West African Trilogy - Togo

Togo is a very small and narrow country to the east of Ghana, just 50 km wide in most places and 600 km from north to south. By our standards it is a fairlly primitive country with a rather poor infrastructure, but our hosts always make sure we are comfortable and well taken care of. None of us will ever forget my near-death food poisoning experience there a couple years ago. Our chief purpose in going to Togo is to hold pastors and church workers training seminars. These seminars have now been wisely shifted to a central town which is on a main paved road and has a comfortable hotel and nice restaurant.

Serious demeanors as the Word of God is taught in a palm-thatched church building in Notse. About 30 men and women, pastors and church workers, participated - representing churches in many outlying areas. During the seminars Leona also provided valuable assistance - especially when we spent a whole day reviewing the many "clay pots" throughout Bible history around the theme "We have this treasure in earthen vessels".

My lessons are translated into the local dialect by Pastor Victor Abalovi. Here I am introducing the last theme of the seminar, Lasting Change. Once the point is understood that the example of Jesus and other scriptural instruction encourage us to always confess and be open about our difficulties, problems, sins, doubts, guilt and fears, I have the participants write theirs down in a notebook, assuring them that no one else will read what they write.

Then the participants are divided into groups of five and each member is encouraged in turn to openly confess to the other members of the group one thing on their list which they wish to bring to the light. With each confession there is a laying on of hands, a prayer and a pronunciation of absolution in the name of Jesus and the power of His blood.
 

After the confession and absolution participants are encouraged to rip out the page(s) in their notebook and hold them up in the air - and at that time saying out loud that they want to turn everything that they had written down over to the Lord, "Casting all of your cares upon Him for He careth for you!"

Whereupon the papers are crunched up and thrown into a burning basin, "to be remembered no more!" I assured them emphatically that this is no ritual but only a concrete way of showing that when our troubles, trials and sins are turned over to Jesus He truly lifts them from us. At this point the people gathered round and sang a beautiful song of deliverance and freedom in Jesus from all sorts of captivity.

After the last session people gathered in the church singing and praising God. Then for the very first time in my foreign mission experience a congregation leader stepped forward and announced that they had been so blessed by the teaching that they all wanted to take up a collection for US!! Here they are giving their alms for us! It was a very moving and humbling experience!!

On Sunday we were back in the captital city of Lome at the Great Commission Church. This is a shot from outside the church where Leona is teaching a lesson and her translator vividly translating. Although you can only see their hands and the rapt face of that one central boy clearly I think you get the picture.

The whole Sunday School with Pastor Nestor Devigan, President of the ALC of Togo, in their midst. They are showing off the paper whales they made with Leona as a part of her teaching on Jonah. You can catch a glimpse of Karen Goddard from New Hampshire in the background who is serving on a Mercy Ship in the Lome harbour and who we were able to spend some time with.

Pastor Victor and his beloved fiancée Ahoefa. As in much of Africa many young couples are hindered from getting married by a dowry that is usually far beyond the means of the young man in question. The dowry is not only decided by the bride's immediate family but by her extended family as well. Many want a piece of the pie. In olden times a cow or some sheep or goats would suffice but now with money involved everyone is interested. Pray for Victor that he will be able to make it over this very high hurdle and be able to wed his Ahoefa. Trying to bypass this tradition would automatically make both families enemies for life.

So our trip to Togo went very well. Pastors Nestor and Victor are wonderful men to work with - so easy and uncomplicated. Once more they made sure we felt most welcome in that country. But the most lasting memory from Togo this time was the collection they took for us on that last day in Notse. A true blessing!!

At the end of the seminar, many of the participants expressed their thankfulness to us in writing. Here is one of the responses: The will of God you taught I never see this in my life before, I'm very glad and I thank the Lord for your life. Now my life has changed and I'm glad. The Lord restored my joy through His Word.

In God's Peace and Love,

Dennis