Some Weeks are Slower....But No Week is Ever Boring!!

Compared to the week of my previous blog entry, this week has been very chill! We have mostly stayed around the house doing DRIME work, hanging out and playing games. But I have never had a boring week – something always happens to add some excitement or some stress!

There was one thing that happened in Canada last week that I was not at all sad to miss!! Daylight Savings Time! I always hate losing an hour in the Spring but this year I completely missed it and will get to keep all my hours!! I know it doesn’t really seem like a big deal but it was exciting for me!

This last Sunday was a jam-packed day!! It started with us getting a phone call first thing in the morning to tell us that instead of our contact picking us up in his jeep to take us to church, our friends were going to pick us up on their motorbikes instead. So we were excited for another motorbike ride! Of course, I had to wear a skirt to church so it was a little awkward getting on the bike, but no worries, everything did stay appropriate!! Haha!! When we got to the church and I moved to get off the motorbike, my leg hit the muffler so now I have a big burn on my leg! It looks worse than it feels but there are still painful moments.
We got to church early so we were just sitting on one of the benches when this little girl came up to me and threw herself onto my lap. I lifted her up to sit on my lap and she ended up staying with us for the whole service! She was so adorable!! She clapped my hands during the worship and Janna let her doodle in her notebook during the message. She had definitely never held or used a pen before so it was fun watching her discover that it could make marks on the paper!
After church we had another drama practice with the team. We taught all of them another drama this time – Thief. We had enough people for exactly 3 teams so Janna, Jamie and I each took one. The 3 of us would demonstrate each part of the drama together and then go to our individual teams and teach them that part. It went really smoothly and the team caught on faster than they have in other practices. But when we came together as one big group to review a drama, things got more frustrating because it would take people a long time to catch on to things or too many people would be talking. So each week is definitely a learning experience and practices are becoming easier and more productive!
Then after I got home from church (yes, I did get back on the motorbike that burned me and I survived!), I was able to call my Small Group of Grade 12 girls back home in Langley!! They always have Small Group time on Sunday mornings so I called during their meeting time! I was able to speak with 4 of my girls, Andrea (my friend and co-leader) and Matthew (my friend and the youth pastor at my church)!! It was sooooo good to hear voices from home and hear how people are doing!! I have also been able to talk to my family a couple of times since I’ve been here. It is always soooo good to hear from Canada!!

Speaking of family.....my family has a couple of birthdays this weekend so I wanted to say...HAPPY BIRTHDAY REGAN AND MOM!!!! Sorry I’m missing your birthdays but I will definitely be celebrating here and I hope you have an awesome birthday day (even though it might be hard without me there. Ha!) Love you both tons and tons!!!

On Tuesday morning, we had a meeting with the leaders of the Baptist churches of Benin. It went really well! They were very excited about our ministry and the idea of using drama for evangelism because it can cross language barriers. They were already thinking of all these events and churches that they want us to be a part of, and wanting to discuss how we can partner more in the future. It was great but we don’t have too much time to do special events right now since we need to focus on developing the leadership team that we will choose in a week and a half. So we probably won’t be able to participate in all the events that they have in mind, but it’s really nice to know that they will support and use the DRIME Benin team once it has been fully established.

Prayer Requests
o Physical and spiritual health and safety
o That the burn on my leg would heal quickly and completely
o That allergies would go away not bother my teammates
o Our potential leaders are filling out applications this week so pray for God’s guidance for them as they fill them out and for us as we read them
o We are taking a team to one of the villages on Saturday to do some ministry so pray that a lot of people will watch us and that hearts will be opened to God