Opening 3 New Living Wells 🌍
The First Village: Adewei Cope The village chief and his family joined with the new church of 40 baptized believers to mobilize the entire village for this Living Well inauguration celebration. We were greeted with a cloud of dust as villagers danced, sang, and shouted out their welcome as we drove into the village. The service was held next to the Well under the shade of a newly expanded wing of a grass-roof church structure lined with simple backless benches. Le Pont is paying the young Loso-speaking pastor and his wife a $90 monthly salary for the first year. They are daily in the village ministering the Word of God and praying for the people. Le Pont is working alongside this pastor to make disciples, sponsor children, plant vegetable gardens, and create jobs with small business loans for women through the Prisca Peace Project. “You have saved our lives” Sakpale is in the heart of a Muslim region. Pastor Daniel, his wife Clementine, and a small group of wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ are faithfully and boldly sharing Christ through the new living water well with their Muslim neighbors. The regional director of water and village hydraulics spoke at the well inauguration ceremony. “This is the new standard of water wells for Togo”, he said, pointing to the new structure. Muslim women told pastor Daniel and the church, “You have saved our lives”. They are now open to the gospel. The Third Village: Tantogo Tantogo is located near Togo’s northern border near Dapaong. The living water well is next to a church that faces threats from Muslim extremists crossing the border from Burkina Faso. Again, the entire population turned out for the inauguration ceremonies. My daughter and I were stopped by the Togolese military and not allowed into the area, but our Togolese team was able to enter and lead the celebration. Muslims are responding! Four of our six Living Wells are in primarily Muslim areas. We are seeing fruit. 40 have placed their faith in Jesus and have been baptized. These four Muslim women, and their children, recently became followers of Jesus. They are preparing for baptism. Persecution has not dampened their newfound faith in Christ. Learn more about Living Wells in Sub-Saharan Africa
Moustafa’s Story
“Go quickly and meet your Alpha” As a 10-year-old Muslim, Moustafa started having dreams of a man who walked on water and say to him, “Go quickly and meet your Alpha”. The dreams and visions haunted him well into his late teens. Who is this, Alpha? How can I meet him? He longed for peace from the raging storm of inner confusion and emptiness. He left his home village of Benin, crossed the border into Togo, and got a job working the fields. For the first time in his life, he met a Christian. His name was Yao and quickly became his friend. Yao never spoke to him of Jesus but told Moustafa that he was praying for him. The dreams and visions continued. One night in a dream he discovered that Jesus was the Alpha he had dreamed about since he was 10. But how could this be? He could never believe in Jesus or trust Christians. He was deeply troubled. He sensed from his dreams and his friendship with Yao that perhaps Jesus was the answer to the turmoil in his soul and his search for peace. But it was unthinkable. He had been taught that this was the worst thing that could happen to a Muslim He wrote a suicide note to his friend, Yao, laid it beside his bed, and prepared the acid and cartridges to take his life. “I am tired in this world. I do not want to become a Christian. I will end it all.” At 5 am Yao suddenly awakened, read the note, and went after his friend. He found him preparing the acid and cartridges in a field. He talked to him about Jesus, telling him that He was the Alpha for whom he had been searching. He read to him John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.” Moustafa had seen the love of Christ in Jerome Ethridge, an agricultural missionary from Plains, Georgia who left it all to spend 17 years digging 130 water wells, 23 ponds stocked with fish, teaching farming, and irrigation, and demonstrating the love of Christ for the people of Togo West Africa. Moustafa made a firm decision to trust Christ alone for salvation. “Never in my life have I heard a man talk like this” Moustafa’s life was transformed by the love of God revealed in the message of John 3:16. He experienced great joy and deep inner peace for the first time in his life. He was now a man with a mission. He returned to his home in Benin, to share with the 25,000 Muslims in the region of Bassila this Good News. But his father was furious that he would become a Christian. He tried everything to stop him. When threats did not work, he doused him with gas to set him on fire. Moustafa fled. Another time the father took a machete knife to kill him, wounding him in the stomach. When Moustafa’s sister became a Christian, that was the last straw. He had him arrested on trumped-up false charges of sedition and trafficking his sister. He was brought before the Muslim chief of police. “What do you have to say for yourself”? Moustafa answered. “I am ready to die for the truth and not for a lie”. Don’t you know I could have you imprisoned for life?Then in a miraculous turn of events, the police inspector turned to the accusing father and the gathered crowd. “Never in my life have I heard a man talk like this. This boy’s father has tried to have him eliminated through threats, attempts on his life, and now these charges of blasphemy. This young man is free to choose his own religion. Moustafa, you are free to go.” Moustafa has now planted 25 churches in Benin among Muslim background believers. He gathers the leaders of these churches weekly to teach and pray with them. A movement has begun in the midst of fiery persecution. I have talked with Moustafa daily this week. His courage, faith, and perseverance remind me of Jesus during His last week on earth -falsely accused, arrested, beaten, convicted, and sentenced to death on a cross. All for love. Moustafa, along with countless unknown Christ-followers are suffering daily so others may know the love of God in Christ. Moustafa, his wife, Viviane, and five daughters, live in West Africa. They lead a network of 25 churches. Moustafa also uses African music and dance to reach people. Moustafa’s New Moto! Through the generosity of Le Pont International donors, CMA, and Missionary Ventures, Moustafa, along with 9 other pastors & evangelists can now go to hard-to-reach places with the Good News of Christ this Easter. Pray for him as he trains leaders in 25 villages. Pray for Moustafa’s family and their labor of love among Muslim families Pray for new musical instruments and sound equipment used in open-air gospel meetings.
Celebrate with us the gift of water!
Last week three Togolese villages celebrated the gift of water. It coincided with World Water Day, March 22nd. Three new churches in Adwei Cope, Sakpale, and Tantoga celebrated with friends and neighbors the arrival of a Living Well in their village. To our Le Pont International friends; Thank you for giving! The best is yet to come!! Learn More View all our Living Wells https://www.abridgetoafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Y2Mate.is-Clean-water-for-three-Villages-in-Africa-_Hdd3ifg4No-480p-1655983416119.mp4 We have provided clean water for 6 West African villages. Our goal for 2023 is 15 more Living Wells in water-stressed villages of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo, West Africa. Each Living Well costs $10,000. Click Here To Give
It’s World Water Day!
Le Pont International – your bridge to Africa has just completed three new Living Wells in Togo, West Africa. Today we are celebrating the gift of clean, accessible water in these water-stressed African villages. In the video below women come to fetch water at the new Living Well at the northern tip of Togo in Tantoga, Dapaong. They were so eager for water that they didn’t even wait until the tower and tank were built. Watch Video View all our Living Wells We have provided clean water for 6 West African villages. Our goal for 2023 is 15 more Living Wells in water-stressed villages of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Togo, West Africa. Each Living Well costs $10,000. Click Here To Give Clean Water on World Water Day
We have water!👍🏾
We have water in three new Togolese villages! Friday, March 3rd the village of Adewei Cope, with a population of over 500 received the gift of water! Well drillers tapped into a large aquifer of pure water at 110 meters (360 feet) Watch Video Last November, we drove 5 miles from this village to baptize 40 people in a muddy stream. Women walked there daily to fetch water for their families. Today these women are celebrating. The team then traveled northward to Sakpale, a village of 800. Women and girls walk 6 miles daily to a river to fetch water. Waterborne disease is rampant. The team struck water at 214 feet. Our team is now in Tantoga, a village of 400, at the extreme north of Togo. This is a poverty-stricken area with no wells. Rainwater is collected in puddles. Women walk 6 miles to get water from a river that is dry for several months a year. The conditions are hard to imagine. March 27th all three villages will have fully functioning Living Water Wells. We have just installed our first solar-powered well in a village without electricity. And most importantly, disciples of Jesus Christ are being made in all three villages. Your giving goes a long way. Learn how you can give to our Living Wells Projects
Bandages come off. Espoir can see!
Report on Espoir Here is the translation of Koboyo’s (hugging Espoir) message: “Espoir was released from the hospital this morning. By the grace of God, the operation was successful. God has done a miracle and Espoir (hope) regains the sight of his eyes. Both eyes see now. He will return to school when healing from the surgery is complete.” There is great rejoicing in Togo. Thank you for praying! Learn more about sponsoring a child