More children's ministry
Prepare well for ministry that serves children and equips local churches to continue after the team leaves.
← Home2026 · Lomé, Togo
The first trip
We went to work.
God widened the invitation.
The 2026 trip cannot be reduced to a project or a few photographs. It was practical work, two remarkable children's ministry events, and a week of learning how to serve without making ourselves the center of the story.
01 The project
Useful work,
done together.
Pastor Dosseh's original request was clear: bring a team prepared to work.
The construction project was a major reason for the trip, but we did not go to take the burden of the project away from the people in Lomé. We went to work beside them.
Local skilled laborers were employed for the work. Carpenters, electricians, steel workers, and masons brought the knowledge and craftsmanship of their trades. Our visiting team brought willing hands, followed their expertise, and helped where we were asked.
Together, we advanced exterior walls that will become part of a larger, usable ministry space. The work was important. So was the way it was done—with local leadership, local skill, and shared responsibility.
02 Fellowship & Fun Day
Meals · Conversation · Friendship
We worked together.
We ate together.
Our planning leadership made it a priority to provide a meal for every person working on the project each day.
A language barrier made conversation difficult, but it did not prevent fellowship. Around those meals, visiting team members and local workers shared time, laughter, food, and the dignity of being one group—not separate crews.
At the end of the week, the workers and team shared what we call Fun Day at a resort on the ocean. For some of the men, it was their first time seeing or entering the ocean, even though it was only about thirty minutes from home. There was good food, rest, exploring, football on the beach, and frisbees in the sand.
It was a day among people who had labored side by side—a chance to step away from the work, enjoy one another, and deepen the fellowship that had grown during the week.
03 The ministry
An unexpected opening
The work mattered.
So did the children.
Before the trip, Pastor Dosseh wanted the team focused on work—not children's ministry or additional events.
Our planning leadership kept asking whether ministry with children could be part of the week. Eventually, space was made for two events. They became some of the most meaningful moments of the trip.
God also provided enough food to serve more than 100 children—a practical expression of care within a day filled with teaching, creativity, play, and joy.
The visiting team did not come in as the experts. We prepared, encouraged, participated, and walked alongside Togolese leaders as they made the ministry their own. What mattered was not putting on an American program. It was helping create something local leaders could continue.
04 Wesley Missionary Institute
Teaching for the long term
God placed each person where they were needed most.
While much of the team served at the construction site and children's ministry events, Pastor John Lane spent most days teaching students at the Wesley Missionary Institute.
Glenn and Wendy Lorenz are missionaries based in Spring Arbor, Michigan, who travel to serve across Africa. Their work includes ministry in Togo, with a major current focus in Liberia. Glenn serves as the Associate Area Director for Africa.
Although they were not official members of the traveling team, Glenn and Wendy joined the work throughout the week. Glenn served alongside Pastor John at the Institute, investing in students who are preparing to plant churches and spread the gospel across West Africa.
Their days looked different from the work happening at the church, but they were part of the same mission. God did not need everyone in the same place. He placed people where their experience, gifts, and presence could serve most faithfully.
Support Glenn and Wendy Lorenz05 The turning point
Then Pastor Dosseh said something had changed.
Later, when he was asked to consider everything the team did—and what should be different next time—his answer was no longer “only work.”
“I want more. I want more ministry. I want more children's ministry.
Pastor Dosseh, reflecting on the 2026 trip
He imagined the next team dividing into groups and serving in two villages at the same time. The ministry he had been hesitant to include had become something he wanted to expand.