| Read eNews from: Rachel, Murphy, Christine, Emily, Marty, Louise, or AgMin
~ Todd and Daniel Wolfe (Todd is Murphy's brother by marriage:) ~
Daniel and I are four days into our trip and have had the time of our lives. Daniel said yesterday that our trip was awesome. It has rained two days, and the temperature has stayed around 80F. Not normal, Murphy said, but we are enjoying it.
 Sunday, we travelled to Kpotonou. Travel was from the nice paved road, onto the nice dirt road, then forward to the not so nice dirt road, finishing on the single file path that only two cars have enver travelled. As we approached the village, we could hear the songs of the Christians. This was our short service experience, only three hours, and Daniel did great. He did wonder when it would be over, but stayed still and soaked up the experience. Although Murphy was there, another person lead the thoughts. It was neat to see a congregation that really did not need an American to function.
 Towards the end, Murphy did introduce Daniel and myself. I was able to share Psalms 117 and some encouraging words. Primarily that our God is a great God. The God that we were worshipping in Kpotonou is the same God that my wife and three other children were also worshipping in America. Daniel and I then sang a song in French - Lis ta Bible and pries chaque jour si tu veux grandir - I did do all that in French, with one of the brothers translating into Ewe. Thanks to my French or actually my Belgian :) , I have been able to communicate directly with villagers and the house helpers and have felt very welcome.
Daniel and I are really happy to be here and to be able to see, touch, and feel life in Togo.
~ Murphy and Christine Crowson ~ Crowson's Blog
From Murphy - We are enjoying having Todd and Daniel here. They have been a great source of encouragement and laughter!
We praise God for four more baptisms from the village of Agodeke. These four women had come forward the Sunday that the Bakers were here and said that they wanted to become Christians. This past Tuesday when I took Todd to my training session in Batoe the women and other Christians from Agodeke arrived to be baptised. Agodeke is an hour's walk from Batoe where the river is. Praise God for His work in their hearts! I'll have some pictures next week...
Thank you for praying for me personally. God listened and answered and my heart was strengthened and encouraged. Thank you also for the many emails of encouragement. It helps so much to know that so many of your are praying for us!
We are very grateful for our supporters and your faithful giving towards our ministry here. Our sincere desire is that the Lord will bless you abudantly and supply your every need. You sustain and empower our ministry with your giving, the cross is being lifted high and God is being glorified as a result. Thank you with all of our hearts!
From Christine - We had a great week at Coconut Grove in Ghana for our annual West African Missionary Retreat. It was great to see our friends and spend time worshiping and learning together. The boys enjoyed the time with their many friends and the VBS type classes they attended everyday.
This week we have Todd Wolfe (our brother-in-law) and his son Daniel with us. They have come to experience Togo before we leave this side of the continent. Todd is fluent in French and he has already been a blessing of encouragment for some of our friends here. Stephen and Matthew are thrilled to have Daniel here. They have played together non-stop and for the next few days Daniel will be in school with them. It has been fun to watch them integrate Daniel into their daily routine. This morning he helped them with their morning chores. It was cute to listen to Stephen and Matthew as they explained to him where to go and what to do. We are so thankful for their visit.
~ Emily Dunnagan ~
 Wow what a week it was! I was gone from my Tabligbo home for almost a week, so it has sure been nice to be back again. It was amazing to see all changing sights of Accra. The mall is just astounding! When I was there in December it had two stores, but now it is almost full and even has a food court! WAMR was a wonderful experience that I was very glad to be a part of it after hearing about it for two years. I loved the chance to see the Burkina team again and play with all of the kids from Kara. I had some great adventures along the way too, like trying to complete the canopy walk without using my hands. On our final day in Accra the Koonces took us to visit the basket makers and the three of us girls each bought several of the beautiful handmade baskets.
Crossing back over the border in the rain and mud on Friday was quite an adventure. Louise and I decided we should start teaching how to fill out border crossing paper work as part of our language arts curriculum. Now it is back to the school routine again- we are over half way through!
~ Marty and Louise Koonce ~ Blogs: Marty, Louise, 4T's
From Marty -Retreats can be challenges to get to. Things tend to get in the way and you wonder, along with the kids if you'll ever actually arrive at Coconut Grove, our adopted getaway. Finally we did, though, and the four nights and five days of fellowship, worship, and fun were phenomenal.
 The renewal experienced when surrounded by such fine and wonderful people who have dedicated themselves to Jesus was incredible. It helped, of course that we were studying Colossians; you can't go wrong with that. It was a needed infusion that helped prepare us for the next stage of our last year in Togo, our internship.
We are thrilled that four students from Austin Peay State University are arriving soon for a six week stint with us. Please pray for them, that they see and experience to the fullest what God has prepared for them and that we are up to the task of giving testimony to what God has done here and is wanting to do.
Please also pray for the Kabiye and Dagara (from Burkina Faso) teams as they have each entered a difficult phase of their works with the departures of one family from each. As we have experienced in the past departures are very difficult on everyone, so, please be praying for these two teams in the coming months as well as their teammates who are returning stateside.
Please pray for the Watchi leaders as we are finishing up our various training sessions and are beginning a time of seminars addressing various challenges they may face in the coming months and years. Pray that God give us wisdom and discernment. As well, we are beginning to make our arrangements for the transition to Rwanda. Pray for provision for all the necessary aspects of an inter-Africa move.
 From Louise - Our week in Ghana at WAMR (West African Missionary Retreat) were delightful. (All of the missionaries aer pictured left) The kids especially enjoyed the week as they had different sessions geared to their age groups. The program was led by a volunteer, Kip Lines, a former East African missionary. We appreciate so much his willingness and the support of his home church that sent all the necessary VBS material. This was our last retreat as West African field missionaries, a tradition that we will surely miss.
I have to mention that a highlight of being in Ghana (on a purely superficial level) was a visit to the new mall. Seriously, it was a real mall, with legitimate stores to shop at. We kept walking around saying "are we still in Africa?" Having returned home with a new crock pot, I am ready to make plans for a busy summer with interns.
~ Rachel Baker ~
 This really is a "non-stop" year. From the moment I got into Tabligbo, all I've heard is how this year will go by so quickly because we're going to never stop moving or having visitors and sure enough, that's right! It's back to our routine this week after being on vacation for a full week. I feel like I need a major "post-vacation vacation". Ha! Emily and I laugh when we come home and say, "it's back to the routine again…" because in all actuality, that routine only lasts a week or two and then we're doing something new all over again. I love it though – I've never really been able to sit still for a long period of time.
 This past week we were at WAMR. Emily and I were able to have a week off from teaching and Lauren was able to come with us. It turned into a great "girls' week" for the tree of us. Right when we got into Accra, we ventured off "unsupervised" for some shopping and dinner at Champs. Even though our fabulous taxi driver got lost, we still made it and had a great time.
 While in Elmina, we got the chance to go visit one of the African Slave Trade castles, did a canopy walk that was about 90 ft above the rainforest (which, for me, was a major feat because I had to face my fear of heights!), and even kept all 15 of the kids ages five and under one morning. Each day held something new for us, to say the least, and it was a great week overall. It was a great opportunity to meet a lot of new families and their kids from all over West Africa. It was also a week of good-byes for some families who are finishing up their time here. It was quite the thing to experience while being here – the "good-bye" part of mission work. Knowing the bond that these families have, though, made it incredible to experience.
Now, it's back to our crazy boys for the week – we didn't hardly see them at all at WAMR… I must admit that I missed them!
My parents have both made it home safely and are getting readjusted to the time change. It was such a blessing to have them here with me for the short week they were here.
~ Agricultural Ministry - Laté Lawson-Simlen ~
 Laté began drilling the first well with the new drilling technique this past Tuesday in the village of Kpokede. Everyone is excited and waiting in anticipation to see if this new "method" will actually provide the village with water. Pray that God will give them strength to endure and overcome any obsticles that they face so that the village of Kpokede can have fresh, clean water.
From Laté - "The pineapple plant needs two year to produce fruit in the tropic soil organically. Last year in May, we planted pineapple and we apply compost made by waste of harvest, ashes, sand, green grazes, manures… Also we associated soya bean with the pineapple and after the harvest of soya (soya made five month to produce) we left the soya plant (waste of harvest). This year, the result is excited; the pineapples grow quickly and start to produce fruits without application of acetylene. Acetylene stimulates the fruit production and it is recommended by the organic standard certification. We will apply very soon the acetylene in order to have the fruits in the same time. Batoè is a small village blessed by God with good lands, river, trees… But the lands were used by cotton culture with application of chemical fertilizer. This crop destroys the biodiversity, the lands now are seriously affected and unable the farmers to make sustainable production. Now we want to use some pond to raise fishes in the future." |
