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7/24/2019 Powell Derek 1998 Benin
1/4
Derek
Powell
Missionary t o Benin
UEEB/SIM
BP
5
Parakou, Benin WEST FRICA
Phone:011-229-610749
E - m a i l : s i m p a r @ i n t n e t . b j
H - 2 .
CMF NTERNATIONAL rayer Newsletter
October 1998
Bon o i r(Good vening) from
Parakou,
Benin West
Africa and
of
h e
f r i e n d l y ,
French-speaking
B e n i n o i s , l a n d of
e d
d i r t
r o a d s
l e a d i n g t o v i l l a g e s i n
t h e g r a s s l a n d ,
an d
l a n d of r o p i c a l ,
s t i c k y h e a t .
Mike and I have been
gone
a month. I have never
experienced
a month w i t h
so m a n y n e w
t h i n g s t o
see
and
c o n s i d e r .
I
cannot h e l p b u t n o t i c e e v e r y
nuance
of
t h e
c u l t u r e h e r e , and I cannot
h e l p
but
see
home
it h
new e y e s . These a r e
good
e x p e r i e n c e s
f o r
an a r t i s t t h i s
w i l l d e f i n i t e l y have an impact
on my r t w o r k . Th e
people
d r e s s v e r y c o l o r f u l l y .
The
market
i n
Parakou
i s v e r y loud, u s y , and f u l l of
goods from
l l over
t h e
w o r l d . Mike and I have been
e n j o y i n g
walking around
i n
i t
and
p r a c t i c i n g
our
b a r g a i n i n g s k i l l s ( i n our broken F r e n c h ) .
People
w i l l
b a r g a i n a
h a l f
an hour
o r h a l f a
dozen eggs These
glimpses
of h e
Beninois c u l t u r e
have given me
b r o a d e r p e r s p e c t i v e on what t means t o be a human.
These
glimpses of
West
f r i c a n s have
made
me ware
of
what a r i c h
and
complex world God a s
c r e a t e d .
Know hat the Lord i s God. t i s
He
who made
s ,
and
w e are
His;
w e
a r e His
e o p l e ,
t h e
sheep
of is
p a s t u r e . . . .
The Lord r e i g n s ,
l e t
t h e e a r t h
be
g l a d ; L e t t h e
d i s t a n t
shores
r e j o i c e .
salms 100:3
7 : 1
The outine
Our a i l y r o u t i n e , t h o u g h o f t e n s u b j e c t t o change,
s
shaping up as
o l l o w s :
8-11
.m.
1 1 a.m. 1 2 p.m.
12:30-
1:30 p.m.
1 : 3 0 - 3 p.m.
b r e a k f a s t
{ l e
p e t i t dejeuner),
devotions,
a n d e-mail If am o
f o r t u n a t e ) .
l e s s o n
d e rancais, taught by
Nouerdien,
a
member
f
the
church
we
r e p r e s e n t l y a t t e n d i n g ,
lunch
{ d e j e u n e r ) ,
l a
s i e s t e
( T he
s t a n d a r d
joke i s
"Mike
' m
going
t o s e e E s t a " ) . Eat
your h e a r t out n i n e - t o - f i v e r s A
ap
3-6 .m.
6:30-7:30 p.m.
7:30 ?
i s a c t u a l l y recommended by
t h e
SIM
issionaries
here
(due
to
the
often extreme h e a t ) ,
m i n i s t r y work; hanges from
day to
d a y . Many
l l u s t r a t i o n
p r o j e c t s ,
sometimes
t e a c h i n g ,
dinner {diner).
time for l e t t e r s , reading,
or working
i n
t h e
darkroom d e v e l o p i n g p i c t u r e s .
The eople
Mike nd
I
have
met
issionaries from A u s t r a l i a , New
Zealand,
France,Germany,
u s t r i a , and t h e g o o d o l e
USA. everal of
these
m i s s i o n a r i e s
have
an impressive
20
l u s y e a r s
of
e r v i n g
God
n
Benin.
They
a r e
e x c e l l e n t s p i r i t u a l mentors
f o r
Mike an d
me.We
ave
also made riends w it h
two ren c h
short-term a s s i s t a n t s ,
Thomas nd Marc. They
a r e
helping
us
with
t h e i r
P a r i s i a n French.
We lso
wo rk
closely
with
Gordon and Rosewitha
Baynes, from New ealand and A u s t r i a , r e s p e c t i v e l y .
They a r e r e s p o n s i b l e f o r
d i r e c t i n g
a good
p a r t
of our
a r t i s t i c
e n d e a v o r s
here.
Rosewitha
as
a eal vision fo r
t h e
a e s t h e t i c s of
h e
m a t e r i a l s
w e a r e
going t o produce;
her
enthusiasm has proven contagious.
We ave
met everal a r t i s t s in
town lso.
One r t i s t ,
Zacharie,
s
also
a
inister
of
a
mall
church.
Zacharie
works
for s e v e r a l SIM i s s i o n a r i e s ,
i l l u s t r a t i n g
educational m a t e r i a l s used
to
p r e s e n t t o Gospel t h a t
inform
about
h e a l t h and
hygiene,
and teach t h e
Beninois o read.
Mike and
I i ll work
with
Zacharie ften.We ave
been
impressed w i t h
h i s
h e a r t f o r
t h e
Lord; he prayed
and thanked God o r sending us d u r i n g
one of
our i r s t
m e e t i n g s . We i l l be honing
h i s drawing s k i l l s ,
showing him
ne w
t e c h n i q u e s , and g i v i n g him i d e a s f o r
artwork
t o s e l l i n order t o supplement h i s income. t i s a
r e a l c h a l l e n g e
t o
f i g u r e out
h o w t o
use
t h e
l i m i t e d
materials here.
7/24/2019 Powell Derek 1998 Benin
2/4
Please pray t h a t God
would g r a n t
us
c r e a t i v e
s o l u t i o n s
t o t h e
problem
of i m i t e d r e s o u r c e s .
t w i l l a l s o
be a
c h a l l e n g e
t o s u i t
t h e work v i s u a l l y
t o
t h e
s p e c i f i c
c u l t u r e s
t h a t
t h e
i l l u s t r a t i o n s
a r e b e i n g done f o r . SIM
works w i t h
t e n
d i f f e r e n t
languages
i n
Benin. For
each
language
spoken,
u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s a r e a l s o i n h e r e n t .
The s e
c u l t u r a l d i f f e r e n c e s
c a l l f o r nuances
of change
i n
our
drawing
s t y l e s and f o r m a t s . A l l of h i s , of o u r s e , i s
v e r y f a s c i n a t i n g
t o
Mike
and m e .
These a r e problems
t h a t
a r e
q u i t e rewarding
and e n j o y a b l e
t o t a c k l e .
The Amoebas
Apparently s o m e o n e
informed some m o e b a s
t h a t
my
i n t e s t i n e s
w e r e
a h o t e l ,
s o the a m o e b a s checked
in
for
a
f e w
n i g h t s . However, f t e r a
couple
of days, h e s e
p a r t i c u l a r a m o e b a s
r e a l i z e d
t h e m i s t a k e
t h e y had m a d e
and d e c i d e d t o
e x i t
t h e b u i l d i n g . L e t ' s j u s t say t h e r e
wa s
p l e n t y
of reading m a t e r i a l i n t h e
bathroom
for a c o t
of
days.
The
inal
Notes
I f any of you have been tempted t o worry about my
s a f e t y
or
w e l l - b e i n g ,
d o n ' t allow y o u r s e l f t o be. God
has
t r u l y
proven
worthy
of h e
n a m e Jehovah
J i r e h , as
every
need of
mine
has been met.Mike and
I
have
a i c e
house t o
l i v e i n ,
p l e n t y
of
u p p o r t i v e p e o p l e ,
s u b s t a n t i a l
meals, and
p l e n t y
of p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r s p i r i t u a l growth.
"But seek
i
r s t
His
Kingdom
a n d
His Righteousness,
a n d
l l
t h e s e t h i n g s
w i l l
be
g i v e n t o
you as w e l l .
Matthew 6:33
P r a y e r Requests
hat
God
would
make our French s t u d i e s effic ient and
organized.
hatGod
would
direct
our
e c i s i o n s on
which
) r o i e c t s to undertake (there are many o s s i b i l i t i e s ) .
Tnat
uod would d e l i v e r t h e B e n i n o i s of h e h o p e l e s s
bondage of voodoo and f e t i s h - b a s e d animism.
Thank
you
f o r
a l l
of your
p r a y e r s
and
f i n a n c i a l s u p p o r t .
Your Brothe r in
Christ,
Derek Powell
P .S. P ic t u r e s will follow in
t h e
next e w s l e t t e r
Mike
and I j u s t
got
our darkroom underway Note my
".dress:
Derek
Powell
UEEB SIM
BP
5
Parakou, Benin
WEST
FRICA
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7/24/2019 Powell Derek 1998 Benin
3/4
Derek
Powell
Missionary t o Benin
UEEB SIM
BP 5
Parakou, Benin WEST FRICA
Phone:011 229 610749
E - m a i l :
s i m p a r @ i n t n e t . b j
CMF
NTERNATIONAL raver ewsletter
December
1998
If nyone
i s t h i r s t y l e t
him
come o
me
and
rink...
By h e m i d d l e of
November, h e h u m i d i t y
h a d a l l
b u t
l e f t
Parakou, Benin. The
a l l
A f r i c a n
g r a s s e s a r e d r y i n g
u p , and
t h e wind s b e g i n n i n g
t o
p i c k up
t h e r e d
d u s t
o f f
of
h e
g r o u n d .
t i s d r y ; t h e
d a i l y
t e m p e r a t u r e
a p p r o a c h e s
t h e
m i d d l e
9 0 s . Walking
a r o u n d
town o r
t a k i n g a i m i j a h n ( m o t o r c y c l e t a x i ) , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o
wear s u n g l a s s e s o r s q u i n t y o u r
e y e s .
The winds of h e
harmattan,
a r r i e d
down
rom the
Sahara,
i l l be
coming t h e s e n e x t few
m o n t h s .
I o f t e n s m e l l
smoke
i n
t h e
a i r
as t h e Africans bum h e
t a l l
g r a s s e s as they
begin
t o d r y .
I t w i l l
be i v e or s i x months now e f o r e i t
r a i n s
a g a i n .
T h i s
a l l s t a n d s
i n
s h a r p c o n t r a s t t o
t h e
c o o l w a t e r
t h e
Lord h a s been
p r o v i d i n g
me
h r o u g h
my u i e t t i m e s
e a r l y
i n
t h e m o r n i n g .
Some v e r s e s
i n my orning
r e a d i n g have
found
a p l a c e
t o r e s n n T l T e d e ^ e p ~ o r my
s o u l ; God's
W o rd
has
spoken t o me n Benin
i n ways
that
I've
never known t to
before.
The Lord w i l l g u i d e you
a l w a y s ;
he w i l l s a t i s f y your
needs i n
a
sun
scorched
land and w i l l
s t r e n g t h e n
your
frame.
You
w i l l be l i k e a w e l l - w a t e r e d g a r d e n , l i k e a
s p r i n g whose w a t e r s
n e v e r
a i l .
I s a i a h
5 8 : 1 1
These
a r e p r e c i o u s p r o m i s e s t h a t
I h o l d
on t o on d a y s
t h a t
I am
omesick
or
bored
or d i s s a t i s f i e d
w i t h my
seeming
l a c k
of c c o m p l i s h m e n t , o r e v e n when
e v e r y t h i n g
j u s t seems
r e g u l a r a n d o r d i n a r y . T h a t s o n
d a y s I
a m h i r s t y .
I
a m
t h a n k f u l f o r a l l t h a t
f l o w s o u t
o f
our
r e l a t i o n s h i p t o
t h e Lord,
and t h a t
He
e m i n d s u s of
t h e s t r e a m s of i v i n g w a t e r ,
g i v e n
by His Son, h a t f l o w
within us .
I
am
u s t b e g i n n i n g
t o l e a r n
how
t o p l e a s e Him
t h r o u g h
my e a d i n g and
p r a y e r
t i m e .
I
am
ecoming
aware of
what
a p e r s o n a l and l o v i n g
God
He s .
P l e a s e pray t h a t
as my rench g e t s b e t t e r , I w i l l have o p p o r t u n i t i e s t o
share
the
peace and joy
t h a t
I
am
e c e i v i n g from my
quiet
times.
Conference
From Novembc
- 6 ,
SIM
enin-Togo
h e l d t h e i r
annual
c o n f e r e n c e
i n
Parakou. The
e a t u r e d
speaker
wa s
Pasteur Kouminaros from
P a r i s . He
roved t o have
many i n t e r e s t i n g i n s i g h t s , s t o r i e s ,
and
c h a l l e n g e s
f o r
t h e
m i s s i o n a r i e s . I t was a l s o a good o p p o r t u n i t y
f o r
Mike
and me
o
meet
he rest o f the missionaries
in Benin
and Togo
t h a t
h a d n ' t
p r e v i o u s l y
p a s s e d t h r o u g h
Parakou.
We
e t
up
a p p o i n t m e n t s w i t h many of h e s e
missionaries to discuss
artwork that was needed o r
t h e i r m i n i s t r i e s . We ave r e c e n t l y spoken w i t h Martin
K l o t z ,
a
Swiss
m i s s i o n a r y
working
am o n g
t h e
Muslims
i n Parakou.We
i l l
do
arious
materials for Martin,
i n c l u d i n g t r a c t s and pamphlets
o r
Muslims done i n an
Arabic
s t y l e .
There
s also
much
work o bedone
for
theSIM
h o s p i t a l i n
Bemberke, which i s about
an
h o u r ' s
d r i v e
n o r t h
of Parakou
( t h a t i s i f your t a x i d o e s n ' t s t o p
a t
every v i l l a g e on t h e way up, which can
take
as
much
s
two and a h a l f h o u r s ) . They
need
p o s t e r s f o r e v e r y t h i n g
from
r e h y d r a t i o n t o AIDS known as SIDA ere)
and
h e a l t h c h a r t s f o r
t h e v i l l a g e s . We i l l t r a v e l up t o
Bemberke
t o d i s c u s s s p e c i f i c s of
h e
work on
December
9 nd 10 .
AdditionalWork
Up n t i l t h e conference, M ike and
1
have been working
with our
r i e n d
Zacharie,
who,
f you r e c a l l , i s a
m i n i s t e r t o t h e D i t - a - m a a r i , a l o c a l
t r i b a l
group.
We
have s p e n t
many
a f t e r n o o n s a t
Z a c h a r i e ' s
s t u d i o
e x p e r i m e n t i n g
w i t h
p r i n t i n g
t e c h n i q u e s ,
d i s c u s s i n g
ways o r him t o supplement h i s modest m i n i s t e r ' s
income w i t h a r t w o r k , and
working on our French
w i t h
him. a c h a r i e does
n o t speak
E n g l i s h , so Mike
and
I
o f t e n f i n d o u r s e l v e s using hand
g e s t u r e s
t o be a b l e t o
g e t
t h e
p o i n t
a c r o s s . We
ave
d i r e c t e d Z a c h a r i e ' s
production of cards
and
s t a t i o n e r y , and hope t o get them
p l a c e d
i n t h e l o c a l h o t e l s and bookstoresf
Discussing
s k e t c h e s w i t h Zacharie.
7/24/2019 Powell Derek 1998 Benin
4/4
Our
darkroom s up and r u n n i n g ,
and
h i s l e t t e r shows
s ome of h e
r e s u l t s .
Though
our
e c h n i q u e
i s f a r
from
p e r f e c t ,
w e h i n k
t h a t t h e b l a c k and
w h i t e
p h o t o g r a p h s
we roduce
a r e
q u i t e
a d e q u a t e . Many f h e s e
photos
will be used
a s
references fo r our
l l u s t r a t i o n s .
Mike
and
I
o n t i n u e
t o t e a c h a t t h e SIM
i s s i o n a r y
s c h o o l
a s
w e l l . We ave
been
working on c r a f t s p e r t a i n i n g t o t h e
Roman
u l t u r e w i t h t h e young
boys.We
r e a l s o i n t h e
midst of planning a r t h i s t o r y
l e s s o n s f o r
t h e
o l d e r
s t u d e n t s .
This
has proven
most
n j o y a b l e
f o r
us as
h e
s t u d e n t s a r e
eager and w e l l behaved.
Closing Remarks
a n d
Prayer Requests
Mike
and
I
have been here
for
a l m o s t three
months. t i s
sometimes discouraging t o
t h i n k
o f wha t we
ave
accomplished
i n t h i s
p e r i o d
of i m e , b u t
w e must
a k e
i n t o account language
and c u l t u r a l
a d j u s t m e n t s . I
e e l
a s
i f we
have
established ourselves
i n Parakou, and l e s s
o f
our
h o u g h t s
a r e c e n t e r e d on h e
newness
of
v e r y t h i n g .
Our
h o u g h t s
can
n o w be
e n t e r e d on d i g g i n g d e e p l y
an d
wholeheartedly i n t o t h e work h a t has been e t
before us.
Please
pray:
hat h i s
work w i l l be g u i d e d by God's t r e n g t h and
direc tion.
our our French
language leaming.
Though
we
ave
m a de n o t i c e a b l e p r o g r e s s w i t h i t we t i l l have a
wa y
t o go .
or our r a v e l .
We i l l
be r a v e l i n g
over h e s e
next
two months o
d isc u ss work.
or
our h e a l t h . This i s always a
r a y e r r e q u e s t i n
Africa.
or our r t w o r k , t h a t
i t would be
i r e c t e d b y h e
Lord
and
give Him
h e
g l o r y .
Once
g a i n
thanks
so
much
o r
a l l
of
h e
s u p p o r t ,
p r a y e r s ,
and encouragement.
l l
of
h e s e a r e
needed
and beneficial for our
work
here.
Let
us
e e
t h a t
i n
t h e o r y we
o l d t h a t
God
s f a i t h f u l ;
t h a t
i n d a i l y l i f e
we
ount
upon
t ; and t h a t a t a i l times
and
under
l l c i r c u m s t a n c e s we
r e
f u l l y
persuaded of
t h i s
b l e s s e d t r u t h . Hudson T a y l o r
Derek
A hot o f
me laying
the
r o l e o f
missionary o
a
t n a i l l a g e
i n northern Benin.
i l i i l i i l l i i l i U
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