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True kingdom values vs the ‘fast food spirit’
TOGO — The Baptist Theological
Seminary in Lomé (official title: ‘L’Ecole Supérieure
Baptiste de Théologie de l’Afrique de l’Ouest’)
trains prospective pastors for all denominations of the Church. At the
moment 40 full-time and 20 part-time students are enrolled. The Principal, Pastor Joseph Adjenou Housounou, cares deeply about
the Church and the direction in which it is going. He evidently agrees
with the often expressed view that while, in a numerical sense, the
Church in Africa may be broad, its roots do not go deep.
“Well-trained Pastors will help the Church to grow, not just horizontally, but also vertically,” he says. “Therefore we accept anybody over 21 for the three-year full-time training course. And from the outset we involve them in practical work, so that when they graduate they are ready to lead a church.” Like any other training, however, theological training is costly. “We do receive outside help,” he says, “but that is being reduced and we expect the Church to support us by sending students who pay fees. That is good enough for us.” Biggest struggle On the subject of the Church in Togo in general, the Principal pulls no punches. “The biggest struggle the Church faces is the love of money,” he says flatly. “People – and that includes pastors – are only interested in becoming rich. I have seen too many pastors as exponents of ‘Prosperity Theology’. Everybody wants to get rich – and very quickly. Practising a healing ministry is one way of gathering riches at a fast pace. These pastors all feed their flock the same food – I call it ‘the Fast Food Spirit’. Ordinary Church members, he says, are no better. “They are not interested in conversion, repentance, leading a godly life or deepening their spiritual education either. Everybody is chasing money. That is why the Church is so big and still growing – and why we lack depth. “People need to be taught that real prosperity is in Christ and they should seek first his Kingdom. He will look after the rest. Maybe this is the main reason we lack quality in many churches.” He also laments what he sees as the Church’s dereliction of its duty with regard to politics. “It is sad, but the Church is currently too afraid to talk: we don’t do ‘Bible talk’ with the Government. But we have a prophetic calling and we need to adhere to that. We can no longer be silent and the Church must speak with one voice. We need to encourage the government – but also warn them against wrongdoing,” he says. The subject of HIV/AIDS in Togo, naturally, is inescapable. “HIV/AIDS has grabbed us by the throat and is suffocating us. We meet people everywhere who are infected. It is really heartbreaking. I am very concerned and we are now making HIV/AIDS training part of our curriculum at the seminary. We must make our Pastors aware of how to deal with this very big challenge.” Support the couple “We will definitely bring the Bible Society into our training because I have heard that the Good Samaritan outreach package provides valuable training and help. We are trying our best to get couples to ascertain their status when they want to get married. That is why we send them to doctors we can trust – who will not supply them with a false certificate. If one partner – or both – is HIV-positive we counsel the couple and we also involve the wider family. That is the African way. The family must also support the couple and help them to make an informed decision about proceeding with the marriage and about having children,” Pastor Joseph explained. With compassion “I am optimistic,” he says, “because the Church belongs to Christ. He is in charge; he will take care. On the other hand, we must start to prepare our future leaders with compassion and with the biblical values as the norm. “The Bible is such an important book: it is our duty to teach our kids to love it and apply it in their lives. Not only the children, but everybody who has not yet come to know the Lord.” Talking to Pastor Joseph gives me hope for Togo’s future: hope built both on dedication to Jesus Christ and on hard work. This story refers to project 87813. (WR 407/9 - 12.06) [3 photos] |
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Real
prosperity
As
an educationalist, he sees education as being the clear prerequisite
to solving many of his country’s problems. “We started a seed
project in our congregation,” he says, “trying to provide
money for people to start off a small business. I must admit that it
failed badly because the people did not manage the money well. I am
now convinced more than ever that we will not be able to eradicate poverty
without education. Education and training are essential: we must start
off by teaching basic economic principles and work from there.”
When asked how he sees the future, Pastor Joseph ponders the question
for a moment or two.