Please God, not Africa!

  Can you even believe it?  We are officially at 98% of our support needs to get to Togo!  We just have the tongue of the snake to colour it and we're done.  I can't even believe it - in this year of uncertainty and craziness, God has been so faithful to us.  More proof that He is a faithful and loving Father.  What He desires to accomplish in us, He will fulfill. 

Just wanted to let you know the update on the school situation.  Jack and I had a meeting with the school administration on Thursday.  It was quite the education for both of us.  The ladies we met with were so kind and tried to be very accommodating for our family.  Such an answer to prayer!! During the meeting, we found out that Jack would be placed in the Welcome Program at the high-school.  The government of Quebec has put a lot of resources into creating a program where non-French speaking kids can work at their French as well as their high-school credits.  Our guide took us to the classroom and introduced Jack to his classmates and teacher.  There are only about 15 kids in the class and most of them come from non-French and non-English speaking countries.  They are immersed in French from day one, but school itself is at a slower pace. There was a girl from Iran (who only spoke Persian) starting in the Welcome Program that day.  I can't ...

  We made it!  It is so hard to believe that we are actually here and doing this!! There were so many times over the past few months that I really wasn't sure that we'd even be able to come to Quebec to study French - but here we are.  With all the lockdowns, restrictions and curfews happening in Ontario and Quebec, it seemed that coming here was just not going to happen.  But God has been so faithful - both in providing the funds and in allowing us to move here in person to take classes - it's truly a miracle.   We moved to Sherbrooke last weekend, so we have just completed our first week of classes.  Day one was pretty easy - orientation.  But for me, the second day was tough.  Six hours of French class for my teensy weensy brain.  SIX. HOURS. OF. FRENCH.   My brain was about to explode by the time I got home. Speaking of home, you're maybe wondering where we live?  We live in a small two-bedroom apartment right on the s...

 It's been a long time since I have posted ( how many times have I written that line? ).  But there has been so little to say lately. Until now! When we decided to return to Mango, one of the "Must Do" things on our list was language school.  We've lived in Togo for more than three years and without a doubt, our greatest frustration has been our lack of language.  So we decided that this time, before we left, we should get some language training. About three weeks ago, we applied to an immersion French language school in Quebec.  And about two weeks ago, we were accepted!  This is so exciting and so, so scary.  Our training starts in January - so we have less than four months to prepare to leave for Sherbrooke, Quebec.  We have only signed up for one term, which means we'll be done by May 1st.  If all goes well in terms of support raising, our hope is that we'll get back home by May 1 and leaving for Mango in June.  That would be amazing...

 Is it really August? Could we have a re-do of July?  Can we re-install it and restart?  I feel like I just didn't squeeze enough out of it. But here we are.  The seventh of August and I feel like summer is slipping away.  Like most summers, the routine of the September to June schedule has slipped away and we have had a more difficult time accomplishing the list of requirements our mission agency has assigned.  I am hoping that the return to school (whatever that looks like) and regular routines will help us regain focus and move forward.  It's not that we haven't done a thing, but before summer we committed to working at our list on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  By the time the middle of July hit, we didn't even know which night was Tuesday or Saturday.  Oh the deep joys of summer evenings where the sun doesn't set until late and you can squeeze just a little more time in the back yard until you realize it's almost 11 pm and you NEED to go ...

Last Sunday, June 7, 2020, we had a family wedding!  Our son, Ethan, was married to the beautiful Christina.  It was an amazing day.  Due to COVID, it was held in our very own back yard with a very small group of guests. Our five just before the ceremony Waiting for his bride... Teddy giving Ethan the ring  Big joy-filled smiles Nolan signing as Best Man Hitched! This was such an amazing day for all of us.  We are absolutely so grateful to the Lord for bringing these two together and adding a new Weston to our family. 

Yup, it's true.  We are doing it. Actually let's be totally honest:  we're attempting to do it. Again. Round three, anyone? Here's the news in a nutshell: We returned to Togo in November of 2019 for a short term (2 week) trip with our church. It was a great trip.  We took Jack and Teddy with us (which is a whole other story because we hid it from them until a week before we left and they were SO surprised and excited). During that time, God laid upon our hearts (again) the great, great need for help in Mango. When we got home in December we decided to pursue returning to Mango.  January came and we met with the leadership of our missions agency, ABWE Canada.  By the first of February we had signed up to do something totally new: rather than go as "short term" we would attempt to become "mid-term".  What does that mean, you ask?  It means that we can stay longer in Mango and that we would be required to do some different training including l...