Alleluia, for the Lord God Almighty reigns, Holy, Holy are you Lord God almighty, Worthy is the Lamb, Worthy is the Lamb, You are Holy,” was ringing from every heart on the first Sunday we arrived. We were surrounded by faithful worshippers from Togo whose hearts and minds were solely praising Our God. As we continued singing, our host and pastor of this place of worship called us up one by one to pray for us. He took our hands and prayed one of the most humble prayers I have heard in a while. “Lord God, grant them the grace to fulfill the mission YOU have sent them here to Togo for.” This simple prayer stirred our hearts! This was a man passionately asking God to give us the ability to do what GOD has us here for not him. We are here under the name of his ministry but his prayer was not for us to fulfill all the things he had planned for us but rather for us to do the will of God for us here. Humility pours out of this man. So who is he? What is this ministry?
Let us introduce you to a man who would probably not like for me to introduce him with such regard. This is Pastor Isidore Zank.
He is the founder of Later Glory Ministries and Pastor of the main church campus associated with the ministry. His fire for the Lord began when he was 18 fully gave his life to Christ out of a background of Catholicism. He faced many persecutions from his family and friends but still he followed. Soon after he entered himself into a bible school with the hopes of becoming a pastor. In this time, God called him to a fast at the age of 21. During this fast he received a vision from God. In this vision he was told that many people would come from countries all over to him for training and counsel. He saw a church that was as full of foreigners and white people as of people from Togo. From this impartation of God, he started a Bible School of his own. The purpose of this school is to train and equip leaders and pastors to go out in the villages and all over the country (and surrounding countries) to plant churches. And let me tell you it is working. From one small church of no more than 50-60 people in Lomé, there are now 45 churches all over Togo, Ghana, and Benin. More and more churches are being planted as more and more lives are trained and touched by the school. But that is not all!! Not only are they planting churches but these men who are completing the school and devoting their lives to plant and grow a church (often very far from where they live and for no pay as they are still working elsewhere) are also planting bible schools in these areas. There are now 42 bible schools that have been planted all over Togo, Ghana, and Benin that every year combined graduate around 500 students!! That is 500 new leaders/pastors/church planters/teachers that are going to go and multiply elsewhere. For their graduation ceremony, the graduates from all the countries and schools travel to Togo and they rent out the National Stadium as some 5,000 come to celebrate this next generation of leaders stepping into their destiny. The spiritual multiplication here is off the charts and the Grace of God is so evidently at work! What an honor to be a part. Every church we have traveled to speak with all over Togo every day are all plants of this ministry and of Pastors and leaders of whom all studied at Pastor Zank’s Bible School. They are all so devoted to God and to this mission continuing that in the villages they do not even charge students for the school, because they know they will never be able to afford it. So the students get sponsorships from other donors or people in America to help offset the cost. They want the will of God and the advancement of the Kingdom at all costs and even when it gives no earthly benefit. Word of this massive Kingdom movement has spread and now so many teams of Pastors from America and all over have come to teach and support this ministry. The Pastor’s vision came true as he gained a partnership and network affiliation with Victory Bible Chapel in Oklahoma grew and now they supply many people to come and share with Later Glory ministries.
In the same Sunday service in which Pastor Zank prayed for us individually he looked out over the congregation and said, “This is a fulfillment of God’s vision.” As we, 20 of us in number are here to serve the Lord this month, are taking up the left half of the worship building, there as many white people worshipping in his church as locals. It is more beautiful that we can ever share to be apart of such a humble move of God. One man, who I promise you is no taller than 5’4”, listened to the voice of God and His call and is changing the spiritual landscape of Togo and this part of West Africa forever. If you did not know this, Togo and it’s neighboring country Benin are the birthplaces of Voodoo worship in Africa. Though the capital here, Lomé, is not at as littered with Voodoo as in years previous it is heavily practiced in the northern regions and all of Benin. The Kingdom of God is at move and men and women here are taking hold of their identity and authority in Christ as they are being trained to take back the Kingdom of God out of the hands of darkness! We are right in the middle of this as we are teaching multiple times a week at the Bible School and traveling several times a week as well to the network churches. It is so COOL!
This time here has reminded us of a parable that Jesus tells about the Kingdom of heaven in Matthew 13:31-32. Jesus says this;
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
The Kingdom of God is not in the bigs things but the small. The small things done faithfully produce the big just as a field of mustard seeds are planted it produces a forest. So what are we looking to plant today? Are we willing today to plant mustard seeds and wait for the forest? One smile can grow a tree? One encouraging word can create roots for a Cedar Tree? We have seen firsthand here that when you faithfully plant the small seeds of the Kingdom the results are beyond comprehension.
This is the second half of our first post from yesterday but with more details! Thank you again for everything you have done to make this possible! Love you all!
