Reality.
Ants. Here in Togo, there are all types of ants. We have army ants which hurt when they bite. They’re not quite as bad as Florida red ants, but I wouldn’t want
to find out what it feels like to be attacked by them none the less. We have
reddish ants that like to live in fruit trees. I’ve heard the Togolese call
them “yovo ants” because they think they’re white like us foreigners. And then
we have these tiny little ants that like to invade the kitchen. This morning, I
got up, went to the kitchen sink, and found that it appeared to be crawling
away with ants. For poor Ryan, life with ants disturbs him often waking him up
in the night with dreams of ants crawling all over him.
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| Kabyé VBS |
Because
ants force themselves into our awareness every day, it’s hard not to think
about what scripture has to say about them in Proverbs 6:6-8. “Go to the ant, O
sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which having no chief, officer or
ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the
harvest.” (NASB) It’s hard not to have a love/hate relationship with this
verse. Scripture seems to honor these little critters in this passage, but we
want to get rid of them! How can we kill them when we’re actually supposed to
act like them?
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| Mr. G in orange and Pastor Ali. |
Like the
ants, we, too, have been busy. Ryan has taken on more responsibilities in
leadership as well as working alongside our teammate to cover maintenance
upkeep at the hospital while the full-time maintenance missionary is on
furlough. He has also been working hard to get our home in town ready for our move. We hope to move in the next three weeks.
Stephanie
directed a four-day Togolese-run Vacation Bible School in July where 86 unchurched, Kabyé kids came to learn about Jesus in their own heart
language. Praise the Lord that several professed to be saved that week, and those who memorized all
of their verses were given the New Testament in French. Many thanks to those of
you who sent crayons. To see pictures and videos of that week, go to our group
page on Facebook, The Buczak Buzz,
or read the following article on our Togo team website: http://abwetogosouth.org/2015/08/02/vbs/.
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| Leslie and her snail. |
Ministry
with the Gnamssa family continues. A trained Togolese pastor is thrilled to
join us and lead discipleship. This Saturday, Mr. G. is inviting several of his
friends from the area to his home and Pastor Ali will be sharing a gospel
message. Please pray for a clear presentation of the gospel this Saturday at
3pm London time. The G family also participated in VBS. It’s been
encouraging to see that the Gnamssa kids memorized the Wordless Book Song in Kabyé
and still sing it at home.
Leslie
continues with home-school. She loves math and even teaches little things her sister from time
to time. While the girls have been fairly lonely this summer, it has been fun
to watch as their relationship with each other has grown.
Thank you
to those of you have been praying for AnnMarie. It appears that her heart is
softening to the things of the Lord little by little. She recently began
praying out loud at mealtime. She is also really excited to start up preschool
with Aunt Donna again this week.
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| AnnMarie with a baby on her back. |
Items of Prayer:
- Pray that our ant-like business would be Gospel-centered. That we would be always ready to evaluate what we are doing from an evangelical perspective.
- Pray for the Gnamssa family and the surrounding area, that God would continue to give wisdom, protect from the evil one, and ultimately be glorified through the work there.
- Pray for our move to town, that we would all adjust well to living a little bit more publicly and that our home would be used for God’s honor and glory.
- Pray that our family life would be an example to our community as we seek to show others Jesus by our love for one another.
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