Weddings, Wells, and Family!
May was a great but wild month for us full of wedding celebrations, hosting friends, a well inauguration, and Lanaïa’s birthday! Our home and hearts have both been full!
There are multiple ceremonies when it comes to weddings here. First there is the traditional wedding, then the court wedding, then the church ceremony. This specific wedding also had events like court wedding / grooms birthday meal, and a thank you meal for all those involved when it was finished.
Lanaïa’s birthday was the same day as our friends church wedding and with the month being so full we had no time to plan or host any birthday party so we decided to go to the beach instead. We were able to stay one night at the beach which we noticed was very needed. I don’t think we’ve had a night away just us since Lanaïa was 1 years old, and even then, I’m unsure if that actually happened. It feels like such a vague memory I’m unsure if it was real or I’m just dreaming it (which I likely am). 😆
Later in the week traveled to Sotouboua for the last well inauguration. A member of our Justice Water team moved there with his family a few years ago for ministry purposes and it was great to be able to visit his family and home there. We were able to rent a mini bus and bring a team of people to encourage and support him while also being a part of the well inauguration. It really was quite special. Sotouboua is about 300km away so it was a big deal that we could all go. We spent two nights there and then our family decided to continue on to Kara (a city further north) for more intentional family time. The well inauguration went very well. We were able to pass out audio bibles, share the good news of Christ, and hear testimonies of how the well has changed their life! They expressed the fact that having a well in their village is a true miracle and how they now have more time to farm, providing more for their families and gaining more economically due to not spending hours fetching water. It has made a huge impact on the families there! Here are some pictures of a few families below along with photos and videos of our time with the village (including a photo of audio bible distribution). They all now have clean water because of your support!
After the well inauguration we decided to continue north for some family time as those in the bus headed back home. Kara is 125km away from Sotouboua so we felt like if we didn’t make a last minute decision to do some touristy things while being so close, we wouldn’t ever get there. 😅 The trip was very quick but we got to see some lions and feed some elephants in a nature reserve there! It was incredible! After 10 years here I finally saw an elephant! Something I’ve been waiting to experience. The lions were quite the surprise as we weren’t aware they were there. They had a really great big enclosure for them allowing them to be completely wild (besides getting some food thrown into the cage everyday). The elephants weren’t enclosed so it was quite the experience! It was also neat/sweet to see the elephants relationship with those caring for them. Elephants are originally from Burkina Faso and the lions are from South Africa. Togo doesn’t have much wildlife so it was really quite exciting! 😆
Now we’ve been back for just over a week and hosted our friend/coworker Robert (who leads Justice Water in Malawi) for his final week here in Togo before returning to his family and work in Malawi. His brother and sister in law were able to come say goodbye which we were all thankful for.
This past Sunday we had the opportunity to share about missions with a group of young adults from a church near us. We shared how every Christian is called to be a “missionary”, whether it’s to leave their home or serve Jesus in their workplace/school. We spoke on our own experiences and shared about how God calls us to serve and the importance of loving others sincerely in life and service (Romans 12:6:13).
