Through His Lens
I believe that at one point in our walk with the Lord Jesus, we have each come to this realization: “We are only instruments/servants”. Therefore, you will also agree with me that after many years in the service of the Lord that awareness just starts weakening and we simply behave like experts. We start overlooking the preliminaries or we fail to apply the things we teach others to ourselves. If the Lord didn’t test me beforehand, I would have acted like that during my recent trip to Togo.
Before I went to Togo this time, I was thinking about the exhortation I would give to EGCT, our Togo partner church’s leaders, and this came to my mind: Urge them to trust in the Lord and His word for their provisions.
I believe the reason I/the Lord decided to give that exhortation lies in this fact that:
Last year both CIM E.D. and I met with the Togo church’s leaders and heard them share about their difficulties to make ends meet, for they have not been receiving any significant support from their churches through all these years. Therefore, their struggle to shepherd their churches while working different jobs at the same time has become quite agonizing for them, especially during this time when the economy of all the world is doing bad. It’s not that EGCT churches have not been taught on giving for the support of their leaders and their mission works; instead, the reason is that the total amount collected every month as the church’s offerings is always very little that the pastors can’t get their support from it. The church’s members have been giving all that they can but, since their earnings are insignificant, that is also translated through their giving to the church. Most of them have been living in a survival mode, even before country began facing the high increase in gas and other products’ prices. Therefore, CIM agreed since last year to find churches to adopt the leaders and their churches. However, no church among our supporting churches so far has committed to adopting at least one of the three churches we decided to start with. I believe, that was or maybe, one of the things that led me to that choice for my exhortation to the church’s leaders. The Lord says: ". . . seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mat 6:33). So, He is able to provide them sufficient grace and all that they need to walk according to His calling. Therefore, they should start trusting Him more than continuing to dream about the support they will receive from their outside supporters to overlook what the Lord’s grace can now enable them to do for God. It’s clear, our God will never ask us to give more than what we have. He knows us more than we think, and He is also our true provider. While thinking thus, I didn’t know that before I said these words to the church’s leaders, the Lord would put me to test so that I could learn them for myself first, for I wasn’t thinking I too needed them.
Before I took the trip, I booked a room at the Wycliffe Association guesthouse in Lome. The room I booked is one of the several rooms of an apartment, which also has a kitchen. So, I booked it in order to be able to cook my own meals, as I usually do. However, though the stove in the kitchen was working well, there were no cooking pans, or vessels that we could find there before. Therefore, during the two days I spent there, I only relied on the few canned foods I brought with me. I didn’t see that as a problem but instead, as an occasion for me to give thanks to God, that at least I had something for my meals. That was the first test, then came the second.
The third day, I continued my trip to Atakpame town where most of my planned activities with the church were to take place. Here the church’s leaders helped me book a room at a Catholic church’s guesthouse where I used to stay. According to the guesthouse’s rules, the latest time for me to be able to get into the room is 12 pm. Though I didn’t get there till 4:30 pm, the room was still not ready. The reason for that was that there was no water for use in the entire guesthouse. The water that the manager asked his people to bring to us in a small water tank had never been sufficient for all the guests as, to my surprise, new people kept coming and the remaining rooms were all occupied, as well. Therefore, the entire guesthouse quickly became very stinky, for there was not enough water to flush the toilets thoroughly. The manager told me that the problem will be fixed within 5 days, so I told myself: that I need to be patient, for I am not here to find the best room in the town, but for mission. That situation even reminded me of that of our Lord Jesus at His birth on earth. I also thought the owners of the guesthouse must be the persons who caused the problem, that maybe they didn’t pay their bills or pay them on time therefore, they got cut off the town Hydro service’s provision therefore, they would fix the problem quickly. With that thought, I was led to go and show the manager my growing discontentment several times, thinking that would push her to hurry to find a fixing to the problem. After one week had passed and we hadn’t seen any improvement, I was totally depressed so, I asked the church’s brothers to find me another guesthouse to move in but one of them informed me that it’s the whole town that was experiencing the water shortage therefore, the town’s Hydro should be the one to blame for the situation. It’s after I heard the brothers said that, that the Lord also had begun speaking to me. He showed me how I failed the test, for I didn’t see Him in control of my trip and in all that was happening. Though I knew that not only me, but also my prayer supporters were praying for the trip, I failed to see Him in control to give Him thanks this time, or in all circumstances, as His word commands us.
The Lord also caused me to see the sacrifice two EGCT pastors of the church made to bring me some water for my pressing needs, for they belittled their own/family’s need.
That was the Lord’s grace through them for me but I failed to see it, and to give Him thanks. Instead, I lost my joy and kept complaining. I was slow to realize that the situation was to teach me that very lesson that I was about to teach the church’s leaders in just few days later: That we shouldn’t turn our focus to the things we think we should have to better serve the Lord and fail to serve Him with what we have today; we should rather be grateful to God for everything; and be content, as well, even with the little things we have, and invest them in His service, for both we and all that we possess are His. I suddenly felt ashamed of myself, for the leaders were enduring the same situation, even before I went, but they had never expressed their displeasure before me. I believe that was the reason why the Lord made sure that I also learn the lesson first so that I don’t go preaching empty words to the leaders. So I confessed my sins, and as I began to praise the Lord for what He just taught me and for His provision through the two pastors, He mercifully commanded the water not just to run to us but also in a quantity that met our everyday needs. Until I left the town, we had never experienced that water shortage again, while several areas of the town continued to experience. With this experience, I was made ready to speak to the leaders as the Lord wanted me: in humility.
He spoke through me powerfully so that even the hearts of some among the church planters, who often go complaining about their situation, were moved. They didn’t seek any help from their church, as before, but they willingly joined the brothers and sisters, to go with me to the villages to spread the Good News of Jesus. I really gave thanks to the Lord for them, for that wasn’t easy for anyone; that was the time the country was experiencing a gas shortage, and the price skyrocketed (2 times the original price of this year, or 4 times the price I saw there last year); even that didn’t discourage them from paying for their own gas to join us riding on their motorbikes, for I paid for the transportation of the rest of the team.
However, it’s undeniable that the high inflation of all the products’ prices in the country is not only killing the poor people (among whom also is the majority of our partner church’s members), but it is also hindering the church’s effort to obey the Lord’s great commission (ref., Mat 28:18-20). The lack of support for the leaders has been scaring away their young people. Because of that, they have never dreamed of taking the steps of their parents (who are also getting old) in the future to become servants of the Word of the Lord. This tells me they truly need our help, you and me, as Christ’s church, and as Christians, at a time like this, to further God’s kingdom in their country. Let’s not forget about them and their needs to continue praying for them.
As well, I would also like to ask you to pray with us, as I have entered my retirement years now, that the Lord will provide CIM with someone who will replace me, as the new director of CIM Togo ministry.
Thanks, and may the Lord Jesus richly bless you!
Pastor Matthieu Ayena
October Financials 2023
1. General Fund - for general and administrative purposes, such as staff salaries
2. Designated Fund - for specific ministries in different field locations as designated (cannot be transferred between funds)
*All financial figures are in Canadian dollars and rounded to the nearest dollar
Pray With Us:
Pray for the finances of CIM Ministries. Pray for new donors and a healthy general fund to run our ministries. Tuesday, November 28 is Giving Tuesday. Please prayerfully consider giving a donation to CIM to uphold our ministries in Ghana, Togo, and the Roma people group. We have been blessed by so much. Let's bless others with what God has given us. Click here to donate.
Please continue to pray for peace in Ukraine. The invasion rages on and innocent lives are lost each day. Pray for House of Mercy as they take care of refugees, physically and spiritually.
Pray for the pastors and teachers that we support in Ghana and Togo. Inflation is still greatly affecting their lives. Pray for our ministries in Ghana and Togo to share God’s love with the local Africans and help with some of their physical needs. Pray for the formation of STM teams in 2024.
Pray for Rev. Richard Ding, CIM Australia’s missionary to Cambodia. His cancer has spread to his liver. He has started chemotherapy treatments and may need a liver operation. The next few months will be critical.
Pray for CIM USA as they are still looking for an Executive Director as well as a Director of Ministry.