Back to School!
Pulling up to the school is one of my favorite moments of the week. The students come running from their classrooms, excited that I have arrived. They love to help carry in the boxes of books, craft supplies, and flannel graph boards. Several usually greet me with a big hug, and others want to hold my hand and walk with me to the classroom. One student, when he learns a fact, loves reciting it. Every time I arrive, he greets me and reminds me that he knows my name is Liz. At camp, this same student loved reminding people that Jesus is God. The days at the school can be chaotic, but I love them just the same.
I had a proud teacher moment. One the students, who I will call E, has some learning disabilities. He normally doesn’t give the right response or will fall asleep in class. But this year seems to be different. I start my teaching time with taking attendance. I fingerspell each student’s name. Usually, after fingerspelling E’s name, the students are calling him out and nudging him that his name was called. Last week, I fingerspelled E’s name and E stood up and said he was here! No one nudged him. I was shocked. It may have been random luck, but I’m taking it as a win. It feels good when you see progress being made and some things are sticking.
In Togo, it is common for everyone to have multiple names. For those in the Ewe tribe, everyone is given a name for the day that they were born on. If a baby is born on the same day as a sibling or parent, they change the ending of the baby and/or the older person’s name by adding -gã (means big or senior) or -vi (means little or junior). Some people go by their day name, others go by a name that the parent picked out. It can be confusing at times hearing different names for the same person. I usually need to clarify that we are talking about the same person.
In my last newsletter I shared about two brothers, Kossi and Komla. I found out that their mother mixed up their names. They have an older brother named Kossi, and the middle brother is named Kodjo. The two younger brothers are deaf. This month I formed a small “kids club” with Kodjo and Komla who live not too far from me. They come with my friend, a pastor’s wife, every Wednesday afternoon after school to my house. They are 8 and 15 years old. Their understanding of language is minimal. We spend an hour working on language development. My goal is to strengthen their language base and then shift into Bible lessons. We have only been meeting for a few weeks and I am already seeing progress being made. Please pray for Kodjo and Komla as they continue to learn. Pray also for wisdom as I develop this ministry.
Thank you to everyone who gave towards my Amazon birthday wishlist of ministry supplies back in April! The container arrived in Togo a few weeks ago! It was fun unboxing all the ministry goodies that you gifted. I brought a box of new books to the school. The kids were excited to receive them. Several of them opened the books and sniffed them telling me they loved the new book smell. They were also thrilled about the new craft supplies. Thank you so much for supporting this ministry!
God bless,
Liz Ortiz
Prayer Requests:
I started Bible study with the blind girls again. It is going well. Please pray for their hearts. There are 17 girls who are participating in the Bible study.
Pray for my Wednesday kids club. Pray that the brothers would grow in the knowledge and understanding in language. Pray for wisdom as I develop this ministry.
I'm meeting with 9 of blind girls each week for them to practice reading their braille Bibles. Pray that this is an encouraging time.
My neighbor, Hannah, arrived safely in South Africa. Pray for her as she adjusts to life and ministry in South Africa.
This is a season of transition. Our campus at the Village of Light is changing. Pray for the Ward family, Beky, and me as we adjust to this transition. Pray that we can welcome the Nykapo family well. Pray for the Nykapos as they adjust to life and ministry here in Togo. Pray for Hannah as she adjusts to life and ministry in South Africa.
Pray for the students at both the deaf school and the blind school.
Pray for someone(s) to join me in the ministry full time.
Praises:
Praise the Lord that I received my resident card!
Praise the Lord that the school year has started off well!
·I got new neighbors! The Nykapo family arrived safely with all the luggage to Togo. Please continue to pray for them as they settle into life and ministry here.
Praise the Lord that the container arrived in Togo!
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