By Johnmichael Poulin

Recently I was able to take a trip to the north of Ghana and Burkina Faso to meet with our ChangeMaker missionary Abugre Clement and other pastors in the region. While there, I attended a Sunday morning service at the church where Bro. Clement pastors. This was no ordinary church service; it was a joint service with the mother church and its two mission churches. 

The service was held in a small earthen building in the middle of nowhere, yet there were well over 200 people in attendance. Many came by bus, others on foot. To say the building was packed would be an understatement. There were people standing outside every door and every window, with all seats inside already full. They were there to celebrate the baptism of forty new converts. Pastor Clement had gotten permission from the local chief to baptize in the local reservoir, and because they were at the end of their dry season, it was the only water source available for baptism.  

After the service and the baptisms, I had the opportunity to ask Pastor Clement how it was that they were able to see such a large number of conversions for Christ, and he said it started with the discipleship of a select few from his church and the missions. As those individuals grew in their knowledge of the Lord, they also began discipling others, and the number of believers began to multiply. Pastor Clement did not go out looking to fill his church with over 200 people; rather his focus was on a few key leaders in his church and the missions who, when they had been discipled, followed the same pattern. We see this same example when we look at the life of our Savior. He spent his life teaching and discipling 12 men for three years – men who later turned the whole world upside down for Christ. That is why Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations; by doing this, reaching the world for Christ becomes a real possibility!