Testimonies of people baptized on Sunday at Agoudze, Togo (see previous blog for details and pictures):
#1 (Man about 35-40 years old) - "I used to go to bars; I quarred all the time. One day the pastor came and told me about the Savior. I asked, "Is there really a Savior who exists?" I added, "If there is truly a Savior, show me!" I started going to church where I heard about Jesus Christ. I noticed a change in my heart and life. I stopped going to the bars; there was no more bitterness. Now Jesus is my Savior. He has truly transformed my life. Jesus died for MY sins; He rose from the dead. By His grace, I am His. Before Christ, I had money but no peace. Now I am completely different."
#2 (Wife of #1 - first baptismal candidate) - "I used to go to the charlatans. But when I was sick and went to the charlatan, I was not always healed. So I was not satisfied. I would receive amulets from the charlatan; they would sometimes do ceremonies. One day, after being engaged to the man who is now my husband, I talked with a lady from Assogba-Kope who told me to leave fetishism. I told her "no, if I abandon everything having to do with fetishism, I will become a crazy woman." I did start going to church and even talked with the pastor. But I still kept my amulets. One day I saw a film that said that we needed to burn our amulets. After the film, I realized that was true. I told the pastor that I would burn my amulets - and I did so in the Assogba-Kope church (in a nearby village). Unfortunately, after that, I sinned against God; I was involved in sexual relationships before marriage. I became pregnant, and I lost the baby. I realized that I had sinned; I repented - and, by God's grace, I am forgiven. My life has changed. Now, if someone causes me a problem, I accept it. Even if my family does evil to me, I follow God. I am now ready to do whatever God wants me to do. I still have no children so I ask you to pray that God will give me children."
#3 (Man of perhaps 45 years old). This man's brother spoke first, telling about him. He said: "My brother was a drunk. He was always drunk. Even in rainy season, when He was supposed to work in his fields, he didn't do anything. Just drank. He would go to the charlatans when he had problems. Now he has completely changed. Now I have a brother in whom I have confidence."
The man himself (the one who was baptized) said, "My wife sold tchouk (local alcoholic drink). I would look for money in the house, even in her cloths (pagnes), to buy drink. I was involved sexually with women and with young girls at that time; I drank; I quarreled. After drinking one Saturday, a brother came and talked with me about Jesus Christ. He asked if I would go to church the next day. Even that morning, I had money in my pocket for a drink - but how could I drink in front of this brother? That Sunday, the pastor talked about my own life!! He talked about drinking. But I did not yet give my life to Christ. Later, I went to the charlatan because I needed to sacrifice at the end of the year. But instead, at that time, I decided to follow Jesus - so I let go of the sacrifice. At times I have a desire to return to drink. Thankfully, I have abandoned drink completely now for 1 year and 1 month. I know that God sent His Son for me - I have asked Him to live in my heart. I have cut off relationship with the world. Now I want to live for God; I want to share the gospel with others. I am the oldest in my family and I do not allow sacrifices in my family."
#4 - Wife of man above: "I used to go to the charlatans. Living with my husband before he accepted Christ, was not easy! There were lots of quarrels. I went to various churches. Then the pastor started a Bible study here in this village in the market. I heard about Jesus. When this church started, I began coming. I still had my amulets. But after hearing the Word of God, I burned my amulets. I used to enjoy quarreling; now there is patience in me and I am calm. I know God sent His Son to die for my own sins. He died and rose again. In all problems, I now know that God is there. I also burned my idols - but I have been protected by God!"
#5 - Young girl (perhaps 18-20 years old): "I lived in the village of Kpetegan. I practiced fetishism. A charlatan introduced "power in my skin" (injected something in my arm). My father died and I came to live in Agoudze. One day a doctor from the hospital in Tsiko came (our mission hospital); I was sick. I was treated. I went to my house, ate some food - then cried to my mother that I had a bad headache, and fell to the ground. Everyone thought I had died. After a long time, I recovered. I was taken to the village dispensary but the doctor said he could not treat me and that I needed to go to the charlatan. I continued to have headaches. The charlatan gave me amulets. I attended a different church but always had my amulets. One day, a group of Baptists came to our village and showed a film. I heard about Jesus Christ and accepted Him as my Savior."
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Baptisms, Anniversaries, Exams, and Pigs!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Togo! What an incredible month this has been! I would love to share some of the highlights with you:
**Baptism at Kaduasso-Kope.
Ten people were baptized in this village on Easter Sunday. What a celebration to see them openly demonstrate their commitment to following Jesus Christ!
**Baptism at Agoudze. This past Sunday five people were baptized at Agoudze, another church plant under the direction of Pastor Martouka. Our hospital’s mobile clinic ministry as well as the CHE ministry have been involved in this village. The testimonies of the five people who were baptized were incredible: each of them telling of how they had turned from idols to serve the living and true God! I have translated the testimonies somewhere on this blog site (I hope!). If you would like to read them — you will be thrilled (yes, “blogging” is a new experience for me!).
**Ring-burning! At the end of the church service and baptism on Sunday morning at Agoudze, while most of us were starting to leave the church, the pastor suddenly called us back. He asked us to take our seats — and then explained that a young man (in the yellow shirt in the photo) had just talked with him. This young man had been at the church the evening before when a film was shown; the film told of a person who gave up his fetish beliefs and the items in which he trusted so that he could follow God. This young man saw the film and heard the preaching both that evening and in the morning service. He said that he had made a decision to trust completely in Christ as his Savior. He explained that he had worn a special ring for years; a ring given to him by a “charlatan” (fetish priest) who said that if he ever took this ring off, he would die. The young man held up the ring and said that he wanted to burn the ring right then, symbolizing the fact that he no longer trusted in talismans or amulets or rings but in God alone to protect him. Wow!! The whole congregation went outside, in front of the little church, and gathered around twigs soaked with diesel fuel — and watched as this young man lit the fire that burned his ring.
Our prayer is that God will confirm this decision in his heart and that He will protect him from evil as he continues to trust Him. The enemy, Satan, is strong — incredibly strong in these villages (and the world over!) and he would like nothing better than to cause one of these new believers to turn their backs on God. Please pray for the people who have made decisions in these villages, including this young man.
**20th Anniversary: Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of something(?) in the village of Bodze. It was announced as the 20th anniversary of the church. However, it seems that the church actually started 18 years ago. But there was a Bible study before that. So maybe it was the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bible study that grew into a church. Or it might have been the 20th anniversary of Pastor Yaovi’s ministry. I am not sure. But who cares?! The fact is, for the past # of years, God has been doing a mighty work in that village — and it was great to celebrate with the people there. Two of our nursing students are from Bodze, so it is especially thrilling to see the fruit of that ministry and know that these two young people will be involved in touching hundreds of lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ!
**Nursing Students: Speaking of nursing students, all 20 of them are right now riding in two vans on their way to Mango, in the north of Togo! Most of these students will be serving the Lord in our mission hospital being constructed in Mango – and most of them have never been to Mango. The missionaries there have organized this trip so the students can see that part of Togo during their school break. Our prayer is that God would put a huge burden on the hearts of these students for the spiritual and physical needs of people in that part of Togo! Please pray as our students will be there today through Friday. Please pray for safety for them as they travel some terrible roads in order to get there. Two of them have already called this morning just to say that they are on their way!! They are excited — and I am very thankful for this opportunity for them and for what God is going to do in their hearts and lives.
The current trimester ended last Friday. Once again we very definitely saw God’s hand at work as the students completed their course work, clinical experiences, and trimester cumulative exams. Stress was a little high as they sat for two mornings (three hours each morning) with exam questions in front of them! The morning of the first exam, I asked our administrative assistant, Germain, to pray for the students. He asked God to give each of the students a grade of 80% or better. This teacher was a little skeptical . . . Even more skeptical as I started grading exams. What was exciting was that, when I finished grading and calculating averages, the absolute lowest exam grade was 79.5% (rounded to 80%)!!! What an incredible answer to prayer!
In addition to seeing progress academically, I thank God for the way He continues working in the hearts of our students. Please pray for spiritual growth and maturity for each of them; pray that they would truly apply God’s Word to their lives — and that their lives would exemplify Christ in our hospital, in their homes, etc!
**CHE vehicle: Our CHE vehicle continues to struggle. It is once again at the doctor’s office (i.e., mechanic!). Unfortunately, when the vehicle is struggling, our teams are not always able to get to the villages, which is difficult for the villagers and for us. For example, our Thursday team this week does not have a vehicle available — they are considering renting one to take them to the village that is already planning on them coming. But renting a vehicle is costly. As are the repairs on our vehicle. Would you please pray that God will give wisdom about purchasing a vehicle. I am actually scared as I think about what vehicle to buy — not wanting to use God’s money unwisely, afraid to buy anything at all because I know the roads will destroy whatever we buy, yet knowing that we need a dependable vehicle for this ministry! I really am not sure what to do. I am attaching a link to a picture of the car that one of our Mango missionaries recently bought — he thinks it would be perfect for the off–road driving of our CHE teams:
(http://ecom.toyota-gib.com/Default.asp?WCI=VariantDetails&WCE=VID:2008431). I mentioned this as a possibility in the last prayer letter — what is exciting is that immediately after receiving that letter, two people responded and sent money to ABWE to help with the cost of a new vehicle. We have a long ways to go in order to have enough! Thank you for your prayers.
**Birth Day!! Last Easter (2012), one of my supporting churches provided money specifically for the CHE villages. One of our CHE teams used part of that money to buy three pigs for a village with the goal of pig-raising in order to help supply money and nutrition for villagers. I asked you to pray that the pigs would reproduce. This past Sunday morning, while at church in Agoudze, one of our CHE members received a phone call. Sure enough, our CHE leaders are now grandparents!! One of the pigs gave birth to 7 piglets; the other to 5 piglets! Thanks for praying for pig multiplication in the CHE villages (some of these prayer requests are a little “different” — but God is using each of these as a means of touching lives with the good news of Jesus Christ)!
Prep for Next Trimester: Please pray for preparations for the next trimester of the nursing program (starting May 13th). Pray for two dear friends from Cedarville who will be teaching the first two-week course on pediatrics and nursing care of patients with mental health problems. Please pray as I prep the renal course that follows their teaching. Please pray as we make some changes in our clinical practice in order to better prepare our students to work as effective nurses for God’s glory!
At times, especially when I know of a container coming to Togo, I include a list of “needs” just in case you might have some items sitting around the house(??) – or in case you are looking for a place to invest some money for eternity!! Here are some ideas:
Laptop computers for some of our faithful Togolese — and at least one pastor. If you just upgraded and have one sitting around gathering dust (or even not gathering dust!), there are some great opportunities for use on this side of the world!
Musical instruments — we can always use guitars, keyboards, trumpets. Our incredibly musical Togolese would love to use the instruments listed above in worship here in Togo.
Financially, there are opportunities to help with pastors’ transportation to and from villages; ongoing monthly support for the CHE ministry; about $1500 needed to finish the doors, walls, etc of a church in a CHE village; finances for transportation and meals for pastors’ wives fellowship (a time for the wives of our pastors to get together to study God’s Word); opportunity to purchase land for the Agoudze church ($450 total for three hectares, however big that is! My understanding is that it is a lot of land — and will be used for the church and for a church farm to help with the finances of the church) — not to mention the CHE vehicle.
What is neat is to see God’s hand at work as we pray for these needs! What a wonderful reminder of the fact that we work together with Him!! You and I, partnering with our God, for eternal results.
Thankful to be serving together,
Sharon
Address: ABWE, Missionary Finance, P.O. Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Togo! What an incredible month this has been! I would love to share some of the highlights with you:
**Baptism at Kaduasso-Kope.
 |
| Ten people baptized (+ 2 pastors) |
 |
| Baptism in river at Kaduasso-Kope, Togo |
This was really the first village in which our Community Health Evangelism (CHE) team began their ministry. We have had the privilege of working alongside Pastor Martouka in helping with this church plant and in seeing the villagers make changes spiritually as well as physically!
 |
| Pastor Martouka & family |
**Baptism at Agoudze. This past Sunday five people were baptized at Agoudze, another church plant under the direction of Pastor Martouka. Our hospital’s mobile clinic ministry as well as the CHE ministry have been involved in this village. The testimonies of the five people who were baptized were incredible: each of them telling of how they had turned from idols to serve the living and true God! I have translated the testimonies somewhere on this blog site (I hope!). If you would like to read them — you will be thrilled (yes, “blogging” is a new experience for me!).
**Ring-burning! At the end of the church service and baptism on Sunday morning at Agoudze, while most of us were starting to leave the church, the pastor suddenly called us back. He asked us to take our seats — and then explained that a young man (in the yellow shirt in the photo) had just talked with him. This young man had been at the church the evening before when a film was shown; the film told of a person who gave up his fetish beliefs and the items in which he trusted so that he could follow God. This young man saw the film and heard the preaching both that evening and in the morning service. He said that he had made a decision to trust completely in Christ as his Savior. He explained that he had worn a special ring for years; a ring given to him by a “charlatan” (fetish priest) who said that if he ever took this ring off, he would die. The young man held up the ring and said that he wanted to burn the ring right then, symbolizing the fact that he no longer trusted in talismans or amulets or rings but in God alone to protect him. Wow!! The whole congregation went outside, in front of the little church, and gathered around twigs soaked with diesel fuel — and watched as this young man lit the fire that burned his ring.
 |
| Young man at Agoudze burning fetish ring |
 |
| Ring burning, Agoudze |
**20th Anniversary: Two weeks ago, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of something(?) in the village of Bodze. It was announced as the 20th anniversary of the church. However, it seems that the church actually started 18 years ago. But there was a Bible study before that. So maybe it was the 20th anniversary of the start of the Bible study that grew into a church. Or it might have been the 20th anniversary of Pastor Yaovi’s ministry. I am not sure. But who cares?! The fact is, for the past # of years, God has been doing a mighty work in that village — and it was great to celebrate with the people there. Two of our nursing students are from Bodze, so it is especially thrilling to see the fruit of that ministry and know that these two young people will be involved in touching hundreds of lives with the gospel of Jesus Christ!
 |
| Not sure a person has truly "lived" until eating real African village food! |
**Nursing Students: Speaking of nursing students, all 20 of them are right now riding in two vans on their way to Mango, in the north of Togo! Most of these students will be serving the Lord in our mission hospital being constructed in Mango – and most of them have never been to Mango. The missionaries there have organized this trip so the students can see that part of Togo during their school break. Our prayer is that God would put a huge burden on the hearts of these students for the spiritual and physical needs of people in that part of Togo! Please pray as our students will be there today through Friday. Please pray for safety for them as they travel some terrible roads in order to get there. Two of them have already called this morning just to say that they are on their way!! They are excited — and I am very thankful for this opportunity for them and for what God is going to do in their hearts and lives.
The current trimester ended last Friday. Once again we very definitely saw God’s hand at work as the students completed their course work, clinical experiences, and trimester cumulative exams. Stress was a little high as they sat for two mornings (three hours each morning) with exam questions in front of them! The morning of the first exam, I asked our administrative assistant, Germain, to pray for the students. He asked God to give each of the students a grade of 80% or better. This teacher was a little skeptical . . . Even more skeptical as I started grading exams. What was exciting was that, when I finished grading and calculating averages, the absolute lowest exam grade was 79.5% (rounded to 80%)!!! What an incredible answer to prayer!
In addition to seeing progress academically, I thank God for the way He continues working in the hearts of our students. Please pray for spiritual growth and maturity for each of them; pray that they would truly apply God’s Word to their lives — and that their lives would exemplify Christ in our hospital, in their homes, etc!
**CHE vehicle: Our CHE vehicle continues to struggle. It is once again at the doctor’s office (i.e., mechanic!). Unfortunately, when the vehicle is struggling, our teams are not always able to get to the villages, which is difficult for the villagers and for us. For example, our Thursday team this week does not have a vehicle available — they are considering renting one to take them to the village that is already planning on them coming. But renting a vehicle is costly. As are the repairs on our vehicle. Would you please pray that God will give wisdom about purchasing a vehicle. I am actually scared as I think about what vehicle to buy — not wanting to use God’s money unwisely, afraid to buy anything at all because I know the roads will destroy whatever we buy, yet knowing that we need a dependable vehicle for this ministry! I really am not sure what to do. I am attaching a link to a picture of the car that one of our Mango missionaries recently bought — he thinks it would be perfect for the off–road driving of our CHE teams:
(http://ecom.toyota-gib.com/Default.asp?WCI=VariantDetails&WCE=VID:2008431). I mentioned this as a possibility in the last prayer letter — what is exciting is that immediately after receiving that letter, two people responded and sent money to ABWE to help with the cost of a new vehicle. We have a long ways to go in order to have enough! Thank you for your prayers.
**Birth Day!! Last Easter (2012), one of my supporting churches provided money specifically for the CHE villages. One of our CHE teams used part of that money to buy three pigs for a village with the goal of pig-raising in order to help supply money and nutrition for villagers. I asked you to pray that the pigs would reproduce. This past Sunday morning, while at church in Agoudze, one of our CHE members received a phone call. Sure enough, our CHE leaders are now grandparents!! One of the pigs gave birth to 7 piglets; the other to 5 piglets! Thanks for praying for pig multiplication in the CHE villages (some of these prayer requests are a little “different” — but God is using each of these as a means of touching lives with the good news of Jesus Christ)!
Prep for Next Trimester: Please pray for preparations for the next trimester of the nursing program (starting May 13th). Pray for two dear friends from Cedarville who will be teaching the first two-week course on pediatrics and nursing care of patients with mental health problems. Please pray as I prep the renal course that follows their teaching. Please pray as we make some changes in our clinical practice in order to better prepare our students to work as effective nurses for God’s glory!
At times, especially when I know of a container coming to Togo, I include a list of “needs” just in case you might have some items sitting around the house(??) – or in case you are looking for a place to invest some money for eternity!! Here are some ideas:
Laptop computers for some of our faithful Togolese — and at least one pastor. If you just upgraded and have one sitting around gathering dust (or even not gathering dust!), there are some great opportunities for use on this side of the world!
Musical instruments — we can always use guitars, keyboards, trumpets. Our incredibly musical Togolese would love to use the instruments listed above in worship here in Togo.
Financially, there are opportunities to help with pastors’ transportation to and from villages; ongoing monthly support for the CHE ministry; about $1500 needed to finish the doors, walls, etc of a church in a CHE village; finances for transportation and meals for pastors’ wives fellowship (a time for the wives of our pastors to get together to study God’s Word); opportunity to purchase land for the Agoudze church ($450 total for three hectares, however big that is! My understanding is that it is a lot of land — and will be used for the church and for a church farm to help with the finances of the church) — not to mention the CHE vehicle.
What is neat is to see God’s hand at work as we pray for these needs! What a wonderful reminder of the fact that we work together with Him!! You and I, partnering with our God, for eternal results.
Thankful to be serving together,
Sharon
Address: ABWE, Missionary Finance, P.O. Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585
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