Twanna welcomes listeners and introduces this episode’s guest, Melissa Alderman, Converge Missionary in Togo, West Africa. 

Transcript

Twanna Henderson: Welcome to T Time: Spiritual Conversations For, With and About Women. I’m your host, Twanna Henderson. And I want to remind you to take a moment like this podcast and share it with your friends, and other women in your life. Well, we have a very interesting guest with us on today, whom I am excited to tell you about. Today’s guest is Melissa Alderman. Melissa is a missionary in Heart, Soul and Action. For the past 12 years she has been serving alongside her husband in church planting and leadership development along the Gen and Watchi people groups in Togo, West Africa. And for the last 10 years, they have been praying that God would send more missionaries to continue advancing the gospel. And he has been answering their prayers. They are now three team members on the ground full time, and many more in the process of joining their missionary initiative. Melissa, along with her husband and three daughters are seeing lives radically transformed by the gospel on a regular basis. They are specifically praying that God would continue to build a multi generational, multicultural team in Togo to reach those who have never heard the good news of the gospel. Melissa, welcome to T Time.

Melissa Alderman: Thank you so much for having me.

Twanna Henderson: It’s good to have you. You really live one of those lives that we read about. So tell us about your family and how the Alderman’s began this life of missions.

Melissa Alderman: Wow. Well, my husband and I, we have been married 18 years now. And we have three precious little girls. And we’ve been living in Togo for, like you had mentioned, just about 13 years. And so we met in college and it’s been a great experience. And since then, we’ve been raising finances. And we’ve been in Togo, we’re working with church planting, youth ministry, and reaching out into the community by way of church planting, and also youth development and different organizations that we work with there in Togo.

Twanna Henderson: So how did you begin a life of missions.

Melissa Alderman: We met in college. And before that, I was able to go on several other mission trips around the world. And when I was 17 years old, I was able to go for my first time internationally. And I spent six weeks out in the Darien jungle. And we worked with Akuna tribe there that had never heard a clear presentation of the gospel had never heard the name of Jesus. And I knew that from then on. And that was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. There’s people, there’s people all around the world that have never heard the message of hope that we have. And I knew that that’s what I wanted to do. And so I headed off to Bible college, I met my husband 10 days into school. And that was 20 years ago. And so God used a lot of different experiences. But it was really that first experience of leaving America and going on a short term missions trip.

Twanna Henderson: Yeah. And that’s pretty amazing. I think just being exposed in that way just opens up your eyes to so many different things. But when your husband said that he wanted you guys to work and live in West Africa, did you think he was crazy?

Melissa Alderman: Yes. Well, I was open to international missions, I wasn’t exactly sure what that was going to look like. If I had not seen a specific ministry, or met someone that had a clear vision or calling somewhere, I was going to go teach in China, English. And so when I met JJ, and he practically said, “hi, I’m JJ Alderman and I’m headed back to West Africa”, because he’s a missionary kid. So he’s grown up there ever since he was six years old he’s lived in Africa. And, and so when he said, Yes, I’m headed back. I said, Well, you know, tell me about this. Do you have running water, electricity? He said, all of those things, and more. It’s just a wonderful lifestyle. And he said, You know what, let’s go do this thing. Let’s go see it. Let’s go be a part of it. See what God’s doing there.

Twanna Henderson: And you know, those are questions that we would be asking.

Melissa Alderman: Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Twanna Henderson: What is preparing for life in Africa look like?

Melissa Alderman: Oh, that is wonderful. I think that just as really any ministry, the questions that we ask ourselves are kind of ever changing, though they are very much principally based in Scripture, what God would have us to do. And but you know, even 20 years ago, I think that missionaries were asking themselves different questions in different ways than they are even now. And that is one of the things we’re Converge missionaries and that is one of the things that I love about our organization. It’s a movement of people that are moving forward, that are like minded and preparing for the mission field for us was asking open ended questions to like minded people. And just hearing and growing. There’s, a level of teachability. There’s a learning curve and missions, just as in many aspects of ministry, and surrounding yourself by people who are Christ centered, collaborative, life giving people that want to build and grow you and God’s calling on your life, I think would be the number one thing that Jay and I sought out after. And it’s been the thing that over the last, you know, 15 years, especially since we’ve been raising finances, and being on the on the mission field, that has been the most catalytic thing for us was to invite people into our lives into our home, and to really help us and guide us and in what God would have us do. Including nationals, and just a very collective, collaborative attitude towards philosophies of ministry around the world.

Twanna Henderson: Yeah, you know, that’s got to be pretty amazing. We were talking about planting churches, You know, across, you know, the world. I know, there is a church planting movement called the Converge 6 Degree Initiative. What exactly is it?

Melissa Alderman: That is wonderful. Thank you. We began the 6 Degree Initiative, when we came along with Converge and it has been a like minded group of people that have come together, God has built the team in Togo and Benin, West Africa, to small countries, just right there on the coast. And there’s five projects within this initiative. There’s the togo church planting group. That Benin church planting group, we have a deaf ministry to that population throughout West Africa, Francophone West Africa, we have togo palms, which is a youth camp and training facility. And then we also have a vocational training center. And that’s for bi-vocational pastors to be able to learn a trade, their wives to learn a trade, and then to go out from there into their local communities and start, whether it’s a house church or a brick and mortar church. And so within those projects, we have several missionaries. And then we work with nationals to further Kingdom living in our communities.

Twanna Henderson: No, that’s pretty amazing. And you’re really like a pro. Pro, you know, because you’ve done it for so long. And I’m sure there are listeners is thinking, I just can’t even wrap my mind around what that would look like, what is the early days of living culturally look like?

Melissa Alderman: Oh, well, it was Jay and I in our area for us, personally, a in our city of Aneho. And there was not a gospel church in our city of about 50,000 people. And now, there’s three brick and mortar churches, and 11 house churches in the community. And so we are just so excited about what God has done, he has built our team to converge and he’s moving and he is multiplying. Those early days, I’m going to be completely honest, they were lonely at times. We were young, we didn’t know necessarily if what we were doing might have been more effective. With you know, hindsight is always 20/20. And but God, he He blessed that faithfulness and service, and just really getting out and doing hard things over and over, inviting people in and creating a space for for people to come and hear who God is and what he has done. In West Africa, especially, um, we speak of God the Creator, He is our Creator. He’s our Redeemer. He’s our friend. And the Togolese they worship out of fear. There’s much African traditional religion in our community, whether it’s voodoo or witchcraft or fetish. And so to be able to open up scripture, and to share that the God Creator sent his son to live and to die and to raise again for our sins, so that he can have a relationship with us. That is a message of hope. And to people that worship out of fear to then be given the message to worship out of hope, is an is an incredible experience to be a part of. And those early days, that’s what it was it was leaving our house, it was getting out on the roads, it was going to the marketplace, and building relationships and sharing that message with people over and over and over. And then the hope out of that hope. They wanted to share with their friends and family, the hope that’s found in Christ. And that has just been in the early days, it began by addition. And now we’re seeing that multiplication, and it is just so exciting. We’re just so thankful for it.

Twanna Henderson: Yeah. And I know, there are so many situations and stories that you have seen over the past years that would probably blow our minds. And this is going to be a hard one. But if you could sum up the last 13 years in one story of life change, what would that story be?

Melissa Alderman: My story would be of Inaka, um, she’s a lady that grew up in actually my in laws ministry about eight hours north of us. And so JJ has grown up with her and her husband, Jonas. When we moved back to the country, about a year, year and a half before we had been in contact with them. And we had just shared, they were in ministry up in another city, about eight hours north of us, and they knew we were going to be moving back as missionaries. And we asked them, would you be willing to move down to the southern part of Togo with us, and begin a ministry? And so they left their home, their family, their people group, and they loaded up everything in the back of a big van, and moved down south with us and lived in our home. And we started that first church plant in our gazebo in our front yard. And it was a Bible study that began with the four of us, and they had two small children at the time. And it was just this time of growth. Watching Jonas and Inaka, love people so well. I was new, I was green, I was fresh in ministry. I had taken the classes in Bible college and I, you know, had married a missionary kid, but I had not done this thing, you know, yet and to see the process of what the beginning looked like. And it was wonderful to watch Jonas Inaka. Years, you know, went on and things, classes and churches were started and lives were changed, families, you know, joined churches and things. And just about, I’d say two years ago, now, Jonas came down, we found out that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and then COVID hit. And all of the missionaries in our area, were really suggested that they come back stateside, we weren’t all sure what COVID was and what that was going to do globally. And so we came back, and it was during that time that his health declined greatly. We were able to go back towards the end of 2020. And that was in October, and I believe November, the first week of November, Jonas passed away. And I was able to talk with Inaka, walk through that with her. A very unique situation. But watching her and give up her family, her lifestyle, her food, food is different you know, different areas of the country. She came down, and she gave up everything. And the testimony that Jonas had during this time, the testimony that Inaka had was incredible, to watch that firsthand. And it was probably about a month after Jonas passed away. And I said, Inaka, talk with me. Where are you? What are your plans? What are you thinking God would have for you and your children now, who are now teens? And she said, Oh, God called us to Anejo. He called us 15 years ago, and he has still called us now. And so this beautiful, wonderful Christ following woman who is this leader in this community, God chose to take her husband and she has stayed with us. She said I want to be a part of this 60 I team. I want to continue in women’s ministries. And we just passed his one year home going and she is, the depth of her spirituality, her desire to know God has been such an encouragement. It’s been nothing that I have done, you know, in the in the last 13 years that really stands out. It has been the story and the legacy that Jonas and Inaka have given and been a part of our ministry. And it’s continuing still. So I would probably say Inaka, she’s just wonderful. She’s just part of our family. We love her, love her kids. And then we’re just so thankful for that family.

Twanna Henderson: What an amazing story of life change and of faith. On their part, on her part, on you guys part as well. You know, there may be someone listening who is considering work as a missionary abroad, or who is open to at least exploring it. What would you tell someone considering spending a season of your life abroad?

Melissa Alderman: First of all, I love that. That is a passion, it is a driving force of my husband and I. God has given just such a unique opportunity, especially in West Africa, for us to be able to have guests come over and visit. Converge has an incredibly unique opportunity for you to be able to take short term trips, there’s many initiatives all over the world that you can go be a part of. Whether it’s in Central or South America, in Indonesia, there’s several in Africa. And I would encourage someone to go and talk with your pastor, talk with some leaders in your church, and say, what are some opportunities that we can that we can be a part of, and I would get involved with an initiative. Just because those are movements around the world. And there’s also great internships, that you could go for weeks or even months at a time, whether it’s for a short season of your life, or something that you would just like to be a part of for a season to see if maybe this is a full time thing that God would call me to. And I would go to converge.org. And check it out. It’s very clear how you can get next steps and the recruiting office is amazing down in Orlando, Florida, they will connect with you and get you some next steps that you might need.

Twanna Henderson: I think that’s good advice. You know, I always kid with people that the Lord didn’t give me the spiritual gift of being a missionary, but

Melissa Alderman: You are in your community!

Twanna Henderson: He called me to support a missionary but you have inspired me, you really have inspired me. And as we get ready to close, Melissa, what will you just pray for our listeners whose hearts may be tugged as a result of this podcast? Or who may be in a place of exploring what this may mean for them.

Melissa Alderman: Wonderful. Let’s pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you now. And I just want to say thank you, for how you have blessed us, how you protect us, how you provide for us. Lord, I thank you for the calling that you have on each one of our lives. I pray, Lord, that we will be connected to what you would have us to do, Lord. Help us to be mindful of you. In our everyday life, Lord. Lord, if you have begun to start working in the lives and the hearts of the people that are listening right now, Lord, I just pray that you will give them boldness and clarity of mind, Lord, to just take some next steps. Just to ask some great questions of the people around them in saying, “What if this is for me? What if this is a calling on my life, Lord?” I pray that you will make it clear to them what they should do and who they should connect with Lord. I pray that you will just help us to see and have a passion for the people in our community, around us first and foremost. And Lord, if you would call some of us to go, Lord, I pray that you will give us a boldness and a strength and a life-giving peace, Lord, to go into move in the direction that you would have a us, Lord. We love you and we thank you, in your precious name, amen.

Twanna Henderson: Amen, thank you so much, Melissa. It has been a pleasure having you on T Time and to all of our listeners. I’m Twanna Henderson. I look forward to connecting with you the next time be blessed.