ElusiveTangent – Jonathan & Bethany Edwards – Using Medicine and Technology to Grow Christ's Church

Catching Fish and Cutting Cookie

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Dec 122022

Grace to you, and peace from (still) warm Florida. We hope this newsletter find you all relatively well (we know that there are lots of sicknesses going around right now!) and absolutely grateful (because our joy is based on the truth of His mercy and not on our circumstances).

And where has the time gone! We are nearing a year since we committed to joining ITEC. First, we apologize for forgetting to send out an update for so long. It’s easy sometimes to forget in the mundane of the day-to-day that you all want to hear from us.

It has been encouraging to read back over journal entries from a year ago, remembering our confusion of what we should be doing and where. All the waiting and ups and downs brought us to what God had been preparing us for all along. We are thankful for His faithful provision and guidance and are joyful in seeing the fruition of the plans of “Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. (Eph)”

In our last update we said we had likely found a church home. But, after several months it became clear that was not where God wanted us. After more consideration and plenty of visiting we are now members at College Road Baptist in Ocala, We are thankful for a church home that is faithfully growing in teaching and living out God’s Word together – something that is rare in this area of Florida. We’re looking into starting a small home-group and hope, as God wills, that it can also be an outreach to our neighbors as well.

So what has been keeping us occupied these last months?

Christmas cookies anyone? You’d better hurry or there might not be any left with this kitchen crew.

Bethany is enjoying having days with some of the other mamas from ITEC and their children. Their most recent adventure involved all of the children making Christmas cookies (and messes) and creating God-focused memories and friends for the children and other mothers. She also enjoys fellowshiping at MOPS (Mothers of PreSchoolers) meetings and get-togethers, getting to know our neighbors and other friends better.

The kids have found their “ministry” in being spoiled by our older neighbors who have made them as grandchildren. Caleb is learning how to ride a “big boy” bike and Selah enjoys cruising with him on the balance bike. They both love to play outside barefoot in the grass (You can do that during the winter months in Florida!) and especially love playing in the dirt. The moles in our neighborhood kindly provide fresh dirt mounds for them to topple almost every day so there is never any lack of fun.

Jonathan enjoys working at ITEC, with their amazing crew, and knowing that it is more than just a job – it’s a calling and helps to fulfill the great commission with training (and technology work) aimed at making disciple-making disciples by equipping the saints with the tools they need to reach to every nation. He has ups and downs as with any work; the monotony of repetitive everyday tasks and failures of plans, projects, and relationships, and the constant fatigue can veil the beauty of the successes and the grander plans that are being worked out. If you want to find out more about what goes on specifically at ITEC every month, we highly recommend subscribing to that newsletter as we won’t often repeat those events in ours.

His first fish. That whopper of a fish was bigger than he was, at least 5 feet long, and fed our family for days. In fact, it was probably set a new size record but we forgot to measure it in all the excitement.

Our family enjoyed ITEC’s recent family day – Caleb was thrilled to finally get to fish for real with his Papa even if he didn’t enjoy sitting and waiting for the fish to bite or touching it once it was out of the water. He wrinkled his nose and asked Papa to get it. Selah enjoyed being around all of the people and being “the baby” for the other girls. The rest of the family fellowshipped with the team members and showed off our Bocci Ball skills.

On special weekends we might hike nearby or Kayak or take a boat out on the Rainbow or Withlacoochee Rivers. Both are relaxing ways to enjoy the unique creation around here. Surprisingly (or not so much so if you know us well) we don’t get to the beach all that often. But there is no lack of activities to do here.

Soon, (as the Lord wills) we will be visiting our family and friends in North Carolina for Christmas before, again Lord willing, making a return trip to Togo in January to say official goodbyes and wrap up details our belongings that are left. When we packed up to come back to the US, we believed our medical furlough would be, at the most, 3 months. And now, exactly two months shy of three years later, we hope to finally be back, if only for a short bitter-sweet few weeks. We left with a 9 month old baby and will be returning with a 3.5 year old and a 21-month old.

Pray for safe travels over Christmas and New Year’s as we visit family and friends in North Carolina.
Please pray that all the details of our trip to Mango will work out – visa, COVID tests, etc. We will be gone for three weeks. Pray for health both Stateside and in Togo. If you recall our planned trip last year was cancelled because one of us had COVID. But also, we don’t want to get Malaria (or anything else) while we’re there.
Pray for moment-by-moment wisdom as we seek to train our children well – pray especially that God would draw Caleb and Selah’s hearts to His, that we can help them to carry out Kingdom work and seek His glory.
Pray for the salvation of our neighbors as well as friends we’ve met at MOPS and parks, etc. – we have found there is so much opportunity for ministry here, but we need wisdom to know where/who to focus on and how to not take on too much at once.

For those wanting to send holiday or birthday cards or gifts, the address is 13535 SW 113^TH LN Dunnellon FL 34432

First from Florida

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Mar 232022

Greetings from the Sunshine State!

Mud puddles, sand piles — you name it — our kids are up for getting dirty in it!

It’s vacillated a lot here lately between blue skies and cloudy ones. At times the weather makes us feel like God has brought us back to Togo’s rainy season! But then we go outside and nobody yells “Batoulé!” at us; the dirt our children play in is white and sandy instead of red; and we buy our carrots bagged from Aldi instead of fresh from a bowl atop a market lady’s head. While it still feels strange to be settling into life on this side of the ocean, we know we are right where God wants us right now.

We are almost six weeks in to a new job and new routines. It’s been challenging at times, but mostly good.

Caleb was excited to visit Papa at ITEC one day to watch planes and parachutes!

Jonathan is enjoying having specific projects and goals to accomplish each day. This is something he really missed during his medical leave. The ITEC team is very patient and understanding as he adjusts to his role. He is able to take a brief “sieste” each day right after lunch, and this helps him immensely in making it through the rest of the day. To quote Bethany, “Since we’ve been here, he is more like himself than he has been in a long time.”

Bethany, Caleb, and Sélah have had some adjustments too — we miss having Papa at home with us! But now that we’re mostly past the initial move period and the fussiness and sleep regressions that went with all those changes, we are doing much better (or we were until the time changed! 😉 ) and settling into our new routines, making good friends, exploring the area’s parks, stores, libraries, etc. We’ve had many kind people here help to make our transition go more smoothly and make us feel at home.

We are also excited that we may have found our new church home. We’ve visited about three times, and are looking forward to getting more involved there and getting to know the members better. This has been one of our big prayer requests since before moving, and we are excited to see God answering!

It seems we did not communicate very well about our employment status with ITEC. We hope we can clear up the confusion some of you have expressed. Jonathan is a full-time employee there, but because they are a non-profit organization, we still need to raise half of our salary. We are thankful to already have partners committed to 23% of that. If you, after prayerful consideration, would like to partner with our family in reaching the nations with the good news of God’s lovingkindness from here in Dunnellon, FL, please visit www.itecusa.org/donate and be sure to type “Jonathan & Bethany Edwards” in the memo box. (Mailing instructions included at the end.)

Some of you have also asked for more details about what exactly ITEC is and what we do. ITEC was started by Steve Saint, the son of Nate Saint. You may have heard the story of how in 1956 five men — Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Peter Fleming, and Roger Youderian — were speared to death by the Waodani, a tribe they had been attempting to reach with the gospel. This tragedy opened the door for members of the Saint and Elliot families to show unconditional love to the Waodani and share Christ with them. Steve Saint spent part of his childhood in Ecuador among this tribe, and when he returned as an adult, they asked him to train them in the skills westerners did for them on short-term trips. They did not want to be always dependent on other people’s timelines and trips and technical skills to help their own people. They wanted to have the skills themselves: medicine, dentistry, aviation, mechanics, etc. and use those avenues to share the gospel themselves. This request led to the start of ITEC.

ITEC organizes short-term trips for the purpose of training indigenous people in the above skills. We also work together to come up with solutions to issues encountered during these trainings. For example, in 2002 they invented a lightweight portable dentist chair that can be easily carried into rural areas. ITEC works in partnership with churches and believers globally. Their mission is to “inspire great commission participation.”

“ITEC develops tools and training programs, trains indigenous Christ-followers, and equips others to do the same both domestically and abroad. Our goal is to eliminate the potential for dependency by partnering with, training alongside, and learning from the indigenous churches. We call this interdependency, a concept found in passages throughout the Bible, and clearly in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.”

If you have other specific questions about ITEC and what we do, please do not hesitate to ask us. We are excited about what God is doing through this organization, and thankful we get to be part of it! This is another answer to prayer — to still be able to be directly involved in missions even though we can’t go ourselves long-term anymore.

Here is an interview with Steve Saint, the founder, about how ITEC got started: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qbr370WUfc&t=118s

And here is another video overviewing ITEC’s motives and some of the ways we carry those out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7ZXxlE4Blo

Thank you all for your prayers and for continuing to keep up with our family through this change.

Serving Him together,

Jonathan, Bethany, Caleb & Sélah

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

To give online, visit www.itecusa.org/donate

To donate by mail, send check or money orders payable to ITEC.

Be sure to the memo says “Jonathan & Bethany Edwards”

ITEC
10575 SW 147th Circle
Dunnellon, FL 34432

Next Stop

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Jan 142022

Blessed; the word that best describes our lives. Not in the sense that we would claim to be prosperous in the way this world measures prosperity, but in the sense that God, in keeping His good promises (and He faithfully does) has not left us wanting for anything. We have not had a formal income for almost four months now and yet, through the generous love from you, our partners in ministry, have not lacked. Many of you continued to give even after our stepping down from ABWE. We thank you immensely for your willingness to continue and for the encouragement that these gifts brought during this transition.

Our trip to Togo didn’t go as planned. We had planned to be there for about two weeks (a three week trip with travel included) before moving to start our new ministry at ITEC headquarters in Florida. But God ordained that the trip not happen. Two days before we were to board the plane, Sélah tested positive for COVID19, meaning that with the quarantine period, we would not be able to reschedule the trip until late January and that did not work with our move. For those who gave toward our return trip, we are setting those funds aside until such time as we are able to go and say, “until the day when we meet again,” to our friends and co-laborers in Christ.

At the end of this month, January 2022, we will be moving to Florida to start new ministry at ITEC. We have already stated some of what this will look like: advising administration on how technology can help aid the organization, help set future plans, train staff, and also develop training for nationals. We are joyful that God has allowed us to work directly in missions.

This is a supported position which means that we will raise $1350 per month toward our salary and expenses. That’s quite a bit lower than the $6500+ each month that we previously needed while in Togo. This lower number is because of the difference in how ITEC does support compared to other mission organizations. Previously, we had asked you to suspend your giving until we were able to reorient to a new organization and ministry. That time has now come. We understand that not everyone will continue as the reasons and focus of what God lays upon the hearts of His children for giving are varied. There is no obligation to continue partnering with us, though to God there is always obligation in Love to partner one with another. If God has asked you to continue to partnering with us in giving to missions then please visit our partnering page and follow the instructions. If you have questions or would like more details, feel free to message, email, or call us.

Thank you for your faithful prayers for us during the past two years of uncertainty, and now once again as we prepare to move and resettle into a new community. We know this step will bring another big adjustment, but we are excited about following God’s clear leading.

Everything… all at once.

Everything… all at once. Uncategorized Comments Off

Dec 272021

ITEC

Jonathan has been searching for a job for about three months now and recently God pointed us toward a small mission in central Florida called ITEC (Indigenous peoples Training and Education Center; itecusa.org). Their focus is to partner with other like-minded missions and Christian nationals around the world to provide technical skills through which they can share the gospel – mechanical, dentistry, community health, sustainable farming, and many other areas. This gives the nationals both an inroad by which to form relationships and teach the gospel and make disciples, but also a practical means of income. This idea came to fruition after the nationals with whom the founding missionaries ministered continued to make requests for such a program. Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a meal. Teach a man to fish and he and his family and their families will eat for a lifetime and can teach others how to fish so they can also eat all the while sharing the gospel with those they are teaching & feeding.

Jonathan will work there to maintain and upgrade technology, advise the directors on how best to use technology to accommodate future needs and economize available technology, and train staff and missionaries. This will be a missionary position and we will need to raise some amount of monthly support. But that is in the near future and we’ll let you know more about it later.

Mango or Bust

We’ve finalized plans for our return trip to Mango in the first weeks of January to say our goodbyes and finish up some things that were left undone when we hastily left. This will not be an easy trip. Traveling this far and for so long is always a struggle, more so with two energetic young ones. Add to that the complications of Jonathan’s condition and additional requirements for COVID19 and it’s easy to see that this will be quite the trip.

It will be an emotional trip too. We miss Mango. We miss our friends there and the fellowship. We miss the labored striving and the joy of teaching in the village. (Sure there are things we don’t miss like going days without a shower or hand-sized, furry, eight-legged critters scurrying across the floor at night.) The sacrifices paled next to joy of striving for the kingdom in a place that was ripe for harvest. Now we will go and say farewell and close a chapter of our lives that ended before we were ready.

Please pray for us as we prepare and go that God would bless this time and that He would be glorified in it all. Pray also for the parents and the children as we travel. Pray that none of us, especially Jonathan, would not get malaria and that we would have energy. Pray that we would all have negative COVID19 tests throughout the journey, that our flights would not be cancelled, again due to COVID19, and that there would be no other complications.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year

Oh, and a belated Merry Christmas from our family to yours. May the God of all hope be the light of hope into your life that you might “be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within you.” And a happy new year to you all.

Jonathan, Bethany, Caleb, and Sélah Edwards

Direction

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Sep 132021

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9

This is update we’ve been hoping for almost 18 months to be able to send, but it is not at all the one we thought we’d be writing.

As we shared in our last newsletter, our desire is still to be in Togo, but God has ordained otherwise.

We feel the burden of the need for college ministry in the U.S., but as we’ve pursued several avenues for that, God has again and again closed the doors.

We prayerfully waited to make a definite decision because (1) Jonathan didn’t have an official diagnosis and he wasn’t stable on his medications and (2) we were hoping to be able to seamlessly transition from ABWE Togo to college ministry.

As we’ve prayed and sought wise counsel from the elders of our sending churches, God has given us clear direction for the near future. Since we are now only two weeks from when our furlough time with ABWE runs out, we and our sending churches have agreed that at this point there are too many unknowns to be able to work out the details of a new ministry responsibly and prayerfully. So we have made the hard decision to seek employment as non-missionaries until God leads us elsewhere. We still consider ourselves missionaries, still hear the call, and hope at some point to pick up career mission work again. But this step back will allow time to answer many of the unknowns without committing to something that would seem a forced decision born more of prudence than prayer. It is our hope to one day to be able to work out these details and to do it in a prayerful, unhurried way.

Jonathan has begun a more focused search for employment. His top choice would be to work in the IT field making millions of dollars, but if that doesn’t work out, we will consider other possibilities ;). Please pray that God would provide a job that is suited to his technical skills, as well as an employer that is flexible and understanding of his physical limitations and physical unpredictability. Another factor complicating employment is that at the end of this month the doctors will also attempt to reduce his medication dosage. This tapering is a slow process that will take weeks or months and will likely cause severe fluctuations in energy, mood, and motivation.

To everyone who has faithfully given, encouraged, and prayed to make this journey possible over the years, we want to extend our sincerest, most heart-felt thank you for putting Christ’s Kingdom above the joys of this world so that when we finally arrive we will hear voices of people from every nation and tribe and tongue proclaiming, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (Revelation 7:10). We ask that, for now, you suspend your giving to our account, but that you continue to support Christ’s Kingdom cause as He leads. What funds remain in our account will cover the immediate costs that remain and if a need arises, we will ask specifically for that.

We hope that in the near future that we will be able to return to Togo for a short time to get our house in order and say very difficult goodbyes. This will be a major undertaking for us with Jonathan’s health (and the concerns of Malaria) and because traveling with two young, energetic children is always a challenge. But it will also be an emotional time. We invested into and made friends with many of the Togolese. We Loved them and they Loved us back. And we will say goodbye to the co-laborers, our Togo family, with whom we strove toward God’s Kingdom purpose.

We ask that you pray for the immediate need to support ourselves financially while we seek a ministry (if God will open the doors later on). Pray that Jonathan would react well during the adjustment of his medications. Continue to pray that peoples of Togo would come to know God as Savior and King.

We will keep you updated on how the Lord leads.

Serving Him together,

Jonathan, Bethany, Caleb, and Sélah

(re)orientation

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Apr 212021

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It was the morning of December 31^st, 2019 and Jonathan woke up feeling exhausted. He had returned from a business trip for radiology integration training in the US only a few days before and had enjoyed an exciting Christmas celebration with friends from the village bible study. This was not a new feeling. In fact he had experienced it many times before. In less than 48 hours he had gone from feeling upbeat and energetic to what you might describe as the worst flu you’ve ever had, with every muscle in your body rebelling in pain. Another bout of malaria, he thought, and so he made the decision to visit the clinic that afternoon before the New Year’s celebrations kicked off and everything closed for a few days.

But at the clinic they found nothing wrong. In fact, they found nothing abnormal at all. He was in great physical shape. Thinking it was a virus, they sent him home with a memo to call if it didn’t go away. It didn’t. Visit after visit went the same way. Tests, results, healthy. We tried keeping a rigid schedule thinking maybe it was the first signs of burnout. No go. In fact, the longer this went on the worse it became. Soon not only was there exhaustion but he was showing signs of major depression.

It was at this point around the end of Feb 2020 that the doctors, team, and we decided that returning to the US was the only real option. So we packed our house up and got on the plane. Many of you will recall this journey and we thank you for your consistent prayers during that time. Of course, little did we expect that while we were flying, COVID would strike and whole continents go on lockdown.

In the US we visited doctors. They confirmed what the doctors at Hospital of Hope already had confirmed. Physically there seemed to be nothing wrong. The exhaustion remained. Some depression remained – though this was slowly vanishing in part with the help of medications. But visit after visit revealed the same nothing… and we slowly began to realize as the year went on that this wasn’t going to be an easy fix.

Today, many of the symptoms remain still. The depression, so far as we can tell, has passed. But the medications are still needed and for the most part seem to be what is boosting his energy such that he is at least functional. But he still becomes easily exhausted even over seemingly simple things and the pain still comes and goes. On the best days he is able to get 7 or 8 good hours each day with 9-11 hours of sleep each night and a 2 – 3 hour rest required after lunch.

All of this, after a year of searching for answers, brought us and the doctors to one conclusion – that returning for more than a few weeks at a time to Togo – or any mission field with malaria – was out of the question. Beyond that, the stressors of everyday living in a foreign culture demand that you be at 100% and Jonathan is far from 100%.

We mourned at the news even if it wasn’t unexpected. We missed our friends. We strove for Togo for years and were ready live out our days there. Then God intervened. He declared loudly and clearly that His plan for us was elsewhere. We questioned why God would do this: send us through the entire preparation process, to get us there for a year and then bring us back to the US. We had just begun to really get our footing and begin developing our ministries further. From a resource perspective it made no sense.

We know that God’s plans are not ours and His ways are not ours. And when you “own the cattle on a thousand hills,” when you can literally speak anything into existence, the material becomes trivial. God has been teaching us many things through this. As He speaks through Paul,

“’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’ [2Cor 12:9-10]”

As we stare at the the ripped up pieces of the letter of expectation we sent to God, we rejoice at the new prospects that have been laid before us. It is our desire to continue to reach the nations as missionaries; In this God has so far made it clear that He would like us to remain in His work in that capacity here in north-central North Carolina. Following that lead, we’ve begun looking into and praying about the opportunity to start a ministry for college age young adults both for evangelism and discipleship. Our hope is that they will, upon receiving the Good News, take it to every people and tribe – reaching those peoples despite our inability to go ourselves. Right now we don’t know much about what this would look like and that is one of our biggest prayer requests: that God would make clear His leading, work out the details, create the relationships, and provide the resources. Would you please pray with us about this?

Bethany, Baby, & Caleb

Bethany has been praying and seeking God’s will for our future alongside Jonathan, and attending occasional meetings in-person and virtually as we go about this slow and hazy process. As previously mentioned, it has been difficult to see the whole trajectory of our ministry lives change, but God is opening our eyes to the potential here in North Carolina and teaching us again to trust His unchanging character in the midst of what seem like big life changes to us.

Bethany has enjoyed getting involved in a weekly women’s Bible study on Philippians and getting to know some of the ladies from the church here better.

The warmer spring weather has made it a lot easier to get outside – whether it’s to walk, take Caleb to the park, plant flowers and hang bird-feeders, or hang clothes on the line.

We are two weeks away from Baby Edwards #2’s due date, so a big focus of Bethany’s has been preparing our nest for his/her arrival. Bags are packed, labor playlist edited, house-cleaning in process, and baby stuff organized and waiting. We are so thankful to still be staying in a local mission house for the time being and to have a place of our own to bring Baby home to.

Caleb is not so eager for Baby to come. The last few weeks he has sensed a change coming, and has been considerably more fussy and clingy. Please pray for him as he transitions into his soon-to-be role of big brother. We are not expecting it to be easy for him (or us!).

His verbal skills have really leveled up the last month as he’s mastered subjects from basic colors to construction vehicles. He is now attempting whole sentences and singing. A couple of his favorites are “His Mercy is More” and ”Country Roads.” He absolutely loves books – especially when they are read to him, but he also occasionally reads them to himself and his (stuffed) friends. He surprises us with how emotionally invested he becomes in what happens to the characters. It is fun to watch his personality and interests grow.

The immediate future

We are currently working on the beginnings of furlough and are available to visit nearby NC churches and can visit more distant churches within a month or two (Baby Edwards and Mama need some time). We would love to share with you all what God has done and what He continues to do in and through our lives. If you would like us to visit you or your church, then let’s set up a time. We’ve also entertained the idea of an e-visit. If that’s something that interests you then please let us know and we’ll try to work something out.

Those pesky numbers

21%; that represents $1391 per month we’re below on our support level. We are praising God that through this trial for over a year now we have not last a single supporter due to being in the US or because of the pandemic. It is a true blessing that we have such faithful, giving partners and a faithful God. The deficit represents the increase in costs, mostly insurance premiums and cost-of-living inflation. We aren’t asking you to cough up more funds, although we would never turn them down, but we would ask that you pray for more partners to fill this gap as it is eating at our limited reserves. Please pray with us that God would fill this need.

In Everything Give Thanks

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Dec 012020

Printable version available here.

The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:2 & 6

Happy belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to all of you!

It seems everyone we talk to feels the same way — beyond ready for this holiday season after such a difficult year! Like many of you, we decorated a little earlier and have found the Christmas carols stuck in our heads sooner than expected. We’re thankful that our hope in Christ is unwavering and not dependent on the circumstances in this unpredictable world. Despite the differences in our celebrations and gatherings this year, we hope you are able to see this season afresh as we remind our heavy hearts of that joy and light Emmanuel came to bring.

We have said it before, but we want to again thank our partners for your patience and faithfulness during this uncertain time. As Paul wrote, we thank our “God upon every remembrance of you.”

Thank you also to those individuals who have shared your uplifting personal emails, notes, and spoken words over the last few months. They have all been special and encouraging to us.

We want to extend a special thanks to Cavel Baptist for hosting us for almost 10 months already and taking such good care of us from housing to spoiling Caleb with toys. It has been a huge blessing to have our Christian brothers and sisters looking out for us and providing a home equipped with furniture, dishes, appliances, and even Christmas decor and much more that would have been a hassle and expensive for us to find quickly.

As for Jonathan’s health, there is not much new to report. He still has more energy and is doing much better overall than when we arrived in the US, and for that we are very grateful. His attending physician has told us that she considers him to be stable on his current medication regimen, and that he needs a minimum of six months of that stability to determine if healing is likely or if this is a long term issue. At this point, it is a game of wait and see. The good thing is that this process can take place concurrently with support-raising if need be – Jonathan’s energy allowing. With this time frame and other events taking place next year (see below), a return to Togo is unlikely before the end of May 2021.

In the meantime, he has started working with ABWE’s Live Global doing some stay-at-home tech work as his energy allows to aid the ministry of those partners around the world who need specialized expertise.

Caleb continues to thrive developmentally. He is talking more and more, and his level of comprehension takes us by surprise sometimes. A favorite pastime is exploring outdoors and getting as dirty as we will let him. He is one tough, brave, adventurous, and sweet little man who brings lots of smiles and laughter to our home.

However, he is in for a big adjustment around the end of April … Little Edwards #2 is on the way, which is another reason for our 2021 timeline. We are very thankful for another good gift from our Father and are looking forward to meeting him or her!

A year and some change

A year and some change Uncategorized Comments Off

Mar 092020

The 23^rd of December marked one full year living in Mango for our family. A lot has happened in that year, and we’ve changed in more ways than we had realized. (Warning: most of the photos in this post are of Caleb — guess that’s what happens when you become parents ; )

We’ve experienced a full year of Togo weather – harmattan/dry season, hot season, rainy season. Now the harmattan is dying down and it’s hot again. We sometimes miss the four US seasons, but we are learning to find beauty in these new ones. We’ve even acclimated so much we would wear jackets some mornings in December and January and reach for a blanket as the coolness of night crept in. But even the Togolese confirm with us that it is HOT right now, and we are thankful for the refreshment our compound pool provides on the especially rough days.

This little man always manages to stay ‘cool’ no matter what the weather is like!

We’ve had all sorts of new cultural experiences. We’ve adjusted (somewhat – it’s hard to take all the task-oriented American out of us!) to the slower pace of daily life here; to the bustle and layout of the local market; to the familiar shouts of “batoulé” wherever we go; to the usual French and Anufo greetings; to the donkey brays, guinea hen cackles, and cries of neighbor children around our home. God has grown our love for this town and the people in it.

Caleb hanging out with a market friend. Her shop is one we frequent often.

We’ve transitioned to life as a family of three. Having your first child is an adjustment no matter what country you live in. God continues to grow us as parents and teach us to depend on Him for the strength and wisdom we need to train up our Caleb in the way he should go. Our dinner table is not as quiet and clean as it used to be, but sometimes joy is found in the messiness. The last few weeks have posed a new challenge as we’re already dealing with bumps and scrapes that come with new mobility skills (or lack thereof 😉 ). Sometimes these accidents are harder on Maman and Papa than on him.

Family photo captured by our friend Becky during a team meeting

We’ve begun ministry in the hospital and elsewhere. Jonathan has dealt with server emergencies, … We spent a week and a half at the southern hospital so that he could receive training working on the phone systems as well. He has also done preliminary preparation for the mobile computer labs he hopes to start up.

Phone system installation at HBB in Tsiko

Bethany worked in the maternity ward before Caleb was born, and has just started to get back to working at the main hospital station. She has also been blessed as she does a chronological Bible study with R, one of the ladies who cleans for us. This past week we read through Isaiah 53 and came to the end of our Old Testament overview. Seeing her reaction and hearing her heart as she understands what she is reading has been a joy.

We’ve had the privilege of helping start a church plant in a nearby village. It has been a joy to teach (Jonathan) and witness the work of God in the hearts of these villagers as they hear stories of His love and grace for the first time.

We’ve rented our first (non-apartment) home. We had been praying for our future Togo home since before we left for France, and it has been special to see how God has answered those prayers, even down to the details we asked. We’ve slowly made this house a home – a place where we can show loving hospitality but also relax comfortably just as a family.

In December Jonathan took a trip to the US for 3 weeks for training on the integration of new digital X-ray system that HBB (Hopital Baptiste Biblique, in the south) will be utilizing. While he was there he got to visit with his side of the family for a while. Caleb and Maman missed him a lot, but the welcome home was sweet (once Caleb got over the initial surprise ;).

Last year we arrived in Mango just 2 days before Christmas, so it was fun this year to have more time to focus on to decorating and preparing our hearts to celebrate Jesus’ birth. The cooler weather was almost reminiscent of wintertime. We put up a tree that we’d gotten from departing missionaries and listened to lots of advent music. We only wish Jonathan had been able to be in Togo for more of the season.

We’ve all experienced malaria at least once. It’s no picnic, but we are thankful for effective and quick-acting medication. Allergies and GI bugs have also been occasional, but un-fun visitors. We are thankful that despite the many times he is held and touched and –yes, even – kissed on a regular basis, Caleb has not gotten any serious illnesses.

This brings us to our most recent developments. As we’ve mentioned in our group Facebook updates, Jonathan has been experiencing health issues for the last few months, with no explanation that we have yet found. After several checkups and repeated testing, it has been decided that we will spend some time back in the US to hopefully get some answers as to what is going on. We are sad to leave even temporarily, especially since we have no idea how long it will be before we are back, but we are praying and hoping that God will provide the answers and healing we are seeking. Will you please join us in praying for safe travels, divine appointments, and wisdom for the doctors we will see? Pray for us as we say “au revoir” to our friends. Pray that God will grow us more like Him and strengthen our marriage and family through this time. Pray that we would trust His timing and plans.

Serving Him Together,

Jonathan, Bethany, and Caleb

Caleb attended his first official church service in Tsiko — he found the choir’s special music especially touching 😉

Reginald: A Cultural Tale
One late afternoon, S, a neighbor whom we have been trying to get to know came over for a visit. As she arrived, she presented a gift “for Caleb” – a rooster. Bethany – not having received a gift of this kind before and not being sure quite how to respond – invited her in and they chatted through the typical greetings about family, the weather, etc. After a little while, S motioned that Bethany should take the gift from her, so Bethany got a plastic bag, delicately placed him inside, then promptly set the bag on the kitchen counter.
The two women continued talking for several minutes in the living room until S took her leave. At this point, Bethany had forgotten about the gift until she walked into the kitchen and heard unfamiliar noises. Being the naïve missionary that she is, she had assumed that the rooster – who had been quite dazed when S carried him in by his feet – was, well, not very alive. So you can imagine her surprise when Reginald (yes, we later named him) greeted her standing up on the bag beside the sink.
In a bit of a daze herself, Bethany went to seek the aid of her fearless husband, who had been working in his office this whole time. “Jonathan, I need your help with something.” He was more than a little surprised by this “something” he found as he came in the kitchen door, but took matters into his own hands, as Bethany had been hoping he would do. Long story shorter, we talked about keeping Reginald as a pet to help keep bugs down, but he stayed in our yard for less than 24 hours before his middle-of-the-night crowing and sabotaging of our plants gave us no choice but to have another neighbor prepare him for our dinner.

Which of these items does not usually belong in our kitchen?

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Nov 272019

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Thank you for being patient with us as this update is long overdue! Even in Togo, everyday life has a way of pushing non-urgent tasks to the back-burner. Let’s tell you a little bit about what we’re up to these days…

Caleb: At five months old, I am such a big distraction that Mom has decided she can’t take me with her to language lessons anymore. She says my big brown eyes are really hard to say no to, and that she and Daddy are going to have a hard time when I get a little older… not sure why I would ever need to be told no? I have an adorable smile that our Togolese friends and neighbors love. And I generally prefer being spoken to in French than in English. I am rolling over, laughing, and trying to talk — Mom & Dad don’t always understand me though, so I’m trying to go slow until they’ve learned a little more. It has also recently come to my attention that those two people do not eat in the same manner I do… while they expect me to be content with the same manna-milk each feeding, they consume all sorts of funny-looking and smelling things, and they have yet to offer me any. Again, guess that will have to wait until their comprehension has improved a bit — they don’t seem to realize that I’ve been asking politely for them to share. Maybe they’ll learn that skill soon.

Bethany: My ministry has shifted slightly and is now more home-centered. Since having Caleb, I’ve been focusing on relationship-building and language-learning. As I think we’ve mentioned before, Caleb has made it easy to create new friendships and deepen the ones we already have. The Togolese women love seeing that I feed my baby exactly the same way they do and they enjoy holding him and commenting on his chubbiness. Although they do still think I’m silly for carrying him in the front while they all wrap their babies on their backs. 😉

In addition to continuing French lessons, I have just begun to learn Anufo, one of the more common tribal languages in Mango. While grasping the pronunciation of this tonal language is often difficult, I’m enjoying the opportunity to be able to communicate more with the ladies at market, in our neighborhood, and at the village we visit on Sundays.

A few weeks ago I was excited to get to start a Bible study with the woman who helps clean our house each week. Please pray for R as she has expressed the desire to “start” Christianity and that the Islam her husband practices “does not please [her].” Pray that God would continue to work in her heart through His Word and give me wisdom to know the words to speak to her as well. Our first two times of study together seemed to go well.

Last month I got to spend an hour each Friday in our MK (missionary kid) school. It was a joy to get to know our MKs better and work on some fun 3-D art projects together.

Jonathan: Starting in early September our main server at the hospital began experiencing small problems, and then only a few days later suffered a complete system failure and the near-loss of all of the information on it including — well, everything. The backups, somehow, were corrupt and only by the grace of God was the data recovered after about a week of sleepless nights. One of the soon-to-arrive short-term workers rushed a new server out to us in less than a week – it was a minor miracle that one was set up and ready to go and within driving distance of our courier. After two very long months, the system is almost restored to where it was before. We discovered the cause of all of this mess was an electrical issue that bypassed all of the safeguards.

Not long after that I contracted Malaria again for the 3rd or 7th time this year. This is probably because I was outside so much at night due to the server issues. It took four weeks and three tries to get rid of it the last time (hence why it depends how you count) and by the end of it I had become silly, useless tired all the time. As treatment was wrapping up, we took a small vacation to the southern hospital where it is much cooler, greener, and generally quieter. This was much needed rest for both myself and Bethany. However, as seems always the case, the staff there asked me to join in on some of the IT projects they have for the ongoing renewal of that facility… so much for vacation.

The village study has been proceeding well with the participants increasing in their curiosity and their questions getting more complex. Their understanding ranges from complete ignorance to having heard many different (mostly false) gospels. Having spent about six months laying foundational groundwork, we will be covering the betrayal, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection either just before or just after Christmas. They’ve begun to take up a collection to put on a Christmas feast customary in churches… despite the fact that it is too soon to count this as a church. We won’t break the news to them that we don’t technically consider them a church but we will instead let their passion for celebrating what God has done through Jesus continue to grow while discipling them in the truth. The end of this foundational work also means that we missionaries are trying to step back from the direct teaching role and have a Christian national whom we can work alongside and disciple as the primary teacher. Please pray that God would raise up someone who can take the lead in teaching these people in His truth. Pray for us as we work through how best we can continue to support and grow in His truth.

Recap of how you can be praying:

Our physical health; rainy season has ended, and we are hoping this also means the end of malaria for our family for a while!
Wisdom for Bethany to know when to start adding in some time to work at the hospital and for both Jonathan and Bethany in finding a healthy home/outside ministry balance.
Continued relationship-building with the Togolese — particularly with our guards, house help, neighbors, and coworkers.
Bible study with R
Village Bible study
That God would raise up a Christian national teacher whom we can support and work along side to lead the village study.
For God’s provision of additional or increased partnerships to make up what we are currently lacking in support, about $500/month.

Thank you for your faithful prayers!

Will you come?

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Jun 102019

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Will you come? The man beside the road had flagged us down just a few kilometers from a village where we and another missionary couple hold a bible group one morning each week. He had heard from someone in that village what we were doing there and wanted us to come and host a study at his village… and he didn’t want to take no for an answer. It’s the sort of question that every missionary dreams about, being tracked down to come and do the very thing that you want to be doing. But there was a problem. When could we come? All of our time was committed. Everyone else is busy as well. Truly, this was a case of Jesus’ prophecy that, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” After about 10 minutes of discussion it was decided that we could use our two trucks to haul anyone who wanted to attend from that village to the village where we hold the study so that they too could participate. It wasn’t an ideal solution; The meeting place in the other village is already standing room only and we would double that number, but it was a start. So we ask, would you “pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest?” (Matt 9:38) We need laborers. Maybe this man’s question was not pointed just at us but to you. Will YOU come? This is one of a dozen villages that have asked for us to start teaching God’s Word but our team in cooperation with local churches cannot for lack of teachers. While you consider and pray about that, would you pray that God would provide the words, the energy, the attentiveness, the courage to continue to proclaim His Good News?

Maybe you caught the detail that we are planning to use our pickup to transport people to the bible study. We have it! In what seems like forever ago (in reality less than a month and a half) we were able to finalize the paperwork on our truck and drive it to Mango. It is far nicer than we imagined. We knew it was a very nice pickup truck but WOW, God provided a fine gift. The heated seats are our favorite feature! We are thankful for the generosity of the family who sacrificed as well as to everyone who sacrificed to help us with shipping, port costs, and taxes. We and our team in Mango go to great lengths to distance ourselves from the heresy that is the Prosperity Gospel by trying not to flaunt our relative and/or perceived wealth. And in a God-ordained twist, He turns around and reminds us that, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:11) All the more because of this we are careful to point to the provision of God and give Him praise for it whenever someone asks about it. It comes at a good time too as rainy season fast approaches. And getting to and from the village will become a challenge. Puddles the size of small lakes threaten to bog down most transportation but so far we have had no trouble getting where we need to go whether fording creek beds or wading puddles… all this to the frustration of our guard who cleans it to a sparkling sheen every night.

Baby is growing fast and momma is just about ready for him or her to vacate. And there is less than a month left before the estimated due date. And with that approaching date, Bethany has moved to full time nest making and preparation, as well as relationship-building with our house help and other women in our neighborhood. As the bump grew so grew the challenges of continuing to work on the hospital floor and so she has taken maternity leave.

Pray with us …

… that we would grow in our walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

… for energy and boldness as we continue the work to advance His kingdom.

… that we would be a light to our Togolese, Ghanaian, and Burkinabé neighbors.

… for continued growth in our cultural and lingual understanding.

… as we form relationships with guards, house help, co-workers, and others in the community.

… that God would give us a clear idea of how we should focus and prioritize our ministries.

… for the growing situation in Burkina and other North-Eastern West African countries, and that the Muslims in northern Togo, Benin, and Ghana would continue to reject extremist ideology and not permit it to be taught

… that the restrictions caused by this situation to travel on us as well as to the nationals would not hinder ministries

…that Christians in affected areas would continue to stand firm in their faith despite ever increasing persecution.

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Many have asked about care-packages. You can click here to see the list of things that are good and not so good to send to us and where.

Current Support Level
92% (-$450.49/mo)

This shortfall was created almost exclusively by an increase in medical insurance costs, both a rate increase and the number of dependents. Are you willing to help us make up the difference with a monthly gift of any amount?

http://www.elusivetangent.com/give

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