Sunday morning I went to two different churches in Abidjan. The first service at 7am was at Cocody Baptist Church. This church is mostly attended by university students in the surrounding neighborhood. I was blown away to see and recognize Charles Kakomba leading the service. Charles was a childhood playmate of mine when I lived in Bouake from 1986 to 1990. My father mentored his older brother Dabilla who was a young pastor at the time. Charles is now married to a beautiful Christian woman and has a baby coming along soon. It is very encouraging to see the fruits of relationships that were forged decades ago.
Around 9:30am I went to Treichville Baptist Church in the neighborhood of the same name. This church’s pastor is also the head of the Cote d’Ivoire Baptist Convention. The service there was very different from the organized, “western” church service I attended earlier that morning. Also attending the service were the Singermans who serve in Benin, the McAfee’s, a new couple who just came to Cote d’Ivoire with their two children, and Deron Meilstrup.
I hope the gallery of images below gives you a feel for what the church services in Abidjan are like.