OUR VISION
We are asking God for 190,000 disciples in the Voodoo capital of the world.
OUR MISSION
We exist to influence gospel saturation through developing transformational leaders and churches.
OUR VALUES
Open Handed Living
We live as stewards—not owners—open to the will of God.
Future Focus
We fight to accomplish our vision by keeping the end in mind.
Servant Leadership
We leverage our abilities and influence to serve others.
Humility
We recognize we are not the hero of the story.
Deep Relationships
We love and trust each other deeply.
Personal Growth
We work hard to make ourselves and each other better.
From the beginning, JJ and Melissa Alderman, our missionary founders, desired to cultivate an intentional partnership between the Togolese and expat missionaries. With this desire in mind, they invited Jonas and Naka Aboudou to move south from the northern part of Togo. JJ shared his vision of launching a church planting movement in the unexplored Aneho area. Jonas, who was raised in a Muslim family, became a Christian as a young teenager and was passionate about making Jesus’ name known. The vision to reach this dark region took root in Jonas’ heart as well. The hope was that together they would reach Aneho for the Kingdom.
OUR HISTORY
In 2009, the Alderman and Aboudou families began sharing the Gospel and created mobile camps to win young people to Christ. Out of these outreach efforts, New Life Church was born. A small group of believers started meeting in the Alderman’s courtyard. Jonas was the pastor, while JJ was the missionary coach. In the beginning stages of the church, people were won and developed as disciple-makers. Children were coming to Christ at Courtyard Kids, and whole families were saved.
Together JJ and Jonas spent considerable time casting their vision for the city and unreached areas. Though the church was small, the emerging leaders began embracing and owning the mission. New Life Church won, developed, and sent out their first and second church planters to start Solution Church (2017) and Grace Church (2019). This church planting culture revealed the need to partner with like-minded ministries such as The Timothy Initiative. The fourth church, The Way of Christ, was planted in Konté Kondji. These four brick-and-mortar churches make up the backbone of the network.
2020 was a difficult year for the global church. In addition to Covid, we received the hard news that Pastor Jonas was diagnosed with cancer. He battled as long as possible, writing sermons until his last days. Pastor Jonas believed he needed to be ready should God choose to heal his body. He called other pastors and leaders to charge them to stay focused on Jesus and to spread the hope of the Gospel. He passed away in 2020.
Having lost one of our founders, the ripples of grief hit each of the churches. This pain would be a defining moment in the ministry. Pastor Jonas' wife, Naka, demonstrated remarkable strength and resilience by remaining in Aneho to continue the ministry. This remains a powerful testimony to all who hear. Out of this grief, the drive to pursue the multiplication of churches was cemented in the hearts of the leaders. Since that time, we have witnessed 25 new church plants form. Today, over 29 churches have been planted within the 6° network.
In 2022, God led our missionary founders, JJ and Melissa Alderman, back to the States. They remain connected to Togo by focusing on a national church planting strategy through The Timothy Initiative (TTI) and Coalition of the Willing (COTW). As we look to the future, we anticipate planting many more churches in the next few years as the explosion of multiplication takes effect.