Unforgetable Togo!

Togo, unforgettable Togo! Here I sit in a very simple room in the primitive village of Ountivuo, Togo. We have just completed three days of seminars here with very good attendance. People have come from miles around, waded swollen rivers and faced who knows what difficulties just to get here by foot. Here in Ountivuo there is of course no electricity, running water or toilets as we know them. My room has one bed covered with mosquito netting, one chair and one table. The windows are shuttered but have no glass. I keep the shutters wide open all the time for ventilation. Washing facilities consist of a bucket of water with a scoop in it in a small room at the end of this building.

What has made this trip so unforgettable thus far, besides the hearty and enthusiastic attendance at the seminar, was the way here. Pastor Frank Famiyeh, who is accompanying me on all my travels in West Africa, drove our van from Ghana to Lomé, the capital city of Togo.. We were met at the border by the President of the ALC of Togo, Pastor Nestor Devigan and the general secretary of that church, Victor Abalovi. Victor is a young (34) but very experienced driver, who agreed to be our chauffeur the rest of the way. Besides his almost uncanny ability to maneuver a van under impossible situations he is also our translator who can translate to or from four or five languages including English and French! French is the general language in Togo. On our first day, after leaving Lomé far behind, we ran into a violent thunderstorm just as the paved road came to an end and we had to continue on a dirt/gravel road. Torrents of water rushed down the road in rivers but the real challenge was one place where a veritable lake had been formed. A passenger from the car ahead of us waded in to this body of water to check the depth and we could see he was already almost waste deep.. Didn't seem like there was any way to proceed. But our dauntless driver summoned his courage, years of driving skills and the promises of Isaiah 43:2 and ploughed through the water a little nearer the edge right out the other side and we continued - under the most formidable conditions.

That night we stayed in a guest house along the way. The rain was unremitting. The following morning we headed out on a road that I have never even seen the remote likes of in my life. Just picture a sea of black mud facing you in the road ahead, pocked by huge water-filled potholes, up and down ridges at all angles and oozing ruts a foot or more deep and other anomalies too numerous to mention.. Slowly but surely our skilled driver maneuvered us through these impossible messes for what seemed like hours, but was probably less than an hour and a half. I almost wished I were careening along at death-threatening speeds on those crowded roads in India!

You would not have believed, however, when we finally rounded the last turn and the church was just ahead of us how the people rushed out with one accord and welcomed us with hugs and kisses. I just cried. After the tension of the journey - not knowing whether we might be sitting in some mudhole in Togo forever, the genuine happiness and joy of those people was truly overwhelming. Only they know what hardships they all live with here and how isolated their village is. They were so incredibly appreciative for the seminar and for God's Word - begging me to promise them that I would come again next year. I told them if God so wills and He provides a helicopter I will be most happy to return then. Most had never seen a helicopter but it was an amusing thought for them.

Now we just have the church service tomorrow morning and then we will head south - back over all of those incomparable roads. But fortunately the sun has been shining since we got here and of course we have been praying that the roads would be drier. But as I look out of my window I seen how the rain is starting to fall on the mud huts in this village as chickens and goats wander aimlessly about and children kick their ball and play in the sandy yard.. Ominous thunder rolls and lightening flashes in the darkening clouds.. Oh, Lord, please be with us on our journey back to Lomé.

(The next evening in Lomé). There really were thunderstorms last night and it rained heavily for many hours in Ountivou. The worst was to be feared. But the wonderful celebration of the church service in the morning together with Holy Communion lightened our spirits. And what a celebration it was! The music, singing and a kind of very animated line procession through the church seemed to have no end and the joy was unmistakable. Later I spoke on Isaiah 12 about the true meaning of why we praise God when His anger has been turned from us and our sins are forgiven and washed away in the blood of His Son Jesus. I also spoke about "with joy drawing water out of the wells of salvation". In Ountivou there is no well. All water is carried from a distance but I assured them that the well of salvation, with it's never-ending supply of Living Water had been dug right in their midst! Hundreds of people attended the service including at least a hundred children. I know because I had a big bag of 100 wrapped candies to give them after the service and as they lined up in long lines I gave out every single piece.

And then came that formidable road back. Our driver Victor maneuvered it with the most laudable skill - we even managed the "lake" with aplomb and after a couple hours we were back on the paved road on the way to Lomé, singing God's praises! Tonight we are safely in that capital city with air conditioning and showers and a little restaurant that even serves spaghetti bolognaise. God is so incredibly good!! If all goes well I will send this when I get back to an internet connection in Accra, Ghana tomorrow evening. We will then be preparing for our departure by air to Monrovia, Liberia on Wednesday, May 13. Keep those thoughts and prayers coming!!

I am just so incredibly thankful to our Heavenly Father who makes all things possible!

With love to all of you in His blessed peace!

Dennis

Teaching at the seminar. Translator Victor on the right, President Nestor Devigan of the ALC Togo on the left making notations on the blackboard in French. Topic for the first day was "The Plan of God" (for our lives, salvation and ministries). French is the common literary language in Togo but Victor translated into the local vernacular.

Seminar participants and some children on the first day in front of the church in Ountivou, Togo. The number almost doubled on the second day when a number of people had been prevented from coming at first because of a flooding river.

The theme on the second day was "Humility". When I got to the text in Matthew 18 where Jesus uses the example of a child, I called in two small children who were playing outside and also used them as a perfect example of humility and who is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. Pastor Frank Famiyeh, head of the ALC in Ghana, who also contributed to the teaching at the seminar, looks on.




View from the open window of the room where I stayed in Ountivou -children who came to visit.

The drum section who led the singing at the church service on Sunday morning.

Line up for Communion

Receiving the Body and Blood of Christ

Suffering mother with two severely handicapped and malnutritioned children who she carried to the seminar and church every day! Typically their father split when he learned of the handicaps! My heart just went out completely to this precious little family (the other boy in the picture is just there to hold the older child, but the mother usually carries - half drags - him also ). I have now arranged for this mother and her children to be taken to a doctor for the first time in their lives - all the way to the capital city of Lomé where they can be diagnosed, fed and hopefully given the care they so critically need. Some things you just can't walk by

Typical Village in Togo

Togo thoroughfare! Unfortunately I was too nervous to jump out and get a good picture of the real bad places in the road to Ountivou but let this shot of the last and least formidable of the mudholes, after it had dried up a lot, suffice at least to give you an idea that it was no picnic.

Atlantic beachfront in Lomé, the capital of Togo.