FYI

People have been asking about a mailing address for us.....well here it is:

Eglise Baptiste Du Vodje
021BP47 Cotonou, Benin, West Africa
Attn: Janna Cressman [DRIME]

Prayer Requests

1) Sharing the Vision: We are in the process of learning about and contacting other churches and organizations in the area to set up a time where we can come and share about DRIME with them. Pray for favour with local churches and their leaders as well as the opportunity to share with them! Pray that people will want to be part of the work we are doing here!

2) Wisdom and Guidance: Once of the most important tasks we have is to pick the DRIME Benin leadership team. As we meet with the current team and with others from difference churches, pray that God will show us who He wants to be part of the leadership team.

3) Continued Health: So are we are all safe and healthy - no major sickness of pain. Besides minor things like heat rash, sunburn and blisters, we are perfectly okay! Pray for this continued blessing of good health.

Thank you for you prayers!

2

Life Through My Eyes

Written on February 17th

The sound of a rooster crowing fills my ears. I open my eyes and slowly stretch, taking a deep breath which fills my lungs with thick, stuffy air. I roll over and my clock says 6:30am. It feels like all my limbs have swollen- like I have been sitting in a pot of boiling water over night. The distant sound of horns honking and motorbikes purring are momentarily drowned out by squealing pigs. No, not squealing pigs – pigs crying out in distress! I’ve never seen any pigs behind our apartment building, but they sure are loud. The noise eventually dies down to the normal oink and snort – the occasional child’s cry and mothers voice; I think I will try to fall back asleep for another hour.

Ouch! Ugh, my legs are so itchy from the gazillion bug bites that plague them! I try my best to put it from my mind, only to find my arms and hands starting to itch from the heat rash I have. Okay, think of something else….think of…water! Yes, water. Oh, I hope we have running water today! The city shut off the water for a few days so we have been taking bucket showers [which makes washing your hair very difficult] using water from the storage basin we have in our home. Bucket showers remind me of my time in Kenya J Hmmm, running water would feel so nice on my itchy legs right now! Ah, itchy….my bites are driving me crazy! Okay, I need to keep distracting my mind…

Hey, the ceiling fan is off! Huh – the hydro must have gone out during the night. It’s been doing that quite a bit lately; it randomly turns off and on. Oh yeah, interesting fact - Benin gets their hydro from Nigeria – they don’t produce any of it themselves. Olivier told us this yesterday.

Speaking of Olivier, yesterday he and Fidel came over to our place to talk about DRIME! When I was here last May with DRIME, we asked Olivier and Fidel to be the leaders of the team we trained. It was great to chat with them and hear about how things have been going with the team from the leader’s perspective. During the meeting they mentioned that the beach was only 10 minutes away…..

So off we went in search of the beach! We started walking, and kept walking, and kept walking some more…..on one side of us cars and motorbikes whizzed by, and on the other little kiosks and stores filled with everything from gasoline to fruit and steel bars to electronics. Finally, one hour later, we reached the beach! What a beautiful sight it was - bold red sand against light-teal water! It took another 10 minutes to make our way across the burning hot sand [no exaggeration….it felt like you were walking on burning coals!] and finally sink our feet into the soothing ocean water. Ahhh, what a wonderful feeling that was.

We arrived home 1.5 hours after leaving the beach, with some bread, fruit, parched throats, blisters and sunburns. What an adventure that was! It did teach me a few things though: 1) The phrase ‘not far’ in Benin does not equal the phrase ‘not far’ in Canada. 2) Never go anywhere without a water bottle. 3) Sunscreen actually works [I forgot to put it on my neck, and that is where I burnt!]. 4) The song that children [and sometimes adults] sing to us when we walk by is their way of welcoming and acknowledging us. Here is the song: “Yovo, Yovo! Bonsoir! Comment ca va? Ca va bien! Merci!” Translated, this means: “White person, white person! Good afternoon! How are you? I am fine. Thank you!”

Oh yes, life as a yovo in Benin J Hey - I’m not too itchy anymore – that’s a relief! Maybe I should get up now; I’m obviously not going to fall back asleep. I grab my Nokia cell phone from the bedside table to check the time. [That one is for you Alvarez family! I have a Nokia cell phone! Every time I use it/see it, I think of you wonderful people! Love you guys!] It’s 7am. Maybe I’ll go play the guitar for a bit – yes I think I will. [Thanks for letting us take your guitar Beth, and your case Fred! Brent [and case] had a safe airplane ride and is being used a lot! You guys are the best!!!]

The rooster is still crowing and the sound of motorbikes and horns are more defined as the city is in full swing now. I pull my sticky self from bed and head into the washroom. I turn on the tap and….YES! There is running water! Cold shower, here I come!

This is Olivier, our fearless leader!

We finally reached the beach! Victory!!!!

Beginnings....

Hello Friends!!! There is so much to say already I don’t even know where to begin! I guess I’ll start from the beginning….that seems to be a good place to start!

Our flights were pretty uneventful - a few delays, a long layover, naps on airport benches, sleepless flights, airplane movies, airplane food….and viola! We arrived in Cotonou Benin 31 hours later! After we passed the Yellow Fever check point, customs, experienced our first power outage as we fought for our luggage, and passed through the baggage check point, we were finally greeted with the warm and friendly smiles of our Beninese friends Patrice and Olivier! [Patrice is the GAiN Director for Benin and Olivier is one of the members from the team I helped train when I was here with DRIME in May.]

Patrice and Olivier took us to what we now call home and we spent the first night in our new home without any electricity! Our home is wonderful by the way - it is spacious, furnished, has three bedrooms and running water J [except for the last two days because the city shut off the water! Good times!]

On Friday Patrice and Olivier took us shopping to pick up some of the household items we needed as well as groceries! We arrived as a place called the Hypermarket – for those of you who have been to Nairobi, it was like a Nakumat – which has a little bit of everything. It has a lot of imported items, things that you could find in a store in Europe or North America. It is nice to know we have access to a store like that, but I don’t think we will always be shopping there. I have to admit that the Hypermarket was a little overwhelming. Yes, there were a lot of familiar looking products but everything was either in French or German. It’s hard to get what you need when 1) you’re not sure exactly what you need and 2) you don’t know exactly what you are getting because you can’t read the labels! It is also a little hard to shop when you are getting used to a new currency – when a box of cereal costs 3850 cefas, my mind freaks out a little and tells me it is to expensive because I am thinking in dollars [$3850 is a lot!] when in reality it is about $7.50.

Saturday was spent unpacking, cleaning and making our place feel a little more like home. Carleigh, Jamie and I have definitely had some great team bonding activities as we have found some visitors sharing our home with us…cockroaches! Ugh! Killing them has been quite the ordeal [that is the team bonding activity I was talking about! You learn a lot about people when facing unwanted host guests!]. We know there is at least one more on the loose still….we’re just waiting for it to show its face again!

Sunday would have to be the highlight for me so far – because we attended church with Patrice. [It is a wonderful and refreshing thing to worship with others when you don’t speak their language!] After church we were able to spend time with the team we worked with in May! I can’t even describe how wonderful it was to see them again! We had a little meeting with the team after church where we met 4 new members who have joined since we left and touch-based on what has been happening!

Things have been wonderful so far, but there have also been some challenges. It is hard and frustrating not being able to communicate; few people speak English and my French is very limited. I’m so thankful both Carleigh and Jamie can speak fluently – but it feels restricting having to rely on them. One of the goals I have set for myself is to learn French so I can communicate with people – please pray that God would give me the mind of a child which would soak up and retain the language I learn and hear all around me. Pray also that I may have patience in the process of this learning.

Would you also pray for guidance and patience as we learn how to ‘live life’ here in Cotonou. From learning where we can buy food and what appropriate prices are to learning how to get around the city by ourselves, via foot or taxi [apparently Cotonou doesn’t have much of a public transit system] – there is much to learn! This task of getting to know our surroundings seems more daunting because of the language barrier. Please pray that I would be able to enjoy this process!

There are times when I feel overwhelmed, a little lost or unsure as to how to go about things – but for the most part I am content and excited for what lies ahead. I thank God every day for this opportunity. I’m excited to see what God is going to do! I just love being back in Africa – my heart is content J

Feel free to check out Carleigh’s and Jamie’s Blogs as well! For this one entry I have written Jamie has 5! So you might learn a thing or two more about our time from them!

www.carleighinbenin.blogspot.com

www.jamieisinbenin.blogspot.com

Our living room area!

My bedroom!

The bathroom Carleigh and I share. Jamie has his own!

[I had a picture of our kitchen, but just accidently deleted it. It took about 5 minutes to upload it the first time so I'm not going to try again - sorry!]

What a Whirlwind!

The last month has been full of many different things! Since I have come on staff with Power To Change and DRIME, I participated in 8 days of training preparing me for full-time ministry. Below is a picture of the new staff I went through the training with!



After training with Power To Change, I was busy getting ready for Benin! Now, it's time GO! The journey begins in Vancouver on Wednesday the 10th at 7am and ends in Cotonou, Benin Thursday the 11th at 8pm [not sure what time that would be here in BC]. The first few days Jamie, Carleigh and I will be settling into the house that we are renting and finding our barrings in this new city! [We will be living in Cotonou - it is right on the coast!]

In the picture below is the Benin Base Plant Team! From left to right: Carleigh, Jamie, me and Abby! Jamie and I will be staying in Benin for the full 5 months. Carleigh will be staying until May, when Abby comes to stay for the remaining 2 months. I'm so excited to serve alongside these lovely people :)


Please remember us in prayer as we head off on this journey. You can pray for:

• Safety - Pray for protection as we travel on the 10th and 11th, and as we go about life in Cotonou! Pray for our spiritual protection as Benin is saturated with voodoo.
  
• Team Unity - Pray for us as we get to know each other better and see each other on our good and bad days!
• Discernment and Wisdom - Pray that we would allow the Spirit to fill us and guide us as we look for the leaders of DRIME Benin.
• Finances - Pray God would continue to provide for our financial needs.