TCJ Alumnus of the Year 2025
It is an honor to introduce JJ Alderman, Trinity’s 2025 Alumnus of the Year. His life exemplifies faithful and cheerful commitment to the gospel and service to the Kingdom of God on this earth.
JJ Alderman grew up in Togo, West Africa as the child of missionary parents. As a young man he recognized Missions as his own life calling.
He trained in Biblical Studies and Missions at Trinity College of Jacksonville, where he met his wife, Melissa (’04 Secondary Ed. graduate) and graduated with his bachelor’s degree in 2005. Together, they set out to reach people where the Gospel of Jesus Christ was not known.
Starting in 2009, JJ and his family lived among the Gen and Watchi people groups of southern Togo.
Known as the birthplace of Voodoo, Togo is steeped in spiritual darkness. For over a decade, JJ oversaw strategic gospel saturation through leadership development. In partnership with The Timothy Initiative (TTI), churches were planted, local leaders were discipled, and a training institute was established.
By God’s grace and under JJ’s leadership, the Togolese believers grew bold, passionate, and committed to the gospel. Trained leaders began to access entire regions that had never before heard the name of Jesus. To date, the movement that began as three village churches in Togo has multiplied to 77, with plans in motion to reach the next 1000 villages. The Aldermans give all glory to God for this advancement of the gospel.
In 2022, JJ and his family transitioned back to the United States.
In this new season of ministry, JJ is the International ACHIEVE Director for The Timothy Initiative. The work in Togo continues under the direct leadership of fellow alumnus Josh Freeman, although JJ and Melissa remain personally connected through their work with TTI.
As ACHIEVE director, JJ oversees partnerships with churches and organizations in 10 different countries, including Togo, to strategize and mobilize leaders. An additional branch of his work for TTI includes serving in the director role for the Coalition of the Willing, a collaboration of 23+ ministries with the shared mission of reaching every village with the gospel. He describes his work as part mapping villages to find the gospel need and part collaborating with partners to see a church planted in every village, everywhere. JJ has a personal passion for ensuring that most of the new churches are planted in the villages without a gospel presence.
“If we have a couple million {villages} around the world without a church, then what is it going to take to resource them and how do we get the resources to the right places in order to plant those churches? We actually put them on a map and say “there’s one {church} here and one there – here’s the gap: who’s going to go?”
Looking back, JJ and Melissa are confident that the transition to US based missions, while difficult, was orchestrated by God to enable the growth of ministry in Togo and beyond.
Through his position with the COTW, he has been part of a multi-ministry collaboration that has mapped and assessed the entire nation of Togo, and a sustainable strategy is in place to see the entire country saturated with a church in every village by the end of 2032!
“Without the experience and understanding I have from the grassroots level, I would not be able to make informed and wise decisions, here, today. It is because of the days in Togo that I can understand what life looks like in a few other places. It’s God. It’s all God.”
Having proved to be of high character and a model of our core values, and having exemplified faithful commitment to the Gospel, the Trinity College of Jacksonville Alumni Association is proud to present the 2025 Trinity College of Jacksonville Alumnus of the Year Award to JJ Alderman.
JJ and Melissa currently reside in North Carolina with their three daughters. Melissa teaches at a local charter school where she uses her background in education to reach the next-gen population of the US.
