A typical Tamberma house: The
mounds are idols that represent each
person in the house. Sacrifices are
made on them each year for the
health of the family member. They
are built up each year with more
mud. The 2 silos are where all the
food is stored for the dry seasons.
Samuel's dear friend Roseline.
This boy was so joyful. His face
enraged me when I thought of what
his parents had done; but the joy
that he had from praising Christ
shined through any scars from the
evil he has experienced.
This pastor leads the church in
Naduba. It is growing! He is facing
enormous challenges with language
barriers and teaching new concepts
to the people but he does it with
so much joy. It is so rare to see him
without a beaming smile, typically
only when he is pouring out his
heart in a sermon with an important
message.
 
Update on the Tambermas
by Samuel Lunsford (ABWE Missionary to Togo)
Trip in July 2011

Many of you have prayed and asked about what is going on with the
Tamberma people of Togo!  Because of being in the states for the wedding,
I was not able to go with the team that went this summer, but Samuel who
graciously agreed to take my place (and has done a wonderful job!!) gave a
good description of life there so here’s his account with some pictures.  
The Togolese pastor who leads the Tamberma team also has written an
update that you’ll find in a separate update.

Here’s Tamberma through Samuel’s eyes:

As I traveled back from Naduba yesterday I looked forward to getting back
and writing an email about the difficulties of the journey to the village and
the hardships that were faced.  I thought with joy of the consolations I
would receive and the “Atta Boy’s” that I so often desire. But as I rested
last night I thought, “What kind of Christ-like spirit is that?”  That isn’t
following in the footsteps of Christ, ‘who humbled Himself, becoming
obedient to death, even death on a cross,’ is it?  No, Romans 5 tells us that
our sufferings are supposed to produce perseverance; perseverance,
character; and character, hope. There is no character in complaining how
hard life is or wondering why God does what he does. No, character must
come from obedience; it must come from dedication; and it must come
from love for God’s children.

The truth is that God provided me with everything that I needed, brothers
and sisters in Christ who poured out their hearts in prayer and love for me,
and the Holy Spirit to guide me through the difficulties that God had placed
before me. He blessed me with the opportunity to see hundreds of
forgotten people praising God with their whole hearts, kids chanting “Roi
de roi (King of kings)!” and “Jesus, Ami des enfant (Jesus, Friend of the
children!),” and the joy of serving Christ! He blessed me with my Togolese
‘Mama’ Akouwa who served me with love, food, and prayers throughout the
week.

This past week I learned so much that I would not trade for anything in the
world.  The one thing that impacted me the most was a little girl named
Roseline. She is about 5 years old and attended the VBS every day of the
week. She has the responsibility of carrying her younger brother on her
back an unknown number of kilometers to the church. I have seen her on 9
different days now and she has worn the same orange outfit every single
time that I have seen her. She seems to be one of the popular girls; all of
the other young girls would call her name and include her in their games.
However, often I would notice that some of the older girls would bully her a
little bit: maybe with a shove, hard words, or snatching things from her
hands.  But this is where she made the biggest impact on my week. Each
time someone was mean to her, she would humbly brush it off and never
pushed back, never showed anger in her emotions, never retaliated, never
let it affect her at all.  She would simply skip off or find another toy. It was
so simple but so amazing! Her humility, her loving actions, and her self-
control were really something to admire and to apply to my life.

The Tamberma people are a very lost, poor, and broken people group.  The
children are all very poor, malnourished, and scarred from fetish ceremonies
where they are cut as many as 12 times on their faces as small infants.  
Though there is little to no money for food, the children all have valuable
bracelets and beads to ‘protect them’ from evil spirits.  It is the saddest
part of the world I have ever experienced.  However, there is a fire started
that will not go out.  The church is growing!  Each night we would show a
film and hundreds of people would pack into the church to learn about
God.  Hundreds would attend everyday to learn about Jesus Christ.  
Hundreds of children are learning to be the next generation of Believers.  I
am forever grateful to have been a part of the movement and I cannot wait
to hug and talk with my sister Roseline in Heaven one day!

___________________________________________________________
Attached is an update from the Togolese pastor (Pastor Djimesse) the
leader of the Tamberma Team.

Click the link to view the letter:

Letter from Pastor Djimesse

**If you would like to participate in all that God is doing in the north of
Togo with the Tamberma people by PRAYING, GIVING, or GOING, please
contact me at rpoteat@abwe.cc
___________________________________________________________

Christian Schools

Imagine being a teacher in a classroom of 90 1st graders!  Imagine being a
student in this classroom. Then imagine that you don't understand a word
being spoken because you've spoken a tribal language all your life and school
is all in French. Imagine being taught to memorize and repeat songs, poems,
and sentences that you don't have a clue what they mean. Imagine instead
of getting helped to find the right answer, getting punished for giving a
wrong answer. Imagine having no books and copying everything the teacher
writes on the board. Well in Togo these are not imaginations-- they are
realities.

God has burdened our hearts to begin Christian schools -- to teach about
God and His Word in every subject of school. We believe that children are
precious in God's sight and they are treasures to be loved and nurtured. The
task is huge, but we have begun training Christian school teachers. Each
school year 17 churches send us one teacher to be trained. Currently 1st -
6th grade teachers have been discipled and trained to reach the kids in
their class for Christ.

Would you please PRAY for the teacher trainers as they teach and write
curriculum and textbooks?

Would you please PRAY for the teachers who are making a difference in
their villages?

Would you consider GIVING a kind gift for the printing of textbooks and
other expenses?

And if you're a teacher and God is burdening your heart to help us train
Togolese believers or to write textbooks, please contact me at
rpoteat@abwe.cc

___________________________________________________________


AIDS Ministry

Each day in a village in Togo one person dies of AIDS.  Statistics say that
in 15 years whole villages will be wiped out because of the disease. God
has called us to give the message of HOPE-- Jesus Christ to these who are
dying.  Each Monday and Thursday, we visit AIDS patients in their homes
or at the contagious ward at the local hospital and we do evangelistic
Bible studies with them. We cannot give them medicine to cure this
disease-- so far there is no known cure, but we can share with them that
Jesus died and paid the debt for all of their sins and if they receive Him as
their Savior, they will have eternal life forever in Heaven where they will
suffer no longer.

Please PRAY that God would show you His heart for this ministry and
what part He would want you to have in encouraging these patients.