Saturday, August 27, 2005

Stacey Sexton

Welcome to a taste of my journey.

Wow, can I just say a prayer has come true! I am right now in Tabligbo, Africa. A place of unfamiliar faces and warm hearts. I have only been here for about a week and it already feels as though time is flying. For all the ones that don't know me, I am from Tipton, Oklahoma. I'm from a family of seven. I have two amazing parents, Rick and Debra Sexton. I have three brothers that I love dearly, (Josh, Michael, and Stephen), and a sister who is my very best friend, Shannon. I have gone to school in Weatherford, Oklahoma for two years and now taking two semesters off to join the Watchiharvest team. My mission here is to teach their bright and loving children. I have met them all except for the Koonces, whom I am looking forward to meeting. The families are so welcoming and giving. They will go out of their way to make me feel at home. I am so blessed to be among faithful and devoted Christians. The children are full of energy and joy. I have enjoyed getting to know them. Jenna and I are getting more and more excited about school as the days pass. It has been a real treat being around Jenna. She has a caring heart and through Christ we will make a great team. The people of Tabligbo are some of the sweetest people I know. I hope to learn some French while I'm here. I'm curious to get to know about the people through their words.

I have seen God working in my life in so many ways this past week. The day of travel was absolutely amazing. God was taking me by the hand the whole way. If God wasn't so powerful I couldn't have taken this mission. I'm the type that is very close to my family and friends and with God I am able to break that attachment in order to fullfill his duty. I hope that through the guiding of the Spirit and through prayers I'll be pleasing in the eyes of God and the mission here. Thank you for all the prayers and encourgment that you have all brought to me. May God bless you all.

Love in Christ, Stacey

Jenna Stephens

Thank you so much to all of you who were praying about the teaching situation . . . the Lord's answer was to allow me to be a last minute (literally) addition to the work going on here in Tabligbo, and I could not be more grateful!

Just a few facts about me so that you may know me more . . . I am 23 years old, and by God's grace just graduated from the University of Florida with a Masters in Special Education. Mission work has always pulled at my heart, and it has been my desire and prayer to come to Africa for almost ten years. God's faithfulness and goodness in sending me has been nothing short of amazing and overwhelming!!

This first week in Tabligbo has been filled with many wonderful moments--meeting Stacey in Germany, meeting the team and the children face-to-face, experiencing some of West Africa, a market day here in Tabligbo, and beginning preparations for the new school year. The missionary families have been so loving and hospitable, and I am so grateful for the love of Christ they have demonstrated to us. Not to mention all of the scrumptious meals they have prepared for us :)

School will start in a little over a week, and I am more excited each day! May God always receive the glory for any good thing, and especially for this upcoming school year.

Murphy and Christine Crowson

This was a great week! God is convicting my heart that I should spend less time teaching the elders and leaders that I work with about prayer, and spend more time praying with them. So, I began this new focus this week and spent more time praying with shepherds, elders and leaders and less time teaching. I believe that God has already blessed this new focus and the men that I work with are excited too. It has been said “When we work, we work. But when we pray, God works.” I confess that I have focused too much time and energy on my role in ministry and not enough focus on the Spirit’s role in the growth of the Kingdom. Well, I repent and commit myself to change my ways. Pray that God will give me the strength to change completely into the likeness of our Master.

I also want to thank and praise the Lord again for providing a ‘newer’ engine. Not only did He provide the engine, He also provided the funds to pay for it! We cannot praise Him enough for continually answering our prayers and providing for our needs. So we invite you to join us in praise and thanksgiving!

Last week in Lomé, in a moment of weakness, I bought five little red birds to keep as pets for my bird lover, Stephen. I say it was a moment of weakness because it was impulsive and not thought through. Well, due to our lack of knowledge and ability to take care of birds, four of them died in less than a week. With one left, we finally ordered a new cage and changed the food and water situation. So far, this last one is doing well. Stephen is delighted to have a pet bird! Our dog, Buster, on the other hand is going crazy having to watch this bird fly around his cage in total safety!

We are so excited to have our teachers, Jenna and Stacey, here with us! We praise and thank God for His faithfulness in providing for our children! We’re also excited to welcome the Koonces back next week as they return from their furlough. We will go to Accra on Tuesday, they arrive on Wednesday, and we will all return on Friday to Tabligbo.

Marty and Louise Koonce

Thank you all for your prayers. We are counting the days until our return to Togo. It is very exciting although all the packing has made us just about crazy. We already have several packed, but it seems several are left to go. We will be in Searcy this weekend at the final and thirteenth of our church visits. Maybe we'll rest when we get to Africa. It has been a good furlough with lots of family time for which we are very thankful. God has given us all we've needed and now we are almost through. Next Tuesday is our departure and then we'll be in Ghana for two or three days prior to Togo. Please pray for us in all our travels as well as our transition back to our lives in Togo.

Anthony and Maureen Parker

We started off this week with a trip to Accra, Ghana, where we met our new teachers and gave them their first introduction to African life. Anthony took advantage of being in Ghana, where parts are generally less expensive, to get some maintenance done on our car.

We returned to Tabligbo on Tuesday to have a meal with the team welcoming the teachers, hosted by the Hollands. In the work, things have been pretty routine, with Anthony still focused on editing the leadership training materials. Maureen's shingles and coughs are getting better. We thank you for your prayers on her behalf and continue to pray for her full recovery.

Our big event of the week will be Jonathan's 4th birthday, which will actually be Sunday, the 28th, but we are having a party with the team kids and a pizza dinner tonight (Saturday) with the whole team.

This week, we'll be traveling to Benin, where we worked for eight years before moving to Togo. Benin is the country just east of Togo. We need to get some paper work there for Maureen's eventual immigration to the States (to prove she doesn't have a record!), and will also be visting the Fon churches for a special day of celebrating the planting of a new church.

Jeff and Brenda Holland

We praise God for God’s healing hand. Josiah is much better this week. Rebecca and Ellianna had vaccinations earlier this week and were sick for a couple of days, but came through it fine. Rebecca is on an antibiotic for a cough, but she seems fine. Komla has been making a lot of progress and is making slow strides in his rehabilitations to overcome his stroke symptoms.

There are a number of things to pray for. Our teachers made it in safely and are getting ready for the new school year. We praise God for their arrival. Pray for their adjustment, health, and teaching of our children. Pray for Daniel, the literacy worker, who is taking up Brenda’s role in forming literacy teachers throughout the churches. He is doing a village-to-village tour to see the literacy teachers with their current students. He is helping the teachers to grow in their skills. Pray for his travel safety and his teaching effectiveness. Pray for the many church planting efforts that are starting. Pray for Veme, Gbleta, Achechi, and other places that have been targeted for new plantings. Pray also for the rains to come. The rains are running late. Normally rains start back up in late August after our short dry season. This year, we are about to enter September, but the rains have not started.