Category: Prayer Blog

Monday was National Voodoo Day here in Benin. My wife had the great idea to move one of our meetings to this day so that in addition to meeting, the team here in Benin could spend extra time praying on National Voodoo Day. One of the things we praised God for was that three years ago on National Voodoo Day TWR made its first test transmission from Benin.

We also praised God that in the past couple of weeks there was very significant process on the title deed for the land in Parakou for houses and offices. The mayor’s office has completed and announced a survey. The completion of this survey will allow us to move forward with the next steps in the process.

In addition we praise God that all the paper work needed for the first step in TWR’s application for Non Government Organization (NGO) status has been completed and submitted. Pray that the government of Benin will respond favorably and quickly. This status grants TWR tax benefits (much like a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the US).

Please continue to pray for the shortwave license application. In December we were able to deliver a packet of information to a government office concerning technical details of the licensing process. Please pray for a timely and positive response from this office.

It appears to me that now is the time to intercede and pray for Benin. There is significant movement on three major fronts for TWR here in Benin: One, a TWR shortwave license for Benin; Two, NGO status for TWR in Benin and three, the title deed for the new property in Parakou for an office and housing.

We have been gathering documents and information for the Benin government concerning our shortwave license and we are hoping to deliver a packet of information to them on Thursday (Dec 16, 2010). Please pray for the final preparations of this packet. Also, we have had a hard time securing some desired meetings; please pray we are able to schedule the needed meetings or accomplish the desired outcomes via another means (letters, phone, email, miracle, etc…)

The documents from the US for the NGO status arrived, have been translated and were submitted to the Benin government. However, the Benin government is requiring certain documents that do not exist in the American system. Pray for wisdom as we seek a solution.

The process of getting a title deed (which can take a couple of years here in Benin) for the new property in Parakou has been waiting on the city of Parakou to complete and publically announce a survey, which the city finally finished. Pray for us as we move forward with the next steps in this process. Most unfortunately this process is full of people who are looking for a quick buck, pray also for God’s protection from these people.

Pray for the team here in Benin. All of the Benin staff have been and will continue to be working hard on the issues, some directly involved and others covering the normal functions of those directly involved. Those who have been following the prayer blog will recall that Benin desperately needs a broadcast engineer, without this key person onboard and with many team members focused on administrative tasks there is the danger of lacking technical margin for broadcast emergencies. Pray for God’s grace to abound.

To add to all of the above I came down with Malaria and spent a couple of days in bed when I really felt I needed to be working on these things and I am still not back to 100%. Perhaps this is God’s way of bringing me to a deeper dependence on Him rather than relying on my over esteemed ability. Pray that I would continue to learn dependence on and obedience to Him.

In my last prayer update, I ask you to pray for our efforts to secure a high-level government meeting for TWR leadership concerning our shortwave license. While we were trying to secure this meeting in a government office, providentially, the legal counsel for the department came in. One of the secretaries said this is the man to whom you should talk, this lead to a wonderful meeting concerning our shortwave license. Praise God with us for this providential encounter. Pray with us as the legal counsel requested some information about shortwave licenses that we need to gather from vast sources and places in a timely way.

Also in the last update, I asked for prayer on completing some needed documents from the US. Thank the Lord that these have been completed. Pray that the Fed Ex delivery arrives in Benin quickly (and no Fed Ex does not deliver overnight to Benin; more like over a week).

This week, I am in Johannesburg for leadership meetings. In the next few days the Regional Management Team will be reviewing the strategic plan and setting goals for 2011. Pray for the Spirit’s leading and wisdom.

Recently I watched the movie Invictus, which is about Nelson Mandela, the South African Rugby team and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. There is a scene between Nelson Mandela and Fancois Pienaar (the captain of the South African Rugby) that has caught my attention:

Nelson Mandela: How do you inspire your team to do their best?

Francois Pienaar: By example. I’ve always thought to lead by example, sir.

Nelson Mandela: Well, that is right. That is exactly right. But how do we get them to be better than they think they CAN be? …. How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us?

This scene, along with some other events, has lead me to ask: How do I inspire myself to prayer greatness, to pray more: more deeply, more fervently, more intentionally? How do I inspire others to prayer greatness?

Oh Lord, may you motivate your people to pray more deeply, more fervently and more intentionally and may you start with me.

Please continue to pray that the required documents from the USA are completed quickly and arrive in Benin in a timely manner. Pray for our continued efforts to secure a high-level government meeting for TWR leadership concerning our shortwave license. Pray that God would send us a broadcast engineer. Pray for Paul’s continued recovery from Malaria. Praise God with us for spiritual refreshment from the SIM Spiritual Life Conference that we attended.

For those who want more prayer requests and more praises, please download our top 10 things for which we are thankful and 10 prayer requests: http://cox-net.com/pdf/2010.11_Cox.pdf

For those of you who follow the world news closely, you are aware that there has been significant flooding in Benin. We are very appreciative of all who have called or emailed to check on us. By God’s grace we are fine and dry. My wife has blogged about this and you can read more on the Family Blog: http://www.cox-net.com/family_blog/?p=146

Thank you so much for praying for my trip to Cotonou. You will remember I was hoping to meet with various people to follow up with TWR’s NGO status and short wave license application. Both meetings ended up being more than just follow up.

While following up on the NGO status I discovered some missing paper work. This paper work requires documents from the US government. It will probably take four to six weeks to gather all of this documentation. Pray that this process goes quickly.

My meeting about the short wave license concluded with a recommendation that TWR have a high level meeting with a government official. Currently we are trying to secure this meeting and coordinate calendars between this official and the TWR leadership who will need to be present. Pray that all of these details can be worked out.

Next week we will be involved with SIM’s Spiritual Life Conference. We are really looking forward to hearing God’s word and worshipping in English. It is also encouraging to visit with other missionaries we do not see often. There should be about 20 children of all ages so you can imagine Miriam’s excitement. Joy, Donna’s sister, will be here to lead the worship time.  Please pray for spiritual refreshment for the Togo and Benin missionaries that are attending.

Sunday at church as I listened to the African rhythms and the joy in the Bariba voices (which I do not understand) my heart was encouraged to be with fellow believers worshiping God. But then I started thinking about the problems facing the Benin church (curse of a theologian): lack of biblical teaching, some pastors more interested in position than service, and lack of spiritual depth. I was reminded of the problems facing the American church: materialism, business and declining interest in missions. At some point, the cries of joy in Bariba brought my thoughts back to the present worship of God. My heart was warmed: despite the problems the King of kings, the sovereign Lord almighty was being worshipped and my heart rejoined the worship. May we be quick to praise the all powerful creator of the universe and slow to critique His creation.

A huge thank you to those who prayed for my training and then the leadership meetings in South Africa. Both went well and God was gracious to my wife and I while we were apart.

After being home for two weeks, today I leave for a short (three day) trip to Cotonou. I will be meeting with various people about TWR’s shortwave application and NGO status. While these meetings are mainly follow up and I do not anticipate any watershed discussions, I would appreciate your prayers for divine providence.

In my last blog I mentioned a providential encounter with a key leader of an organization who was enthusiastic about helping TWR. Last week I was able to communicate with her via phone and email. Her enthusiasm remains, for which I am thankful. Although the process has to go through other people within her organization. Pray that God would grant TWR favor in the eyes of all those involved.

After much prayer, effort, time and energy, TWR has the title deed to the transmitting site. While all the legalities of the title deed still needs to be double checked, it looked correct to me with my very limited understanding of legal French. Please note that this is the first of two title deeds TWR needs. The second property for houses and offices is still in the beginning stages of the title deed process.

Currently I am writing from South Africa where I am receiving management training this week and attending regional management meetings next week. Your prayers for the training and meetings would be appreciated.

Donna was in Kenya for 11 days to get Micah Joy settled at Rift Valley Academy and returned on September 4.  A week later (September 11) I left for South Africa, where I will be for two weeks. Please pray for our time apart.

Another significant praise is that during a meeting on the day I left for South Africa it was suggested that I meet with a particular organization to solicit their help with our application for NGO status with the Benin government. As I was flying out of Cotonou I providentially ran into one of the key leaders of this organization. She was enthusiastic about the possibility of helping TWR.  Praise God with me for this providential encounter.

Normally when I walk I head North on a road/path and walk by where Miriam goes to school. The other morning I wanted a change of pace and headed South on some small roads/paths. On my 20-minute walk I passed two fetishes, one talisman and two mosques.

I was burden that the gospel has yet to impact many of the people within a 20-minute walking radius of my home. I was further burdened by the tremendous spiritual and physical needs of Benin and of West Africa. I was reminded of all the outstanding issues on my plate with TWR (shortwave license, NGO status, housing project, title deed, open positions for an engineer and mechanic here in Benin, etc…). My desire was to do more.

For the next weeks I pondered how I could do more and just how much effect it would have if I added an extra 30 minutes or hour here or there to my schedule. I started feeling quite depressed by the overwhelming need and lack of resources (especially missionaries here in Benin). At some point in time, that I cannot pin point, during the weeks of my reflection a warmth of hope started slowly growing in my heart. It started as a small spark that I did not notice; by God’s power and grace it was kindled and slowly grew until hope’s warmth was unmistakable. This warmth reminded me that as Christians we are people of hope. Hope, not in what we can do, but in what God can. Hope that the Sovereign King of the universe will, one day, bring His creation into glorious freedom. While I remain burdened by what is not, I have a burning hope of what will be.

Yesterday, what an interesting day full of twists, turns and clear evidence of God’s abounding grace, not to mention cultural and language challenges.

Early in the morning a man and his supposed daughter showed up at our gate stating that a crime took place in our yard. Donna and I asked them if we could have one of the guys working for TWR help investigate the issue since we did not speak the language of the child. Later in the day the child accused the TWR worker of the crime and the story continued to evolve and evolve and change… Providentially, our coworker, Garth had the wisdom to suggest that the discussions be recorded.  After a long day and much prayer for God to be glorified the situation was resolved.

The supposed daughter was not a daughter but a child worker with a history of lying. The recorded conversations had contradictions and did not align with other facts. In reality, the crime did not take place in our yard, and was not with the TWR worker. Last night a small delegation of six people and two babies showed up at our gate for formal apologies, both to the accused and us. We have asked for the young girl to receive help as we accepted the apology of the man who aided in the accusations.

The story is much longer and complex than this synopsis with family ties, locked gates, guards, dogs, cultural nuances, irrefutable alibis and God’s power clearly demonstrated. Praise God with us for the resolution of these accusations. Please join us in praying for this man, the child and for others apparently involved in the true story. Also, pray for protection for our family, those working with us, and the ministry here.

Your prayers and your efforts to call other people to pray are greatly appreciated! Overall the meetings in Cotonou went very well. In a positive meeting, the licensing authorities assured us that they are still processing our requests and we need to continue to be patient. Thank God with us for the favorable meeting with the licensing authorities. Please continue to pray that God will give us wisdom (and patience for me) as we follow up with the procedures and that this process will produce a shortwave license with the needed flexibility.

In a meeting concerning our title deed, an impromptu visit was suggested to another government office. This impromptu visit led to a truly wonderful and providential meeting with the director of this office. The Lord blessed this meeting and at the end we were able to pray for the director of this office. In addition, during the meeting he actually called in the person responsible for our issues and instructed her to resolve it. Praise God with us for this meeting. Please pray that the lady charged with following up our issue would be able to do this in a timely manner.

Even our “worst” meeting (which did not turn out as we expected) ended positively much to the credit of God giving Dr. Mbennah insightful, wise and timely words. Join us in rejoicing for God’s intervention and the positive end of this meeting. Pray as more follow up will be needed in this area.

The team traveled from different places for all these meetings. Praise God that everyone was able to make connections and have safe travel. Also, thank the Lord that everyone on the team was healthy while here.

One downside of our meetings is that a number of things need follow up here in Cotonou, both immediately and in the coming months. Because of this, I have delayed my return to Parakou by a day. This has been rightfully disappointing to my wife and daughters. I would covet your prayers in this area.