Jim White

God has given us a new engine for our vehicle!

2012-01-24T04:19:00.000-08:00

In 2007, there was a 2002 model truck that I enquired about but the seller here in Togo wanted 20,000 US dollars for it. Well, I did not have that kind of money so I continued to pray that God would give me just the right vehicle that I would need for the ministry here. Six months later, I had about 12,000 dollars saved up all together towards a vehicle. I was ready to head down to the port in Lome and see what we could get for that price. Truth be known, 12,000 was not really going to get me a lot. The prices on both electronics and vehicles are extremely inflated here. That being said, I was challenged to give the seller one last call and see if they would accept 6,000,000 CFA instead of the 8,000,000 CFA they had once asked for. I thought it would be a long shot but the vehicle had sat for 6 months with no serious buyers interested. To my suprise, the seller agreed to drop the asking price by 2 million francs. This was a huge answer to prayer! Not only was I getting the vehicle I once thought would be perfect but now I was getting it for 2,000,000 francs cheaper! The exchange rate was playing in my favor too and when it was all said and done I was able to purchase the truck for 12,000 dollars instead of the original asking price of 20,000 US dollars.

Well, fast forward to this year. The truck has been a blessing but at the same time it has had some issues. The engine had been rebuilt three times, two of them by me. The frame and cabin were in decent shape but the engine was completely worn out. The mechanics told me the last time they rebuilt the engine that it was just a temporary fix and that I needed to start saving up to get another. Here in Togo, there are really two directions you can go with engines: expensive and really really expensive! So, we decided to merely go with the “expensive” option. Adie and I started praying that God would provide what we needed. We decided that after saving for nearly 6 months we would send a mechanic over to Accra, Ghana, (three hours West of our capital city of Lome and about 12 hours from the town that we live in) to look for an entire drive train to replace the one in our vehicle. The mechanic came back and said that it would cost nearly ½ of what the vehicle cost us a few years back (6,000 dollars) and there was no guarantee on the drive train. Most likely these engines would be coming down from Europe but there was no way to verify how many miles they had on them. The only traceable fact would be the year it was manufactured. So, with that information in hand, we thought this might be our only viable option until we were approached with the option of purchasing a drive train from a salvaged vehicle. The vehicle was wrecked with only about 5,000 miles on it. After much prayer, God had put a virtually brand new motor, transmission and 4x4 right into our laps! It was such an awesome answer to prayer! With the Lord giving us exactly what we needed, during the Pastor's conference last week, we were able to drop off our truck at the mechanic's garage and over the course of three days he installed the newer, bigger and better engine in our truck. It even came with AC and power steering; two things ours was lacking!

Our truck has been one miracle after another. God has amazingly heard and answered our prayers. We now have a truck that should be reliable for so many years to come and we'll be able to continue bringing our 10-12 weekly riders with us to church. What an encouragement to see that God will always meet our needs!

Pastor's Conference 2012

2012-01-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

This past week, Adie and I drove 7.5 hours down to Aneho which is a town on the southern border of Togo and Benin. We met up with nine national pastors and their wives as well as two other missionaries for a Pastor's conference to teach on the topic of Spiritual Leadership. This subject covered many issues that are very relevant for these men and women. Most of them all knew each other from training in the same Bible institute that was held up in our town of Kara. But this was the first time they had all gotten together since the last time we held a conference in 2009.

The pastors and their wives traveled from all over Togo. One couple traveled nearly 12 hours to make the conference and most of them had a drive similar in length to ours. The conference ended up being a great experience! It was an opportunity, where for 2.5 days we ate meals together, had four-two hour sessions each day on various topics and even had some sports time; it was quite amusing to see the pastors and even some wives playing soccer in the sand!

The conference was a huge success and we thank God for all that was accomplished during those few days. It was an encouragement to all that attended and it was challenging for us who were teaching. The goal now is to schedule a conference like this one about once a year with varous relevant spiritual topics to challenge and encourage these pastors and their families.

Helping out one of our widows.

2012-01-14T13:30:00.001-08:00

The fall, Mrs. Dunga was lead to the Lord by her sister. She has five girls and lives a couple miles up the road from me which is about a two hour walk from our church. Ever since she accepted the Lord she has been riding pretty faithfully with us to church each Sunday.

Well, back in November when Adie and I were visiting them, we realized that her kitchen desperately needed to be re-thatched. She has been a widow for nearly 5 years and with five girls can use all the extra help. She lives in a pretty typical

village style house made of mud blocks with a tin roof. Her cooking space or kitchen is a seperate room-building near the house. It was leaking too much this past rainy season and was abandoned until it could be repaired. Realizing that she needed help rethantching her kitchen, we organized a work day with our church men. Adie and I, headed out this morning for the church where we met up with 8 guys volunteers. We left the church and went straightway for Mrs. Dunga's and picked up another 3 more en route. All together, we had eleven men from about ages 15-25 helping us and within four hours we had her kitchen roof mended and rethatched.

The Bible talks about how we as believers must take care of the widows and the orphans. Here, in Togo, there seems to be such a great opportunity to actually put this commandment into practice. Needs are so great here but it was awesome to see our young men step up, fill a need and help out one of our widows!

A couple church teens earning money for school.

2012-01-13T06:14:00.001-08:00

Every Sunday, Adie and I have the privilege of taking about 10 folks with us in our truck to church. Many of them are students that for one reason or another have endeared themselves to us—most likely because everytime they come over, Adie brings them out some sort of fresh baked cookies or goodies. They act like they are interested in talking to me but everytime they drop by the house they seem to always be looking around for 'Madame Adie'!
Anyways, some of the young guys from church needed some work. The work wasn't to have money in order to go out to eat, buy a game or even see a movie. Instead, their need was much more basic; they needed money just to stay in public school. Schools here do not really charge much but they do charge.

Although, the term “much” can be an aweful relative term. To us, it's not much but to the average Togolesse who if they can find work, might only make 3 dollars a day for working 12 hours, then this is a major obstacle! So, Adie and I found a solution. We don't have much extra work around the house but we did have some trees that needed trimming. So, with a hand made latter, three machette and some rope, the guys climbed up two of our trees and with in two days had them down to just the bare trunks. It was amazing to see how quickly they worked. It gave us an opportunity to help our church teens and they in return helped us with our tree situation.

Celebrating the New Years with our church in Lassa Bas.

2012-01-04T06:58:00.001-08:00

Here in Togo Christmas is a big holiday but it is New Years that is the most celebrated. Often times Christmas is associated with Santa and children here but New Years is a day that adults will have new outfits made for, purchase expensive foods that they might not usually eat and head out to see friends. It's a very social holiday around here.

Adie and decided that we wanted to do something special with our church family on New Years eve. So around 6 p.m. we all met up at the church and used oil lamps and flashlights to produce our lighting. We had a great time of prayer, songs, quoting scripture and playing Bible trivia. We decided to break the church into groups. We had the kids in one section followed by the women and then the men. I think all together we had perhaps 60 folks. Adie and I had gone out a couple days before and purchased little items such as chicken broth cubes, small cans of tomato paste, little bags of pasta and soup bars. So as we would ask trivia questions we would hand out these prizes for correct answers. Now, I understand that it seems trite passing out the prizes that we did but most folks here consider the items we handed out either essentials for living or luxury items. So they were all pretty thrilled that we had prizes to hand out. We even had some carrying bags, Mt. Dew and a few little thermos' to hand out. The folks were so thrilled.

Togo is unique in so many different ways but I love how we can gather together and worship God. Sometimes life can function at it's most basic levels here yet it's awesome to be around folks with so much joy. New years eve was a night that Adie and I won't soon forget!

Getting together with our Teens for a film night.

2011-12-19T02:17:00.001-08:00

Adie and I have been wanting to do something special with our teens for sometime now. We decided to have a film night at our house. We opted to do this rather then have it at the church because culture here would allow just anyone who is passing by to stop in and join in on the festivities. The point of our little celebration was to reward our faithful young people and give us an opportunity to get to know them better.

Our place is quite far, in Togolese standars from the church. It would take about 90 minutes to 2 hours to walk to our house from the church. So, the trip isn't taken too often by many of our members to come out and visit us. However, we still planned to have it at our place despite the distance because we would have more privacy and the simple fact that the Togolese love to “visit” your house. I'm not to sure what significance it has but they still love “to know” where you live.

So, Saturday night we challenged all who had bikes to ride them out to the house. That was about five of the eventual 26 that would make it. Another guy road a motorcycle, a few walked from near by and 17 of us crammed into my poor little vehicle that at max. should only hold about 10!

We decided that the night would be light so we showed a film called The Polar Express. The kids loved the festive film. During that film, the feasted on Koolaide, Popcorn and homemade cookies. All of these things are a special treat for them. Sugar is expensive and they don't often get a lot of it. And for the film, most don't have radio's at their house yet alone t.v.'s or electricity. So to come to our place and get to watch a film outside was a very neat thing for them.

It was so great to have them. They all had such a terrific time as did Adie and I. We took about ten minutes at the end and just encouraged them reminding them that they are the future of our church. There is an expression in French “soit fidéle”. The idea is that you would long to be faithful. I attempeted to challenge them to be faithful to God, to the Word of God and towards the goal of growing in their faith. We have such an amazing group of young people. I am really excited to see what God will be doing in this church over the next 5-10 years!

Mrs. Phillippe has finally come home!

2011-12-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

On Saturday after having spend 22 days in the hospital, having 3 operations and 9 blood transfusions, Mrs. Phillippe was finally cleared to come home. Randy flew the 90 minute flight down to the ABWE missionary hospital to get her and family. It was the same route that Randy had taken two weeks earlier. The drive would have taken nearly 6 hours and the first flight was extremely time sensitive.

She arrived down south a week after Thanksgiving. By that point, she had a hysterectomy, 2 surgeries and the 9 transfusions. But for some reason she wasn't getting better and was starting to drift in and out of commas. So, the decision was finally made, against the doctors wishes up here in Kara, that she should be moved as soon as possible down south to the Baptist missionary hospital which is staffed by American doctors—some donate time others are full time medical missionaries.

When she first arrived they started doing tests and discovered that her major problem was with her creatinine levels. I've been told this is a major way of telling the functionality of the kidneys. A normals persons is around 1.2 but hers was as high as 15.8. I asked more about this and was told that her kidneys were functioning only in the 16% range. Mrs. Alderman an RN from the US and a long time missionary here told me that in the US someone would typically be put on dialysis when their kidney functions dropped below 35-30%. However, here we don't seem to have the machinery to be able to offer dialysis. So, the doctors could only give her medicines and that is when so many believers started praying asking God to touch her body and heal her.

The first week down at the ABWE hospital, we didn't see much improvement. We were up in Kara and they were down in their nestled in the mountains and phone reception was hard to come by. But it seemed she was starting to talk, drink and attempt to feed her baby. However, her numbers were still very high. They actually climbed from 13+ into the 15's. But then this past week an absolute miracle started to take place! On Tuesday we heard the news that her creatinine levels had dropped from 15+ to 7+. Then again on Thursday we had heard that it was dropping even lower and by Friday we received the good news that she would be able to finally return home.

Saturday, Adie and I went up to Sarakawa where there is a dirt runway that Randy uses has is main take off. We were accompanied by the Huffs and about 8 other nationals who were all just excited to see Mrs. Phillippe as we were! About 12:45 pm, we caught the first glimpse of the plane and about three minutes later it was on the ground and taxiing toward the hangar. When the plane came to a stop and the engine was cut, we all rushed up to meet and welcome her. She looked weak and tired but was in very good spirits. She was accompanied by her husband and her little three week old son, who is healthy! The Huff's brought up their three girls ranging from 13-5. It was the first time they had seen their mom in over three weeks and I don't believe they every full understood how grave the situation truly was.

We were able to take Mrs. Phillippe and her family back to their house and visit with them a bit before we left them so she could get some rest. God has truly been so good to her and her family. She has so many relatives who don't believe and we pray that this will be an tangible sign to them that our God is real and that he is still working miracles to this day.

November & December 2011 Update

2011-12-13T05:02:00.000-08:00

The past few months have been nothing short of amazing! So many incredible things have happened and we are so blessed to have been part of them. One of the many blessings has been our new church building. The roof is on, the air blocks are in the window openings, the first coat of paint is up and the metal doors have been hung. Everyone has been excited and chipping in to help with the construction. We have only been in the new building for about six weeks but our church is still in awe at how God has given us such a wonderful gift—a permanent sanctuary!

December 1^st, Adie and I marked five months of marriage. It is crazy to think that we left for Togo only six weeks after being married! She is slowly adjusting to her new life here. French now seems to be the big challenge for her. She has been meeting with our French professor, Mr. Batcho a couple times a week. If you would, please pray that she will continue to improve in her French and for me as I continue my Kabiye language studies.

This past week, Adie and I had an interesting ministry opportunity. We went to a local orphanage where, with a very generous donation from a kind lady back in the US, we were able to purchase 48 new mattresses for the children to sleep on. We decided that we wanted to do more than just deliver some much needed mattresses so we created a special evangelistic dedication service. The orphanage is without a TV and most children have never seen a “movie” of any kind here. So, we packed up our projector, generator and other supplies to show a film about a man and his family who gave up their Voodoo fetishes and decided to follow Christ. It is a very pertinent topic for the Togolese who struggle with the subject of Voodoo even to this day. After the service we were able to clearly present the gospel, give out tracts and bibles, as well as some t-shirts. Please pray that God's word will not return void and that through these efforts and future follow up by the local church many of these young folks will come to Christ.

One of our dear friends, Mrs. Phillippe, is in critical condition and could use your prayer. She is a national pastor's wife, who on Thanksgiving day gave birth to her fourth child. Shortly afterwards she started hemorraging. To date she has had 3 major surgeries and 9 units worth of blood transfusions. One week after giving birth, she was mercy flighted by Randy in his airplane to the ABWE missionary hospital which is about 6 hours away by vehicle. The American doctors down south believe that they have stabilized her health but her kidney function is minimal—within failure levels. This has been a very trying time for her family, friends and of course their church. She is a godly woman, great mother of three daughters and now a son and wonderful wife. It is our prayer that she will recover fully and be able to return home soon.

Our church at Lassa Bas is doing well. One of our ladies led her widowed sister to the Lord and then Adie and I found out that she lives just up the road from us. It would take Madame Donga and her five girls over 2 hours one way to walk to church so each Sunday morning at about 6:50 am we head to their place to pick them up for church. It's such a joy as we fill our little truck with 12-15 riders each week from around our neighborhood and bring them to church with us.

Please keep the church in your prayers. We are still going through the final stages of construction on the church building. We have several young folks working through discipleship material right now. It is our goal to see all these new converts grow in the Lord. Also, we are still without a prospect of a national pastor to take the work from me. It is our hope and prayer that God will raise up someone to take the work sometime in the next couple years.

Thank you so much for being such a part of our ministry through your prayers and gifts. We are so honored to call you our friends and partners! Adie and I both wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

Jim and Adie White

Bringing Christmas gifts to the Orphanage

2011-12-12T02:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday night, Adie and I packed up our generator, projector and other film stuff and headed out to a near by orphanage. I haven't been to this orphanage in years and it was the first ever visit for Adie. Apparently, there are nearly 60 children that sleep at this particular one. Honestly, it was heartbreaking.

About 18 months ago, while home in the US on furlough, I told a story about my visit to this particular orphanage and a very kind lady approached me about how to get involved. Over the course of a year she was able to raise a grand to help purchase new mattresses. So, this past Saturday we were able to purchase and deliver 48 brand new matresses for the orphans. And boy what a thrilled it was!

We brainstormed about what would be the best way to give this gift and to make it a lasting one. Well, we knew that the matresses would eventually wear out but the message of Christ would last the test of time. So, we decided to show an evangelistic film to the young folks. Now remember they don't have a t.v. and probably have never even seen a feature film before in their lives; so this was a big deal for them. It was a private showing of a film they've never seen before. The film followed a real life story of a family that was caught up in Voodoo worship and sacrifice and when all started to fall apart they realize they were missing something. The film is called "La Solution" and depicts Christ as the only solution for eternal life. The entire family ended up coming to Christ and renouncing all their fetishes. It can be a bizarre story for American's to watch because it is so foreign to us but for the Togolese it is so close to home--something that so many deal with on a daily basis.

After the film we were able to share the salvation plan with the kids. We also gave them N.T. Bibles, tracts and a t-shirts (which they were thrilled to receive). The kids were so excited that we would think of them and their needs. Christmas is an wonderful time of year and I am so thankful for the dear lady in the US who took this burden on her shoulders and made such a difference in so many of these children's lives!

So many have so little but to know that some have Christ...it makes all the difference.

The woman lead to the Lord by her sister.

2011-12-06T08:41:00.001-08:00

About a month ago one of our ladies in the church won her widowed sister to the Lord. She happened to visit our church that next Sunday and I got to meet with her just after the services. She told me that she wanted to continue coming to church but it was too far. The walk alone would have taken 2 hours one way. So, Adie and I decided that we could go pick her and her family up each week before church and take them with us. For the past four or five weeks now, we have left the house a little before 7 am to get Mrs. Donga and her girls in order to take them to church. They have been such a blessing. We've given the family Bibles, started the family into some discipleship material and Mrs. Donga has asked for us to come by and teach her how to pray. It such a sweet thing to see a new Christian and their desire to grow in Christ! It makes ministry here in Togo just that much sweeter!

Praying for Mrs. Phillippe

2011-12-01T00:11:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was a unique day. It was a time of celebrating and a time of prayer. The celebrating part came early in the day when Adie and I went over to Jon and Hiedi's house for dinner. We had a great time not only eating but also helping to wish Heidi a very happy birthday.

That evening is when the praying really took over. It turned out that Mrs. Phillippe a natonal pastor's wife also gave birth on Heidi's birthday. However due to some serious complications she had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy just hours after giving birth. She had to then return again to the operating room for a second surgery the next morning to help control bleeding from the previous surgery. She had 7 blood transfussions over a span of less then 36 hours.

Over the course of the next week, she was up and down. We thought on Monday that she might be getting better. When Adie and I went up to the hospital we saw Heidi there visiting so we went in and Mrs. Phillippe was talking and seemed good other then it sounded like she had a cold coming on and her legs were swollen. Her son was good and seemed to be nursing just fine.

However, on Tuesday she took a turn for the worst and slipped into a comma. Randy, a missionary pilot with a plane and his wife an RN made a decision to offer flying Mrs. Phillippe from the hospital in Kara to an ABWE missionary hospital down south which is staffed by volunteer US doctors. Mr. Phillippe pondered the decision and after asking the local doctors they began preparing her for transport and gave her an additional 2 pints of blood bringing her total to 9. However, the next morning, Wednesday, the local doctors strongly advised against moving her and it seemed like she was might never leave. She was doing a bit better, awake and talking again but that might have had something to do with the blood. She had been very animic. Then Wednesday night came and she started slipping towards a comma again. She rambled and talked with out making and sense. The decision was finally made late Wednesday night that despite what the local recommendations were, that Phillippe would pull his wife out of the hospital and accompanied by Mrs. Alderman (an RN) and piloted by Randy, they would all head down for the ABWE hospital on Thursday morning.

This morning (Thursday), I got up about 4 am and headed up to Sarakawa where Randy's plane was prept and ready to receive Mrs. Phillippe. Around 5 am, Jon showed up with Phillippe, his wife and their son. We loaded them into the plane and around 5:30 am (local time) they took off on their 90 minute flight for the missionary hospital.

Eventhough the babe is in good health, Mrs. Phillippe is in critical condition. This flight cut a drive of 6 plus hours down to a 90 minutes. However, she isn't out of the woods yet. Please pray that the doctors down south will have the wisdom to diagnose her and that God will grant healing to here body so that she might be returned unto her family again. She is a precious and godly woman and it would be wonderful to see her with her family and church once more.

Finding opportunities to get involved

2011-10-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

With the rainy season coming to a conclusion we are seeing more and more folks heading out and cutting the tall grass near their houses or farms then burning them off. At our church we too have some stuff that needed to be trimmed so we call for a work day this past Saturday. Adie and I arrived up at the church about 7 a.m. I arrived with my trusty shovel and the other workers, about 9 in total arrived with their little handmade farming hoes. Together for about 2 hours we knocked out a large chunk of the work. It's ironic that I could have brought my weed eater or perhaps my lawnmower and we could have finished all the work in about 2 hours but the church members, first off prefer their method and secondly it allows more of them to get involved and take ownership of the church. It was pretty great to see so many guys and a couple girls come out to use hoes to cut down weeds on the church property. It's tough work but they never complained, in fact, they joked around and even sang a bit. We concluded the morning with prayer and Adie broke out the rest of her banana-chocolate chip muffins which was a smashing hit among our church folks!

Then today (Sunday) around 3 pm we asked for volunteers to come back up to the church to help us move and sift sand for the stucco phase of our building project. The sand had been delivered last week and was sitting outside. However, it was riddled with stones, leaves and small roots. So, Adie and I were back up at the church, shovel in hand once more but this time I had a bucket to boot. We spent about an hour working with 24 of our church members. We had everyone from mothers in their 50's to little boys and girls near 6 or 7 years old helping. The older ones would take 5 gallon tin bowls and fill them up before taking them into the church where some of our young men would sift it all by hand. The little ones would have everything from a small pot to a coffee tin to carry their load of sand up and into the church to be sifted. Honestly, it was such a great thing to see!

The past two days have taught me so much about serving the Lord. It doesn't matter how old or how young you are. How big or how small you are. Or even how rich or poor you are. God wants to use you. When you see an opportunity to get involved in the work of the Lord then you should jump in completely!

September/October 2011 Update

2011-10-10T05:07:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly! Adie and I have been here in Togo since mid-August. She is attempting to adjust to such a foreign atmosphere. It has been a huge step of faith for her but God has been blessing every step of the way. Since we arrived, she has organized and decorated the house, started shopping around in Kara, begun her French studies and has helped me in the ministry. Please keep her in your prayers as she continues to acclimate to Togo.

This month we had some pretty exciting things take place at the Lassa Bas church. First off, the church building that Randy has been helping to build has been completed enough for us to move in. While it has not been completely finished the walls are up, the floor has been poured and the new tin roof is on. So, we had our first “unofficial” day in the building with an attendance of 83! God has also worked it out where I have I become their interim pastor. This is temporary and we are continuing to pray that God will raise up a national to take the work. If you would please pray with us that God would indeed provide a pastor swiftly for the Lassa Bas church.

Adie and I also had a couple teens come buy the house last week. One has been a faithful member of the church for five years now. He and his friend had walked 2.5 hours one way to get to our house. I went out to greet them and that is when Essowe, the faithful teen introduced me to Marc. He proceeded to tell me how he had led Marc to the Lord and that he wanted to share that with us. It was such an exciting moment for me to see how our teens are taking their faith to the next step, sharing it with others and bearing fruit. What an amazing blessing! Please pray for Marc this month as we begin to disciple him that his faith would grow. Please pray that our church members would continue to share their faith with the community.

In closing, we would like to say thank you for coupling with us. We truly love what we are doing. There is something about the peace of God that floods your soul when you are in the center of His will and we truly are. Thank you for having a part in the ministry here. We never take your love, prayers and generosity for granted.

Running a Sunday School bus route in Togo!

2011-10-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

In college, I ran a Sunday School Bus route. We would go out each Saturday to visit our regulars, look for new folks to invite and then come by on Sunday morning to pick them up for church. Sometimes, I fell like everything I do here in Togo as a missionary has its roots tied into those days back in Jacksonville. Take this morning for an example, Adie and I left the house around 7 a.m. for church. We had five guys meet us at our house wanting a ride to church. Our house is about a 2 hour walk from the church but only about a 15 minute ride. We gave them a ride and en route we stopped to pick up an elderly lady in her early 70's. Interestingly enough, she told us yesterday that she has no idea how old she actually is. There are no records of her birth. So it was at her house that we also ended up picking up some extra little ones since we had more space in the rear of the truck. Now, the truck itself only has 6 seat belts but "they say" you can supposedly put another 4 more in the rear--that would be 10 total. Well, we kind of pushed the limit and had 17! We had 7 up front and an additional 10 more in the rear. It wwas an interesting ride to church to say the least! So, it would seem that those three years spent running buses every weekend on the north side of Jacksonville wasn't in vain! I have ended up using everything I learned from there each and every weekend here!

God does reward faithfulness

2011-10-05T13:18:00.001-07:00

There is a young man teenager named Alo who started visiting the church back in late winter. I noticed him particularly because he is paraplegic and literally crawled into our church one Sunday morning. I approached him after the service and came to find out that he lived about 2 miles up the road and had crawled up a dirt road to get to the main drag where he took a motorcycle taxi to the church. He was then going to crawl home if need be. After hearing his story, I offered to give him a ride to the main street and give him taxi fare for the rest of the way. This was the cycle of things and he became a faithful visitor.

I left this past summer to come home for a couple months to get married and upon my return I was noticed the first week he wasn't at church but they he showed up the next week. So, I asked around. One of the young guys who lives near him told me that his parents threatened to cut him off (any food or fiancial aid) if he kept coming to the church. He thought about what his father said then decided to keep coming. I found the dedication quite moving; especially knowing that he's in highschool and has no way of providing for himself yet alone making the money he would need to get back into school.

Well, he continued to come faithful and I continued helping him like I was before I left to get married. One day, I started enquiring about his wheelchair and if he actually had one. It turns out that he did but he told me that really all he had was the frame. I decided to head over with one of the church members to talk with both Alo and his father about what the family would be willing to do to help with the repairs. It turns out that Alo was right. He literally only had the frame left. It turns out that everything else had been stolen from off his wheelchair. This was the reason he was needing to crawl everywhere he went unless he was able to scrounge up some money somewhere.

The meeting went well but it turns out that about $50 dollars would be needed to repair his wheelchair and buy the necessary parts and his family, being very poor could only come up with about $4 dollars worth. So, we chipped in and this past Sunday after a couple weeks of the wheelchair being in the shop getting fixed we were able to give him his new/old wheelchair back. He was so thrilled and was smiling from ear to ear when he took it for a spin.

I love the fact that when others discouraged him about attending church, being faithful to the Lord and studying the word of God that he decided it was more important to stand up to the opposition, do right and obey God. I feel that God blesses that and I am so thrilled that now Alo doesn't have the mobility problems he once had and is able to be a good testamony of God's grace to his family.

Our first unofficial day in the new building!

2011-10-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

On Friday of this week, Adie and I drove over to the church in the neighborhood of Lassa Bas where we are serving. Randy has been working on this church building project for a couple months now. Currently the building is in the roofing stage so when we arrived on that morning it was awesome to see that they had almost half the roof already installed. By that evening they had finished the entire roof and only had the cap pieces to install on Saturday morning.

Today (Sunday), was our first day in the new building. While we won't actually have a dedication service until the entire building is complete it was still nice to finally be able to move from out old building; a tin roof, thatched wall, dirt floor building into this one. So for our first official unofficial day in the new building God blessed us with a good day and 83 folks in attendance.

Rafters up at Lassa Bas!

2011-09-21T03:27:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Adie and I drove about three miles into town to run some errands. We stopped by the post office and mailed out a handful of cards before heading over to the church property. In the past couple weeks the work has really kicked into high gear. And thanks to Randy and his organizational skills, I think that we could be actually meeting in the building sometime by the end of the month or the first of next.

The rafters are completely welded and up. During our visit yesterday we saw that the finishing coat of paint was going on the steel. This is a rust prevention step before the tin is mounted. The local mason was there as well fortifying the steel struction are the walls. This step strengthens the roof as a whole against heavy winds which tend to blow in at the beginning and end of the rainy seasons.

All in all, the project is looking really great and we are excited to be moving in soon!

Sunday Morning at Lassa Bas

2011-09-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a great couple services at the church. Adie and I arrived around 7:30 a.m. for the morning Sunday school hour. Before we entered into the church building we took a moment and walked over to the new church building under construction to see the progress. The rafters are laying on the floor waiting to have the last coat of paint on them and the walls were all up. From there we headed back over to the current building and were greeted by our church folks. While Adie still can't say much in French or even Kabiye, a big smile and a warm hand shake seems to go really far.

During Sunday school we pulled out an ABEKA flashcard lesson and I taught on the Sower and the seed. Everyone from the children to the grandparents in the church were just drawn to the images. These are folks, most with out electricity yet alone something fancy like a t.v.--so something simple like flashcards can be very compelling and enthralling, as it was seemingly today. After Sunday school, the kids left and went outside for their version of children's church and I had all the adults in the main building where we learned more about Faith and what it offers us as believers.

All in all it was a great morning! Adie remarked to me on the ride home, even though I can't speak to them, I just love their faces and smiles. The kids seem so excited to sing about the Lord. I was thrilled to hear that she's started to connect on some level here with the Togolese. It's a great sign of things to come.

Welding up rafters at Lassa Bas

2011-09-08T13:58:00.001-07:00

While I was home getting married Randy had started the building project out at Lassa Bas. The past two weeks as I have gone to church there, I've looked over from our place of worship (tin roof, thatched walls, dirt floor and planned benches) and saw the foundation and walls of our new church building. The tin came in about two weeks ago and now it has been time to cut the steel and begin welding it up for the rafters.

Yesterday morning, I drove out to Lassa Bas at about 8 a.m. to meet Randy and some of his workers. When I arrived they had already laid out the steel and had most of it cut up. I pitched in and was able to help weld up two of the main rafters before cutting out for lunch. The next step is paint them up and return on a day that it isn't raining to finish welding up the rafters and cross supports. From there we'll have the tin attached. Prayerfully by the end of the month we'll be able to start meeting in the new church building.

It has been so awesome to see God move and work. I'm so thrilled to be able to help Randy on this church build. While I just arrived back in Togo and the building project is really finishing out, it's still nice to lend a hand here and there! And, I know the church folks are thrilled to see their new building being constructed!

Transitioning back into Lossa

2011-09-04T03:47:00.001-07:00

Things are moving along. Today, Adie and I drove over to Lossa Bas for our second service and this week I started preaching again. I've only been out of French for a couple months but I can tell I'm a bit rusty. It's coming back though and wasn't enough of a problem that I couldn't communicate this morning. We had such a great time. Adie still doesn't speak much French--hardly any so it's tough to sit through a Sunday School hour then a main service and not know what's being said. However she's' a trooper! She just absolutely loves the kids her which warms my heart to see. The church warmly welcomes her and seems very excited that we are back.

I had a meeting with a delegation of men from the church yesterday. They road their bikes about 3-4 miles to visit. We talked for just under an hour and laid a good road for our future work together. Sometime in the next couple weeks, I'll become their official pastor until God provides a national to take my place. We're excited and nervous. With any undertaking like this their is huge responsibilities that follow.

Adie is adjusting well too. The house is coming along and several American's have come by and remarked how the house no longer looks like a bachelor pad but now resembles a home. We still have several boxes to unpack and she's given me a laundry list of things to get done for her but it's so nice to have her here with me and in the work.

July/August/September 2011 Update

2011-08-29T07:15:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the past few months! God has blessed my life in such amazing ways! On July 1st, in Portland, OR I married my fiancé, Adie Banks. From there, we took time for our honeymoon before visiting with Adie's family near Portland, OR and eventually my own near Buffalo, NY. In mid August after a couple months back in the US, the two of us boarded a flight in Buffalo and flew for 24 hours with two layovers to reach Lome, Togo. Adie had been to Mexico twice before on short term missions trips but nothing could have really prepared her for life here. Thankfully she believes it is God's will for us to be here and that makes adjusting easier.

We were thrilled after having cleared customs, immigration and finding our baggage that we were greeted by many of our missionary friends who also live in Togo. Many of them had driven over 7 hours one way to make sure they could see us as we walked out of the airport. It was such a good feeling to see friendly faces that had given so much to be there at that particular moment--Adie's first moments in Togo.

We spent our firsts couple days in country near the capital city of Lome with JJ and Melissa Alderman before heading north to Kara. Our drive was 8.5 hours on a somewhat decent road--all but a stretch of 40 miles that was riddled with deep pot holes. Some parts were even simply hard packed dirt and this is the main "interstate" through the country! Despite the long trip we made it in without any serious issues. One of the greatest blessings for me and particularly for Adie has been the kindness of our friends nearby who have organized meals and helped us as we have been settling in. Please continue to pray for us as we adjust. Once Adie has her house set up the way she wants she will start her language studies in French. Please pray she will be able to learn the language quickly so she can begin communicating with people.

Our ministry duties will start this very week. I am heading back out to the church in Lossa Bas, which is a nearby village. Since our departure, Randy has started the much anticipated construction project to get the church out of their thatched wall, dirt floor, tin roof building and into a permanent cement structure. Prayerfully, this new building will be completed in the next few months. I will be there filling in as their full time pastor until God raises up a national pastor to take my place.

If you would please pray with us concerning several key things:

1. Pray for Adie's transition into Togo and the culture.

2. Pray for her language skills that they might improve quickly and that she will be able to communicate effectively.

3. Pray for our ministry in Lossa Bas that God will move, souls will be saved and that folks will grow in Christ.

4. Pray for our vehicle situation. Our current truck is 11 years old. I have owned it for 5 years and the engine has been rebuilt 3 times already and is giving us serious problems. It is time for a new vehicle. Pray with us that God would provide this vehicle so that His work can continue here.

Thank you so much for your prayers. We are extremely anxious, nervous, excited and thrilled about our future! We can not wait to see what God is going to do, how He will move and what He will be doing in our lives. We are open to His moving and are very happy to be in the center of His calling. We appreciate you; especially your prayers!

Arriving in Kara with Adie

2011-08-24T01:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday morning began rather early for us. We stirred out of bed about 4:15 a.m. and finished packing out the truck. We said our goodbyes to JJ and Melissa and pulled out of Aneho around 5:20 for Kara. We drove straight for nearly 6.5 hours before getting to a little town called Bilita. We fulled up, checked the fluids and used an African restroom. It was Adie's first shocking experience of the day. Needless to say, she didn't really talk to me for about 20 minutes after that. I don't think I really prepared her for it!

Anyways, from that point, and having already cleared about 40 miles of some absolutely terrible roads, we were only a couple hours on decent roads from Kara. So, around 2 p.m we pulled into our property that we rent and began unloading the vehicle.

Adie had never been to Togo before or Africa for that matter. The only thing she could compare it to would be her visits to Mexico on previous missions trips. So, this was still quite rustic for her to say the least! But she is a brave women, drive and strong. We spent a couple hours opening boxes, unpacking and settling in before heading over to the Huff's house for dinner and to spend the night. We'll spend a couple days at the house unpacking and settling while staying the night at the Huff's as we transition.

It's been interesting so far and quite the adventure. I'm excited about our future here!!!

We are back in Togo!!

2011-08-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we boarded a plane in Buffalo, NY only 36 hours after Adie arrived in WNY from Oregon. We flew to Chicago then to Brussels then to Togo and it took 24 hours counting the layovers. I think that Adie got about 5 hours of sleep and I logged about 4 during that time.

It wasn't a bad trip but it was a bit scary at times. We arrived in Brussels and needed to claim our baggage then recheck them. We had no idea where the bags would come in and after about 30 minutes of roaming the baggage claim area we found them. We then headed to about four different "booths" to ask about rechecking our stuff. When we finally did find the right place we discovered that the US doesn't mind how many pounds you cram into a carry on but apparently the folks in Europe do! So we spent about 25 minutes loading and unloading bags to shift wait and afterwards gave the friendly folks with Brussels' Airways another 100 Euros they checked us in.

It was a hectic, tiring and somewhat frustrating trip at times but was so nice to be back...well, for Adie to just arrive for the first time. When we finally cleared customs we headed out some glass doors of the airport and into the lobby area and discovered that 8 missionaries from four different families had come down to greet us and 7 of them had driven at least 7 hours one way. It was so nice to know that even in Africa we have friends that love us so. What an encouragement it was to me and Adie. Afterwards, we headed out for dinner before eventually going to JJ and Melissa Alderman's house for the weekend. We'll be here spending time with them, catching up on our sleep and visiting their church before heading the 7 hours north to Kara and settling into our home there.

It's been such a long trip but completely worth it and so much better not having done it alone!

Quick Update

2011-08-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's tough to beleive it but Adie and I have been married for 38 days already. Where does the time go? I'm sure we'll be saying the same thing to ourselves at our 10 year, 25 year and 50 year anniversaries as well!!

Tomorrow, I leave for Buffalo, NY to see my family for a week. The original intent was to have Adie fly out with me but her 83 year old maternal grandmother took a turn for the worse about a week ago when she fell out of her bed and broke some ribs as well as her neck. Since that point her health has been declining and just this past Friday they moved her over to a Hospice home where we expect her to not make it through the end of the week. Due to this, she's going to stay back with her family for an extra week before meeting me in Buffalo on the 16th and then fly out with me on the 18th for Togo.

I remember the flood of emotions that I had leaving for Togo the first time and knowing that it would be quite sometime before I would come home again. I can ony imagine the emotions that Adie must be going through now with those thoughts and now the thoughts of her grandmother and family. Thankfully her grandmother knows the Lord so to be absent from us is to be present with Him so that's a great relief in a testing time.

Despite all the business, we are starting to gear up and get excited. It'll only be another 10 days or so and we'll be heading to Togo to continue our second term; and my first time as a missionary with a wife! Exciting times lie ahead!

Marriage!!!

2011-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

WELL! It finally happened! Yep, God has answered my prayers and given me someone to love and to cherish the rest of my life! I've spent over 33 years and the last decade doing the work of the Lord as a single man. I've often thought to myself if this indeed was calling--to be a Paul. But then, 17 months ago while home on furlough after having been in Africa for over three years I met Adie Banks. God brought us together at the Christian school where she had been working and this past May after 5 years of serving as a 1st grade school teacher, she resigned, moved home and put the finishing touches on our wedding plans.

I NEVER thought July 1st would get here! I suppose that is exactly how everyone feels just before their wedding date but time seemed to be creeping by. Then before the big day as family and close friends were flying in from all over the country to Oregon things picked up. It was at this point that I was only here for the ride!

Adie and I chose her parents anniversary (7/1) to be married. So, while they were marking their 33rd year we were just starting the journey that God has set us out on. The wedding was simple, tasteful and beautiful (mostly due to my lovely bride!).

After the ceremony and after saying goodbye to family and friends we took off for our honeymoon. It was such a great trip. Adie told me often that she only wanted to show me her part of the country; what I often referred to as her "motherland." So we spent time in Portland, Seattle, Mt. Hood, Crater Lake and the Cannon Beach area near the coast. It was absolutely perfect! I was with the most beautiful women in one of the most beautiful places on earth! What more could a guy ask for?

From here we are slated to visit with Adie's family for a couple weeks before heading to Buffalo, NY to see my relatives. After which, we'll be heading in mid August directly to Togo to continue our second term (or rather her first, my second).

June's travels

2011-06-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

This month has been pretty hectic to say the least. I started out in Jacksonville, FL and left there for meetings in New Port Richey, FL, Savannah, GA and even drove clear out to Louisiana near Baton Rouge So, in a span of a couple weeks, I've been in five churches, three of which are current supporters and logged thousands of miles!

From Louisiana, I flew to Buffalo, NY to see my parents, sisters and their children for a couple days before I fly out to Portland, OR for the wedding which will take place on Friday July 1st. It's hard to explain how busy things have actually been over the past couple weeks. However, all these things have made this wedding seemingly get here so much quicker! Soon, I'll be getting on a flight that leaves Buffalo for Portland and that will give me about a week of prep time to help Adie and her family get some of the last details finalized for our wedding.

Newsletter Update April-June 2011

2011-05-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

The past few months have been hectic to say the least, but God's been so very good to me through it all! We had a tremendous Easter in Togo. Some church members and I had gone out the day before and were witnessing to folks and inviting them to church. As I approached one man, I asked him in French, "Do you know what tomorrow is?" He said, "Yes, it's Easter but what's the significance of that day?" What a loaded question he had just asked and didn't even know it! I spent the next thirty minutes or more just explaining to him who Christ is and what He did for him on the cross and through His death, burial and resurrection he could have a full and complete pardon from his sins. It was such an amazing opportunity.

On Easter we had some new visitors, and I finished up my five part ABEKA flashcard series on the Crucifixion of Christ in Sunday school. I thought at first that perhaps the adults in our combined Sunday school class might think that the Bible stories with flashcards might seemingly be a bit "childish" for them. However, I was so pleasantly surprised. They LOVED it! I had several give me feedback afterwards telling me that the visuals helped them to better understand and visualize the stories of Christ and the cross. Most of the Togolese don't even have electricity yet alone a television, so simple things that we take for granted such as flashcards are a really neat thing for them.

In early May, I flew back to the US to prepare for my upcoming wedding. After nearly 24 hours of traveling, I touched down in Norfolk, VA, and was met by my sister and my two little nephews. It wasn't even a full day later that I was standing in front of a wonderful church in Portsmouth, VA sharing with them what God's been doing in Togo over the past few years. It's been busy and perhaps chaotic at times, but it's been a blessing to be back for this brief respite to get married before going back.

If you would, please keep a couple things in prayer. The church that I was working in before coming home to get married is commonly called Lossa Bas, but its French name is Eglise Baptiste Biblique (Bible Baptist Church). This church is still without a pastor. It will be my task upon my return after the wedding to continue teaching and working with the folks, but it's our prayer that God will raise up a man to take the church. We firmly believe in national pastoral leadership in the works here in Togo. Second, if you would please continue to think and pray for Adie and me. Our big day is coming up on July 1st. We are very excited about this. However, there is much preparation that still needs to be done before hand, and I have several meetings as well before I fly out to Portland, OR for the ceremony.

We truly do covet your prayers! God's been doing so much in our lives that I wish we could share it all with you. Please remember there is a website and blog that you can always follow our stories on the mission field and updates on our happenings. Thank-you for your kindness and your graciousness. I am so very grateful for you.

God's encouragement through friends

2011-05-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes God uses some great people to really encourage you in your journey through life. This is exactly what has happened to me recently. Mr. Riffle, a friend of mine for years got a burden to help me with a need for Togo. The need was finding steel to fabricate a trailer for a Massey Ferguson 451 tractor that we brought to Togo in 2006 for ministry construction projects. We desperately need it in order to transport the tractor all over the country which is 400 miles long and 60 miles wide.

He contacted me back in February and asked me what steel we would need. I gave him a list of the main support beams (12" I-beams) as well as all the other minor supports and deck gurters. He came back to me and told me that the market price would be nearly 2,500 dollars plus shipping of nearly 500 more. So, I told him that I couldn't afford that at the time and he said, "Let me see what I can do." He began to pray and God began to open doors and work in peoples hearts. One day while traveling back into Jacksonville, FL. he got a flat, repaired it then hand another go low so he was forced to drive slowly down the road limping back home. En route, he saw a steel company and God began to work on his heart. He ended up returning and speaking to the president, which was very out of his character, but as he stated to me, when you know it's what God wants you to do, you do it. So, we walked into the office and graciously asked to speak to someone in charge. He was let into the presidents office and there laid a Bible on the man's desk. They began to talk and the president was so impressed by his vision that he told him whatever he had on Mr. Riffle's list he could take with him. In fact, he later even gave a very expensive box of welding rods to help fabricate up the trailer.

The blessing doesn't conclude there! We still needed four 18-20' I-beams which the Christian president of the steel company didn't have at his yard. So, a local Iron working union donated the nearly 1,000 dollars worth of steel. When all the steel was collected the final cost was only 400 dollars for the nearly 2,500 dollars worth of steel.

God has used Mr. Riffle to remind me how great He really is. He can accomplish anything and faith is all that he requires of us to see that come to pass!

Since then, the steel was packed into a container and this past week just arrived and was unloaded in Togo. After my wedding and our return, I look forward to starting to weld up the trailer that God has provided for us in West Africa!

The road home to marry!

2011-05-02T06:48:00.000-07:00

Well, Wednesday I headed down to Lome from Kara. The trip took nearly 9 hours. This was the last time I would be leaving Kara as a single man! I was so excited! I've spent the past four months preparing the house for Adie, unpacking our container and of course, jumping into the ministry.

Thursday and Friday, JJ, a fellow missionary and friend helped me run some errands before he and his wife dropped me off at the airport on Friday night. My flight left Lome at 6 p.m. and about 25 minutes later arrived in Accra, Ghana where we sat on the runway for 2 hours awaiting new passengers and fuel. From there we flew over night 6 hours to Brussels. After a 5 hour layover and a 10 dollar cup of coffee (Starbucks over seas is a killer!), I was finally in line at a security check point getting cleared to board my flight to JFK in NYC. Well, I'm not sure why, but I was selected for a full pat down! After that I was cleared to move along. The flight took us another 8 hours to get to the US. It's always so nice to get back to America! You understand what everyone is saying, things look familiar and the food is so much better! Anyways, after yet another 5 hour layover I was finally on my last leg to Norfolk, VA. I touched down well over a day later and was greeted by my youngest sister and my two little nephews.

I didn't have much time to relax. Sunday night, I had a meeting at a wonderful church in Portsmouth, VA. just up the road from my sisters house (Sweet Haven Baptist Church). God blessed and despite being very worn out and weary from all the traveling, jet lag and time zone differences, I was able to present the ministry in of Togo, the need and challenge the folks about the work of the Lord.

This weekend has been super busy, filled with much traveling but I'm so thrilled that we have a God who is utterly amazing! He protected me every step of the way and brought me home safely. Now, it's time to visit a couple more churches and prepare for mine and Adie's big day which is literally just around the corner!!

Easter Weekend in Kara--Lossa Bas

2011-04-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

This past Easter weekend we had a great time in Lossa Bas. It started on Saturday morning when I met up at the church with several young people. We took some time to pray before heading out with Bibles and tracts. En route, my group met up with several folks who had no idea what the true meaning of Easter Sunday was. Togo tends to be very religious but when it comes to the significance of Easter many tend to be in the dark to as what it's really all about. So, I was able to spend about 40 minutes with one couple just explaining that Christ came to be the ultimate Sacrifice for mankind. That he through his death provided a full pardon from sin for all those that would believe. Sadly the couple wasn't willing or ready to accept Christ but it was still a great opportunity to share our faith. We, of course, invited them to church and on Easter Sunday "Resurrection Sunday" we had a great gathering with some guests. We were able to finish up our series on "The Crucifixion of Christ" which has flashcards with it. The Togolese absolutely love flashcards. Many of them don't have electricity or televisions so they aren't so numb to visuals that these would seem archaic. Instead, they thrive on the visuals. So, it was awesome to show them the pictures of Christ death, burial and resurrection then explain the significance.

Ministry in Togo sometime is much more simplistic then in the US but we praise God for the great weekend that He gave us and how He was exhausted in all that we did.

Something that absolutely took me by surprise!

2011-04-15T10:01:00.001-07:00

I’ve lived in Togo since 2006 and there isn’t much that surprises me. You kind of get used to the way things are and you know what to expect. For instance, if you are driving down the road, you expect a bicyclist to swerve out into your lane to miss a pedestrian walking down the road. Sure it puts him in danger of being hit by you as you are going 50 mph and he’s going a mere 10 mph. But you learn to expect that and so you just give him a wider berth and keep on going. However, today something took me back. It was something that I had never seen before, even here in Togo. I had two high-schoolers come over the house today to do some odd jobs. They wanted some extra money and since there really aren't any jobs available, I gave them something to do. Yesterday the removed a stump, today they removed a palm tree including roots before I put them to work on a building outside that was filled with mice. After a couple hours of clean, I decided to check up on their progress. They showed me everything they had done and it looked great! Then they showed me something I wasn’t really expecting to see. Three big old mice! Nasty and huge they were! They were so proud of their kills!

Now for the part that blew me away; I went out about 30 minutes later to pay the guys for their work and I noticed they were grilling something over and open fire to eat…yep…it was the three mice. Crazy! After all these years there are still some things in the culture that take me by surprise!

Visitation out in Lossa Bas

2011-04-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up about 6:50 a.m. rolled out of bed, opened the door from my air conditioned bedroom and realized that the house temperature was 91 degrees! Ah, life in Togo! The humidity has been climbing steadily over the past few days and this morning by 9 a.m. it was already in the 90’s and about 45% humidity. Even that didn’t detour me and six others from showing up to the church for a time of prayer then visitation. Our goal is to canvas the entire neighborhood which is really only accessible by foot. So, with tracts and Bibles in hand, we headed out in two teams. My team headed towards the foot of the mountain, encountering men sitting under trees, kids hauling water and sand and adults finding relief from the heat in the shade. We walked down little dirt trails searching for anyone that would listen and thank the Lord we had the opportunity to talk to nearly 50 people in a span of 90 minutes! So, while the heat can be formidable here, it`s always a blessing to go out, no matter the weather and serve the Lord!!

Odds and ends

2011-03-30T02:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday after church a student walked up to me and asked about work. His family hasn’t the means to really take care of him and consequently lives with another. He told me that he needed a job while on spring break to make some quick cash. I told him that I really didn’t have any easy little jobs around the house but if he came over and was willing to work then I would find something for him to do. On Monday morning, he rode his bicycle four miles out to my house for the day. I gave him a machete and a hatchet and asked him to help trim a tree that had been lurching over a cement wall for some time now. He took about 90 minutes and made quick work of what would essentially be topping the tree.

Evangelistic Campaign at Jacques New Church

2011-03-24T02:13:00.000-07:00

After countless hours of visiting and witnessing out around Jacques church, Saturday night finally came! I pulled the truck up around 5:30 p.m. with the sun setting about 30 minutes later; I had a brief window to get all the things out and unpacked. I started pulling out the projector stand, then the projector followed by the generator and all the other necessities in order to show a film. In Togo, most homes still don’t have running water yet along electricity or a T.V. So, when someone sets up benches outside and shows a film people tend to be pretty interested.

Around 6:30 and after dark, we started the Jesus Film in the Kabiye language. The film is a great representation of the life of Jesus told by Luke in the Bible and it wasn’t in French (their second language) but rather in Kabiye, their mother tongue. About half way through the two hour film, we stopped and witnessed to the 100 plus folks who had gathered. We were able to give everyone a gospel tract as well as hand out nearly 75 John and Roman’s. After which we started the film again and concluded it.

The unique thing about showing a film is that on a given Sunday there might be 20-30 folks in attendance at this new church plant but on a film night we’re able to present the gospel to a wider audience and in this case over 100 folks, most who would never step foot in the church.

Togo is much steeped in tradition and religion. The people here are very religious, however with their religions have made salvation so convoluted. So, they have a very blurred view of who God really is and what the Christian life really consists of. One of the most confused aspects for folks here is the gospel. And nights like this past Friday, are opportunities for us to clearly and without reservations explain the gospel in a non confusing simplistic manner.

It was a great night. We are praying that God will continue to work. Paul said, I’ve planted, Apollos has watered but God gave the increase. The truth is, we are here to plant and water the Word of God into people’s lives. It’s the act of God which will ultimately save souls. Please be in prayer with us that many will come to the Lord and yet even more will be strengthened through the work here.

Helping out the children

2011-03-19T07:31:00.001-07:00

The church out in the village of Pagoda hasn’t had a permanent meeting place for the kids since its inception. For years, the church had met under a tin roofed with thatched walls until God provided a means to build them a church building two years ago. Since that point the children have been meeting under a tree near the church. However, this February Randy was able to have a new children’s cover way built for the kids to meet under; finally moving them onto the church property once more. They were so excited that the first Sunday 56 kids meet up under it for Mrs. Alderman’s missionary bible story. They were so full of energy and so thrilled to have their “own” building to finally meet in. The only issue was that the building didn’t have any walls, just poles. Consequently, nothing hindered the wind from whipping through. Taxis would frequently drive by causing dust to drift over into the building during church hours and then there were the occasional distractions of goats, chickens and just about anything and everything else. With no walls, it was very easy for 2-12 year olds to get distracted by things going on around them. The solution was to have some walls put up and that’s exactly what we did this past week. So now, no matter rain or shine, dust storm or the occasional animal passing by, the building will be nearly free of outward distractions!

You know, sometimes it’s just the little things that mean the most here. In the States, we get so used to driving to church, walking into an air conditioned or heated building with electricity and sitting down in some nice seats and listening to God’s word. However, here they get so excited not with a.c., heating or nice seats but rather a tin roof over their heads and a building with walls. God’s been good to us here in Togo and we are thrilled at the progress that is being made. These kids are the future of the church and in 10-15 years could be the leaders; possibly out lasting any missionary in the area. What an investment and what an opportunity we have!

Vaccination Day at Lossa Bas

2011-03-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

From time to time, people will ask me what they can do to directly impact Togo. Well after brainstorming I came up with an idea of how the Southland Christian Academy in Denham Springs, LA. could get involved. They had saved up money from things like bake sales to help out with the ministry here in Togo. With those funds that they were able to raise we went out and purchase 76 doses of the Meningitis vaccine.

So, this past Saturday morning after a couple weeks of preparation, mostly on Mrs. Alderman end, we headed to the Lossa Bas church to give out free Meningitis vaccinations. Early this week, she stood in line all day at the health department to secure these vaccinations for distribution at our little village church and its neighborhood. And despite the cost of each vaccine costing only about 2 dollars, most of those receiving it couldn’t afford to purchase it if they had to.

I stopped and picked her up at her house around 8:30 a.m. and arrived at the church about 10 minutes later where there was already a good size crowd gathered. We set up the table and got all the supplies out. We explained to all those that had gathered what we were doing, who Mrs. Alderman was (an RN) and that the vaccinations were credible and from the Health department in town. Furthermore, we explained to them that we were from this local church and we wanted to help the neighborhood. And that we hoped this would be a blessing. Shortly afterwards Mrs. Alderman began giving out the vaccinations. She had spent over two hours the day before drawing up all 76 doses and yet it only took about 75 minutes to give them all out. She was assisted by Lisa, a fellow missionary and RN.

We had decided from the start that we wanted this to be an opportunity to not only be a blessing to our church family and to the neighborhood but we wanted it to be evangelistic in nature as well. So bearing that in mind, we walked around passing out copies of John and Roman’s as well as gospel tracts. In addition to that, we had several young men standing at the back taking folks out of the building and sitting down to witness to them on a one on one basis.

All in all it was a terrific morning! We had so many first time visitors to the church property and I truly believe that God was glorified. My prayer is that this act won’t only help the folks physically but that eventually many people will come to the Lord as a direct result of our efforts.

Starting to visit in Mr. Batcho's Village

2011-03-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

This morning had been very productive; especially for a Saturday. I met up with my French professor, Mr. Batcho around 11 a.m. and we headed out to his village where he was raised and still has family. He came to me about a week ago and explained that his village desperately needed a church so about four years ago he and another national pastor started one in the village. At the time they had the support of the Chief and he even donated land to them. However, over the past couple years the work has slowed and the Chief has since turned against the church and even encouraged his family members to quite coming. This village is very much saturated with Fetish or what we in America commonly call Voodoo. It was everywhere from bones above the door to sacrifices laying at the base of alters for their gods. It is these influences which have turned the leadership of the village against the church. The truth is that wherever God's light is shinning Satan is attacking!

Mr. Batcho had asked me what I might be able to do to help out in this situation. I explained to him that I'm preaching Sundays in the village of Pagoda about 45 minutes from my house and then one Wednesdays I'm helping Jacques in his church plant. So, I said I wouldn't be able to do much outside of prayer, evangelism and helping with Bibles and Tracts. He explained to me that that would be a great place to start.

So, we pulled up into the village about 11:30 and immediately started visiting compounds (groupings of Mud huts). We took with us handfuls of John and Romans along with four types of gospel tracts. Over the course of two hours we passed out all the John and Romans (in French) and were able to distribute many more tracts. It was a blessing to be able to come out and witness. At one point, we walked up towards a compound and saw a large group sitting under a shade tree. This is very common this time of year due to the heat (95 plus in the shade). We greeted them and then began to explain to them Christ and His sacrifice for us. In all there were about 14 adults and a couple children. I was able to give a simple but clear salvation plan to them all. While we didn't see anyone come to the Lord it is a comfort to know that God's word doesn't return void!

This term I'm seeing more and more that there are so many needs and I'm just so imcapable of meeting them. The job here is so large, the obstacles are so big. We truly need more laborers in this harvest field!

Newsletter Update: February/March 2011

2011-03-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Two months ago when I first got back to Togo, I wondered how difficult it would be to jump into the French language again after my furlough. Well, I discovered that speaking French was like riding a bicycle, as you start to use it again, it all comes back! Now…it took a while but it is coming back.

The ministry is going well and God is really beginning to open some doors. I am currently working about an hour out from my house in the village of Pagoda preaching weekly in lieu of Randy. It has been a wonderful experience teaching in the Book of James and on the topic of Baptist Distinctives. In addition to that, I have started to visit with Jacques, a young preacher who recently started a church. I have been going on visitation with him as well as working with his church on Wednesday nights. If you would please pray for him and the work there in Cincintaa (Chin-chin-taw) that God will reward our faithfulness, that folks will be saved and that the church will grow for His glory!

In a couple weeks after Randy’s return, I will be leaving the pulpit at Pagoda for the one in Lassa Bas, where I was before I left for furlough. Up till now, the church does not have a pastor and lacks stable leadership. Pray with me that God would give us wisdom as I go back and that we will see God give us a man that we can train to take the work. Also, pray with us as the long delayed building project should be starting up here rather soon. The church has been patiently awaiting this new building for years. It will be a huge blessing when we finally complete this project!

On a personal note, the wedding plans are coming along nicely. I will be back in the US this summer for a couple months to get married on July 1st in Portland, Oregon! After we are wed, Adie and I will honeymoon and visit family before heading back to Togo in August to serve the Lord. Please pray for Adie and all the planning that will take place over the next four months.

MAJOR PRAISES:
1. The container arrived with nothing missing or broken
and God took care of it all!
2. The Bibles and tracts are starting to be widely used
and circulated!
3. My French has returned and I am starting to pick up
more Kabiye!
4. God is beginning to open up new ministry
opportunities!

Finally, I want to thank you for your faithfulness, generosity and most of all for your prayers. I am so very thankful to be here in Togo serving the Lord and I know without your help this would not be possible. I am honored, blessed and humbled by your kindness.

Wednesday afternoon service at Jacques

2011-02-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today, I went out to see a man named Jacques. He is a recent church planter who is struggling to get the work off the ground. I arrived at four o’clock this afternoon in the village and walked out to a little compound where he and some others had gathered. I sat down quietly as he had already begun explaining the plan of salvation to some of the folks that were sitting close by. While there, I looked around and I noticed that all the houses surrounding me were made of mud blocks. (It can be so humbling at times to just soak in the environment of Africa and realize how much God really has blessed us.) The building just next to me had lost much of its wall and they simply replaced it with some old tin which was riddled with holes from rust and past rains. I was able to pick out a few words here and there as Jacques continued to witness to the ladies in the compound. However, what I kept hearing over and over again, were the words for “White man” from the cute little children who were just very surprised to see a “real-live” white man visiting their very own home. After about twenty more minutes of Jacques presenting the gospel in Kabiye and a brief prayer, some tracts were left along with New Testaments and we all slowly made our way over to the church.

His church is fairly new and he has been really struggling. So, it was a blessing for me to be there today and just attempt to encourage him in the work. He’s asked me to join with him as he endeavors to build the church. I told him that I would be happy to help and do visitation with him.

After making our way up from the compound, I walked in to the modest church building consisting of a dirt floor, tin roof, thatched walks and hand planned benches. I looked around and was warmly greeted by about three or four women, ten to fifteen children and a couple teens. I sat back and just enjoyed the worship service. After a great message by Jacques out of John 3:3 stating that without being born-again you cannot see the kingdom of God [Jésus lui répondit: En vérité, en vérité je te dis que si un homme ne naît de nouveau, il ne peut voir le royaume de Dieu.] we prayed and left the church.

From there, I had an opportunity to talk more with him one on one and encourage/challenge him a bit. Starting a work is never easy despite where you are. Here it can be extremely difficult. The unemployment is nearly 60% and most struggle to simply put food on the table for their families. Jacques is no exception to the rule. Before dropping him and his four children off at their two bedroom house, he invited me to come back on Monday to a University student bible study. It’s amazing that if you have an open heart the doors that God will open for you.

Please pray for Jacques and this little village church if you would. I’m excited about the future and what God can and will do in this area of Kara, Togo!

Events not hours

2011-02-14T02:07:00.000-08:00

Africa can be so different from America! Now, I have several friends in the Military. They often tell me: “There is the right way, the wrong way and then the Army way.” Well, I think here there is also the “African” way. It doesn’t always make sense and inevitable will be much much longer!

Togo is very much a social system. People love and need to socialize. Networking is very important. Greeting, hospitality and making someone feel welcome is paramount. The concept of time is often just a relative thing here. People tend not to be “time oriented” but rather “event oriented.” This means that when you go somewhere, like a funeral, you expect the services to be well organized, follow a specific program. This is how we imagine things. We can only closely attempt to compare it to what we know from America. But this isn’t America. Here, some of these people have walked for hours in to this funeral so this is the event for the day! Now our mindset is: okay 2 hours max. and we’ll be out of here. Nope, not around here! I was at one a couple weeks ago…for 8 hours! Yep, that’s right! 8 full hours. The service itself was only about 3 ½ -4 with all the delays and such but then afterwards we were unexpectedly invited over to an Cabinet ministers home for lunch. So, what we would have typically ssumed would be a quick 2 hour funeral turned into “an all day event.”

Funerals aren’t the exception to the rules. Yesterday, Randy and I were at Lossa Bas. I am constantly amazed at how much progress is being made there. We have a great core of adults (25 or so) who are solid and really growing in the Lord.

Randy took the Sunday School hour then handed me the morning service. It was a great morning all around and God’s really blessing there. After the service, the announcement was made that we were going to have an annual business meeting. Well, during my first term (3 years), I somehow never was in a business meeting. I’m not really sure why. This church is young so this might only be the second or so they’ve ever had. Anyway, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. So, I just assumed (parenthetically, that’s a terrible thing to do here in Togo!) the meeting would be an hour and then we would be on our way. Nope, I was wrong once again. This is Africa and this meeting was the “event” for the afternoon/evening. So, 3 hours and 15 minutes later, with the sun having already set and it getting dark out, Randy and I pulled away from the annual business meeting (for which I’m so thankful isn’t bi-annual or monthly!).

In general, the meeting went very well. It’s just tough sometimes to predict the unexpected here which makes life quite interesting to say the least! Even so, this is Africa and these things happen and despite all these differences; some of which are quite radical, I love being here and serving the Lord here!

Trusting in God in moments of uncertainty

2011-02-07T04:20:00.003-08:00

Well, this week was a chance to see God work once again. Sometime things happen in life and you really can’t explain them. You can go one of either two ways. You can either decide to get upset, bitter and worry or you can decide to place it in God’s hands, knowing that He foresaw this happening and has a way out for you. I decided to take the later and I’ve seen God work in some pretty amazing ways!

This week, I left Jesse’s house heading back to mine and when I was about ½ mile from the house my truck stalled while going about 40 miles an hour. I attempted to start it while moving but it won’t so it being a stick shift, I popped the clutch, turned over the engine and kept climbing the hill. As I got closer to the house, I was losing more power and needed to down shift. I eventually stalled next to the front gate and had to push the truck into the property. By this point there was smoke coming from the engine and the water was boiling over. Now, this was the same engine I just had rebuilt this past summer and as I would soon find out, I had just spun a barring. So, it was now the engine that I would soon be rebuilding, once again. However, this was the point that I had to decide which direction I was going to go. Well, after I had made the decision to really put it in the Lord’s hands that is when God opened up two doors and showed me that He had already provided the funds to repair the vehicle. That morning, I had woken up and I didn’t have the funds to repair the vehicle but by the time the engine went out, I did. Through a series of events, God made sure I was taken care of.

Trusting in God isn’t always easy. In many respects, I imagine it’s like a blind person having to trust someone else to lead them from one place to another. However, without that trust, we’ll never get through life. And this week was a reminder of how much I need God and how much the Lord is looking after me.

Revisiting Pagoda

2011-02-02T12:47:00.000-08:00

Twenty months ago might have been the last time I was out in Pagoda at the church. At that point, the walls were under construction for the new church building. We had poured the footers, laid the foundation, smoothed over the floor and built the walls. That was the last bit of progress I had seen on the church before I left for furlough. Since that point, Randy has taken over the work once again. He has finished the building project which he had been sponsoring and is now preaching at the church nearly weekly. This past week, he approached me and asked if I would come out on Sunday and preach the morning service. It was my first French sermon since I returned to Togo and I realized just how rusty I had become while gone. I knew what to say, I just couldn’t always find the right words to express those thought. However, God gave me grace and the sermon went well. And I think that the Lord was able to use the message from Joshua 24 on “choosing this day to serve the Lord and then not forsaking Him.”

Pagoda is about an hour drive from Kara. The roads are getting worse and it’s harder to get out to the work then it once was. However, it was really good to be back and to see the progress that had been made on the church property! The roof was on, the door was hung and the tin had been bolted down but more significantly, there was some growth at the church. All in all it was a very good Sunday!

Giving away Bibles and Tracts for the ministry

2011-01-31T01:51:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning, an older African man came to my house. He was looking for work but I really didn’t have any to give him. He had ridden his bicycle over 3.5 miles one way and uphill just to ask me for work. I felt terrible but if you don’t have it then you just don’t have it. Before he left, I started to talk with him. I know that he is passionate about souls and about the people who live in his neighborhood. So, we walked into the Tract and Bible room. This is the room where we are storing the 17 boxes of New Testaments, 25 boxes of John and Romans, 24 boxes of complete French Bibles (all donated by a wonderful church in Shinglehouse, PA. and through Bearing Precious Seeds Ministry in OH.). We also have 29 more boxes of various tracts in French and the first ever Kabiye language gospel tract (all provided thanks to the folks at Fellowship Tract League in OH.).

So, upon walking into the room, Mr. Owi and I began to look through the supplies and I offered him whatever he might be interested in taking. He ended up taking what he could strap to his bicycle and left for his neighborhood. The next morning on our hour drive out to the church in Pagoda, as we were talking, he light up with a smile and began to tell me how he had left straightway from my house and went directly home to began witnessing to his neighbors. He was so excited about how the Lord had worked in his life. It was such an encouragement to me, to see how that the spirit of reaching the world and spreading the gospel is being caught by the Christians here in Togo. It’s really an exciting thing to see the Togolese reach out and evangelize their own!

The container finally arrives!!!

2011-01-18T11:44:00.001-08:00

A little over a month ago, we closed up the container in Portsmouth, VA. and shipped it out to Togo. The passage was quick and in about three weeks it made it to the port in Lome. However, there were some paper work issues and the container was tied up in red tape till late yesterday. And after having been in the country sitting at the port for almost two weeks, it finally arrived today!! What a huge answer to prayer it has been. It’s times like this that your faith gets tested and you see God for how big He really is! Our container has made it perfectly safe and I haven’t found a single thing broken.

The truck pulled up to my house around 7 a.m. and in about 70 minutes with the help of about 12-15 men, we were able to get everything out, the Bibles and tracts into their storage room, my stuff into the house and the rest of the stuff organized. The loading end took about 8 hours however the unloading is the easiest part!

Now, it’ll take a week or more to sort through the stuff that Adie and I have shipped, some of which won’t even be opened until she gets here to decide where things will go. So, with this big answer to prayer behind us, it’s now time to start focusing more on the ministry! Thanks to everyone who has had a part in this container and a special thanks to all those who have prayed for it. God is good!!

Sunday Morning at Lassa Bas

2011-01-17T00:25:00.001-08:00

An invitation can truly be a powerful thing! This week, I passed by two men in my neighborhood that in the past had con to church with me. However, these were the first times I’ve seen them since I left for furlough. So, I invited each one of them to come with me to church this past Sunday if they were free. One said that he was going to be out of town visiting family and the other said that he had nothing going on so he might be interested. Well, Sunday morning came. I had gotten prepared for the church and walked out the door. I started up the truck and was backing out of the property and the front gate and there were not only both the men but also a couple visitors that they had decided to bring with them! So, you never know what might come of a visitation to church!

We arrived just as the service was supposed to start and I was informed that Mrs. Lisagay wasn’t here yet and I was asked if I could go a mile up the road and pick her up. She is elderly and struggles to walk to church. It took her maybe 5-10 minutes to walk 30 feet to my car once I arrived so to walk that mile, well it’s really out of the question. So, I picked her up and 8 other children and drove them in my SUV. After a wonderful Sunday service, I needed to take them back before me and my guest could head back to my neighborhood. I opened the doors to my vehicle and apparently more kids had walked from near Lisagay’s house then I had brought. We ended up having 20 children along with me and Mrs. Lisagay all packed into my standard size SUV! I was smiling all the way back to her house. It’s such a great thing to use the material things the Lord has given you (in this case a car) to do His service!

So, Sunday was a great day!!

Container update and first Sunday back at Lossa Bas

2011-01-12T02:13:00.001-08:00

Well, over the span of the last couple days, God has been seriously answering some prayers. The major hurdle that we had was that our import papers were miss labeled. This took nearly a week to resolves. It was a bit complicated with three offices involved; two in the US and one here and they were speaking in both French and English. Even so, God blessed and the paper work was completed!! Now, it’s time for the process to move to the next step which is to take the container through customs. This is the stage that we find out where it’ll need to be opened first and what the overall cost of import due to tariffs and taxes will be. My prayers are that it’ll be able to come north to Kara, where I live before we have to open it. Also, that it’ll be a reasonably priced and not outrageously taxed. Please be in prayer with me over this concern!

This past Sunday was my first Sunday back to Lossa Bas. It was so great to be back and to see so many familiar faces. It was a great opportunity for me to get up to par with how the Church is doing physically and spiritually. We had been having some land issues since I left for furlough and it now seems as though those are coming to a close. We’ll need to buy a bit more land and they prayerfully, we’ll be ready to start construction. Please be in prayer that God will provide the necessary funds to build this building for our church!

A sign of the times: Here in Togo we undergo a season called “Harmaton.” It’s when the Sahara desert to the North kicks up major sand storms. Because of this dirt is blown up into the atmosphere as high as 20,000 feet. It then drifts down south towards us and slowly descends coating everything in its path. Sometimes the harmaton is fairly lite and you can’t really even notice it. Then other times, like the last three days, it takes on this eerie feeling and it’s so heavy that it blocks out the sun and almost removes all shadows. These heavy periods typically only last days then it’ll dissipate before the next one rolls in. This “harmaton” season only lasts a couple months then it’s over and the real heat of West Africa replaces it!

My first day back in Kara...

2011-01-04T05:44:00.000-08:00

Last night I crawled into bed and I was hot. I woke up and this morning I was cold! These feel like the dog days of Togo! However, the cool is only about 60 plus. Even so, it's pretty cold for Togo. It's a stark change from where I left, Portsmouth, VA. which just a few days ago still had snow on the ground!

So, after getting my first night of great sleep since I began my journey here to Togo, I got up, eat breakfast with the Huff's and slipped out to start things going. A Togolese man that works with Jon has been my assistant most of the day and what a blessing he has been. We've got my cell phone situated, which for us American's is a formality but here it can be quite the process! Then we headed to my house. It looks great and it feels great to be home! I think one of the biggest miracles in the past month has been the advent of use being able to get unlimited internet at my house with a speed capable of making Skype calls. This wasn't possible a few years ago and it didn't seem possible in November. But God opened the door and when I arrived the modem was sitting right there on the table ready to be used.

After dropping me off at home, Aquete, the Togolese man, has taken my truck into town to have the clutch changed out. Jon Huff and I thought we might not make it home but God blessed and despite the clutch giving out--scary moments in the mountains--we made it without any serious issues!

So, while the truck is being worked on, I'm here just doing some routine stuff like washing laundry, cleaning up the water filtration system, turning on the frig, hooking up the propane to the stove, turning on the hot water heater and getting out supplies for everyday things. It's honestly great to be back here in Togo! In my entire furlough, I only put my clothes in a dresser for two weeks. The rest of the time I lived out of my suitcase, so being back is so nice. It's back to a routine and back to the ministry! I'm so thrilled to see how God is going to work over the course of the next few years.

If you would, I have a special prayer request. Please pray for our container. Adie and I sent a container from the US to Togo in December. It seems that all the paper work isn't correct due to a fault of mine. Please pray that we'll be able to correct them and resolve it in time so that we don't have issues with the container at the port or with customs. This is a huge burden for us and we would so covet your prayers!

Traveling from Atlanta to Ghana to Togo

2011-01-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

It has been 3 days and I think I might have honestly logged a good 8-9 hours of sleep in all! However, God has been blessing in so many ways! One thing that truly confirms your faith, is when you pray and God evidently answers your prayers. Well, this trip to Togo has been that on so many levels. Despite the forces that might attach, God has a perfect plan and each time something would happen, I would pause and God would answer the prayer and I would see my faith strengthened just a bit more!

I reported to the airport on New Years Day. I swiped my ticket through the electronic kiosk and it said "See and agent." So, I got in line and when I checked in with and agent she began to question me on my shot record of all things. I thought she might pull me from the flight. I started praying silently and waiting. Parenthetically, it's always great to pray when you know you are asking for something that God wants for your life--in the case, I know that I'm supposed to be in Togo, so praying for His help was all the more easier! Anyway, after a couple minutes, she issued me my tickets and you know, I never had a problem with that record the rest of the journey!

I arrived at the boarder of Togo last night. It took some work but I arrived. I thought I had a taxi ride all arranged but when I got off the flight, the driver wasn't there and when I called him he said he couldn't come for an hour. After waiting over an hour, he never showed so I took a ride into town. I found myself, sitting on a curb in the middle of Accra (who knows where) with all my baggage and folks from Ghana asking if I'm British or German. After an hour of silent prayer, a taxi drive came along. We negotiated a fair fee and he took me to the boarder in 2.5 hours, a mere hour shorter then it should have taken!

After a night in a Lome hotel, Jon Huff, a fellow missionary and I traveled the 7 hour drive up to Kara today and made it in safely!

Prayer is such a valuable thing. It's our ability to speak directly to God, to stand or better yet kneel before his thrown and ask Him for help, grace and mercy. And over the past days, despite traveling over 6,000 miles and getting only a handful of hours worth of sleep, I am seeing God work in my life like never before!

Crazy flight troubles!

2010-12-29T09:27:00.000-08:00

This Christmas, I had the privilege of flying out to Adie's folks' house for Christmas. We really had such a great time and even had a bit of snow early on. However, saying goodbye was tough! I looked at her and told her that I didn't know how Navy Sailors could do this time and time again! What respect I have for those men!

Well, on Sunday morning I was to leave Portland for Norfolk. However, after several attempts to check in online, I found out that my flight had been scrubbed and Delta had rescheduled me for Tuesday. Only one problem with their plans, it conflicted with my flight to Africa. After spending that morning in the airport talking with a rep. for Delta, I was able to get a red eye flight into Norfolk on Monday night which put me in Norfolk 2 hours before my flight left for Africa.

My flight pulled in at 11:30 am on Tuesday and I connected quickly with my sister, brother in law and their two boys. They helped me switch out some clothes and gave me a few other things for my trip. I had my ticket in hand and after a 20 minute lunch in the airport, I hugged them all and turned for the security check point. After making it through, I walked up to my gate moments later to find that my flight had been canceled to JFK only 45 minutes from the time it was due to take off! In fact, my flight wasn't the only one. All flights going to JFK were scrubbed. So, I turned around and walked through security and headed back down to the help desk. After 3 times in line, 3.5 hours spent waiting and 6 hours after arriving in Norfolk, I finally was issued new tickets by Delta for West Africa. The only hiccup was that they wouldn't be able to now fly me out till the first of January. The positive side was I would have a couple days with my sister and her family and the flight to West Africa would be direct out of Atlanta, which my previous flight wasn't.

You know, sometimes we don't understand why things happen the way they do. I have tried so hard to make my connects in Portland, in Atlanta and in Norfolk but each time it seems as if God closes the doors. It can be so perplexing even so the thing that brings me the most comfort is knowing that God has everything in control and is looking after me. I'm so thankful for the security and that constant that He brings to my life. So, on 1/1/11, I'll be returning to Togo!!

Packing the container!

2010-12-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday the container arrived at 7:30 in the morning. Shortly after that, I opened it up, pulled up the garage doors and began to pack the 20 foot container in 28 degree weather. Six hours later and after some help from my sister, we had managed to pack half the container from wall to wall and ceiling to floor. With yesterday out of the way, and a weary body to show for it, we pushed forward into today. What a blessing it was that at 9 a.m. we had seven men show up, five of which are from Diamond Springs Baptist Church here in Va. Beach and two others are close personal friends of one of the missionaries in Togo. With the aid of these men, we were able to pack the rest of the container in just about two hours. We managed to load all 120 boxes of Bibles, two pallets of well digging equipment, 250,000 tracts and various others supplies and personal items. We shut the doors around 11:20 a.m only to see the rains come a few hours later.

What a blessing it has been. Yes, it's been a ton of work too! But I am so very thankful for all the hands that God brings my way to help out in the effort of spreading the gospel in Togo, West Africa!!

Bibles and Tracts finally arrive in Virginia!!!

2010-12-03T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well, last week while here in Portsmouth, VA. I thought it had been pretty nice outside. I think the temperature had even gotten has high as 70 degrees or so. What a difference a week makes! I have boxes of liquids sitting in a garage which isn't insulated and each night the temperatures have been plunging closer and closer towards 32 degrees!

With the passing of a recent cold front the temps here have been very mild; some would say chilly! It has been in the mid 50's with brisk winds. Despite all this, I was still outside today braving the elements where I unloaded 4,100 lbs. of Bibles or 120 boxes from Bearing Precious Seed and 1,000 lbs. of tracts from the Fellowship Tract League. Thank the Lord we had a hand truck to help with the moving of the boxes from the street to the garage! With two different trucks coming with their loads of three pallets, my sister and I were able to organize them into her garage; which is looking more and more like a solid wall of cardboard!

One week from tomorrow (Saturday) we'll be spending most of the morning and possible the mid-afternoon transferring all these boxes of Bibles, Tracts, and other items from my sister's little dual car garage into a 20 ft. shipping cargo container bound for good ole Togo!

Organizing for the container!

2010-11-29T07:52:00.000-08:00

Well, Thanksgiving is over and for most people this season is now all about Christmas. However, in my house it’s a bit different. It’s all about shipping a sea cargo container. We’ll be shipping a 20’ container out of Portsmouth, VA. on December 10th. So, for now, our lives are eating and breathing all things container! And with less than two weeks left to get all our supplies it’s been crazy to say the least!

We have been purchasing up all sorts of supplies for the next several years as well as getting Bibles, tracts, and Bible institute supplies. It has been hectic but the work is so worth it! As for now, my poor sister’s garage looks more like a huge storage shed rather than a dual car garage!

October/November Update 2010

2010-11-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

As I sit down to pen this letter I am completely overwhelmed at the goodness of God! I suppose the argument could be that God is good no matter our plight in life but I have been so blessed and these past couple months have been no exception to God’s grace in my life!

Here are just a couple of the amazing things that God has done thus far this year:

-He has provided me with a wonderful fiancé!

-He has given the ministry nearly 20,000 French Bibles for Togo.

-He has given us 300,000 tracts (one even being produced in the language of Kabiye!)

-He has granted me safety as I have traveled to over 45 meetings this year.

-Finally, He has been gradually increasing our support.

Obviously, the list could go on! But these are a few of the highlights that I want to mention. God has been so faithful to me and I am constantly reminded at how gracious and loving He truly is!

If you would, please pray with me about a couple of things:

-First, please pray for the logistics, financial cost and safety of shipping our container which will be packed and shipped from Virginia on the second weekend of December.

-Second, please continue to pray for our support level that God will bless and give us what is needed.

-Third, pray for my travels. I still have a couple more meetings before the holidays and then on December 28^th I will be flying back to Togo. The flight will take over 24 hours and then there is still 12 hours of driving to do from the airport to my home in Kara, Togo.

-Fourth, pray for Adie and all our wedding preparations.

-Finally, continue to pray for the church in Lassa Bas where I was working before I came back on furlough. They are still without a pastor and are in desperate need of a permanent preacher. Also, pray that their land dispute with the city will be resolved swiftly so that we can start the church construction project which has been delayed for nearly a year.

In closing, I want to thank you for your faithfulness and prayers! I am truly honored and grateful! Thank you for caring for me and for the work in Togo!

Wow, what has God done?!!!!

2010-10-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well, September has simply flown by! Seriously, I just have no idea where the month went. I had some really great meetings and got to visit with two familiar churches and one new Church in AL. As last month winded down and this month has started to pick up, I find myself in yet another meeting--this time in Louisiana. The next three weeks will take my from here to near Houston, TX. then up to N.C. and finally down near Tampa for the 31st. Lots of traveling but at the same time there will be lots of great churches i.e. folks to be able to visit.

Ten weeks, yep, only ten weeks more to go and I'll be boarding a plane and flying from Norfolk, VA. to Togo, West Africa. It is so hard to believe that this past year has passed by so quickly but I'm so encouraged by what the Lord has done during this time. Over the past several months, I've seen the Lord increase our support level which is a major factor considering our marriage next summer and all the increased costs of living incurred in that. Then, the Lord has also worked it out where I'll be shipping Bible and tracts back to Togo. In fact, we had a chance just recently to couple with Fellowship Tract League out of Ohio to print up some Children Gospel Tracts in the Kabiye Language so prayerfully we'll be taking 50-100,000 of those back with us. Also, the container, which will leave the US in about 8 weeks will have Bible Institute supplies for the work in Togo headed up by Missionary Jon Huff.

So, I'm really encouraged by the idea of what has been accomplished and what will be accomplished over the next term. So for now, I'll have about 6 more weeks of meetings then there is Thanksgiving, followed by the packing of our 20 foot container for Togo and then Christmas. After that, I'm off again to Togo!!

August September 2010 Update

2010-09-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Much has happened in the past couple months that I want to share with you! I have been dating a godly Christian school teacher since the beginning of the year. Things have been getting serious so this summer I flew out to meet her parents in Portland, Oregon. While there, I asked for her father’s blessing to marry her and on September 1^st I asked Adie Banks to be my wife! I am thrilled to announce that we are engaged and will be wed July 1, 2011 at Greater Portland Baptist Church in Portland, Oregon.

This is the plan for the next year or so: I will continue with meetings as planned through the end of the year. Then, in late December, I will leave for Africa only to return next summer for a couple months to get married. After the wedding, we will visit some family for a couple weeks before flying to Africa and continuing to serve the Lord there as full time missionaries.

I am truly thankful for the Lord’s provision in my life. I honestly believe that Adie is a godly woman who shares a desire to serve the Lord no matter where that will take her. She will be both a huge help to me personally and to the ministry in Togo. Please pray for us as we plan for our wedding and as she finishes this school year.

As for the ministry, it has been going very well. I have had the privilege of travel to many great churches in the past few months. September holds four more meetings that will take me into Alabama and Georgia. October will be extremely busy with six meetings that will take me from Florida to Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and finally back to Florida.

I am very excited about the future! Please continue to pray with me about the traveling, the meetings, and the container shipment. Pray that all will go smoothly and that God will provide all the necessities, and will bless the wedding preparations.

Thank you for your thoughts and your gracious prayers.

Update

2010-08-31T18:07:00.000-07:00

With August almost gone, there are only a couple more months left before I board on a plane and fly back out for Togo! September will be busy around mid months with four meetings schedule from Alabama to Georgia and back. Then October will be super busy with 6 meetings ranging from Louisiana to Texas to Virginia to Georgia and back again to Florida. So between these meeting and the ones to follow in November along with all the holidays the next few months will most likely fly by!

Traveling to Port Charlotte

2010-08-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I had one of those moments that reminded me of Togo and made me really miss what I haven't been able to see over the course of this year. I was down at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Port Charlotte, FL. where they were having a baptismal service on Sunday night. Now, most of us are used to seeing these types of services. They are normally conducted at the end of the service after an invitation. The pastor will crawl into a baptistery and the convert will follow him in. It is from there that he'll baptism them. However, this past weekend was so much like Togo except you would need to change out a lake in the middle of no where filled with alligators to the Gulf of Mexico loaded with sharks. We had a great short service in the evening then all drove out to the Gulf where Pastor Phil was able to baptize 12 new converts in the Gulf. It was such a neat thing to see. Most of the church made the 20 minute drive out and afterward we had a chance to great and talk with them at a church bbq. It's always so wonderful to see the Lord working and this weekend was no exception to that. I can't wait to get back to Togo at the end of this year and see what God's doing over there!

Spending time with Family

2010-08-09T07:25:00.000-07:00

This past month I decided since I hadn't seen my family much due to the missions work in Togo that I was going to spend a couple weeks visiting. So, I head up to Western New York to what I thought would be a mostly relaxing vacation and leisure time. I got much more then I had barganed for!

Some 'father and son' couples bond over baseball games, others over camping excursions, others over watching sports on t.v. As for me and my father well, we bond over good ole fashion labour! It's funny but that's our version of "quality time" and I really don't mind it. So, when I went home this past June I discovered that my parents kitchen had been completely gutted down to the bare studs. Needless to say, we had our work cut our for us! After two solid weeks of working 10-14 hour days we eventually finished it and boy does it look pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Just as we were finishing up the kitchen my girlfriend Adie flew in from Jax., FL. for a week. It was her chance to meet my family for the first time and a great opportunity for me to take her around to see places like Niagara Falls and some of the State Parks in Western New York. After a nice week in NY we flew out to Oregon so that I could meet her folks for the first time and spend some time in her motherland. Oregon is truly different from New York but they both have their unique beauties.

A summer which I thought would slowly crawl by and done the opposite and has literally flown by. We are now mid way through August and all my vacation time with family and friends is over. Adie has returned back to Florida and is preparing to teach another year and I am on the road agian making my way to various churches through various states share the ministry and work of Togo with them.

May, June, and July 2010 Update

2010-07-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

The past several months could really be summed up in one word: “traveling.” I have done so much of that lately. My latest journeys took me from Florida to Louisiana. From there I went back to Florida and up to Tennessee near Nashville and Clarksville to visit with a wonderful supporting church and some family. After Memorial Day I left for Missouri and then for Kansas where I was in a couple meetings near Kansas City and farther south in El Dorado. Eventually, I started making my way back North to Ohio and Western New York. I have completely lost track of how many states I have visited or even how many hours I have logged while driving across America. However, what I have not forgotten is the great folks I have encountered and the awesome experiences that I had while meeting with new and supporting churches around our nation. Please continue to pray for traveling mercies and I continue to travel through the end of December.

It is official…again! There was a snag with the return flight to Togo, and after some wrangling the tickets have once again been confirmed and reserved. So the departure date now is December 28, and I should be landing in Ghana on the December 30. I’ll drive from the country of Ghana over to Togo that same afternoon. I am really looking forward to getting back and starting to participate in the work there again after my absence this year.

As you may or may not already know, Togo is a developing country. That means that many of the items that we live with on a daily basis would be considered luxury to the Togolese and almost certainly impossible to find or even purchase. With that in mind, it is typical to purchase some personal effects and ship them over, and that is exactly what I spent the last week doing. While it is still six months away before the container will go out, it is never too early to start thinking, preparing, purchasing, and organizing so I won’t agonize at the last minute! If you would, please pray for two things with me: please pray for the container and all the logistics that are tied up in that so that it might go smoothly as the time comes closer to ship and also for the shipment of Bibles that are to be donated for the work in Togo. Pray that they will make it safely to Virginia Beach, VA, undamaged and in one piece for shipping.

In closing, I just want to thank you all for your faithfulness and your prayers. I appreciate your friendships and your kindness. Thank you for coupling with me to reach folks in Togo for the Lord!

Preparations for the container

2010-06-28T05:53:00.001-07:00

Well, this past week has been crazy! Adie, my girlfriend—soon to be fiancé and I left for Va. Beach from Florida to see my sister and brother in law. We drove nearly 12 hours on Monday and arrived up there that evening. The trip was really so that we could purchase things for taking over to Togo. Togo is a developing country and many of the things that we would take for granted like a nice throw down rug, a good mirror or nice sheets are either luxury items are very if not extremely difficult to find. So we spent three days tracking all around Va. Beach area looking for deals and snagging things up before eventually boxing them up for the container. And while it’s true the container won’t go out till late November or early December, it’s always a good idea to think ahead and plan. Good organization has never lead to bouts of agonization!

Now the reasons for driving so far north to Va. Beach to do this shopping was due to the fact that the container will be packed and shipped from my sisters residence in Portsmouth. She has graciously given me space in her dual car garage and we are slowly “taking” it over!

Friday the drive was much like the one we encountered on Monday excepted we were blessed enough to miss the nail that pierced our tire coming off the highway while looking for gas. So, despite a couple bathroom breaks, dinner and some traffic jams the return drive was rather uneventful.

3 states, 3,000 miles, 3 weeks

2010-05-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Three states, three thousand miles in three weeks! That’s pretty much my life. Meeting new folks and seeing old ones is what the traveling has been about lately. I left Jacksonville a couple weeks ago for a week of meetings in Louisiana where God blessed. I was able to spend some time with a couple of friends and some new ones while sharing the burden of Togo and West Africa with them. From there headed back to Jacksonville for a day or two before driving up to Clarksville, TN where I’ve been visiting with family and one of my supporting churches in Hendersonville, TN. From Tennessee, I’ll be heading out to Missouri then Kansas for another week of meetings before ultimately heading into Ohio in mid-June.

Missouri, Iowa and South Carolina!

2010-05-11T06:06:00.001-07:00

The past couple weeks have been crazy! An example of this would be the first meeting I had in Dubuque, Iowa. I flew from Jacksonville, Florida to St. Louis then I had a friend who drove 2 hours one way to get me from the airport. After spending a couple days with him and his family he then lent me a car which I took it 7 hours north from Missouri to Iowa. There I had a really great time with Bible Baptist Church. After spending an awesome conference and week bonding with the folks and teens I headed back south where I repeat the same 7 hour drive, the same 2 hours back to airport and the same 5 hours worth of flights. Despite the long hours of traveling it is always a pleasure to serve the Lord. While on the plane flight back to Jacksonville, the server brought by some little sandwiches and soda. It was over those thing that my neighbor and I began to chat. I was able to encourage him a little, give him a gospel tract and invite him to church. You never know the power of a tract or a good witness! It turns out that he only lives about 5 miles from the church I attend in Jacksonville. So, it’s interesting who God brings you into contact with even when the flight originates out of Houston, TX!

From Iowa and Missouri I headed back through Jacksonville, Florida for a couple days then drove up into South Carolina. This was the deep south but had some of the sweetest folks and best cooking I’ve ever been acquainted with! It was the very first missions conference this church had ever held and it was such a blessing to see their fire and fervor for missions and the work of the Lord. I truly enjoyed my time up in Olar, S.C.!

March/April 2010 Update

2010-04-07T07:36:00.001-07:00

I am very encouraged by the method and the means by which God has been taking care of me! While it is close to unfathomable to believe that I have already been here in the U.S. for nearly 4½ months, I realize the window to accomplish everything is quickly narrowing down. Please pray with me as I continue to travel and hold meetings. I just returned from a northern trip that took me through eight states in five weeks, logging thousands of miles and visiting six churches. I am currently back in Jacksonville, Florida, but am preparing to head back out in about a week and a half for Missouri and then to Iowa. The goal of this furlough for me is and has been first, to be a blessing to whomever I meet, but then second, to work towards raising the extra bit of capital needed to return to Togo this term and be as effective as possible. So, I would ask that you continue to pray with me towards these goals.

Returning to Togo is only 8 months away, and most would imagine that that would just entail purchasing plane tickets. And while that is an important factor, there really is so much more that needs to be contemplated! I have recently found some great tickets for my return and hope to have those purchased by the end of the week. However, the plane tickets are perhaps the easiest element of my return. The most complicated, complex, and difficult element would be the organizing, packing, and shipping of a container. This is something that I had prayerfully considered and will be participating in once again. I have been given 56,000 French tracts and promised an additional 14,000 French John and Romans, 4,000 French New Testaments, and a couple thousand Bibles. All of these materials plus some personal items will be packed up and shipped out just before I depart in early December for my return to Togo.

Finally, I would ask that you continue to think of and pray for the little church of Lassa Bas where I labored before coming home on furlough. They are still without a pastor and need some strong leadership. Please pray that God will provide the perfect man in His perfect timing. Secondly, there has been a complication with the paperwork on the land. It had been completed correctly by since the regulations have changed, and apparently it all must be redone and reworked. Pray that God will provide and that this process will be a mere formality rather than a hindrance. Even though preparations have been started on a new church building, we cannot start construction until the land documents are in order.

Please know that I appreciate your prayers! Thank you for thinking of me and praying for me, the ministry, and the works in Togo. I am honored and grateful to be coupled with you in the Lord’s work!

The conclusion to the Ohio Loop

2010-03-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

Traveling can be exciting as a missionary. You honestly never know what you'll experience. After leaving Germantown, OH, I headed over to Racine and spent a really great weekend with Ryan Eaton and his church. I hadn't seen Ryan in nearly 7 years and it was such a blessing to see him and his family. When last I saw him it was just him and his wife and now they have four great kids. It still amazes me how fast time flies!

I believe one of the great things about traveling is periodically there are moments of down time. These are moments where there are no meetings, there is nothing going on and so you just fill that time with family. So, having a week or so like this in the middle of my schedule, I headed from Racine, OH, to Western New York to see my folks. When I got there I was a bit suprised that my father was undertaking another small remodeling project at his house so I jumped right in and hung five bedroom doors for him while I was there!

After having a great with with my Mother and Father, I went back over and into Ohio. This time it was to Miamisburg not too far from Germantown. This time it was to spend a week at a conference with Aaron Morgan a friend that I hadn't seen in years as well. We had a great conference and it was good to see how God worked in and through things.

From Miamisburg the meetings for my so called "Ohio Loop" trip were finally over. It consisted of 8 states, 5 weeks, thousands of miles, 5 solid meetings and nearly 50 hours of drive time! From Ohio I headed down to Jacksonville, Florida where I'm preparing for my next round of meetings and while a trip like the loop up into Ohio can be exhausting at times it is always such a blessing to see and spend time with believers!

The Ohio Loop

2010-03-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

I think that sometimes a missionary life can be so crazy! You balance your personal life with the ministry and then add a furlough into the mix and you just seem to be traveling all over the place! I absolutely love the traveling and most of all enjoy meeting up with God’s people and presenting the work of Togo as well as having good fellowship.

My latest trip which I've dubbed the "Ohio Loop" started off from Jacksonville, Florida in late Feb. My first destination was Columbus, GA to meet up with a great buddy of mine. He had finished OCS and was graduating as an officer in the Army. That took me five hours away from Jacksonville but after the graduation my next destination was to be Holland, MI. I had never really been to MI, or at least that I could recall! So, I hopped into my little 2001 stick shift Chevy Cavalier and drove 13 hours, which was spread across two days to Holland. When I got up there I met with the pastor and we began to have a great time. However, that evening the traveling began to catch up with me and I started to feel absolutely terrible. I crawled in bed on Friday night around 10 pm and I really didn't get out of bed again till Sunday morning around 10 am. The folks were in Holland were just so incredibly gracious and really interceded for me. Thankfully by that night I was feeling so much better and was able to present the work of Togo and had the opportunity to share with them what God had been doing both in my life and that of those that I've met in Togo.
So from Holland, incidentally, it’s known as the “second happiest place in the US” I left for Indiana where I visited with a pastor friend before heading over to Columbus, OH for my next missions conference. It's incredible where the Lord will take you, who He will allow you to meet or become reaquainted with and how He often times uses strangers to simply encourage you!

I’m mid way through my northern loop of meetings and have up to this point passed through 7 states, logged nearly 24 hours worth of driving and countless thousands of miles. However, through it all, God’s blessed and my vehicle has done well and He has completely restored my health.

From here in Germantown, OH I will drive to Racine, OH this weekend then south of Buffalo, NY for a week then back near Dayton, OH before ultimately returning to Jax. Florida at the end of the month. While there seems to hectic at times it’s such a privilege to be doing what I’m doing and serving the Lord!

Snow adventures in the month of February

2010-02-23T06:01:00.000-08:00

The past two weekends have been a little unique for me. I’ve been living in sunny Florida which parenthetically, hasn’t been quite so sunny nor hot. However, the temperature has been pretty nice. Last weekend, I left Jacksonville for Atlanta and when I arrived they were experience their first major snow storm in nearly 17 years! We saw over 5 inches fall and it reminded me so much of Western New York where my family is from. I had some good snow tires still on my vehicle and was well accustomed to traveling through the snow so the drive wasn’t a hassle but to the folks from GA everything came to a stand still! While there I had the privilege of visiting with two churches and preaching in the evening service. It’s always a blessing to share with others the work in Togo and see God generate excitement for Missions and more particularly missions in Africa.

Then this past weekend, I took another 6 hour drive north from Jacksonville into North Carolina. With my trusty GPS in hand I navigated the highways and visited a supporting church on Sunday morning; sharing and update of the work and then driving up into the mountains to visit another great church for the evening service. This time as I was making my way up into the higher elevation and driving through the mountains on the winding roads I noticed the snow was still dusted all over the mountain sides. It was a stark reminder of what lays ahead for this weekend as I will be heading up to Michigan and then eventually into Ohio for the month of March.

Jan/Feb 2010 Update

2010-02-08T12:45:00.001-08:00

I have officially been in the United States for eleven weeks and am just now beginning to acclimate to the weather and temperatures! Getting onto the plan in Africa, it was in the high 80’s, and it wasn’t till this past month that I finally started to see some temperatures in the 60’s again. Despite the cold, it has been good to be back in the U.S.

December was filled with some family time, seeing folks, visiting relatives, and passing time with sisters, brothers-in-law, and even nephews and a niece that I had never met before. However, January the family time was over, and ministry began to swing into full force. It is my goal while in the U.S. for the next 9.5 months to visit as many churches as possible so that I can educate about the ministry of Togo and encourage people to pray for the work. Thus far the travels have taken me to Western New York, Maine, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Florida to name a few. At each place I am blessed to spend time in wonderful churches that have hearts for missions. While traveling long distances for extended periods of time is not necessarily my cup of tea, it truly is worth the time, effort, and energy. God is blessing, and I am thrilled to be doing what He has called me too.

Please continue to pray for the church in Lassa Bas. Since my last newsletter, we had four of our young adults go south for a singles leadership conference where they were challenged about their service to the Lord and their level of consecration. Each of them came back to the church fired up. Please pray that God will continue to shine through their lives and that they might make a lasting impact in the Lassa Bas region.
Also, please remember the church for two other reasons. First, please continue to pray for the church construction project that should be under way relatively soon, and second, for the church itself that God will raise up a national to take over the work.

I appreciate all your prayers as I continue to travel. I am excited about how God has been working thus far and am anxious to see what great things He will do this year in my life and the lives of the men and women over in Togo where I live. Thank you for love, faithfulness, and prayers!

Travels in January

2010-01-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

Man how time seems to fly by! It seems like just yesterday I was thinking about pulling out of my folks drive way in Western New York with about 8 inches of snow on the ground and needing to head down to Maryland for two meetings in four days. But that was the second of January and here we are at the end of January already and I'm in Sunny Jacksonville, Florida where the temperatures have been in the 60's most of the week. Through this past month God's allowed me to pass through, visit and see so many great folks and their churches in MD, VA, and now FL.

Florida really has been like a second home to me. I grew up here in the 80's when I was a little boy then returned in the late 90's and have been here ever since. So, whenever I get a chance to come back it's like seeing family all over again. So, this past week was really something special for me because I was invited to spend a week with my home church in their missions conference sharing what God's been doing over the last three years in Togo. For many of the morning sessions I had the privilege of bouncing around from classroom to classroom and from grade to grade. It was neat for me to see that my K4, K5, 1st grade teachers and my Kindergarten and Elementary Principles were still at the school where I grew up. What a great thing to see them again and to share how they had a part in my life and to see how they've been faithful all these years. The kids not matter the age were always such a joy to see and to visit. It's been funny because I don't know many if any of the kids by name yet I was walking across our church/school campus the other day just after school let out and I hear a little first grader yell across the parking lot, "Hey, Jim White!" I just had to chuckle and return a wave. It's been such a blessing to share with them Togo, the needs and then to challenge them about what God wants them to do with their lives. What an opportunity it was!

So, from start to finish, January was crazy busy yet it was a wonderful type of busy. Each week God showed me new things and each week He opened new doors an avenues in which to minister.

Heading south and looking at what God has done at Lassa Bas

2010-01-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone as well as the new year but that doesn't necessarily mean the weather is getting any warmer, the roads are getting any cleaner and the traveling is lessening. In fact, it's January so that mean more, more, more--more traveling, more calling and more meeting.

The life of a missionary on furlough is a unique one. I'm still attempting to adjust so many "new" things. I'm still thrilled with flavored creamers for coffee and amazed by microwavable corn in a bag. It's mind blowing. Why wasn't this stuff on the market years ago?

With the adjusting and the travels, I have the privilege of meeting folks from all walks of life and sharing the work of Togo with them. Since I arrived I've been privileged to visit with ten church ranging from Western NY area up to Maine, and as far south thus far as Va. Beach. This month will take me even further as I will be in and around Jax. Florida continue to educate and explain the work that is being done in Togo.

As for way of an update on the ministry, the church at Lassa Bas is doing well. From the time of my departure till just recently there was a good fundamental local church that was sending over men to fill the pulpit. However, just recently, Randy arrived back up in Kara and will be spearheading the work until God provides our church with a national pastor. The building project should, Lord willing, break ground this month and prayerfully by the summer should have a new building to meet in. Finally, in December, JJ held a leadership retreat for younger single folks. From Lassa, we had the privilege of sending four wonderful young folks, all in their early 20's. From what I've been told the camp was a tremendous success, God worked in a great way and the four came back on fire for God and the things of God.

So, if you can, please continue to pray for Lassa Bas as God continue to move and work in that little village area.

2 thousand miles, 3 churches, 6 states, 8 days and 1 blizzard

2009-12-22T08:32:00.000-08:00

Shocking and adjusting are two words that I find myself using quite frequently these days. After having spent over three years in Togo and not having been back in the US for that duration, I find myself often times shocked by things and technically adjusting to so many changes.

Travel is perhaps one the strangest adjustments for me. When it takes 7 hours to go a matter of hundreds of miles in Africa and in the mean while you are constantly scanning for goats, people, chickens or even the other lanes traffic because they all might and could veer into your lane, and then “voila” you find yourself in America and you can just zone out and drive for hours and cover triple or quadruple the span in the same time frame. Traveling is much easier and much more convenient here in America and I’m pretty thankful for this particular “adjustment!”

However, shocking is a word that I constantly find myself iterating in regards to the prices of items. I often think of myself as being in a comma for three years. While I tried my best to stay current on things in the US while living in Africa I find that so much has passed me by. It couldn’t have been more evident than in the case of me stopping at McDonald’s near Boston for breakfast. I ordered a sandwich, two hash browns and an orange juice and the sum was nearly 7.50. I was literally shocked! I though there must have been a calculating error on their end but nope, it was the real price. So much has changed in three years!

Despite so much changing so much still stays the same. At the beginning of the month I left the Buffalo area for New England. I wondered if it would be wise considering the timing but equipped with my little 2002 Chevy and a fresh set of snow tires I set out for my little adventure. The first place I stopped was after driving nearly 8 hours to Ashaway, RI. Years ago, I had the opportunity to build friendships and start a relationship with The Pilgrim’s Baptist Church. It was such a privilege to spend two days with them and fellowship with the pastor, his family and some of the church family before leaving for Maine.

Now, while in Language school nearly five years ago I drove down from Quebec to East Millinocket and that was my first introduction to the folks, the church, the school and now what I consider to be my friends at the Tri Town Baptist Church. I had chance to spend about three days walking the school halls, talking with the students, fellowshipping with the pastor, his family and many other families in the church. I even got to practice my French just a hair!

While there we experienced what I would consider a blizzard. We saw nearly a foot of snow if not more fall in about 24 hours. After enjoying the white stuff for a while it was time for me to pack things up, tell the work in East Millinocket “goodbye for now” and head out back to Western New York for the next meeting which would be held in Shinglehouse, Pa.

As things constantly change, and so much is different to me upon my return, the great thing that I love is that God’s people remain the same. I’ve truly enjoyed my time back in the US and I’ve been enjoying the opportunities to reunite with friends, families and church families that I haven’t seen in so many years.

So, I can sum up this last trip by saying this: I covered nearly 2 thousand miles in 8 days, visited with 3 wonderful churches, passed through 6 states, and “experienced” one blizzard! “Good times!”

Newsletter Oct-Dec 2009

2009-12-04T08:21:00.000-08:00

I am constantly amazed at how God continues to work and how His work continues to go forward. Over the past couple of months, we have seen some major victories at the little village church of Lassa Bas. One of them took place on a Saturday morning while out visiting. A Togolese man and I came across a group of children ranging from 5-13 and decided to stop and share the Gospel with them. It was interesting since at least one of them did not understand French. As I shared Christ’s love to them in French, my friend translated into Kabiye for me. The visit lasted about forty-five minutes, and at the end of the conversation, three of the children made the decision to open their hearts and accept Christ as their Savior. It truly was such a great thing and a wonderful encouragement. I think often of the verse that says that there is a great celebration even as one comes to Christ so you can imagine what Heaven must have been like at that particular moment when all three of these precious children accepted Christ. How good God truly is!

A second wonderful event was the baptismal service of four of our men. They each gave clear testimony of salvation as they respectively entered into the waters to identify with Christ. It was such a great moment to see these men follow the Lord in that first major step of their Christian lives.

I suppose the largest change that has taken place since my last letter has been my return home for a furlough. I flew in the weekend before thanksgiving, and after 24 hours of flying, I touched down on U.S. soil for the first time in over three years. I would ask that you would remember me in your prayers and please pray as I continue to arrange meetings, share the work of Togo with others, and attempt to raise more aid for the ministry before I return in November of 2010. Also, please do not forget the work in Lassa Bas where I pastored for the last 9 months. The church still is without a pastor, and it is our prayer that God will raise up a national to take it soon.

In closing, I want you to know that I am forever in your debt, privileged to be a co-laborer with you in the work of the Lord, and above all extremely grateful for your love, your compassion, your prayers, and your faithfulness to both me and the work of the Lord in Togo.

Last Sunday at Lassa Bas

2009-11-26T15:37:00.001-08:00

This month after having been at the Lassa Bas church for nearly nine months, I had to say goodbye for the last time. We have been working with this great little church ever since they lost their pastor last spring. Since, God moved me there, we’ve been blessed and we’ve see many come to Christ, a few baptized a few weeks ago and attendance grow. While all those are great victories, I think just seeing the folks grow spiritually was my most happy achievement. I’m so thankful to God for the opportunity to have served with this great core of believers for all this time.

Please continue to pray for them. They are currently without a pastor. It has been and always will be our desire to see God raise up a national pastor to take the work. So, please remember Lassa Bas in your prayers. Thanx!

Baptism at Lossa Bas

2009-11-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

As we believe, baptism is an important event in the life of a Christian. The bible commands us to follow the Lord in baptism signifying our belief that He died, was buried and rose again on the third day for us. With this being the subject of teaching for three consecutive Sundays, we were able to question a handful from the church that had not yet followed the Lord in baptism and of which, four of them were ready to get baptized.

Early Sunday morning, while putting my vehicle into first gear, shutting off the truck and pulling the parking brake, I glanced over towards the clock and realized that it was ten till seven in the morning. I crawled out of my vehicle and opened the large gates at the Tomde church. Making my way towards the back of the property, I trapsed through the damp grass and attempted to avoid the mud puddles left from the previous night’s rain. I passed by the church’s large auditorium and continued towards their baptistery. I lifted off the cover revealing the crystal clear water inside and so I being inclined dipped my hand for but a moment to test the temperature. After having confidence it was both sufficiently full and sufficiently warm I turned around and headed back to the truck.

Leaving Tomde I headed toward our church at Lossa Bas. Navigating the roads, I began searching for my turn off. Finding it, I slowly turned off onto the dirt path that makes its way to the church. Several minutes and several small stream later, I pulled up to the church and found myself being greeted by a little Kabiye girl. We chatted for a couple seconds before I walked into the church to start the service. The morning service went great and we had a couple new visitors due to the baptism.

After both mornig services were concluded we headed out towards my vehicle and Lisa’s truck. I can’t really recall how many she put into her truck but I found out that mine can hold 15 despite it's manufacture recommending only 10. We left the Lossa Bas church grounds, fully loaded, spirits high and headed for Tomde church to use their baptistry. The Tomde church is relatively close, less then 2 miles but due to the roads and being fully loaded we took our time and about 10 minutes later we pulled up the church.

When we got to Tomde we all started unloading and heading into the church as their services were concluding. Pastor Moussa walked up to me and welcomed us all before he gave some last minute instructions to the four men that were about to be baptized. When the service concluded both congregations walked out and surrounded the baptistery to watch the four men follow the Lord in baptism. In Togo here, it has been rare to see a baptism done outside of Christmas or Easter. That is just a traditional time to do them. However, on a perfectly nice, warm and sunny Sunday morning with everyone standing around, we proceeded. I slowly waded into the waters and one by one the four men descended down the stairs into the baptistery and one by one they gave their testimony of how Christ had saved their souls and were baptized out of obedience to God’s word.

It was really a great moment for each of the men and a reminder of what it means to be a follower and obedient to Christ.

Finally finishing up the garage at Sarakawa

2009-10-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

Last week, I took a local welder down to what our version of a hardware store would be and we purchased tube steel, angle iron and heavy tin panels. We then transported them out to his shop which is a mud block building with a tin roof and a tin roof hang over to provide shade. If you looked at his welding machine which is a metal box with a bunch of copper wire wrapped into a ball soaked in transmission fluid and has 220 volts of current running into it with a positive and negative line running out of it for welding you would have to admit that first, you are definitely in Africa and second that it sure doesn’t looks safe to be around yet alone using it! However, he was quick and his job was impeccable considering his working conditions. He paid me a visit a few days later to inform me that my door was complete.

Now you must realize that it was last year (November 2008) that I started construction on this project. I joke with the Togolese and often tell them that I’m truly African now because their building project will go on for years. They build a little and stop to save more funds then build a little bit more. This continues till the entire project has been finished. So, a year might seem to be a long time to us but is rather swift for them.

So with the door complete and hauled out to Sarakawa where my container is and Randy’s hangar is along with the new garage building that will house the tractor and other equipment for church and ministry construction projects, we were finally ready to get it installed.

I arranged for a handyman and a mason to come out and assist me today and after about three hours we had the door plum and level and welded into the steel supports in the cement columns on either side of the garage door opening. Now with this final stage complete I should be able to start moving everything from the container, my house and Randy’s hangar over to the garage. It’s been a process or processus (in French) but I’m happy with the way it has turned out. And it’ll aid the work here for years to come.

A good day on visitation

2009-10-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

Going out to “visit” folks on visitation is such a powerful medium to reach people with the Word of God.

Today, four of us assembled at the little village church in Lassa Bas. After having spent some time in prayer asking for God’s blessing, protection and power, the four of us broke off into two groups and headed out into the area. Mr. Owi and I took one side of the road and Lisa accompanied by Esther, another lady in the church, took the other side of the dirt road. Mr. Owi and I first came across a young man in his early 20’s. His name is Caa which being interpreted from Kabiye means “Father.” He, Owi and I spent about thirty minutes reviewing the word of God and talking about salvation and what it means to know that when you die that you have a place in Heaven. At the end of our conversation, he had admitted that he’d placed his trust in Christ and seemed thankful that we had stopped but to visit. After extending him a welcomed invitation to visit with us tomorrow, we headed out to find others to talk to.

The next place that we came upon was filled with kids. I can’t help but think of the words of Jesus when he said, “Suffer not the little children to come unto me.” Well, we walked into the little compound surround on all four sides by mud block houses and sitting under the shade of some near by trees. We pulled up some benches and five children sat down with us. I spoke in French and much of what I said was fully understood but there were a couple really little ones so Mr. Owi translated into Kabiye for them. We talked about sin, the penalty for that and ultimately that Christ due to His sacrifice on the cross was the only way to have a complete pardon and forgiveness of sins. We spent probably a good 45 minutes or more with the little ones and at the end three of the kids—two being 8 and one being 10—prayed and accepted Christ as their personal Savior.

Being a witness isn’t always easy, not matter where you live. The key is to be under the power, influence and filling of God—if you will—as you walk through your daily life. Then sharing Christ, what He has done and the boldness to do that becomes second nature rather then something that is difficult or forced. The joy of sharing Christ was wonderful and the excitement of seeing three more souls come to Christ is beyond words.

Breaking ground in Kara

2009-09-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

This past week, I started up the tractor and drove it from Sarakowa to my house. The trip (in 4th high) took all of 38 minutes during which I returned an estimated 50 hand waves and was given some pretty strange looks as the candy red Massey Ferguson rolled down the road with a front end loader on one end and a backhoe attachment on the other. I, for the first couple days, kept it at my house before taking it on the road again and droving it another 45 minutes into town. I think it’s important to emphasize that the trip is only about 13 miles in total from Sarakowa where the tractor is housed into town, but due to its turtle like speed, it takes a while to move around.

There are at least four projects that could be addressed in town. Up to this point three of them have had some work and of those, two of them have been completed. The first work is out at Lossa Bas. With the advent of a new building project set to commence soon, we needed to take the uneven rocky terrain and smooth it out for the future foundation. After displacing several larger boulders and three hours of work the project site was relatively flat and suitable for work to begin.

The second project is really much more complicated then the first. This particular church has an issue with water drainage. During the rainy season, which lasts about 4 months of the year, the water seeps under the adjacent walls from the near by properties then surface in the church building itself as well as about 70% of the church property. The first step in counteracting the effects of flooding was to cut a ditch the entire length of the property in which the water could more easily flow away from the building and down to the main culverts near the road. This solution didn’t really adequately address the other issue which is universal flooding but prayerfully as things dry out a bit more we’ll return and back fill some of the lower lining areas to help remedy this problem.

The third project was much like the second in that it needed a simple ditch to help drain excess water off the property and into the near by ditches where it could freely disperse.
Thankfully within a couple hours this project was completed and the issue had been resolved.

The final project, yet to be undertaken, is to cut out the high spots on the Tomde church property and landscape it. This is a task that is very much suited for the 51 horsepower utility tractor. The hopes are that within the next week or so this too will have been accomplished.

These projects have been in the works for sometime but there really is a short window of opportunity each year towards the end of the rainy season and before the heat kicks in and dries everything so thoroughly that it can’t be worked. Due to this petit window of opportunity we’ve been delayed till this year. Prayerfully, we’ll be able to conclude all the work before the rains totally subside and the heat swings out of the Sahara Desert and into Northern Togo with its full brunt.

An unbelievable road trip

2009-09-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable…it’s one of my favorite words and one that translates well into French—incroyable! Unbelievable is probably the most perfect word that I can find in my vocabulary to proclaim the events of yesterday.

Jesse and I had been in Lomé since Monday and had finally finished up all our errands and shopping. We meet up one last time with JJ and Jon before embarking on the 6 hour drive from Lomé to Kara. We pulled out of the capital around 11 am and started driving north. We had passed over a bridge on the way down that had been closed from two lanes to one lane due to the rains having washed out the foundation of the bridge. Speculation was that the bridge had either been repaired or was still operational for light traffic. However, when we arrived to near the bridge at 2 p.m. we soon discovered that we had a mess on our hands. The traffic was backed up 5 kilometers (3 miles) with trucks on layer deep on a two lane road and in some places two rows deep. The story was that the truckers out of protest had blocked the road and won’t let any more light traffic across the bridge while they had to just sit around and wait.

Not knowing full what to do we waited a few minutes and then notices some other missionaries from Kara just a few cars ahead of us. It was Brett and Mark. So, we got out chatted a couple minutes with them and decided to head back about 10 kilometers to an intersection and try to take some back roads. Well, that didn’t pan out due to the roads being completely eroded and another minor bridge out there as well. So, we decided to sit back and drink a Coke while waiting to hear news about the bridge.

Finally, after about an hour or so we hear news that the local governor of the area had brokered some sort of compromise with the truckers and the green light was given and vehicles where moving again. This was terrific news to us and so we hopped in the vehicle and headed back towards the bridge. Little did we know that there was 3 solid miles of traffic. It took us 4.5 hours to navigate to the bridge, sometimes having to go off the road due to multiple tractor trailers being parked on the road.

We arrived near the bridge and were waved onto a detour. Remember, there were no signs, the road we were coming off is the only road heading north and it’s the only paved road (being 2 lanes wide). It’s is en effet, the transportation artery for the north from the south as well as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger via Togo. So, we are driving down an unmarked detour following and passing as many folks as we can. Dark was descending as we veered off from a paved road to a dirt path. It was barely wide enough for two cars. It was however, very smooth to start. Apparently, the government had been working on this solution for days. They had several graders, a bulldozer and a roller out working on the dirt road getting it ready for us.

But, despite our best efforts, it seems that the semis had found us. They had started to come through from the other direction. This dirt road was barely wide enough for two vehicles and had mud ditches on either side making it treacherous at best to pass. Well, the roads foundations were solid enough for the trucks and several were stuck along the way and one rolled over on the side of the bush road.

Each stuck truck made for a unique situation. Many times, Mark, Brett and/or I would all be out directing traffic, talking with the Togolese or searching out a solution to pass the waiting traffic. Around 9 pm we emerged out of the bush a full 7 hours after encounter the traffic jam south of the bridge. It took 7 full hours to travel 24 miles. It was the most insane things I’ve ever encounter since moving here.

The bridge and then the bush road were really just the first two steps of the overall grand trifecta. The third leg of our most amazing adventure was completely unexpected. We finished the detour and were on the main road heading north. We had spent 7 hours traveling 24 miles but felt pretty confident in the progress we would make ahead. We though that we would be home in less then two hours but then, we arrived to the toll booths.

Normally the toll is just a formality. You pay your 60-75 cents and pass through without issues. However, on this particular evening with ramification outreaching and overextending anything that I could explain, the taxi van drivers decided out of protest that they wouldn’t pay their toll to cross—after all they believed the tolls are to repair the roads. Well, the problem that developed was if they didn’t pay they didn’t get through. So they in effect, blocked the road going north and south with taxis working on both sides of the toll roads.

We sat in, on, around and near our vehicles for at least another 90 minutes not know what would be done and if we would even be leaving that night. The local governor arrived and started negotiating with crowds. Finally the decision was made, if you pay then you can go through. If you don’t pay they you can’t go through. Well, we wanted to get home, take a warm shower and sleep in our own beds. Poor, Brett and Mark had come all the way from Accra, Ghana and their day had started on the road at 6 a.m.

So, Brett, Mark, Jesse and a hand full of other Togolesse had moves some barricades resting on the side of the road to make a clear path for us to get around the toll booths and traffic and ultimately back on the road. We paid the toll and clicked our trucks in four wheel drive and jumped a couple curbs and made it past everyone and back on the road. It was now around 9 p.m. a full 10 hours after we started our trip and 4 hours longer then we should have been on the road.

Stopping to fill up on fuel in a local town we decided to drive the next 2 hours straight through to Kara heading through the not so safe mountainous roads by dark. However, God protected us as He had all day long and around 11 p.m. we were pulling into Kara proper.

It was perhaps the most insane, most incredible, most bizarre, most unsure, most exhilarating, most fun, and most unbelievable day of my life. Yet, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

Walking to church

2009-08-31T12:44:00.001-07:00

Each April, the rains begin and continue to increase till they climax sometime in August before diminish and eventually taper out in October or November. In late August and the early part of September seem to be the worst times to maneuver around here. With the ground absolutely saturated it just becomes completely tore up and in some place impassable.

Since March we’ve been running vehicle as “Sunday School Buses” or transportation—running back and forth to pick up around 30 kids and an elderly lady from a near by neighborhood. We meet at the local Mosque and pick them all up then head over to the church. However, last week, for the first time since March we had to make the difficult decision to cancel the transportation and start walking into the property.

The conditions of the roads have so deteriorated that even 4x4 vehicles can’t make it through. There is literally a creek running down one half of the road. But despite the lack of transportation the attendance has stayed steady. It’s been interesting to see all the little kids walking down the roads or up the paths just to get there. There is even one faithful lady that has a wheel chair and with the aid of other church members she crosses the creek and pushes herself through the mud to make it in time for the service. Their faithfulness to the Lord has truly been evident and it’s a joy to be with them each week.

The Pastor's Conference

2009-08-20T10:18:00.000-07:00

This month after preparation and prayer Randy had organized and assembled all the pastor that we work with here in Kara. We planned out a week long pastor’s conference in which we would pray together, have some preaching and travel across the country to see the various churches that have been planted and built over the past decade or longer.
The conference started on a Sunday afternoon and we all piled into Jesse’s vehicle and mine. Having five in his and 10 in mine we traveled down south for 9 hours and meet up with Pastor Koffi who showed us his work and we were able to enjoy some good preaching and some prayer time.
Over the course of the next several days we traveled back towards Kara seeing works along the way, and getting stuck once. When in Kara we visited the 5 works in and around the city and prayed for each. Assembling each morning, afternoon and evening we were able to encourage the men and see God work. The last two days of the conference were spent up in Dapaong visiting with Pastor Soapa and Joel at their 7 churches.
It was really eye opening to see how much God is doing. Some of the works are just poles with thatched roofs, other are mud block construction and yet others are fully constructed cement structures with electricity but whither it had thatched roofs or tin roofs, with or without electricity, cement blocks or mud blocks it was fascinating to see how Christ was working in and through each one of them.

Stuck horribly in quicksand

2009-08-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday and Friday some pastors and missionaries alike gathered up in Dapaong for a conference. One of our objectives was to drive out to visit Pastor Soapa’s Churches. However, we encountered some “issues” along the way. Apparently, it had rained pretty heavily Wednesday night and again some on Thursday evening. Dapaong has a lot of sandy soil and the ground just tends to absorb it and retain it. In a span of 24 hours my vehicle with 9 of us adults inside got stuck 4 times; of those 4 times, 3 of them were within 90 minutes of each other and of those three 2 of them were within 20 yards of each other. It was quite an interesting day to say the least. We literally were out in the middle of no where in the African bush. There were no near by trees to hook up to, no winches and no Triple A but thankfully, there were some sweet spirited Africans who spent quite a bit of energy and time devoted to helping us dislodge my buried vehicle. Each time, with the aid of Jesse and his 4x4 SUV and about 20 plus Togolese—most of them being pastors, we where able to push or pull my “Robust Bertha” (as I call her) out of the mud. BTW: Robust in French is “sturdy, healthy, sound or strong.” I’m not sure she was quite all those but with the blessings of God on our trip we all made it home safely!

Welcoming the Huff family to Togo

2009-07-27T05:26:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this month, I went over to Accra, Ghana with the Shank’s Family and Lisa. Our focus was to pick up the Huff family who were flying into Africa to start their first term. Our time in Accra was relaxing and quite unique. Even though Accra is only three hours from the Capital of Togo it is much more developed. We relished in some luxuries that most might take for granted such as pizza, coffee shop and a small shopping mall with a large grocery store. I know that it sound ridiculous but they were nice pleasantry to have while in Ghana.

Since the Huff’s have arrived they’ve been settling in and in three short weeks after their arrival to this continent their container has arrived behind them. This past week, we spent the better part of a day unpacking, shifting and organizing their belongings while they wait for their rental home to become available.

It’s been such a blessing already to have them here and I’m so excited to see God work through and in them here in Togo. There is so much work needing to be done and it’s and encouragement to have them here in Kara.

Welcoming back the Aldermans

2009-07-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

This past week after having been gone since February we welcomed back Randy and his wife from the US. They went home thinking that it would be a short ten week visit and he found out that he had cancer yet God was gracious and has completely taken care of Randy and he’s now completely cancer free. He has been here in Togo for over 20 years and it’s so great to know that God’s granted him more time here to work with us younger missionaries and to impart his wisdom.

Passing out Tracts

2009-07-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend before leaving Lomé and heading north to Kara with some fellow missionaries I stopped to visit a grocery store. As usual, a helper carried out my bags and then waited around for a tip. I pulled out a Salvation tract and some small coinage to hand him. He looked at me and said, you’ve given me one of these before and I really enjoyed it. In fact after reading it, I gave it away to another. Could you give me a handful so that I can distribute them around the neighborhood? I was taken back because I’ve never had anyone ask me for tracts to pass out before (complete strangers that is). I gladly handed them to him and we departed. Wouldn’t you know it, within a 24 hour span it happened yet again? This time I was on my way north at a local filling station. Now the last time I stopped at this particular gas station was a week prior and I am not sure that I spoke to anyone. However, this pump attendant approached me while I was sitting in my vehicle and he tapped on the window. I wasn’t quite sure what he wanted but he looked at me and said, didn’t you give me some tracts last time you were here? I looked at him and then pulled out a tract. I said, like this one? He said, yeah! I read it and really like it. Would you give me a ton more so that I can pass them out? I was like sure!! It was such a blessing to see God work through the distribution of tracts. I have no idea how many tracts we’ve passed out or how many those men have passed out with our aid but one day when I get to heaven I suppose that I’ll know exactly how many lives had been touch directly because of them.

Progress at Lossa Bas

2009-06-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

A few months ago an elderly lady started attending our church. We are off the main road quite a ways and thought nothing of her walking as do so many even though she uses a walking stick and really moves slowly. She mentioned after a couple weeks that she wanted to keep coming but indicated that she would like for us to pick her up at her house. So, we took her home and realized exactly how far away she really was. She must live at least a mile and the trip one way for her on foot must have taken well over and hour.From that point forward we decided that we would drive to her house each Sunday before church and bring her with us. Well, it wasn’t much longer after that and we started having kids who lived near Mrs. Lisaga wanting to ride with us to church. Before we knew it we had ballooned from one elderly lady to nearly 30 kids and an elderly lady each week. This past week alone, I had 18 people in my vehicle. I think the most amazing thing is that we pick all these folks up right behind a Mosque and their coming out of a highly Islamic populated neighborhood.

Due to all our growth we’ve started to outgrow our building and are in desperate need of something bigger and something more permanent. However, in the mean time we decided that the first step would be to have some benches fabricated so that our folks would have seating during Sunday school and during the morning services. In the past 13 weeks the church has doubled from its original 35-40. So, this week we added some colorful benches to the church.

Lossa Bas has really been something else; from its growth to all those who have been saved and are earnestly studying God’s word. I’ve just really enjoyed the opportunity to minister there with these folks.

Witnessing to the Chief's brother

2009-06-23T00:21:00.001-07:00

This month while Don was here we decided to drive up to Dapaong and visit Pastor Soapa. Being that it was Don’s first trip to Togo yet alone to Africa, he had never had the opportunity to meet Saopa. So, we left quite early from Kara and drove the three hours up to Dapaong along with another friend. When we arrived, we did some introductions, sat around for a while to chat and eventually conducted some video interviews for a future presentation that Don is putting together for me. From, Soapa’s house we drove another 45 minutes out on mostly dirt roads to a remote village out in the bush. We bypassed four bridges that had collapsed the year before and drove through the river beds—thank goodness it was the dry season still!

Pulling up into the village the road gradually became smaller till I was driving my vehicle on a walking trail rather then a dirt road. The corn fields had crept on us and with ever movement forward we could feel the ruts from the different rows of corn. We saw the house of the Chief, and elderly Christian man that Randy some 11 years prior had the opportunity to lead to the Lord. And just last year he followed the Lord in baptism. I pulled up under a near by tree and as we started to get out the folks started to arrive. Now, I can’t speak to why they would be coming over. Maybe it was the vehicle, the white people or really there was just not much going on in the middle of nowhere, where they lived. Either way, it was great to see them and recognize the faces of many of the church members.

A bench was brought and we sat awaiting the chief. Moments later he came and made his way through the crowd of nearly 50 plus people. He came forward, and we knelt out of respect to greet him. It’s always such an honor to be around this kind, tender hearted man! We sat around for an hour or more talking, asking question and doing some video and eventually we started heading towards the vehicle. That’s when the chief looked to me and asked if I would take a couple minutes to talk to his brother about Christ.

I looked around. I thought possible the huts near by or the church would be a more secluded place and easier to share the gospel with him; a place easier to hear, easier to concentrate, easier to think with less distractions. But alas, we just sat back down under the mango tree out in the middle of the bush with all the folks standing around and for the next ten minutes or so, it was as if Soapa, the chief’s brother and I were the only three people on the face of the earth. I explained thoroughly that we were all sinners and that Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross was indeed the only payment sufficient to pardon sins and give us a relationship with Christ. When I was done explaining, I looked to him and asked him if he had ever accepted Christ before. He told me that he had, which was a shock since his brother, the chief had asked me to share it with him so I believed he hadn’t. I asked him when and he replied while you where speaking, I believed. So, I looked at him and said, well if that’s true lets pray now and why don’t you commit to God with your mouth what you’ve said you already believe in your heart.

I was later told that this man had been closed to the things of God in the past. I’m not sure why he was more sensitive this particular day but I’m so thrilled to have been present when God worked and it was such a neat thing to see another soul accept Christ and recognize the depth of the sacrifice He made on the Cross for u

A glimpse of Togo

2009-06-06T10:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I drove down to Lome to pick up Don, a friend of mine. He was coming in with a group from my home church in Jacksonville, Florida. While the majority of the group was going to stay down in Lome to do some short term missions work, I pulled Don away for four days to do some filming. He’s a full time media pastor and has the equipment, experience and heart to do what I needed done. Since, my homecoming is just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to have some footage of the ministry here in Togo to share with everyone back in the States. The trip was very brief yet packed with lots of things to get done.

The first full day we drove from Lome to Kara which takes typically 6-7 hours. We ate lunch, settled in then after a couple hours headed into Kara near where I’m preaching each week. In the Lossa Bas area we took some footage then passed upon three men investigating what we were doing. So when the footage had been captured we wondered over to them and presented the gospel. They all seemed interested and took the tracts and bibles that we gave them very thankfully.

The second full day was much like the first in that we started off around 5:15 in the morning. We ate a quick bit for breakfast then packed ourselves into my truck and headed north to Dapaong. The trip is about 3.5 hours and didn’t disappoint! We arrived in Dapaong in the later morning and were greeted by Pastor Soapa. He’s such a great soul and really loves the Lord! We mounted up and headed out to a particular village that he’s pastoring and I have helped in. When we got there the crowd began to build. It’s tough to say sometime wither it’s because of what is going on or that a truck is out in the middle of now where. Literally the road had run out and for nearly 10 minutes we drove on walking paths. Either way, the crowd gathered and the little elderly Christian chief came over to greet us. It’s always such a pleasure to see him. He expressed his thanks for all that we had done, his amazement at how God has been blessing his village and people and yet asked for help—knowing that so much more of his people need Christ. After spending a couple hours visiting we decided that it was about time to leave and headed out. Before leaving Dapoang we had the opportunity to eat authentic Togolese cuisine with Pastor Soapa. Don had expressed his desire to have the “full African experience” and I thought that this might help that desire along!

The third day we started off early and much like the prior days we shot film in different locations attempting to gather enough to make a short presentation that would adequately represent Togo and the ministry that God has called me too and given me. We did get to see some wild animals at a local Game Reserve before heading out to the Tamburma people who live a couple hours from my house. The difference was night and day between the Christian village in Dapaong and the deeply fetish villages of Tamburma. It was another stark reminder of how much this little country of Togo needs Christ!

The final day was much of a travel day. We started out around 6 am but were very much weary. We traveled back down to Lome before finally heading out another hour towards the Togo-Benin boarder to meet up with my Church’s missions group. It was nice to visit with them and see how everyone had been doing while we were absent.

The trip for Don was short. It was fast past but for me it was very memorable. God is doing much in Togo yet it was a reminder of how much still really needs to be done. It also helped to show me that God really has given me a great life, with a bright future and a wonderful work to participate in.

Hanging of the tin

2009-05-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Well, this month after much time, we were able to hang the roof on the garage out at Sarakawa where the construction equipment will be stored when not in use. The next step is to fabricate and hang the door followed by some windows, an exterior slab and the stucco.

Passing out Bibles

2009-05-04T04:03:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I issued a challenge in the church. I said that if any one was willing to memorize 13 salvation themed verses that I had selected then I would give them a new Bible. I first started by handing out John and Roman N.T. which had the verses pre-highlighted. Last week after several weeks of the adults working on the verses privately, we had a special spontaneous time of reciting. The service was over yet the adults wanted to stay around and quote the passages. Surprisingly, everyone stayed to listen, even if they hadn’t memorized the verses. One by one twelve adults stood up and ten successfully recited all the verses.

This week, I arrived with ten brand new copies of God’s word to hand out. In the Sunday school hour we talked about the importance of God’s word then we took a couple minutes and had those that had memorized the passages to come forward to receive their Bibles. It was such a neat thing and a great accomplishment for many of the adults. Following this weeks we had three more adults stand before us and recite their verses. So next weekend we’ll be handing out some more Bibles.

It’s always great to see how the Lord’s people get excited and motivated to memorize, meditate and used God’s word!

Note: I would like to give a special thanks to all the wonderful folks at BEAMS and those that support BEAMS for making these copies of God’s word available free of charge to the people of Togo!

Lossa Church

2009-04-22T06:42:00.000-07:00

Lisa, Owi and I drove my vehicle off the main road, down a steep embank- ment then crossed over several ditches on the twisting dirt road before we finally started up another bank for the village church’s property. Cresting on a hill we put the vehicle into park and prayed for a moment. It’s was our fourth week at Lossa and we were out on visitation. We disembarked the vehicle and looked out across the vast remoteness and started towards a near by mountain looking for anyone to talk to along the way. Our first group was some masons working on a house. They took a moment from their work and patiently listened as the gospel was presented. We handed them copies of the books of John and Romans then gave them a few tracts to look through along with an invitation to join with us the next day.

Looking forward we moved from hut to hut, house to house, and from field to field witnessing to folks along the way. Our final stop brought us to a collection of houses typically arranged in round shaped groupings. With the advent of White people, the village folk started come out from all over to listen to what we wanted to share with them. It was amazing to see how patient the people are and receptive to the Word of God!

Sunday morning we took the same twisted rock covered road back up to the Church. Our Sunday School hour began at 7:30 and as I looked around I noticed that we had several new visitors with us. Lisa had been preparing and this weekend was her first lesson in a newly formed Children’s program. As the children departed and I was left with the adults I noticed a sweet little elderly lady that we had talked with in that last grouping of houses just the day before. After the service we began to talk (through a translator—French into Kabiye) and I found out that she was a believer but hadn’t found a church yet. It encouraged her to continue coming and to be faithful to the Lord.

The little village work out in Lossa is such a blessing and it’s always a blessing to meet with fellow Christians and to see their hearts. They may be without a lot—in American standards, but they have so much from the Christian perspective.

Easter Sunday in Togo

2009-04-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hesitating and looking around I cautiously entered the unfamiliar waters. Having been reassured there weren’t any alligators in this particular lake I chose still to wade out watchfully.

As the twenty-thirty of us gathered on the shores of this lake at eight A.M., we had sung and prepared for the baptismal service. Each of the ten folks to be baptized paused and took a moment to reflect on the Salvation that God had brought to their lives. It was interesting to listen to them each, as it was in Moba, I need to wait till it was translated into French before I fully understood. Yet, it was awesome to be reminded that God never needs a translator that no matter what language we speak, God understands us perfectly!

One by one the men, women and young people filed down into the waters that are often used to bath in or draw water from. As they shuffled through the waters and came near, all reflected on their parting words from the shore. They had accepted Christ and in so were now ready to follow Him in this next step, a sign that they are true believers and a public profession that they are willing for all to know of their decision. Each one came to me and with each one I had the privilege of baptizing. It was truly and honor.

From the lakeside service, we drove our two vehicles back to the church which was a mere six kilometers away, and held services. Randy had reminded me that many Togolese have the misconception that once they have been baptized there isn’t a need to follow Christ, to grow as a Christian or continue attending church. With this insight, I preached out of John 15—“Abiding” in Christ and “bringing forth fruit.”

The trip was extremely enjoyable and profitable. I had the wonderful company of the Shanks family, and Lisa. The day before Easter, we all spent a bit of time with Pastor Sopa and a village work of his. We were reacquainted with the elderly Christian village chief and had the opportunity to mingle with the folks before heading back to Dapaong and eventually to Pastor Joel’s church for the Easter morning services, the next day.

New Missionaries

2009-03-30T05:42:00.000-07:00

This past week, I headed down to Lome with fellow missionaries; Lisa and the Shanks Family. The drive down was pretty much uneventful with the exception of a couple wrecks along the way. Nothing as bad though as the two trucks that we saw complete totaled after jack knifing in the mountains with cement and cotton loads. I’m not really sure that anyone walked away from that one.

We had several goals to accomplish while in the capital. Most dairy products such as cheeses really can only be found in Lome, so, groceries where high on the priority list. I was also in search for propane and steel. In Togo they sell propane tanks about the size of bbq tanks in the US. However, for over a year now there has been a shortage of propane in the country. I think it has more to do with the inability to keep up with supply and not so much the lack of the gas itself. Either way, we left Kara with four tanks and after visiting the Director of Gas for the entire country we headed down to the Port i.e. the filling station and left there with seven. From there I was in search for steel to finish the Church building project in Pagado and also the garage at Sarakowa. While, I didn’t find exactly what I needed, I was able to get something I believe would work for my project but the Church project is still in limbo till the right type of steel gets back into the country.

I think, quite possible, the greatest blessing of this trip was meeting up with JJ and Melissa Alderman who had just made it into the country for permanent residency. We all went out to a local French restaurant and chatted about various things and caught up on life. It’s such a blessing to have them in country despite them living so far south from all of us in Kara.

All in all, the trip to Lome was extremely productive and profitable if not terribly busy! God blessed and we had no troubles traveling and made good timing on roads and whiling looking accidents we ourselves where not involved in any—which is always a huge blessing!

Finalizing Phase Deux.

2009-03-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

For the past week, I’ve been taking daily runs about 10 miles from my house out to Sarakowa where my container is and the ministry’s tractor is stored. This project has been in planning for sometime and this past November/December phase one had begun on the garage. I’m so thankful to say the phase two has been successfully completed. The walls and the floors have been raised and poured.

Yesterday, I spent the entire morning and early afternoon (with a nice red sunburn to show for it) with two masons and three helpers as we mixed and poured nearly a metric ton of cement by hand with the aid of a diesel cement mixing machine. Each bucket of gravel, sand and water were painfully and meticulously measured out and then dumped into the mixer before ultimately making its way into the front end loader of the tractor or into a near by wheel barrel and then finally into the slab itself. After nearly five and a half hours, the 16 x 26 foot slab with reinforced steel had been poured. It took the masons another two hours to do the finishing work on the slab before it was ready to be left overnight.

With phase two behind me it’s not time to focus on phase three which is right around the corner and it consists of hanging the steel door, fabricating rafters and attaching the steel. Prayerfully, sometime in the next 30 days or so we’ll see that accomplished.

After the building is complete the tractor and other construction will have a permanent home while not being used for ministry purposes.

Finishing up the walls at Pagoda

2009-02-27T04:39:00.000-08:00

This past Monday I took the two masons and their two apprentices out to Pagoda to continue the construction of the walls and the headers on the village church building. I revisited them on Wednesday when I took out some cement and some other materials. I was absolutely amazed at how swiftly the men had put up the walls. Prés Koffi, the pastor of the village and some of the other church members volunteered their time and were assisting in whatever means possible. Some would mix cement on the ground by shovel while others would transport water in giant 4-5 gallon bowls on top of their heads about a ¼ of a mile or further so that the work could continue with out delay.

This past Friday, thinking I was running up some more supplies, I arrived with some steel for the building and realized that it was for the last header and after a quick hour of work the wall and her headers were completely finished.

From here, the next step is to put on the roof, then fabricate and install the air blocks into the openings, hang the door and finally finish off the building with the stuck-o on the interior and exterior. Despite this sounding like a lot work, the reality is that the most difficult part is over; the pouring of the foundation, floor and raising the walls.

Thanks be to God for his safety and protecting in this project thus far.

Film nights in Lama Fin

2009-02-24T08:53:00.000-08:00

Togo is made up nearly 6 million people and speaks over 38 languages. The primary group of people that live near and around me are the Kabiye people. They have their own language and their own unique traditions. One of these traditions is February Funeral month. I don’t know when it started or how long it has been going on but I do know that with a lack of entertainment that many folks are drawn to these funerals if for no other reason then to drink and party. Typically, funerals are held the following February after the death of a loved one. Within days of the actual death they are put into the ground but the big “family” gathering celebration/mourning won’t take place till the following February.

Keeping this in mind, it’s difficult to compete with such a tradition that has so long been accustomed to the people. However, our little church in Lama Fin decided to hold two nights of evangelistic meetings. Despite the season, the Lord blessed and their where nearly 200 the first night and around 150 the second night. This is approximately 3-4 times the size of the average congFilm night in Lama Finregation on Sunday morning. Each night I had the privileged of preaching the gospel and having a friend translate directly into Kabiye for the folks. The first night we showed the “Jesus Film” and I taught on the Rich man who went to Hell. The second night we showed a film about Jacob and Joseph. The main theme was reconciliation and I translated that into John 3 with Nicodemus and how we all need to be reconciled to God.

We didn’t see anyone make a profession of faith either night but this past Sunday a man named Matthew came to church for the first time and afterwards, sitting down with him and the national pastor, I watched him pray and accept Christ as his Savior. It’s always exciting to see God work and answer prayers! And, I’m thrilled about the decision that Matthew has made to follow Christ!

New Missionaries and a new experience in Dapaong

2009-02-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of the month the Aldermans, Lisa and I all drove down from Kara to Lome, eventually getting a taxi from there to Accra, Ghana to meet up with the Shanks family, our newest missionary additions to northern Togo.

They had been studying in Quebec City, Quebec (Canada) for sometime and had just finished arranging all their personal effects before coming over. After a full day of flying, they touched down in Accra. It was such a relief for them in so many ways when the arrived and it was such great thing to see their joy as they pulled their luggage down the sidewalk towards us with the biggest smiles imaginable displaced clearly and vividly across their faces!

From Accra we headed back to Lome to get some shopping, ministry issues and mechanical problems sorted out before heading the 6 plus hours back north to Kara. It’s really such an exciting time for new missionaries and it is always a time of reminiscing for the other missionaries on hand like us who have already gone through all this.

Almost a week to the day and fresh off of jet lag from the West Coast to Togo, Lisa, the Shanks and I all packed into my vehicle and headed north to Dapaong to meet up with Pastor Soapa to show two nights of evangelistic films coupled with preaching.

Lisa had brought with her a 3 foot big ball and despite it being dry, dirty and dusty outside the kids had a blast kicking, running and pushing perhaps the biggest ball they have ever seen. Being unique as it was, it immediately became a crowd drawer if not favorite and attracted many to the church moments before we began to show the films. Each night the buildings were packed out and folks could be seen standing outside the church watching the film. On a typical Sunday in these villages there might be 20-40 children and 8-15 adults but when we showed the films we would have easily 150 plus each night. It has been such a great way to introduce Christ to folk that would not normally come to church for whatever reason.

On our last day, we attended church with Pastor Soapa and his family. The ride from where we were staying in Dapaong to the village of Naki West was easily 25-30 minutes with half of that on dirt roads. That morning despite most of the servicing being conducting in the Moba language it was wonderful meeting to be in. At the close of the service, I was asked to come to the front where I was handed the new born baby girl. I’m not sure what the traditions are across all of Togo but amongst the Moba people who are under the guidance and pastoral care of Pastor Soapa, it’s tradition for the pastor or the visiting missionary to dedicate that baby to the Lord and give them a Bible name. I had prayed once before over a little one in another village but that particular morning it was my first opportunity/privilege to name a baby. I chose to name here Rebecca.

Whither we are in Accra, Lome, Kara, Dapaong or Naki West it’s always exciting to see how God leads us and is working in the lives of the people here!

Foundation pour in Pagoda

2009-01-31T22:13:00.000-08:00

Randy and I started the day off by him meeting at my house around 6:15 am. I jumped into his truck and we drove nine miles out to Sarakowa where the cement mixer and some of the others tools where located. A short time later we headed back towards town and after having dropped me off we meet back up again at his house around 7:30. The goal was to get out to Pagoda to clean up the foundation dig, prep the ground, cut the steel and pour concrete.

In his extended cab Toyota pick up truck, we took 6 of us, the tools and the mixer. The drive from Randy’s house to the remote village is about 45 minutes but really is only 23 miles away. Today, it was probably closer to an hour drive due to the mixer on the back end of the truck.

When we arrived I noticed that water basin had been filled with about 500 gallons of water which was nice because we probably used 80% of that on the project. The trenches were inspected by the two master masons and then cleaned up. To save on expenditures we had dug the footers directly into the ground and then used the ground as the form in which to pour our concrete.

I suppose in the US it would be as simple as pre ordering concrete and having a company come out with their rigs to deliver it at a specific hour and a specific quantity. While, I very much wish it was the same here, I have to say that it’s a bit more labor intensive and sometimes interesting! Prêt Koffi, the pastor of this church had arranged for the gravel, sand and of course the water to all be trucked in or in some cases carried in by locals and church members to the job site. Previously, we had taken numerous trips to transport cement and had 90, 110 lbs. bags of cement standing by. The final tally for the cement used was 27 bags, 162-5 gallon buckets of gravel, 18-5 gallon buckets of sand and a ton of water! You can imagine how exhausted we all were at the end of the day!

Nearing 3 pm we had finished the footer. The steel was in and the first row of blocks, which is always the most difficult to lie was down. We cleaned everything down and huddled around the mixer as Prêt Koffi led us in a prayer to thank the Lord for all the work that had been accomplished today.

It was such a blessing to spend time with the men as they worked so fervently and diligently. There was one man in particular. He was about 21 years of age who started working with us when we first arrived and continued till about noon. He’s a member of the church and was very much excited about the church but I noticed he started getting a bit worn down. Of course, he was lifting the 5 gallon buckets of gravel into the cement mixer so that, I though explained his fatigue. However, around 11 am while talking with Randy I discovered that he was pretty sick and not feeling well yet he came out in the heat, sun and did the hardest job on the site. I was so impressed with his attitude and commitment towards the Lords work there in Pagoda. It seems that no matter how learned or how experienced you might be there is always something you can learn from the wonderful people here in Togo! It’s such a blessing to work along side them and humbling at times as well.

Cement and Blocks go hand in hand

2009-01-11T04:49:00.001-08:00

The past few days have been spent running back and forth to Pagoda and Kara. It’s only about 23 miles in length but takes about 45 minutes each direction. We’ve found four tons or 80 sacs of cement in Kara and have started transporting it out one ton at a time.
On one particular afternoon one of our guys stood in line at a local Cement vender for 5 hours and was only able to acquire one ton. It’s the dry season and building is in full swing hence cement always seems to be in short supply and the trucks don’t seem to be able to bring it up from Lome quick enough.

The last two days of this week I’ve been able to take the Mason and his apprentice out to Pagoda where they have been fabricating blocks by hand. With one mold, a cement mixer and two assistants the mason was able to produce 350 blocks the first day and the sum of the second brought the total within reach of 500. With 700 more needed to elevate our count to 1,200, our prayer is that by mid weeks end we’ll see all the blocks fabricated for the entire church project. From there we’ll lay out the building and start on the foundation and eventually the floor.

The end of a season and a start of a new

2009-01-06T13:33:00.000-08:00

This past Christmas season was a little extra special. Not only was I able to purchase a vehicle but a week later was able to pick up my older sister and her husband who flew in from Mumbai, India for ten days. Christmas truly is a special time to reflect on what Christ has done for us but passing the time in reflection with your family makes it even more extraordinary. They left shortly before the new years and now things are starting to settle back down.

This past week I arranged to start meeting with a second French tutor so that I could not just meet on the weekends but could also work during the week. I’ve been here 26 months and am basically fluent but I still have such a long way to go if I want to be fluent without errors and that is my ultimate goal.

I was also able to head out to Pagoda this week. It’s a village about 45 minutes to the East of Kara. Randy has been working with this church for sometime and her pastor is a recent graduate from the Bible Institute. Pastor Koffi and his family live in Pagoda and their church has been meeting in a rented block building for years now. God has provided the funds through Randy’s ministry and we are starting the preparation stages of construction. This week the blocks were made and the water citrine was constructed to hold water for the overall project. After construction, it will become the out door baptistery.

God has truly been working in this church. The land was a donation and much of the work is donated from the local congregation. It was such a blessing to visit, survey the land and understand the vision for the permanent future church. God really is blessing this work and it’s always fantastic to be part of or near something He’s blessing.

The windows of Heaven have opened

2008-12-20T15:10:00.000-08:00

In July, I decided that I need to actively begin searching for a vehicle. I had been saving for some time but hadn’t purchases anything up till then. I had been blessed with the Aldermans being home on furlough for nearly 10 months. This freed up a vehicle for me and gave me extra time to save a bit more. Around the first week of July, after the Aldermans had returned from the States, I discovered that a nice heavy duty, well kept vehicle was up for sale. I had been told that a missionary couple in their mid 70’s were leaving Togo for good and the Southern Baptists were interested in selling off their Toyota Prado (Landcruiser) ‘01. When, I initially enquired about the price of the vehicle I was told that they wanted 8,000,000 Francs for it. It’s crazy to think that anything would cost 8 million anything. However, this vehicle with the current exchange rate at the time was listed at just around 20,000 US dollars. I analyzed my budget and prayed but just didn’t have that kind of cash for a vehicle.

A bit disappointed, I went back to the drawing board and began to save with my new plan; being that in the beginning of October Randy and I would head down to the Port of Lomé and search for something with whatever I had in hand. However, I started speaking to my father and he had encouraged me to have more faith, believe that God was bigger than this and give Him time to work. He encouraged me to wait another two months till the end of November or the beginning of December. So I did.
The end of November was rolling around and by this time I had 6,000,000 CFA (Francs) saved up for a vehicle. My plan was to take this money to the port with Randy and find something suitable. Honestly, it’s difficult for anyone to fathom the “den of thieves” at the port. Buying vehicles here isn’t like Stateside where it’s an easy transition, the dealers are brokering and banks are willing to lend cash. Here you have to have all the cash up front, there are all sorts of hidden fees, and the price is never fixed. This society thrives off of bartering!

Randy was prepared to head down to Lome with me on the first of December but first challenged me to follow up on some possible leads. One of the leads was to re-contact the Southern Baptist about the vehicle that up for sale five months earlier. At this juncture, I wasn’t sure of its situation. I was assuming it had sold and even if it hadn’t I wasn’t sure she was willing to lower the price to something I could afford. I emailed the broker the day after Thanksgiving to inform her that if the vehicle was still up for sale then I would be interested in purchasing it. If she would be willing to lower price about 2 million CFA. Surprisingly, she wrote back the next morning. Not only was the vehicle still on the market but she was willing to agree on my price.

Randy and I moved around our schedules a bit and came down to Lome on the second week of December and just a few days ago I picked up the vehicle! I think one of the most amazing things about how God has worked out this situation is that, I really liked and wanted this it. But the 20,000 dollar price tag back in July was just too much. However, through God answering my prayers and that of so many others, His leading and encouraging through godly folks like my father, I was able to buy it at only 12,000 dollars thanks to the broker’s new price and the fact that the value of the dollar has climbed nearly 33% in the last five months.

This vehicle isn’t new but it’s absolutely the perfect vehicle that God wanted me to have. He tested me all the way and in the end proved Himself faithful as He always does. God is good and I’m so thankful that I have such a Great God!

The Evangelistic Campaign at Lama Fin

2008-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

This past Friday and Saturday nights I went over to Lama Fin, where I attend church. Pastor Phillip and I hosted two nights of evangelistic Films. Our church is two and half years old and is averaging about 50-60 each Sunday morning. However, films are a great way to attract many that would never step foot in the church building on Sundays.

Each night I would arrive just moments before dark and set up the projector, the generator, lights, amplifier and DVD player. We used the white wall on the side of the church to project the film and it worked out great. Around 7 p.m. each evening we started with a time of prayer, then sang some songs before starting into the films. The first night we showed the Jesus Film which is about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. It’s very salvation oriented, giving a 10 minute recap of the gospel plan at the end. The second night we showed a film entitled “La Lumière” (The Light). It’s an animated film published by Chick Publishing. It was fantastic as well.

Each evening about half way through the film we would pause the film and Pastor Phillip would stand and preach in Kaybe, which is the African tribal language in the area. He would present the gospel and challenge the folks to make a profession of faith. After about 10 or 15 minutes we would start up the film again and the when it was finished the folks would slowly leave for their respective houses.

In talking to Pastor Phillip we conservatively estimated that there hundreds each night in attendance. The crowd would start out small but built as the film passed. Some folks brought their own chairs, others sat on benches from the church while yet others stood in the background or next to the near by road just to catch a glimps.

I recall listening to Phillips message as his voice echoed off the near by mountain and I later said to him, wouldn’t it be something if one day we got to heaven and you meet someone who said, “I’m saved today because I was sitting at my home one night on the side of the mountain and I heard your message on Christ sacrifice.” It was just a neat thought.

Only the Lord knows truly how many folks heard the gospel over this past weekend but it was an honor to be able to serve the Lord and to see so many come out to hear the message of Christ redemptive plan for their lives.