Oh Africa...

Much has happened since I have last written – if I were to write about it all I think this blog entry would be never ending! Why don’t I tell you about one of the highlights from this past week?

We met with the leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ Benin last Friday and shared with them about the DRIME Ministry! There were 11 people plus a baby packed into this small room; both French and English were flowing as people asked and answered questions! It was a pretty intense meeting [in a good way]! They had many questions for us and have agreed to give us the opportunity to share with their student group about DRIME! Parfait, the director, put us to work right away when he found out we were ready and willing to minister! He invited us to minister at a showing of the Jesus Film for the students on Monday night, which we willingly agreed to. This event was so totally and completely African I can’t help but smile when I think of it. Let me tell you about it:

Patrice said he would pick us up at 6pm, so we could pick up the others at the church and then head to the event location for 7pm. We were ready to go for 6pm, but waited until 6:45pm until our ride arrived! By the time we picked up the others and left the church we had 4 minutes to get to Calavi where the event was being held! [Calavi is just outside Cotonou.] I’m not sure how long it is actually supposed to take to get to Calavi [with good roads and no traffic, probably 30 minutes] but we did not arrive until 8:45pm! I thought rush hour traffic on Highway 1 was bad – but not anymore! Oh my goodness, the traffic was crazy – we basically crawled to Calavi. It doesn’t end there my friends…the night keeps getting better!

We finally arrive at the head office for Campus Crusade for Christ where someone was going to meet us to take us the rest of the way, [because Patrice did not know the exact location]. Here’s the catch – that person was not there! There was someone at the office who told us how to get there...except he wasn’t too clear with the directions. We spent another 20 minutes driving up and down these narrow side roads trying to find it!

By the time we arrived, the Jesus film was 20 minutes from being finished! I should mention here that Parfait, the director who asked us to come had not given us clear direction on what he expected us to do. We did not know when we were performing or who exactly our audience was. We didn’t know where we were going to play our music, or who would stop and start it for us! Everything we should have known for a smooth, professional performance, we didn’t! Normally I would majorly stress out in this kind of situation, but by this time I knew that things were out of my control. Instead of stressing I told myself to just relax and let things happen as they do – I mean it’s Africa!

So, we came in quietly, sat down and finished watching the film with them. We were in a small courtyard outside a housing complex. There were maybe 20 people in plastic chairs watching the movie which was projected up on a screen. As soon as the movie finished Parfait called us up to present! We fumbled out of our chairs and came to the front. It took us a few minutes to get the CD working on the sound system they were using. In the process of this, random songs on the CD would blare as Parfait was trying to get to the right song! [So not professional, but not much you can do about it when it is pitch black and you don’t know the system they are using – nor can you communicate very well with them!] Oh, that reminds me – it was dark out [obviously as by this time it was probably around 9:30]. The courtyard area was completely dark except for the light from the projector and a small fluorescent light on the side of the building. Now, you many not think this is a big deal, but it is – our dramas are only effective if you can SEE them! So there we were - 5 people wearing all black performing dramas for this group in what basically can be described as pitch-black! Mind you, the three of us Canadians probably glowed with our white skin! [haha!] Part way through the first drama the power went out, so we lost the light on the side of the house, making it even harder to see! Thankfully the sound system was running on a generator so we didn’t lose our music!

We ministered to the group through two dramas and the sharing of a short message between the dramas to challenge them. Patrice translated for me as I shared! When we finished they had a time for people to ask questions about what they saw that evening. We had a few questions directed towards us as well! [Someone wanted to know where the church of DRIME was – haha!] [Oh, interesting side note, when people say DRIME here in Benin it sounds like they are saying “dream” because the letter ‘I’ makes the sound ‘ee’ in French!] At the end of the event we had a few people approach us and say they were interested in learning more about DRIME and possibly joining [Whoo! Praise God!]. The drive back to Cotonou didn’t take quite as long, but the traffic was still pretty bad – we moved pretty slow for 10:30pm! [Another side note – Patrice told us it is pretty common for people who work in Cotonou to leave around 5pm and not get home to Calavi until 2am or 3am – because of traffic. Isn’t that just insane! I can’t even imagine!]

Anyways – all in all, it was a fantastic African evening! The dramas were performed with excellence and the message of Christ was shared! It also gave us the opportunity to show the Campus for Christ Ministry what we do, as well as experience a good dose of the African-lifestyle!

Sunday Practice…
This past Sunday we ran our first practice with the current team and it went really well! We split the group into two – the oldies - people who know many of the dramas and the rookies - people who know very few of the dramas. Jamie and Carleigh trained the rookies in a new drama while I worked with the oldies reviewing the dramas they know! Now, I was counting on having Olivier at the practice so he could translate for me. However, he could not be there, so I was basically on my own! Yikes! Beforehand I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but it actually went really well! Between a lot of demonstrating and acting-out, speaking as much as I could in French and having Rachelle [a team member] translate what she could of my English, we managed! [I called Jamie over a few times when I was really desperate!] By the time practice was over it felt like I had accomplished a lot! We only were able to review one drama [mind you it was an 8 minute drama] – but everything takes a lot longer when you can’t communicate directly with people! It felt freeing to know that I can do something on my own, even when language is a barrier!

Speaking of French…
On Tuesday I told someone about myself all in French! I told them about my family, my schooling, my hobbies and where I work! This may not sound too exciting to you, but it is a huge accomplishment for me!!

Meeting Potentials…
This week we have been meeting with people from the team who we are considering for the DRIME leadership team. It has been a great opportunity to find out more about them! I am really excited about this process of getting to know people better! [It was in one of these meetings when I told someone about myself in French! I am getting pretty good at asking questions in French, but answering questions or understanding the answers, not so much].

Merci!
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers! I hope you are enjoying the updates!