AND THEN THERE WERE FIVE!

I must apologize for not writing in a long time! I just have not gotten around to writing an update until now! I will try my best to get in the habit of writing weekly updates again! There is so much that has happened in the past month that I want to tell you about, so let’s start at the beginning!

On May 5th we welcomed Michele and Abby to Benin!! It felt like Christmas in May because they brought with them goodies, notes, cards etc that people sent for us. Oh, and they also brought a lot of hugs from people too! It was SO wonderful seeing people from home! Thanks to everyone who sent things for us…and for all the hugs too! We felt very blessed!!

Christmas in May!! Thanks everyone!!!

Someone sent Starbucks Coffee! [Thanks Samantha!!!] This was my first cup of coffee in 3 months....and it tasted SO good - you have no idea! I just sat there and smelled it for the first 5 minutes as it cooled - it was delightful!

VILLAGE MINISTRY

We had the privilege of doing ministry with our leaders and some members from the Vodje team [the team I helped train last May] during the week Abby and Michele were here. We spent two days in two different villages with the GAiN [Global Aid Network] Jesus Film team. When we arrived at the village we would set up our sound system and start off our time of ministry with a drama set. After we have invited people to accept Christ and spent time talking individually with the villagers who watched, we would bust out some skipping ropes, Frisbee’s, and soccer balls to play with the kids. Duck, Duck, Goose always made it into the repertoire of games as well! After playing with the kids for some time we would continue our time of ministry with another drama set.

At the first village, after the drama set our leaders were talking with people and sharing the Gospel. I really wanted a chance to talk with people as well but our only translator was Alphonse [from Gain] and he was busy talking with some new believers. So I grabbed one of our leaders, Martin, who can understand my English pretty well [even though he won’t admit it] and asked if he would try to translate for me. He hesitantly agreed. We approached three young women and started talking to them. I shared the Gospel with them and asked if they wanted to give their life to Jesus, the person who gave His life for them. To my surprise they readily agreed so we prayed together! We took their names afterwards so we could give them to the Pastor from the near-by church who was overseeing the follow-up for the new believers. I left that conversation in awe of how ready people are to accept the Good News, how ready people are to hear about Jesus. [God just needs us to share!] I think Martin left feeling a little more confident in his English too!

CITY MINISTRY

For the first time we did ministry in the city [Cotonou]! City ministry here in Benin has a different feel than village ministry and a different feel from doing ministry in Vancouver. One afternoon we went to a plaza and gathered a big crowd! Most of them were children who stopped to watch on their way home from school. We also did ministry on the beach one afternoon! This time stands out in my mind because God moved in huge ways! Many people stopped to watch and many people gave their life to Christ that afternoon.

The enemy was trying very hard to keep us from ministering that day. The cord that runs from the sound system to the generator was broken but we were able to get it fixed. When we were all set to go, the generator would not start. The guys kept working on it and we kept praying. And sure enough – it started! I knew then that God had big plans for our ministry time. I couldn’t believe the number of people who stopped to watch – and it was people of all ages. When we asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ, 51 people came forward! The whole time our leaders were talking with them about what it means to be a Christian and praying with them, I was overwhelmed with a sense of God’s presence. We took the name and phone number of all 51 people so we could pass that information along to the evangelism team at our church, who agreed to do follow-up and discipleship with the new believers.


These days of ministry were a very exciting experience for me because it gave me a glimpse of the kind of tidal-wave effect DRIME Benin can have and will have on the nation of Benin and Lord-willing, all of West Africa!

A DAY AT THE POOL

Michele treated us to a day at a hotel pool while she was here. It was SO wonderful and refreshing! I think I spent more time in the pool than out of it that day – but that’s because if I were an animal, I think I would be a fish!

At the same time that it felt wonderful, it also felt a bit strange to be there. It felt like we were no longer in Benin because everything was so nice and clean and fancy! There were also a lot more yovo’s there! The entire day we all kept commenting on how we felt like we had left the country and were at some tropical resort. It was just another vivid contrast of the wealth and poverty that exist so blatantly side by side.

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE….

On May 14th we said a sad goodbye to Carleigh and Michele as they headed back to Canada. So now Jamie, Abby and I are continuing the work here in Cotonou!

Here we all are with our leaders!!!

DRIMING IT UP

The month of May has been keeping us very busy here as we are preparing for the start of the Benin DRIME team! We have been attending 2 different churches each Sunday sharing about the DRIME ministry and inviting people to be part of it. We have also hosted 2 information meetings where we have had a great turn out of interested people. Our leaders are currently meeting with each potential member to get to know them and see if they would be a good fit for the DRIME team. There are currently about 50 people interested in joining DRIME! It’s such a big number that we are slightly overwhelmed and very overjoyed with the response from people!

One of my favourite parts of this whole process has been watching our leaders in action! I have loved watching them share at the churches we have been going to; I love seeing them share passionately about this ministry that has become their own. Once we were the ones sharing about DRIME to our leaders and to other people here in Benin. Now our leaders are the ones sharing! I have also loved watching them grow and be stretched in new ways. From performing new roles in a drama, to taking charge of the Duck, Duck, Goose game during village ministry or speaking Fong in front of people when they used to be too shy to do so. I find so much joy in watching God grow them!

We are in the process of planning the very first DRIME Benin Bootcamp! This is a weekend of drama and evangelism training and team building; it is the kick-off to the DRIME year! Bootcamp will be June 12-13th so I would love it if you could keep us in your prayers those days, and the ones leading up to it as we prepare for it!

Here we are at one of our information meetings. Abby was closing off the info meeting for us - so we had two translators for her - Jamie translated into French and Rachelle translated into Fong!

EXPERIENCING MORE OF THE BENINESE LIFE

Rachelle took Abby and I shopping one day [yes, girls love to shop, even here in Benin!] and it was quite the experience. The market we went to was like one giant value village, except things were not organized and hung nicely. Also, instead of one big store it was many tiny shops – most shops were about the size of a closet. The word that comes to mind when I think of that market is ‘chaos.’ As you walk from place to place you have to push yourself through crowds of people, at the same time being careful not to get run over by motor-bikes. People will also be grabbing your arms and telling you to come and look at their shop. And yes, I probably got a little more attention than most people because I was the only white person there but I saw people grabbing Rachelle’s arms as well! Oh, and did I mention that if you want to try something on, you go to the back of the “shop” and stand behind a curtain to change. The only thing is that there is no room to move behind the current because you are pressed up against the wall. This was quite the exhausting adventure – but I’m glad I was able to experience it!

Another fun Beninese [well African really] thing I did was getting my hair braided! When I think of this experience the word that comes to mind is ‘pain.’ I have never been in such an extended state of pain – pain that included my entire body! It took 11.5 hours to braid my hair – and there was anywhere from 1-3 girls working on it at all times. Getting your hair braided is painful because they PUSH VERY HARD at the beginning of each new braid as they attach the extensions and then they PULL VERY HARD as they braid the strand. My scalp is still bruised in some places from the pushing and pulling. Abby was getting her hair done beside me so I watched how they were doing it – it freaked me out when I saw her scalp being pulled away from her head as the girls were braiding. I honestly thought at times that they were going to pull my hair right out! [I think they definitely pulled some of it out!] Okay, so that’s the pain my head was enduring.

The entire 11 hours I was sitting on a very hard, very wooden chair. At first it did not seem that bad but after 1.5 hours it feels like the most uncomfortable thing ever. My body is beginning to hurt just thinking about it! So this wooden chair made your bottom hurt like no other. Then your back and shoulders and neck start to hurt from sitting in the same position for so long, coupled with the lack of support from the very hard, very wooden chair. Your legs, feet and arms start to ache from the lack of activity and the lack of blood-flow. The pain encompassing your entire body changes from a sharp pain to a constant throbbing after about 3 hours. At about the 3 hour mark the numbness comes, except the numbness turns into an ache so deep in your bones all your mind registers is the discomfort and pain. One of the things that kept me going was thinking about our motor-taxi ride home because the seat of the motor-bike was going to feel like a cloud compared to the chair!

That night and the following day it was SO painful every time a braid moved on my head. The ladies at the shop did such a good job so the braids were very tight against my scalp – but this unfortunately causes more pain when they move. Add this to my already sore scalp from all the pushing and pulling, and well, you get one painfully sore head! I spent that night and the entire next day wondering why I had done this to myself! However, now that I am at the point where it no longer hurts and I can actually enjoy my hair – I love it and I am SO glad I got it done! What this experience has given me, besides beautiful African hair, is a greater appreciation for all African women!!

Jamie decided to get his hair braided too once he saw how AWESOME Abby and I looked!!! haha - just kidding!!

Here we are with the finished product! SO worth the pain :)
[Notice how we are all starting to look alike?? Haha! We call it 'the Jamie smile'!!]