Sept.- Nov. 2014 Report

Ok, so this is a long post and from our November 2014 newsletter. I had debated whether I should post this old newsletter or just wait and do a new post with the next newsletter. Then I realized some of you either do not receive our newsletters by e-mail or you would rather read through a blog. So, here is our 2014 November report!

Just a side note to let you know that you can now donate online! Just look to the right to see the different ways you can support Shining In Togo Mission! All of you are such a blessing to us and we really enjoy your words of encouragement and support. We pray that each of you will be shining lights for Jesus! We love you!

Bruno and Amy Koumedjra

Village Immersions

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:31

One of the greatest things I enjoy in ministry is the opportunity and priviledge to be able to work with the youth. It really was a great moment of thanksgiving when some of our youth from both the Nytaveglo and Tchadome church assemblies made a decision to be immersed and become soldiers in the resurrected army of King Jesus and to be enlisted for service. Among these new creatures are my sister’s older son, Raymond, and my uncle’s first son, Yao. Please pray for these young folks to be quickly transformed by the Holy Spirit and to become mature adults who live for God and love others.

Keegan

Keegan teaching the 2nd grade class!

My wife and I love having people come to visit us. We learn a lot from them and they are usually a tremendous encouragement for us. In Vogan, the town where we live, there are hardly any other Americans or friends for my wife to spend time with. There is no mall, Walmart, or any other air-conditioned stores, no real safe “restaurants” to eat, no movie theatres, and no other entertainment activities such as bowling, roller-skating, or putt-putt. Half of those things do not exist in our country. There are not many outlets for her to deal with the culture differences. So, when visitors come it’s a big blessing for, not just us, but her as well.

This past month, Keegan, a Christian lady from Lancaster, Ohio, came to help us. She taught “Speaking English” for our 2^nd and 3^rd grade classes, did a young ladies Bible class on Sunday mornings, coached basketball and chose teams from tryouts. Her time was shortened because one particular airline was given restrictions and this caused her flights to be cancelled and she needed to get new flights home. Keegan was such a big help and it was really fun having her here! We miss her very much!

Keegan also did some dancing, braved some of the local dishes, sang and danced in the rain, and gave us a lot of laughs!!!

Village Children

At the beginning of every school year, our ministry has made it a goal to help orphans and neglected children from Tchadome and Nyitaveglo with school materials. We did it again this year and we are truly grateful to the Lord, through Whose provisions little “Sam” and “Afi” are now going to school.

We also send food once a week to these children and hereby want to thank all our supporters for participating in this great endeavor.

VCA School

We are 9 weeks into our school’s 6^th year! Our first year was 15 students and this year we have 220 children from Preschool to 7^th grade of our middle school. Every year we look for how we can improve and what changes we need to make, at the same time we keep growing and adding new classes.

My wife made all the teachers their own personal binders so they can keep track of the students and take notes. Tasks such as this are not as simple for my wife and especially not for our teachers to do on their own because they do not have easy access to materials.

We also hired a new teacher for our pre-school class, Mrs. Gnagniko, who has several years of experience with this age group. The pre-school children love her and she is a blessing for us and them!

Since Keegan was able to get us started, we now have 2 basketball teams and they are having fun! (See Keegan’s PDF pictures) We now have Richard helping to coach. Assisting him is Emmanuel, who is also our school nurse. We have been blessed to have Emmanuel here and he also did an informative class on Ebola for our students after our Friday Bible devotions.

We are getting into the Christmas season and will be having trimester exams, a merit sale for the children, and a Christmas program. Our students are having a talent competition this season and we are looking forward to all of it!!

Construction Work (many pictures!)

The growth of our school does not come without cost. Beginning with this school year, we quickly realized we will be in desperate need of more classrooms. Right now our 7^th grade class is in what is supposed to be our nurse’s room. So, by faith, we started a 3 classroom building project with a deep foundation for several levels and a cement rooftop. Now we can confidently say that the project is awesome. The cement roofing was poured 3 weeks ago and we are now praying for the funds to do the finished cement floor, the plastering, the doors, and the painting. Prayerfully the ground floor of this particular building will be done by the end of January. Certainly we have learned a lot from this project and we can’t but be amazed at the generosity of God’s people!

Just above is Cowou, our very hard working welder, who is deaf and smiles all the time!

Bruno’s dad came to work!!

The ladies cooked while the concrete was being filled! A lot of great teamwork was going on!

Chicken

Chicken Farm

Our first crate of eggs!

Our chickens have started laying eggs!! We have 477 chickens and are now having 10 crates of eggs a day and will eventually be having an average of 14 crates a day for a year. Koko is doing a great job caring for the birds and our goal is to see this project grow to where we can feed orphans ourselves, create jobs, and even engage in other community development projects such as: agricultural, village pharmacy, well drilling, and further education. Contact us if you or someone you know wants to help with our chicken farm business.

Vogan Church

The Lord truly is blessing our church assembly! We have grown physically from 40 in our first year 2012 to now and average of 140 in attendance. In those 2 years we have also established 2 other churches, the one in my home village, Nyitaveglo, where my parents attend, and one in Djagbley, near Lome, the capital city. What can I say? Except that the Lord is doing His work in the hearts of man. Not unto us, but to Him, be the glory!!

Djagbley House Church

For the past 7 years, my wife and I have been praying about some type of ministry in Lome and what is happening is proof that God answers all our prayers according to His will.

2 years ago, I was able to start going to Lome to do Bible studies with just 4 guys. We prayed about a place just outside of Lome where the city is growing to and the Lord pointed Djagbley for us. We prayed for a place where Sassou and his family could live in Djagbley and the Lord provided that too. And we decided to start a house church assembly with just Sassou and his family. To our amazement, 2 of the guys from the Bible studies in Lome, along with their wives and children are now assembling in Djagbley. This ministry is really heavy on our hearts because it also provides opportunities for us to channel and continue to influence the lives of our young disciples once they move to Lome for college. Already 2 of our college students, Phyl, from Tchadome, and Delphine, from Vogan, are staying in Djagbley and being mentored by Sassou and his wife while participating in the on going ministry there. God is good and He is awesome in power!!!

Bruno with Sassou and his family
in front of their new home!

Thanksgiving

Togo doesn’t have a Thanksgiving holiday, they do have a harvest festival but that is typically in September. So, because we still have school on that day, I decided to have our dinner the Saturday before the actual Thanksgiving. We had the electrician come and help set up lights on our rooftop, we cut small pumpkins for decoration and cooked for 2 days!! We had around 40 people and it was fun! Koko brought the church’s sound system and played music and we all danced! I also found this neat idea on Pinterest that people do for weddings but someone gave the idea for Thanksgiving, which was a tree with those that attended fingerprints as leaves. Instead of just writing “Thanks” or “Thanksgiving” I wrote a scripture verse. I chose it because it talked about giving thanks for each other. Then I realized, after painting the verse, that it also talks about our love growing and it was fitting because there is a heart in the middle of the tree that grows!

May each of you remember to be thankful for your brothers and sisters in Christ, for your family, and for all God has blessed you with!! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!