Impact Through Partnership

This year, Walk Thru the Bible’s leadership team in Togo formed a strategic partnership with Compassion International, a large faith-based NGO.

In Togo, a small, extremely impoverished country in West Africa, Compassion International works to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of thousands of children. In an effort to provide spiritual education and nourishment to Togoan children, the organization’s country team turned to Walk Thru the Bible.

In September and October 2018, Walk Thru the Bible hosted two training conferences at Compassion International’s child development centers in Tsevie and Lomé. Samuel Eklou, Walk Thru the Bible’s country director for Togo, reports that 86 people representing more than 20 churches received training to teach otLIVE, Walk Thru the Bible’s live event that uses hand signs to teach an overview of the Old Testament in several hours. Every participant ministers to children in his or her local church and community, and some are Compassion International employees.

“All the participants highly welcomed the otLIVE program and were fully engaged during the learn-ng of the hand signs,” Samuel says. “By the end of the conference, they were ready to go back to their churches and teach otLIVE to the children.”

As the conference concluded, Samuel received an overwhelmingly amount of positive feedback from various participants. Bertrand Mensah, the coordinator of Compassion International’s Lomé center, says that otLIVE helped him overcome barriers to under-standing the Old Testament. “I’ve personally grown from this training,” he says. “I’ve had difficulty understanding the Old Testament, but after this training I can summarize the entire thing in ten minutes. As soon as I return home, I will share otLIVE with my family and the children I serve. It’s a tool that will greatly help us to understand God’s Word. I’m short of words to express my gratitude to Walk Thru the Bible for this resource.”

Otodjo Sefako, a children’s Bible teacher, attended otLIVE even though she found the Old Testament uninteresting. “But now because of otLIVE,” she says, “the Word of God has become a passion for me. Knowing the Bible helps me to develop intimacy with God. I’m so grateful.”

A social assistant for Compassion International, Apeke Kodjo Momo, said he appreciated otLIVE “because of the way it summarized the Old Testament and made it attractive to read. It’s a very touching and impactful program.”

Equipped with training DVDs and workbooks, the 86 participants returned home to launch otLIVE in their home churches in the following weeks.

Though Walk Thru the Bible has only just begun partnering with Compassion International in Togo, Samuel has emerged hopeful and encouraged from the otLIVE training conferences he’s organized. By partnering with another organization in a severely under-resourced part of the world, Walk Thru the Bible has discovered a way to multiply the impact of its events and resources. Now, as newly equipped otLIVE instructors return home to teach the children under their care, we pray that God will use their ministry to inspire passion for the Bible in a new generation of Togoans.