Light of Togo

It is hard to believe that we have been living in Quebec for three months already! We are really enjoying our time here so far, and God is teaching us many important lessons. For example, when we first moved here and were completely inept at communicating in French, normal daily routines became great lessons in humility through humiliation! Since that time, God has been very gracious in allowing us to learn the basics of the French language, and we continue to learn more each day. We have been very impressed with the quality of the education at l’Universite Laval. Rather than focusing primarily on memorization and textbook French, we are learning French through a very hands-on approach, by hearing it and using it in conversation similar to how a child would learn to speak.

Without going into too much detail, we would like to ask you to pray for our registration process for the next session beginning in September. The province of Quebec changed some regulations regarding foreign students, which means that we must re-enroll into the University’s French program. So far, everything looks to be going smoothly, but please pray that all the paperwork goes through without any problems.

We would also ask that you pray for one of my classmates named Dmitry. He is originally from Russia, but now lives in Canada. Recently, God gave me a great opportunity to share the message of Christ with him, although he does not even believe that there is a God. After a brief conversation with him, he told me that he understood the gospel and how to be saved, but he said that it is “just too simple to believe.” Please pray that God will arrange another time for us to talk, and that the Holy Spirit will show him his need for salvation and the “simplicity that is in Christ.” (II Cor. 11:3)

Joshua is doing very well. He is growing up so fast! Malerie (Joshua’s nanny) has been working with him every day with his ABCs and other schooling. He is also learning quite a few French words, although he’s not always sure what they mean or when to use them!

We want to thank all of you who have signed up for our prayer letter by email. This has significantly reduced the cost of our monthly mailing. If you still have not done this but would like to, just send an email with your information to jesse@lightoftogo.com with the word “subscribe” in the subject line. Thank you for your prayer and support!

After finishing deputation, driving to Quebec, starting school, and moving into our apartment all within a three week period, we were very much looking forward to a break. In the second week of June we finished our first five week session of French at the University, and began a four week session of French in the real world. During this break we have taken the opportunity to use the French we have learned as we interact on a regular basis with francophones (French speaking people).

The church we have been attending here has many people who have a desire to help us learn French. So, even though many of them can speak English, they will most often speak to us in French; very slowly and clearly I might add!

In searching for new and better ways to increase our French vocabulary, I spent several hours one day looking up the words for household items in our French & English dictionary. Then, I printed out small labels of all the words which I taped to each corresponding item. By the of the day, we had a French labeled apartment. Everything from our socks to the toaster has a label now! It doesn’t do much for the aesthetic look of our apartment, but it sure does help our vocab!

During the first week of the break, we were very busy around the apartment, finishing the final touches in order to get finally “settled in.” Since then, we have stayed very busy helping with a remodeling project at church, and assisting some fellow missionaries as they are finishing language school and departing for Africa.

One thing that I have come to realize more than ever before is that although Quebec is the most beautiful cities we have ever seen, it is also one of the most needy mission fields we have seen. Recently, Quebec celebrated Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, which is the equivalent of America’s Independence Day. French Canadians are very proud of their amazing heritage, but unfortunately in Quebec City they choose to celebrate this holiday by converging in vieux-Quebec (downtown) and consuming as much alcohol as is humanly possible. What we have been told by several Christians here is that Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (named after John the Baptist) is the day that all of Quebec looks forward to all year long. Although most Quebecois are very nice and generous people, it is extremely sad to see the lack of peace and purpose in their lives because of their complete disregard for biblical Christianity.

Many people have asked about our current mailing address, so I will include it in this letter with the following disclaimer; please do not send packages to us in Quebec without contacting us first. The reason for this is because of the border duties and many other possible complications based upon what is in the package. Regular mail is fine, however. Our Oregon mailing address is still valid as well, since we have somebody collecting our mail for us.

Thank you so much for your prayer!

OUR NEW ADDRESS
3084 rue des Chatelets, App#8
Quebec, QC G1V 3Y5
CANADA