 Preparing for women's baptism Prisons
During Shirley's first visit to Togo, she ministered in a juvenile prison to about 20 or so children – aged from 5-15, and typically serving up to 5 years for stealing something valuable. (The system in Togo is that you are guilty until proven innocent!) Pastor Sika has a well-developed team that goes into the prisons on a regular basis, and it was encouraging that these youngsters could quote scriptures and seemed to genuinely love the Lord. In the women’s prison we were able to celebrate the first ever baptism there as eight female inmates who had given their hearts to Jesus, wanted to make a public declaration of their faith. One of them was a well-educated Moslem woman who had made the difficult decision to convert to Christianity, although it meant being ostracized by her family. It was especially moving to watch as these women were baptized in a hole dug in the ground, lined with tarpaulin and filled with water. It was beside the waste water and garbage dump in the back of the prison, and these women could have been humiliated but instead, we believe Heaven was rejoicing because of the decision they had made to obey Christ!
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 Christian school in LoméSchools
The public education system consists merely of the government providing some poor school buildings, and children have to buy uniforms and books, as well as pay for their tuition (which provides the “salary” for the school teachers). As a result, many children cannot attend school and so there is little chance of their lives being improved. One Christian school (with over 100 students) has been in operation for several years but they have just been told they will be evicted, as the owner needs to sell the property – he is asking the “going price” of $17,000 US for the half acre with dilapidated buildings in a poor neighborhood near the center of Lomé!! The teachers naturally sought Shirley's help in hope of buying the property, but she could only encourage them that God already knew about the problems and HE has a plan and will guide them as they put their trust in Him.
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 Seminar in villageSeminars
Shirley taught a 4-night seminar to around 150 people in Lomé, and afterwards about 35 of them came forward to commit to further training. Pastor Sika then met with them weekly to help them develop their own children's ministries as well as work with him to reach other areas of the capital city. On three afternoons Shirley taught another children’s ministry seminar in Sika-Kondji and was very impressed by the eager willingness to learn of the 91 teachers, pastors and others. Diplomas were given out at the end, and 26 made the commitment to continue to work with Pastor Sika as a special team to reach out and teach children in the surrounding area, including the pagan villages.
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 village sceneSika-kondji
Shirley and Sika's team spent five days in Pastor Sika’s home village of Sika-Kondji in a remote area near the eastern border with Benin. In fact it was only about 50 miles from the capital, but the final 10 miles took about 3 hours each time due to the terrible condition of the road, which was almost impassable!! The life there is indeed very different – with no electricity; only very few motorcycles and no other car; and no store, as extremely few goods are brought in from outside. There is ample evidence of idol worship and obvious lack of contact and education from outside the area. There are a few churches in the village and apparently about half its population is Christian, but many people still remain in bondage of fear and superstition. Many idols can be seen around the village – including even two small pebbles along the road, each with a pair of eyes painted on it!!
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 crossing the river into BeninPagan villages
One day was spent visiting three other villages which are inaccessible by road. None of them has a church or any Christian witness but Pastor Sika had visited them to see if they would allow the team to speak to the children. Because of cholera, AIDS and lack of medical help, each village desperately needs help for its many orphans, and so each of the chiefs was keen for us to visit. The only way to reach them was to travel by motorbike and cross the river into Benin in dugout canoes. Shirley had never before shared the Gospel in a pagan village, under the sacred tree and in front of the village idol – but God was faithful to give His anointing, and children and adults alike were very attentive! She shared how the Bible can give us hope and encouragement as we seek to serve Jesus, and it promises that if we trust God and all work together, God will meet the needs. As for our part, we will work with Pastor Sika’s team to send them promise books and other bible verses to give to children and adults alike.
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 Sika with chief on land donated for JPOrphanage plans
Pastor Sika started an “orphanage” there in Sika-Kondji a few years ago, although there is no actual building and at present the 47 orphans are cared for in local homes. They meet up weekly for bible study and special activities and whenever possible the team brings food or clothes to help. However when Shirley met with the village chief, he agreed to donate some land to build an orphanage there! She talked at length with Pastor Sika about a plan to develop the orphanage to be partially self-sufficient, so that the children can learn basic rules for hygiene and disease prevention; how to grow vegetables and raise chickens and milk goats; and learn to put their faith in God to meet their needs. She promised we will continue to help provide Christian literature, as well as research useful information to help them develop the land. She encouraged the new CM team and the various churches in the village to all work together to develop the orphanage, which could become a wonderful working model demonstrating the power of God, so that other villages would want to start similar orphanages. After Shirley's return home to Texas, the vision of the Joseph Project was birthed and work has already begun to grow corn and peanuts on the land donated by the chief as shown in this photo - to learn more, follow this link Joseph Project Orphanage
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