Light of Togo

Click here to view or download this update on our letterhead.

New Year, New Opportunities
I imagine that you’ve probably heard several times already this year, “What happened to 2009?”  We feel the same way, as if the calendar jumped from 2008 to 2010!

As we are approaching our anniversary marking one year in Togo, we have never been so excited for a new year.  There are so many opportunities for ministry all around the Kara region that we are sometimes overwhelmed in trying to decide what to do next.

In fact, that is something we’d like to ask you to pray for specifically: clear direction from the Lord in taking the next step in our ministry.  Since our arrival in Togo, we have been involved in several ministries and have learned a lot from them.  We are eager, however, to take our next step, but we do not want to make these kinds of decisions based solely on what is most logical or pragmatic, but on what God wants us to do.  So please pray over the next couple months that it will be clear to us what that next step is.

A Great Visit
Over the holiday season, we were so glad to have my parents come stay with us for three weeks.  I think that Africa took them by surprise in many ways, and it was a bit rough on them at times.  Overall though, they really did enjoy their time here getting to know Africa and it’s wonderful people.

On several occasions they were overwhelmed by the generous hospitality of our friends and neighbors as they would thank my parents for coming to Togo and offer them a gift of food from the very little they have.

Safari
In order to get the full African experience, we also took them to a wildlife preserve in northern Benin.  It was our first time going as well, but it certainly won’t be our last!  We saw almost every kind of animal that lives in West Africa, including many elephants and a couple lions, all in their natural habitat with no cages or fences.  It was definitely an experience to remember!

Kabɩyɛ
Please continue to pray for my Kabiye studies.  Even though I started lessons a few months ago, I did not have much time until now to dedicate towards it.  So, from January to April I am committing a large amount of my time towards learning this difficult language.

As you can imagine, we’ve been having a great time with my parents.  A day after arriving from picking them up in Accra, we traveled to northern Benin to Pendjari Wildlife Park for a safari.  That was quite an amazing experience.  If you’d like to see the pictures, you can view them on my Facebook account (this works even if you don’t use Facebook).

Between the drive to Accra and back, and the safari trip, we estimated that we spent 50 to 60 hours in a vehicle in one week’s time!  Most of that was on bumpy unpaved roads by the way.  Needless to say, we were ready for a break.  We spent a very relaxing Christmas together, lounging around the house and spending time together.  That evening we had a special Christmas party for the people who work at our house.  We got each of them and their family members a gift, which was likely the only gift they received for Christmas.  They loved the spaghetti Tiffany made, and they especially liked the Coke floats for desert.  I asked them, and they said they had never tried putting ice cream in a soda before.

I set up a camera on Christmas morning and did a time lapse video that condenses about 3 hours into one minute. Have a look:

Christmas 09 Timelapse from Jesse Shanks on Vimeo.

I just wanted to write a quick update letting you know that we arrived safely home in Kara from picking up my parents in Accra.  It was quite a two day journey back here, and it was tiring for my parents, but they did a great job toughing it out on the smooth Togo roads.

They are already having a great time experiencing all the sights, sounds, and smells of Africa.  Thanks for all your prayers for their safety and ours as we drove.

Exactly one month after leaving for Accra the first time (November 18th), we’ll be leaving Kara to go there again. This time, however, the trip will be very rewarding since we are going to pick up my parents from the Accra airport! We are excited beyond words that they are coming as you can imagine. They’ll be staying for exactly three weeks, during which we’ll take them on a safari, celebrate Christmas together, and explore Kara and its culture.

As always please pray for our safety, smooth border crossings, good health, etc.  Pray also, if you would, for my parents flight and health while they are here.  They both have had some health problems of late, so we’d hate to see that hinder their experience here.

We’ll try to update you as much as possible in the new few weeks, but if we don’t you can just assume that we’re too busy enjoying the time with my parents!

It’s been a while since we last updated our website with a new family picture.  Well, since June of last year to be exact. Several people have asked for a new one, so here it is.

To download it, right-click (NOT left-click) on one of the following links and select “Save Link As…” or something similar, depending on what browser you’re using.  If you need a larger size, please let me know and I’ll send it to you.

| 4×6 landscape | 4×6 portrait | 5×7 landscape | 5×7 portrait |

Don’t we look so Africany?  This was taken from our rooftop in front of our neighbors’ beautiful palm trees.

August 3rd was our 8th wedding anniversary.  Because of it falling in the middle of the pastors’ conference, we decided to hold it off until the following week.  My original plan was to surprise Tiffany on Thurday morning by having the house completely empty (the Huffs are staying with us right now), bringing her breakfast in bed, and spending the whole day together with no distractions or interruptions.  Well, I managed to pull it all off except for the surprise part.  She found out a couple days before that everyone would be leaving and that we were doing something special.  As much as we both love surprises, it didn’t ruin it for either of us though!  We had a really great time.

For the most part we just sat around all day and relaxed which doesn’t sound like much fun, but it was exactly what we needed.  We talked a lot, watched a movie, cleaned up the house together, cooked together, and even se up my new Facebook account together.   It was so great, and so needed, that we decided to do it every month or two.

While we were busy doing nothing, Joshua was busy doing a little of everything with the Huffs, Jim, and Lisa at Jim’s house.  They played games, did crafts, and played outside on a homemade waterslide.

Now that our day of relaxation is over, it’s back to life as normal once again!

Well, the vacation part of our trip is over, and now we’re in Accra waiting for the Huff’s arrival tomorrow evening.  They are probably already in the air, so please pray for their safety.

Our vacation at the beach was absolutely wonderful.  It was such a great break from the busyness that has consumed us for the past few months.  Tiff and I got to spend some time together, and we both had a great time playing with Joshua on the beach.  He and I built a large sand castle and then channeled all the rain water (yes, it rained quite a bit) into the mote around it.

We also had a great time with our friends and fellow missionaries Jim White and Lisa Lewis.  We did several fun things together that we’ll post some pictures of when we get back home with a faster internet connection.

We’ll be crossing back over the border into Togo on Thursday, so please pray for that.  We had some complications coming into Ghana, so we’re really hoping to get back in easily.

Once we get back to Kara, we’ll let you know how the rest of the trip went.  Thanks so much for praying for our safety.

As of one week ago, our container was shipped and is now somewhere over, and hopefully not in, the Atlantic Ocean. We’re not sure yet of an arrival date, but they usually take anywhere from four to eight weeks. Please pray for a timely arrival; we can’t wait to have mid-summer Christmas unpacking party!

Before the films, we let the kids play with a big ball, which was a completely new experience for them. Joshua even jumped in there with them and had a blast running around with all the kids, stirring up the biggest dust cloud I’ve ever seen!

It was interesting to see how at the beginning of the films there were only a handful of church members there watching, but by the end there were probably around 150 people, many of whom were standing outside watching through the windows.

Afterwards, Pastor Sopa gave, in the local Moba language, a clear explanation of how to know Jesus personally. Sopa, by the way, is the pastor of six churches right now, and as you can imagine needs help very badly. He started out by walking to each church, then he upgraded to a bicycle, and now he has a motorcycle that Randy Alderman bought for him. He preaches at two churches each Sunday and rotates between them. Please pray for him, and for God to call other Togolese men to go help in this needy area.

One of the biggest adjustments to living here in Togo is the weather.  We come from the beautiful, but cold and rainy Northwest.  Coming here was quite a shock to our quickly thawing bodies!  Right now we are entering the hot and dry season.  There is a unique weather phenomenon here called the Harmattan which blows hot dusty air south into Togo from the Sahara Desert.  In a month or so it will cause temperature of up to 130 degrees.  I’m not too sure exactly what the outside temperatures have been like lately, but I do know that we walked into a 93 degree room the other day and it felt very cool and refreshing, almost like air conditioning!

Joshua has been dealing with heat rashes now and then, so please pray for him.  He’s a real trooper though and doesn’t complain too much.  He’s doing really great here, and enjoying all the new sights and sounds that Africa has to offer.

So, if you find yourself freezing this winter, remember to pray for your overheated missionary friends!

Our families have meant so much to us. It goes without saying that we wouldn’t be where we are right now if it weren’t for them. They have supported us all along the way and while they are very sad to see us leave, we know that they are completely behind us in what we’re doing. We’ve been staying at Tiffany’s parents’ house and spending time with them lately whenever we can, and earlier this evening went out to eat with my parents at Jerusalem Cafe, one of our favorite restaurants. I almost “lost it” again as I told my dad how thankful I am for having him as my dad and that there’s nobody else I would have rather had as a father. I could tell that he was a bit emotional as well, but I think that it’s all being stored up for tomorrow where we will say our final goodbye to our families and board the plane.

During the past several days we’ve been saying goodbye to all our friends and family who mean so much to us.  They will, of course, leave the biggest void in our lives.  But, one other thing that the three of us will miss a lot is the great outdoors of the Northwest.  Having grown up here, Tiffany and I, and now Joshua too, really enjoy hiking and exploring the woods.

The other afternoon, Tiff and I had the chance to do one last little hike (and the first in a long time) before leaving.  We went down into a canyon that is within walking distance from our house.  We had a really great time together, and it was a good opportunity for us just to talk and have one last gulp of really fresh, clean Oregon air!  We had a lot of fun and thought we’d show you some of the pictures below.

Today is 7. Tomorrow will be 6. The next day won’t be soon enough! It probably doesn’t need to be said that we are ready to go! We have finished everything that needs to be done, other than packing our suitcases, and we are beyond excited to leave.

We’re using this last week to spend as much time as possible with friends and family, all of whom we will miss very much.

Please start to pray, if you haven’t already, for a smooth transition and adjustment to life in Togo.  We can’t wait to tell you what it’s like!

It thrills me to be writing this, and any parent will understand why.  You see, Joshua decided a couple weeks ago without any suggestion or coercion from us to spend his own money and buy Christmas presents for everyone in our family and extended family.  That’s 11 people in all.  We made sure that he understood that he would be spending his money and that once it’s spent it can’t be used for something else.  He acted like he already knew this, but it wasn’t a big deal.  What’s even more surprising is that he hasn’t been asking incessantly about gifts that he will be receiving.

So, last night Joshua and I took a trip to the dollar store, where every kid’s Christmas dreams can come true!  With just a little help from me he picked out each gift very thoughtfully.  It was adorable to see him walking up and down each isle with his finger on his chin as if pondering a difficult math equation.  This morning Tiffany snapped a shot of him under my parent’s dining room table, wrapping all the presents.

We’re so thankful for a kid who thinks of other people before himself.  It reminds me that I could definitely use more of that kind of attitude!

Have a very merry Christmas!

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!