We have been waiting a long time for this moment. Over eight months ago, Andrew and I had a vision to modify the training we were currently doing in order to equip Togolese believers more effectively to make disciples and start new churches. We quickly realized that this would involve creating our own curriculum that would be(…)
prayer request
Snake Handling (plus a rapid-fire update)
There’s a lot that has been happening lately in our family and ministry, so I’ll jump right in and give you a “rapid-fire” update. Last weekend we held our 8th intensive training at the Oikos School, which went very well. My teaching abilities were stretched to the limit as I taught for 3 hours straight(…)
Land Update
Here’s a quick update about our search for land to build the Oikos School. Rather than rewrite everything, I’ll just share our recent Instagram posts below… Please pray with us for the next few days as we decide on buying this land to build the Oikos School. A photo posted by Jesse Shanks (@moun10addict) on(…)
When it Rains it Pours: Finding Peace in the Storm
I’ll just come right out and say it. Life in Togo is hard. That’s not to say that it’s always hard, or that there are not enjoyable things about it and enjoyable times, but in general Togo is a challenging place to live. Overall, we have adapted to living here and have made a decision(…)
Prayer reminder: Oikos Training #7
Please join us in praying for the three-day training that will begin tomorrow morning (11pm Thursday night on the West Coast) and for all the students and teachers involved. This month we are blessed to welcome a new student, named Dieudonné, who is from an hour north of Kanté in the city of Mango. He is(…)
Prayer reminder: Oikos School training this weekend
Tomorrow begins our sixth training session at the Oikos School for Church Planting. Because we were in the States until July, this will be my first time teaching in the school, which I’m really excited about. Everyone will show up Thursday night for dinner and a fun time of fellowship, then all day Friday, Saturday,(…)
Finally Home
“Home” is a very fluid and hard-to-define thing for a missionary. While back in the States, the question we got asked more than any other was, “Is Togo home to you?” That’s actually difficult to answer. In one sense, yes, it absolutely is; we have our house here with most of our belongings, we have decided to(…)
Prayer reminder – 2nd School Session
Recently at our update presentation, we announced the launch of our school in Togo where we train disciple-makers. We decided to name the school the Oikos School for Church Planting. Our first session took place at the end of February with 15 students. Since that time, Andrew and the teacher/mentors have been traveling all over(…)
Bad News + Big Difficulties = Great Opportunities
Today marks a turning point in our ministry. As I write this blog post, Andrew, Tchéou, and Daré are kicking off our first disciple-maker training course with around 20 students from all over the Lamba region. This has been months in the planning, and we believe that this school will allow us to have a greater(…)
Update on Christiana
First off, I’m very sorry that I wasn’t able to update you about Christiana sooner. The internet was down from Saturday until Sunday evening, but by the time I got home Sunday night I was so exhausted from a very long two days out in villages that I crashed around 1am after talking with Tiffany(…)
Urgent Prayer Request – Christiana
If you have followed our blog for a while now, you have no doubt heard me talk about Tchéou. He was Andrew’s and my first Togolese ministry partner and has become a crucial part of our work. From the time we first met Tchéou, he has asked us to pray for his wife, Christiana, who(…)
Past, Present, and Future Opportunities
In spite of being “stuck” here in the States for an extra six months, we are trying to take advantage of the time we have, and we are already starting to see some of the reasons why the Lord had us stay here longer. There are some exciting things we’d like to share with you(…)