Category: Prayer Blog

In the last week and a half, two very encouraging things have happened: A showing of the Jesus Film under the mango tree and an Operation Christmas Child shoebox distribution to a very unreached community. More about these two events will be coming in our July newsletter.

For the next two weeks, Donna, Micah Joy and I are getting a breath of fresh air. The last couple of months have been pretty hard. We are taking a little time out of Benin to get away, rest and seek the Lord. One week will be spent in a cottage by a beach. The other week will be spent with a pastor and his wife who have a ministry of encouragement to those who serve. Your prayers for rest and rejuvenation would be greatly appreciated.

Donna and I greatly appreciate all of you who prayed for the meetings on the communication problem and who sent us emails and posts. Thank you.

During the meetings there were some items resolved, there was some positive progress and there are some concrete actions steps to keep progress moving forward. Praise God with us for the positive progress and pray with us as discussion is put into action.

I am excited for my time in Kenya with Nehemiah and Miriam. Give thanks to the Lord for this time that I have with them and pray that He blesses it.

In a couple of blogs I have mentioned a communication problem. Over the next three days there will be a number of meetings on this. Please fervently seek the Lord that a breakthrough can be made this week. I would even ask that maybe a few of you would fast and pray until Wednesday.

Many thanks to those of you who contacted us about my last blog on our time of fasting and prayer. Your comments were a tremendous encouragement to us. Donna and I had hoped for a clear answer on how to better support our children. The Lord, in His sovereignty, did not give that answer. He did make clear that one option we had considered was not His will. Your on going prayers for how we better support our children would be appreciated.

On the topic of supporting our children, I will be headed to Kenya toward the end of the week to spend 9 days with Nehemiah and Miriam. I am thankful to those of you who have contributed to this trip. Pray that the Lord would bless my time in Kenya.

Please know how much Donna and I appreciate your prayers and support. Thank you so much for being on this journey with us.

For the next few days Donna and I are fasting and praying. One of the things that has been on our hearts for a while is the level of support that our children are receiving from us. (Please do not interpret this statement to mean that there are problems with our kids. All our kids are well and we rejoice at how well each of them has done in boarding school. Now there could be some better grades here and there; but then we are talking about teenagers.)

We believe that our kids attending Rift Valley Academy was and continues to be the right choice. All three are growing in faith and maturity and enjoy being there. Benin just happens to be a long way off.

Your prayers would be appreciated as Donna and I seek the Lord on the issue of supporting our kids. In addition, while we are fasting and praying, we will be praying for the short wave license, NGO status and the communication problem we have mentioned, we would be grateful if you also prayed with us concerning these.

The Good: We are thankful that one of the steps required to get TWR’s NGO status here in Benin has been submitted to the Benin government. Praise be to God that one of the government officials was kind and helpful so that the paperwork could be submitted in a timely way.

The Bad: At the transmitting site we have a smaller generator that provides power during the day (you will remember we only broadcast at night and early morning when AM has a much longer range and we have large generators for broadcasts). The failure was in the control panel and could be costly to replace.

The Ugly: It appears that some of our paper work from six years ago when we imported a container has been lost / misplaced and now TWR has been requested to pay duty on this container. I hope and pray that once copies of the paper work are resubmitted that this will be easily resolved. Pray that this is so.

In addition to this unpleasantry, there have been a number of power spikes here in Parakou. During one we measured the voltage at 380 volts rather than the normal 220 volts. As a result two team members lost laptop power supplies. (One of which way my power supply. As I write my laptop is jerry-rigged to a bench power supply.) We praise God that this is all that was damaged but it has been inconvenient.

The Late: Please forgive that I have not blogged much. The pass few months have been very busy and I always seem to be late. Back in February I asked for prayer concerning a communication problem. Some days I feel this problem is moving forward and being resolved. Other days I feel like one step forward and two steps back. This has taken a good amount of time and energy and it is a significant contributing factor to being behind. Your continued prayers for this problem and lateness would be appreciated. Speaking of lateness, I am a bit behind on a research proposal draft submission for my PhD, pray that this is completed quickly.

Many thanks to everyone who prayed for my trip; it was wonderfully uneventful. There was a joyous reunion with Donna, who surprised me by coming to Cotonou to welcome me home. (Cotonou, where the airport is located, is a seven to nine hour drive from Parakou, where we live.) It has been good to see Micah Joy, old colleagues, new colleagues and the team in Benin.

Your prayers will be appreciated as I jump back into life and work here in Benin. There are a number of issues on which I will be focusing: the communication problem I mentioned in my last blog, the Non Government Organization (NGO) process and the short wave license. Your continued prayers for these would be greatly appreciated.

(For the new comers to my blog, TWR is attempting to get its NGO status in Benin. This would be equivalent to getting 501(c)3 non-profit status in the USA. Also, TWR is trying to get a short wave license that will allow us to reach more people with the gospel).

Before we left Benin, the kids recorded a video tour of our home and Rift Valley Academy (www.rva.org). The post-production editor (me) took way too long to finally edit the video. But it is done and can be seen on YouTube at:

http://youtu.be/T46f7tkFPwI

Donna and Micah Joy made it safely to Benin and they are settling into the rhythm of life there. Donna feels pretty good from her surgeries; some days she is a bit sore and has yet to return to her previous energy levels. Her doctor said it would be a couple more months before her full energy levels would return. Please pray for Donna’s energy levels.

As many of you know, TWR is constructing new missionary houses and the plan was for Donna to move into a new home when she arrived. The housing project is just a bit behind schedule so Donna and Micah Joy are back in our old house anticipating the move to our new house. Pray for them as they figure out what to unpack and what to leave packed. In addition, Donna will start teaching the Kennedy boys on Monday (January 14).

Most of you know that I am taking a study sabbatical. This study sabbatical will be the start of my work on a PhD in New Testament interpretation. Pursuing a PhD is something that Donna and I have been praying about for a number of years and feel that the time is right to start this process. I will be formally applying to South Africa Theological Seminary (I have been provisionally accepted).

South Africa Theological Seminary is a non-resident program (i.e. I will study from Benin) so I will continue with my position as Station Director with TWR in Benin as I study. Plans are in place for more help to be around the Benin Transmitting Station, so my schedule should not be as full as it has been in the past.

During the time I was caring for Donna after her surgeries, and her dad while her mom had surgery, I lost key time to finish up our furlough responsibilities. As a result I was a bit late starting my study sabbatical. In an attempt to regain some of this time, I will be leaving the USA at the end of January, two weeks later than originally planned.

Your prayers for the start of this new endeavor would be appreciated. Please pray that the next three weeks would yield very fruitful study and for the extended separation of Donna and I. Pray that I can change my tickets without any problems (I have waited to change my tickets just in case Donna was not feeling well).

As always, thanks for your prayers.

PS For those of you interested in my topic, Lord willing, it will be in the area of using social science in New Testament interpretation; more specifically, using the cross-cultural communication research of Geert Hofstede and his six cultural dimensions in biblical interpretation.

In life there is a pattern of mountaintop high experiences followed by valley low challenges. This pattern is seen in Scriptures, in history and has recently been our experience.

Our time visiting churches and reconnecting with friends and supporters has been a mountaintop high. We cannot begin to describe how revitalized, uplifted and supported we have felt. We have been encouraged by the growth and depth we have seen in many of the churches that we have visited. We are greatly encouraged that New Covenant Church in Albuquerque is planning a mission’s trip to West Africa including a team coming to Benin. We are also excited that some close friends are planning their first trip to Benin to see us.

Our descent from the mountaintop began with Donna’s surgeries. While we praise God that they went well and Donna’s recovery is still going well, they took a lot out of both patient and care giver. Because of this I was unable to start my study sabbatical in December. At this point, we are unsure of all the implications of the delayed start with my sabbatical. In addition, we recently heard from Benin that due to some complications a key deadline was missed in the NGO process. What made this news even more discouraging was that the deadline was missed while some were focused on other issues.

At this point it is unknown whether the missed deadline will result in having to redo much of what was done just before we left Benin or if our colleagues can get an exception from the government of Benin. Your prayers for this would be appreciated.

I have already had my little rant with God demanding why He would let some complications cause a missed deadline with the NGO process. As usual, God was very gracious and kind and did not judge me too harshly for my rant.

Praise God with us for the mountaintop, the valley and His graciousness during my rant. Pray for our colleagues who are working on the NGO process. Pray for us as we work through the delayed start of my study sabbatical and start preparing to return to Benin.

As many of you are aware, Donna’s first surgery to remove some fibroids and her gall bladder on November 12 went well. Her second surgery to have some blocked veins in her leg removed on November 26 also went well. Please thank the Lord with us for these successful surgeries.

Praise God with us that Donna’s recovery is going very well, although a bit slower than she had hoped. The doctors are very pleased with her progress and to date there have not been any complications.

Pray for our transition from furlough and surgeries to study sabbatical.