Alex and Wijneke Kanri
The pressing need for the church at this moment is to form the next generation of church leaders
It was around 1990 that a group of Christians in Atakpamé, Togo, discovered the doctrines of grace. In the years following, the Church of Grace in Christ of Togo: ‘L’Eglise de la Grace en Christ du Togo (EGCT) was formed.
The church currently has seven small congregations and another four church plants. There is a faithful group of preaching elders who pastor these churches alongside their full-time jobs. The pressing need for the church now is to form the next generation of church leaders.
In 2013, the church started a Theological Institute where for three nights per week a group of young men are trained. In 2016, the first students graduated.
Alexandre and Wijneke’s journey
Alexandre Kanri and Wijneke Vermeer met in Benin in 2010. They married in Lomé in October 2011 and settled subsequently in Atakpamé. In the years following, they welcomed Neline (born 2013) and Niek (born 2014) into their family.
Alexandre continued to work as a librarian and was one of the teaching elders of the EGCT. In God’s providential care, Alexandre was able to enrol for theological studies at the Belgian Bible Institute in September 2016. Wijneke returned to Holland with the children and, from August 2018, they were reunited as a family in Brussels.
Preaching, teaching, language-learning and ‘running an African family’ in Togo
Since returning to Togo, Alexandre has been developing the curriculum of the EGCT’s Institute so that students will receive a good grounding in theology. We hope to see future students grow into godly leaders who, in turn, will spread the clear gospel of Jesus Christ to others.
We also pray that the Institute will grow and that more students from outside the EGCT will come to study. In addition, Alexandre is involved in equipping church-planters, and with preaching and pastoral ministry.
Wijneke has focused on learning Ewe, the main local language. This has enabled her to develop a ministry among women and children. She is also busy with looking after Neline and Niek and ‘running an African family’.
2024: We are excited and thankful about our project to build a Bible college because of how much the Theological Institute has grown since 2013. We will update you with more information about this soon. Thank you for your support and prayers,
