Bernie & Brenda Smith

Your Missionaries to
West Africa Advanced School of Theology
May 2023
“Africa” Is Not Africa
When we arrived in Togo in 1994 and moved into a house on the WAAST campus, we were amused at our
children’s reaction: they were surprised to learn that we were not living in a mud hut! And where were the
lions, elephants, and giraffes? After all, this is Africa.
We soon learned that “Africa” is not Africa—even to Africans. Most of
them have never seen any of these iconic animals in the wild, or lived in a
mud hut. In West Africa, most people communicate indirectly, while
Central Africans tend to be quite direct. In some areas, people enjoy fried
termites and roasted caterpillars; those from other regions recoil in disgust.
In Togo alone you find more than 40 tribes with as many languages and
worldviews—and each person firmly believes that “this is Africa.”
WAAST students come from some 20 nations—all of them “Africa.” As
they live and study together, they quickly see that “Africa” is much more
varied. So is ministry in Africa. The style of worship and the evangelism
methods used in southern Togo are ineffective in, say, northern Nigeria.
One of our challenges at WAAST is raising our students’ awareness of the
many rich cultures on the continent that have not yet embraced the gospel.
The Church is seeing explosive growth in much of Africa, and most of our
students minister in these areas. Many come to WAAST unaware of the
800+ people groups that have little or no Christian witness.
This is Africa’s day for missions! As much of the continent experiences
unprecedented instability, refugees are flooding into major cities and into
areas where the Church is strong. Those from historically resistant cultures
are coming to us! This provides a great opportunity to reach them with the
hope of Christ they so desperately need—if pastors and leaders are
prepared to share the Good News with them in the context of their Africa.
Top to bottom: Praying together for
Preparing them to GO is what we do. One of our greatest blessings is the unreached; tasting caterpillars; a
seeing our students’ vision for ministry grow beyond “their Africa” to church leader/alumnus shares the
include the millions of unreached who were invisible before. Thank you need in his region and across Africa.
for being a part of reaching all of Africa through your prayers and support!

F hereortogo.com F AGWM Account 240646 F bernie.smith@agwmafrica.org F