A New Beginning

Today, Sydney (or Marie, as she's better known here in Togo--Sydney is too hard to pronounce) started school. Actually, she started at a local Ecole Maternelle or kindergarten. She gets to wear a little uniform and carry her backpack with her snack and bottle of water. She seemed a bit shy but jumped right in when they were all called to order.

The school is about a 10 minute walk from our house. We pass by a lady who once gave Sydney a boiled egg as a gift just because she's so cute. (All Africans seem to like Sydney, she has gotten more than her share of hair touching, extra bananas, boiled eggs and all just because she's the smallest.)

Now, we have gone to pick her from school and it seems to have gone well. She was happy and the teachers were amazed that she didn't cry or make a fuss about being left there all alone. Apart from looking quite hot, I think she had a good time. Let's pray each day goes as well.

Les fourmis are not for me

Ya know the verse, Ephesians 6:12, the one that talks about our battle (or struggle as the NIV says) against spiritual forces? Here, I'll quote it for you:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

I was wondering if ants qualify for "flesh and blood". There isn't a whole lot more than their sort-of-shell-thing when you smush them, you know, no blood and all. Why, the tiny ones don't even seem to have much to smush period. Therefore, I doubt they fit into the "flesh and blood" category. That means they fall into the "spiritual" one. Okay, I realize they aren't in the "heavenly realms", they are very much here on earth, however, they are my struggle. I'm beginning to wonder if they are instruments of Satan, sent to torture me. (Making them, therefore, "spiritual forces of evil").

You see, I fight a losing battle against these small pests. I thought I could avoid them by making sure there were no traces of food on the countertops. I try to wash dishes regularly and all. I've even tried to make sure there are no drops of water (you can instantly tell where they are because tons of tiny ants have set themselves up all around the perimeter of each one). However, they still come round. They were even in our bed the other night. We don't eat in our bed. Why would they come there? Why can't I get rid of them?

As my last resort, I'll go out and buy talcum powder, but I doubt it'll help. How can I stop those little "armeisen autobahnen" (ant highways) that run down the wall, with talcum powder?

Oh well, the next time you see an ant--guess it's too cold in most of the rest of the world for them now--or decide to leave your dirty dishes sitting on the counter for later, think of me and my struggle against the spiritual forces of evil. Maybe if we all pray against them, they'll go away. Ya think?

Ah, I just had a thought, maybe they are my "thorn in the flesh"...

No, that's sweating all the time, but I'll not go into that now.

Out of Lome (only for a week)

After being in Lome almost exactly 4 months, we finally got out of the city. As a matter of fact, we got out of the country! We went to Benin (the neighboring country) to visit friends. Actually, we were to go for the Spiritual life conference put on by SIM, but due to an emergency in the family of their leader, it was put off 2 weeks. Our visas, which we had just bought, would be expired by then, so we decided to go visit our friends anyway and get a bit of physical enrichment, if not some spiritual as well.

We had a great time visiting the Stahl family (Roger and Theo Stahl were roommates at Bible school many years ago) and meeting others working with them. Our girls especially loved playing with other kids. They were outside all day, every day. The Stahls live on a big compound with loads of great things to do. The main thing was building an Indian village.

The parents had a nice time relaxing and spending time with Theo and Miriam. Another plus about the trip was that we all spoke German the whole week! Well, all that is but Sydney, who spoke as little or as much as she pleased.

Our last day, Saturday, Roger and Theo decided to fix the a/c on our car, which wasn't blowing as it should. They took the entire front of the car apart. It was finally put back together by 10:30pm that night only to find that the battery was totally dead! Fortunately, after being hooked to a charger all night, it worked and we were able to leave on schedule Sunday just after lunch!

It was great to get away and see different places and people. We were a bit afraid the girls would have a really hard time leaving, which they did, but after 2 days in the truck on bumpy roads, they were ready to get "home"! God knew we needn't worry.

Let the little children come

We've been reading, talking and praying about salvation, during our family devotions and in school. Our Bible verse was from Acts 16:31: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." Fiona knew it already by heart. She had learned it at Awanas in Kansas.
Last week, Fiona asked God to help her to believe in him so that she will be saved. She wanted Mama to pray with her. When Papa came home that evening she was very excited and couldn't wait to tell what she and Mama had done.
Sydney felt left out, because she was the only one who had not prayed to become a Christian. So, she was in a bad mood until Papa sat down and prayed with her, too. I was wondering, has anybody ever heard about sulking your way into heaven? I think we'll still have to talk about that one.
Somebody commented during dinner, "if we are all children of God, than Papa & Mama are our brother and sister." That makes sense, doesn't it?!