Day 4

I know I probably say this every day, but today must have been the best so far.  We went to a town called Agoudja.  Every year that we have been here we have gone to this village and we see remarkable progress in this church.  We will give God all of the credit for this, but he has used our work here in some significant ways.  When we first came here in 2007, Pastor Honore` was the pastor and his heart was easy to read.  He had, and still does, a real heart for the area and for the people in his church.  Two years ago he went to a bush training school for pastors and we were a bit concerned about what this would do to the church.  I am excited to report that the church is continuing to do great even though he is away at school.  We did get a chance to meet with him this week and he was just as excited to see us as we were to see him.  I really have a great appreciation for him.  Today I met with the pastor and other leaders of that church and I
feel great about how they are continuing to reach the village.  The church has grown and they have even torn down the old church and build a bigger one in the same place.  It was great seeing many familiar faces.  I recognized them and they recognized both Elisa and me.  There are two children that we have continued to see year after year and for those that have been here before you will remember Valentine and Bret.  I saw Valentine the same time he saw me and instantly smiles flashed across both our faces.  For some reason God has drawn us to him and I look forward to seeing him grow up.  I showed him pictures of him that I took in 2007 and 2008.  Even though he is only 5 or 6, we have some sort of bond.  I remember two years ago Andrew(my son) and he really hit it off and Valentine wore his hat until it was a red as the clay we were walking on.  Elisa recognized Bret after a while but she is growing up and has changed.  She did remember
momma Virginy(Virginia Garrett) but without a translator close at hand communication was limited. 
The number of people interested in pastor training is growing quickly.  I had originally hoped we would have at least 15 pastors and church leaders.  I feel fairly confident that will not be a problem.  The evangelism director for the country of Togo(Pastor Daniel) has been leading us around and helping with translation.  He has called everyone that is interested in the training to come together on Saturday, so we will see. 
Again the weather has been great, other that a lot of rain.  I was videoing my interviews of the pastors under the tree and it started to rain.  I mentioned that I didn't want to get my camera wet so they insisted that we move.  I was grateful for that until I realized that meant they were moving under a bigger tree!  We sat up the camera there until it continued to rain even harder so we moved inside this time.  Then we were in a 10' by 8' building about 6' high with a tin roof.  A hard rain, a tin roof, and attempting to video an interview did not work out so well. We were yelling at each other and could not understand even in person.  I'm not sure what the video will be like.  I will try to get as much of the conversation as I can but it will be difficult.
Another encouraging piece of information today was the church at Vongba.  On the last trip Kevin and others made a 5k walk to this secluded church to present the Gospel where there was no church.  Today I met with the pastor and one of the leaders of the church of 25 people who are meeting three times a week.  The pastor will be a part of the training program this fall.  I can't tell you how excited I am about this new church.  By the grace of God, the Heart of Life church has definitely made an impact in this region and I am looking forward to continuing our work here.  They are so eager for knowledge and understanding of the scriptures.  I mentioned in yesterday's post that I believe they understand the whole of scripture in a way that we struggle to.  I still believe that to be the case but they do not have a great understanding of the details.  It is in the details that we find the source of theology and doctrine.  This is where we can
continue to be a help.         
Again, this day was great.  Elisa will post more on her blog about working with the kids, but every one of us enjoyed the day tremendously and can't imagine that tomorrow could be any better…..but it probably will be!
Sorry about not having pictures.  If I get a good internet connection I will try but it has been very slow here.