All of the final changes to Brenda's literacy book were made this week. It is currently being printed and bound. On Saturday, February 5th, Brenda will teach the first of 7 Literacy Teachers' Seminars in the various areas of the Watchi where we have churches. Please pray for God to raise up teachers to carry on this program.

Ellianna, at 18 months (as of January 29th), hasn't been a big talker; however we are just starting to realize how much of the local language she understands. For example, instead of saying "thank you" in English, she recently thanked Jeff for something by saying, "akpe," the Eve language equivalent. On another occasion, a man was watering flowers and asked Ellianna if she wanted to wash her hands. She shook her head yes and walked over to wash up. When she was leaving, the man asked if she was finished. She shook her hand back and forth as the locals do to indicate, "it is finished."

Josiah is 100% boy. As one could expect, just as we had decided to make a family picture, Josiah came home with a scratched up cheek and a little "shiner" under the other eye. Mom, using "spy-paint" (A.K.A. make-up) fixed him up for the shot. Hope you like it.
 

We had a great worship service this past week with the Sedome church. I was shocked at how many people were there. Three more people had been baptized since I last saw them January 2nd. I couldn't help but remember back in 2002 when the church started with one man and four women. Sunday there were over 30 adults there and as many children! Couples, young men and women, old men and women, a blind woman, one voodoo diviner who repented this past year, a "wife" of a voodoo god who repented this past year, an alcoholic who quit drinking to follow Jesus and his wife and the list goes on.

I praise God for the redeeming work that He is doing through this body of believers. I'm so excited to spend eternity with them! Our singing was a sweet, sweet sound to my ears and I know that the Lord was pleased too! Praise be His name!

The family is doing great this week. Stephen and Matthew are really enjoying school! We're all looking forward to seeing our friends and family in the States in just a few short weeks! Blessings to all of you!

We are writing this from Accra, Ghana. We had to come here to apply for Louise's visa to Brazil for the Come Before Winter trip she will be making in March. We had to gather a pile of information and forms in order to fulfill the list of requirements for the visa, but in the end, the ambassador only asked to have the four basics: passport, yellow fever card, airline and hotel reservations and the application. I guess its always better to have too much info than not enough. We are also having Louise's ears checked, since she has been having some hearing problems for a while now. Please pray that it will not need severe action to correct.

The boys are staying at home with Josh and Kyleen Bontrager. Pray for their health, safety and sanity (Josh and Kyleen's, that is).

Afakomi Kope is continuing the work on their building. Pray for the completion of this physical construction, so that they can move on to some spiritual reconstruction in their group. The men in Ahepe impressed Marty this week by having completed their homework assignments for Train and Multiply. Pray that their enthusiasm will not wane.


We're thankful that the harmattan dust has lifted (for the time being) and our coughs and colds are better. There is a virus running through the team this week, however, and Maureen is the victim in our family.

We have been reminded again this week of the struggles that the Watchi Christians have face in maintaining their faith in a pagan environment. On Sunday, we worshipped with the small group of Christians at Kpeyidzi. No one was at the church building when we arrived. We did hear a loud music playing, such as is often done at funerals. We went to the homes of some of the members, and they did eventually gather for a worship service. As we were worshipping, a bus load of people came into the isolated village. What was happening that day was the annual celebration to honor and offer sacrifices to the village ancestors. It was a festive occasion for many in the village. The Christians could not participate, and they were left feeling isolated. It occurred to me that it would be as if I told my family that I could no longer conscientiously observe Christmas, and I just had to sit by and watch while they had fun together, and repeatedly invited me to join them.

In another situation, the son of Ablavino, a Christian woman in Tabligbo, recently died unexpectedly. Just this week, another child of Ablavino's husband, who is voodoo worshipper, also died. A witch doctor has said that the children are dying because Ablavino is a Christian, and that a total of seven children will die if she does not renounce her faith. When Maureen visited Ablavino this week, her husband was building a new idol next to the hut where Ablavino stays, trying to appease the "god." She is under pressure to abandon her faith, but is holding firm.

Please pray for the Watchi Christians as they stand against the evil one.


We enjoyed a wonderful worship service at Sendome. There were about 60 people. It was encouraging to hear that they had three new baptisms. One of the men is already taking a leadership role. He was active in keeping the children quiet and helping the men plan the Men's Conference. Give thanks to the Lord for these new Christians. How wonderful it is to be in Christ!

We enjoyed having the Newlins over for dinner on Monday night. This was the first meal of many that we will be sharing together at our house. Jeremy has been such a blessing to Josh, just knowing that there is another guy his age, who is as active in sports as he is. We enjoyed laughing while having a great time playing cards.

Josh had a wonderful time with his mentor, Anthony, on Tuesday. Josh and Anthony meet every week for prayer and reflection upon the previous week. Josh really enjoys his prayers, advice, and wisdom. Josh was glad to have Frank back at Taekwondo practice Tuesday night, although, Josh is very sore from the rigorous workout.

We have been taking care of the four Koonce boys this week while Marty and Louis are in Ghana. They have been so well behaved and a lot of fun. We have enjoyed playing outside with them. Josh has been playing baseball with Taylor and Tanner. Thankfully, no one has gotten sick. However, Kyleen has had a little stomach bug. She didn't go to school on Friday because she was sick. She is feeling better now, but is still recovering.

Josh is getting excited about the Men's trip to Benin to see elephants and hopefully lions. He will be gone for several days. When he gets back he will be going out to Sendome for the Men's conference. Kyleen is excited for him, but sad that he will be gone a lot in the next two weeks. Please continue to pray for our job search.