What better way to start your morning than with slimy choclate seafood? Who can resist buyng chocolate clams from an exotic green bird in a tuxedo? How far will generic brand name cereals go to sell a few boxes? Hey, at least they threw in 8 vitamins...
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2007_ACR 2
Uploaded by emersonstogo
This year's All-Church Retreat was a great success! Kabiye Christians from all over the region descended on the village of Soumdina Po Wayi for 2 days of worship, teaching, and fellowship. We were blessed by their enthusiasm and passion, and we thank God that He is building up His kingdom among the Kabiye!
Emerson_Togo_Life
Uploaded by emersonstogo
Here's a small glimpse of our daily life in Togo...you'll have to come visit to get the big picture!
My kitchen skills are improving and I'm gaining confidence as the chef for our family. Yes, those are elephants on the top of my chicken potpie. Just to give you a little idea what went into this meal...here's the way it works: First, have houseworker make pie crusts. Secondly, cook entire chicken, wait for it to cook, wait for it to cool, pull the chicken off the bones and cut into bite sized pieces. Next, follow recipe from cookbook (I actually bought frozen peas and carrots in Ghana) - oh but wait, you can use the water that you boiled the chicken in for the can of chicken broth the recipe calls for so don't throw out the water when the chicken is done. In fact, put the rest of the "chicken water" in containers and freeze it for future recipes. After all that's done and you're sweating because the oven and the stove have completely taken over any cool air in your kitchen (remember, no AC in the kitchen...I'm sure some of you remember days like these), you wait for your masterpiece to become golden in color. Then you grab your bottles of pop, bottle opener, and enjoy a yummy dinner with your family.
Yes, this is the petite maison (little house) that Brett built for our air conditioner that keeps our bedroom cool at night. It is a split unit and the outside part sits on the rood exposed to all sorts of weather conditions (ok, mostly just heat and rain). Now our little AC has a shady place to rest during the day and a dry place to enjoy during the rainy season. I think AC is going to be very happy here.
Thank you to everyone that sent us packages around Valentine's day...they all arrived this week! We were blessed in abundance with real Mac n' cheese, gatorade, cake and cookie mixes, toddler snacks, candy, lotions, magazines, and toys. The best part was they were all surprises, we didn't know anyone was sending us packages. Thanks to everyone who contributed items or helped ship the boxes to us. We are truly blessed to have people who love us like family!
Yes, they really carried most of the boxes on their heads like this!
This was the last item...and it was only 7:45!
Lots of work ahead of us.
Our houseworker, Antionette, was just as excited as we were. 
In my previous post about my friend Nestor from the village of Legue Legue, I talked about how I looked forward to spending more time with him. God has provided in the form of bi-weekly teaching trips to Legue with David Reeves, one of our teammates here in Kara. 
France to Africa
Uploaded by emersonstogo
Here is a short video of our travels from France to Togo. This is just a brief summary; a full length video would be much more eventful!
Caden got to spend some time with the kids in the 2 and 3 year old classes at the school. He jumped right in and started playing blocks with the 2 year olds. They were fascinated by his white skin and smiley face, and a good time was had by all.
We look forward to continuing our relationship with the great people at Village of Hope. Having them down near Accra gives us more friends close by, and it makes West Africa feel just a little bit smaller...
...to pray for our container as it makes it's way to our new home. Brett took these pics on the mountain pass near Kara last week when he and David were heading down to Lome. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon sight to see! 
Finals. Are. OVER!!! Yep, we made it through our semester of French with flying colors. We're not fluent or anything, and we know that our time as students of the French language is far from over, but God has blessed us with what we need for right now.
...started to get ready to go to the store, and you couldn't remember what country it was in??? Sounds strange, but it happened to us yesterday. We went to Geneva, Switzerland to get Caden a yellow fever shot and to apply for Ghanaian visas for April and Caden. We had to stay overnight because the doctor's office that gives vaccinations was only open in the afternoon and the Ghanaian Embassy was only open in the morning, and we had to have the shot for Caden before we could apply for the visas...
He who forms the mountains,
The clouds rolled in late yesterday afternoon, providing us with this beautiful snapshot out our bedroom window. We love waking up to the mountains, eating with the mountains in the background, walking to the store with mountains all around...basically we just love it here! School starts in a week, so that will change things a little (OK, alot), but one thing that won't change is the mountains. Except in a few months they'll be covered in snow...
The process has begun! Thank you to everyone that had been praying for this. After waiting over an hour, it was our turn to talk to the "lady behind the glass". Once again, Caden was a hit...even among the French. At first, we were told we would have to make an appointment to come back and apply for Caden's visa since he wasn't actually a student. Then, after she talked to someone back in the office, she said they were going to make an exception and just take care of Caden's visa for us without an appointment. The only thing we have to do is mail in a few items that weren't acceptable the way we had brought them and then we can pick our visas up in about two weeks. Praise God! This is one more item we can check off our to-do list.
We're back from a week in Texas, and it was a blessed trip. Our journey had a dual purpose; to spend time with family and friends and do some fundraising. Both ventures were successful, and we came home tired but very satisfied with how things went.
They say it's all in the details, and our lives are good examples of that right now. The details involved in moving to Togo can be pretty overwhelming, but we feel like we're doing pretty good. Caden's passport just arrived, our visas applications for Togo are in D.C, we have purchased our plane tickets (we leave August 22nd from Birmingham), and our apartment is a chaotic mess of boxes, some empty, some full, some in between.
Count me among those who think that having a passport for an 8-month old infant is kind of silly. The main reason I think it's ridiculous is that we had to take him to get passport photos yesterday, and the passport for a child is good for FIVE years. That means that when he is 5 1/2 years old, he will still have his 8-month old picture in his passport! Now that is just crazy. He will hardly even be recognizable by his picture, and we'll probably get stopped by customs in every country we visit; he kinda looks like an international man of mystery, you know.
Not only will it help the U.S. team if the Ghanaians can beat the Czech Republic today, but we just generally want to pull for the West African nations. Ghana is the best of them, and if the U.S. doesn't advance, we hope that Ghana can as a consolation prize.
Well, even though we lost 2-1 to the Koreans, it was a valiant effort. When you're leading 1-0 at halftime, it's a little disappointing to lose, but after going a man down when Abalo received his 2nd yellow card, I figured we were finished. The Koreans are just too skilled and experienced to hold off when you're playing with only 10 men.
