A video we had to take during our trip...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Prayer Requests
Please pray for...
- spiritual protection over the full time missionaries serving in Benin. Pray that God's workers there will stay strong in Him during this month of Ramadan.
- love and comfort for Don and Erin's families in Benin and Canada as they deal with their loss. Pray that they will see God's direction and clung onto Him at all times.
- Barb (Jim's wife) as she heads out to Benin on October 5th. Pray for a safe journey.
- Simon's quick and complete recovery from palsy.
- God's message to be relayed to all our churches, friends, families, and co-workers as we continue to testify about our trip. May those we speak to and have spoken to be encouraged.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Videos! (pt 1)
So here are some of the videos that we've promised. There's still a lot more to be edited, and we're working on it, but here's what we have so far! These are more about the good times that we had in Benin!
Introducing the Benin Team of 2008....yes, the end is just random
Good timez, yo...good timez....
Our only consolation after arriving in Pédé for the first time....
Introducing the Benin Team of 2008....yes, the end is just random
Good timez, yo...good timez....
Our only consolation after arriving in Pédé for the first time....
Sunday, September 7, 2008
We're all back!
Half of us landed in Toronto on Tuesday and saturday, HK and Simon arrived=) We'd like to thank all of you for praying for us all this time. Our last update was Aug 23 (that's two weeks ago!). It's be super hard reaching the internet cafe. So now we'd like to update you on what we've been doing since then.
The last week of August consisted of completing the water filtration project, participating in church activities and debriefing.
It had been a long and tedious process in building the biosand filtration. There was a lot of sand to sift and wash. There were times in which I had questioned whether we'd finish! But God's been good to us. He provided us with little helpers (local kids and men) who were so friendly in assisting us! This is perfect because if this filter does work, in the future, we would need the assistance of the Monkole people to build their own filters! On Giselle's and my last day there (the guys left Pede a day after us), we were determined to finish the filter - even if that meant skipping siesta;). All was well until we found out the bottom of the pot broke! I must say at that point, I thought that was it... we should stop working. But after much prayer and seeing how my team members wouldn't give up, I realized that we NEED to do our best - whatever that may be. It so happened that Grace had another pot. In the end we altered the design a bit and voila, there's prototype 2! The guys spent their last day finishing the filter and I'm extremely excited to hear that the well water we poured into the filter came out A LOT clearer! It's so encouraging to see already that our work and time spent in Pede was not in vain=D Of course this isn't to say that the water is now drinkable. We still need to test it and the efficiency of the filter itself. Hopefully the team that goes next year will continue our work.
Something else that I found particularly encouraging was the fact that the locals, young and old, attend all the church activities together. I was surprised to see children at our bible studies, prayer meetings, and then I saw adults coming out to the youth fellowship! It showed how family oriented they are and how much the parents want their children to know about Christ! One of my most memorable events was the night of the youth fellowship. Everyone gathered outside the church. We had two worship teams - the Benin team and the church worship team. We took turns singing worship songs. We sang in English, French and Monkole for two hours. We also showed them actions (eg. Father Abraham). Everyone followed and had a great time. It was so good to know that despite our language, skin and cultural differences, there's one HUGE body that unites us all - our Heavenly Father. We're worshipping the same God.
We headed back down to Parakou for our last few days to debrief and rest. SIM had a Day of Prayer where all the missionaries from Benin, Togo and Nigeria gathered to pray and share. We had some pretty interesting conversations with them! Our journey back to Cotonou was also an event to remember. There had been a car accident resulting in three deaths in a village on our way to Cotonou. This blocked the road for more than 8hours! (due to the village protesting) Hence we spent 12hours on the road when it could've been 6! God's taught us to be flexible and patient from beginning to the very end of our trip;)
We hope to post our photos and video blogs up soon. So stay tunnnned!
Janet
The last week of August consisted of completing the water filtration project, participating in church activities and debriefing.
It had been a long and tedious process in building the biosand filtration. There was a lot of sand to sift and wash. There were times in which I had questioned whether we'd finish! But God's been good to us. He provided us with little helpers (local kids and men) who were so friendly in assisting us! This is perfect because if this filter does work, in the future, we would need the assistance of the Monkole people to build their own filters! On Giselle's and my last day there (the guys left Pede a day after us), we were determined to finish the filter - even if that meant skipping siesta;). All was well until we found out the bottom of the pot broke! I must say at that point, I thought that was it... we should stop working. But after much prayer and seeing how my team members wouldn't give up, I realized that we NEED to do our best - whatever that may be. It so happened that Grace had another pot. In the end we altered the design a bit and voila, there's prototype 2! The guys spent their last day finishing the filter and I'm extremely excited to hear that the well water we poured into the filter came out A LOT clearer! It's so encouraging to see already that our work and time spent in Pede was not in vain=D Of course this isn't to say that the water is now drinkable. We still need to test it and the efficiency of the filter itself. Hopefully the team that goes next year will continue our work.
Something else that I found particularly encouraging was the fact that the locals, young and old, attend all the church activities together. I was surprised to see children at our bible studies, prayer meetings, and then I saw adults coming out to the youth fellowship! It showed how family oriented they are and how much the parents want their children to know about Christ! One of my most memorable events was the night of the youth fellowship. Everyone gathered outside the church. We had two worship teams - the Benin team and the church worship team. We took turns singing worship songs. We sang in English, French and Monkole for two hours. We also showed them actions (eg. Father Abraham). Everyone followed and had a great time. It was so good to know that despite our language, skin and cultural differences, there's one HUGE body that unites us all - our Heavenly Father. We're worshipping the same God.
We headed back down to Parakou for our last few days to debrief and rest. SIM had a Day of Prayer where all the missionaries from Benin, Togo and Nigeria gathered to pray and share. We had some pretty interesting conversations with them! Our journey back to Cotonou was also an event to remember. There had been a car accident resulting in three deaths in a village on our way to Cotonou. This blocked the road for more than 8hours! (due to the village protesting) Hence we spent 12hours on the road when it could've been 6! God's taught us to be flexible and patient from beginning to the very end of our trip;)
We hope to post our photos and video blogs up soon. So stay tunnnned!
Janet
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Blog3
Bon soir,
I would like to share some of the realities of being a Christian here. We had a meeting with the local Monkole pastor and he was telling us life (cultural and Christian) in Pede. The family roles are similar to Chinese culture (I'll elaborate later). Being a pastor is another story. Being a local pastor, he is constantly under attack (literally) by the local witch doctors who try to poison his field and put curses on his field and life. Its quite shocking. It puts the cost of following Christ into better perspective. I found his testimony encouraging to me.
I'm running low on internet time so I'll be brief. Our filter is coming along nicely, we still need to take a look at the solar water heater before we go and I am giving my testimony tomorrow at church. Everyone's health is good.
I would like to share some of the realities of being a Christian here. We had a meeting with the local Monkole pastor and he was telling us life (cultural and Christian) in Pede. The family roles are similar to Chinese culture (I'll elaborate later). Being a pastor is another story. Being a local pastor, he is constantly under attack (literally) by the local witch doctors who try to poison his field and put curses on his field and life. Its quite shocking. It puts the cost of following Christ into better perspective. I found his testimony encouraging to me.
I'm running low on internet time so I'll be brief. Our filter is coming along nicely, we still need to take a look at the solar water heater before we go and I am giving my testimony tomorrow at church. Everyone's health is good.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Update on our work
Hi Everyone,
We have been making good progress so far on our projects. We are working on putting together our water filter, within a day or two, we should have a prototype constructed for testing. The biggest challenge is finding supplies that we need from the local hardware store. They are not well stocked for water filter contruction. After the filter prototype is completed, we will hand it off to Don and in a month we will know if we have a biological layer forming for the filter.
After the filter is built, we will be putting up window screens in the translation building where the Bible is being translated into Monkole, as well as shoring up the solar water heater at the SIM station.
Tonight we will be attending a prayer meeting with the Monkole church (which is well attended) and we have been asked to give our testimony. We are diligently working on that too in our spare time and hopefully we will be an encouragement to the church here. We will be doing similar things this coming Sunday as we visit two churches. Singing praise songs in French has been a fun challenge.
Physically, the team is doing well, save for some colds and stomach aches. Keep praying for the health of our team.
Don, one of the missionaries here had to go back to Parakou to take care of his wife who needs rest (as she is pregnant). Please pray for a good pregnancy and healthy delivery of their second child.
I think our French is improving because people are understanding us better. We carry my French-English dictionary everywhere we go so we can use and conjugate the right verbs. Keep praying that our words and actions are a good witness and source of encouragement to those around us.
I gotta run now. My ride is here to go back and resume our work.
Peace
We have been making good progress so far on our projects. We are working on putting together our water filter, within a day or two, we should have a prototype constructed for testing. The biggest challenge is finding supplies that we need from the local hardware store. They are not well stocked for water filter contruction. After the filter prototype is completed, we will hand it off to Don and in a month we will know if we have a biological layer forming for the filter.
After the filter is built, we will be putting up window screens in the translation building where the Bible is being translated into Monkole, as well as shoring up the solar water heater at the SIM station.
Tonight we will be attending a prayer meeting with the Monkole church (which is well attended) and we have been asked to give our testimony. We are diligently working on that too in our spare time and hopefully we will be an encouragement to the church here. We will be doing similar things this coming Sunday as we visit two churches. Singing praise songs in French has been a fun challenge.
Physically, the team is doing well, save for some colds and stomach aches. Keep praying for the health of our team.
Don, one of the missionaries here had to go back to Parakou to take care of his wife who needs rest (as she is pregnant). Please pray for a good pregnancy and healthy delivery of their second child.
I think our French is improving because people are understanding us better. We carry my French-English dictionary everywhere we go so we can use and conjugate the right verbs. Keep praying that our words and actions are a good witness and source of encouragement to those around us.
I gotta run now. My ride is here to go back and resume our work.
Peace
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