Goals and Schedule
Richard Chowning, August 22, 2000
There are now twenty-five congregations among the Aja.
The Lord continues to amaze me.
His plans for these people are far greater than anything I could have
imagined. There have been
more than 270 baptisms since mid-January.
Nine new congregations have been planted during that same period.
Aja leaders are developing. They are taking on more of the planting and maturation of
churches. They have met together to
solve problems and bury the dead.
The cluster meetings continue to be a catalyst for growth
and maturation. Sunday July 23rd,
approximately 300 Christians gathered at Bakonu. They came from congregations all over Ajaland.
These cluster meetings continue to be used by God to strengthen his
church.
My personal goal is to plant four congregations this year.
Two have already been planted (Agbanate (BAH-nah-tey) and Kansouhoue (kahn-SUE-hwey)).
We are now working with a new preaching point in Senglita (sen-LEE-ta), a
large village. Two months ago leaders from Senglita stopped us as we
were returning from a cluster meeting at Takpaciome (ta-PAW-chee-oh-may).
More than fifty people have attened each of the three meetings there.
I know of at least three villages were Aja evangelists have
preaching points. It is exciting to
see them take on more and more of the evangelism.
Our present weekly schedule is:
Monday, we work on maturating the new congregation at
Kansouhoue (kahn-SUE-hwey).
Tuesday, we work on the final stages of maturating the Badjame (BAH-jaw-may)
congregation. In October, Lord
willing, we will no longer meeting regularly with them.
Thursday, we work on maturing the large, new congregation at Agbanate
(BAH-nah-tey). Friday, we have two
maturation meetings. One at Dadohwi
(dah-DOH-hwee) and the other at Numovihoue (NU-mow-vee-hwey).
Sunday, we worship at one of congregations in the morning, then go to the
preaching point at Senglita (sen-LEE-ta) in the evening.
Four morning each week, we continue to translate and edit
translation of the scriptures with our language helper, Hilaire.
We work many more hours on our own, preparing lessons and translating
scriptures. Cyndi, Hilaire and I
have completed translations of Mark, Acts, Romans, Ephesians, Colossians, 1
Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus.
Other members of the team have completed 1 Corinthians, 1 Peter, 1 John, 2 John,
and 3 John. So, we are half way through the translation of the New
Testament. Many other passages in
the Old and New Testament have also been translated.
Prayer Requests: