Grace Upon Grace
This week marks the beginning of our fourth year of teaching at the MK School of Mango. We returned to Togo three weeks ago and were extremely busy getting settled into our new home and getting our classrooms and lesson plans in order for the beginning of the school year. We are so glad to be back in Togo and look forward to all that God will do at the school and through the various ministries around Mango. After a “lean year” with many colleagues on furlough or transitioning to other locations, God is now rebuilding our team by bringing several new families and individuals to work alongside us in Mango. Pray with us that the light of the gospel will shine very brightly in this dark corner of the world.
Our summer in the US was full of many blessings. We were able to attend Sierra’s graduation from The Master’s University and joyfully welcomed David Tuck into the family as David and Sierra were married on June 6th. We had special times with family and friends (some of whom we hadn’t seen in a very long time!) and were able to visit five of our supporting churches. We spent two weeks out at ABWE headquarters in Pennsylvania getting some excellent training and were thrilled to reach our goal of being 100% fully supported through your generous donations!
Upon our return to Togo, we were able to attend the dedication of the new Institut Biblique des Savanes (Savannah Bible Institute) building and celebrate the commencement of the first graduating class. What a joy it was to see those men and women launched into leadership roles in the infant churches in this region. The Hospital of Hope and Hope Radio are wonderful platforms for evangelism. People are being saved every week – not only from Togo, but from Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, and beyond. To see these new believers grow in their knowledge of Scripture and mature in their faith, it will be essential to focus on building healthy local churches. Please pray with us that God will continue to send church planters, translators, and gifted Bible teachers to northern Togo.
It’s hard to believe that this will be our last year with a daughter living under our roof. Valerie has started her senior year of high school and is making plans to attend college next fall. After we get her settled in her dorm room (still not sure exactly where that will be), we will be starting our year of formal language school training. Up to this point, we have not been able to dedicate ourselves to learning French at an adequate level to hold meaningful conversations. We get by with our neighbors and at the market by using a lot of charades and Google Translate. In order to be more effective witnesses in our community, we need to spend a year in focused language study. Please pray that God would give us wisdom to know where to attend language school and that He would work out all the logistics as we trust in Him.
Thank you for making it possible for us to be here in Mango by your prayers and financial support. We love the work that God has given us to do, but we could not be here without your faithful intercession and generous giving.