Togo Visit Nov 2009 Report

Last November Marty and I had the honor of returning to southern Togo to visit our Watchi brothers and sisters in Jesus. Our families left Togo in December, 2008, so this trip marked one full year since our transition to Rwanda. Those eight days were a great encouragement to me as we were able to see God's hand working in their lives since we left, evidence that the work that was done in years past was not the work of man, but of God.

God's Hand Continues to Bless the Watchi

So why am I just now writing this report, almost six months after the fact??? What can I say except that when I returned from Togo I hit the ground running and haven't stopped since!

Let me begin this report by talking about the picture on the left. This was taken after worship on Sunday. Four churches gathered (one of them newly planted since I left in 2008). This group represents a mix of Watchi and Aja Christians that we worked with while we were in Togo. I was so thankful to see them not only faithful to Jesus, but growing spiritually and in number.

One of the exciting stories that they told me was about Kodzo (ko-joe) pictured with me on the left. He became a follower of Jesus in 2003 when the Batoe church was planted and has remained faithful ever since. He is very gifted musically and taught himself how to play a keyboard (note that he can't read nor does he have any music!) He has the gift of listening to a song and then is able to play the tune on his keyboard. Amazing!

Kodzo has always had a good heart. But he also had a huge struggle. He was an alcoholic. For years we prayed and prayed, counseled and warned and then prayed some more that he would be able to give up his drinking. When I left in 2008, he was still struggling with his addiction and we were still praying. There's no AA support groups or any kind of "program" that we could send him to for help. We were praying for a miracle.

Last summer (2009) that miracle happened. Kodzo got really sick, so sick that he went to the capital for medicine and treatment. While he was in the capital someone told him that if he didn't quick his drinking that it was going to kill him. He brushed off their warning and went home and in a couple days was better. Three days later however he fell ill again, this time much worse. Something happened in his heart during this illness. Perhaps it was the fear of dying, the Spirit working on his will, years of suffering climaxing…I don't know. But something happened and when he recovered he decided that he was going to quit drinking! When I saw him in November he hadn't had a drink in almost six months. He was cleansed. He was free. God answered our prayer.

I enjoyed meeting with leaders from different churches. Pictured left is Denni and Nledzi, leaders from Sedome church doing a Discovery Bible Study on leadership. In the past year the church in Sedome was able to purchase a piece of land where they plan to begin building in the coming years. Building projects are on "Africa" time, meaning that it comes slowly but surely. The good thing about this is that there is no debt! When they get a little money they will build a little and continue until it's finished. Sounds Biblical to me:)

It was a joy to see these brothers continuing on in the faith. I found them strong and encouraged in the Lord.

Since we were only there during one Sunday I had to choose which area to worship in. This was a difficult choice since there were so many churches and Christians that we wanted to visit and encourage. Marty and I split up so that we could encourage twice as many people! I worshiped with the Sedome cluster (pictured above). During worship I led the church in a Discovery Bible Study on forgiveness. Pictured left is one of the groups of women memorizing the passage. Only one woman in the group could read, so she read it out to the group several times and then one by one each person memorized it and then restated it in their own words. The last and most important step was to tell the group how they planned to obey that scripture in the coming week. It was encouraging to my heart to see the Word working in their lives.

One of my days was spent in prayer and fasting with the Adangbe leaders. We went up on "the mountain" (which is really only a big rock ). These leaders represented five different churches, one of them they planted themselves without any outside assistance.

In the evening we all met together to discuss a problem that one of the churches was having. I offered advice and councel, but they had already done what I was going to recommend that they do. The problem wasn't completely resolved when I left Togo but I have heard word since that they worked it all out.

Meet Isaac, a young man who was brought to Jesus in the Adangbe Cluster when he was a teenager. He's in the capital of Lome now working at an Air Conditioning parts store. His passion is church planting and making disciples. I enjoyed spending an afternoon with him sharing thoughts and ideas on making disciples and planting churches.

He's also a passionate prayer warrior for Rwanda, praying the Luke 10:2b prayer everyday that the Lord would raise up more workers in the harvest fields. I have great confidence that God is going to do mighty things through this young man!

The year after we left, Isaac baptized his mother into Jesus. Pictured right is his mother being baptized.

Please join us as we pray for Isaac, that the Lord would bless his growth and maturity and use him to disciple multitudes of people and plant hundreds of churches!

This picture may not seem very significant at first, but it represents an answer to years of prayer. In this spot there used to be a hideous idol dedicated to one of the numerous voodoo gods of the Watchi. I drove by this idol two to four times every week for six years. Each time I passed I prayed, "Lord destroy this idol and bind the spirit in the name of Jesus." God moves in mysterious ways and chose to use a European NGO to answer this prayer. Last year they began to repair the road between Adangbe town and Didokpo and I'm happy to say this idol was in the way and had to go! So, here is all that remains. There really is only One True God!

Agricultural Ministry

Pictured with me are Late (La-tay) and Minen (Meen-a). Late is the agricultural missionary among the Watchi that we continue to support. He continues to work with farmers and Christians to help them learn new farming techniques as well as increase their farms production so that their overall lives can continue to improve. We'd seen dozens of families lives changed over the years through this ministry. So many that we decided to continue the ministry even after we left.

In 2009 we began developing a "Mission Farm" that will grow teak, pineapples, corn and papaya. There are two main goals for this farm: One, to provide an example for Watchi farmers in the new farming techniques that Late is trying to teach. Two, to generate enough annual income to sustain the entire Agricultural Ministry.

Last year Late planted thousands of pineapple plants on the mission farm. These plants are "organic" pineapples (no fertilizer or pesticides) and will eventually be processed and sent to Europe for sale. From the time of the first planting until the first harvest it takes around 18 months. Then, each year after-wards one plant will produce one pineapple and three "baby" pineapple plants which can be planted to increase the future harvest! These pineapples sometimes weigh as much as 14 lbs. and are delicious! Oh, how we miss them!

In the last five years between the Watchi farmers and mission farm we have planted almost 100,000 pineapple plants! Revenue from these pineapples helps families pay school fees, clothe their children, build stronger houses, tithe generously, build church buildings and send missionaries. As God blesses His people, they are blessings others!

Another huge aspect of the Agricultural Ministry is digging wells and providing clean drinking water for new villages. Thanks to funds given we have been able to dig four wells in the last few years. This year, 2010, another three wells will be dug which will greatly improve quality of life of dozens of families.

Everything is done in the name of Jesus as we seek to proclaim His love by both Word and Deed.

There are lots of pictures of the mission farm and agricultural ministry in the slide show.

Christine and I are so thankful for your continued prayers for the growth of the Kingdom in Togo. Although we left "physically" our hearts are still very much there "spiritually" as we long for the Kingdom of Heaven to come in all of it's fullness and power. Please continue to pray that the Lord would bless the saints in southern Togo with everything that they need to experience all of His fullness and bless all of His people.

We love you!

Murphy and Christine