A prayer eNewsletter from the Watchi Team in Southern Togo, West Africa.

We were really excited about out trip to Ghana. Our purpose of our trip was to take Rae to the airport. We made it through the border crossing smoothly. God really provided us with great helpers and great attitudes from the Togolese and Ghanaians. Rae was so excited when we dropped her off at the airport. We look forward to seeing her with her new husband, Jeremy, in January. Please pray for them and their families in this upcoming marriage. We were blessed to stay in Ghana for 3 days while waiting for the Rogers to come. We caught up on all of our dates that we missed. We ate at a great Japanese and Irish restaurant. We also had some of the best ice cream ever! We had such a great time. After a two hour delay in Amsterdam, the Rogers finally left and arrived in Accra safely. They were exhausted but very happy to see us. We had a safe trip back to Togo. We had a wonderful Christmas. My family sent presents with Kara to give to us. We were very happy to receive the gifts from the Bontragers and Rogers. We enjoyed a great lunch with the team where we fellowshipped and exchanged Christmas presents. Kyleen received some placemats and fabric from Maurine. Josh received an African dress shirt that is really cool! Sunday, we fellowshipped with the Kpotonu Christians in their new building. Mom, Dad, and Kara were really encouraged by their praise and worship to God. We leave Tuesday to go back to Ghana. We will be going to a game park in Mole. The Rogers and Kyleen are very excited about seeing elephants. Josh is excited as well, even though he went to a game park last year in Burkina Faso. We pray that you are being blessed with cold weather as we are enjoying the blessings we have here . Thank you so much for your prayers and support. God is truly blessing us!


Rae had a safe trip home. I'm sure that she's getting ready for her wedding next weekend. We also heard that Little Rock got some snow for Christmas and we're sure that she's enjoying that too!

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope and pray that the Lord is blessing you and your families this week as we exchange gifts and remember the greatest gift of all.

The work week went well. I spent a full day in each of the areas that I'm working with in Train and Multiply trying to get them ready for our upcoming absence due to furlough. The churches and leaders are maturing and growing in faith and in number.

Our family was hit hard this week with sickness. Matthew had an up and down fever most of the week due to Malaria. He's better now. Christine is having a lot of pressure in her head which makes her feel "like her head is swimming." There aren't any other symptoms and so we're just praying that it's some kind of viral infection that will go away soon. Pray that the Lord will heal her and give her relief.

We had a fun Christmas and several fun Christmas parties with the team. Blessings to all of you this Holiday Season!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. God blessed us with a great week. The boys really enjoyed their break from school. Tucker, Taylor, Tanner and Josiah Holland got to compete in a junior golf tournament. Josiah got second in his division with Taylor getting third and Tucker won his division. They had a lot of fun. They are playing on their new jungle gym daily and with it including the basketball goal, climbing rope, climbing wall, swings, monkey bars, etc... it should be enough accessories to keep them occupied for months to come. We got to have almost everyone over for a brunch on Thursday, but then that night we had some parts stolen off of our vehicle and a window broken which took Marty all of Christmas Eve to get taken care of in Lome. We had a fun Christmas with the team and we finished up a good week with church this morning in Vogan. We ask for you to pray for the church in Tabligbo. It seems that they are still faced with some of the problems of their past with pressure on the eldership to focus more on the physical than the spiritual. They have experienced decreases in attendance and giving and their is apathy associated with studies, prayer times, and fasting. Vogan, another of the older churches, is gearing up for a big year. The train and multiply training is finally kicking in and this morning they celebrated as a recent convert burned his idols. It was freeing for him to see his past life go up in smoke. Do pray for them as some of the older leaders are complacent. The Atitogon cluster needs prayers for the Togbonou and Amouzouglita churches to evangelize within their villages. Please also pray for our family to be healthy and to joyfully serve God here. Thank you and may God bless you for the love you show us.

We hope you all are having a great Christmas. We are jealous of those of you in the States who are enjoying a white Christmas! Our Christmas day was more like the fourth of July, as grilling hamburgers and hot dogs seemed about the only weather-appropriate thing to do. Kyleen Bontrager's family, the Rogers, served our Santa Clause and their airplane was his sleigh, as they brought a sack full of gifts from family and friends in America. This enabled us to have a much better than deserved Christmas.

This afternoon (Sunday), we are hosting some of our local friends for a Christmas meal. Maureen is preparing an African feast for us all.

After being stalled for several weeks, our Train and Multiply translation program has taken off again. Anthony was able to complete three books this week and several more are well on their way to completion. Please pray for the elders of the Tabligbo church, as they struggle to set a truly spiritual tone for the church. Some members still have their minds on earthly things and the elders have not yet learned that they do not need to cater to those members' demands.