new church life: september/october 2015
He and another Conference minister, both retired, are keeping the doors open
and urging the society to look outward.
The Rev. Ekow Eshun spoke of the Church in Ghana. Ten ministers serve
seven congregations, totaling about 1,500 members and two schools with
more than 500 students between them. He described efforts to invest a modest
endowment, the proceeds of which are being used to buy land, purchase audio
equipment and contribute toward stipends for retired ministers.
The Rev. Martin Gyamfi, Regional Pastor for West Africa, pointed out that
the Church is in six countries there: Ghana, Togo, Ivory Coast, Benin, Burkina
Faso and Nigeria. He said the Church in Nigeria started about five years ago
and consists of two groups in the southeast led by laymen who are brothers.
Their commitment to growing the Church includes land they bought with
their own money.
The Rev. Sylvain Agnes said that the Church in Côte d’Ivoire consists of
eight congregations, five of which are in the capital, Abidjan. Ten ministers
serve a total of 300-500 members, with an eleventh serving in Mauritius. The
Theological School there has 25 students, five of whom are being trained to
serve within the General Church and the rest as independent New Church
ministers. They are training one student from Togo and another for Burkina
Faso. They have a pressing need for books of the Writings in French and are
working on building their endowment fund.
The Rev. Segno-Kodjo Ayi said Togo has the second oldest New Church
congregation in West Africa, after Ghana. The first service was held in 2001,
and now there are four ministers and two congregations, with a third planned.
They also need French translations of the Writings, or translations into their
local language.
The Rev. Guillaume Anato described the Church in Benin as the smallest
or youngest brother of the West African churches. When he finished school in
2010 he returned home to start a church. Now they have about 35 people in
the congregation and are looking for a larger place to worship in the capital.
He also serves a small group about an hour away, is trying to train some men
to assist him, and also to start a three-room school on land they own.
The Rev. John Jin praised the ministers working in Asia for their enthusiasm
and the dedication to work in ministry as their second job. After the sudden
death of the Rev. Jiro Kumazawa last year the Church in Japan has suffered.
They have just two ministers. There are nine ministers and three missionaries
in Korea serving seven churches and three groups. The Korean New Church
Corporation is two-thirds of the way to raising $3 million with the help of
the Healthy Church Match program for a new church in Seoul and a center
for development. While Japan has all volumes of the Writings translated and
published, Korea has three, with three others in process. China is also in sore
472