Kabiye Team News
May 28, 2000

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all, an apology for this review being a week late! Somehow the time slipped right passed us and we didn't realize it had been 3 weeks since we had sent out an update! We pray that all of you are doing well and that you are experiencing rich blessings in Christ. We are feeling His abundant blessings all around us and in us and we give Him praise for His glorious power and might that works through the weak vessels He chooses.

These past few weeks have been full of many things, one of which was a week long visit from Mark and Sandy Berryman (our former professors at Harding, and mentors for our team). We were privileged to host them at our apartment and our whole team kept them extremely busy, scheduling out all of their days while they were here so that we could make the most of our time with them! They were great sports and a wonderful encouragement to all of us. They both know us individually, and as a team, better than any of our other mentors and can always give us good perspectives and needed encouragement in things others might not know about or see in us. They were on their way to the "Africans Claiming Africa" conference in South Africa and have plans to visit other missionaries all across Africa this summer.

Another exciting happening, in way of our preparation for our arrival in Togo, is that our vehicle, along with the vehicles for 3 of the other couples on our team, was purchased this last week through the missionaries who already live in the Southern part of Togo. This is a huge blessing because our vehicles will be waiting for us when we arrive in Togo (in only 2 and 1/2 months!) and the exchange rate is so high that our vehicles ended up being much cheaper than we had estimated. What a blessing from God! Please pray for the Kennell family, as they do not yet have a vehicle purchased for them. They are short on start-up fund expenses and are praying for more money to be given. If you would like to find out how to contribute to this need, please drop us an email and we'll let you know how you can help. Please pray for this money to be given so that they will have transportation for their family in Togo.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for my language partner, Gypsy. She is having a difficult time right now and has cancelled our meetings for the last three weeks. She is struggling with her father's recent death and is searching right now. Perhaps this is the answer to many of our prayers! We are supposed to meet this Tuesday night, so please pray for her heart to be opened and for me to use God's words and not my own.

Dave has met with his language partner 3 times now, and this last week he and his wife came over to our apartment after Hannah had gone to sleep and we had a great time speaking in French for 2 hours or so! They are both Christians and we really enjoy their company. Praise God for providing friends and wonderful language teachers in ways that we wouldn't expect! Also, Dave is beginning to meet with a personal tutor twice a week (beginning tomorrow) from now until we leave. He is not learning French as well as he would like and we're both excited for him to have this opportunity to learn better.

Hannah is doing wonderful! She is often sporting pigtails in her thick, strawberry blonde hair and is really learning to run. Her words are becoming clearer and she enjoys everyone and everything around her so much. She still notices every sound and sees every little thing. The train passes by our apartment 8 or 9 times a day and she still points it out to us everytime she hears the clanking of the tracks. She often hears it before we can and begs for us to hold her up to the window to watch it pass by. She loves going to "school" and especially enjoys playing in the sandbox up at the language school in the evening after dinner.

We are getting more and more excited about finally getting to Africa after 3 1/2 years of preparation and beg you to pray for the Kabiye and our adjustment to Togo and our final acquisition of French before we leave on August 21st. We love you all and look forward to hearing from you! May the God of all peace and power grant you blessings beyond measure!

In His Love, David, Becky, and Hannah

"For Christ's love compels us!" 2 Corinthians 5:14