Mission Complete

I talked with AB late Wednesday afternoon just before the team was headed to bed. He reported an incredibly fulfilling and blessed day. The team began in Fifidge conducting a soccer clinic and evangelizing. Over 100 people attended the clinic in this small village. The team shared the Gospel during the clinic and had several people indicate salvation decisions. There is already a small group of believers in Fifidge and the team was also able to encourage and support these people.

The team travelled to Savalou hoping to conduct another soccer clinic. However, it was raining heavily when they arrived. So, they spent time visiting residents of Savalou, evangelizing and prayerwalking. At one point, they met with a 65 year old man who was deeply touched by their visit. This elderly gentleman shared with the team that he was a Christian. He shared that he had been involved in the Catholic church and then made a connection with a Baptist church. He became a Christian and is living out his faith in Savalou. He had in his hand a French translation of a pamphlet on Baptist Beliefs. He told our team that he was using that pamphlet to teach his children about Christ. AB reported that the time spent with this gentleman was truly blessed and very precious to everyone.

The team made two attempts to see King Tofa. Each time, Tofa was working in the fields. They were able to meet with some of the believers in Gbalin and give them encouragement and pray with them. However, at the end of the day when the team returned to Glazoue, they stopped at a small corner store/market--sort of a Benin "Golden Pantry". While inside, a Benin national came up to AB and said, "You are the man in the picture on my father's wall". It turns out that this man is the son of King Tofa. Last spring, we gave King Tofa a copy of a photo of him with A.B. made on an earlier trip. King Tofa has this photo on his wall alongside other significant photos.

A.B., Dr. Simms, and Squeaky were able to share with Tofa's son at this market. Dr. Simms also sent a message to Tofa through his son to be true to the commitment to God that Tofa says he has made and assured him that we were praying for him on a regular basis.

Repeatedly, A.B. shared that time after time things happened that by all human accounts should not have happened. These incidents are all of God--and the team testifies that they happened because the home team was praying.

Our team was able to share the Gospel on several occasions and encourage and uplift the believers in the area. We truly believe that we are seeing fruits from our efforts in the training we are providing the pastors and lay leaders, the storying conference conducted last May, and the repeated visits to the villages to evangelize and share. God continues to bless and open doors and hearts.

When we first began this engagement to reach the Mahi, we estimated that less than 1% of the almost 130,000 Mahi were Christians. We are beginning to see this number grow. Continue to pray that many will hear and believe.

Our team leaves Benin late Thursday evening (Benin time) to head home. Pray for safe, uneventful travel home, for rest on the long flights, and for quick adjustments to the time change as they return home and to responsibilities here. Pray for meaningful debriefing and assessment and evaluation of the trip as move forward and plan for the next steps in Benin.

The team has worked hard and withstood long, tiresome days. However, they are fulfilled and have the satisfaction of having accomplished what they set out to do and the knowledge that God has not only been with them every step of the way, but He has blessed their work. Well done, good and faithful servants.

Bush Mama Porter