2024 | Quarter 4
Consortium Story Social Media Posts
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Ahoefa, whom I have talked about often here, has a natural heart for evangelism. Before I came back to the States last December, Ahoefa and I encountered a woman named Victoire and through that encounter, Ahoefa began a group that now has 9 adults, most women, but also a few men and with a lot of children. The group meets every Sunday afternoon and they read a passage of scripture and they ask these questions based on the passage: What did you learn about God? What did you learn about man? Is there something to obey? Who will I share this story with this next week? Some of the adults have accepted Christ, while others have not, but are still faithful to come. A couple of weeks ago a couple of women with 9 children showed up unannounced to Ahoefa’s house and they wanted to have a prayer time. Those in the group that weren’t able to make it texted prayer requests so that the women could pray for those prayer requests too. Please pray for wisdom and strength has she continues to be faithful for what is front of her.
— Suzanne
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5 years ago I started working with Colette and every week I’d ask her what she wanted me to pray for and she would constantly say for my family to know Jesus. She spoke about how she knew she was supposed to be the light of Jesus to her family yet she had great pressure for her time when she would spend it at church. For years she was the only believer at her house. She felt the weight of lostness of her family. Then when she went to town for school God used a life threatening illness to miraculously heal her brother and out of that they saw God’s power and turned to Him.
— Stephanie
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Augustine is our neighbor and the mother of one of the Deaf children that we have been working with for several years. She has been attending one of our brick and mortar church plants with me for the past two years and professed Jesus as her Savior last March.
God recently began making it clearer to me that in order for us to see a Gospel Movement among the Deaf in Togo, there needed to be more intentional time spent in the Deaf Community. One of the best ways to do this was to attend a Deaf church every Sunday. As I was telling Augustine that I would be attending a Deaf church instead of the hearing church that we had been going to together, I assumed that she would either decide to keep going to that church on her own or find another hearing church in the area. Her response surprised me.
She said, "I want to go to the Deaf church with you so I can learn Sign Language and finally be able to communicate with my son." I held back tears as I told her that I thought that would be a great idea.
Augustine continues to grow in her relationship with the Lord and we have recently started working through discipleship curriculum together. She is already an advocate for Deaf and we believe that she will join us in helping see Deaf Togolese lives transformed by the gospel.
— Azlyn
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David lives in a family that has worshiped idols for generations. His dad is a witch doctor. By the Grace of God, David gave his life to Christ in the fall of 2023 as a result of faithful believers in Grace Church sharing the Gospel with him. He is a first generation believer and as exciting as that is, it will not be an easy Journey for David. David, prepared for baptism and shared his testimony before the church. At many of our church plants, after someone who is preparing to be baptized shares their testimony, the members of the church have the opportunity to ask them questions about what they believe or clarity on how they gave their life to Christ. Celestine, the pastors wife of Grace Church, asked David a question that has haunted me. "If your father (the witchdoctor) becomes sick and the family calls you and asks you to take him to another witchdoctor, what will you do?" First, this question was asked because this wouldn't be the first time this has happened. She has seen this happen before. Second, the response David gives will show if he is truly picking up his cross and following Jesus because to answer no will make him an outcast to his family. Being a communal based culture makes this question that much more difficult. David answered confidently, "I will not take him to the witchdoctor." You know what, I believe David when he made this statement. He understands that Jesus is worth more than what ever persecution may come his way. He also knows that he is now a part of a new family and Grace Church will be there with him through the hardest moments.
— Josh