Welcome Home "Oh to Go to Togo" Team

You are invited to attend the "Oh to Go to Togo" Team Presentation at Meridian First Baptist Church (in Idaho) 

on Sunday, June 3, 2012 

to hear the report of the trip.  

Hope to see you there!

In the meantime please enjoy these great pictures that Kelly took!

photo source: Kelly Munger

photo source: Kelly Munger

photo source: Kelly Munger

photo source: Kelly Munger

photo source: Kelly Munger

Job not quite done

This post should have gone out yesterday, but this morning when I got up to check the flight status I checked http://365.themolsees.com/ one more time to see if there were any new pictures (thanks again Ethan & Melissa for sharing your these with us).


Yesterday, most of the families were able to meet for a meal at Charlie & Linda's home.  It was fun to see everyone there!  Our time together was kind of a lull before the storm of excitement at the airport when our team arrives.  


Towards the end of our time together we prayed and thanked God that He was able to use us, His humble servants, staying at home, keeping it going so the guys could help the missionaries in Togo stand in the gap.  After we prayed we started to share some stories that we had heard that hadn't been posted here, or just a part of it was posted.  


Then a phone call came.  The guys were calling from the plane!  They passed the phone around in Togo and we passed the phone around here in Idaho.  It was that lavished part of God's love!  You know that part that you know He loves you, then He gives you more (like the fun fellowship time at Charlie & Linda's), then if that wasn't just enough love to show us....He let us speak to the guys.  Yes, I must shout it out....GOD LOVES US!


But then, that's what John 3:16 says, "For God so loved....."  It's all about His character!


Well, enough of that, for now!  Here's the pictures and the stories that go with them.  I want to caution you here that the first one you might want to go by quickly (but then again, it might be just me, but I'm squeamish around a little giving of blood)


From Ethan:  "Today (Sunday) was our last day in Togo and we fit a lot into the day. Pastor Dave and I did a 4 mile walk on the road that winds up the hill above the southern hospital. We left a bit before 5:30 so we enjoyed seeing the sun rise above the clouds and small mountains and the view from the hillside looking down on the valley was amazing. Following breakfast we attended church at one of the churches near the hospital."

After church we were informed of a need for blood at the hospital’s blood bank so a number of us lined up to give blood before getting on the road. 

The next stop was lunch at a French restaurant followed by a quick stop at the gift shop at the school for the blind that ABWE operates. From there it was on to Lome to catch our 10pm flight to Paris.

Yesterday (Saturday) we left the guest house in Mango and took the 10 hour trip to the southern hospital in Togo that ABWE operates.

Once we arrived we got a tour of the grounds, the hospital, and the CRC (Christian Resource Center) which prints and distributes Bible study and Sunday school materials and tools in French and some of the tribal languages.

Greetings from the Southern Part of Togo

Photo from Melissa Frieson's website

http://www.melissafriesen.abwe.org/about-togo

They made it to the other hospital.  The trip was safe!  They had dinner and a tour of the hospital in the dark.  Over half of the men on the team gave blood today.  

photo from ABWE website

Church was great today!  They are going to lunch and then on to Lome!

Photo from World Map Togo Maritime Lome panoramio.com

While the guys travel take a look at these photos!

Thanks to Ethan for the pictures!

Finishing the Task set before them

Today was our last day working on the hospital site and we worked hard to bring our projects to a good stopping point. 


The crew wiring the DeKryger home now has power to the home and most of the wiring complete. This is quite the accomplishment since at the beginning of our trip the house was not wired and the trench and power hadn’t even been brought to the house. 


Another group of guys worked on putting in suspended ceilings and saw great progress. 


There were also cabinets installed in one side of the duplex for missionary housing and screened grates for airflow were assembled, painted, and installed on the DeKryer home.  


Let’s see… over the past two weeks we’ve also seen great organization come to the shop, painting projects,  many small engines and large vehicles were repaired or maintained, and the list goes on.  


We are thankful that God has used this group of guys to accomplish so much while being forever changed by what we’ve seen and experienced on this trip.  


- Ethan from http://365.themolsees.com/

All in a Day's Work plus watcha goin' to do for the next few days?

we've been going all day as we played soccer for an hour after a
 hard days work with the workers, then we showered and ate
 dinner with about 10 guests- mostly missionaries and their friends
(some potential hospital workers from Togo)

• Today, i handed them (apple caramel suckers) to every soccer
  player after the game- kinda like our kids teams do sometimes.
  we need those kind of prayers
  (prayers for health and strength to finish the task).
  then, tonight for mail call, everyone got something-
  our team got  mail
  (And once again, someone expressed a thanks for all the notes- 
  it was Earl.)
  and the guests received a sucker- they loved them,
  especially Esther

More random thoughts from Thursday:  we also got a visit from Todd DeKryger who checked out his new home and talked to Ted about the plans and making any adjustments and details for the project. His little boy, Luke joined us and I had him do a couple of little jobs.  i really like him... he's solid. he'll probably share devotions in the morning as Ted has been pretty sick.


ITINERARY:
Friday:  Today they are finishing off some major jobs...it's going to be tight (to get them done).  They had team devotions with Todd this morning.  He was a blessing, encouragement and challenge.
Saturday:  start travel at 6ish in the morning and drive to the Southern Hospital.  They will stay in the guest house there.  They will have dinner and Sunday breakfast there. 
Sunday:  After church they'll go out to lunch then off to see the Blind school and some quick shopping in Lome, Togo.  then off to the airport.  They are scheduled to leave from Lome to Paris at 10 pm (Lome time).  
Monday:  11am (Paris time) they are scheduled to fly to Salt Lake.  From there to Boise.  The scheduled time of arrival at Boise airport is  4:12 pm (MST)

from Ethan and Melissa's 365 site

Tonight as we left the work site and headed back to the guesthouse the sky was dark and the wind was whipping the dust and plastic bags around town. We had no electricity when we arrived at the guesthouse since the local power is turned off any time a storm is possible to keep the generators from being damaged by an electrical storm. As we finished up dinner power came back on despite only a few drops of rain. The storm did cool down the air and for that I’m thankful. -Ethan

When it's all said and done, don't be in the dust as to what the team is doing in Mango.  You know that team.  The ones that are there or will be there 24-7 364 +.  The ones that come back home every so often and the rest of us marvel at how much they've changed or their kids have changed.  The same ones that we have been praying for every day sometimes many times a day for 2+ weeks.  Just because the "Oh to Go to Togo" team will be coming home soon, does not mean that we stop praying.  I hope that we will continue to bring the people of Mango and the ones that are standing in the gap boldly before the throne of God's magnificent grace.  Oh, that we would be faithful where ever God has us living to be salt and light! 

Stay informed.  

Pray intelligently.  

When we pray specifically we can see what God is doing 

and ourselves be reminded of His faithfulness.  

Not that God is any more faithful because we pray....

we just can see His character more because we are looking for it.

Check out the Molsee's photo site at http://365.themolsees.com/

Good News from the Molsees

100 % of their monthly support is now committed! This truly is a tribute to the faithfulness of God and His people!  While they will still be presenting the needs in Togo to churches and individuals, they will now focus on finding monthly supporters for the hospital and finding funding for the construction of their house in Togo.  They have a number of classes to attend and things to wrap up before their departure for language school in December.

Their third son Aden Charles Molsee was born shortly after 8pm on Monday evening. Melissa and baby are both doing well.
Aden weighed in at 9pounds and was 19.5 inches long.

Ethan is enjoying the opportunity to better get to know the team there in Mango northern Togo and to work on the construction of the hospital. Ethan will be returning to the Seattle next Monday and  would appreciate your prayers as their family, baby and all will fly east next Tuesday for three weeks of classes and training.

Thank you for your interest in the work
set before them in West Africa.

PS. If you’d like to see photos of their family and adventures visit their photo page at 365.themolsees.com

--
Ethan & Melissa Molsee MD
ABWE Prefield Togo, West Africa
themolsees.com

Welcome Aden Charles Molsee!

More Wordless Stories

Mango Musings, May 20, 2012

Ethan sent this from the Neufelds (I hope you don't mind that I put the whole letter here. I think you'd all love to read it, if you don't already have it.)  I have a few more pictures from Ethan to post, but I'll have to wait until later.  Meanwhile, please enjoy this letter.

My apologies for missing our Musings last Sunday. We had a busy week, with an unplanned trip to Lome on Thursday and Friday to pick up a team of men coming from Idaho, and then spent Sunday visiting a church being planted in the Tamberma region. I'll include some pictures.

The road to Nadoba was awful, but the trip was great. The Tamberma are perhaps the most idolatrous people in Togo, with a host of dried mud mounds outside each house. Each one represents a family member, with the biggest mound representing the father or head of the house, on down to small ones for children and newborn infants. The people are all steeped in animism from the time they can recollect anything, and the gospel has been a hard sell. Often we see chicken feathers stuck to these images with dried blood. Every time someone gets sick or is facing a problem, it calls for another sacrifice (usually a chicken). The people are very poor, with much of their wealth used to appease the spirit world they fear is attacking them. But little by little the light is coming in and driving out the darkness. We visited the house of an elderly lady, who allowed her fetish images to melt away in the rain, as she has placed her faith in Jesus Christ. A number of young men and several women have turned from their idols to worship the true and living God. They experience persecution, but have remained true to their declaration of faith in our Lord.                                                                                  

We must pray for Pastor Kpatcha and his wife, who have come as Togolese missionaries from Kara to the village of Nadoba. Their work has certainly been very difficult, but God is giving them a harvest, and I'm amazed at the joy I see in that family.

Esther has stayed busy with her Bible studies, but has now turned them almost all over to Anna Chubb and Faith Drake. Cindy McFarland has been a great help as well, and we are so grateful to have a good team in place to pick up where we have left off, and move the work along, (we are certain), to a higher plane than we could ever reach. It is a blessing to work in concert with our fellow missionaries. Each one has joyfully taken on responsibilities we previously held, and we know we can leave in three weeks with full confidence that this team is  going to do a magnificent job for the Lord here in Northern Togo. I don't know who said it, but it's true. "The future is as bright as the promises of God!" You know, there are some missionaries who are "Lone Rangers," but we are very thankful to work with a mission that
has always emphasized teamwork.

Today we made our final visit to the church in Dapaong, with Pastor Laré, and were so very encouraged to find that he now has three deacons, along with their wives. He has struggled for years trying to find leadership to help him in his ministry, and God has started to answer his prayers. It was so different to be in a church with families. Pastor Randy Cook, from Meridian First Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, brought a message on John 3:16, and people listened carefully, even though it had to be translated from English into French, and then into the Moba language that is spoken in Dapaong. 

Later they gave Esther and me a dress and shirt as a goodbye gift. As poor as they are, it struck me that they want to give. It's like in
the message that Randy Cook preached; when you love someone you want to give. "For God so loved the world that He gave. . ." It was fun to reminisce on the church building that we put up in eight days. Pastor Laré said it was nine days, but he was counting a Sunday, on which we did no work. So we put it up in eight days! I remember a neighbor coming by to say that he had gone to Lome the week before, and when he came back and found a church building on his street, he thought he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. Putting up a building in eight days just wasn't something that happened in Togo before we did it. That was largely due to John Teusink, who came up from Tsiko, and it once again shows the value of teamwork.

Speaking of teamwork, the fourteen men from Idaho have been a huge blessing. They have installed ceilings, electrical cables, and are working on kitchen cabinets. I've seen them using picks to chip away at the super hard laterite rock, so that we could run electrical conduit from one building to another. Not an easy task in the heat of Mango. They have moved flagstone, and building blocks. And they have even found time to work on our own kitchen cabinets that have doors falling off. It's great to have men who know how to use tools! And we have them for another week!

And just for your information, we now have city water on the property. It's not yet hooked up so we can use it, but it's there! And that should make our life a lot easier from this point on. Please pray about our well. We will need to pull the pump to see why it's not working, and there is fear of a cave in, which might make it
impossible to do that. We've asked you to pray about the well in the past, and would you please remember to do that once again.

Yours in His service,

Tim & Esther Neufeld

Now a word from Pastor Randy...

"We had a great day yesterday in Dapaong.  It took nearly two hours to get there - very bad road and one badly blown tire.  It was so much like a church service in the interior of Brazil - people all very happy, good loud singing, several special numbers, a fantastic little choir - all with a strong African flavor.  The worship time was led by a woman 9-months pregnant and she kept holding her stomach but didn't let up once on the beat.  They had two big bongo drums and lots of rattles to fill out the sound.  It was great.

The nursery was a mat spread on the floor with a couple sleeping children.  Others were strapped to their mothers' backs.  The men sat on one side and the women on the other.  I preached from John 3:16 and Tim Neufeld translated into French.  Then Pastor Laure translated to Moba, his tribal language.

At first I thought I'd use Psalm 23 but after seeing how they don't take care of their sheep and goats at all - they just run wild in the streets - I decided against it since it would take too much time to explain what a good shepherd and sheep are supposed to look like.  I finally decided to use John 3:16 - phrase by phrase."  -Pastor Randy

Hippo watching on Sunday

Did I peak your interest?  I got to talk with Dave yesterday (Sunday)  Here's a little peak into our conversation (with the help of Ethan's pictures) minus the mushy "i love you" stuff....


Saturday, 5/19/12 email from Dave

They're serving dinner again and it seems the only time to write to you.  Basically, today was fix our mistakes (me and Daniel) day and now we have a clean and effecient ceiling in 2 rooms.  Also it rained and poured last night and then thundered starting at 3am so we are all pretty tired.  we played about 10 minutes of soccer across the street and it was awesome to quickly see about 30 kids just show up in a few minutes... then we gave the ball to them as a group- they designated a keeper of the ball and off they went and we came in for dinner

 

ok- i totally, totally miss you and can't wait to see you.  i know today is saturday, now and you can try to call whenever you want now.  We are done working.

 

Tomorrow we'll be gone until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon.  then there's an evening service here again- i think at 7pm with the missionaries. i better try to eat something.

I called and talked to Dave on Saturday.  It was short as we couldn't hear each other very well. He had said that the power went out with the storm and that's why everyone got up...it was really hot (the air conditioner stopped when the power went out)

 I had been emailing Cindy about if she had talked with Preston.  She hadn't so I arranged to set up a call for her between services yesterday.  Katie said she had spoken with Jerald also!  It's hard to remember what all the stories are I'm just taking it all in and it swirls in my mind.  I hope the following pictures will help tell some of the story.

Sunday, 5/20/12 email from Dave

i'm glad you called... it was nice to hear your voice.  thanks for calling for Cindy, too.  you're a good wife

 

also- i miss you and am glad we are past half way.  Today was incredible!  The morning service was awesome.  

We arrived a little late as we had a flat on the way.  

I sang in a quartet with Scott, Brent, & Trustin- we sounded good- i think.

 

i also was able to present the Bible to the pastor....

 

we also enjoyed a meal afterwards- kinda like chili beans- not spicy as they wanted to be nice to us- but they have these little chili things that are like peppers but more round.  i had them during break with this dish that basically seemed like all the ingredients of tamales, but not rolled up and the meat was a whole small talapia.

 

i love you and hopefully we can talk later, or tomorrow.

 

love,

 

me

Sunday, 5/20/12 im from Dave

we just returned from Hippo watching, but it was across the lake, so they were pretty far away. now we have the church service in 30 minutes


i wish you could have been at the service today- it as cool and as i think back, it reminded me of Mexico with you




Ok, so I didn't leave out all the mushy stuff.  What I wanted to share in this post is what Christy shared with me last night at church.  I asked her how I could pray for her this week.  She reminded me again, that it's not about her right now (nor me) it's about the guys doing the job they've been tasked to do .... to run the part of the race in Togo that God has set before them to run.  


I was thinking about that yesterday after the email and my conversation with Dave about how they keep working on making the house great for the missionaries.  I thought about the fact that my husband is not a doctor, but he can dig a ditch and paint, etc.  So it is a priveledge for him to do the house stuff so the doctor can still do the doctor stuff...and love people because of the love of God.


In Ezekiel 22:30 it says, "So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." (this is when God is talking to Israel about their wickedness)


What impressed me about this verse is "stand in the gap".  Thanks for being part of the sending team to help those who are "standing in the gap" and proclaiming and showing the love of God to the nations.  Oh that I would stand in the gap here at home!

 

Commercial Break: Update on the Clancy's

Sparky, Myndii, Martha, Titus, & Ruth

The Clancy's are serving with Independent Faith Mission in Congo.  You should check out their latest Clancy Chronicle.

One story from the Chronicle: There are a few things we have had to contend with since arriving in Dibaya. One is the Driver Ants. These tiny little creatures are an organized militant force of thousands (possibly millions) that march in a column for miles looking for food. When they reach their target, they fan out (in precise military formation) and go into attack mode. They are extremely aggressive, persistent, and painful! For some reason, they have decided that our house is a viable target. 

When we see them coming, we quickly set up our lines of defense (they don’t like manioc flour so that detours them some, and they will not cross a line of diesel on the ground…however we found that they will dig tunnels under it!). The battles are not without cost, averaging $5-$10 worth of diesel. It is quite an amazing thing to watch! Last time they attacked, Sparky said, “We need the video camera…you can only get footage like this from National Geographic!” We were told that if we tried to kill them, they will send a message back to their “home base” and an army of greater proportions will come to their aid. We have been able to keep them out of the house, but it was definitely an ongoing battle. One day, Sparky had enough and hired some men to try and find the colony. They walked for hours, following the ants’ trails but found nothing. They decided to follow the trails back toward our house and found it! …in the “jungle” just 50 yards from our house! A few gallons of diesel and some matches took care of things, and they haven’t been back to our house since. Though, the battle still rages on other parts of the property, so we know there is at least one other colony close by. It’s only a matter of time until they find us again…

Prayer and Praise:

Praise:  they are beginning to make Dibaya-Lubwe home.

Prayer: they would be able to settle all the housing/insect issues to continue on with their other projects (see link above for more details)

Prayer: Spiritual growth in their church

Prayer: For wisdom for Sparky & Myndii as they raise their children to follow the Lord

Prayer: that Myndii would continue to rely on God as her comfort as two of her grandparents have died recently

Praise: Funds are in for the building of their first classroom!

Prayer: for the Bible Institute construction and all the details there

Prayer: they can find a good, clean, source of water that is close to their home on their property and that they would be able to follow the instructions in order to access it

Ethan & Melissa Molsee

Dave and I met Ethan at one of the first TLC events
that we went to when we got to MFBC.
We met Melissa soon after at either the BNN Youth Pastor's Retreat or the annual Pastor and Wife Retreat.
Either way we've enjoyed getting to know Ethan and Melissa and really excited to hear their story as they started to pursue the mission field and now are on their way to Mango, Togo. - Beth

From the ABWE website: "Ethan will be involved with Bible training and hospital administration. Melissa will use her skills as a physician to help meet the physical needs of the many Togolese who visit the new hospital and clinic in Mango. Together with their northern Togo team they are excited at the possibility of seeing the Gospel impact northern Togo."


You can stay up with the Molsees by checking out their website here.


You can also check out here to see more of their great photos after our team is back home.  For right now Ethan and Melissa are sharing their photos with us here.  Enjoy a few more snap shots of Mango, Togo.

A picture says a thousand words

Thanks, Melissa and Ethan 

for sharing these pictures with us from Togo!