ElusiveTangent – Jonathan & Bethany Edwards

Grace to you, and peace from (still) warm Florida. We hope this newsletter find you all relatively well (we know that there are lots of sicknesses going around right now!) and absolutely grateful (because our joy is based on the truth of His mercy and not on our circumstances).

And where has the time gone! We are nearing a year since we committed to joining ITEC. First, we apologize for forgetting to send out an update for so long.  It’s easy sometimes to forget in the mundane of the day-to-day that you all want to hear from us.

It has been encouraging to read back over journal entries from a year ago, remembering our confusion of what we should be doing and where. All the waiting and ups and downs brought us to what God had been preparing us for all along. We are thankful for His faithful provision and guidance and are joyful in seeing the fruition of the plans of “Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. (Eph)”

In our last update we said we had likely found a church home. But, after several months it became clear that was not where God wanted us. After more consideration and plenty of visiting we are now members at College Road Baptist in Ocala, We are thankful for a church home that is faithfully growing in teaching and living out God’s Word together – something that is rare in this area of Florida.  We’re looking into starting a small home-group and hope, as God wills, that it can also be an outreach to our neighbors as well.

So what has been keeping us occupied these last months?

Bethany is enjoying having days with some of the other mamas from ITEC and their children. Their most recent adventure involved all of the children making Christmas cookies (and messes) and creating God-focused memories and friends for the children and other mothers. She also enjoys fellowshiping at MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) meetings and get-togethers, getting to know our neighbors and other friends better.

The kids have found their “ministry” in being spoiled by our older neighbors who have made them as grandchildren. Caleb is learning how to ride a “big boy” bike and Selah enjoys cruising with him on the balance bike.  They both love to play outside barefoot in the grass (You can do that during the winter months in Florida!) and especially love playing in the dirt.  The moles in our neighborhood kindly provide fresh dirt mounds for them to topple almost every day so there is never any lack of fun.

Jonathan enjoys working at ITEC, with their amazing crew, and knowing that it is more than just a job – it’s a calling and helps to fulfill the great commission with training (and technology work) aimed at making disciple-making disciples by equipping the saints with the tools they need to reach to every nation.  He has ups and downs as with any work; the monotony of repetitive everyday tasks and failures of plans, projects, and relationships, and the constant fatigue can veil the beauty of the successes and the grander plans that are being worked out. If you want to find out more about what goes on specifically at ITEC every month, we highly recommend subscribing to that newsletter as we won’t often repeat those events in ours.

Our family enjoyed ITEC’s recent family day – Caleb was thrilled to finally get to fish for real with his Papa even if he didn’t enjoy sitting and waiting for the fish to bite or touching it once it was out of the water.  He wrinkled his nose and asked Papa to get it. Selah enjoyed being around all of the people and being “the baby” for the other girls. The rest of the family fellowshipped with the team members and showed off our Bocci Ball skills.

On special weekends we might hike nearby or Kayak or take a boat out on the Rainbow or Withlacoochee Rivers. Both are relaxing ways to enjoy the unique creation around here. Surprisingly (or not so much so if you know us well) we don’t get to the beach all that often. But there is no lack of activities to do here.

Soon, (as the Lord wills) we will be visiting our family and friends in North Carolina for Christmas before, again Lord willing, making a return trip to Togo in January to say official goodbyes and wrap up details our belongings that are left. When we packed up to come back to the US, we believed our medical furlough would be, at the most, 3 months. And now, exactly two months shy of three years later, we hope to finally be back, if only for a short bitter-sweet few weeks. We left with a 9 month old baby and will be returning with a 3.5 year old and a 21-month old.

• Pray for safe travels over Christmas and New Year’s as we visit family and friends in North Carolina.
• Please pray that all the details of our trip to Mango will work out – visa, COVID tests, etc. We will be gone for three weeks. Pray for health both Stateside and in Togo.  If you recall our planned trip last year was cancelled because one of us had COVID.  But also, we don’t want to get Malaria (or anything else) while we’re there.
• Pray for moment-by-moment wisdom as we seek to train our children well – pray especially that God would draw Caleb and Selah’s hearts to His, that we can help them to carry out Kingdom work and seek His glory.
• Pray for the salvation of our neighbors as well as friends we’ve met at MOPS and parks, etc. – we have found there is so much opportunity for ministry here, but we need wisdom to know where/who to focus on and how to not take on too much at once.

For those wanting to send holiday or birthday cards or gifts, the address is 13535 SW 113^TH LN Dunnellon FL 34432

ITEC

Jonathan has been searching for a job for about three months now and recently God pointed us toward a small mission in central Florida called ITEC (Indigenous peoples Training and Education Center; itecusa.org).  Their focus is to partner with other like-minded missions and Christian nationals around the world to provide  technical skills through which they can share the gospel – mechanical, dentistry, community health, sustainable farming, and many other areas.  This gives the nationals both an inroad by which to form relationships and teach the gospel and make disciples, but also a practical means of income.  This idea came to fruition after the nationals with whom the founding missionaries ministered continued to make requests for such a program. Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a meal.  Teach a man to fish and he and his family and their families will eat for a lifetime and can teach others how to fish so they can also eat all the while sharing the gospel with those they are teaching & feeding.

Jonathan will work there to maintain and upgrade technology, advise the directors on how best to use technology to accommodate future needs and economize available technology, and train staff and missionaries.  This will be a missionary position and we will need to raise some amount of monthly support.  But that is in the near future and we’ll let you know more about it later.

Mango or Bust

We’ve finalized plans for our return trip to Mango in the first weeks of January to say our goodbyes and finish up some things that were left undone when we hastily left.  This will not be an easy trip. Traveling this far and for so long is always a struggle, more so with two energetic young ones.  Add to that the complications of Jonathan’s condition and additional requirements for COVID19 and it’s easy to see that this will be quite the trip.

It will be an emotional trip too.  We miss Mango.  We miss our friends there and the fellowship.  We miss the labored striving and the joy of teaching in the village.  (Sure there are things we don’t miss like going days without a shower or hand-sized, furry, eight-legged critters scurrying across the floor at night.)  The sacrifices paled next to joy of striving for the kingdom in a place that was ripe for harvest.  Now we will go and say farewell and close a chapter of our lives that ended before we were ready.

Please pray for us as we prepare and go that God would bless this time and that He would be glorified in it all.  Pray also for the parents and the children as we travel.  Pray that none of us, especially Jonathan, would not get malaria and that we would have energy.  Pray that we would all have negative COVID19 tests throughout the journey, that our flights would not be cancelled, again due to COVID19,  and that there would be no other complications.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

Oh, and a belated Merry Christmas from our family to yours.  May the God of all hope be the light of hope into your life that you might “be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you.” And a happy new year to you all.

Jonathan, Bethany, Caleb, and Sélah Edwards

Will you come?  The man beside the road had flagged us down just a few kilometers from a village where we and another missionary couple hold a bible group one morning each week.  He had heard from someone in that village what we were doing there and wanted us to come and host a study at his village… and he didn’t want to take no for an answer. It’s the sort of question that every missionary dreams about, being tracked down to come and do the very thing that you want to be doing. But there was a problem. When could we come?  All of our time was committed. Everyone else is busy as well. Truly, this was a case of Jesus’ prophecy that, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”  After about 10 minutes of discussion it was decided that we could use our two trucks to haul anyone who wanted to attend from that village to the village where we hold the study so that they too could participate.  It wasn’t an ideal solution; The meeting place in the other village is already standing room only and we would double that number, but it was a start.  So we ask, would you “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest?” (Matt 9:38) We need laborers. Maybe this man’s question was not pointed just at us but to you. Will YOU come?  This is one of a dozen villages that have asked for us to start teaching God’s Word but our team in cooperation with local churches cannot for lack of teachers. While you consider and pray about that, would you pray that God would provide the words, the energy, the attentiveness, the courage to continue to proclaim His Good News?

Maybe you caught the detail that we are planning to use our pickup to transport people to the bible study.  We have it!  In what seems like forever ago (in reality less than a month and a half) we were able to finalize the paperwork on our truck and drive it to Mango. It is far nicer than we imagined. We knew it was a very nice pickup truck but WOW, God provided a fine gift. The heated seats are our favorite feature! We are thankful for the generosity of the family who sacrificed as well as to everyone who sacrificed to help us with shipping, port costs, and taxes. We and our team in Mango go to great lengths to distance ourselves from the heresy that is the Prosperity Gospel by trying not to flaunt our relative and/or perceived wealth.  And in a God-ordained twist, He turns around and reminds us that, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:11) All the more because of this we are careful to point to the provision of God and give Him praise for it whenever someone asks about it.  It comes at a good time too as rainy season fast approaches. And getting to and from the village will become a challenge.  Puddles the size of small lakes threaten to bog down most transportation but so far we have had no trouble getting where we need to go whether fording creek beds or wading puddles… all this to the frustration of our guard who cleans it to a sparkling sheen every night.

Baby is growing fast and momma is just about ready for him or her to vacate.  And there is less than a month left before the estimated due date.  And with that approaching date, Bethany has moved to full time nest making and preparation, as well as relationship-building with our house help and other women in our neighborhood.  As the bump grew so grew the challenges of continuing to work on the hospital floor and so she has taken maternity leave.

Pray with us …

     … that we would grow in our walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

     … for energy and boldness as we continue the work to advance His kingdom.

     … that we would be a light to our Togolese, Ghanaian, and Burkinabé neighbors.

     … for continued growth in our cultural and lingual understanding.

     … as we form relationships with guards, house help, co-workers, and others in the community.

     … that God would give us a clear idea of how we should focus and prioritize our ministries.

     … for the growing situation in Burkina and other North-Eastern West African countries, and that the Muslims in northern Togo, Benin, and Ghana would continue to reject extremist ideology and not permit it to be taught

     … that the restrictions caused by this situation to travel on us as well as to the nationals would not hinder ministries

     …that Christians in affected areas would continue to stand firm in their faith despite ever increasing persecution.

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Many have asked about care-packages. You can click here to see the list of things that are good and not so good to send to us and where.

Current Support Level
92%  (-$450.49/mo)

This shortfall was created almost exclusively by an increase in medical insurance costs, both a rate increase and the number of dependents.  Are you willing to help us make up the difference with a monthly gift of any amount?

http://www.elusivetangent.com/give

Printable Version

Hospital of Hope (foreground), the city of Mango, background, and the flooded Oti river (left)                                 Credit: Judy Bowen

We’ve been on the field for ten months now and one thing continues to grasp the strings of our hearts.  That so many people believe in Christ’s calling us to the peoples of Togo and are willing to sacrifice consistently for that cause.  We could not be here without the churches and families who faithfully partner with us. And we want to say a huge thank you!  Thank you from us and thank you from those whom we reach every day because of your partnerships. Only eternity will tell the impact that your efforts have and continue to make.  We know that it is as much a sacrifice for those sending as those who are sent.  We are all part of the same body and joyfully share in the same sacrifice.

In less than seven weeks, with God’s blessing, we will be in Togo.  Plans have been made and tickets bought. And there is so much that needs to happen before then and start then. Our truck needs to ship still.  We have arranged for it to be taken to port but it won’t be available in Togo until at least a month after we get there.  We will need to find (or build) a house, get furnishings, move in – all while adjusting to a new culture, in a freshly learned language, far from the familiar.  It’s exciting. It’s scary. It’s intimidating. It’s what we’ve been preparing for.  In many ways it’s like anticipation of an inevitable battle. You acknowledge the fear as a reminder that you are merely human and then take courage affirming that the Word has proclaimed, “‘My grace is sufficient for you for My power is made perfect in [our] weakness.’ Therefore [we] will boast all the more gladly in [our] weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on [us].”

Language Learning Progress

Our most recent language test results show Jonathan was at A2 and Bethany at B1.  Now Jonathan is at B1 and Bethany is just short of B2!  We will have one final test in December to tell where we are and are hoping and planning to continue formal language learning, to a lesser extent, in Mango.

HAM

Radio started out as a casual interest, and grew until one day at a church in New Jersey a couple of guys gave a small transmitter radio to us. These HAMs encouraged Jonathan to pursue the hobby more and Jonathan used the opportunity during a recent visit to the US for a wedding (for Bethany’s sister) to attain his general HAM license.  So if ever you’re on the airwaves, keep your ears open for him. This hobby not only provides a great pastime, but also a great ministry tool in allowing a way to set up high powered wireless networks and can be used as a education and training tool and emergency communication if ever all other forms of communication are unavailable.

The Elephant in the Room

There’s also the elephant in the room.  It’s the one bit of housekeeping that every missionary must talk about and everyone hates to bring up.  At the end of the year, we an estimate being $150.00 per month below the 100% level of partnership. So far, we have been able to mitigate most of the shortfall with a surplus created by a strong US dollar but that is temporary at best and looks to be on the way out already.  This shortfall is mostly made up of growing costs of US-base health insurance (as required by the AHCA).  It might not seem like much, but this normal, slow attrition makes ministry just a little bit less efficient. It is also difficult to make up these differences when we are far removed from the relationships that God uses to fill these needs. Would you please pray for God to raise up several new partners to fill this need?

We continue to pray for you and thank God for your faithfulness in the same.

Serving Him Together,

Jonathan & Bethany

Click here for the printable version.

“You’ll learn how to walk,” our friend Mike said as he helped us find our way in the new city. We were fresh off the train from the Paris airport and fighting off the haze of jet lag and lack of sleep as we walked through a dreary drizzle on our way to our new apartment located at the school where we would soon be learning to speak French. He had no idea how true his words were.

We had just finished a whirlwind holiday of family followed by a dizzying change of plans after our flight was cancelled and another delayed because of bad weather along the entire East coast of the US.  The first day there wasn’t a jet flying to our destination.  Day two, try two, and we were able to make the connection to our flight. Only by the grace of God was it delayed, allowing us to sprint (literally) from one end of the airport to the other to make our connection only minutes before the doors closed… only to find out on the other side that our checked bags weren’t as good as us at sprinting.

Just days before that, we were still unsure how God planned to allow us to get clearance to leave.  Two days before Christmas we were feeling confused and depressed that the funds to receive clearance were still over $20,000 short.  It was the cost of a vehicle.  That was a huge gap. We doubted. Had we been misunderstood God’s leading when we applied for language school, bought plane tickets, and packed everything, that God wanted us to leave in January?

Then we received a message that someone was willing to donate a vehicle. We were overjoyed.  But some details still remained such as how to pay for shipping and tax.  But God… He knew beforehand and had already planned not just for the vehicle but also for these costs.  The amount generously given by so many of our partners covered the estimated cost of these expenses.   The day after Christmas we received our clearance to leave.  We had doubted, but God had already gone before us and prepared all of the details. He waited until the last few moments because He wanted us to learn trust Him… to learn to walk in faith.

Now we are four weeks into learning French and feeling like babies.  It’s a new culture, a new language, a new way of, well, everything.  When you go to the store you don’t know where anything is and you don’t know how to ask for it.  Even simple tasks like mailing a letter become complicated. It’s like having to learn to walk again.

So now as we walk around this new city learning a new language and new skills, we are learning to walk more by faith day by day in the One who has called us to this mission to fulfill this task. And we trust that He will be the one to go before us and work out all of the details for now and for our future and we must learn to trust Him and do our part even when the circumstances seem hopeless and we become discouraged and begin to doubt.

Please pray for us as we continue to learn French effectively so as to be good stewards and ministers of His gospel, that we will stay focused and not become disheartened by the immensity of the task.

Please pray for all of the details of logistics so that when the time comes our vehicle and house container will arrive undamaged, expediently, and not be caught in customs or incur unreasonable costs.

Please pray for our spiritual well-being, that we would continue to grow and fellowship in a place where the church services are in a language we don’t speak well.