| Thomas Johnson
Thomas R & Aïchatou Johnson
EERN
BP 250
Maradi, NIGER
West Africa
Email: Tom
Johnson
Email: Tom
Johnson 2
Tom ended his service as PC(USA) mission co-worker on June 30, 2008.
Tom Johnson was appointed in June 2001 to serve in the west African
country of Niger. Tom is assisting the Église Évangélique
de la République du Niger (Evangelical Church of Niger)
in community development programming, including helping Bible
School students in "tent-making" projects and other
income-generating activities.
Niger is land-locked country immediately to the north of Nigeria.
The size of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona combined, its population
is 11 million. About 80 percent of the country lies in the Sahara
Desert. According to U.N. statistics, Niger is the second poorest
country in the world. The life expectancy for men and women is
41 years. The medium income is less than $200 per year. One of
three children die before they reach the age of five. About 80
percent of the country is Muslim and about half of one percent
is Christian. For more statistics about Niger, click here.
The EERN is a the largest Protestant denomination in Niger (approximately
5,000 member in 125 churches/preaching points) that has its origins
with the former Sudan Interior Missions. It has been registered
with the government of Niger since 1961. It is a member of the
World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) and the Alliance of
Missions and Evangelical Churches in Niger (AMEEN), which is an
ecumenical body that fosters collaboration on Nigerien evangelical
matters. The EERN has formal relationships with both the Reformed
Church in America and the PC(USA).
After attending orientation for mission personnel in July 2001,
Tom studied French in Quebec, Canada. In January 2002 he moved
to Niamey, the capital of Niger, to study the Hausa language,
then moved to the Dogon Gao (pronounced DOH gun gow) campus, which
is his base of operations. Dogon Gao is a short drive from Maradi.
The four-year Bible school of the EERN in Dogon Gao has about
60 students who are being prepared for evangelism work. The students'
spouses also take literacy and bible training. Besides receiving
instruction in Bible, theology, church history, homiletics, etc.
they will also received vocational training so that they might
earn a living and support their families. Such training is part
of the building of the church in a country as poor as Niger, where
people are not able to support a pastor. An income outside of
the church is necessary to enable pastors to carry out their ministries
of teaching, preaching, and sharing the good news. This is where
Tom’s work is vital. He’ll help the pastors create income-generating
projects.
"I really feel that God has been equipping me for a very
specific task," says Tom, "since God gave me an interest
in West Africa, rural areas, community development, adult education,
and Reformed theology. All of these interests came together in
the Niger position. It seems to be exactly what I was being prepared
for."
Tom has worked as an county farm bureau manager in Galesburg,
Illinois, as a teaching assistant and specialist in leadership
development extension at Michigan State University, and has frequently
served as a Bible-study leader and church school teacher, and
on various church-related committees.
He graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s
degree in public service and administration and international
agriculture in 1990. A college roommate from Ghana sparked his
interest in Africa. After graduating, Tom was selected as a Rotary
International graduate scholar and attended Ahmadu Bello University
in Nigeria, where he studied in the department of agricultural
economics and rural sociology. That graduate student experience
exposed him to life in a developing country and gave him a deep
respect for African Christians.
He went on to earn his master’s degree from Michigan State
University in resource development, an interdisciplinary program
which Tom focused on community development. He is now a candidate
for his doctorate and plans to research and write his dissertation
on a faith-based development topic while in Niger.
In 1995 Tom was ordained and installed to the office of elder
in the First Presbyterian Church of Galesburg, Illinois (PC(USA)).
His church membership is in the University Reformed Church in
East Lansing, Michigan, where he was active in several types of
student ministries.
On April 19, 2003, Tom married the former Aïchatou Abba
Moussa, who was once his substitute Hausa teacher. Aïchatou
is a medical student at Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey, Niger,
and will be involved in medical missions upon her graduation.
They have two daughters, Marie-Florence, born on April 14, 2004,
and Laurey Léa, born November 2, 2005. |
