The Consfords: Missionaries to West Africa
In 2001, we packed what we could fit into a shipping container and headed to Ivory Coast with a calling, a young family, and not nearly enough French. Thirteen years later, we came home. But the burden for West Africa never did.
We’re Joe and Laura Consford, sent by Central Baptist Church of Center, Texas under the authority of our pastor, Danny Dodson. We came home in 2014, served faithfully at our church, raised our kids, and kept our eyes open for whatever door God would open next. In 2025, He opened it again. Lord willing, we’ll be making the move to Ghana in January 2027.
Our Calling and History
God called us to West Africa in 2001, and we went. We spent the next thirteen years in Ivory Coast and Ghana, planting churches, training national pastors, and walking with new believers through the early years of their faith. Many of those churches are still preaching the Gospel today.
In 2014, the Lord led us home to Center, Texas. I served as assistant pastor at Central Baptist Church. Laura served as assistant principal at our Christian school. We ran a local hardware store along the way. Life was full, and we were grateful for it. But the burden for West Africa never left the room. We prayed over it, talked about it, and waited for God to make the next step clear.
In 2025, He did. We began making preparations to return, and the same churches and pastors who sent us the first time have been faithful to respond again. We are currently on deputation and plan to make the move to Ghana in January 2027. We go back to team up with James and Angie Ruckman of Hope of Africa Baptist Mission, who held and expanded the work while we were home. The foundation is already there. We go back to build on it.
Our Mission in West Africa
Our primary work is church planting, carried out through our partnership with Hope of Africa Baptist Mission. James Ruckman has planted five churches since we came home and is now developing a boarding school for orphans. We don’t go back to start over. We go back to strengthen what God has already built and push it further.
We’re building the West Africa Bible Institute to train national pastors who will handle the Word faithfully and plant Gospel-preaching churches across Ghana and into French-speaking West Africa. That reach matters. After years in Ivory Coast, Laura and I are fluent in French, and that opens doors that English alone cannot.
Laura brings particular gifts to Christian education and will help develop and strengthen Christian school ministries on the field. Beyond the structured ministry, we stay in personal evangelism, distributing Gospel tracts and having conversations that don’t fit neatly into a program — the kind that happen on the road, in the market, and after church on a Sunday afternoon.
Our Family: Missions Together
Our kids grew up watching us pack for West Africa, pray over maps, and talk about Ghana at the dinner table. It got into them. All three are moving into ministry in their own right now, and Bonnie will be joining us in Ghana within the year. More than we could have planned, and exactly what we prayed for.
Gilbert, 21
A junior at Providence Baptist College studying missions. He has been serving with Bible Tracts Inc., making overseas trips to Mexico City, Panama, New Zealand, and Australia, as well as outreaches across the United States. Plans to join us on the field after graduation.
Danny, 19
A fully licensed Paramedic with an Associate’s Degree in Paramedicine. He has already put those skills to work on two medical missions trips to the Philippines. He heads to Providence Baptist College in August.
Bonnie, 18
High school graduate, heading to several youth camps this summer before starting at Providence Baptist College in August. After one semester, she will join us in Ghana for at least a year, taking courses at the Bible Institute and jumping into the work from the ground up.
Come With Us to Ghana
We take short-term teams to Ghana, and there is always room for one more. Whether you have been to Africa before or have never left the country, there is real work to do and we would be glad to have you alongside us.
For young people looking for something more than a short trip, we also host missionary internships on the field. You will get hands-on ministry experience, sit in on Bible Institute classes that transfer to U.S. Bible colleges, and come home with a clearer understanding of what it actually means to plant a church. If you have been praying about missions, a few months in Ghana has a way of bringing things into focus fast.
Statement of Faith
We are Baptist missionaries. Our theology is not borrowed or casual. It is the faith we preach in Ghana and the faith we live at home. Here is where we stand.
The Fundamentals of Our Faith
- Inspiration and Preservation of the Bible — Psalm 12:6-7; 2 Timothy 3:16
- Deity of Jesus Christ — John 1:1, 14
- Virgin Birth — Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-25
- Sinless Life of Jesus — 2 Corinthians 5:21
- Sacrificial Death — Romans 5:8
- Blood Atonement — Ephesians 1:7
- Bodily Resurrection — Matthew 28:1-15
- Salvation by Grace Through Faith — Ephesians 2:8-9
The Baptist Distinctives
- Biblical Authority — 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 119:89
- Autonomy of the Local Church — Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5
- Priesthood of the Believer — 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6
- Two Offices: Pastor and Deacon — 1 Timothy 3:1-13; Philippians 1:1
- Individual Soul Liberty — Romans 14:5; Joshua 24:15
- Saved Church Membership — Acts 2:41, 47
- Two Ordinances: Baptism and Lord’s Supper — Matthew 28:19; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
- Separation of Church and State — Matthew 22:21; Acts 5:29
Endorsed by Central Baptist Church
This letter is to confirm that Joe Consford is returning to the mission field of Ghana, West Africa. He has the full approval and support of me, his pastor, and his home church, Central Baptist Church of Center, Texas. Also, his wife, Laura, is 100% behind the call of God to return to Ghana.
After returning home 11 years ago, he was always open to God leading him back to the mission field one day. That day has come, and he is now making preparations to return. He has set a date of September 2026 if he has the needed support that is recommended. Personally, I believe he could be back on the field in less time if the churches that supported him 11 years ago would simply pick him back up for support.
He will be going back to the same area he had previously served in Ghana. Missionary James Ruckman took over the work when Brother Consford came home, and they will team up again to continue the work as the Lord leads. The African pastors are excited to hear that he is returning. He did great work for the Lord for the first 13 years he was in Africa, and I believe he will do an even greater work this time.
Thank you for considering support for the Consfords as they return to Ghana, West Africa.
In Christ,
Pastor Danny L. Dodson
I Corinthians 15:58
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174 County Road 110
Center, TX 75935
909 Cora Street
Center, TX 75935