Another great day...

Day 3

Today we went to two different villages North of Lome. The first was
the Keve Baptist Church. It is a smaller church with only 35 total
members and the pastor is a very young man without much experience.
He was very shy and timid so we tried to encourage him some. He was
supposed to gather people from his church to meet us but no one show
up but him. Since we were going to do training for the leaders of the
church while I talked with the pastor, we really needed someone to to
be there to teach. So, as we do in Africa, we changed our plans as we
went. We went through the town prayer walking and talking with anyone
we could find. Since it was market day most of the people were at the
market and not at home. However we did run into several people that
were willing to visit with us. As is customary here, they would make
us feel very welcome by inviting us under the shade of their hut and
insisted we sit down with them. I had the opportunity to talk with
three differnet groups of people and actually lead on person to
Christ. We walked by the Voo-do sacrifice area and prayed for the
town. It is so sad to me that people will actually put food and other
valuable and necessary items on this alter for them to burn when they
need them so badly. They just need to know that the sacrifice has
already been made for them!
After prayer walking for about an hour we went back to the church and
a few of the members had showed up. So we started where we intended
to when we got there by me talking with the pastor and the others
training the other leaders in the church. Both projects seem to be
very well recieved. The bible storying project has been very popular
with the leaders in the church. After they are taught the bible story
they can repeat it very well. We have them tell us the story back so
we know they got it right as well as have them practice it so they can
later tell the children. They are really doing a great job.
My project is revealing some very interesting facts about the pastors
in this area. First, they are more knowledgable on scripture than
what we were originally told. When you sit down with them and really
start to visit about themselves and their ministry, you can tell some
of them are seasoned pastors. So far, not only can they all read and
write, most have finished elmentary school and some have even attended
high school. One individual who was a leader in the church was
attending college some distance away. This changes my project
significantly and makes me feel like we can really help to them in
ways I had not imagined. With a few of the leaders, we discussed some
of the finer points of theology to a degree that I would not have
guessed.
Another interesting fact is how they understand scripture. I am not
certain of this and I may change my mind later, but with what I have
learned so far I believe this culture may understand the whole of
scripture better than what many to in the Western world. What I mean
by that is this, they know, understand, and repeat storys as a part of
passing down knowledge to the next generation. No doubt they are
better at storying than we are. Due to this ability to understand and
repeat storys, I think they get the whole of God's story better than
we do. They understand how and why the Noahic Covenant fits in with
the Abrahamic Covenant, and the Noahic Covenant with the Davidic
Covenant and then to the New Covenant. It really was revealing to me
as I asked each one to tell me the story of scripture how they tied
the whole of the bible together into one story. Something I am not
sure we in the Western world are as competent to do. Again, this
observation needs more evidence before I can be sure but this is what
I have seen so far.
In other ways they could really use our help. It is my beleif that
only one of the pastors so far has any understanding of how to make
application from a passage of scripture. This is hard for me to
explain, but I think they get the big picture story but I am not sure
they understand how that makes a difference in their own life and how
to make application from what they study. Again, more study will tell
more.
The weather was as nice as I have ever experienced in Togo. About
upper seventies and overcast. Although it did rain more than just a
little bit. Most of the afternoon it rained and having no storm sewers
the roads got a bit wet as you can see in the picture(if it loads).
For those of you who have been here before, here are the places and
people we have met so far: Pastor Vou in Acheve, Pastor Nigble in
Keve, and Pastor Adrackay in Akepe. As a part of my project I have
not only met with the pastors but with other church leaders as well.
I am not only impressed with the pastors' knowledge, but the other
leaders as well.
We are only in the third day, but this seems to be a very profitable
trip. The training is going great and we are learning a great deal
about how we can best help the churches in this area. God has truely
blessed this trip. Keep praying....