A brief note

Still learning the African way! I'm cooking fufu, African candy and other African treats. I'm also learning to carry babies on my back the way women do here. I can't believe I've been here for 3 weeks already!

I've been helping Macklann do some translating for the upcoming conference.  All those years of French are paying off.

Missing everyone--much love to all!

Lauren

Back from the North! (Lauren sent July 20th)

The north was soo amazing! There's no way for me to describe it all
now, but here are a few highlights: 16 hrs in a crowded African bus on
bad roads through mountains, drinking local beer from a gourd,
balancing a bundle of wood on my head for over 2 miles (the villagers
thought this was hilarious. I even got a marriage proposal, lol),
climbed a mountain, climbed a tree on top of said mountain, saw the
beautiful stars, saw the place Macklann wants to have the retreat
center! (its beautiful and very perfect. I took lots of pics).

Please keep my health in your prayers. Since weve got back, i've
not been feeling very well-- digestive stuff I think. It may have been
something I ate up north. I took some meds though and hopefully it
will be better tomorrow. I am so thankful that I have not had any
worse health problems so far though.

Headed to North Togo (sent by Lauren July 16)

Tomorrow early in the morning we are going to Palime, Kara and
Tukurue: villiages up north where macklann and Rose grew up. Im really
excited! We are going to get to experience village life and maybe even
climb mt. Kabye (you know im excited about that!) I just wanted to let
you know that Im going to be gone for a while from internets reaches.
We plan to be back either wed or thurs.
Keep praying for the Amana conference! I will send you a copy of the
newsletter we wrote as soon as the internet starts working on the
desktop, and maybe then you can send it to anyone else you think might
be interested.

A few things about my daily life

Mom asked me to describe where I sleep and what daily life is like for me. 

Macklann and Rose have a kind of apartment above Macklann's office and a meeting room where he does his missions. I have my own room with a twin bed and mosquito net. There is running water but no hot water so I am learning how to take cold showers. It's not really a shower either--it's a spicket about waist height that I use to fill a bucket and a scoop to pour water over myself.

Rose runs a school at their house (it is also downstairs in a separate building). She also organizes a service helping children who need homes find people who will foster them and take care of them. Macklann, Rose,  Benitah and Lilly live here, along with Macklann's sister, Lydia and two single mothers: Marie and Abbra and their daughters, Grace and Kattarine.  The Basse's have also adopted a little girl named, Sarah. It seems like more people than that live here becasue there are so many of their friends and family coming and going all the time.

There is also another missionary here from St. Louis right now whose name is, Laura. It is nice to be able to talk to her. Today, Rose, Laura and I were driving in Lome and Roses' car overheated and broke down! We had to push the car through a really busy interesection.  It took us a few hours to get home. Luckily, (well, luck had nothing to do with it!) there was a mechanic who just happened to be walking by who helped us. I am reminded every day how God provides for our every need and takes care of us no matter where we are. This has already been such a learning experience for me. 

Today, we also spent a long time playing with and ministering to 8 or 9 Muslim children who live across the street. The poverty here is so overwhelming; it truly breaks my heart. 

There are so many cultural differences! I am happy to have Macklann and Rose to answer my questions. For example: here, it is considered disrespectful to make eye contact with people while you are talking to them, especially if they are older than you. This is so hard for me! It's also hard to follow conversations--I can't tell who is talking to who!  The French speaking is going well. I am able to converse with most everyone! It is hard to listen to conversations though because when they talk to each other it's usually a creole-like mix of tribal languages and French.

By the way, we have to reschedule our trip to North Togo for next week as there were not enough seats on the bus. It takes 8 hours to get there because of the condition of the roads. We will be going Monday through Wednesday instead. I am looking forward to it.

The girls (Benitah & Lilly +) are doing well. There are 6 little girls living here now and many more neighborhood kids that are here often. They love "clinging" as you (mom) described and also playing hide and seek, called "cache-cache." Benitah and Lilly have adjusted well to Togo. Benitah still knows some English and she LOVES American Food. lol She is always asking for my peanut butter!

Rose says "Hi," Mom!

Tout mon amour!

Lauren

Salut from Togo!

Hi Everyone!
I am here in Togo and putting my french to the test! Today I walked around the beach and the outdoor markets around downtown lome. It was quite the experience! I am learning to cook togolese food as well! The main spice they use, for those of you who are wondering, is anis seed. I have eaten some interesting things while i have been here so far-- baobab tree soup (very slimey), palm oil soup, goat, tiney sardine-like fish, fufu, and lots of interesting peppers. Today I also began to learn how to balance things on my head like they do so often here. I balanced a big tub of water to the amusement of many spectators.
Please keep the AMANA conference and everyone in Togo in your prayers! This is truely a poverty stricken country that is in need of much prayer and missions. This conference is so important! (More on that later).
Well its dinner time!
A tout a l'heure!

Luggage finally arrives! - July 11

Good News--
I finally have my bags! They came last night on the flight from France. (Why did they go to France and where else did they go in the 4 days they were missing? If suitcases  could talk . . .). Getting to the airport was truly an adventure. There was a huge storm, and because very few of the roads in Togo are paved, it took almost an hour of navigating flooded roads with lots of holes and potholes to get there. We then had to walk a ways to the airport in ankle deep water! I will never again complain about American roads. lol. I can't imagine what the monsoon season in February is like!

Just so you know, the internet here is very sketchy. It has taken me a very long time to send this email. It keeps going off and back on again. The storm last night took it out for a while and apparently it stops working every once in a while. I just wanted to tell you just in case you don't hear from me for a few days, it's probably because the internet is down.  Also, I will not be able to email Wed-Sat this week because we are taking a trip to the north of Togo to visit Macklann and Rose's homeland and family. It will be very fun, but interesting. We will be living village life for a while with no internet and no electricity.

Tout mon amour!

Lauren

It's a long way from Charlotte, NC to Lome, Togo!

After a tearful goodbye, I waved one more time to mom on the other side of the security lines. I was excited about the trip but a little worried about traveling so far by myself. Those worries were soon gone as I found myself on the plane to Atlanta next to a young woman also headed to Africa. She was part of a medical mission and there were lots of them on the same plane. And, come to find out, they were also on the plane to Ethiopia! God takes care of everything! 

While in Atlanta, I had a taco salad for lunch, knowing it would be awhile before having a fresh salad again. I talked with my fiance' Joshua on the phone and then to my mom. They called to board and I entered the jet on Ethiopia Airlines. It was a prelude to being in Africa with bright colors and African music playing. After everyone found their seats, we were soon given a blanket, pillow, sleeping mask and socks. There were screens in the backs of the seats for individual viewing of movies and shows. This reminded me of the trip to South Africa I took with my mom when I was 12. 

The flight was very long, flying all night and landing in Ethiopia the next morning. I had awhile to wait in the airport before boarding my flight to Togo. I finally landed in Togo around noon and I was soon greeted by Macklann's bright smile. Unfortunately, my luggage did not arrive with me so we headed off to Macklann's home with only my backpack. We thought this might happen so at least I had the necessities and my meds with me, but not a change of clothes. This is going to be an adventure. Here we go--I'm in TOGO!