Church doing church

I shared about a good number of men from church coming to clear our property of weeds back in September.

They surpassed themselves harvesting Pastor Samuel's cotton fields. He has spent the last four weeks down in Parakou where his wife and son are in hospital. So about 160 people - mostly from church but a lot of others too - turned up and spent a day harvesting his cotton. Then a lot of them were there again to load it into a lorry. That will be a weight off the pastor's mind, and a very practical proof of people's love and care for him and his family.



Benjy walking past a cotton field last year.

Bonfire Night

As often as possible we have celebrated Bonfire Night here in Pèdè. Some years we even managed to find sparklers locally, but we usually at least built a bonfire. This year the boys did a great job of collecting wood together, chopping pieces to the right size and building a lovely fire. I found a recipe for treacle toffee - a staple of my childhood bonfire nights - and so that was a new treat for this year.

Catch-up time!

I'm not going to list excuses - it's been a while but I am in Parakou and have some free time and more reliable internet, so it's time to post a bit more!

October brought our annual missionary conference - a time for learning and relaxing with colleagues who've become friends. And this year those who went out for a short afternoon walk got more than they'd bargained for - a complete tropical downpour! It wasn't cold though, and everyone had a smile on their face, at least once they were under cover again! Marc was the official interpreter (English to French) for the daily Bible messages:



Simon played recorder with the band for the first time:



And all the kids enjoyed their time together:



The week after the conference we had a week of checking with our consultant. The day before we started, I had a phonecall from one of my colleagues, Philémon, who began by saying to me, "It's really bad news..." He told me that our other colleague Pastor Samuel's wife (who does housework for us) and son (a friend of our kids) had been in a motorbike accident and had multiple fractures.

Hélène with Eve in 2014.



Benja with our kids last year:



A lot of people from church were at the hospital, so Marc went down to join them. Marc said it was a real testimony to see the way that as each bill for a test or a medicine was brought out, someone from the church went and paid it. Both Hélène and Benja were evacuated to Parakou that same evening as the Kandi hospital didn't have any of their rare O-neg blood.

We worked that week under a cloud of concern. But if anything I found it spurred me on. I didn't believe that it was just a coincidence that this accident had taken place the day before our checking week, especially after all the other things that have been happening in the lives of our team. So I was just like, "We just need to get this done!" Even so, my colleagues and I were absolutely amazed that we managed to get all of 1 and 2 Chronicles checked in the week. Praise God!

We have now finished checking the Old Testament, which should have been a time for celebration ... but none of us could celebrate with our minds on our friends in hospital in Parakou.

They both had complicated fractures which needed to be operated on, but lack of the right kind of blood and of finances held things up. Eventually Hélène was operated on last week, and Benja on Sunday.

We are in Parakou this week, and so both Marc and I have been able to visit them. Hélène was sleeping so I didn't disturb her, but I was able to say hi to Benja, and even get a couple of smiles out of him. It is so hard to see our friends going through this - both the patients themselves and their family who are here caring for them - but it is amazing to hear about the way that God has provided for their needs. Local friends, the mission and overseas Christians have been giving generously.