There are days where we are just worn down and
it seems like we are pedaling but the bike is stationary. There are days when we are sick with such
things as malaria or we are tired of sitting in the dark due to lack of
electricity from a rain storm. We can
choose to allow circumstances to get us down or we can focus on what God is
doing in our lives or in the lives around us.
The past few weeks, I have been so amazed by the
testimonie of the Togolese. The Monday
two weeks ago, began with a bang as the two single Togolese teachers came to my
house to start Bible study on becoming a
virtuous woman. These ladies are very
knowledgeable and they are teaching me the importance of really studying the
scriptures and understanding the meaning.
They put up with my cooking as last time I didn’t put in a bag full of
salt like they would have liked but we are getting to know one another. It is so important to have others who can
challenge you to be a virtuous man or woman of God.
On
Tuesday, one of our wonerful teachers came over to discuss middle school bible
study for the boys although I knew our conversation would be so much more than
that. He told me about the middle school
students who seem to be sleeping during class but then all of a sudden ask a
profounding question. One Muslim girl in
7th grade, acted like she wasn’t interested in the bible until one day she
asked the teacher for prayer. She said
that she had been having terrible dreams and wanted them to go away. The teacher prayed and a few days later
the girl came back to thank him for praying.
She realized that it was through the power of prayer that helped
her. The teacher asked if she was ready
to accept Christ but she said not yet.
It is a scary thing for the
Muslims to turn away from that religion because as the teacher said,
they might kill you while you sleep for choosing to follow Chris. We have another student who really
understands the gospel and even wrote a story about someone accepting Christ
but he is not ready to make that step because of the consequences from his
father. Please pray for these students
as they learn how to be brave and pray for us that we know how to encourage
them.
In
fact the teacher doing the bible classes, was a
Muslim. When he was younger and
living up north, his aunt came to visit who was a Christan. One time she went into the bush for several
days and didn ‘t take any supplies with her. The family decided that she had died but she
returned and with all her help. The aunt
came another time and was allowed to take the boys to church. After she left, the father permitted the boys
to go and while attending , they accepted Christ. The boys urged their father to go but he
would’t. The aunt returned againg and told the father he should just go
once. He agreed and that night when they
presented the gospel, the father went forward to receive Christ. The whole family was then saved and because
of this aunt, we now have a teacher who
is dedicted to the Lord and who can explain the gospel to his people in a way I
cannot.
The
I had the great privilege to travel to our
school in the north on Thursday. Getting there is a jaunt as first a friend
took me by moto to a town 2 hours away. Keep in mind that the so called paved road
has more holes than actual pavement so I’m not sure if it actually qualifies as
a paved road anymore. To pass the time,
I focus on the gorgeous mountains that God has created and I pray that
we don’t fall off. After arriving in
Atakpame and praising God for allowing us to get there safely, I take the post
bus another 4 hours for Kara. The post
office runs this bus so it stops in every town to deliver the mail but also
pick up or drop off passengers. It seems like a win win situation for everyone.
At Kara, I was met by the director of the
school and he took me directly to the school where I saw the doors being
constructed. For 8 years, this school
has been without doors which means every night the teachers had to bring in the
materals and every morning they had to put them back up. The sun would beat down in their classrooms
and parents felt that the schools wasn’t as safe even though there is a wall
around the school and church. Small
groups in the states helped purchase the doors and it was such a joy to see
them up for the first time. The next day
at school, I was able to meet with the committee and they expressed their
gratitude and how these doors would help the school increase its enrollment and
help encourage the teachers. Again, it
is such a huge testimony of God’s goodness.
Here is a school that has struggled for so long with a simple thing such
as doors and now God has provided a way to answer that prayer ! God is in every detail of our
lives !!!
Thursday night, I ate fufu at the director’s house and I can actually admit that it was the best
that I had tasted. Despite huge flying
insects landing on me, it was an enjoyable evening with his family. Underneath the stars, we shared praises and
difficulties but especially testimony’s of God ‘s work. God is working in the lives of our students
and even those who come from Muslim backgrounds. They know the truth and now we are praying
that they find the strength to follow Christ full-heartedly. I ate dinner with a family who has little but
is willing to share their food and willing to still sing praises because they
have the greatest treasure or all : Jesus Christ.
The last testimony I want to share with you
happened Saturday. For 3 years, the
mission hospital trains a new set of nurses.
This time, they started with 20, and all 20 of them graduated. As a new mission hospital will be opening
soon in the north, most of these nurses will be going up there and only a few
will stay down in the south. For these
20 students to complete a somewhat American education is a feat in itself and
it was so neat to see the way that the Lord has been working in all their lives
to prepare them for this day. One of the graduates comes from the north and he
was a Muslim when he first started the program.
While in the program, he saw a little bit treasure here in our town and
realized that it was the Lord working.
He accepted Christ and on graduation day, he proudly proclaimed the name
of Jesus for all to hear. The place was
filled with « amens » As the
man preached to the mountaintops that Christ is His Savior. He will be coming to speak to our students
in a few weeks and we pray that this will be an encouragement to our Muslim
students who have not fully committed to following Christ. My neighbour was one of the nurses that
graduated, so after the ceremony he had a huge celebration bash at the
restaurant across from us. Of course
there was loud music playing, lots of rice to be eaten, and a lot of speeches
that I didn’t understand. They even brought in a fake patient who was treated
by my neighbour in grand fashion.
Indeed, it was a day of celebration and recognizing the goodness of the
Lord to deliver these students through 3 strenuous years of work.
Testimonies of God’s work ; they are all
around us if we are willing to stop and reflect on what God is actually
doing. Then we need to share the
testimonies with others as witness of God’s righteous being lived out amongst
us.
