Seeing that we started this blog near the end of our furlough, I wanted to take a few blog posts to mention some of the highlights from our time back in the States.
Shortly after returning to the States we were at one of our amazing supporting churches in Keystone Heights, FL for a Sunday morning service. This is a church that I first visited when working at the Trinity Youth Camp almost thirteen years ago. The people have always been so sweet to us, and the pastor and his wife are some of the most encouraging people God ever put on the earth.
The children of the church had just finished their VBS the week before we arrived, and they were singing that morning in the service. Those cute little kids had adopted us as their missionary of the week for VBS and wanted to present us a check of $500 for the ministry in Togo! When the pastor handed me that very generous check from the kids, he also gave me a church love offering. It was another $500!
The people listened attentively as I spoke about the many ways that the Lord is working in Togo, specifically our first village church plant where many have turned from practicing voodoo to the One and True God. They were so easy to preach to as I explained to them about the necessity of taking the gospel to those that have never heard before.
When I finished, we went to the lobby and waited to greet the members as they left. Before ending the service, the pastor encouraged his people to contribute personally that morning to the ministry in Togo and contribute they did. So many kind people would come by with $20 handshakes that it makes you feel embarrassed to be on the receiving end of so much generosity. One couple gave me a check that I quietly put into my pocket and thanked them for their kindness. When I looked at the check later I was amazed; it was for $1000! Wow!
When we were packing up our stuff to leave, a man in the church said that he wanted to go to his house to get me something before I leave. I told him no problem, we had lunch plans with the pastor, but we had enough time to wait around for him to go home and come back. Well, we were out in the parking lot, with the kids buckled up in our van and the AC on when he returned with his wife.
It was at this point that he handed me a wad of cash that looked like his life’s savings. I was more than hesitant to take such a large sum of cash, knowing that sometimes people can decide to do something in the spur of the moment that they might question later. He told me to take it and assured me that he believed whole-heartedly that this is what the Lord wanted him to do. That one generous couple gave $8,400 for the ministry in Togo! Wow! How amazing is our great God?
