Hiland Park team in pictures - part 2

We left Ouidah Sunday afternoon to head to Bohicon. This is the same place we went with Anthony when he came last year. This time Trey and Carl taught at the Bible school while the rest of the group went into surrounding villages. David headed back to Cotonou to take a flight home as he couldn't stay longer. Again, the guys taught on Baptist doctrine. It's a little different doing training here. Bohicon is further north, granted, not that far north. Anyway, they don't get much Biblical training. And the students at the school really enjoy having teachers outside of the norm. Everyone, students and wives, were focused and taking notes. They had great questions. They really wanted to understand Baptist doctrine and be able to follow the Bible as closely as possible. Trey and Carl really enjoyed teaching there.

The team was able to partner with a local Baptist church. In fact, it's the first Baptist church that was ever planted in all of Benin. The pastor of the church is the president of the Bible college. In the year 2020, he wants to invite all former IMB missionaries back to Bohicon/Abomey (the neighboring city) to see all that God has done in that community. His vision is to plant churches in every cartier (area or neighborhood) and surrounding village. He also wants to see his church grow. They are doing this by being active. The church members are going into their community and sharing the gospel. This area is also very wrapped up in voodoo. Also, it's a place known for royalty. It was the royal capital of Benin, before Benin was known as Benin. Got that?! That being said, there are many kings. Every small neighborhood and village has their own king. The people living there will follow what their king says. It's important to reach out to the leaders in order to reach the rest of the community.

The best part of this for the storying team was being able to go out with church members. We were able to encourage each other, even though some of us couldn't communicate. I went out with a group where no one spoke English. My French was tested! At the first house in the village, the pastor greeted the woman and then looked at me and in his broken English told me to tell a Bible story!! Thankfully I had been practicing a story in French, but all of the sudden I couldn't remember a word. I took a breath and started. My story was then translated into Fon, the local language... so if I messed up, the translator could correct it :) I did that again with another group of women, 2 of whom accepted Christ. Then, I told them I needed a break. It was very encouraging for me to see that I could tell a story in French... maybe not grammatically correct, but the point got across. But the most encouraging thing is that the Lord can use my broken French translated into Fon to bring people to Him. I'm so honored to be used by Him.

The other groups had similar stories. Many people coming to Christ. The church members were agreeing to come back and do Bible studies with them. Many from our group shared with kings or leaders of the villages. Some of those accepted Christ. We saw God at work in that community. The kids also really enjoyed having us around. It was great to be able to play with them, when many only speak Fon. Some of us even tried teaching "Jesus Loves Me" in English to them. They loved that.

The last day in town, Sally and I had the opportunity to share with a group of women. We taught on the Book of Esther and how God is at work through the entire story. Sally also shared her personal testimony of how God was at work in her life even in the small details. Often, the women were listening in the midst of children at the nearby school causing a ruckus. Honestly, at the end, I was surprised when the women had questions. Not because I didn't think they were paying attention, but because it was really loud at times and even hard for us to focus. We closed with a time of sharing prayer requests. We were challenged by the hurt in these women's lives. There were many struggling with health issues, one who's husband had been called to ministry many years ago but was running - now they had accepted the call and are now looking for exactly where, some who were struggling with fertility issues, and others who longed for their children to follow Christ. It was eye opening, to say the least. We considered ourselves blessed to be able to teach this women.

We were able to do some sightseeing. We visited the old king's palaces, which are almost in ruins now. The UNESCO organization has made a wonderful museum at one of them. It is said that in a certain building the spirit of the king still lives. Offerings and sacrifices must be made. And in one of the buildings, you must walk around it in a certain direction or the spirit will kill you. This just shows you what kind of a world the people live in in these towns. The spirit world is very really to them. They need salvation.

We were really thankful for the team from HPBC. It's great to have family and friends here. It's awesome for them to see our lives here. It's different. It's hot. It's challenging. But this is where God has us. We continue to pray for those who were trained during this trip and also those who came to Christ. We also pray for those who heard and did not accept, or heard and absolutely refused. We pray God will remind them of those Bible stories and bring them to Him. We have a team coming next week from University of West Florida BCM who will be going to the same area. We are praying now that some of those difficult people will be encountered again and hear a new Bible story.

And we need to end this with one of the best pictures from the entire time....