~ Murphy Crowson ~ Crowson's Blog

Two weeks ago today (Friday, September 15th) I had a visitor come at 6am. It was Daniel, a leader in the Batoe church, who had come to tell me that Antoinette was in the hospital here in Tabligbo. Antoinette is the wife of Komlavi, the other leader in the Batoe church and a very faithful and active believer.

Before I could get ready and leave to go see her he returned and said that she had passed away. What a shock! The previous night Antoinette's nephew had been sick, to the point of death. They woke her up around 2am to pray for the child. As she was praying she lost consciousness and began to collapse when her husband caught her as she fell. They took her to a village clinic who then referred her to a bigger hospital. An hour after they arrived in Tabligbo she gave up her spirit. They don't have medical equipment here which would enable them to analyze the exact cause of death, but all the doctors felt like she had a massive heart attack. She also had a history of high blood pressure which adds to this theory.

We put her body in our vehicle and then Christine and I, along with her sister-in-law and another Christian, took her to the morgue about a hour away. After than, we drove another three hours to try and tell her family what had happened. On the way it rained so hard that we had to leave the truck on the side of the road (the 4 wheel drive is broken) and then walk another three miles in the rain to get to the village. When we arrived we learned that the little boy had died in the night and they had just finished burrying him. Then the news came of Antoinette's death and the cries elevated to an incredibly intense level!

Here, because their villages and huts are so close together, they live in very close community. The whole village found out at the same time. Added to this was the boy's death and the rumors as to the spiritual reason for two deaths in one day began to fly.

We heard a lot of heartbreaking comments like, "Dad, where's mom?" "But, didn't she go to church?" "How could this happen to a Christian?"

Christine and I just cried. Our hearts were broken by their grief and despair. We left after a short time and then returned on Sunday for worship. That was a hard lesson to teach! God blessed me though and I was able to communicate the hope that we have in Christ and our certain victory over death!

Join us as we pray that God would comfort their hearts and deepen their faith in His Son and assure them of Antoinette's victory, and there victory, over death. In the sum of all things, this was the crucial and most defining point of our ministry. Jesus came that we might have life and victory. He sent us here, to this remote people group, that they too, might have life and victory over the sting of death.

May the Lord's name be praised and glorified in Antoinette's death as much as it was in her life. Goodbye our dear sister, we look forward to when we can meet again.....

2006 Watchi Team

~ Christine Crowson ~

This past week has been a week of grieving loss and celebrating life. As you all know, our precious sister Antoinette from Batoe passed away more than a week ago. We mourn her loss but we celebrate that her struggle on this earth is over. I have so many precious memeories of Antoinette. She was a servant to everyone in Batoe and neighboring villages too. She was a faithful presence among the Church in Batoe and many people looked to her as an example. If anyone needed prayers, they always went to Antoinette first. I have prayed with Antoinette over many sick people. Anytime we went to Batoe she was the one who came to greet us at our car. I will miss her sweet face and smile.

Please pray for Batoe. Her death was such a shock to many people. Pray for the women of Batoe. Antoinette was their leader and rallied them to serve others and to evangelize. Pray that God will raise up another woman or women who will lead the ladies of the church in Batoe. Pray that Satan will not be able to use this time to discourage the Christians but rather God will be glorified through Antoinette's death. Pray for her husband, Komlavi and her six children. Pray also for her mother and sisters and brothers who will miss her dearly. We rejoice that Antoinette is in heaven and I look forward to seeing her again some day. This past Saturday we went to Batoe for the funeral. There were hundreds of people there. I was so glad to see that four women and three men from the church in Tabligbo were at the funeral. Most of them had come the day before and spent the night so that they could share God's word with the people of Batoe and encourage the Christians. Praise God for these Tabligbo Christians and the sacrafice of time and money they made to bless Batoe.

This past Tuesday was Matthew's sixth birthday (September 19th). We had such a fun day celebrating his life. We had a birthday breakfast before school and then Murphy, Larry and Ronnie and I took cupcakes to school so that he could celebrate there with his teachers and friends. After school we had a space ship party. Murphy organized lots of fun games and then we had pizza and then cake and presents. It was such a fun day! Aunt Ronnie had brought lots of fun party supplies and many fun treats to share will all the boys.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Larry and Rhonda Fisk. They were such an encouragment to us and so helpful during our difficult time with Batoe. The boys loved having Uncle Larry and Aunt ROnnie here! They returned to Alaska on Friday and we miss them already.

Thanks so much for you prayers for our team and family and ministry here among the Watchi. God bless you!

~ Emily Dunnagan ~

We have experienced life in West Africa full force this week, and all the sadness and joy that comes with that. We had a wonderful school week and the boys worked very hard to get ready for our first open house. The boys have done art projects, learned a song, and learned Phillipians 2:1-11 for our Greece night. We have really enjoyed having Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Larry here.

Rhonda came to school with the boys Friday and it was quite a day. The morning stayed on routine and everyone got their work done. Then Fofo Yao came and brought veyi and koliko for us and Marty came bringing veyi for his boys and Fan Choco for everybody (that is chocolate ice cream in a pouch).

As the boys finished up an art project and were staring to practice their memory verses one last time the sky turned black and the wind picked up. And for two hours it poured down rain. Since we were inside our house we just stayed there since you can't hear in school when it is raining. Then one of the boys went outside and noticed how the water accumulates in the side yard next to the house. And before we knew what was going on there were five boys splashing through this giant mud puddle.

Despite these joys Friday was also a day of great sadness. The Crowsons good friend ,and a woman I know from Batoe died suddenly of a heart attack Friday morning. And a little boy from the same village who we had prayed over the week before also died of malaria. A member of Amy and Ronnie's extended familyalso had a heartattack on Thursday. We have postponed Greek night until Monday and spent Friday night mourning with the Crowsons. Then Saturday we spent in relaxation mode in Lome visiting the beach and eating lunch out.

~ Marty Koonce ~

Our time here continues to role by quickly as we live and work among the Watchi. The leadership training we are doing in Atitogon, Tabligbo, Topeglo, and Ahepe is bearing fruit. In fact, even Tabligbo has recently been faithful in evangelizing as each Sunday after church evangelism groups have gone out and studied with those who have yet to believe. Please pray for them to persevere and to be confident as the share the wonders of knowing God through Christ.

Afakomi Kope has finally vollunteered themselves to study and pray on Friday nights. Pray for them to be faithful in this and for God to bless this step towards deeper faith. I met with the organizational committee this week as they planned the next couple of conferences. It went very well and they are becoming very capable in their tasks of planning and leading. It was encouraging to sit with them and see them discuss and resolve various issues as well as share wisdom and encouragement.

Vogan continues to fight against division. Pray that God will bless them with peace and that those whose hearts are set on division will leave. It has gotten better, but it's not over yet. Pray also for Hammer's family to be encouraged in this.

We heard recently that in Nyinoume there has been some sin uncovered as a member had stolen a large sum of money from the church's treasury. Please pray for them to proceed with wisdom and for them to recover from this spiritual wounding. Pray for Noah who took the money, that he confess his sin and accept the consequences of his actions.

Continue to pray for Ahepe that their evangelism will convict others of their need to repent. Pray for Adankonou Kope as they recently shaken up by a lightning strike in a member's field (this has deep ramifications in the voodoo culture that they've repented from). They have expressed great faith in the ways they have handled it. Please pray for Afakomi Kope, Amouzouglita Kope, Topeglo, Atitogon, and Togbonou Kope that these churches will grow. Pray for us as it has been sometimes lonely with such a small team of us left here.

~ Louise Koonce ~

Another routine week at the Koonce house. The boys are continuing to enjoy school. Monday night was a special treat for us all, as the teachers hosted "Greek Night" at their house. First, we were given open house tours of the school and all of the boys work. They had posted tests, artwork and writing assignments in the classrooms for us to see. Since the students have been studying Greece for the past few weeks, they entertained us with singing in Greek and and impressed us with their memory verses. Each of the boys recited Phillipians 2:1-11. They all did a great job, but I have to admit, we were all a little stunned by Trevor's ability to memorize such a lengthy passage. He said it with very little prompting. The teachers impressed us with their skills having prepared a Greek feast for us all. We are counting the days until the Bunner family's return visit. Please pray for their safety in travel and the blessings that they will be to the Togolese people, not to mention the boost it will be for us to see them here again.

~ Amy Shafer ~

The week has been busy and somewhat stressful. It's been great to have Aunt Ronnie and Uncle Larry here and to spend a few evenings with them. Aunt Ronnie even came to school for a whole day! We had a lot of fun introducing her to our school routine, getting her caught up in the story of our current book, letting her share our veyi lunch and playing in the rain at the end of the day. The end of the week was stressful with my uncle's heart attack and subsequent surgery and Dogeno's death, but God is faithful and blessed us with good communication with the States and the support of people here.

One of our funniest stories this week happened when we were singing at the beginning of school. We taught the boys a song in Greek and one day, just as we finished the song, Trevor piped up, "Now let's sing it in cursive!" Emily and I started laughing and asked him to demonstrate singing in cursive. He couldn't figure out how to do it and said maybe we could sing in English instead. We found out later that he intended to ask to sing in French but got confused. :)

Today we went to church with the Koonce family. Before the service began it was just me and Ems and Louise and the boys in the little church hut. Marty had gone into the village to see if anyone was coming to church. Trevor decided that he wanted to play church so he stood up front next to a small cloth covered table and motioned for us to be quiet. We all sat down on the benches laughing and ready to play his game. He had Taylor come up to lead the opening prayer. In that moment it went from playing church to being a really special time because Taylor took the request seriously. He quietly walked to the front and bowed his head and started to pray in Eve. It was a simple prayer and I could understand almost all of the words, "God sir, thank you so much for Amy. Thank you so much for Emily. Thank you so much for Mom and Dad. Amen." The hut was totally silent as he went back to his seat and Trevor told Tucker to come up and give us the lesson.

Tucker went up with his Eve Bible and his English Bible. He told us (in Eve) that he was going to start by reading from John chapter 5. He proceeded to read the first story in the chapter in Eve. While he was reading a girl came in for church and then Marty came in and sat down. We were all listening to Tucker read. When he finished the story he spoke for a few moments in Eve to recap the story (I think) as he paced like a good preacher at the front of the hut. :) Then he said that Marty would explain the story and he sat down. Thus ended our impromptu church service.

The time that it took for Trevor to begin our little service, Taylor to say a prayer and Tucker to read the story was probably less than ten minutes but it was the best part of the morning. I loved getting to sit there and silently encourage those boys to share their love for God. They "play church" because they understand what church really is. It's not a set formula of scripture and preaching and communion and singing that happens every Sunday. It's about sharing what is on your heart and expressing your love to God. They get to see those things modeled every Sunday. It's such a blessing.