Bats, Batik, oh My!

“Je te comprends,” my tutor told me. A felt a sigh of relief, I was understood. Learning languages doesn’t come easy to me. It is a fear of mine that I won’t communicate clearly or get stuck and not know what to do. The last several weeks I have been working with a French tutor. He has been encouraging and helpful to me in growing more confident in French. “C’est bon, Elizabeth.” Thank you for your prayers as I adjust to the language here. I am thankful for my time with my tutor.

School has finished for the summer. School-related activities have come to a pause until September. During this time we have been able to try new cultural experiences. A missionary friend from the Northern hospital was visiting. She invited us to come along as she did some tourist activities. We went to this nearby village where there is a “bat tour.” It’s a place where a lot of bats live. A guide led us through the jungle and told us the history of the bats in that region. “We do not kill or eat the bats. They are sacred.” He took his machete and hit a large tree repeatedly. As the clanging rang through the trees, hundreds of bats filled the sky. The guide explained that long ago, there were two tribes at war. One tribe retreated into the jungle and up the mountain where they discovered a cave. They were not sure of the cave at first because there were a lot of bats. However, they claim that something called for them to enter the cave. So they did and they were safe. The other tribe would not enter the cave because of the bats. They were eventually able to overcome their enemy. They attributed their victory to the bats. Now, every year, the chiefs in the surrounding villages come together to celebrate the bats. There is a special place in the middle of the jungle where they perform the ceremony. We saw the outside of it, but were not allowed to enter. It was an interesting story and experience. My heart felt heavy as I thought about the leaders worshipping the bats and placing their hope in bats. Can bats really save you eternally? No, only Christ can. I pray that these villages come to know the truth about Salvation in Christ alone.

I have a friend who works with a missions organization called Converge. She lives in the capital and does deaf ministry there. They had a deaf leadership training event and invited us to participate. It was a fun experience and we made some great connections. We met two men and a woman who are nationals, Christians, and deaf. One of them was originally from our area. He had many friends that lived nearby. One of the nights we hosted a dinner at the blind center and invited all the deaf that our new friend knew! It was a great and encouraging evening. One of our new friends approached me about a deaf Christian camp that they do every year. They do multiple camps in Lome, but wanted to do one in Kpalime this year. He asked if it could be possible to have it at the blind center. I told him that I would have to ask, but would get back to him. Later on, I asked and was granted permission! The camp is scheduled to be from August 15th -18th . Please pray for the camp that it would go well. Pray for the hearts of the campers as the gospel is shared with them.

Another new cultural experience that we got to try was Batik fabric making. We went to a sewing school where they specialize in Batik fabric. We went with a couple of friends. They had several hand craved stamps that we got to choose from. They then laid out our fabric. They then placed a bowl of hot wax over hot coals. We each took our stamp and placed it in the hot wax. We then stamped the fabric and repeated the process. It was a fun process to be a part of! We then got to choose which color to dye our fabrics. We couldn’t dye them on that day because it was raining and they needed to lay the fabrics out in the sun to dry. They did it for us, and we got them back a couple days later. I loved how they turned out.

As I was waiting for my resident card, I began working with Ariana and getting everything she needed for her resident card application. I didn’t know how long the process would take as everyone that I had talked to was getting different wait times. I was surprised when less than a month after I submitted my application, I got a message saying that it was ready to be picked up! The next day there happened to be a group going down to Lome, so I went along and got it. Praise the Lord! All the documents that Ariana needed came together fast. We were able to submit her application a week later. Hopefully she will get her card soon.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement. It’s exciting to see the Lord working here in Togo. I feel progress being made in both French and ASL. I praise God for that. I am thankful to have Ariana here with me. She has been an encouragement and huge help to me.

God bless,

Liz Ortiz

Prayer Requests:

Pray that Ariana would receive her resident card soon
Pray for the Christian deaf camp that will be on our campus August 15th -18th
Pray for my ability to communicate. I desire to grow in my confidence in speaking French and signing. The difference in accent and vocabulary can be a bit overwhelming at times.
Please pray that I would not be overwhelmed in French or sign language and that I would be able to understand and be understood in the language.
Please pray for wisdom as I develop the ministry. I will be traveling and visiting the different public deaf schools. Pray for protection as I travel and that good connections are made.
Please pray that my application for my resident card would go smoothly and be processed quickly.