spirit. It was my new friend, Fadoumi, who asked if he could help me finish the task.
We began telling our life stories, how we each arrived in Saint Nazaire. Fadoumi’s father had been a powerful witchdoctor in Togo. As the eldest son, he should have followed his father’s path to become a witchdoctor as well. But God, rich in mercy, had other plans for Fadoumi. One by one, his entire family turned to Christ, even his father, the witchdoctor. That is a story for another day.
God began weaving our lives together as we pulled up weeds. To be honest, we probably talked more than we weeded. I knew God had not only given me a brother in Christ, a prayer warrior, an encourager, but also a true friend.
Then we began to talk about Togo. He told me he directed an association to help underwrite educational costs for orphaned children in his country. For about $100 a year, a French family could supply tuition fees, books, a daily snack, and a uniform for a Togolese child through his association, Operation Togo.
My mind started racing. How could we motivate the little wooden church to get behind a project like this? Then he mentioned Daniella to me. Daniella was a newborn in a village near Atakpamé. She lost her father before she was born. Her mother died in childbirth, leaving a malnourished Daniella and her twin brother, Daniel. The twins were taken in by a pastor’s family, but the milk they needed cost $35 a month, equivalent to the pastor’s entire monthly salary. With four children at home, he could not provide for the newborns. I told Fadoumi the church would pay to meet their needs. As a dad of twins myself, this one hit home. We had to get involved!
Our church rallied around Daniel and Daniella. Sadly, Daniel died six weeks later due to an intestinal issue. However, we bombarded Heaven asking the God of the universe to spare Daniella’s life.
On a Wednesday night in 2022, Fadoumi came to Bible study extremely frustrated. I had never seen my brother like this, so Dennis Teague and I pulled him off to the side to find out what was wrong. He explained the prosperity gospel was ravaging his country. Pastors were getting fat as they pocketed every dime their church members gave to receive “a blessing from God.” Fadoumi wanted these pastors to simply preach God’s Word as authority and not for financial gain. He looked at us and asked, “What can you do to help?”
In January 2023, I flew to the West African country of Togo for the first time. Our goal was to meet local pastors, find a location for a pastor’s conference, meet some of the orphans sponsored through Operation Togo, and meet Daniella. As we explored this beautiful yet poor country, my heart broke. We met believers trying to further the Kingdom with little to no means. I heard pastors say, “We have been praying to be trained for over five years!” A village chief told me they needed $2,000 to repair the holes in the roof of their school. So many needs! Frankly, it was overwhelming.
That night, as I reflected over the sights and sounds I had experienced, I began praying. I told the Lord I felt He was leading Free Will Baptists here, but surely someone more qualified should lead this initiative. Why was I here? How could I raise the money needed to underwrite all this? The needs were too many, and I was too small.
DING!
Have you ever been praying, and God interrupts you with a DING? To be honest, God does not usually answer my prayers in real time. I quickly said “Amen” and turned to check my messages.
The message was from my friend Josh Baer, pastor of Cramerton Free Will Baptist Church in Cramerton, North Carolina. He wrote, “Matt, we just tallied our Christmas offering, and we have $2,000 to give to a project of your choosing!” Remember the school with the leaky roof I had seen earlier that day? Tears flowed as God reminded me none of this depends on me. He has it all worked out. I just need to trust Him.
In October 2023, we held the first pastor’s conference in Notsé, Togo. In partnership with Pastors Paul Amiezi and Samuel Ouattara from the Ivory Coast, and Kenneth Eagleton from IM, twenty pastors and lay leaders attended the four-day conference. God truly moved in the hearts of those pastors as we asked them to look at a different model of leadership.
Pastors in Togo are regarded as kings, and the church is to serve the pastor. We wanted to show them the model of Jesus as the Humble Servant, and it was earth-shattering for some. True transformation occurred as many recognized their cultural understanding of leadership was not biblical. After the week, the hotel staff told us they had never seen a group like us before. The change was evident to all who encountered these men.
At the next conference in 2024, we began examining biblical doctrine through a Free Will Baptist perspective. This was the first time many of these men received training on how to examine God’s Word. Again, they realized the tremendous influence their culture had on their understanding of the Bible. Some asked for God’s forgiveness for preaching things not in line with Scripture.
At the end of the week, we gave each pastor a study Bible provided by Legacy Church in Gastonia, North Carolina. This was the first study tool many of these pastors had ever owned. They were like children on Christmas morning.
Today, 15 pastors have decided they want to be part of the Free Will Baptist movement in Togo. These men worked independently for a long time, but now they understand it is better to work together to expand God’s Kingdom. They want to know how to pray for the spiritual needs in India, Japan, and other places Free Will Baptists live and serve.
In Saint Nazaire, Fadoumi coined an oft-repeated saying: “It’s only the beginning!” For free Will Baptists, we truly believe that statement is as valid in Togo as it is in Saint Nazaire.
I want to ask you, the reader, Fadoumi’s question: “What can you do to help?” We desire your prayers, obviously, but if you would like to help financially, you can give through the IMpact France Togo Project at pushpay.com/g/imimpactprojects/.
About the Writer: Matt and Cristina Price are in their third term of
service in France. Learn more about their ministry at www.iminc.org/.
