Breakthrough

It always seems like a slightly short yet very long week after doing
a following a case study. You spend three days of the week with one
person and then you have three or less if you start on Monday until
Sabbath, by Thursday it can feel like Friday. But I know we are all
experience that! Especially exam week for all you students!
I have been praying for my neighbors here, we have good relations
with most of them. I wish I could find more time to get to know all or
them, but the tight quarters helps. The landlord is very friendly and I
have gotten acquainted with his children too, a vibrant collections
from under ten years old to 19. There is also another family that is renting
in our little compound. Their home is a single mother home, their father
lives south about 300Km. I do not know if they are actually divorced or if
financial circumstances or schooling keep them parents seperate. (Sometimes
a father around here can only find a job south, some dads spend a month
in Cotonou, Benin's largest city, and comeback just to visit, then head back
to make some more money). Rolande is the oldest son and a good friend of mine.
He has some interesting ideas on the West, when I first moved in and even
when Manny arrived, he wanted to know if we like rap and other such
affiliations. He himself will often wear a New York hat, with low-riding jeans
and some 50 cent shirt or something similiar. Some people might be wearing
a rap star shirt because that's all they can find, not really the case for Rolande.
Wearing this style many older Africans would label him a bandit. I guess
that gangster kind of attire makes people think of stealing and such, which I
can see why. But nonetheless Rolande does not act the part he dresses,
he has been a faithful friend to me. It was he who found the rooms we rent,
and has informed me on other cultural practices especially by helping me
in the cuisine domain. His younger brother has also helped Manny and I
with traditional food preparation. Back in December I wrote about how a
close cousin to Rolande passed away and he and his mother went south for the funeral.
It is always tragic when death opens up an opportunity to witness, but nonetheless
I did take the chance and told Roland a little about what the Bible says about
death. I also gave him a New Testament and suggested he read Lazurus' resurrection
in John 11. Just this past week he came over and sat down and we began to
talk. Africans are amazing at hiding emotion. Even when a parent dies
or Father or whoever that is loved dearly, no one is allowed to cry. This
is concerning because everyone needs to grieve, for a little while. So in
the familiar non chalant kind of way, he shared that he just found out that
his cousin had been killed by his mother (not Rolande's mother, but his cousin's mother
meaning Rolande's aunt), and that his cousin was her first born. In Africa
the first born still has a major role in leading the household, especially
if the first born is male. Rolande was real confused, although his voiced didnot betray it his words and eyes surely did. He chuckled a little as he explained, and
then questioned, how could a mother do such a thing? It was a chuckle of
fear and sadness. He continued saying that now he was frightened, though
a distant relative he was a relative, and apparently after the brother died
four more family members were given a curse to be killed, but with some
counter measures (more sorcery) they were freed. He was not one, but what if
they should remember him, he asked. I knew exactly what to say, though I could
not find the words. I had always prayed for Rolande. We are good friends, but
it is hard to know when to put faith questions to someone. I have thought
we were good enough friends that sometime I could just share with him my views and
perhaps invite him to Bible study. But I really asked God for a clear
opportunity, and hear it was on a silver platter. Rolande knows about God, his sisters
attend the Catholic church from time to time. After he spilled his news, I
told him a little about my views on the issue. That yes it did not make sense
for a mother to kill her own son and try to kill other relatives as, that's
how it is with Satan, I assured, confusion. When one is under his control the bonds
of love and reason are not used, only self-preservation are in mind. I told
him that really the only protection we have is in Jesus. He agreed, saying
that God is the biggest power. I then asked him if he might be interested in
studying what the Bible has to say about all this, the power struggle between
good and evil, the problems of the world. He said he'd like to. So now the ball
is in my court. Rolande sometimes finds odd jobs to work, but most of the time
he is around the house, so the biggest dilemma is for me to put the time aside.
I am just so thankful that God has provided a means to reach my friend. Satan
surely is not about to give up and I ask that you pray that I will not neglect
to prepare and to put that time apart for studying with Rolande, and that also
God will protect Rolande as we study. Life is fragile, and it is true Rolande
could be a target, but I know God knows and so He will with our prayers see
fit to protect Rolande as he learns. Since for now it's sort of an ignorance issue,
someday Rolande will understand how he personnally can connect with Jesus
and live a victorious life.

Fresh Air

Just finished this morning another following case study with an older gentlemen who works at the mayor's office, Pierre. He is a wonderful man, who has a home on the the outskirts of Nati. Spending a few days with Pierre was a breathe fresh air literally and not so literally. Since he lives on the edge of town, there is not much traffic and no electricity, at his house anyway, there is electricity in the quarter but he has not brought it to his house yet, too expensive. Thus clean air and void of the sound of bar music and noisy vehicles and motorcycles. He is an interesting man. Divorced with two of his sons living with him. He is a a special case. With on a elementary school diploma in the 70's he got a job at the mayors office and has worked there ever since over 30 years! He has a wonderful respect for people and lives very simply, though he says he could live better, but chooses to use the extra money to improve his land. Much labor he has put into his hillside property. The whole place is terraced by rocks that he broke and piled along the hill. It is really amazing to see. He has solved erosion in this way and has planted many trees and shrubs and even cactus where others said he couldn't. He loves to talk and throughout our time we discussed many topics from animals in Benin to the Sabbath. He is protestant but keeps Sunday, so we had some nice discussions about each others faith. Though following is sometimes tiring, this time it was actually quite restful and full of information!

Pathfinders United: To the Villages!

In the beginning the idea of coming to Africa to lead out in Pathfinders
seemed like a no braner. I have been in Pathfinder family since before I
was born, well I guess that's not possible, but before my birth my parents
bought for me a pathfinder teddy bear, which I still have just no more t-shirt.
I grew up in Adventurers and Pathfinders. Although I have to admit that
in highschool and college thus far, I haven't been as loyal, nonetheless I still
consider myself a fairly knowledgable pathfinder. But as you may guess,
pride comes before the fall. While the skills and knowledge God has given
me over the years in Pathfinders are a wonderful asset, everywhere is different.
Here in Africa there have been unique challenges and circumstances to deal
with. Humbling myself before God and honestly admiting that I came to Africa
thinking that I had all that was neccessary to pretty much do anything asked of me
because I was just that blessed has been a challenge, and everyday is another step.
The weirdest part is to say, okay God yes I was too prideful coming here, but now
I am here and I still have to do the same things I was called to do even with my prideful
attitude. With an attitude that says, God is leading, I am following, how much
better life is. Situations have not gotten easier, but God is teaching me
to look at them in a different life.
With all that said I will share with you the wonderful voyage myself, Manny,
and 6 pathfinders took this week. Usually we can barely squeeze out the time
to meet once a week for our pathfinder meeting, so since this week was vacation, and
the older pathfinders did not have catch-up classes in school we decided to go
on a trip. The first plan fell through quickly. But the second worked well, whichwas to go a village where a church was being built, and then travel to a smaller
village to help start a pathfinder club there. A lot to do in three days and four nights!
We left on Wednesday afternoon at 3PM and arrived in Takonta around 4:30.
We settled in at the place we'd stay, for Manny and I its tents and the others rooms cleared
for them to sleep in. The church group in Takonta is small maybe 15 or 20, about three families,
it seems. But when the room they wished to rent for church services was denied them,
after they paid the two month advance, they decided to build on one of the members'
properties. Sinces a building can be build of mud, all you have to pay is the mason to
do the work, the rest is labor which can be done by the church members.
Thursday morning just before 8 we started digging in a pit behind the church where the
dirt was being piled for making mud. I was very proud of my guys, swining their picks
until their hands blistered, and the girls helped get water at the creek. They worked real
hard. Manny and I did too, but that's our job! I was exciting to jump in the mud and walk around
mixing the mud and water into a usable substance. They were building a layered church,
which means that a mason shaps mud balls into a short wall, each section being about
a metre high. When one dries another goes on, ours was the last layer before the roof peaks.
We kept at it, breaking a little for lunch,and
working right until 6PM. At the end of the day, we finished an entire layer of the building.
The evangelist for that area, Clemente, said that our help had been such a testimony to
the community that he said it was liked we knocked on all the doors in the village. People are
always impressed to see harmony and unity, and to know that we came to help of our own accord
really made a lasting impact. I was so glad that the pathfinders were able to experience this.
Friday our layer was still drying, so we dug some more dirt for mud later, and then hit the
road for the tinier village of Koutie. In this village the church was planted by the first AFM
missionaries to Benin, the St. Clair's. Today almost half the village is Adventist, meaning at
least 50+ in the church, with all the children probably closer to 75 or 80. Clemente lives in
Koutie, traveling to the other villages like Takonta, regurlarly. He is employed by a gospel
Outreach program from Canada. He is a very likeable and jovial gentlemen, with five children,
three of whom live in Nati for school and thus are in the pathfinder club (they were excited
to visit home for vacation!). Sabbath we conducted the church service, to a packed little church,
the church was probably built with a smaller congregation in mind. In the afternoon we
had a pathfinder workshop, part of my call is to help start clubs in new areas. I have to admit
for this first one I was going in blind. I did not know their situation too much, and I had
not planned a grand program since it was only one afternoon, and its nicer usually to spend
a few days to help start a club. Nonetheless the pathfinders with me helped greatly and the afternoon
was a great success. Regardless whether it was an afternoon or a couple days, the challenge for Koutie
is that they have no one that has ever done pathfinders before there in the village. But I encouraged
and let them know that they can come up with their own pathfinder model that will work for
them, there really isn't a right or wrong way, only a well-down way or a half-hearted way.
If they put their money where their mouth is, so to speak, to put much effort, they could
have a wonderful club! I forgot to mention that the hike to Koutie is about 7KM. I was worried
that youth would get a little too tired. After all that work Thursday, a 7K hike the next, pathfinder
marching on Sabbath and then walking back on Sunday, then school on Monday! But
they stuck their guns and did well. On Sunday we made it back fine and in ship shape, although a little
sore!
It was so encouraging to see the pathfinders have a good time and pitch in to help too.
Except for Clemente's children none of them have Adventist parents, one has an abusive home,
one has a father that's always drunk, another lost his mother to illness a few years ago, another
has very little moral guidance at home. On the trip I could see them really relax and enjoy themselves,
that was rewarding. But also they got to see how much they could make a difference with
their effort. They saw how God worked through them in so many ways! Manny and I have been in agreement
from the beginning that if we leave Benin have helped the church here become strong in Christ, become
an awesome witness in this community, we have met our goals. While I also seek opportunities to reach
those that are not in the church, I remember that I am here for 11 months, not a huge chunk of time,
the youth will be here for many years, if I can put much effort to help them build a strong foundation
that will be worth many souls that they will reach for God's Kingdom!
It would be nice to go on another trip. But the next vacation is April and that is booked with
other plans for the youth, and school ends beginning of July. Thus I am very glad this trip was a great
success and I am confident has made a lasting impact on the young people that came along.

Good what?

I have encountered an interesting problem here in Benin. It's not really a problem more of a funny
occurance. Here there is a particular greeting in the morning and another for the evening.
This leaves an odd transition time in the middle of the day, anywhere from 11:30AM to 1:00PM you
may here both. For most people noon is the switching time, when the morning greeting is replaced
by the evening one. So it's more so me that always gets mixed up. Even when it's clearly morning like
8 or 9 in the morning, I may say good evening! This little dilemma made me think of the history
of earth. In the "morning" time God created the planet everything was perfect, and people were
living happily, well the two people that experienced paradise. Then somewhere in the morning
people fell, and sin began. The sun of history continued and to me it seems we are in that between.
Throughout the ages of history people have been confused. They cannot explain all the suffering
around them, they cannot explain pain, sin, or even good things like love and joy and peace, they just
can't figure out God. But if we see ourselves as in that noon period not everything has to be explained.
Soon evening will come, the history of sin will set and God will takes us home.

Two Days, Two Buses, Two Books, Too Much Fun!

The bus pulled into the crowded bus stop. The long rectangular area had
many people milling around. Vendors selling fresh bread, oranges, and
the like. Others hawking pens and tissues or hats and undershirts. Manny and
I were almost to Cotonou. For Tuesday and Wednesday (Feb 17 & 18) we were once again
going to the busy city to put in our papers for our resident card. We would have
saved money and had only one of us go, but when you put your card in, we
found out, you have to have your fingerprints scanned, so we both had to go.
As the bus stopped for the last stop before Cotonou, I thought about how wonderful,
this trip had been. We took NTS bus which doesn't play very much music and when
it does has few speakers thus reducing the maximum volume. Other buses have
a speaker above every seat and the ride can become a headache. Manny and I have
become somewhat of bus experts, as we have ridden of the 10 bus lines availabe
we have ridden 5. We had decided NTS was the best, until this trip. At the stop,
the NTS official guy riding with us informed us that our bus had given up the ghost
for now and we would have to ride on a smaller bus that was coming. Seemed odd to
us since up until that point the bus seemed to be going quite well. Oh well, as Manny
would say, "This is Africa" and we filed off the bus, we were about to find out just how true Manny's statement is.
Sure enough the tailgate was up, revealing
a dirty engine, that apparently was not working. There was arguments from passengers,
the short wait for the mini-bus left some time for tempers to rise and questions to ask.
As we were about to leave, someone pointed out that there were already other people
getting on as passengers on our broken bus, odd. Then the reality struck, as we continued
to Cotonou, we passed the NTS bus destined for Natitingou broken down, the front axle
jutting out, one end lying on the ground. People anxiously gathered outside waiting. For what?
For our bus. Since we were only an hour or so away from Cotonou we had been chosen as the scapegoats.
Instead of wasting all the money to rent another bus to take people the longer distance to Nati, they chose
to rent one for us to go the shorter distance to Cotonou. Makes sense, but the problem was they lied.
They told us that our bus was broken, but it was not. I can't blame them, had they told us the truth
they may not have lived to see another day, okay it is not that bad, but is pretty serious. Africans are not
bad people, they just have grown learning survival, with so much poverty the mindset becomes my survival,
I have to get mine first and then maybe help others. That means the idea of sacrificing our bus
for the others with the broken bus who have a much longer trip left ahead of them, is counterintuitive.
I did not appreciate the fact they lied. Needless to say on the way back we took the bus run by
the Postal service (yes kind of odd, the government post makes extra money with a bus service). But thinking
about it now I realized that in the mind of the bus company NTS they did not have much of a choice but
to lie, doesn't excuse it, but is it understandable? Anyway, next bus trip we may take NTS, the risk of
lieing I will exchange for the peacefulness of the ride. We were able to get to immigration on time still
and handed in all our papers for the resident card, praise God. Now they can't kick us out of the country,
that's awesome. It was a bit tiring to sit on the bus 8 hours for two days in a row, but in the end worth it,
we get to stay here in Benin and I almost finished two books!