{"id":27321,"date":"2025-06-20T19:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T17:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/clone\/?p=27321"},"modified":"2025-06-24T19:26:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T17:26:44","slug":"unity-joy-french-west-africa-celebrate-35-years-of-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/unity-joy-french-west-africa-celebrate-35-years-of-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Unity &amp; Joy: French West Africa Celebrate 35 years of Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/eccotedivoire.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Abidjan Church of Christ<\/a> will celebrate their 35th<strong> <\/strong>anniversary by hosting a<strong> <\/strong>French West-African regional conference and a special worship servic<strong>e<\/strong> from July 29 to August 3, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"785\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations-1024x785.jpg?resize=1024%2C785&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Happy church members in West Africa. \" class=\"wp-image-27322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations.jpg?resize=1024%2C785&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations.jpg?resize=300%2C230&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations.jpg?resize=768%2C589&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Members from across the region and beyond will gather in Abidjan for a week of fellowship, leadership training, teaching, and celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In<strong> <\/strong>October 1989, a missionary team from the United States and Europe arrived in Abidjan, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, to plant a new mission of the International Churches of Christ. Now, 35 years later, that work has grown into a flourishing network of churches spread across French-speaking West and Central Africa. These include vibrant church families in Cameroon, Congo Kinshasa, Congo Brazzaville, Chad, Gabon, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger, and Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The upcoming conference is being organized by the West French Africa family of churches, and it also serves as a belated celebration of Abidjan\u2019s 35th year\u2014officially reached in 2024, but postponed to 2025 to allow for broader participation and better planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Delegates from the United States, France, Nigeria, South Africa, Madagascar, Congo, and other nations are expected to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"event-highlights\">Event highlights:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>July 29\u201331: Church Leaders&#8217; Conference<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>August 1: Opening ceremony for all disciples<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>August 2:<strong> <\/strong>Ministry class tracks for singles, marrieds, youth &amp; family, and teens<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>August 3: 35th anniversary celebration worship service<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To mark this special milestone, two custom-designed anniversary pagne cloth (featuring the event logo) will be available for purchase \u2013 one at $10 and a premium version at $18. Other commemorative items will also be on sale during the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This conference will be a time of gratitude, vision, and shared faith, celebrating what God has done over the past three-and-a-half decades in West Africa and looking ahead to what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information and updates, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/eccotedivoire.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>eccotedivoire.org<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The French West African churches will honor the Abidjan church\u2019s 35th anniversary with a regional conference and worship service, July&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[71],"tags":[51],"post_folder":[151],"class_list":["post-27321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-africa"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations.jpg?fit=1280%2C981&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Sunday Awolowo","author_link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/author\/sawolowo\/"},"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phsvEw-76F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28465,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/35-years-of-grace-abidjan-anniversary-celebration\/","url_meta":{"origin":27321,"position":0},"title":"35 Years of Grace: Abidjan Anniversary Celebration","author":"Sunday Awolowo","date":"August 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A vibrant 35th anniversary celebration uniting disciples from 20 countries, strengthening missions and expanding horizons across French-speaking West Africa.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"35 year anniversary Abidjan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/35-year-celebration.jpg?fit=1143%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/35-year-celebration.jpg?fit=1143%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/35-year-celebration.jpg?fit=1143%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/35-year-celebration.jpg?fit=1143%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/35-year-celebration.jpg?fit=1143%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29297,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/the-story-of-6000-how-21-disciples-sparked-a-movement-across-a-continent\/","url_meta":{"origin":27321,"position":1},"title":"The Story of 6,000: How 21 Disciples Sparked a Movement Across a Continent","author":"Sunday Awolowo","date":"November 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"From 21 missionaries in 1989 to over 6,000 disciples today, the Abidjan church ignited a movement transforming French-speaking Africa.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FWAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C654&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FWAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C654&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FWAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C654&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FWAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C654&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/FWAM.jpg?fit=1200%2C654&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3268,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/the-birth-of-the-french-speaking-central-africa-family-of-churches\/","url_meta":{"origin":27321,"position":2},"title":"The Birth of the French-Speaking Central Africa Churches\u00a0","author":"dtadmin","date":"August 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The fourth edition of the International Conference of Disciples of Central Africa held in Brazzaville, Congo from August 22 to 25 saw the birth of the French-Speaking Central Africa Missions (FCAM) family of churches. The former French-Speaking West Africa Missions officially gave birth to two groups, one in West Africa\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Untitled-820ad6d6.png?fit=475%2C317&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4208,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/rmsmt-student-appointed-teacher-in-africa\/","url_meta":{"origin":27321,"position":3},"title":"RMSMT Student Appointed Teacher in Africa","author":"dtadmin","date":"July 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"We at the \u00a0Rocky Mountain School of Ministry and Theology\u00a0(RMSMT) are greatly encouraged by the three new teacher appointments in French West Africa (Abidjan, Ivory Coast and Kinshasha, DRC) one of whom is our own student, Guy Bavahe.\u00a0Congratulations from RMSMT!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Guy2BAppointment2Bas2BTeacher_edit.jpg?fit=960%2C522&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Guy2BAppointment2Bas2BTeacher_edit.jpg?fit=960%2C522&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Guy2BAppointment2Bas2BTeacher_edit.jpg?fit=960%2C522&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Guy2BAppointment2Bas2BTeacher_edit.jpg?fit=960%2C522&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":29696,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/two-new-church-plantings-in-cote-divoire\/","url_meta":{"origin":27321,"position":4},"title":"Two New Church Plantings in C\u00f4te d&#8217;Ivoire","author":"Sunday Awolowo","date":"January 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On December 21, 2025, joyful processions announced new church plantings in Agboville and Divo, raising French-speaking West Africa\u2019s churches to 27.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Collage of photos of a church gathering.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DAgboville.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DAgboville.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DAgboville.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DAgboville.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DAgboville.jpg?fit=1200%2C960&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19840,"url":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/2023-icoc-central-african-discipleship-conference\/","url_meta":{"origin":27321,"position":5},"title":"2023 ICOC Central African Discipleship Conference","author":"Sunday Awolowo","date":"August 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Kinshasa hosted participants from six Central African countries for a discipleship conference focused on worship, fellowship, and prayer.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;News&quot;","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Central-African-Conference-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C715&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Central-African-Conference-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C715&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Central-African-Conference-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C715&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Central-African-Conference-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C715&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Central-African-Conference-2.jpg?fit=1080%2C715&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Cote-dIvoire-Celebrations.jpg?fit=1280%2C981&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27321"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27331,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27321\/revisions\/27331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27321"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disciplestoday.org\/clone\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=27321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}