Sampson Dorkunor, Trainer, Outreach Coordinator, Church Planter, Ghana

Q. Tell us about your family.
A. I am married to Janet Dorkunor, a child evangelist who has been very supportive in the ministry. We have three young ladies who live with us (though not legally adopted)—Anna, 24, Patience, 24, and Emefa (Debora), 12. We have several spiritual children and have been supporting many through their education.

Q. Give us a brief overview of your work and ministry.
A. I am the founder and general overseer of Living Bread Missions, an indigenous missionary agency committed to training, outreach, and church planting. We have a staff of sixteen serving in Ghana and the Republic of Togo in various church-planting projects. We run a missionary training school to raise and release workers.

We have been actively involved in community development projects, one of which is a Christ-centered and character-building educational complex known as Precious Kids Academy. This is located in our base location of Ashaiman, a slum community in Ghana. We are also involved in a 20-acre farm project to help raise support for the work we do in missions.

I have also been involved in the national mission movement and was the immediate past president of the Ghana Evangelical Missions Association. I was the World Evangelical Alliance’s national representative and associate who did the REMAP II research into missionary retention in 2003.

In collaboration with Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and Ghana Fellowship of Evangelical Student (the national wing of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students), I have been involved in student mission mobilization. We have successfully initiated and worked on awareness conferences in Ghana and held ignite conferences in universities across the country. I am currently the national chair for the SVM2 advisory committee and newly appointed as the African regional facilitator.

I also provide supervision for the missionary endeavors of the Association of Community Missionaries based in unreached people groups of northern Ghana and northern Togo. My work covers field visits and administrative support for the 22 missionaries who are working with over 130 churches. This work is done in collaboration with Reaching the Unreached based in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.

Q. What is your favorite quote?
A. John 10:16: “I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also. That there may be one sheepfold with one shepherd.”

Q. Who has been the most influential person in your life/ministry, and why?
A. Margaret Anthony, who confronted me with the gospel of Jesus Christ and discipled me. I learned at her feet in my juvenile years to be a faithful Christian of integrity. She also counseled me up to the point when I was called into active ministry.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
A. The best piece of advice I received was an encouragement to accept the call to ministry and not look to others’ criticisms and accusations. I was told not to fear even what the future would hold, even though I was leaving my professional field to enter ministry.

Evangelism. On Point. Q. Describe a time in which you shared your faith in Christ with someone who didn’t know him, and then saw God clearly work in that situation. A. I have this tremendous story of an elderly man who was the captain of an idol worship cult. He refuted the gospel any time I introduced Jesus Christ as Savior and the need for this man to admit, confess, and accept Jesus as such. He would protest, saying that the devil was the elder brother of Jesus and that idol worship was the ideal for the African. He would contest that Christianity came to rob the African of his authentic religion. This challenge went on for some years, but I was persistent concerning his salvation and would go back time and again. During one visit, I continued to persist with the gospel message. On this day, I saw God work entirely by his grace. This man accepted Christ, raising his hands and saying the sinner’s prayer! He quickly grew in the reading of scripture, distanced himself from the dangerous cult, denounced the gods, burnt the idols, stood his grounds in faith, and held on to his confession.

In a very frustrating moment when I was to move into missions full time, my mentor reminded me, “I am standing with you in prayer and the will of the Lord for you shall be done.”

Q. What one issue do you believe is the greatest barrier or opportunity to evangelism, and why?
A. The greatest barrier to evangelism is the Church’s apathy to the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. It has led to a lack of adequate support for the core function of the Church globally. However, the issue can be traced to nominalism (lack of adequate discipleship and commitment of membership in our churches). Church membership is the greatest asset of the Church; if the membership is not supportive of the core function, then this is a hindrance.

Q. What book do you most often recommend to others to read, and why?
A. Apart from the Bible, my recommendation is Disciples Are Made Not Born by Walter Henrichsen and Howard Hendricks. It brings forth a key element in church growth—the making and multiplication of disciples for the work of ministry. It also puts the onus of disciple-making on the individual and not on an assumption that “if God wills, Brother Joe will mature.”

Q. What would you like to be doing in five years?
A. I would love to be in master coaching and mentoring young and emerging leaders who have a missionary focus.

Q. How can people be praying for you?
A. First, for the growth of Living Bread Missions and the Association of Community Missionaries’ work and missionaries in Ghana and Togo. Second, for physical and family health to enable me to continue to be a good witness. Third, for financial support for the work of the ministry.