Light of Togo

Last night we had a special Thanksgiving service at our home church.  We did not know until just a week ago that the church had been planning to donate their annual Thanksgiving offering to help with the cost of our Togo departure.  We were extremely surprised but elated to see God once again using His people to help get us to Togo.  We have no idea yet how much the offering is, but whether it is $100 or $100,000 we are giving God thanks and praise for His provision in our lives.  And we thank God for our church being willing to help out in this way.

Our pastor asked me to give a testimony about our lives and how God has brought us to where we are right now.  The main point that I tried to get across was that God’s goodness in our lives is not what makes Him worthy of praise and thanksgiving.  God is worthy of glory and our adoration whether we live in poverty or riches.  Many times, I have found myself being more thankful for the “stuff” than the Giver of the stuff.  God has really been teaching me that I need to detatch my heart from “things” that it can be attached only and completely to Him.  That’s a hard lesson for a materialistic American like myself to learn!  But it is an absolutely necessary lesson in the life of every Christian.  If we are to seek God, we must come to the point where we are content with Him and Him only, where He is the soul possession of our heart.  God has blessed us with so many “things” to have, but He alone is to be our heart’s sole possession.  The greatest way to show thanks to our Creator and Provider is to abandon our desire for things, and to seek and pursue only Him.

While we’re back home for these couple months, we are living at Tiffany’s parents’ house in Oregon, but this week we are at my parents’ house in Battle Ground, Washington which is where I grew up.  It’s nice to spend some time with them and to be here for Thanksgiving.

During this week, we are doing lots of price comparing and deal hunting on the internet.  By the end of the week, we hope to have most everything purchased that will be going into the container for our home, such as the appliances, furniture, and other smaller supplies.

We hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Click here to download a printable PDF copy of this letter: Nov ‘08

Finally back home in Oregon, but not for long!  We safely drove 3,500 miles coast to coast (our 7th time doing so!) with no problems whatsoever.  Thank you so much to all of you who were praying for our safety during our trip.  We were able to visit some family and friends along the way, and God gave us a great time with all of them.

We are really excited to be back home, but we’re even more excited to get out of here in February!  It’s coming quick, so we know that we can’t just sit back and relax.  There’s lots of work to be done, especially in the next six weeks or so until we ship our container.  Please pray for all that needs to be done, and that we don’t forget any important details.

Please also continue to pray for the Togo Departure Fundraiser.  We have already received a few donations, and we praise God for His provision.  We have come to the point where we realize that even if we don’t receive a penny, that God will either provide in some other way, or allow us to get by without what we think we need.  In either way, we know that God is going to do what is best for us!

I’ll have some exciting opportunities to speak and preach while we’re home, so I’d also like to ask you to pray for those as well.  One of these opportunities will be speaking to a public school Bible club, and possibly even in some of the regular classes.  Please pray that God will open these doors so that He might have an opportunity to minister through me.

I know that I’ve given you a bunch of things to pray for, but right now we need and appreciate your support of us in prayer more than ever.  We realize that if we ever get to Togo, that it will not be because of our own skill or ability, but because of God alone, doing what only He can do.

Please make sure to check back often at the website where we will be updating you more frequently with everything that’s going on.

Thank you for your prayer and support!

Hi!  We are Jesse, Tiffany, and Joshua Shanks, missionaries in Togo, West Africa.  Thanks for visiting our website, and we hope that you’ll come back often to read our blog and stay updated on our great adventure.  You can make sure not to miss miss any updates by either signing up to receive them by email, or you can subscribe to our RSS feed.

Scroll down to read our latest blog entries, or use the navigation on the top & right to find other content on the site.

After a journey of over 3,500 miles and almost two weeks, we are finally safe and sound back in Oregon. We arrived at Tiffany’s parent’s house late Sunday night and the next morning we immediately started unpacking, sorting, and repacking for sending things to Togo. It’s really nice to be “home,” but we realize also that this really is not our home. What’s funny is that because Joshua has never had a permanent place that he calls home, he has asked us several times” Mom, Dad, where’s our home?” So, the policy that we’ve established is, “Home is wherever we are!”

With all that said, however, we are really looking forward to getting to Togo and finally settling down in a situation that will be more permanent.

We’d like to say a big thank you to all those who prayed for us during our trip. The van did fine (which surprised me!) and God gave us protection in spite of our sometimes tired driving!

We will have internet connection less often now that we’re here, but we will continue to keep you updated whenever possible on what’s going on, and with our Togo prep progress.

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On the road again! We packed our van (and I mean PACKED) on Monday and started out our great American road trip (a.k.a “moving”). It was quite a miracle that all of our things fit in our van. We have no idea how it happened, but somehow it fits and the back bumper isn’t hitting the ground! As we drove across the St. Laurence River leaving Québec City, we rolled down the windows and all shouted “Goodbye Québec!” We had really made Québec our home for the time we were there, and were so sad to be leaving that we actually cried briefly as we drove down the road. Well, Tiffany cried and I thought about crying. And all Joshua was thinking about was opening the gift that Pierre (my conversation partner) had given us and told us not to open until we were on the road. It was Belgian dark chocolates!

Our first stop was in Harpswell which is very close to Portland, Maine to visit Tiffany’s Great Aunt and Uncle for a few days. We had a really, really great time with them and their massively over sized dog named Bear.

Next was a quick stop in Cortland, NY to visit some old college friends, Steve & Cassie House. We were really sad that our stay was only for one night, but it was great to see them again. This morning we left there and stopped by Niagara Falls on our way to Toledo, Ohio which is where we are right now, ironically staying in a Hotel on Oregon Street! So, that’s our quick update on our coast to coast trip from Portland to Portland. We’ll try to write at least one more post before arriving back home in Oregon. Thanks so much for praying for our safety!