A Passport for an 8-Month Old???

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.

Anyways, we're sending in his passport application today, not because we think it's terribly necessary, but because some "wise" government official thinks it is. A social security card would suffice; maybe even his birth certificate; but alas, we're spending another 60-something bucks so that Caden can have his picture on a piece of laminated paper for international travel. Oh well, at least he's adorable!

Bummer

Togo lost today to Switzerland, 2-0, officially eliminating them from the tournament. They didn't play well, but Switzerland was clearly the better team. Let's just hope that Togo can build on this World Cup experience and come back better prepared to compete in 2010.

There is still one important game remaining, however. In an interesting twist of fate, Togo's next game is against one of their imperialist colonizers, the French! Go Hawks!

We're Pulling for Ghana Today

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.

As I write, Ghana is up 1-0 on a quick goal by Asamoah. Bringing it West Africa style baby!


UPDATE: Ghana added another goal for a 2-0 victory! Plus the U.S. is currently tied 1-1 with Italy, and they're a man up for the rest of the game!

Togo World Cup Update

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.

So who's to blame? Not Mohamed Kader. He scored a brilliant goal on a hard grounder that barely hit the post before finding the back of the net. (This pic is the team celebrating Kader's goal. Gotta love it!) If there is any blame to go around, it falls on Togo's soccer federation for causing all of the chaos in the days before the match. You're in the World Cup for the first time ever; NOW PAY YOUR PLAYERS!!! Seriously, just getting there was huge, because many people, Americans especially, have never even heard of Togo. These players fought hard to give their country some world recognition, and they are rewarded with a contract squabble. Anyways...

The Togolese definitely played with more heart than the U.S. team. That game was an embarressment, but this is our AFRICA blog, and we will not speak of such things here.

Togo's next match is against Switzerland on June 19th. It's a winnable game for them if they can just focus. Switzerland is just so...neutral. Prediction: Togo 3, Switzerland 2. Go Hawks!!!

Prayer Answer

We received a very generous donation from the Bell Trust while we were away in California. Thanks for your prayers on this matter! We thank God for trusting us with so much...

Prayer Request

In one week the Bell Trust meets to consider hundreds of applications from missionaries needing funding in some way, shape, or form. The packet from Grace Pointe on our behalf is among those applications. We ask everyone who reads this blog to pray that the Bell Trust would continue to be blessed with wisdom as they make decisions on how best to use the blessings they have been given, even if that doesn't involve us at all. While we still have a big need for startup funds to help us get Togo, we know that our needs may be secondary to others' needs. We are just thankful that there are groups like the Bell Trust out there who have a passionate heart for missions. May He continue to be glorified in all the earth!

Mission Weekend Recap

2006_Mission_Weekend_Recap
Video sent by emersonstogo

We give God the praise and glory for the success of Mission Weekend.
We say thank you to the GracePointe Church for being His hands. This video was made to remember the amazing weekend of April 29-30, 2006.

An Obsessive Compulsive Monkey

An Obsessive Compulsive Monkey
Video sent by brettemerson91

I took this video in Togo during the summer of 2003. This is what I would do if I was chained up all day too. I'm not a big fan of chaining monkeys to a wall...

Saturday Evening Vespers Service

The night before Mission Sunday, we had a vespers style service to kick off our 12 hour overnight prayer vigil. It was an amazing time of worship, testimony, and prayer, and everyone who attended was blessed by the Spirit being present. I have asked myself over and over, "How did Mission Sunday happen? What did God see happening at GracePointe that He chose to honor and bless?" Well, there are alot of things worth mentioning, but at the top of the list I would have to put our commitment to prayer and the retreating of ourselves. We put great effort into stepping back and not letting our agendas get in the way. I believe that when we seriously commit ourselves to something through prayer, we are acting the way God created us to, and He will bless us.

The 12 hours of prayer is still resonating through the halls and hearts of the GracePointe Church. I'm sure there will be more vigils in the future, and even more participation because of the testimonies of those who were able to particpate in this one. May we continue to seek Him in prayer as a family, and may He continue to honor our commitment to His purposes!

Also, I really like this picture I took before the service began!

4KYS

4KYS? What does 4KYS mean? Glad you asked!

4KYS can be translated to mean, "$4,000.00 Yard Sale". In case you were wondering, this pic is what a 4KYS looks like.

A yard sale that raises $4,000.00 is a pretty tiny portion of a $105,000.00 Mission Sunday offering, but it was so much more valuable than it looked on paper. The yard sale was the rallying focus of a large part of the weekend, and it really brought our church together in a big way, a way that was the perfect beginning to a weekend where we at GracePointe truly experienced something special.

The fact is that the yard sale required the most physical effort of any other part of Mission Weekend. Some brothers and sisters who willed themselves out of the comforts of their beds for the prayer vigil from about 12-6 AM Sunday morning will surely disagree, but it is definitely true that pulling off the yard sale took a Herculean effort.

Have you ever noticed that working hard together binds people in a special way? The effort and dedication of people like Arlene Morris, Ann Walker, Sandra Largen, Tamara Fox, Joy Emerson, and a great host of able-bodied men to do their bidding was at the core of the success of the yard sale. We are so thankful for this special church family that we have become a part of! God is faithful to us, and we pray that He will continue to bind us together as we begin our work among the Kabiye!

It Rained Today

Today was the long awaited Missions Sunday at GracePointe, our sponsoring congregation. The basic idea is to raise all of the money for missions for the entire year in one Sunday. GP supports us and also provides partial support for a missionary in Guatemala with Health Talents International, a medical mission organization. The final portion of GP's commitment to mission work is beginning a fund that can help our own members go out with the church's financial and spiritual support.

The missions committee set a goal of $75,000 for the financial support of these 3 goals. Needless to say, when you're trying to raise this much money, you never really know what will happen. Some people were very confident that we could raise this much cash, while others were a little more...nervous. It was definitely a challenge to everyone's faith, and we all learned alot about trusting in the Lord and sacrificial giving.

Our theme for the weekend was God's rain contrasted with God's reign. One sustains us physically, the other sustains us spiritually, and both are necessary to carry out God's purposes in the world.

So the whole time you've been reading this, you're probably thinking, "Ok, ok, tell us how much was raised already!" I can understand that. We have exhausted ourselves praying, planning, preparing, and working, and all the while we have wondered, sometimes aloud and other times secretly, "Can we really raise this much money in one Sunday?" GracePointe is a church of only about 300 people, and it takes more than just pulling the change out from underneath the cushions on the couch to raise $75,000. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and He was gonna have to sell a few if we were going to reach the goal that was set. The committment to missions that GracePointe has made was tested by the Lord, and they passed, if you can call obliterating the goal just simply passing...

Ok, ok, we raised $105,000!!!God be praised, our brothers and sisters at GracePointe be thanked, and we ask everyone who knows and loves us to join in our rejoicing in this amazing blessing! The floodgates of heaven were opened on us and on our church. I've always loved playing in the rain...

A Truly Rich Gift

As you may already know, our team is committed to teaching the Kabiye people about God in their own language. Many of them can understand French, but Kabiye is their heart language, and the Gospel penetrates more deeply when they can hear the Word of God in this way.

The New Testament has been translated into Kabiye, and the Old Testament is being translated as I write this post, but there is still a major problem: Out in the rural villages, only about 10-20% of the people can read and write. What good is the written Word if you can't understand what it says? Let me share with you the powerful way in which the Lord solves this problem.

First, there is an organization called Faith Comes By Hearing (https://www.hosanna.org/). They have made it one of their missions to provide tape recordings of the Bible in over 140 languages. Kabiye happens to be one of those languages. For just $30, we can give the Kabiye people the written word of God in spoken form. Not only can they hear the Word in their own language, but using these tapes in conjunction with a written New Testament can help them learn to read.

Second, the Lord led me to teach at Lighthouse Christian Academy here in Montgomery. I absolutely love my students, and I was blown away recently when they raised over $300 to send 10 sets of tapes with me to present as gifts to some of the Kabiye churches last month. My students give money all the time to buy nachos so the seniors can go on a cruise, for blow pops so the 6th graders can have a pizza party, and they blow hundreds of dollars a week on junk food in our cafeteria (nothing personal lunch ladies!). When presented with an opportunity to give to something that will last, something that was meaningful and bigger than them, they stepped up in a big way.

So praise be to God that He raised up Faith Comes By Hearing and the students at LCA to provide the Kabiye with the ability to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ in thier own language. This was a truly rich gift!

Oh Yeah, I Went to Amsterdam Too

On the way over to Africa last month, I had a 6 hour layover at Schipol International in Amsterdam. 6 hours is WAY too long to spend in an airport, especially when one of Europe's great cities is just a 15 minute train ride away. Despite it's better known reputation as a haven for, shall we say, shady activities, it is actually a very beautiful city with plenty to see, even for the casual traveler.

There are two things that Amsterdam has in abundance: bikes and canals. When you think of canal cities in Europe, your mind probably goes to Venice, Italy. Venice is great and a true jewel, but Amsterdam has just as many canals as Venice, if not more. I don't know what it is precisely, but canals just give a city a certain amount of character. And then there's the bikes. EVERYONE in Amsteram has a bike. It often seems as if the bikes outnumber the people, and they even have parking garages dedicated to the storage of thousands and thousands of bikes. Again, the bikes everywhere give the city a great amount of character.

My stop was brief, about 2 or 3 hours, but it was a great experience. I found a beautiful church that was open to the public, which was good, since it was only about 30 degrees out and I didn't have a jacket. I also took lots of city shots. This pic shows my three favorite things about Amsterdam: The canals, the bikes, and the beautiful architecture. So next time you come and visit us in Togo, try to fly Northwest/KLM, and you're sure to get a good long layover in Amsterdam and a chance to experience one of Europe's truly beautiful cities!

Greetings and Goodbyes Are All I'm Good For

At least for now. If this pic was a video, you would be hearing my very limited Kabiye language skills on display. I'm probably telling this guy, "pilaba cee" (pih-lah-bah chay), or "see you later". The smile on this man's face shows some of the great things about the Kabiye people - their kind nature, helpfulness, and willingness to accept others.

I no doubt butcher their language at every attempt to communicate, but they still smile, answer back, and they often try to help me with my pronunciation or word choice. Try going to France and butchering the French language to a stranger on the streets of Paris. I've done it several times, and it's often not a pleasant experience. The French may have good toast and fries, but I'll always prefer the rice and beans in a Kabiye village with a side order of mercy when I habitually speak Kabiye like the ignorant young missionary that I am...

Are you reading this?

If you read our blog...we want to know! We enjoyed our weekend in Searcy and sharing Caden with lots of friends. As we talked about our lives, so many times people responded with, "Oh yea, I read that on your blog!" Really?! We had no idea so many people were reading this other than our family and a few friends. So, I want to ask you to help us out... if you read our blog, please leave us a comment. You don't have to have an account with "Blogger".

Simply click on comments below, a new screen will open and all you need to do is write a comment or just type your name in the box titled Leave your comment. Then you have several options: 1. if you do have a "Blogger" account, sign in and post 2. click other and enter your name (no web page required) 3. click anonymous ...but be sure to include your name in your comment.Once you've done that, click Publish your comment.

Your comment will then appear on our blog and we (and others) can see who is reading. Don't worry, no information (other than your name) will appear on our blog...unless you choose to type it in your comment.

Thanks for helping us! Each comment is always encouraging to us...feel free to leave one any time!

My First Million

I flew into Ghana last month on my trip to Togo, which was great in more ways than one. First, the airport is MUCH nicer than the one in Lome, the capital of Togo. Not only is it physically a better facility, but Ghana is an English speaking country, which makes the chaos of arriving in Africa a little more manageable for the linguistically deficient.

But that's not the best thing about being in Ghana. You see Ghana is where I made my first million. Ok, so it wasn't a million DOLLARS, but it was still a million. The morning after I arrived, Matt took me to the ATM machine to get some cash. I needed some money for gas, baskets, and some food, which would all together cost about a hundred bucks. So how many Ghanaian Cedis does it take to equal around one hundred US dollars? Yep, ONE MILLION. This smells like some serious currency and economy issues for Ghana, but no matter, because it was here that I could ride in style with my first million...

Nestor

Nestor is an old man who lives in the remote Kabiye village of Legue-Legue. Legue happens to be where I had my bonding experience during internship in 2003, and I spent alot of time with Nestor and his family during that time. That time mostly consisted of playing Mancala and drinking sollum, Nestor's two favorite pastimes. At the end of my stay in Legue, I traded Nestor an empty 1.5 liter water bottle and a DARE t-shirt for a handmade Mancala board, which is now one of my prized possessions.

On my trip in March, I was able to visit with Nestor once again. He had changed quite a bit, especially in the gray hair department, as you can see in this picture. Nestor has always been a nominal Christian. He has a disability with his legs due to a case of polio he had as a young man. He can hardly walk, so he doesn't really do much. He is a fiesty old guy who often comes to church meetings just to run his mouth and aggravate others.

So why am I blogging about Nestor? Because I genuinely like the guy. He is funny, energetic, inviting, hospitable, and just fun to be around. He doesn't possess all of the qualities I usually look for in friends, but I am still drawn to him nonetheless. Nestor to me is a testimony of how God bridges gaps between all things. My barriers with Nestor are linguistic, cultural, generational, and even personal. But I just like the guy! I can't help it, he is just a magnetic person for me. I look forward to spending more time with him come January. He was always helpful to me with language, and if nothing else, I think it would help me with culture shock to sit with Nestor outside his compound, play a little Mancala, drink a little sollum, speak a little Kabiye, and further a friendship that is only possible because God made it so.

Our New Home

One of my main goals for my trip to Kara last month was to secure housing for our family. Dave and Andrea took me to look at several places, but we finally settled on the home of our former teammates, Don and Jane Neal. They just left Togo a few weeks ago, and their house is pretty much ready to move into. We are also going to rent or purchase the lot next door to the house to expand the yard for the kid(s) as well as some cool ideas I am saving for the future.

The first picture is me outside the gate of our new home with our houseworkers, who we are adopting from the Neals. From left to right they are Acqualo(sp?), Antoinette, and Eric. Antoinette will be our house helper, cooking and cleaning and whatnot. Acqualo and Eric will be our night guards and outside workers. They seem to be very sweet people and we look forward to getting to know them better.

The second picture is the front of our house. The complex is too big to show you all of it, but I may post more pictures of the inside and the grounds in the near future.

The last picture is the view from our roof, one of my personal favorite features. We have roof access via a staircase attached to the garage, and the surface area is huge. I look forward to me and this mountain becoming very good friends. It's just a 5 minute drive to the base!

So this will be our next home, not counting our 3 months in France. I can't imagine that France will ever feel like home, although we are very excited about living in the French Alps for a few months! Please pray that we will have faith in God to provide everything that we need to move into our new home in January 2007!

The West Africa Experience

We actually saw 2 lions, a male and his female partner, on our safari to Pendjari National Park in Benin. You may notice that this male lion looks a little different than the ones you've seen on the Discovery Channel. First of all, even though this is a fully mature adult male, he's a little on the small side as far as the King of the Beasts are concerned. Second, he lacks a prominent mane. These are the two main differences between East and West African lions.

Even though his appearance is not quite as impressive, this lion sighting was actually much more exciting than an East African sighting. Why you ask? Because in East (and South) Africa, viewing lions is more like going to a zoo. They are so used to people that they usually just sit there and pay you no mind. Two of my teammates, Matt Miller and Dave Reeves, recently went on safari in Kenya, and they both much prefer the West African experience. Viewing a lion in the wild in West Africa is actually a pretty rare experience, even though there are plenty around (Pendjari alone has over 300 lions).

West Africa is much less glamorous than East or South Africa. They don't film movies here. Teddy Roosevelt never hunted the Big Five here. AND it is hotter than the surface of the sun here. But West Africa doesn't get enough credit. It has amazingly diverse wildlife and landscape, without the touristy feel and nonchalant attitude of the animals. So please, by all means, continue taking your vacations in other parts of this vast continent, and my teammates and I will continue to enjoy the unspoiled beauty of the place we have been blessed to call home!

Trip Thoughts

Well, I'm back from Togo and readjusting to life at home. I would have just jumped right in were it not for the sickness I acquired my last 2 days in Kara. Even though my trip ended on a negative note with a double case of malaria and an intestinal ameoba, I have chosen to only look at the positives of my trip. Sure, being sick is a reality and I accept that, but I will not let it define my trip. That being said, on the plane home I wrote down many of the positive things that happened on my trip that I will share now.

1. Being in africa again, specifically in Togo, felt very right and very normal. That is a gift from God.

2. The long drive from Accra to Kara with Matt. We had more good talks than we knew what to do with.

3. The Sunday Legue-Legue village visit. Being able to reconnect, be remembered, and have an impact in just a few short hours was very encouraging. Watching my teammates (in this case Matt) work again is highly motivating for me. Also, seeing the rest of the Miller family interact with the people in the village was good too. We may have missed church, but I feel like we were able to do some good ministry in its place.

4. Just spending time with the team as a whole. I realized that I really like these people we have committed to as teammates. They are genuine, funny, spiritual, loving, caring, adventurous people. The chemistry is there for many years of bonding.

5. I was consciously and subconsciously resurveying Kara. I learned that life has changed quite a bit in the last 3 years in this little Kabiye town. More comforts, more amenities, more stuff available, and a growing city were very encouraging to see.

6. Observing missionary family life again. I look forward to hours and hours of family time that we otherwise may have missed out on in the states. I also am glad that we have three sets of very experienced parents to learn from.

7. Seeing how well Matt, Dave, & Bryan are doing in language. Their language, interaction, and temperament when working with the Kabiye people has grown a lot in the last 3 years. I know that they will be invaluable as I learn these things for myself.

8. Finding us a place to live. April and I have decided to move into the Neal's old house. Even though we went back to our original choice, I am glad that i was able to go through the process. I learned a lot and I think that we are going into a really good situation.

9. Getting video footage with Matt at Katchade (*sp?). The footage I got, along with pics and videos from Bryan's computer, will give us some great stuff to use leading up to and after Missions Weekend at Grace Pointe.

10. I got lots of helpful spoken advice and written documents from our teammates. The Reeves gave us some very useful start-up stuff and the Millers and the Rieses also gave us some good information. I also look forward to getting info from the Neals now that they are stateside, and I feel much more knowlegable and prepared for what lies ahead in the coming months.

11. SAFARI! We saw lions. Enough said.

12. The long drive with Bryan from Kara to Accra. It was good to learn more about Bryan. I really enjoyed our drive and I look forward to many more in the future.

13. Even though it's #13, I consider this to be the main positive that I took from this trip. I was blessed with a reconfirmation of God's calling for the Emersons to the Kabiye. May He reveal many more truths to April and me in the weeks ahead. I thank Him and praise Him for his faithfulness during this trip.

Thanks for your prayers. Pictures to follow!