A quick hop over the border

We just received our visas for Ghana (the country that Roger can see daily from his office building. You did know, that Lomé is the only capital city in the world which borders on another country?!) Can you believe it, the members of our family (all the females) with an American passport got a 5 year visa. However, for the same price tag, the German was supposed to get only 1 year, but was able to convince the immigration officer that he needed more. Well, he gave me 100% more, although he didn't have to. That's why I love Africa.

So, we made a very quick trip to the city of Accra over the weekend. Among many other attractions, Accra has a new shopping mall. Needless to say, the shopping-starved girls had a blast. Here are the reactions:

Elena: "I like the shopping and the roads."
Fiona: "It was like America."
Sydney: "I love the mall. I wished we could live there."
Kathy: "It was very nice."
Roger: "Boy, Accra is expensive."

Ps. Fiona's prayer was answered too. We received all three packages that were sent to our friend's address in Accra. Thank you Bre, Jodie and Gormans!

And the answer is...

Three weeks ago the question was "to move or not to move". Well, the answer now is: "move"! PTL! We will be able to relocate our office and media school to the new location in Lomé.

After several discussions with the old landlord, he agreed to let us go, wanting only our best (6 months of rent and the deposit). Although we don't know (yet) how we are going to meet all those obligations, we know that it is the right move, literally.

Thank you for praying through this situation with us.

Tag!!

So, I was just tagged by a friend I met in France, "redchampagne", who has a fun blog and cute kids who supply her with many interesting things to write about. As this is my first time to do this kind of thing, we'll see how it goes. Since we live in Africa, our internet is not always good so I hope I can get a photo uploaded. Guess I shouldn't complain, at least we have internet, eh?

Here are the rules:

1. go to your documents/pictures.
2. go to your 6th file.
3. go to your 6th picture.
4. blog about it.
5. tag 6 people …

This moth was hanging onto the screen outside our living room, here in Togo. It was actually there for a few days. You can tell it's a male because it's a moth. A female would be a myth--as I'm sure you know.

Now, I actually only know 3 people with blogs--besides redchampagne, of course--(at least 3 I KNOW of, I'm sure there are more of you out there), so unfortunately, I'll only be able to pass the tag on to them. Hope (since you just started blogging, here's some blog fodder for you), April and Kaley. Enjoy!

The Faith to move mountains

On Sunday we each said something we want to pray for this week. Sydney's request was that we would get money. She is really obsessed with this theme lately. One morning she said, "I know how we can get rich. When I get big and my teeth come out the tooth fairy can give me money and I'll give it to you." Anyway, on Monday, we received word that a prayer group in England had given us a generous gift. Roger told Sydney about it. We were all excited how God answered that prayer. Today we were at the table when Roger said that he had told his co-workers about Sydney's prayer and they wanted her to pray for them too. She is really happy about this. She said, "I know why Jesus answers my prayers. It's because He thinks I'm cute." Oh dear.

Lady Liberty & Lord Jesus

Now I've seen 'em all. I've spotted the first Statue of Liberty in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. I've seen THE ONE on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. I've also noticed the miniature one in LaCrosse, KS (the one with the lightbulb). And today I was privileged to encounter her again, at a busy intersection in Lomé. What an experience!

Lady Liberty was in the company of the Great Judge himself. She was radiant (or was it just the afternoon sun?), and seemed larger than life. Unfortunately, that can't be said about her companion today. I had the impression that some people did think little of him. What a shame, since encountering the real guy can be such a liberating experience.

Let me be honest, it was a bit disturbing to see the two of them today, having to sell themselves off. It's a sad day when Liberty and Justice fall prey to commerce and traffic.

Backyard Masters in Action

Friday afternoon is PE time at our home school. It's usually Roger who makes the kids run around in the heat.

Abigail Higdon joins us regularly to have some fun in the sun. Sometimes we even go to the pool for swimming lessons. Well, today it was the garden.

Hence, the Backyard Masters.

To move or not to move, that is the question

We need your prayer power. As you have probably heard or read, we are planning to move to a new location in Lomé that can better serve the radio school and the IBRA office. We found a house and have already agreed on the terms. The landlord (who is a member of the Assemblies of God - the church under which we are working here), is very favourable toward us and our ministry. We believe that this is the place for us.


However, we are having difficulties leaving the place we're in at the moment. We handed in our 3-months notice, but this landlord refuses to let us go. He thinks that the contract states that we can only terminate the contract 3 months prior to its termination, which would be in 18 months and $15.000 down the road. The church president is consulting with a lawyer at the moment to understand what exactly the law of Togo says. We are waiting for their response.

Please pray for wisdom, as to know what to do. I would really like it if God would surprise us with a solution that pleases us all. For the current landlord is also a Christian and we don't want to get into an argument with him, nor do we want to disappoint the new landlord.

Thanks for working with us.

oh man!

Is there's another man with three girls and one wife in Togo?!

Well, the artist would actually be in real trouble if he had three wives and one child.

Come on, we all know it's hard to be a man. So, take it easy!

From:
The luckiest guy in town