Ounate-Lare, Sena and Jane
Ounate-Lare main page
Prayer Letter April 2004
(click here for
Acrobat pdf version)
Greetings from Dapaong in TOGO. We hope you are well and enjoying the spring.
FAMILY NEWS
We arrived safely in Togo mid-January without losing any of our luggage. Thank you Lord. We spent over a month in the capital Lomé with Sena’s family. It was also a good transitional time for us before going to Dapaong in the north.
We are doing well. Jane and I both had minor malaria in February but recovered from it well. We are settling well in Dapaong and enjoying our new home. Jane has joined the missionary women’s bible study in town and is enjoying it. Joshua is still bursting with energy and is already well known in some shops in town! Eloïse, 8 months now, is growing well and has started crawling. She is coping well now with the heat although we had 39° Celsuis recently in the shade! We are looking forward to the first rains in May. We have some new “members” in our family: One dog and 2 chickens.
DAPAONG
We arrived in Dapaong at the end of February and moved into our new home at the beginning of March. We have three people helping us: two night watchmen François and Dieu-donné and a house helper Doris. They are all christians and François is a deacon and worship leader in his church. With them we are having a daily Morning Bible Study at 6.20 am. It is a good time of fellowship, sharing, prayer and also an opportunity to learn about the culture. Our relationship with people of the church “ Ministère de Jésus ” is going very well.
God’s encouragement
We are very encouraged by our time here and praising God for all he is doing. One little story. On the 11th of March we broke down near a town called Cinkassé (36km from Dapaong) but God provided a Christian mechanic who we had met before in Dapaong to help us. His name is Yempape ( Gift of God ). After repairing the car the mechanic who was planning to take a big lorry to go back to Dapaong needed a lift so God provided us to help him. Half an hour after we had arrived back in Dapaong the lorry that he was supposed to take had a serious accident and 21 out of about 30 people on the lorry died including one of his cousins. By the time he arrived home his family, having heard about the accident, were crying and on their way to the mortuary but God had other plans for him. Praise God!!!
God is hearing and is answering your prayers. By God’s grace Sena had the opportunity to attend the Pastors of Dapaong meeting and it went very well. They really want to work together. Sena will be working with 6 of them in a sub-committee till June. It is a real blessing.
News
We are also excited by the church’s childrens ministry which gathers about 180 children every fortnight to teach them about God and the Bible. We are amazed how disciplined the children are and how easily they can remember bible verses (oral tradition culture). Please pray that God may protect these children and that they may decide or continue to follow the Lord.
Sena has been spending time with a group of high school students that come to a weekly bible study. He would really like to know them more, help them to grow spiritually and to encourage them to share the good news of Jesus with their friends.
We have both started our Moba lessons and it will be one of our main priorities until August. We are both enjoying it. The alphabet is close to the European one but there are a lot of strange sounds and different intonations to learn. We have a long way to go.
We have been able to buy 2 cars, one for Jane to use and the family to travel with and a smaller one for Sena to go to work and move around with. Our thanks to all who contributed so generously.
Praise and Prayer
- Thank God for His protection over our family.
- Praise God for His daily encouragement and provision.
- Praise God. Jane has just received her Togolese Nationality.
Please pray for
- Our family,especially the children, for the adaptation as we are reaching the hottest period of the year.
- Our Moba lessons. May God give us the ability to learn quickly.
- All of our contacts. May the grace of God be with us.
- Wisdom as we are waiting on the Lord for many decisions (practical & spiritual) concerning the church plant.
- The Church, Ministère International de Jesus ( MIJ ), we are working with.
- The telephone line to be brought to our house as soon as possible to make communication a lot easier.
May the Lord inspire you and bless you as you pray with us. Thank you for all.
Lots of Love in Christ from
Sena, Jane, Joshua & Eloise