‘We need thousands of
Bibles,’ says church leader

n Pastor Dion shows the distribution of Protestant Baptist Church fellowships in Côte d’Ivoire

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire — “If there is a church that needs Bibles it is us! We need more than 30,000!” declares the Rev Dr Yayé Dion Robert , leader of the Protestant Baptist Church in Abidjan.

The Protestant Baptist Church, also known as the Church of Works and Missions, is a growing family of ‘new’ churches numbering nearly 700, the majority of them in Côte d’Ivoire, and claiming a worldwide membership of more than 130,000. Its headquarters are in a large complex of offices in the Abidjan suburb of Yopougon.

“Most of our congregations here in Abidjan are in house churches,” Pastor Dion explains. “There may be as many as 2,000 house churches here – and our church building here in Yopougon seats about 2,000 people.”

Apostolic Age

Pastor Dion believes that churches should return to the practices and beliefs of the Apostolic Age. The Protestant Baptist Church bases its appeal on discipleship, the development of well-defined ministries, and its total acceptance of and dependence upon the Bible.

“We use the Old Testament system of governance,” he explains. “At the weekends, when people have more time, we hold training seminars for our house-church leaders. Then, as the members develop in their faith and want to be more involved in church activities, we encourage them to join one of our 21 ministry departments. This allows their talents to come to the fore and be put into practice.”

The 21 departments cover a wide range of ministries: co-ordinating local churches, reaching out to people in hospitals and prisons, and ministering to people of other faiths. They also offer training in music ministry, social work and public relations, and cater for specific social groups such as women, young people (there are some 20,000 in the Abidjan fellowships and they have their own pastors) and married couples.

Microcosm

Altogether, the church seems like a microcosm of an efficiently-run society. In spite of its numbers, however, it nonetheless manages to care for the individual members.

n Worshippers in prayer at the Protestant Baptist Church, in Yopougon, Abidjan

“It is at the house-church level that the individual is listened to and cared for,” says Pastor Dion. “The house churches are supported by our 370 pastors – and we currently have many pastors in training. There are three main meetings every week. One of these is for Bible study. We emphasise knowledge of the Bible. Everyone has to have a Bible. That is why I say that we need at least 30,000 Bibles.”

The pastor has already discussed with Jean Kouassi Kouame, the General Secretary of the Bible Society of Côte d’Ivoire, the possibility of a large print run of the Bible specifically for the Protestant Baptist church, bearing the church address and logo. It has its own Bible teaching department which prepares study material and publishes and distributes it among the house-churches.

Positive effect

“We estimate that about 200 people become Christians through our ministry here in Abidjan every week,” he says. “New converts are given a Gospel. For smaller booklets and Portions we have our own printing equipment but for larger Scripture formats we rely on the Bible Society. Last year at the time of the elections the Society provided us with Peace Portions to distribute. I am convinced they had a positive effect on the elections and kept the violence to a minimum.”

Pastor Dion believes that the most successful evangelisation is done by individuals making personal invitations to friends and neighbours to attend church.

Stadium

“They tell their friends to come and see,” he explains. “We also go out in pairs and knock on doors to invite people to church. We reckon that out of 100 people who attend church from an invitation like that, 60 will become Christians and join the church. Once a year the whole church gets together. We have to hire the stadium for that meeting!”

The church has learned to live in the Muslim community in spite of many members being treated like outcasts because of their faith.

“We have a lot of teaching to help our members understand the Koran and Muslim ways,” says Pastor Dion. “We have even brought in famous Muslim speakers to explain Islam and Muslim attitudes more fully. When we approach Muslims we show them understanding and openness. It is hard for them not to respond positively.

“One Muslim confessed to us that he thought the Christians were asleep when they were praying and that they only woke up when someone said ‘Amen’! There are many rather childish beliefs about Christians among the Muslims which we have to dispel. But as they get to know us they start to trust more and they open up.

Support

“We are increasingly getting Muslim enquirers, and we have to understand them very well, their background and the rejection they will encounter if they become Christians. They need more support than someone from another community because their lives can be endangered by converting to Christianity,” he explains.

One Saturday in February saw more than 400 people baptised in the Yopougon church. The following day, the congregation heard the stories of some of these new converts and praised God for what he was doing in their midst. (WR 364/2 - 11.01) [PHOTOS]