Our Story is history

Fall of 2008 on the Niger River:
In the fall of 2008 while floating down the Niger River with Brad Womble and his son Brady, on a beautiful calm morning, Brad began to talk about the many Songhai people who would leave the villages in the Sahal regions of Mali and Niger, and migrate down to the coastal areas of West Africa, specifically the Accra region in Ghana.  He explained that they were seeking to find work to make money to send home to financially support families who other wise were left with no means to pay for healthcare, or to buy the small food items they needed from the markets. 

For several months I had been feeling a call to commit my life to full time ministry in some capacity.  That day as we floated down the river, I listened intently to Brad as he explained the hardship they faced, the difficulties they endured along the journey, and the conditions they lived in once they arrived in the bigger coastal cities.  Brad went on to explain his prayer that God would send someone to that area that they would have the opportunity to meet them there and be in a position to share God's love and Word of salvation to them in an area more friendly to the Christian faith than the Islamic villages they had come from.  
At a specific moment during that conversation on the Niger river, in a boat, on a cool crisp morning, God spoke to me and I knew my calling.  At the very moment I had that specific realization of God's call, Brad's son Brady, who had my camera, snapped my picture, the one you see here(inset).  
That is the moment life changed! 

I came back home and spent the next year preparing for the journey, and for the mission I had been given.  

Fall of 2009 First set foot in Accra Ghana:
In the fall of 2009, I stepped down off the plane in Accra, Ghana, West Africa for the very first time!  As prepared as I thought I was at the beginning of this journey, it was at that moment I realized, I knew nothing!  I didn't know anyone, or any place, I didn't know the monetary system, and I didn't even know the way to the guesthouse where I would stay for my first month until I could get a house. 

During the next few months, I began to get settled in and with the help of two incredible people, Jimmy and Sylvia Huey, I was able to get a home.  During the first years of the ministry, God used Jimmy and Sylvia in many amazing ways to help me get started and to learn life in Ghana!  I praise God for them. 

Hu Zayno;
I began right away seeking to find and connect with the Songhai people from Niger.  I went out most days and searched and looked for them.  I went to the places Brad had shown me when he came down the first week I was there, but even the few we met at that time were illusive.  I began to think it was all a mistake and that I should return to the states.  Just as I was somewhat discouraged and ready to throw in the towel,  Musa Mustapha told me that he could lead me to the Songhai people.  After weeks of going out and searching the city, we found many Songhai people in the places they lived and worked.  
We began making friends and sharing cassettes with the Gospel and biblical teaching on them with the people God had sent me to minister His word to. We found them living and sleeping in slum areas, near the sewage gutters, some sleeping behind the market areas after the markets closed for the night, some at old warehouses after the workers left for the evening, and some slept in the onion market where many Songhai worked.  We found them engaged in many jobs, mostly low paying, extremely hard jobs.  Some carrying heavy loads in the congested market areas, some selling bags or belts, glasses or other small things they could walk and sell.  

Discovery of the Onion Boys;
Around that time, I would walk each evening to the bus station at an area called simply, 37.  It was there I would buy my food and certain goods I may need.  On the walk I would always pass a group of young teenage boys selling onions along the roadside. They sat on the ground under some big, old trees along the road, hoping cars would stop and buy onions from them.  There were probably 25 to 35 young guys there everyday, sometimes near holidays there would be even as many as 60 young guys selling onions there. 
One day as I passed carrying a bag I had bought in Niger, with the Niger flag on the side, a few of the boys who could speak a little English called to me and came to greet me. They wanted to find out how and why I had a bag with the Niger flag on it.  That conversation was the start of a long and fruitful time of ministry.  They were Songhai boys from Niger.  I had walked past them everyday during the time I was seeking so desperately to find..the Songhai! 
We found other areas with groups of the Songhai boys, who became known as, the Onion Boys, and began to share the Gospel with them.  We would take food and water and go to them where they sat along the roads, I got some really strange looks from the Ghanaians passing by. We would play the Jesus video on a little portable dvd player as they sat waiting for customers to come and buy their onions.  

We opened the house to them, inviting them to come and have a place of refreshment and nourishment.  We always had clean water for them to drink, tea, and coffee, bread, rice, and other food was always there for them also. There were three large mango trees in the yard, and so there was always mangos to eat. We had a place they could use the toilet, and shower, and a place they could wash their clothes and even tools so they could work on the old cobbled together bicycles they would ride sometimes.  We gave them clean, new shirts from time to time as they needed and especially during holidays.  We always had sandals to replace the old worn-out ones they showed up in so often.  We provided first-aid care and helped them in times of sickness or injury. They often referred to it as, Iri Hu, Our house, in the Zarma language of the Songhai people.  

Boubacar;
It was during this time we met a young man who told us his name was Boubacar.  He was very friendly and always welcomed us when we showed up at the area called Tito Avenue where he and a few others sold onions along the road.  Even though he was friendly and welcoming, he always rejected the offers of the Gospel. There was always something about this young man though, something I couldn't put my finger on, but something about him was intriguing. 

Onion Market;
It was during this time that we began going to the old onion market, making friends and trying to find ways to kindle friendships to have opportunities to share the Gospel.  Many welcomed us, but many were not so welcoming.  Several of the older men really hated to see us show up bringing our Christianity to them. We spent many long hours there developing friendships and relationships that allowed us to share God's love and word.  

Hu Teji;
Eventually we lost Hu Zayno, and had to move to a different location.  We rented a place off of a Ghanaian church organization.  It was a two story building with a large open area on the lower area and an apartment upstairs.  It took about a month to get it cleaned, painted, get the water working, get lights and fans installed, repair many broken windows and doors, and build a kitchen.  It took a while and it took some elbow grease, but with help from a few people, we got it fixed up and moved in!  
Again we threw the doors open to all the Songhai boys.  We were not sure if they could come very often, it was a lot further away from the places they sold onions, it was out of the way for them.  But, they came, and they came, and they came!  More than even before, sometimes 75, then 80, even 100 or more young men showed up each and everyday!

Ministry Center;
Hu Teji they called it, New House!  We had everything as before at Hu Zayno, Old House, as they now call the original house.  We had the food and drinks, we often times would have rice and chicken for them. We had four showers and three toilets, a place they could wash and dry their clothes. A place to sit and rest, hear the Proclaimer, a radio sized audio device that played the Bible in their language.  We always had the Jesus video showing and many came to see it, many brought friends to see Jesus speak their language! We had a great place on the back that was up on the second level where we could sit and enjoy the breeze and have bible studies.  The new place had a room they could rest in, or if they were sick they could come there rather than lie on the side of the road all day.  
We met many young men there, and God did amazing things in the hearts and lives of so many young men during that time.  
The place had it's problems though.  Some of the people in the area didn't like the young guys walking through their neighborhood, and the church people who owned the place were not happy that we were ministering to the Muslims on their property.  

Schools; Nima, Kanda, and the Onion Market
During that time, we realized a great need many of the young guys had to learn the local English language in order to better communicate with the people coming to buy their onions or what ever they were selling.  Several worked carrying heavy loads and they needed to be able to communicate with the people they were working for.  
We started three little schools in three different areas relevant to the places they lived and slept.  It was wonderful to see so many young people and older people as well showing up to learn and allowing us to develop relationships with them.  
We had classes in an area called Nima, that is where we met and became friends with a young man named Sahadu, a very bright and intelligent man, kind and peaceful.  He began coming to Hu Teji everyday and helped teach the classes there. In the big open area on the first floor, we had classes in the evenings.  Upstairs in our house, we had classes each afternoon for the younger guys coming from selling their onions.  Sahadu did an incredible job helping them learn and we quickly became close friends with many of them.  
We even started classes in the onion market.  That was an incredible time. Young guys, many of which were sleeping there in the onion market at night, would come and as many as 25 to 30 at a time would cram into a 10 foot by 10 foot room to sit shoulder to shoulder, and learn to speak, read, and write a very basic amount of the English language. The little 10X10 room burned down one day in a horrible fire that destroyed many little shacks where some few hundred people called home each night. So we went and bought a whole truck load of lumber and built our very own brand new 12 foot by 20 foot school building, complete with doors and windows and even a concrete floor!  For the next few years we had classes there, showed the Jesus video, and ministered to hundreds if not thousands of people in that area.  

The Onion Market; 
The area is called, Ogbogblushi, and is considered to be one of the most polluted places on earth.  We had grown men who would come to serve with us on short term missions with us who would break down in tears seeing the disparity of the place and the absolutely horrible conditions these wonderful people lived in. Happy or sad, healthy or sick, sunshine or rain, hot or hotter, it was home to several thousand people everyday.  It was in the onion market that we met so many people and had opportunities to share with them the good news of the Gospel.  The place always reminded me of the valley of Gehenna in the bible, the place often used as an earthly depiction of hell.  A place of lostness and death, a horrible place full of anguish and bitterness, poverty of the soul,  desperation was written on the faces of those living there. Many days it was tough to be there and see the evil that was there, but many days it was a great place to see hope in the eyes of those who saw the Jesus video we showed in our little school room. 
The school was destroyed when the government came and bulldozed the area and burned everything to ashes.  The land now sits mostly empty. 

It was also during this time that the Onion Boy who called himself, Boubacar, became a regular at Hu Teji, coming everyday, listening to the audio-bible and even watching the Jesus video!  Boubacar drew near to us, and eventually placed his faith in Jesus as His Savior!  He became one of our close knit family.  It was not long after His coming to Christ, that as a Christian, he was with us for a bible study in which we were learning about Jesus telling His disciples that He was, “the way, the truth, and the Life.” During that bible study, Boubacar stood in front of the group and announced that we were not to call him Boubacar any longer, that Boubacar was dead and had been a lair!  He announced to our surprise, that his actual and true name was Adu!  He had only told us his name was Boubacar so that his friends wouldn't even think he even had a friend that was a Christian!  Now he was a Christian!  As you may know, Adu is now a leader in our ministry.  

It was also at Hu Teji where the name, Mango Tree Ministry was first given.  We had two big mango trees in the front of our place, and they produced a very good, sweet tasting fruit that everyone loved.  Many days we would see young children and even old people alike trying to sneak in to grab a mango before running off with a sweet bounty!  They didn't realize we would gladly share the mangos with them, they were too plenty for us. One day as we were teaching and discussing the biblical passage in Galations chapter 5 verses 22-23, were Paul spoke of the Fruit of the Spirit,  we watched as an elderly man helped his grandson climb up to grab a couple of the sweet mangos before they scurried off hoping they hadn't been seen!  Someone in the bible study said we should call ourselves, “Mango Tree Ministry, because we had the sweet fruit of the Spirit that is good for life!”  From that day on, we have been called, Mango Tree Ministry. 

Transition Period;
After a few years, the church group we were renting from asked us to leave, they had had enough of us bringing Muslims on their property to minister to them.  So we packed our things and left.  I took a small room at the Baptist Mid-Mission Guesthouse and we looked for a suitable place to resume our ministry.  We never found a place that would accommodate us and the ministry we desired to continue.  We were heart broken  not being able to continue the ministry in the manner we had before at Hu Teji.  After a while though, we realized God was getting ready to expand our outreach and grow our ministry.  Without having a set place to be everyday to minister, we had a new opportunity to start going out to other areas sharing the Gospel through His Word.  

Expanding the area of the ministry:
During the next few years, God lead us to new areas in which to share His Word.  We began to focus more on a wider distribution of Audio-bibles and the Jesus Video.  From Accra to Kumasi in Ghana, up into the north of the country and even up into Niger and Mali.  We traveled and distributed audio-bibles and the Jesus video in many villages and nations.  

Audio-bible distribution enhanced:
At first we would get 10-20 audio-bibles, then we started to order 80-100 at a time, we were always delighted to have so many to share.  We knew that for every audio-bible we gave out, at least 10 or more people would listen and hear the words of God.  In 2019, we were invited to Togo to share with a group of Christian School teachers with ASEL Christian Schools, administered by our friends, Kofi and Christy Estrou.  The teachers were excited when they heard of our work distributing the audio-bibles, they felt that was a good way they could start to relate and minister to the Islamic children and families that were attending their classes in the Christian Schools.  In my mind, I reasoned that there would not be many Islamic students attending strict Christian Schools, so I made the bold declaration to the teachers, that if they would give me the number of Islamic Children and the languages of the families, we would supply each one with an audio-bible.  Thinking the number would be 30-40 maximum, I was shocked and stunned when I found out the actual number of Islamic students attending the Christian schools, was just at 400!  At roughly $50.00 each I was now looking at a total of $20,000.00! Wow, had I made a mistake? Spoken too soon? Was I out of my mind?  That is a huge part of our budget, that is a massive amount of money that I didn't have.  We prayed seeking God's guidance and direction.  Sam and Linda Haltom who were very close and wonderful members of our ministry helped put together a campaign to raise the money for the audio-bibles, and within just a few weeks, God had worked in the hearts of many and before long, we had the total amount in hand!  The order was placed with Audio Scripture Ministries and we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the audio-bibles to take and distribute to the students and families.  
Then, just as we were getting excited to receive the audio-bibles, the world shut down...Covid-19 hit and the world came to a halt.  Mis-placed orders, supply chain issues, and a whole mired of problems and set backs happened, but Audio Scripture Ministries in the grace of God was able to finally get everything pulled together, got the content placed on each devise and got them to us, ready to distribute.  But now, the borders were closed and we had no way to get there or even no way to get the 400 audio-bibles even into the same country as the students.  After much prayer, we were finally given permission for our guys to meet the Roger, one of the administrators, and a couple of his teachers, at the border and hand the audio-bibles across to them.  Finally, after 10 months, the students and families would hear the bible in their own language!  

It was during this time, we realized God had moved us in His will to grow the ministry and expand our area of sharing His word and the Gospel message. From that time, with God's faithful provision through the churches and people who support us, we began mass distributions of the audio-bible and Jesus video. 

Covid Positives:
During the “Lock-down” era of the Covid-19 Pandemic, we were given by God many opportunities to help people in substantial ways that created many opportunities to share God's love in word and deeds. We were able to purchase and send thousands of pounds of food, such as rice, millet, corn, and beans, into areas cut off from food sources due to restrictive measures on movement and markets.  
We were also able to help many during that time with healthcare concerns, we were able to procure and send Malaria medications and also we were able to help several with hospital bills from incurred from illness to surgeries. 
All in all, during the Covid-19 era, we experienced God giving us many opportunities to share His love and goodness with many people who otherwise would have suffered alone.  Many responded in faith to His word and kindness to them.  

Post Covid:
As the covid era began to ease, we started seeing and experiencing many changes in the areas where we were concentrating our ministry.  Government shifts in ally agreements, militarized government control in many areas, societal changes, and ideological shifts in cultural views of acceptance, were beginning to hinder the manner in which we moved, worked, and ministered.  

Shifting Positions, Refocused:
During this time, we started to pray for God to show us His plan for us and for His, Mango Tree Ministry, as we moved forward. Through many events and in much prayer, we realized the need to refocus and look at ways to better minister in deeper and more challenging areas of our mission. 

Ministry Center in Togo:
God began to direct us and give us opportunities to start the movement of our ministry base to the Nation of Togo, just next door to Ghana.  Togo is more centrally located in the areas we have been ministering in and has a less transient population.  There are many opportunities Togo will offer us to further grow as we see God working in us.
God has shown us the opportunity to work with several other Mission organizations to create a Ministry Center in which to build a whole family ministry. 
It is our calling to make disciples, teaching them to observe all God has commanded to us. 
The Ministry Center will be a place to evangelize, and disciple new believers, a place to strengthen families and a place to teach and train disciples in Christian living and to help them engage in the fellowship of believers they are now members of God's Church. 

We desire a place where families can learn Godly family relationships.  A place to help provide the assistance to help bear the burdens of our Christian families.  A place to teach the proper role of Church family and the role it has in our lives. A place to help families learn God's word that they can take His message of Good news back into the villages and areas we can no longer freely go. 

Greater emphasis on discipleship and training disciples in order to establish strong home churches in persecuted areas.
We want a place of higher education in God's word, to prepare Godly leaders in the church and in communities of believers. To prepare leaders who can go into isolated areas and make disciples and help bring about fellowship in the true sense of unity in God, standing strong as a beacon of light in dark areas. 

We look forward to seeing how God will use us to grow His Church. We are excited about the future He has prepared for us.