News, news, news!

Ack! The internet is just terrible out here and I feel so badly that I can't keep you up-to-date on what's happening. So much to say, so I'm jumping right in!

Anna and the Baby:

If you remember last time I wrote, I told you about Anna heading over to Indianapolis with a Mango mom and baby to have heart surgery on the little 6 month old girl, "S". Well, they made it to the USA without any major glitches and within just a few days, the surgery was performed. It went amazingly well and the heart-condition of the baby was totally repaired. Anna was overwhelmed with the response of a local church and missionary friends and family that visited them, encouraged them, took them out to dinner, loaned a car, and prayed with her and Mom and baby. The mom, "S", was so moved by all the love and kindness that she was receiving from all these strangers. Anna and the mom were able to have some really great talks about life in Mango, her religious beliefs, her marriage, her past and so much more. Turns out this sweet momma had already lost a child and was petrified when they took her baby girl away to the OR thinking that she might never see her again. Anna was able to share the gospel many times and though no decision to follow Christ has been made yet, the Holy Spirit is definitely at work in this family.

Please keep praying for the whole family, the father, as he awaits their return from the States next week, and the mom and baby and Anna as they make the long trek home around the 10th of June. The salvation of this family is near and we are so excited to see what God will do with them and in their extended family here in Mango.

Lassa Fever:

We finally celebrated the last day of Lassa Fever on the 30th of May out here. It's over!!! It has been a long haul and we are so incredibly thankful to God for the protection for Mango and the surrounding area. Lassa is an illness that can become epidemic and we were all spared from that catastrophe. The medical personnel here did a great job at taking care of the sick patients and keeping them sequestered from the healthy people so that it did not take more lives. Praise the Lord that it's over!! No longer do we have to bleach our hands and feet and take our temperatures regularly.

Seasonal Change:

Rainy season has finally started which is a wonderful change of season here. Everything that was dead and brown has started to become green and lush. The bad news is - snake season also coincides with rainy season.

Rainy season storm brewing over the guest house.

Let me be very clear about how I feel about snakes: I despise them. They are creepy and gross and basically every kind here in Togo is poisonous. The Togolese people believe that the only good snake is a dead one, and I agree whole-heartedly. The entire time we lived here in 2012-2013, I never once saw a live snake. Dead ones, yes. Live ones, never, to the praise and glory of His Name!

Well guess what happened...

Last week, it happened. First of all, let me tell you that it wasn't the first snake the kids had encountered that week. Earlier, Kylie was riding her bike to the school when she saw a snake, a big one for Togo standards (ours here are skinny and long, not fat like the ones you think of from the jungle or rain forest). She hollered for help and some of the kids from the school came running, as did a couple of Togolese men who dispatched the snake for her. The following day, a snake decided to go to school and Nolan was able to make his first "kill" while Jack's teacher stood on a chair, hollering for help. And only a day after that, it happened to me.

Teddy holding up the dead snake, the headless dead snake.

I was driving the little golf cart to the school during recess when a long snake slithered past me. I could see Nolan and Kylie with the kids at recess, so I hollered (okay, okay, I screamed) and they came racing towards me on their bikes. In the time it took us to find appropriate weapons (shovels and sticks), the snake had slithered into the long grass and disappeared. Nate and a couple other men came to help but to my total dismay, the disgusting creature could not be found - which means, he is out there. Where my children play.

This is my least favourite news to share with you. I was so sad that we couldn't find it and kill it just so I could know there was ONE LESS SNAKE out there.

All the kids checking out it's lifeless carcass. Yuck.

As I was sharing this story with the teachers at our MK school, we got to laughing that we don't so much have seasons out here in Togo - rather, we mark our changes in the year by plagues. Let me explain...

January and February is dry season and so it's Meningitis season.
March, April and May are Lassa Fever season.
June and July are the rainy months which brings Malaria and Snake season.
Then comes Fall which is Bug Season (and I mean thousands of them) which also brings out Frog season because there's just so much for the frogs to eat (when I say frog season, you probably cannot imagine how many...)
By then we've hit November and December where things dry up again and you have respite of the creatures but we get the Return of the Diseases and we're back to Meningitis.

Sounds delightful, doesn't it?? Anyone ready to jump on a plane and come and visit??

BIRTHDAYS!

Teddy celebrated his 8th birthday just at the end of May. He was so excited to get his first pocket knife and a bag of lollipops.

Eight candles on his favourite cake: carrot with cream cheese frosting!

Carte de Sejour:

We just attempted to renew our visas for the second time. And were denied. Ugh. This is so not cool. Our case was pleaded until they granted us a two month visa (at the price of a three-month visa) and a grace period to apply for a Carte de Sejour = a permit to stay in country for those of us not born American or Lebanese. So Nate does not require this handy piece of paperwork but the kids and I do.

As soon as we were told that we required the Carte, we had several people tell us how sorry they were for us - not only is it difficult to get but the required paperwork is a nightmare. Apparently the blend of West African organization and French bureaucracy comes together in a perfect storm called Carte de Sejour. We require 11 documents, some from Canada, some from Togo. Some are easy to get and some not so much. Since we only have a short grace period to get it done, I've been working like mad with two other missionaries (both from France who also require it) to prepare all the necessary paperwork. Oh, and it's expensive. And it only lasts one year.

Last week, I made a one hour trip to the city north of us to apply for a piece of paper that says that I live in Togo and don't earn any money, therefore I had to pay a tax on the tax that I don't pay. Make sense? My friend, Faith Drake, made the trip with me as both interpreter and shoulder-to-cry-on. Thankfully, the shoulder part wasn't required as the men at the OTR office were super helpful and willing to walk me through the process.

Since you can't have an actual address in Mango (since there are no
street names and numbers) you get to draw a map of where you live rather than fill out the
address on the forms.
Here's mine.

We have two more documents to get by next Sunday when the six of us will make the quick jaunt (10 hour drive) to Lome to meet a Togolese man who will help us with the actual process. We all must be there in person to have our fingerprints and photos taken and likely this will be the most difficult and frustrating part of the process. PLEASE PRAY!! We obviously want to stay in Togo and don't want to be deported or stay here illegally so pray that we find favour with the different authorities. It will not be pleasant but we're so hoping you'll pray so that we can get it all done and know that we can legally be here for the next 12 months -- and then we get to do it again!

Pray for us as we head to Lome on the weekend of June 18 and then meet with the officials on the 19th and 20th. I'll keep you posted....

We NEVER Have Any Fun:

And before you think that everything is crazy and hard and scary, let me just say that we never have any fun at all out here....