Tuesday, Nov 12, 2013
Dear Friends,
The subject line does not in any way mean that we are in danger here in Togo! Really – there are no bullets flying over my head while I sit here writing a prayer update!!! But this letter hits so many things that are happening here – so I hope you don’t mind somewhat of a bulleted list. If I tried to describe everything in detail, reading this prayer update would seem rather daunting (I am sure it will be long enough even with what I call a “bulleted list”)! Here goes:
**Hospital Finances: The most recent letter I sent was one that featured the incredible ministry (spiritually and physically) of our hospital, HBB (Hopital Baptiste Biblique) and told about some huge financial needs. How I thank God for the way He touches hearts — and how I thank Him for people who respond when their hearts are touched!! There have been some wonderful gifts sent for these immediate financial needs. We are thrilled with the way that God has provided through His people. Would you please pray that the needed regular monthly support for our hospital would also be provided? I cannot imagine supporting a more exciting and spiritually-profitable ministry!
**Like Christmas!! A container arrived about two weeks ago — what fun! On the container were five used laptop computers, donated by friends in the US. You cannot imagine the joy in being able to provide these for some of our Togolese who will have the ability to access resources, do word processing, improve communication, etc. Last week one of our hospital employees came to the house. His name was the first on my “laptop reception” list. He has been praying for probably close to a year that God would provide a laptop. He walked in and saw the laptops that I had set out on the kitchen table. His eyes were so wide; he was amazed that God had allowed him the privilege of choosing his own laptop! Talk about a “kid in a candy shop . . .”!
In addition to the computers, there was an absolutely beautiful refurbished guitar in a brand new case. That has just been given to one of our churches — what an addition it will be to their worship of our God!!
And someone graciously purchased two water filters (ones that are especially designed for use in areas where clean water is hard to come by!). One of these will be given to a pastor and his family who are currently drinking river water that is totally filthy! We are entering dry season — and the water they drink will get worse and worse. I realize that a filter will not be effective when the river becomes more mud-like. A well is what is ultimately needed. But at least during the rainy season and partial rains this water filter will be a huge help!
**Partnering with giants!! I am frequently humbled by the spiritual lives of our Togolese and their devotion to serving our Lord. One of these Togolese is Pastor Martouka. His passion is to see people in villages come to Christ! He currently pastors/oversees at least five village churches. He would love to be able to leave his fields completely and be in full-time ministry. But that is not possible financially since he has a wife and three children. In addition to overseeing the churches, Pastor Martouka has also returned to school to try and get his high school diploma. That will take another two years — so there he is, 30-some years old, attending classes with much younger students! What fascinates me is that he has already started Bible studies among the students — he came by the other day and bought a bunch of tracts from our literature ministry. I don’t think he is ever without some type of literature that he can hand to people as he explains God’s wonderful plan of salvation! Please pray for this pastor and his family! By the way, he does not know it yet — but one of the laptops was donated specifically for him — a laptop that belonged to a missionary who is now with the Lord!
**Chief at Salamba-Kope: God continues to open doors for our Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministry. One of the newer villages in which our CHE members work is Salamba-Kope. Our CHE team returned the other day just delighted — the chief in that village had asked them to do a study with him and the other leaders on Biblical principles for families and for raising children ! Wow what an opportunity!
**In Port!! Praise the Lord, our vehicle for the CHE ministry has arrived at the Lome port!! Wow, I am thrilled — even without having seen it! It is completely paid for thanks to so many people who donated for this ministry vehicle! I transferred more money yesterday to cover the cost of insurance, registration, license, getting it out of port, etc. Please pray that all goes well over the next 2-3 weeks as one of our Togolese men in Lome takes care of all the paper work. We hope to have the vehicle delivered sometime in December! Expect photos!!!!
**Hit Hard: Our ministries here in Togo, our Togolese, and we missionaries have been hit hard lately with some very difficult situations. This past Saturday we buried one of our hospital employees – 36 years old, married, with two small children. He had a cardiac dysrhythmia that caused his sudden death. He is with our Lord; he is rejoicing. But what a huge emptiness he leaves — in the laboratory where he worked most recently, among friends, in his church where he served so faithfully! Our employees (and all of us!) have been reeling from the loss!
Our nursing students have been hit hard too: Beni and his wife lost their “adopted” son — a 10-year-old boy from Beni’s wife’s family. Both of the boy’s parents had died a couple of years ago; Beni and his wife do not have children; they took this boy in and treated him as their son. About six weeks ago, he was sick, losing weight. He tested positive for HIV. About three weeks later, he died. He very clearly had a love for God and had apparently given his young life to Him. Again, that means that we are rejoicing! But how difficult to sit next to Beni’s wife, Enyonam, hold her hand as she wept, and try to comfort this young lady who would love to have children of her own — and has now lost the child that God had given them.
One of our other students, Esther, lost her uncle who was essentially her father. She lost her father at a very young age and her uncle raised her as his child. Her uncle died a week ago. There is no evidence hat he had a personal relationship with God – although he heard the wonderful news of salvation numerous times. We hope that he responded to that message!
Yesterday morning one of our students, Julie, was at my doorstep about 7:30 AM. She had received word the night before that her younger brother had been in an accident; that morning she received a telephone call saying that he had died. She sat and wept! This was a young man who attended a church — but who learned in that church that he could earn his way to heaven by the good things he did in life. Sadly, that is the complete opposite of what God’s Word teaches. Again, our hope is that this young man listened to his sister as she, through the years, told him how he could have eternal life through faith alone in Jesus Christ’s death for him.
The daughter of one of our dear pastors got involved in pornography and it was just recently found out that she has been involved with several young men, some of them in the same church. You can imagine the devastation for the pastor, his wife, the church, all of us who know and love them. Please pray for true sorrow for sin — and for a changed life!
**Graduation!! We are very excited to announce the date for the graduation of this class of twenty nursing students!! They will graduate on Saturday, May 31, 2014!! Wow is that exciting news!! Please pray much for them as they complete course work, do a four-month internship working almost full-time at the hospital, and then graduate and start work as nurses at our hospital. Please pray especially for those who are a little weaker clinically and academically — that we faculty would have God’s wisdom in knowing how to help them — with the goal that they will be excellent nurses by the time they graduate!
**Critical Care: As you pray for the nursing program and for me, would you please pray for the upcoming Critical Care course (starting Monday, Nov 18th and continuing for three weeks). I will have the privilege of team teaching that course with Tabitha Groeneveld, an excellent ICU nurse. Please pray for both of us — for time and wisdom in preparation! For ability and clarity and creativity in teaching! And for understanding on the part of each of our students. The next few weeks look a bit overwhelming — yet exciting. Thanks for standing with me in your prayers!
**French!! The joys of praying in a second language — what a humbling experience that can be. While sitting in Beni and Enyonam’s home, comforting them on the loss of their adopted son, I was asked to pray for them. I Corinthians 15 was on my mind — and I prayed part of that passage of Scripture. The part that talks about “mortality being swallowed up by immortality”! Well, being a tongue-tied French speaker, I started to pray that “morality would be swallowed up by immorality”! Thankfully, I corrected that quickly, I think!! And went on, after praying, to share with them exactly what those verses really say — ending with the verse of victory, “Thanks be to God Who gives us the victory (over death and sin!) through our Lord Jesus Christ”!!
Thanks for letting me share each of these “bullets” with you – even though it might not have shortened the prayer update! Thank you for partnering with me in this wonderful ministry. Thank you for praying; thank you for supporting; thank you for encouraging!
**Addendum Bullet: Well, all that is above has already been written. But now I need to ask you to pray specifically for me. I just finished a three-hour meeting that involved lots of questions/answers. And some very difficult things being suggested. Not with any intention to hurt – but I find that I am saddened by some attitudes. Truthfully, tonight I am discouraged, disheartened, disappointed. Just about every “dis” I can think of right now. Without going into any details, would you please pray that I would allow myself to be encouraged in the Lord; that I would know how to respond tomorrow and in the next few days; that I would have God’s wisdom and walk in faith and trust in Him; and that I would let love and patience show in everything that I do and say. I need your prayers.
Thankful to be serving our Lord together!
Sharon
rahillys@abwe.cc or rahillys@yahoo.com
Blog site: http://rahillysharon.blogspot.com/
Phone Numbers in Togo: 011-228-2449-7025 (home) or 011-228-9006-3220 (cell)
ABWE Account number: #013787.
Address: ABWE, Missionary Finance, P.O. Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, September 9, 2013
Amazed and Humbled - Try #2!!
Sorry - the first "publishing" of this update had a font that was way too small!! Either that or I am getting way too old!!
Sunday, Sept 8, 2013
Dear Friends,
The whirlwind trip to the US ended about three weeks ago and I am back in Togo (I guess it was not really “whirlwind” since I was gone for one entire month)! I had the privilege of making some memories with mom — and the joy of being able to serve my sister and brother-in-law by helping with mom so they could get away for a much-needed vacation. My brother-in-law is a pastor in California – need I say more about the level of stress for him and for my sister!! They truly were able to relax while away!!
I do want to explain that no ministry funds were used to finance this trip to the US – this was totally for family needs. The Lord did provide in an unexpected way, however, with a personal gift that covered the entire cost of the trip. I thank Him for that!
I want to thank you for your prayers for the requests listed in the last prayer letter. Let me give you an idea as to what God has been doing in relationship to those requests:
**Physician appointments: first was the dentist — and I mentioned in the last prayer letter that I ended up having a tooth extracted (no fun — but necessary!). Next was the ophthalmologist who said that the spots/floaters will continue probably until the end of my life (whoopee!!) — so I am adjusting to new “things” in my visual field. Then was the endocrinologist; that was for the 18-month check-up on the thyroid gland. That went a little differently than what I had expected — but God does not always do things exactly in line with my expectations!! I figured the endocrinologist was going to pat me on the back and say “bye” forever after doing the ultrasound and blood work. Well, the blood work was fine (thyroid tests have never been abnormal for which I thank God!). However, the ultrasound showed very small increases in size for three of the thyroid nodules. The endocrinologist did not seem to be particularly happy about that (I was thankful for the word “small” and the use of “mm” as he described the change in size — but he was less than thrilled). All of that to say that he has “invited" me to return in six months (he actually weighed the possibility of having me change my ticket and stay for a biopsy — but in the end he decided that the six-month follow–up was better). When I say “invited” that means that he said no longer than six months — and that he actually made the appointment right there (he knows what happens when I am left to my own devices . . . there is a tendency to look at the nursing school calendar, to delay, etc!!). So – bottom line is that I will be returning to California around mid–February for repeat ultrasound and probable biopsy. I would appreciate your prayers about that.
**Nursing school: thank you for continuing to pray for our nursing students. We still have 20 very special young men and women — and I am thrilled to pieces (whatever that means!) to know that God alone has brought them to this point in their education. And that He has given wisdom and health and strength to all of us involved in shaping their lives as nurses!! I have been doing clinicals with the students since I am not teaching in the classroom right now. It is so exciting to see the progress they have made! But not everyone progresses at the same rate — so please pray for God’s wisdom to know how to help those who are slower or weaker in certain areas!
**Decisions about where our nursing students will serve: The administrators for both the southern hospital and the under-construction northern hospital will be making the final decisions as to where these nursing students will live and work! Four of our students very very very much want to serve here in the south — that is where their hearts are. It would be possible for them to stay at this hospital – if some of our current nurses were to move north (and then these nursing students would take their place at our southern hospital). However, it appears that we may not have any of our current nurses going north. In which case, there would not be positions here in the south for these students who very much want to stay here — and they would need to move north instead. Please pray much for these decisions! They are decisions that are critical to the ministry of the hospital in the north – and also decisions that will affect our nursing students for the rest of their lives!
**Nurses for our northern hospital: we expect that our northern hospital, when it opens (probably January 2015) will be even busier than our southern hospital! Medical care in the north is minimal! Health needs are overwhelming!! The access area includes the north of Togo, Burkina, Ghana, Benin . . .! Nurses (American nurses) are desperately needed in addition to our Togolese nurses — American nurses for long-term commitments as well as for short-term service!! If you are a nurse, or know a nurse — and if you are brave enough to let God tug your heart toward a population in need, and gutsy enough to move out of your comfort zone in order to serve people who have next to nothing — please let me know!!! I will be glad to answer any questions — and would be delighted to put you in touch with the health care missionaries in the north. You would be meeting a need that is bigger than you can imagine — and you would have the time of your life if you are willing to serve God in this way (seriously – I know, and I wouldn’t trade what I am doing here for anything in the world!).
**Vehicle for the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministry! The price quote is in (received in this morning’s e-mail!); the vehicle is in Gibraltar and ready to be put on a ship headed for Togo as soon as the word is given! And let me tell you what just happened!! As I was writing this part of the prayer letter, I prayed that God would provide what I thought was approximately $10,000 still needed to purchase the vehicle (that was not counting the tax and in-country fees). I started writing this sentence, "Would you please pray that God would provide the last . . .”, and stopped writing. I thought, “I should check the account on-line and see exactly how much is in the account right now for the CHE vehicle”! So I did — like two minutes ago. And I am sitting here amazed at what God has done once again! As of right now, the amount in the CHE vehicle account will pay for the entire CHE vehicle!! I can hardly believe it - I actually double-clicked around the site a few times to see if I was in the correct account!! But it is there!! There remains approximately $4000-$5000 to cover the tax, in–country fees, licensure, registration, etc – but the amount for the vehicle itself is already there!! In addition, God has incredibly answered prayer about the tax for bringing the vehicle into the country – the authorities have given Adam Drake, the missionary that is navigating this whole process for us, the “okay" to bring in the car for a 5% tax instead of 53%!!! What a huge answer to prayer that is as well! I wish I could begin to express how I feel right now: my gratitude to the Lord, my amazement as I see Him work in such a wonderful way! Once again, our God has touched so many hearts — and people have responded in incredible ways!! Thank you — for praying and for giving!!!
**Pray for our CHE ministry — that God will continue to touch the hearts of villagers. I am constantly thinking, “What can we do better in the CHE ministry?” I am sure there are many things — but with God’s help we continue to share the gospel as well as teach about disease prevention and community development. The last time I was on furlough, when speaking in churches, one of the pictures I showed was that of the chief of Kaduasso-Kope, one of our CHE villages. In the presentation, I showed his house with a fetish (chicken on a pole) in front of it to protect his family from evil spirits. And I showed several pictures of our CHE members in that village and the church that God has raised up. Over the past month or so, the Lord really put it on the heart of those CHE members to pray for the salvation of this chief (he is no longer chief; a younger one has now replaced him). The CHE team recently visited his home in the village. He had heard the gospel before through the CHE teaching and also from the pastor — but this time two of our CHE members once again presented the clear truth that nothing can save other than the blood of Jesus Christ. No fetishes, no good works, no church attendance, no baptism — nothing but faith alone in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for sin! That day, the chief — who has lived his entire life in animism — listened, and then expressed his understanding of what Jesus Christ did for him - and asked God to save him and make him His child!! Wow!! Many of you have prayed for him for at least the past 4–5 years! What a reminder that our prayers are not in vain!!
**And then there was the request I sent last time for "used laptop computers that might just be sitting around your house"!! I thank the Lord for several people who provided laptops and one guitar, all of which are now on their way to Togo!! What an incredible blessing and help those will be: to a pastor who is passionate about studying and for whom this laptop will open a world of information that he has never imagined!; to a young man who wants to be trained in computer technology and who spends every “holiday” with a computer guy in one of our churches, learning how to use and work on computers; to a couple other Togolese believers; and to the group of believers in a church on the mountain who will delight in having guitar accompaniment as they worship God! Thank you for sending these items to Togo!! An added blessing: in the process of communicating with a dear friend who donated her husband’s laptop (he is now with the Lord), she decided to contact a friend of hers who supplies water filters to developing countries. So on the container there will be the gift of a water filter — one that will help a number of people who do not have access to potable water! How fun to see the “side benefits” of donating a laptop computer!!!
I typed the words “amazed and humbled” on the subject line of this e-mail. Amazement is evident in just about everything I mentioned above. Humbled is because God chooses to use me. Humbled is when I realize how many people give so sacrificially for His work here in Togo. Humbled is when I hear people say that they pray regularly, even daily!
Thankful to be serving our wonderful Lord together!
Sharon
P.S. Get a load of this from the journal of one of our nursing students (“journal” in this case being a required documentation of the application of Bible principles to life. We require this type of “journaling” of our students on an almost-weekly basis). This particular student wrote the following about the application of I Timothy 6:12 to her life: “Since reading this verse, I continually entrust myself to God and I ask Him for the strength and the wisdom to be a good ‘combatant’. I have determined a plan for prayer and to be in communication with God; a plan for reading the Word of God, in order to know the Word to determine the good instead of the wrong according to His Word. Because I cannot ‘combat' using my own ideas. I have determined a plan for the end of each day. Around 9:30-10 PM, I analyze all that I did during the day, I think through my actions in order to evaluate the wrong actions and the good actions. I bring to mind any counsel/advice that I received and I determine all that conforms to the Word of God so I can put that in practice for my spiritual growth in order to better fight the good fight. I evaluate my thoughts and my words to know where I have failed. Where I have failed in action, in word, or in thought, I confess sincerely these failures and I establish a better plan in order to better confront the next situation with victory. I place myself in God’s hands so that He would give me His grace.” This is the type of student for whom you are praying!!!
Dear Friends,
The whirlwind trip to the US ended about three weeks ago and I am back in Togo (I guess it was not really “whirlwind” since I was gone for one entire month)! I had the privilege of making some memories with mom — and the joy of being able to serve my sister and brother-in-law by helping with mom so they could get away for a much-needed vacation. My brother-in-law is a pastor in California – need I say more about the level of stress for him and for my sister!! They truly were able to relax while away!!
I do want to explain that no ministry funds were used to finance this trip to the US – this was totally for family needs. The Lord did provide in an unexpected way, however, with a personal gift that covered the entire cost of the trip. I thank Him for that!
I want to thank you for your prayers for the requests listed in the last prayer letter. Let me give you an idea as to what God has been doing in relationship to those requests:
**Physician appointments: first was the dentist — and I mentioned in the last prayer letter that I ended up having a tooth extracted (no fun — but necessary!). Next was the ophthalmologist who said that the spots/floaters will continue probably until the end of my life (whoopee!!) — so I am adjusting to new “things” in my visual field. Then was the endocrinologist; that was for the 18-month check-up on the thyroid gland. That went a little differently than what I had expected — but God does not always do things exactly in line with my expectations!! I figured the endocrinologist was going to pat me on the back and say “bye” forever after doing the ultrasound and blood work. Well, the blood work was fine (thyroid tests have never been abnormal for which I thank God!). However, the ultrasound showed very small increases in size for three of the thyroid nodules. The endocrinologist did not seem to be particularly happy about that (I was thankful for the word “small” and the use of “mm” as he described the change in size — but he was less than thrilled). All of that to say that he has “invited" me to return in six months (he actually weighed the possibility of having me change my ticket and stay for a biopsy — but in the end he decided that the six-month follow–up was better). When I say “invited” that means that he said no longer than six months — and that he actually made the appointment right there (he knows what happens when I am left to my own devices . . . there is a tendency to look at the nursing school calendar, to delay, etc!!). So – bottom line is that I will be returning to California around mid–February for repeat ultrasound and probable biopsy. I would appreciate your prayers about that.
**Nursing school: thank you for continuing to pray for our nursing students. We still have 20 very special young men and women — and I am thrilled to pieces (whatever that means!) to know that God alone has brought them to this point in their education. And that He has given wisdom and health and strength to all of us involved in shaping their lives as nurses!! I have been doing clinicals with the students since I am not teaching in the classroom right now. It is so exciting to see the progress they have made! But not everyone progresses at the same rate — so please pray for God’s wisdom to know how to help those who are slower or weaker in certain areas!
**Decisions about where our nursing students will serve: The administrators for both the southern hospital and the under-construction northern hospital will be making the final decisions as to where these nursing students will live and work! Four of our students very very very much want to serve here in the south — that is where their hearts are. It would be possible for them to stay at this hospital – if some of our current nurses were to move north (and then these nursing students would take their place at our southern hospital). However, it appears that we may not have any of our current nurses going north. In which case, there would not be positions here in the south for these students who very much want to stay here — and they would need to move north instead. Please pray much for these decisions! They are decisions that are critical to the ministry of the hospital in the north – and also decisions that will affect our nursing students for the rest of their lives!
**Nurses for our northern hospital: we expect that our northern hospital, when it opens (probably January 2015) will be even busier than our southern hospital! Medical care in the north is minimal! Health needs are overwhelming!! The access area includes the north of Togo, Burkina, Ghana, Benin . . .! Nurses (American nurses) are desperately needed in addition to our Togolese nurses — American nurses for long-term commitments as well as for short-term service!! If you are a nurse, or know a nurse — and if you are brave enough to let God tug your heart toward a population in need, and gutsy enough to move out of your comfort zone in order to serve people who have next to nothing — please let me know!!! I will be glad to answer any questions — and would be delighted to put you in touch with the health care missionaries in the north. You would be meeting a need that is bigger than you can imagine — and you would have the time of your life if you are willing to serve God in this way (seriously – I know, and I wouldn’t trade what I am doing here for anything in the world!).
**Vehicle for the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministry! The price quote is in (received in this morning’s e-mail!); the vehicle is in Gibraltar and ready to be put on a ship headed for Togo as soon as the word is given! And let me tell you what just happened!! As I was writing this part of the prayer letter, I prayed that God would provide what I thought was approximately $10,000 still needed to purchase the vehicle (that was not counting the tax and in-country fees). I started writing this sentence, "Would you please pray that God would provide the last . . .”, and stopped writing. I thought, “I should check the account on-line and see exactly how much is in the account right now for the CHE vehicle”! So I did — like two minutes ago. And I am sitting here amazed at what God has done once again! As of right now, the amount in the CHE vehicle account will pay for the entire CHE vehicle!! I can hardly believe it - I actually double-clicked around the site a few times to see if I was in the correct account!! But it is there!! There remains approximately $4000-$5000 to cover the tax, in–country fees, licensure, registration, etc – but the amount for the vehicle itself is already there!! In addition, God has incredibly answered prayer about the tax for bringing the vehicle into the country – the authorities have given Adam Drake, the missionary that is navigating this whole process for us, the “okay" to bring in the car for a 5% tax instead of 53%!!! What a huge answer to prayer that is as well! I wish I could begin to express how I feel right now: my gratitude to the Lord, my amazement as I see Him work in such a wonderful way! Once again, our God has touched so many hearts — and people have responded in incredible ways!! Thank you — for praying and for giving!!!
**Pray for our CHE ministry — that God will continue to touch the hearts of villagers. I am constantly thinking, “What can we do better in the CHE ministry?” I am sure there are many things — but with God’s help we continue to share the gospel as well as teach about disease prevention and community development. The last time I was on furlough, when speaking in churches, one of the pictures I showed was that of the chief of Kaduasso-Kope, one of our CHE villages. In the presentation, I showed his house with a fetish (chicken on a pole) in front of it to protect his family from evil spirits. And I showed several pictures of our CHE members in that village and the church that God has raised up. Over the past month or so, the Lord really put it on the heart of those CHE members to pray for the salvation of this chief (he is no longer chief; a younger one has now replaced him). The CHE team recently visited his home in the village. He had heard the gospel before through the CHE teaching and also from the pastor — but this time two of our CHE members once again presented the clear truth that nothing can save other than the blood of Jesus Christ. No fetishes, no good works, no church attendance, no baptism — nothing but faith alone in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for sin! That day, the chief — who has lived his entire life in animism — listened, and then expressed his understanding of what Jesus Christ did for him - and asked God to save him and make him His child!! Wow!! Many of you have prayed for him for at least the past 4–5 years! What a reminder that our prayers are not in vain!!
**And then there was the request I sent last time for "used laptop computers that might just be sitting around your house"!! I thank the Lord for several people who provided laptops and one guitar, all of which are now on their way to Togo!! What an incredible blessing and help those will be: to a pastor who is passionate about studying and for whom this laptop will open a world of information that he has never imagined!; to a young man who wants to be trained in computer technology and who spends every “holiday” with a computer guy in one of our churches, learning how to use and work on computers; to a couple other Togolese believers; and to the group of believers in a church on the mountain who will delight in having guitar accompaniment as they worship God! Thank you for sending these items to Togo!! An added blessing: in the process of communicating with a dear friend who donated her husband’s laptop (he is now with the Lord), she decided to contact a friend of hers who supplies water filters to developing countries. So on the container there will be the gift of a water filter — one that will help a number of people who do not have access to potable water! How fun to see the “side benefits” of donating a laptop computer!!!
I typed the words “amazed and humbled” on the subject line of this e-mail. Amazement is evident in just about everything I mentioned above. Humbled is because God chooses to use me. Humbled is when I realize how many people give so sacrificially for His work here in Togo. Humbled is when I hear people say that they pray regularly, even daily!
Thankful to be serving our wonderful Lord together!
Sharon
P.S. Get a load of this from the journal of one of our nursing students (“journal” in this case being a required documentation of the application of Bible principles to life. We require this type of “journaling” of our students on an almost-weekly basis). This particular student wrote the following about the application of I Timothy 6:12 to her life: “Since reading this verse, I continually entrust myself to God and I ask Him for the strength and the wisdom to be a good ‘combatant’. I have determined a plan for prayer and to be in communication with God; a plan for reading the Word of God, in order to know the Word to determine the good instead of the wrong according to His Word. Because I cannot ‘combat' using my own ideas. I have determined a plan for the end of each day. Around 9:30-10 PM, I analyze all that I did during the day, I think through my actions in order to evaluate the wrong actions and the good actions. I bring to mind any counsel/advice that I received and I determine all that conforms to the Word of God so I can put that in practice for my spiritual growth in order to better fight the good fight. I evaluate my thoughts and my words to know where I have failed. Where I have failed in action, in word, or in thought, I confess sincerely these failures and I establish a better plan in order to better confront the next situation with victory. I place myself in God’s hands so that He would give me His grace.” This is the type of student for whom you are praying!!!
Amazed and Humbled!
Sunday, Sept 8, 2013
Dear Friends,
The whirlwind trip to the US ended about three weeks ago and I am back in Togo (I guess it was not really “whirlwind” since I was gone for one entire month)! I had the privilege of making some memories with mom — and the joy of being able to serve my sister and brother-in-law by helping with mom so they could get away for a much-needed vacation. My brother-in-law is a pastor in California – need I say more about the level of stress for him and for my sister!! They truly were able to relax while away!!
I do want to explain that no ministry funds were used to finance this trip to the US – this was totally for family needs. The Lord did provide in an unexpected way, however, with a personal gift that covered the entire cost of the trip. I thank Him for that!
I want to thank you for your prayers for the requests listed in the last prayer letter. Let me give you an idea as to what God has been doing in relationship to those requests:
**Physician appointments: first was the dentist — and I mentioned in the last prayer letter that I ended up having a tooth extracted (no fun — but necessary!). Next was the ophthalmologist who said that the spots/floaters will continue probably until the end of my life (whoopee!!) — so I am adjusting to new “things” in my visual field. Then was the endocrinologist; that was for the 18-month check-up on the thyroid gland. That went a little differently than what I had expected — but God does not always do things exactly in line with my expectations!! I figured the endocrinologist was going to pat me on the back and say “bye” forever after doing the ultrasound and blood work. Well, the blood work was fine (thyroid tests have never been abnormal for which I thank God!). However, the ultrasound showed very small increases in size for three of the thyroid nodules. The endocrinologist did not seem to be particularly happy about that (I was thankful for the word “small” and the use of “mm” as he described the change in size — but he was less than thrilled). All of that to say that he has “invited" me to return in six months (he actually weighed the possibility of having me change my ticket and stay for a biopsy — but in the end he decided that the six-month follow–up was better). When I say “invited” that means that he said no longer than six months — and that he actually made the appointment right there (he knows what happens when I am left to my own devices . . . there is a tendency to look at the nursing school calendar, to delay, etc!!). So – bottom line is that I will be returning to California around mid–February for repeat ultrasound and probable biopsy. I would appreciate your prayers about that.
**Nursing school: thank you for continuing to pray for our nursing students. We still have 20 very special young men and women — and I am thrilled to pieces (whatever that means!) to know that God alone has brought them to this point in their education. And that He has given wisdom and health and strength to all of us involved in shaping their lives as nurses!! I have been doing clinicals with the students since I am not teaching in the classroom right now. It is so exciting to see the progress they have made! But not everyone progresses at the same rate — so please pray for God’s wisdom to know how to help those who are slower or weaker in certain areas!
**Decisions about where our nursing students will serve: The administrators for both the southern hospital and the under-construction northern hospital will be making the final decisions as to where these nursing students will live and work! Four of our students very very very much want to serve here in the south — that is where their hearts are. It would be possible for them to stay at this hospital – if some of our current nurses were to move north (and then these nursing students would take their place at our southern hospital). However, it appears that we may not have any of our current nurses going north. In which case, there would not be positions here in the south for these students who very much want to stay here — and they would need to move north instead. Please pray much for these decisions! They are decisions that are critical to the ministry of the hospital in the north – and also decisions that will affect our nursing students for the rest of their lives!
**Nurses for our northern hospital: we expect that our northern hospital, when it opens (probably January 2015) will be even busier than our southern hospital! Medical care in the north is minimal! Health needs are overwhelming!! The access area includes the north of Togo, Burkina, Ghana, Benin . . .! Nurses (American nurses) are desperately needed in addition to our Togolese nurses — American nurses for long-term commitments as well as for short-term service!! If you are a nurse, or know a nurse — and if you are brave enough to let God tug your heart toward a population in need, and gutsy enough to move out of your comfort zone in order to serve people who have next to nothing — please let me know!!! I will be glad to answer any questions — and would be delighted to put you in touch with the health care missionaries in the north. You would be meeting a need that is bigger than you can imagine — and you would have the time of your life if you are willing to serve God in this way (seriously – I know, and I wouldn’t trade what I am doing here for anything in the world!).
**Vehicle for the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministry! The price quote is in (received in this morning’s e-mail!); the vehicle is in Gibraltar and ready to be put on a ship headed for Togo as soon as the word is given! And let me tell you what just happened!! As I was writing this part of the prayer letter, I prayed that God would provide what I thought was approximately $10,000 still needed to purchase the vehicle (that was not counting the tax and in-country fees). I started writing this sentence, "Would you please pray that God would provide the last . . .”, and stopped writing. I thought, “I should check the account on-line and see exactly how much is in the account right now for the CHE vehicle”! So I did — like two minutes ago. And I am sitting here amazed at what God has done once again! As of right now, the amount in the CHE vehicle account will pay for the entire CHE vehicle!! I can hardly believe it - I actually double-clicked around the site a few times to see if I was in the correct account!! But it is there!! There remains approximately $4000-$5000 to cover the tax, in–country fees, licensure, registration, etc – but the amount for the vehicle itself is already there!! In addition, God has incredibly answered prayer about the tax for bringing the vehicle into the country – the authorities have given Adam Drake, the missionary that is navigating this whole process for us, the “okay" to bring in the car for a 5% tax instead of 53%!!! What a huge answer to prayer that is as well! I wish I could begin to express how I feel right now: my gratitude to the Lord, my amazement as I see Him work in such a wonderful way! Once again, our God has touched so many hearts — and people have responded in incredible ways!! Thank you — for praying and for giving!!!
**Pray for our CHE ministry — that God will continue to touch the hearts of villagers. I am constantly thinking, “What can we do better in the CHE ministry?” I am sure there are many things — but with God’s help we continue to share the gospel as well as teach about disease prevention and community development. The last time I was on furlough, when speaking in churches, one of the pictures I showed was that of the chief of Kaduasso-Kope, one of our CHE villages. In the presentation, I showed his house with a fetish (chicken on a pole) in front of it to protect his family from evil spirits. And I showed several pictures of our CHE members in that village and the church that God has raised up. Over the past month or so, the Lord really put it on the heart of those CHE members to pray for the salvation of this chief (he is no longer chief; a younger one has now replaced him). The CHE team recently visited his home in the village. He had heard the gospel before through the CHE teaching and also from the pastor — but this time two of our CHE members once again presented the clear truth that nothing can save other than the blood of Jesus Christ. No fetishes, no good works, no church attendance, no baptism — nothing but faith alone in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for sin! That day, the chief — who has lived his entire life in animism — listened, and then expressed his understanding of what Jesus Christ did for him - and asked God to save him and make him His child!! Wow!! Many of you have prayed for him for at least the past 4–5 years! What a reminder that our prayers are not in vain!!
**And then there was the request I sent last time for "used laptop computers that might just be sitting around your house"!! I thank the Lord for several people who provided laptops and one guitar, all of which are now on their way to Togo!! What an incredible blessing and help those will be: to a pastor who is passionate about studying and for whom this laptop will open a world of information that he has never imagined!; to a young man who wants to be trained in computer technology and who spends every “holiday” with a computer guy in one of our churches, learning how to use and work on computers; to a couple other Togolese believers; and to the group of believers in a church on the mountain who will delight in having guitar accompaniment as they worship God! Thank you for sending these items to Togo!! An added blessing: in the process of communicating with a dear friend who donated her husband’s laptop (he is now with the Lord), she decided to contact a friend of hers who supplies water filters to developing countries. So on the container there will be the gift of a water filter — one that will help a number of people who do not have access to potable water! How fun to see the “side benefits” of donating a laptop computer!!!
I typed the words “amazed and humbled” on the subject line of this e-mail. Amazement is evident in just about everything I mentioned above. Humbled is because God chooses to use me. Humbled is when I realize how many people give so sacrificially for His work here in Togo. Humbled is when I hear people say that they pray regularly, even daily!
Thankful to be serving our wonderful Lord together!
Sharon
P.S. Get a load of this from the journal of one of our nursing students (“journal” in this case being a required documentation of the application of Bible principles to life. We require this type of “journaling” of our students on an almost-weekly basis). This particular student wrote the following about the application of I Timothy 6:12 to her life: “Since reading this verse, I continually entrust myself to God and I ask Him for the strength and the wisdom to be a good ‘combatant’. I have determined a plan for prayer and to be in communication with God; a plan for reading the Word of God, in order to know the Word to determine the good instead of the wrong according to His Word. Because I cannot ‘combat' using my own ideas. I have determined a plan for the end of each day. Around 9:30-10 PM, I analyze all that I did during the day, I think through my actions in order to evaluate the wrong actions and the good actions. I bring to mind any counsel/advice that I received and I determine all that conforms to the Word of God so I can put that in practice for my spiritual growth in order to better fight the good fight. I evaluate my thoughts and my words to know where I have failed. Where I have failed in action, in word, or in thought, I confess sincerely these failures and I establish a better plan in order to better confront the next situation with victory. I place myself in God’s hands so that He would give me His grace.” This is the type of student for whom you are praying!!!
Dear Friends,
The whirlwind trip to the US ended about three weeks ago and I am back in Togo (I guess it was not really “whirlwind” since I was gone for one entire month)! I had the privilege of making some memories with mom — and the joy of being able to serve my sister and brother-in-law by helping with mom so they could get away for a much-needed vacation. My brother-in-law is a pastor in California – need I say more about the level of stress for him and for my sister!! They truly were able to relax while away!!
I do want to explain that no ministry funds were used to finance this trip to the US – this was totally for family needs. The Lord did provide in an unexpected way, however, with a personal gift that covered the entire cost of the trip. I thank Him for that!
I want to thank you for your prayers for the requests listed in the last prayer letter. Let me give you an idea as to what God has been doing in relationship to those requests:
**Physician appointments: first was the dentist — and I mentioned in the last prayer letter that I ended up having a tooth extracted (no fun — but necessary!). Next was the ophthalmologist who said that the spots/floaters will continue probably until the end of my life (whoopee!!) — so I am adjusting to new “things” in my visual field. Then was the endocrinologist; that was for the 18-month check-up on the thyroid gland. That went a little differently than what I had expected — but God does not always do things exactly in line with my expectations!! I figured the endocrinologist was going to pat me on the back and say “bye” forever after doing the ultrasound and blood work. Well, the blood work was fine (thyroid tests have never been abnormal for which I thank God!). However, the ultrasound showed very small increases in size for three of the thyroid nodules. The endocrinologist did not seem to be particularly happy about that (I was thankful for the word “small” and the use of “mm” as he described the change in size — but he was less than thrilled). All of that to say that he has “invited" me to return in six months (he actually weighed the possibility of having me change my ticket and stay for a biopsy — but in the end he decided that the six-month follow–up was better). When I say “invited” that means that he said no longer than six months — and that he actually made the appointment right there (he knows what happens when I am left to my own devices . . . there is a tendency to look at the nursing school calendar, to delay, etc!!). So – bottom line is that I will be returning to California around mid–February for repeat ultrasound and probable biopsy. I would appreciate your prayers about that.
**Nursing school: thank you for continuing to pray for our nursing students. We still have 20 very special young men and women — and I am thrilled to pieces (whatever that means!) to know that God alone has brought them to this point in their education. And that He has given wisdom and health and strength to all of us involved in shaping their lives as nurses!! I have been doing clinicals with the students since I am not teaching in the classroom right now. It is so exciting to see the progress they have made! But not everyone progresses at the same rate — so please pray for God’s wisdom to know how to help those who are slower or weaker in certain areas!
**Decisions about where our nursing students will serve: The administrators for both the southern hospital and the under-construction northern hospital will be making the final decisions as to where these nursing students will live and work! Four of our students very very very much want to serve here in the south — that is where their hearts are. It would be possible for them to stay at this hospital – if some of our current nurses were to move north (and then these nursing students would take their place at our southern hospital). However, it appears that we may not have any of our current nurses going north. In which case, there would not be positions here in the south for these students who very much want to stay here — and they would need to move north instead. Please pray much for these decisions! They are decisions that are critical to the ministry of the hospital in the north – and also decisions that will affect our nursing students for the rest of their lives!
**Nurses for our northern hospital: we expect that our northern hospital, when it opens (probably January 2015) will be even busier than our southern hospital! Medical care in the north is minimal! Health needs are overwhelming!! The access area includes the north of Togo, Burkina, Ghana, Benin . . .! Nurses (American nurses) are desperately needed in addition to our Togolese nurses — American nurses for long-term commitments as well as for short-term service!! If you are a nurse, or know a nurse — and if you are brave enough to let God tug your heart toward a population in need, and gutsy enough to move out of your comfort zone in order to serve people who have next to nothing — please let me know!!! I will be glad to answer any questions — and would be delighted to put you in touch with the health care missionaries in the north. You would be meeting a need that is bigger than you can imagine — and you would have the time of your life if you are willing to serve God in this way (seriously – I know, and I wouldn’t trade what I am doing here for anything in the world!).
**Vehicle for the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministry! The price quote is in (received in this morning’s e-mail!); the vehicle is in Gibraltar and ready to be put on a ship headed for Togo as soon as the word is given! And let me tell you what just happened!! As I was writing this part of the prayer letter, I prayed that God would provide what I thought was approximately $10,000 still needed to purchase the vehicle (that was not counting the tax and in-country fees). I started writing this sentence, "Would you please pray that God would provide the last . . .”, and stopped writing. I thought, “I should check the account on-line and see exactly how much is in the account right now for the CHE vehicle”! So I did — like two minutes ago. And I am sitting here amazed at what God has done once again! As of right now, the amount in the CHE vehicle account will pay for the entire CHE vehicle!! I can hardly believe it - I actually double-clicked around the site a few times to see if I was in the correct account!! But it is there!! There remains approximately $4000-$5000 to cover the tax, in–country fees, licensure, registration, etc – but the amount for the vehicle itself is already there!! In addition, God has incredibly answered prayer about the tax for bringing the vehicle into the country – the authorities have given Adam Drake, the missionary that is navigating this whole process for us, the “okay" to bring in the car for a 5% tax instead of 53%!!! What a huge answer to prayer that is as well! I wish I could begin to express how I feel right now: my gratitude to the Lord, my amazement as I see Him work in such a wonderful way! Once again, our God has touched so many hearts — and people have responded in incredible ways!! Thank you — for praying and for giving!!!
**Pray for our CHE ministry — that God will continue to touch the hearts of villagers. I am constantly thinking, “What can we do better in the CHE ministry?” I am sure there are many things — but with God’s help we continue to share the gospel as well as teach about disease prevention and community development. The last time I was on furlough, when speaking in churches, one of the pictures I showed was that of the chief of Kaduasso-Kope, one of our CHE villages. In the presentation, I showed his house with a fetish (chicken on a pole) in front of it to protect his family from evil spirits. And I showed several pictures of our CHE members in that village and the church that God has raised up. Over the past month or so, the Lord really put it on the heart of those CHE members to pray for the salvation of this chief (he is no longer chief; a younger one has now replaced him). The CHE team recently visited his home in the village. He had heard the gospel before through the CHE teaching and also from the pastor — but this time two of our CHE members once again presented the clear truth that nothing can save other than the blood of Jesus Christ. No fetishes, no good works, no church attendance, no baptism — nothing but faith alone in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for sin! That day, the chief — who has lived his entire life in animism — listened, and then expressed his understanding of what Jesus Christ did for him - and asked God to save him and make him His child!! Wow!! Many of you have prayed for him for at least the past 4–5 years! What a reminder that our prayers are not in vain!!
**And then there was the request I sent last time for "used laptop computers that might just be sitting around your house"!! I thank the Lord for several people who provided laptops and one guitar, all of which are now on their way to Togo!! What an incredible blessing and help those will be: to a pastor who is passionate about studying and for whom this laptop will open a world of information that he has never imagined!; to a young man who wants to be trained in computer technology and who spends every “holiday” with a computer guy in one of our churches, learning how to use and work on computers; to a couple other Togolese believers; and to the group of believers in a church on the mountain who will delight in having guitar accompaniment as they worship God! Thank you for sending these items to Togo!! An added blessing: in the process of communicating with a dear friend who donated her husband’s laptop (he is now with the Lord), she decided to contact a friend of hers who supplies water filters to developing countries. So on the container there will be the gift of a water filter — one that will help a number of people who do not have access to potable water! How fun to see the “side benefits” of donating a laptop computer!!!
I typed the words “amazed and humbled” on the subject line of this e-mail. Amazement is evident in just about everything I mentioned above. Humbled is because God chooses to use me. Humbled is when I realize how many people give so sacrificially for His work here in Togo. Humbled is when I hear people say that they pray regularly, even daily!
Thankful to be serving our wonderful Lord together!
Sharon
P.S. Get a load of this from the journal of one of our nursing students (“journal” in this case being a required documentation of the application of Bible principles to life. We require this type of “journaling” of our students on an almost-weekly basis). This particular student wrote the following about the application of I Timothy 6:12 to her life: “Since reading this verse, I continually entrust myself to God and I ask Him for the strength and the wisdom to be a good ‘combatant’. I have determined a plan for prayer and to be in communication with God; a plan for reading the Word of God, in order to know the Word to determine the good instead of the wrong according to His Word. Because I cannot ‘combat' using my own ideas. I have determined a plan for the end of each day. Around 9:30-10 PM, I analyze all that I did during the day, I think through my actions in order to evaluate the wrong actions and the good actions. I bring to mind any counsel/advice that I received and I determine all that conforms to the Word of God so I can put that in practice for my spiritual growth in order to better fight the good fight. I evaluate my thoughts and my words to know where I have failed. Where I have failed in action, in word, or in thought, I confess sincerely these failures and I establish a better plan in order to better confront the next situation with victory. I place myself in God’s hands so that He would give me His grace.” This is the type of student for whom you are praying!!!
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Heavy Duty CHE Car?
Another prayer concern that is on my heart this morning! I have been asking you to pray for a heavy-duty vehicle for the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) ministry. Yesterday, in the prayer update, I added a web-site for a vehicle that one of our Mango missionaries recently purchased. After I sent out the e-mail, the comment was made that perhaps that link got lost in the e-mail. Hard to imagine that since the e-mail prayer update was so short and concise (yes, I am joking!!). Anyway, here is the link below that will give you a glimpse of this particular vehicle. Cost is approximately $38,000 which includes purchase, customs, shipping, and whatever else my colleague in Mango needed to pay in order to get it here!
Web-site: http://ecom.toyota-gib.com/Default.asp?WCI=VariantDetails&WCE=VID:2008431
I was going to try and send just a picture of the car, but can’t quite figure out how to do that!! Thank you so much for your interest in this village ministry – and thank you for your prayers!
Serving our Lord together,
Sharon
Web-site: http://ecom.toyota-gib.com/Default.asp?WCI=VariantDetails&WCE=VID:2008431
I was going to try and send just a picture of the car, but can’t quite figure out how to do that!! Thank you so much for your interest in this village ministry – and thank you for your prayers!
Serving our Lord together,
Sharon
Mango Missionaries!
Happy May 1st (in case you have not yet received those holiday wishes!)! This is a huge celebration here in Togo – parades, lunches for employees, etc. So, from this Togo missionary, enjoy your May Day!!
I realize that I just wrote yesterday, but two things are very heavy on my heart today. I will probably write them in two different e-mails so they don’t get lost in one.
For this e-mail, I would like to ask you to pray for our nursing students who are currently in Mango, Togo. They arrived last evening – a tiring trip but a safe one for which we thank God. They will be in Mango all day today and tomorrow and then head back south on Friday. This morning they will be marching in the May Day parade with the Mango missionaries and Togolese employees (those who are doing construction on the hospital site). This afternoon they will take a tour of the hospital property and see the amazing way that God is working to build the hospital there. There are a number of other activities planned for the students for the next two days including some special prayer times.
This morning, as I thought and prayed for the nursing students, I began to realize the huge commitment that this is for them to move to Mango to serve as nurses in our future hospital. We recruited heavily from the north for this nursing class - with the goal of having students who already had connections with that part of Togo. So about five of our 20 students moved here from the north of Togo; a number of others have ties with the north (although some of those are ties from way back in their lives, not recent connections). But we also have a number of students who are from this area (Kpalime region) and a number from the Lome area. These students will be moving to Mango to serve God there – not just for a year or two, but for a lifetime! That is huge. It hit me today that this is truly like being a missionary for these young men and women – leaving behind home and family and friends – in order to serve God. A person can say, “but this is a small country; it only takes about 7-8 hours to return to Lome or Kpalime”. But for someone who has almost no extra money, and who does not have transportation access like we are used to in more developed countries (I.e., taxis here in Togo, usually way overloaded and not always the safest), this is a major change and it is a major commitment to our God.
My heart’s prayer is that God would put such a huge burden on the heart of each of these students – a burden for the souls of people in the north of Togo, many of whom have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, people who are enslaved to a religion that cannot give hope or true peace! Would you please pray with me today and tomorrow (and even after that!) for each of these twenty students? Please pray that God will work in their hearts individually as they are in Mango. Please pray that they will return home with a passion to study and learn and prepare for their missionary service in the north of Togo! Please pray that, as with any missionary, they will view this as a privilege and a joy as they are called to serve the One Who loved them and sacrificed everything for them! Thank you for your prayers for each of them!
Serving our wonderful Lord together,
Sharon
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Testimonies of 5 People Baptized in Agoudze on Sunday, April 29th
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."
#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."
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)