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Bonding In N'djei

Friday (September 14) through Sunday Grace and I stayed in a village called N'djei (pronounced like "N"-"J") in order to build relationships and better understand what it is like to live the day to day life of a Kabiye person. We stayed with one of the Christians there, Jerome, in his compound for those two nights. What follows will be the story of our time there. We arrived Friday with Matt Miller and listened in on a leadership training session for church leaders and elders from the N'djei, Sogode, and Ewede churches. The Sogode and Ewede churches were both planted by the N'djei Christians. That afternoon we took our things to Jerome's compound and were introduced to his family. From there we walked up the road to the local market, called kiyaku in the Kabiye language. There were peope everywhere, selling food, produce, and a local drink made of millet--which can come in varying levels of fermentation. We were immediately greeted and welcomed to this bustling mass of people. Even though we stood out a little, people welcomed us but did not make a spectacle of our presence, something that makes the Kabiye a joy to be with. They are very laid back. We sat and talked in broken Kabiye phrases with dozens of people and enjoyed a goard or more of the local millet drink with them...well enjoyed may be a bit of a stretch. There culture centers around this drink, a tradition of theirs for hundreds of years or more. Grace particuarly enjoys the bitter beverage! I wish you could be here to see her face! Jerome walked us around and showed us various foods, and introduced us to people such as a Muslim man who bought us a huge bag of roasted peanuts. We walked home with Jerome, who has the presence of a great General, and were fed a local meal of a spiced-bean-cake and ground corn followed by a local citrus. We did this sitting outside with Jerome around a small table enjoying the presence of the stars and the rest of Jerome's family. We said good night or "eso eko-sodo" and entered into our shelter for the night. Sleeping on packed dirt in 90 degree weather really makes you appreciate a Serta mattress and a/c. We got up before sunrise on Saturday and were served a breakfast of yams (they taste like baking potatoes) and took our place pulling the kernels of dried corn off the cob. Five hours later we had enjoyed alot of laughs and a few blisters while filling up three bushels with kernels. After that we ate a lunch of the a rooster we picked out that morning (which we were fortunate enough to see the end of) and some bean-mush with a spiced tomato sauce. At least there was one less rooster to wake me up in the middle of the night! After that we were escorted to Sogode and Ewede. I had no idea how far the N'djei Christians had walked in order to plant these churches! It was a beautiful walk and a good time to relflect on our responsibliltiy to share the gospel in our homes and neighborhoods. We went to some of the homes of Christians there and did our best to encourage them with a greeting and a few phrases. It always means alot for us to visit them, an honor we try never to take for granted. We walked back to Jerome's home and spent the evening playing with kids, eating, and staying out of the rain. We had our bowl of the millet-drink and went to bed. Another night of mosquitoes, dirt floors, and heat was another reminder of the conditions over 75% of the world live in day to day. We woke up Sunday morning, showered again in an outside area, made some hush-puppy like things with Jerome's wife, ate those and were fed again some fish and yams, packed up and met the Millers for church. The church at N'djei meets between 9 and 10 to begin worship and today worshipped until a little after 12. We sang, three elders shared a scripture and application, I did the same, had an offering, we took Communion, and sang some more. After the service was over the N'djei Christians were kind enough to give Grace and I Kabiye names--that way we can live among them! Grace's name is Eso Lootiye (God's Grace) and mine is Eso Tina (God owns me). These names both carry alot of significance for us both and were fitting challenges and honors for us to recieve. From there we said good-bye to our N'djei brothers and sisters and rode back with the Millers to Kara, where we are right now. Thanks for your prayers, love and support.

Serving Christ Together,

Eso Tina and Eso Lootiya

Thursday Night Devo

The Millers have started a neighborhood devotional time at 7 every thursday in their epitam (gazeebo like thing) outside their home. Inviting people from the streets inside the walls of home compounds is not always a norm for missionaries, ironic but true for various reasons, so seeing this in action was such an encouragement for me. At 7 there was one guy, Patcha, who had arrived. Despite this I watched as Matt Miller carried chair after chair into the epitam until there was no more room. As I sat there, at 7:15, with Patcha I had a moment of doubt that much else happen. In that doubt, however, i remembered the way I've seen God bless and work and prayed that no chairs would be left empty. At 7:40 people began walking in the gate and by 8:15 there were people sharing chairs. What an answer! When we give up being afraid of exposing ourselves, our wealth, and perhaps our greed we open up doors, even literal ones, for God to bring people too us. I know that personally, the aquisition of "wedding shower wealth" made me alot more concious about leaving the blinds/doors open etc. in our rather urban apartment complex. But how can God use me to reach my neighbors when my life is locked, hiding, inside walls seperating me from my neighbors? Part of our life goals in Kara and Montgomery is to live in such a way, personally and materially, that we have no fear of the loss of things that would ever keep us away from the hope of a neighbor finding eternal life.

A Substitute for Stoney

This morning the guys spent from 8:30 until 12:00 in prayer and discussion about the team, questions presented by the leaders, the status of churches, the Together for Togo Conference in Dallas, incoming teammates, and our personal lives. We did this at a local omlet shop/shack that is run by a crippled polio survivor. He used to do this under a tin-roof-covered lean-too building near one of the missionaries home. He was given a microloan and some help and was able to start a now successful buisness selling great omlets and breakfast foods. We left there to go discuss things over sodas at a local grocery store which has gazebo-like areas to sit outside. There I hoped to find the opportunity to drink one of my favorite East African drinks--a Stoney Tangawizi (Stoney Ginger in Swahilli). While it's called a "Ginger Beer" there is no acholol, similar to root-beer. Stoney's however, are the most intense soda beverage I've ever consumed. It's almost impossible not to cough after your first swallow. They're a peppery ginger ale of goodness. Anyway, we were able to find a can of Stoney in Accra Ghana (not the same as a bottle but still good) when we arrived but not in Togo. Bryan Reis, a missionary here, suggested I try Lion Killer instead. "Lion Killer" does sound like a mans drink indeed. I ordered away and was pleasently surprised to see that God had led me to a land that had equally enjoyable man drinks. If you'll notice, the label has a depiction of Samson I believe, or a rather striking parallell at least. So none of you worry, I'll stay hydrated thanks to my new friend Lion Killer.

Discipleship with Dave

This afternoon I went with Dave Reeves, a local missionary, to go teach a series of lessons from the book of Luke at the Hade Te and Kaacade churches. Arriving at the tiny building on the edge of one of Kara's beautiful valleys, we and the LandCruzer full of kids and adults we picked up on the way, piled out to get inside before the rain. After 10 minutes of powerful thundering rain we enjoyed the cooler tempertures. Dave taught from Luke 18-9-end about the Pharisee and Tax collector praying and Jesus' statement about children and the kindgdom. It was a blessed time to see them interacting and interested to hear about God's word. Please pray for these churches as they struggle to convince the men to drink less beer and drink more of the water of life.

House Hunting

This morning after Kabiye language lessons Grace and I got to go house hunting. The house we looked at today is due to be unoccupied by some US translators in August of 2008. The house was in a great location, has alot of Kabiye neighbors, and is near the home of our teammates the Emersons. We're waiting to hear back on the cost of rent, but imagine it will be less than 300 dollars a month. It was exciting to be looking at houses to move into--things are becoming more real every day it seems. As one of the Kabiye church leaders, Jerome, told me yesterday--if you are serious about coming God will get you here. Please join us in praying that God would raise up our support, some through you perhaps, to get us here by January 2009.

This weeks blurb

Many of you may not be subscribed to the Kabiye blurb we put out every week. If that's the case, here's a copy of our blurb post for the week.

Hello from the Hangens in Togo!! We've been enjoying our time to build relationships with the team here in Kara. Last monday the Emersons met us in Accra and showed us around there until Tuesday. Tuesday morning we headed for the Togo border where we picked up Brett's truck and then headed for Kara. It was a long day but we enjoyed driving up into the mountains here. We've visited two churches and are so encouraged to see the evangelistic spirit held by these Christians. We are eager to build stronger relationships with the team here and better understand God's plan for us to minister among the Kabiye and their neighbors. We praise God for the peace we feel here and have felt assurance that this is where He would have us.

Please pray for our ears to be opened to the languages and for peace as we move toward finding a sponsoring church in the fall. We praise God for all that He is doing here and look forward to sharing the rest of our trip with you.