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Goodbye Togo – 2008 Crowson Family Photo Album

May 16, 2010 By Murphy Crowson

The end of this "on the field" term is quickly coming to a close as our departure for furlough approaches. This was our fifth term in Africa and covered one year in Togo and 18 months in Rwanda. We put the "Goodbye Togo 2008 – Crowson Photo Album" together to give you a glimpse of our last year in West Africa and the special friendships and times that we shared there. I'm currently working on a "Hello Rwanda 2009 – Crowson Photo Album" which I hope to post sometime this coming week!

You can click this link to download the "Goodbye Togo 2008 – Crowson Photo Album" in pdf format. It's almost 18mb, so make sure you have a good internet connection. Also, it's best displayed in Adobe Acrobat 8 or higher viewing two pages at a time side by side. Enjoy:)

Here's an excerpt from the cover page of the photo album:

Our family moved to Benin, West Africa in 1998 and worked among the Aja for three and a half years. In 2002 we transitioned to Togo, the country just west of Benin and continued to minister to the Aja and began a ministry among the Watchi. Our years in West Africa were filled with challenges, victories, hardships as well as great times of joy as we experienced the power of God changing lives.

We love West Africa, it’s people, diverse cultures, tropical fruit, beautiful beaches, lively markets and at times even the heat! There will always be a special place in our hearts for this part of God’s beautiful world.

Filed Under: Christine, Featured, Murphy, Pictures, Prayer Answers, Stephen & Matthew, Watchi Tagged With: Agricultural Ministry, Christine, Church Planting, God's Creation, Matthew, Missions, Pictures, Stephen, Togo, Transition

Prayers for Togo and Latay

March 7, 2010 By Murphy Crowson

We ask your prayers for Togo this week. There's a lot of "unrest" due to last week's election. Things are "calm" but tensions are "high" in the southern part of the country. So we ask that the Lord would bless Togo with peace so that the work of the Kingdom can continue. You can read more about the elections here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm.

Latay, our Ag Missionary among the Watchi, and his wife Minen live in Lome, the capital, where things aren't quite "safe" yet in terms of activity and travel. He had planned to plant a new crop of pineapples last week on the mission farm but decided to put it off until things are back to normal. Pray that God will protect he and his wife. They are safe and we are asking God to keep them safe.

Latay's bag was also stolen last week which had $1000 that had been given to plant teak on the mission farm, his laptop, id, keys, documents, etc. We are thankful that he is safe and pray that God would resupply everything that was lost.

I talked to him on the phone last night and was thrilled to find him super excited about the things that God is doing among the Christians and churches. This "church is growing." That "leader repented." This "family was reconciled." These "churches want to begin three new churches." He said this was testimony that it was God's Spirit moving and not by the power and effort of any man because the spiritual growth was happening long after the missionaries had left. Praise God!

It's such a joy for us to hear of how the Lord is working among our brothers and sisters in Watchiland.

God is listening and answering our prayers, so, let's keep on praying!

Filed Under: Murphy, Prayer Answers, Prayer Needs, Watchi Tagged With: Agricultural Ministry, Church Planting, Prayer, Togo

Headed to Togo

November 28, 2009 By Murphy Crowson

This afternoon Marty and I are traveling to Togo to visit our Watchi brothers and sisters in the Lord. We'll be gone around 10 days.

Please pray that the Lord would bless our trip and use us to encourage the Watchi Christians and Churches.

As well, please pray that the Lord will watch over my family while I'm gone, keeping them safe and in good health.

I'll let you know how things went when I get back!

Blessings and peace…

Murphy

Filed Under: Murphy, Prayer Needs, Watchi Tagged With: Prayer, Togo

Family Update

October 8, 2009 By Murphy Crowson

Hey everyone, here's a quick update on our family…

So much has happened it's hard to even think about everything to tell you so I'll just begin by saying random things and hopefully it will give you an idea of what's going on here.

We had a huge Church Planting Movements conference this past August. Participants from 18 nations came and were deeply impacted. It was my second time through the training and was still just as impacted.

It set off a series of events that has had a big impact on our work and ministry in Rwanda. One of the focuses of the workshop was having a vision for the nation and not just sub-parts of a nation. After much thought, prayer and weeks of discussion the two teams currently in Rwanda have decided to form one strategy team for the entire nation of Rwanda rather than just specific individual areas of Rwanda. We still have our smaller teams for emotional, social and spiritual support but strategy-wise we are working together to formulate a strategy for reaching all of Rwanda.

We've had two strategy meetings all together as one big group to begin developing our vision and mission statements. They've gone really well and we are making exciting progress. They asked me to lead the discussion of the meetings which is fun but also challenging. It's really important that we all agree to go in the direction that God wants us to go in! Lord please anoint us! Something to pray about!

The kids have been in school now for three weeks and are loving it! We thank God everyday for the opportunity that He opened up for us to go to ISK!

About five weeks ago Marley (our Golden Lab) had three precious puppies. Everyday they're getting bigger and bigger and are, OH SO CUTE!

Language learning is still a struggle but we are making progress, a little everyday. We are at a point now where we've learned enough grammar that conversations are starting to make sense and we can communicate more.

Christine and I are beginning to spend more time with our neighbors. This was a struggle because they go to work at 7am and return at 7pm and we never see them! So, we had a brilliant idea, go to their work place and spend the day with them. So, we've done that several times now and it's been awesome! They operate an office supply shop downtown. So we went and sat in their shop and talked in Kinyarwanda for hours with them. They asked us questions and we asked them questions. (We went separately by the way). It's been encouraging. They're educated business people and committed Christians. This week Christine and the lady talked about visiting all of our other neighbors. So, relationships are getting deeper as our language abilities development and that encouraging. Boy is it hard! We are praying for Christ's perseverance in all things.

Still no news on our adoption paperwork. We're waiting for our fingerprint cards to get to the FBI center in Nebraska and be cleared….waiting….waiting….

Marty and I are planning to take a trip to visit Christians in Togo the last week of November. Pray that this trip will be a great blessing and encouragement to our brothers and sisters there!

Ok, was that enough rambling to give you an idea of what's going on here?

We love you and appreciate all of your prayers!

Murphy (and family)

Filed Under: Murphy, Prayer Answers, Prayer Needs, Rwanda Tagged With: China Adoption, Kinyarwanda, Prayer, Rwanda, Togo

Latay made it!

August 17, 2009 By Murphy Crowson

I was sitting in the workshop and got a call from an unknown #. Latay was calling me from the Kigali Airport! "I'm here! Come pick me up!"

We asked for a miracle and got one. After hearing his story it's even more evident that the Lord was providing a way for him to be here on Monday! Thank you so much for the prayers!!!

Filed Under: Murphy Tagged With: Prayer, Rwanda, Togo

Praying for a miracle for Latay

August 15, 2009 By Murphy Crowson

Latay, our agricultural missionary in Togo, was scheduled to come to a Church Planting Movements workshop here in Kigali this coming week. He was supposed to fly out of Accra, Ghana on Friday and arrive here on Saturday.

On Friday, Kenya Airways employees went on a strike that has virtually shut all flights in or out of Nairobi, Kenya down. He is supposed to fly from Accra to Nairobi to Kigali.

On Friday, Latay's flight was canceled. They put him in a hotel for two days and have yet to come up with any solution to get him to Rwanda.

We are praying for a miracle. As things stand now, there is NO earthly way that he can make the conference which starts Monday morning. But God is the God of the impossible, so join us in prayer that he will do the impossible and find a way for Latay to get here! His attendance at this workshop is VERY important for the Kingdom!

Others that were planning to attend the conference are also stranded in various airports in Africa. So, let's pray, pray, pray!

Here are a few news links if you'd like more info on the strike:

http://www.eturbonews.com/11051/kenya-airways-strike-hurts-kenyas-econ omy

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/640448/-/um49gf/-/index.html

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Local/COTU-mediates-Kenya-Airways-stri ke-5495.html

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=16690 3

Filed Under: Murphy, Prayer Needs, Watchi Tagged With: Prayer, Rwanda, Togo

Language Learning: Round Four

July 8, 2009 By Murphy Crowson

When I get to heaven, I’m planning to have some “words” with Nimrod. You know Nimrod, the “mighty hunter before the Lord” in Genesis 10. One of the first centers of his kingdom was Babylon in the plains of Shinar. Back then there was only one language. But something that was good turned into something that was bad, the Tower of Babel. You know the rest…

So here we are, thousands of years later, with estimates of over 6000 languages spoken in 200 countries. This has, without a doubt, made the missionary task of “reaching the nations” a difficult one. Missionaries spend years pouring over language lessons, study notes, flash cards and recorded dialogues. Language learning can be tough, discouraging and exhausting! Thanks a lot Nimrod!

And yet, the challenge of language learning presents one of the most powerful ways to communicate God’s love. I love you so much that I took the time and paid the price because I want to communicate an incredibly important message to you in YOUR language.

Jesus’ model of incarnation set the precedent for language learning. We didn’t have to learn a heavenly language to get to know our Creator. He learned ours and then taught us His: The Language of Love.

Paul said, “Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me.” 1 Cor. 14: 10-11.

The message of Christ is not a “foreign”, “western” or “white man’s” message. But unless I communicate that message in the heart language of the nation to which I am sent, I and the message will remain “foreign.” Grasping the language removes the foreignness of the message and gives people the opportunity to truly understand it’s meaning.

Christine and I are learning our fourth language. We began learning French in January, 1998 and to this day are still studying languages! It’s hard and requires a lot of persistence, tenacity and patience. It also puts us continually in a humbling and sometimes humiliating place. But the ability to share the Good News directly to the hearts of the Beninois, Togolese or Rwandese demonstrates the sincere and deep love we have in our hearts for them.

Yes, I’m going to have some words with Nimrod. Thank you Nimrod for providing us a powerful way to communicate God’s love to the nations.

Filed Under: Murphy, Rwanda, Watchi Tagged With: Kinyarwanda, Missions, Rwanda, Togo

The Last Tabligbo Times

January 25, 2009 By Murphy Crowson

In May, 1995, the Watchi team began sending out email prayer letters under the name "Tabligbo Times". Since that time the enewsletter has charted a long history of answered prayer and God's mighty hand moving among the Watchi.

Yesterday, we sent out the last one. You can view it on the Watchi Team web site by clicking here.

I am so thankful to the Lord for so many who have lifted up the Watchi people to the Lord in prayers over the past 15 years! Thank you for praying, the Lord listened and moved His mighty Hand to bless many people.

Filed Under: Murphy, Prayer Answers, Rwanda, Watchi Tagged With: Newsletter, Togo

Container headed to Kigali!

December 12, 2008 By Murphy Crowson

God really blessed our two families this week as we packed our container!The container truck was supposed to come Tuesday afternoon, which was rescheduled to Tuesday night, which was rescheduled to Wednesday morning, which was rescheduled to Wednesday afternoon which was rescheduled to Wednesday night, which was rescheduled to Thursday morning which was rescheduled to Thursday afternoon when it finally came at 4pm.We started packing right away having prayed earlier that the Lord would bless the packers with skill to fill every tiny space so that everything from for both of our families would fit!After 5 hours we were able to shut the doors having put EVERYTHING inside. Praise God for this miracle! We were so excited. After locking up our house, we loaded up our truck and "moved" to Lome for several days.Today (Friday) Christine and I traveled to Kara, northern Togo, to take appliances that the Hangens bought as well as give our dog to the Kennels. We had some tears this morning before we left as the boys (and Christine :) ) knew that this was their last day with Buster. He's been such a good dog and so much fun to have in our family. We know that the Kennels will be blessed!We will return to Lome tomorrow afternoon.Sunday is our big celebration in Tabligbo.Monday we head to Ghana to get some REST! We are exhausted in every way imaginable:  physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally! Thank you for your prayers! God is blessing us in everything!

Filed Under: Prayer Answers, Rwanda Tagged With: Container, Rwanda, Togo, Transition