DATES // September to May
COST // $15,500 (cost includes airfare departing from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, GA)
HOUSING // Students will live primarily in Lomé at the Mentor Leaders housing complex, where they will stay together in comfortable apartment-style accommodations. The housing includes bunk-style bedrooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, and shared living spaces. The Mentor Leaders Togo office is also located at the complex.
During the year, the team will spend approximately 2–4 weeks in Gbentchal in northern Togo, where they will stay at the Mentor Leaders mission house. While life in Gbentchal will be more rural and remote than life in Lomé, students will have established housing, sleeping accommodations, and restroom facilities.
Students will not need to bring a tent or mosquito netting for either location. As with any international living experience, students should come prepared to be flexible and adaptable as they experience both city life and rural ministry in Togo.
LOCATION // Immersion is based primarily in Lomé, the capital city of Togo, with part of the experience taking place in Gbentchal, a remote village in northern Togo approximately 12–15 hours from Lomé by road.
In Lomé, students will experience everyday life in the city while living and serving alongside Mentor Leaders. During their time in Gbentchal, students will experience a very different side of Togo as they live and minister in a rural village setting. The Mentor Leaders campus in Gbentchal provides a unique opportunity to build relationships within the community, learn from the local culture, and participate in the ministry taking place there.
MINISTRY // Ministry in Togo will vary depending on the needs of Mentor Leaders and their local church partners. While in Lomé, students may participate in evangelism, youth ministry, music, Sunday school, children’s ministry, radio ministry, Bible Institute activities, and other opportunities within local churches and communities.
Church culture may be different from what students are accustomed to at home. When attending a church service, you may be asked to introduce yourself, share your testimony, sing, or even preach—sometimes with little advance notice. Come prepared to be flexible, participate, and share what God has done in your life.
During the team’s time in Gbentchal, students will have opportunities to build relationships with people in the village, visit families, share their testimonies with the help of an interpreter, and spend time ministering to and interacting with children. This is an opportunity to learn from the community, experience life in a rural part of Togo, and serve alongside the ministry already taking place there.
Mentor Leaders asks students to be thoughtful about giving gifts directly to individuals. Please do not give gifts, money, or candy to individual children without first speaking with a team leader. We want relationships and ministry to remain centered on the Gospel rather than on what visitors are able to give.
While in Lomé, there may also be opportunities to visit local markets or the Artisan Centre and purchase locally made items to bring home.
FOOD // Togolese cuisine is often a combination of African, French and German influences. The cuisine has many sauces and different types of pâté, many of which are made from eggplant, tomato, spinach and fish. The cuisine combines these foods with various types of meat and vegetables to create flavorful dishes. Roadside food stands sell foods such as groundnuts, omelettes, brochettes, corn-on-the-cob, and cooked prawns.
WEATHER // The climate is generally tropical with average temperatures ranging from 23 °C (73 °F) on the coast to about 30 °C (86 °F) in the northernmost regions, with a dry climate and characteristics of a tropical savanna. To the south there are two seasons of rain (the first between April and July and the second between September and November), even though the average rainfall is not very high.