A Sent Son — Jonathan Ballah
Toward the end of the interview, he takes another call. “Someone has passed away,” he tells me, “I will need to go very soon to visit the family.” We quickly finished our conversation.
This pastoral interruption, after less than an hour of talking, is not surprising. As we discuss the spiritual climate in Guinea, and the work of the church, Ballah’s heart for his nation is obvious. He pastors a local church in Guinea’s capital of 1.66 million people. He is also the national president of the Assemblies of God in Guinea. Faithfully serving God by serving the people of Guinea — in his work and in his daily life — is Ballah’s No. 1 priority.
Ballah is the son of two different countries, separated by the events of history.
“My grandparents hailed from Guinea, on both ends, from my mom and dad,” Ballah says. “They were living in Sierra Leone before the boundaries were set by the [British and French] colonies.” This provided Ballah with a unique opportunity. “I decided to go with the nationality of my grandparents. Since 1993, I am Guinean, but if I go to Sierra Leone, nobody can tell me that I’m not a Sierra Leonean.”
Ballah grew up in a church-planting movement. Throughout his childhood, he regularly heard the gospel. His parents pastored several churches across Sierra Leone and eventually directed a Bible college. He consistently attended church and was encouraged to become a Christian and pursue ministry. Still, his life was most impacted by a personal encounter with God.
“I grew up going to church with my parents, but at the age of 12, I gave my life to Christ,” he says.
Ballah’s journey into the ministry was similarly personal and tied to his family identity.
“I set my first nationality as a Guinean because of my grandparents,” he explains. “During my fourth year of Bible school in Freetown, Sierra Leone, God spoke to me that He wanted me to minister in Guinea.”
After praying and seeking wisdom from church leaders in Sierra Leone, he set his sights on Guinea.
“I went to the General Council of Sierra Leone and told them what the Lord had told me,” Ballah says. “They questioned me a lot, but I praise God they accepted what I said and released me to come to Guinea.”
AFRICAN MISSIONARIES TO AFRICA
Ballah, like many West African Christians, is intimately familiar with Islamic influences. Before moving to Guinea, Ballah served as a missionary. Based out of Togo, he worked with a Swedish Pentecostal mission organization.
“This organization works with the Christian radio stations in West Africa, empowering them, training their producers, and helping them produce evangelistic programs,” Ballah says.
Ballah travelled around West Africa to equip the Christian minorities with radio evangelism.
“I was first a program coordinator, and then I was the West African director for this organization,” Ballah says. “I trained staff to produce programs and find the appropriate radio stations. My focus was the countries that look like Guinea — Mali, Niger, Senegal, Chad — Muslim-dominated countries — those with the same needs as Guinea.”
Ballah is just one of many West African Christians who have left their homes to become missionaries in neighboring countries. Assemblies of God fellowships in countries like Togo, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, and Sierra Leone regularly send missionaries to their neighbors to see the church planted.
PASSION FOR THE HARVEST
These sons and daughters sent from local African churches are passionate about proclaiming the gospel to all the world. They are committed to planting local churches that will, themselves, reach their communities.
Ballah uses his role to continue this pattern of sending. As the national president of the Guinea Assemblies of God since 2017, he is committed to empowering local congregations. He wants to see each church reach beyond their four walls to their neighbors, and beyond their language and ethnic identity to Guinea’s numerous unreached people groups.
Leading the church to accomplish goals set at the 2016 national conference, Ballah has seen Holy Spirit-driven growth. The increase in Spirit-filled believers and evangelistic local churches is what he has prayed for.
“Once they nominated me as a president in 2017, I did not have to search for new goals,” says Ballah. “The plan was already there, and it already fits my heart — I am passionately called to church planting.”
Looking to the future, Ballah wants to see this Kingdom expansion continue in the harvest fields of Guinea.
“My main task has to do with mobilizing, continuously reminding people of the vision — focusing on the revivals in churches, on church planting, and on leadership training,” he says. “We want the church to be present in every district, in every prefecture, in every town.”
Jonathan Ballah represents believers and church leaders across Africa and around the world who are passionate about planting churches and sharing the good news. By God’s grace, we will see many more “Jonathans” called, equipped, and sent to the lost with the gospel.
This article originally appeared in WorldView magazine. Used with permission.