Category: Prayer Blog

First a huge thank you to all of you who replied to my “Discouragement” blog, all the replies were very encouraging. Perhaps someday I will share more about some of the unfinished items that are a discouragement.

Those of you who know me well (especially those from my college years) are aware that Christmas is not my favorite holiday. I am thankful that here in Benin Christmas is not commercialized. I am also thankful that the kids are on Christmas break so that we are together as a family. This year the celebrations ended up distracting me from the reason for the celebration. (Please do not read into this that the problem was with the celebration. Donna worked very hard to have a simple and meaningful Christmas.) The struggle, at least for me, is to keep the reason for the celebration central in the midst of celebration preparation and activities.

The other day I spent some time thinking and praying about 2014 and our up coming move. The one clear conclusion, in the midst of many unknowns, is that we need prayer.

Please pray that we would quickly receive the information that we have requested concerning shipping items to Kenya. We have made many requests over the last few months and have little information. Your prayers for our work permits will be appreciated as well. Lastly, pray for our kids as they say their final goodbyes in the next few days.

The past few weeks I have been pretty discouraged (and I have had a hard time finding the right words to express this discouragement and ask for prayer). There are many things for which I am thankful: our wonderful kids being home on break, the opportunity to move to Kenya, a beautiful wife who loves me (even when I am grumpy) and a great team to work with here in Benin. Praise God with me for these. While I am thankful, there are many unresolved issues burdening my heart, especially as I think about leaving Benin.

Those of you who are long time readers of my blog, you know that there have been many things that we have prayed for over the years. You also know that some of these things have yet to come to a desirable ending. There are a couple of these things that weigh very heavy on my heart.

Please pray for joy in the midst of unresolvedness. Pray for wisdom in which things to press forward and which things to leave. Pray for all the details of our move to Kenya.

For this prayer blog I am trying a video blog. Please let me know if you would like to see more video blogs from time to time. (For those of you with limited Internet connectivity or those of you who are technically challenged a summary of the video is below.)

There are two possible ways to watch this. One is to click on this link which will take you to the video on Vimeo: vimeo.com/thecoxfamily/2013-09vlog

Two, if you see the video in the box below you can simply hit the play button in that box. If this does not work, go back to option one.

Video Summary

This video thanks prayer partners for their ongoing prayers. There is a short update explaining that things are going well in Kenya and requesting prayers for upcoming meetings. The following prayer request are also given: Donna in Benin with an empty nest. Donna starts teaching the Kennedy boys this week. Currently Sharon Diehl, the Director of the Africa Regional Support Services is visiting Benin. Lastly, there is the shortwave license and NGO process.

Well the last month has been a whirlwind. In about a month’s time the Cox family received more visitors than we have in the last three years. It was great to have all of these visitors.

In the middle of our visitors, Garth (our TWR colleague here in Benin) had to make an unplanned trip to South Africa because of a medical emergency with his sister. We praise God that his sister is better but she still has some significant medical challenges ahead. Your prayers for Garth, his sister and their families would be appreciated.

Garth’s unexpected departure made an already busy time very crazy. Hence the last few weeks I have been playing catch up between my normal duties and Garth’s responsibilities. Your prayers continued prayers would be appreciated.

In about a week and a half, our kids head back to Kenya. Donna and I are trying to squeeze the most out of the remaining time. When the kids go back I will travel with them as some testing is needed in Kenya and I have some meetings. Your prayers for the time with our kids will be appreciated.

Paul

Donna, Micah Joy and I got away for a breath of fresh air. Our time away was very good. As I mentioned in the last blog, we spent time with a pastor and his wife who have a ministry of encouragement to those who serve. Our time with them was very good to clarify where we have been and what lessons we have learned.

We are very excited for the month of July. Nehemiah and Miriam arrive in a few days from Kenya. The day after Nehemiah and Miriam arrive a friend serving short term in Ghana will visit for a few days. During her visit some good friends from the States arrive for two weeks. A few days after our friends leave, a mission team from New Covenant Church in Albuquerque arrives to serve along side us. Now taking reservations for August at the Cox Bed and Breakfast.

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.