New Churches

Well, we just said goodbye to the third and final CWE team that was here to build two churches. I had the opportunity to join each team for a day at the work site trying not to get in the way. I was a fun time of just meeting and hearing the stories of many new friends. It was nice to see Bruce and Karlene Johnson from Michigan again. Bruce was on our trip to the Amazon back in 1997 and we met his wife when we attended the wedding of Katrina's brother Daniel. Dan's wife Angela is from the Johnson's home church in Michigan. This picture is of the church in Tsavie on the final day of construction. It's a long way from the thatched roof they have used for many years.
Please be i prayer for this next week as the final CWE team arrives tonight for a week of mobile medical clinic and evangelism in 4 different villages. Katrina and I both plan to accompany the team on one of these days.

CWE

It is a great pleasure for Katrina and I to have teams from CWE (Construction for World Evangelism)here in Togo all this month. It was with this organization that we went on our first mission's trips way back in 1995 and again in 1997. Those trips to the Amazon jungle were life changing experiences for us that God obviously used to light the flame of cross-cultural missions in our hearts.
This month, CWE is here in Togo to build two churches. One in the village of Tsavie (pronounced Cha-vee-ay) and the other up the mountain in Koudragon. ( Koo-drau-gon)
I was able to go out to the jobsite with the team this past Tuesday adn it was alot of fun. There are 16 men and 3 ladies on this team. There are 4 one week teams coming to build these churches and then on week four go out and do an evangelistic mobile medical clinic. Pray for safety and completion of these projects during the tie CWE is here.

Thanksgiving

This week we celebrated Thanksgiving with our missionary family here in Togo. We welcomed our friends from Kpalime on Wednesday afternoon for a team meeting followed by dinner and then praise and prayer time. Then on Thursday, we had our main Thanksgiving meal at lunch time. There were a total of 43 people including all the kids. Then it was time for resting, swimming or whatever we wanted on a holiday afternoon. We wrapped up the celebration with leftovers on Thursday evening for dinner. Despite the fact that we were not with out own families, didn't watch any football , or do black Friday planning, it was a pretty good Thanksgiving. God is so Good!!!

Saying Goodbye to Mom

Well, this weekend we all traveled to Accra, Ghana to say good bye to my mom after her 3 week visit with us. It is a long trip here, about 8 hours with some bathroom and shopping stops. We came on Friday so we could have a day to rest and show mom around Accra before her late Saturday night flight. There is a really nice mall here where we took the kids to play and eat at the food court (imagine that). Today we drove down by the ocean to see the beach(there really wasn't one) and to visit a good bakery that a fellow missionary said was really good. Well they were out of everything by the time we got there. So our morning and early afternoon was a bust but we came back to the guest house and made ham and cheese sandwiches. After resting for a while we ate an early dinner and then took mom to the airport.
I think mom had a great visit overall. She was smart and wrote in her journal every night before bed. She kept saying during her trip that she wasn't sure how she was going to explain or describe things to people back home. Pictures just don't do justice sometimes, but she has alot anyway.
Mom, I love you and thank you very much for taking the incredible effort to come see your son and his family in Africa. I hope it was all you imagined and more.
BTW- This picture is of my mom standing by our church's baptism pool.

Jadon's Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Jadon's 7th birthday. we are grateful that my mom is able to be here for a couple birthdays in our family. It was a long, fun day which started with pecan and banana pancakes. MMmmmmm! Before lunch, we loaded up and headed for the Ghana waterfall to hike and spend the afternoon. What we found when we arrived was a violent overflowing splendor due to the heavy rains we have had lately. I have been to the falls several times and never have seen them like this. Unfortunately, it was too rough for the kids to play in the water (Adi was scared to death). So we spent some time watching and eating lunch and then headed back. Last night, we had a bonfire in the back yard and the kids roasted hot dogs and smores. There was a big group of friends and fellow missionaries that came out for a beautiful evening.

New School Year

After an extra long summer vacation this year, the kids finally started school yesterday with "Aunt Kelly". They were very excited to have other classmates this year. William, Grant, and Luke DeKryger joined Sydney and Jadon in their class this year. We are hoping a little student competition will be a good thing this year, especially for Sydney. She has not been challenged too much by school so far but is always wanting to be the best. Please pray for the kids as they embark on another year of learning. Katrina , my mom, and I walked them up to school yesterday and we all gathered around the flagpole to dedicate the school year with prayer. It was really awesome. Kelly told the kids her goal for them this year was of course to learn but also for them all to be a little more like Christ at the end of the year.

Visit from Mom

We are very excited to have my mom visiting for 3 weeks. I went to Accra, Ghana to pick her up this past Friday and then drove the 6 hour journey back to HBB on Saturday.It was an interesting trip as always going through border crossings and pot holes the size of VWs. On Monday my mom accompanied me to see patients for the morning and Tuesday she went and did some casting with Katrina. She plans to see some surgeries while here as well. Friday we will travel to Lome so she can experience a typical shopping trip and airport pickup. We will update you again as her visit continues.
Blessings to all of you!!