It was 1973. Elmer Komant was just finishing up his four-year carpentry apprenticeship when he heard a missionary lady share at his church. Leaning against the back door of the sanctuary, he suddenly felt God speak to him, “Elmer, I want you to go into missions.” And he knew immediately that his calling was to Africa.
For 48 hours, Elmer wrestled with God. He confesses, “I knew it was a losing battle. I finally said to God, ‘If You want me, You are going to have all of me.’”
For Sherry Komant, she, too, heard a missionary share and began to ponder the call to ministry. She explains, “I got out my Bible and read the call of Jeremiah. I next read the call of Isaiah. So, at 16 years old, I surrendered my all to the Lord.”
What neither of these young people knew at that time was that the call to serve would span over 40 years of ministry on the African continent together—serving their Saviour alongside their children, Racheal, Jeffrey and Aimee.
After marrying, they graduated from Summit Pacific College in 1977. Then, in 1980, they headed to Kitwe, Zambia, to embark on an adventure of a lifetime. Elmer had been asked to teach, but he quickly learned that his passion was for church planting.
Joining the evangelistic ministry of famed evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, Elmer recounts how they baptized 176 people one Sunday morning. Out of those evangelistic meetings, the Komants felt a burning call to church planting. While pastoring an already existing church within the city of Livingstone, they began to help the Zambian church to zealously plant more churches.
During this time, Elmer and Sherry established their vision for ministry: to always work themselves out of a job by raising up national leaders to lead the church-planting movements themselves.
In 1987, the Komants headed to Mombasa, Kenya. God blessed them with a large building downtown in this primarily Muslim city despite the government forbidding any more churches to form. Today, that same church seats over 3,000 people every Sunday morning and has, in turn, started six other assemblies.
In 1996, Elmer contracted hepatitis. While being bedridden for three months, he sensed God’s call to Rwanda. Two years later, he and Sherry planted the first English-speaking church in the entire country. This was four years after the Rwandan genocide. Sadly, trauma was still etched on the faces of so many they ministered to.
With a 2,000-person tent, they boldly set up in the middle of Kigali, Rwanda. Despite the police and the government attempting to have it removed, they persevered, and the people just kept coming.
Today, the church, known as the Christian Life Assembly, no longer meets in a tent but in a beautiful church building on 17 acres of prime real estate. Due to their son Jeffrey’s tireless efforts, the property also houses Wellspring Academy, a primary and secondary school for more than 1,000 students. Working alongside his parents, Jeffrey became the visionary behind the school, which has become highly acclaimed throughout the country.
In 2012, Elmer and Sherry finished a time of fasting and prayer. As they sat doing their Monday devotions together, Elmer turned to Sherry and said, “I feel God is calling us to Burundi.” Sherry responded, “God just told me that half [an] hour ago.”
Elmer was now in his 60s, and he and Sherry had never set foot in Burundi. Yet, hadn’t they promised to do whatever God called them to? The Lord commanded. And they obeyed.
With the unexpected favour of the chief of police in Burundi, the Komants planted Christian Life Ministries in a theatre in downtown Bujumbura, Burundi, in 2013. The church immediately began to grow rapidly.
In 2019, Elmer and Sherry passed the leadership of Christian Life Ministries onto the national pastors. Today, they continue to mentor and encourage those leading the church plant movements from their home in Abbotsford, B.C.
Even as they have sought to slow down, Elmer and Sherry have never officially retired. They continue to serve in various capacities at their church in Abbotsford while planning to make yearly trips back to their beloved Africa.
Their daughter, Racheal Ngabane, currently serving as a global worker herself, reflects on her parents’ legacy:
“Living with mom and dad has been such a privilege. They never knew what the phrase ‘give up’ even meant. They’re the people who, if they said they’d show up, they would. I think the thing I love the most is that they engaged with everyone on every level. From the poorest of the poor to the presidents of multiple countries. Everyone was equal in their eyes. Their legacy now lives on in me and in my children.”
Along with that incredible love for all people, the Komants’ obedience to God’s call has truly been the foundation of their ministry. Despite the struggles, illnesses and staring death in the face multiple times, they have never once wavered in that call.
Elmer remembers the young man he was once—a shy farm boy who was more comfortable being around cows and horses than people. And yet, he sees how God has used even him and Sherry to help shine His light throughout Africa. That is truly a legacy!
Visit the Komants’ website at https://paoc.org/donate/elmerkomant. Rebecca Nicol is the senior writer for Mission Global.
This article appeared in the July/August/September 2024 issue of testimony/Enrich, a quarterly publication of The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. © 2024 The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.
Photos courtesy Elmer and Sherry Komant. Pictured: Sherry and Elmer Komant, and the Komants attending a church service at Christian Life Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda.