New Country, New Team!

Hello Friends and Family!

I can’t believe I’m already half way done my trip! It does not feel like I have been here for almost 4 weeks – time is going so fast!

I wanted to give an update on my time here so far…I flew by myself so it was good to see some familiar faces at the Togo Airport when I arrived. I met another Canadian DRIME member and some DRIME Benin members (who I know from my past visits there) who were already here planting the DRIME Togo base. One of my suitcases was lost somewhere between Brussels and Togo but it arrived a week later with everything in it. I didn’t have a towel for that week :)…but that was the only essential that was missing. 

Soon after arriving, I was able to meet the new DRIME Togo leaders! Like I mentioned above, there were already a couple people here to start the base plant. They had already done a lot of promotion and sharing about DRIME, and they had held interviews and chosen leaders for the new team. I joined them for the last couple of months of the base plant to help train these new leaders and start the first DRIME Togo team! We meet with our leaders 2-3 times a week for DRIME training in dramas, evangelism, leadership, and everything else they need to know on how to lead a team. Also over the last 2 weeks, we have been accepting applications from people who want to be members and having interviews with them. Next weekend (Aug 17-19) will be the official start of the first DRIME Togo team! We will have a couple days of training and then go out to do ministry on the Sunday evening. 

I have LOVED getting to know these new leaders! Their passion for God and the ministry is so inspiring! It has been very exciting to see them share the vision of the ministry with others and interact with people who are interested in membership. That is one of my favorite parts of a base plant – seeing the new leaders really catch the vision and pass it on! And these leaders love to have fun! I can’t even count how many games of Dutch Blitz and Uno we have played, and how many times our sides have hurt from laughing so hard. They are not just our new leaders – they are friends and it is a pleasure to get to know them more and more! 

I have also loved spending time with my Benin friends who are here planting the base with me. It is amazing to think that just 2 years ago I was teaching them how to lead a DRIME team, and now they are teaching what they have learned to other leaders. It’s such a perfect picture of the vision of DRIME to see all our bases multiplying around the world. Here is a link to a video that explains this story in more detail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7O7-E8Xmvc

Here are a few of my current prayer requests:

·         Health – all of us base planters have been sick in the last week. A couple of us are feeling better but there are still lingering symptoms. Please pray for complete healing and energy for these busy last 2 weeks of the base plant.

·         The Start of the Team – Please pray for committed and passionate members, and that the first weekend of training would go smoothly and be successful in equipping and inspiring the new members!

·         My Translating Ability – With team members that speak two different languages, I am doing a lot of translating and sometimes the French doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as I would like it to. Pray that this would improve and that communication between all of us would continue to go well. 

Thank you for praying for me!

Shorter Trip but Fuller Schedule

Here are a few updates from the last week:
• Tanya and I went to the church I attended last year on Sunday morning. It was sooo great to be back! A couple of my friends were on the worship team and Martin (the DRIME Benin director) preached! I definitely saw a lot of familiar faces!
• Tanya and I also went to the DRIME Benin Team’s practice. I had major flashbacks to the very first practice I attended last year, and I was blown away by the progress that has been made since then! THE TEAM IS AWESOME!! The practice had an enthusiastic and positive energy and I could tell that the team really felt like a family! And dramatically, they were amazing!!! I was sooo proud of them!
• The election did happen on Sunday night, and we still don’t know the results but everything did happen peacefully! Praise God!
• We went to the village of Aikinko on Monday with a small DRIME team. It was great to do village ministry again! We performed a few dramas and about 10 people gave their life to Christ! Some of them were already talking about travelling to the nearest church for the next Sunday. It is amazing to see someone make such an important decision, and then it’s even better when you know follow-up and discipleship will happen!
• On Tuesday, we did ministry on the beach in Cotonou. It wasn’t a very busy day at the beach but we still saw 5 people give their lives to Christ! A couple people stayed and asked us to pray for them so that was really cool to be a part of! And it was sooo encouraging to see the team do ministry and see them do it so well!
• Wednesday and Thursday were spent with the DRIME Benin leaders – creating a strategic plan, training them in a couple things, evaluating and encouraging them. I have loved spending time with them again! It’s like I never left! It has especially been exciting to meet Rachelle’s baby boy, Dylan. He is two months old and SOOO ADORABLE!!!
• Tanya left for Kenya on Thursday night so I’m in the hotel by myself. It is kinda weird to be the only Canadian but my Beninese friends have been so great – they keep telling me to not be lonely, to just call them if I need someone! They are sooo sweet!!
• I am leading a small team from DRIME Benin into Togo (Benin’s neighbour to the west) for a short missions trip this weekend! So stay tuned for a Togo update!

Benin...Take 2

I’m looking out my hotel window to a world that is so different from my home...yet it is so familiar. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the heat – it is all exactly how I remember it from a year ago! And then I got to see some very familiar faces today, so it almost feels like home again!

Overall, traveling went really well. Our only sketchy flight was from Vancouver to Seattle, which was only half an hour, and then it was smooth flying after that! All of our luggage arrived with us so that was a HUGE answer to prayer! However, in Benin they didn’t believe that my luggage was my luggage at first, but after some talking and convincing I was allowed to leave with my own bags.

Patrice (our in-country contact) and Olivier (one of the DRIME Benin leaders) were at the airport to pick us up and take us to our hotel. It is definitely different to be in a hotel instead of an apartment like last year! I think I feel a little homesick for my Benin apartment!

Today, the 4 DRIME Benin leaders met Tanya and I at our hotel for our first leader meeting. IT WAS SOOO GOOD TO SEE THEM AGAIN!!! I spent a lot of time with these people last year while we chose the leaders, had meetings with them, trained them, did ministry with him, and just hung out with them. In fact, I’ve been reading my journal from last year and at this time last year, we were right in the middle of choosing the leaders of DRIME Benin! So it is so crazy to meet with them a year later and dream and plan together! I had to be the main translator today (Jamie – definitely missed my fellow French speaker today!) so I’m kinda tired from thinking so much and so hard! Haha!! But it was sooo good to hear how each of them are doing and how DRIME Benin is doing!

Prayer Requests:
- Pray for Benin's presidential elections tomorrow - that they would happen peacefully and God's will would happen
- That we would be an encouragement to the DRIME Benin team at their practice tomorrow. Also pray that they would really catch the vision we share and be inspired!
- We are going into a village on Monday to do ministry so pray for our safety and that the people there would have open hearts
- Pray that I would have peace about being here on my own for the second week of the trip and not be too nervous!

Souvenirs and Houseguests

On Wednesday, we went to a souvenir place with a couple of our friends. There were dozens of little shops where you could get all sorts of wooden carvings, jewellery, paintings and many, many other things!! We all got some really nice souvenirs!! It was a little crazy because some of the shop owners can be a bit aggressive and they would keep pushing items at us. One lady come up to me and kept asking me to come see her shop and she said she had great prices for me. I tried to walk away but she kept following me!! I have such a hard time with bartering and pushy sales people because I can have a really hard time saying no or just leaving while they are still trying to talk to me. But you have to do that!! So it is definitely stretching for me!! :) But it was lots of fun to look through things and find some more awesome souvenirs!!

Wednesday was also exciting because Michele and Abby arrived here in the evening!! Michele is on staff with DRIME and works a lot with missions trips and base plants, and after Michele and I leave in a week, Abby will stay here in Benin for the remaining 2 months. (As you probably know, the DRIME Benin base plant is 5 months long but I could only stay for 3 months so Abby is finishing the last 2.) It was sooo fun to see familiar faces from Canada and be able to actually show them where and how we have been living for the past 3 months! And they brought a whole bunch of stuff from home – stuff that we have been missing and stuff that our families and friends sent for us! It was literally like Christmas!!! I couldn’t believe how much stuff they pulled out of their bags for us!! Thanks to everyone who sent goodies or letters to us!! We appreciate them sooooo much!!

Even though I was soooo excited to see Michele and Abby, it was a tad sad to start this stage of my Benin journey because it means that I will be leaving in a week!! And like I said in my blog last week, my heart is definitely in 2 different places now so even though I’m going back to one of these places, it means that I am leaving the other one behind. But I definitely wouldn’t trade this experience for anything!! I have loved it sooo much and feel sooo blessed to have had this opportunity!! I’m excited to share stories and pictures when I get back!! I hope all my family and friends in Langley are prepared to hear A LOT about Benin over the next month or so!! :)

Prayer Requests and Praise Items
o We are still healthy and safe!! Thank you Jesus!!
o Pray that everyone who has expressed interest in DRIME at our recruiting times will stay interested and join the team in June
o Pray for all of us as we transition this week – pray that Abby would quickly adjust to life in Benin; pray that I would adjust quickly and smoothly to life back home and feel a peace about leaving; pray for Jamie and Janna as they adjust to new team dynamics
o Please pray that my last week in Benin will be an amazing end to this experience and I will be able to fit in everything that I want to do before I go

Wanna Join DRIME??

This last weekend was busy with lots of recruiting! On Saturday, we went to the town of Ouidah again because there was a Baptist celebration for young adults, and we were able to perform a couple dramas and tell them about DRIME. We performed on the beach which was pretty cool (it was far up the beach and not close at all to the water, but still...)! And we had about 10 people talk to us and take applications after we performed so there was definitely some interest! It’s fun hearing the reactions of people here when we perform dramas! Every time Jesus heals someone in a drama the crowd will clap and cheer!

Then on Sunday morning, the 3 of us and the leaders went to 2 different churches to share and perform during their services. Again, about 10 people came and talked to us at each church. Now we are just praying that these people stay interested and come to our information meetings where they can hand in their applications and get more details about how DRIME Benin will work.

On Sunday it was pouring rain all day and guess how we got to those two churches...motorbikes! Yeah, we were riding on motorbikes in the pouring rain!!! The rain hurts when you are on a motorbike – the speed makes it slap your face pretty hard!! :) Luckily it wasn’t raining too hard on our way to the churches so we weren’t too wet, but we were absolutely drenched when we got home! I was riding with Rachelle, one of the 4 DRIME Benin leaders, and as we were trying to get through a HUGE puddle with rain still slapping our faces she joked, “Anything for ministry, right?” And I replied, “Yes, we have to make sacrifices for ministry.” :) hahaha!!

Watch a Tornado One Day, Go To The Beach The Next!

On Saturday morning there was a huge storm!! It definitely feels more like the rainy season now because the weather is cooler, it is overcast a lot more often, and we have had a few rain storms in the last week. Yes, overcast here is still like 30°C but it actually does feel cooler. This morning the wind was extra strong so we were standing by the front door and watching it. So many things were being blown up and down the street!! And then it started pouring rain and when it rains here – it rains!!! The rain comes down in a sheet and the raindrops are huge!! As we were watching all this happen, Jamie said that it looked like a tornado. And it really did!! We didn’t actually see a tunnel but they way things were being blown around, it definitely looked like a tornado. And then we were talking about this storm a few days later with the DRIME Benin leaders and they said it really was a legit tornado!!! So we were actually in a tornado!!!! Crazy, eh?!!

On Sunday we had our last practice with the drama team at our church. We are taking a break before the official DRIME team starts in June so we can do some recruiting and spend more time training the leaders. We wanted to thank them for their interest in DRIME and for keeping a team going over the last 10 months so we planned a little party. We went through the dramas that they know and then we played a game. We taught them Four On A Couch and they really enjoyed it!! Some of them were very intense with their strategizing! :) And then we showed them a slideshow of pictures that we had put together – pictures from the last 3 months and from the time the DRIME team was here in May. They so enjoyed seeing all those pictures!! It was so fun to watch them watch the slideshow! So it was a really great way to end our time with that church’s drama team and hopefully they will all join the official DRIME team in June!!

Thursday was Beach Day!!! Janna and I went to Obama Beach with some of our friends – Olivier, Martin and Calixte. We built a sandcastle (and our friends had to call it the DRIME castle), we swam in the waves (which were actually pretty strong that day), and a couple of us spent time just lying on the beach reading (yes, I was definitely one of these people). :) It was a funny feeling because there were moments when I felt like I was just at any beach, but then there were moments when it really hit me that I was swimming at a beach in Africa!! I wasn’t in the Pacific Ocean like I would normally be in at a beach back home....I was in the Atlantic Ocean!! I was on African sand!! I always like it when these realizations hit me because it reminds me how blessed I am to be here and how I need to soak it all up now while I can!! Especially since I leave in 2 weeks!!!

That is one thing that is only starting to sink in now – that I go home in 2 weeks! It is definitely bittersweet! I am soooo excited to see everyone back home and get back to “normal” life (not that life is ever really normal). :) I really miss my family, my friends, my small group girls, my church, my work and everything else so it will be great to come home!! But I am definitely gonna miss being here! I’m gonna miss Benin, the African culture and pace, my new friends, and Jamie and Janna!! I guess I’m just lucky to have 2 places that I love so much!! :)

Praise Items and Prayer Requests
o Praise God for the good health that we have been having! Please pray that that would continue!!
o We have 3 recruiting appointments this weekend – pray that everything goes smoothly and that there is a lot of interest in DRIME
o Pray for me as I start to think about leaving here, going home and adjusting back to “normal” life
o Michele and Abby (from DRIME) leave for Benin on Monday – pray that they finish everything they need to get done in these last few days and pray that they have safe travels

Today’s Top Story: Canadian Tourists Face Incredible Danger!

Thursday was our first official touristy day!!! It was sooooo much fun!!! We asked a couple of friends to come with us, so it was good to have some extra company and to have people who know their way around and who know how to barter! :) We went to a town called Ouidah where there are a number of museums and historical sites.

We went to the Museum of Ouidah’s History. It was pretty interesting – there was a lot of history and artifacts on slavery and voodoo. It was sooo crazy to think about everything these slaves had to go through!! And then we bought our first souvenirs of the trip at this museum!! It is really exciting to finally own a piece of Benin that I can take home with me! Our friends that came with us also bought each of us a picture of one of the symbols of Benin, so that was soooo nice of them!!!

Then we went to a place called the Temple of Python. It was a little creepy because some people think the python is a god and this temple is a place of worship to them. We thought it was just going to be a museum. But we got to do something soooo cool....can you guess?....we got to HOLD A SNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!! I had heard about this place before coming here so for the last 2 months I’ve been telling Jamie and Janna that we have to visit the python place because I really wanted to hold a snake!! I think they thought I was crazy and Janna even said that she would never hold a snake. So when we got to this temple, I was the most excited of all and was the first one to hold a snake!! And then our guide started to wrap the snake around my neck...okay...when I was picturing holding a snake, I did think about having it around my neck but I didn’t think it would be wrapped around my neck...so when he started wrapping this snake around my neck I thought, You know that this is how pythons kill people, right? But it didn’t squeeze my neck at all and it was actually a really cool feeling to have a snake around my neck! Now, I know that my Dad is probably having a heart attack as he’s reading this, but rest assured that I am still alive and well!!! :) And even Jamie and Janna held a snake and allowed one to be wrapped around their necks! We were actually really funny to watch when we had a snake around us because there was definitely a mixture of fear and excitement on our faces! :)

Then our friends wanted to take us to the beach in Ouidah. They said that it wasn’t that far and they gave us an estimate of the distance but I am horrible at judging distances and knowing how far they actually are. I was looking for a time estimate instead of a distance estimate. It’s funny because here they really do measure things by distance, whereas in Canada we measure things by time. Interesting, eh? Anyways, we ended up having a second death walk to a beach!! Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as the first one we had at the beginning of the trip because we were wearing shoes instead of flip flops and we are more used to the heat. But we definitely came home with a few sunburns!! But it is always amazing to sit on the beach and look out at the never-ending water (and in this case, the water we were looking at really doesn’t end until Antarctica!!) and just marvel at God’s incredible creation and the blessing that it is to share in it!

So that’s why our blog entries are a little late this week – Thursday was spent being tourists!! But it definitely gave us more interesting things to write about!! :) No, we didn’t face incredible danger but our heart rates definitely increased!

Prayer Requests and Praise Items:
o Continued health and safety (we are doing much much better after our sickness last week!!)
o We have our first info meeting about DRIME in a church on Sunday. Please pray that people will be interested in joining the team and supporting us!
o Pray for me as I start to think about leaving here, going home and adjusting back to “normal” life