Our neighbors… here in Bénin and Togo
We are currently visiting Togo and Benin (West Africa) with our boys this month [July 2026] … my wife’s and my respective birth countries. Why July? Well, that is a fair question, because in the past we always would have traveled in August. It was our tradition, as August is the convention month in these two countries. We took our boys with us on this trip from the US to West Africa regularly, year after year, which always caused them to miss the first week of school once we got back to the USA. This time is different. This time, we have moved forward and away from the meetings and the 2×2 ministry.
We planned this trip purely around our family’s availability and the school calendar, completely free from any outside constraints. Having the freedom to choose when to visit based on what works best for our family without feeling controlled by a system that prioritizes a form over authenticity feels like a true victory for us. We are so grateful that God is already making so many things possible on this trip!
As many of you are aware, the month before convention month is set aside for what friends and workers call “Preps.” July is preps month. Because of this, we are not completely phasing our trip outside of the convention periods. Since we arrived, we have actually found more opportunities to connect one-on-one with relatives and 2×2 people on a more personal level. Because they are not yet totally inside the “convention bubble,” their senses are still up to listen a bit and process things while they perform physical tasks around the convention grounds.
So you may ask: “If you have left the 2×2 church, why can’t you just tune them out and move on?”
My wife and I were born and raised within the 2×2 church, a high controlled religion that some call a cult. I have known my wife since we were both toddlers. We all little kids sitting front row during conventions and special meetings while our parents sat in the back rows… letting us under the supervision of some adults who made sure we sat still and didn’t fall asleep during meetings.
Growing up over the years, we hardly made any friends outside of the 2×2 community. In school and throughout college, we were constantly taught in meetings how lucky we were to have found the “only way” it was always an us versus the world mentality. We were forbidden from making long-lasting friends on the outside. We were taught to see our non-2×2 neighbors as strangers whom God could only save through us belonging to the “only way.” Technically, we couldn’t truly be friends with outsiders because we didn’t want to be “of the world,” fearing they would corrupt us with their homes, TVs, and worldly religions.
So, we pretty much lived our entire lives surrounded by “strangers,” while our only true people were the 2×2 community. This mindset completely shaped our choices. When my parents offered their land for the conventions in the early 2000s, friends and family started moving into the area to be closer to the grounds. We did the same. Back in 2011, we bought land and built our vacation home there. At the time, it was our ideal location just a five-minute walk from the convention grounds owned by my parents, which is now their primary residence. We built our dream home, but it just happens to be located not only close to the convention grounds, but also surrounded by several current 2×2 friends’ homes. In fact, my immediate neighbor holds Wednesday meetings in his house! We counted six family homes right next to us, plus the convention grounds and the workers’ compounds/batches.
So, when we are staying in our dream home, we are literally surrounded by them. That is why, even though we left, we are still able to be a light and planting seeds in one’s hearts just by talking to our neighbors.
So, Who are Our Neighbors ?
Jesus was asked this exact same question. In response, He told the story of a man beaten by robbers and left half dead on the side of the road.
Luke 10:36-37:
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
As the scales fall away from our eyes, instantly bringing clarity and allowing us to see things exactly as they are, we are so incredibly grateful for the Good News the true Gospel that Jesus and our God brought to us. He opened our hearts to love our neighbors because He first loved us and saved us. We are grateful for God’s love in Jesus, and loving Him first has helped us to truly love each other.
I am grateful that because of His grace, I don’t have to conform to a system that lacks honesty, integrity, and transparency … a system that instead prioritizes cover-ups of abuse and CSA/SA for the sake of appearing perfect because they claim to be the “perfect way.” A system so busy with trying to own “the way” through their own men made rules and traditions that failed to see Jesus Himself, who is the Way.
I am so grateful that we can now live and stand firmly in Jesus’ truth, and go tell our neighbors about the genuine joy and peace we have because of Jesus, our God and Savior.
Tole JP & Fola BEWA
Cotonou, Bénin
July 12, 2026