LAUREL, Maryland — Temidayo Akinsanya wasn’t planning to start a church. The engineer-turned-seminary-student envisioned serving an existing congregation through his ministry calling.
But a conversation with a professor lit a spark.
In seminary, God focused his ministry calling on shepherding those of African descent living in the United States. He figured he would do so in an established church. Then, his professor recommended he consider planting a church. A conversation with his sisters crystallized that call.
Akinsanya’s two teenage sisters had attended several local churches but struggled to connect with any of them. Having been born in Nigeria and grown up in Largo, Maryland, they struggled to find an African church that faithfully taught the Scriptures.
Their words forced Akinsanya to wrestle with why they and many like them felt so disconnected from church.
Many of the African churches they visited had been impacted by prosperity theology, the belief that God blesses the faithful with both good health and monetary success. Akinsanya’s sisters longed to be in a church with sound doctrine.
“That conversation with my sisters really opened my eyes,” Akinsanya said. “I realized God was calling me to create a space where people like them, like us, could grow in faith without cultural barriers.”
Akinsanya discovered several second-generation African Christians in suburban Washington, D.C., who were quietly drifting away from church for similar reasons.
Restoration Church launched in 2023 to meet their need. With a commitment to sound doctrine and a heart for those of African descent, Akinsanya and his team are building a congregation where Africans, and anyone feeling spiritually disconnected, can find a home rooted in the gospel.
Akinsanya grew up in a Christian home in Nigeria. His mom made sure the family started each day with morning devotions.
When he was 11, his family moved to Maryland. In college, God got a hold of his heart and Akinsanya started sensing God calling him into ministry.
Akinsanya began praying, planning, and preparing while in seminary, and in 2023, Restoration Church officially launched in Laurel, Maryland. They first met in a local community center before finding a more permanent space.
Laurel, located between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, was an ideal place to plant a church that bridges cultures. With a vibrant mix of African immigrants, second-generation Americans, including people from dozens of nationalities, the city mirrors the vision God had placed on Akinsanya’s heart.
From the start, he has emphasized faithfulness to Scripture and intentional relationship-building through Restoration Church. The church isn’t about flash or spectacle. It is a family where people can truly grow in Christlikeness.
Akinsanya, a bi-vocational pastor who works during the day as a data scientist, recognizes that impacting the community of African nationals in Laurel won’t happen overnight.
“It takes trust from the community toward us, and that means we have to be present and engage with them multiple times over the course of multiple years for them to open their hearts and say, ‘You can come in,'” Akinsanya said. “We’re still moving in that direction, and we hope to get there. What we have seen, though, with the folks we have been able to reach, is the importance of why God has called us to be here. We know it’s only a matter of time before the Lord opens a door for us to reach into the various corners of our community.”
Restoration Church is seeing signs of those open doors, too.
Although Amietee Fuondjing had grown up in Maryland in a Christian family from Cameroon, he struggled to find a church that understood life as a second-generation African immigrant. His younger brother first attended one of Restoration Church’s early Bible studies and encouraged Fuondjing to visit.
Fuondjing said it’s exciting to watch God work through the young church. As more people jump in and get involved, they’re coming together to serve and make an impact in their community.
“It’s not like my typical experiences where you just go to church, and as soon as the service is over, you just head for the doors,” said Fuondjing. “There’s a culture of talking to people, staying after, engaging in a meal, chatting, looking for encouragement, advice. It’s really a family.”
Akinsanya says his sending church, Bethany Church in Columbia, Maryland, has played a critical role in the church’s early ministry. He talks with Bethany’s pastor, C.J. Matthews, on a weekly basis, drawing strength from Matthews’ encouragement to stay faithful and patient in the slow work of church planting.
But Bethany Church isn’t the only source of support. Akinsanya says the broader Southern Baptist family — particularly through the North American Mission Board’s church planting arm, Send Network — has played a vital role in helping him and his wife, Modesta, stay the course.
“That’s one thing I think Southern Baptists do really well: encouraging the church planters, supporting them, helping them to know they’re part of the tribe,” Akinsanya said. “I’m incredibly grateful for Send Network and the ways they’ve been kind to my wife and me.”
Published April 25, 2025