We’ve got our hard hats on and we are well into it. After being away for eight months in America, we are back in Togo and the work is … different, more Togolese. In our absence some things went by the wayside, some things were modified, and some things disappeared altogether.

We had thought about this prolonged absence and what would come from it. We thought it would be a good test. We thought God would use that time to bless them with maturity and surety of faith. We thought that some things and some people, even trusted friends, would fall and fail. We thought that others, unlikely candidates would rise to the occasion.

We were right.

All of that came to pass.

So now what do we do. We are thrilled.  We are disappointed.  We are encouraged.  We are holding onto hope.

We reconstruct. Some things we trash, with the help of our Watchi leaders, altogether. Others we modify. Even others we tweak. Through it all, though, we pray.

That is what the hard hat is for. The prayer. The prayer is different from others I have prayed. The prayer is that which was done in the flesh, burn it up and that which is of Spirit, bless it. If it is from me, God, bring the house down around me, but if it is infused with and based on You, God, bless it to thrive.

We are leaving. What will be left? He who was here long before we arrived.

Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.