Foufou is a staple food in several West African countries. When I was in Togo and Benin last July, I saw how it was made. Take a look at some of the process in these photos.
Peeling the yams.
Grinding the yams
…then the yams are boiled…
Then they are pounded.
The finished product with sauce.
You can make it at home. Read these instructions.
Popularity: 31% [?]
Dr. Napo Jeremie Poidi grew up in a non-Christian family in a small town in Togo. He had his first encounter with the gospel when the Gideons gave him a Bible. “When I left [my home] to continue school, then I really began to go to church, and I gave my life to Christ. “
In university, he joined a fellowship of Christian students. One evening a Wycliffe missionary came and spoke to the group. “He talked about Bible translation and why it was so important.”
Napo said that he asked God how his people could have the gospel in their language–Basar. 157,000 people in Togo and Ghana speak Basar. “It was at that very meeting that the Lord spoke to me and said that this is what the He wanted me to be involved in.”
At first Napo’s family did not want him to be involved in Bible translation. They thought he should get another kind of job. However, during Napo’s time in his home town, his whole family came into relationship with Jesus Christ. “My family has now been a spiritual support to me.”
In 1990, the New Testament in Basar was complete. Napo started to share the vision of Bible translation all around Togo.
That led to the birth of Wycliffe Togo in 2000. Napo serves as the Executive Director.
Today, Wycliffe Togo continues to cast vision for Bible translation, encourages mother tongue literacy, encourages people to use the mother tongue scripture that is available, and is sending Togolese out to work in more Bible translation projects.
“To me, the word of God being translated is not just stories. I’ve been through it. I know how it transforms.”
Popularity: 12% [?]
Evelyn lives in Lome, the capital city of Togo, but she grew up in a rural area. Her father owned a few houses in the town where she grew up, and at one point two foreign women moved into one of them. Evelyn was assigned to collect rent from them. The presence of the two women was welcomed by some in her town and a bit controversial for others. Evelyn said that she didn’t understand the conflicting points of view at first. Later she learned that the two women were linguists. They were learning the language of her home area, working with the community to create an alphabet and a system of writing. They were also beginning work on translating the Bible.
Today, she prays that others will have the word in their language like she does. She participates in Wycliffe Togo’s intercessory prayer group every Friday evening. They pray for the Bible translation projects in their country, Wycliffe Togo staff, and those who don’t yet have scripture available in their mother tongue.
Popularity: 4% [?]
We spent time with a group of seven church leaders talking about the church in Togo, its role in the country, the impact of mother tongue scriptures, and need for more translation of scriptures and literacy courses to take place. These church leaders represent several church federations that together represent hundreds of local denominations across the country. Wycliffe Togo is taking a leading role in communicating with churches and church federations about Bible translation and literacy needs in their country, and they are encouraging the active use of existing translated scripture. Below is some of what these leaders shared with us.
“The challenge is you preach in French or even preach in a local language, but when you read the Bible, it’s often done in English and French.” We have to do more to encourage the use of available scriptures and translate for those that don’t have it.
“Those who teach feel more at ease when they read the Bible in their local language because they are confident it is understood.”
“There is a lady [in one of our local churches] who can only read in her language. The whole Bible is available in it. The pastor asked her if she would be at this level of faith without the Bible. She said no, and that is why she supports the work of Bible translation.”
“It is our turn to be involved and help others to have the Bible in their language. The church is involved, but they need to more–more translation and literacy. Literacy because it is only when people can read that they will be impacted [by scripture].”
“When you read in French and then translate it [verbally], they question if that is really what it means in their language. When [a written Bible] translation is done, it helps people to understand that God’s word is not just for white people.”
“In the church [some] people feel they can only pray in French. They say they can’t pray because they don’t speak French. More needs to be done with pastors in literacy so they can read and preach in their [local] languages”
“As you do evangelism, and you meet someone who speaks your language and you speak to them and read in your language, it has a bigger impact.”
“In the past when we would have a wedding ceremony, the pastor would just read it in French.” The couple would just answer ‘yes’ to the vows without really understanding what they had agreed to. “But, now even this can be translated.”
Popularity: 5% [?]
Wycliffe Togo officially launched April 29, 2000 in Lome, Togo. It started from a vision to see Togolese engage in Bible translation and language development as missionaries sent from their local churches. Wycliffe Togo currently has six people assigned to language projects in Togo. Dr. Napo Jeremie Poidi is the founder and serves as the executive director. We met with their office staff including those that lead personnel, training & orientation, prayer, accounting and general administration. For the most part, the staff working in the Wycliffe Togo office are volunteers, freely giving their time and service.
Renee serves as Information and Training Coordinator. He has been teaching math for over 20 years, and is currently working to complete a doctorate degree in mathematics. He determines what training and orientation all new Wycliffe Togo staff need and then conducts and coordinates training programs.
Yve works as a hotel manager and runs a Christian bookstore. He serves Wycliffe Togo as the office cashier and Spiritual Resources Coordinator. He is helping to coordinate prayer groups in various churches. He also leads a weekly intercessory prayer group for Wycliffe Togo.
Jean-Baptiste is a pastor and serves Wycliffe Togo as their accountant. He was a finance officer for many years for the Baptist Convention, and when he found out that Wycliffe Togo needed a finance person, he responded.
Essoloani–his name means God will not forget anyone. He served Togo for many years as the national director in charge of land programs. He first connected with the work of Bible translation in 1992 when churches in Togo were invited to send delegates to a Wycliffe event. He now serves as the associate director of Wycliffe Togo and Personnel Coordinator. He helps to mobilize personnel resources, and cares for those who are already on staff.
We also met Elizabeth who serves as Napo’s assistant and Marie who serves as the assistant accountant.
Napo is the Executive Director. More on him in another post (stay tuned).
Popularity: 6% [?]
