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?
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