Sunday, October 01, 2006
Keeper of the Divine Secret published at nazarene.org
This recent post was recently published on the front page of the Church of the Nazarene official website at www.nazarene.org. To go directly to the article at nazarene.org, click here.
Encouragement from a Local Church in California
We have our own share of disappointments, though we try to encourage who we can when we can through the stories we send from West Africa. Then, we get E-mails like this one, and it comes back around to encourage us:
“Dear Bro. Matt: Greetings and thanks from the Hallwood Church. I have been receiving your e-mails, regularly, and save them to use as part of our lesson studies in our monthly NMI meetings. This last week, after a sumptuous dinner, I had three or four men read portions of your e-mails, taking the parts of you, the young pastor in Benin (whose host had his house ravaged), Moise, and any others you might have mentioned in your letters. I had the parts organized by date as you had sent the material to me. It was almost as if we were hearing the stories first hand as they happened. Our small group then gave generously for the general budget [for World Evangelization], and we prayed for you, Moise, and all those we had heard about. Then we gave the great news about the birth of the new baby girl to Moise and his wife, and the group, especially the ladies, was excited to hear the good news. Our group has been very interested in the on-going trials of Moise and so happy to hear that things are better with his health and now the delivery of the baby. Please continue to keep us updated. We feel as though we have had a part in all of this, and we continue to keep you, your wife, boys and all of the workers there with you in our prayers.
“May God continue to bless your work and keep you all in the hollow of his Hand.
“Thanks again, Ruby [from Marysville, California]”
I hope you were encouraged as much as I was when I read this E-mail from Ruby, especially the part where she wrote: “We feel as though we have had a part in all of this.”
That’s the whole point, and it made my weekend.
“Dear Bro. Matt: Greetings and thanks from the Hallwood Church. I have been receiving your e-mails, regularly, and save them to use as part of our lesson studies in our monthly NMI meetings. This last week, after a sumptuous dinner, I had three or four men read portions of your e-mails, taking the parts of you, the young pastor in Benin (whose host had his house ravaged), Moise, and any others you might have mentioned in your letters. I had the parts organized by date as you had sent the material to me. It was almost as if we were hearing the stories first hand as they happened. Our small group then gave generously for the general budget [for World Evangelization], and we prayed for you, Moise, and all those we had heard about. Then we gave the great news about the birth of the new baby girl to Moise and his wife, and the group, especially the ladies, was excited to hear the good news. Our group has been very interested in the on-going trials of Moise and so happy to hear that things are better with his health and now the delivery of the baby. Please continue to keep us updated. We feel as though we have had a part in all of this, and we continue to keep you, your wife, boys and all of the workers there with you in our prayers.
“May God continue to bless your work and keep you all in the hollow of his Hand.
“Thanks again, Ruby [from Marysville, California]”
I hope you were encouraged as much as I was when I read this E-mail from Ruby, especially the part where she wrote: “We feel as though we have had a part in all of this.”
That’s the whole point, and it made my weekend.
Monday, September 25, 2006
The 24-7 Prayer Challenge
A couple of weeks ago, a missionary colleague lent me a book about the 24-7 prayer challenge that has been spreading across Europe. (Red Moon Rising: The Story of 24-7 Prayer by Pete Greig and Dave Roberts) The book written by two pastors of emerging missional churches in Britain have seen prayer houses spring up all over Europe.
The current prayer movement in Europe springs from the 18th century German Moravian church that kept a 24-hour prayer vigil for more than a century. The Moravian movement and its leader Count Zinzendorf eventually sent over 3000 missionaries around the world and greatly influenced the teaching of John Wesley who provided the Church of the Nazarene the reason for its existence—to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world.
It is no wonder that one of the authors testifies early in the book to an experience very much like what us holiness folk would call the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
The idea of 24-7 prayer is nothing new. Nall Ave Nazarene in KC where I used to work, held a week of prayer each November using the same concept. Other churches have done and are doing the same thing. I am wondering how this kind of movement would challenge and change the work we are doing in West Africa. What if we had someone in every time zone around the world covering the work in West Africa in concerted prayer? I’m thinking. I hope you are too. Let’s put our minds together and see if they are willing to follow our hearts on this subject.
While reading this book, I get the most recent update from the Africa Region. Eugenio Duarte, our regional director, gave a prayer challenge for the coming year. Coincidence? I doubt it. Here are some prayer priorities for Africa:
Every Nazarene Dependent upon God Only
Every Nazarene a Spirit-filled Disciple
Every Nazarene a Disciple Maker with a Real Burden for the Lost
Every Nazarene Giving Authority to God’s Word
Every Nazarene an Extraordinary Pray-er (not my will but Yours)
Every Nazarene Leader Faithful to God, Church, and Family
Every Nazarene Leader Building Leaders Who Build Leaders Who Change the World
Every Nazarene Pastor an Effective Minister of the Word
Every Nazarene Home a Nursery for Holiness Champions
Every Nazarene Local Church Experiencing a Real Movement of the Holy Spirit
(You could replace Nazarene with Christian believer (Matt 2:23; Mark 16:6; Acts 24:5))
The current prayer movement in Europe springs from the 18th century German Moravian church that kept a 24-hour prayer vigil for more than a century. The Moravian movement and its leader Count Zinzendorf eventually sent over 3000 missionaries around the world and greatly influenced the teaching of John Wesley who provided the Church of the Nazarene the reason for its existence—to spread scriptural holiness throughout the world.
It is no wonder that one of the authors testifies early in the book to an experience very much like what us holiness folk would call the “baptism of the Holy Spirit.”
The idea of 24-7 prayer is nothing new. Nall Ave Nazarene in KC where I used to work, held a week of prayer each November using the same concept. Other churches have done and are doing the same thing. I am wondering how this kind of movement would challenge and change the work we are doing in West Africa. What if we had someone in every time zone around the world covering the work in West Africa in concerted prayer? I’m thinking. I hope you are too. Let’s put our minds together and see if they are willing to follow our hearts on this subject.
While reading this book, I get the most recent update from the Africa Region. Eugenio Duarte, our regional director, gave a prayer challenge for the coming year. Coincidence? I doubt it. Here are some prayer priorities for Africa:
Every Nazarene Dependent upon God Only
Every Nazarene a Spirit-filled Disciple
Every Nazarene a Disciple Maker with a Real Burden for the Lost
Every Nazarene Giving Authority to God’s Word
Every Nazarene an Extraordinary Pray-er (not my will but Yours)
Every Nazarene Leader Faithful to God, Church, and Family
Every Nazarene Leader Building Leaders Who Build Leaders Who Change the World
Every Nazarene Pastor an Effective Minister of the Word
Every Nazarene Home a Nursery for Holiness Champions
Every Nazarene Local Church Experiencing a Real Movement of the Holy Spirit
(You could replace Nazarene with Christian believer (Matt 2:23; Mark 16:6; Acts 24:5))
Housekeeper and/or Keeper of the Divine Secret
UPDATE: This post was recently published on the front page of the Church of the Nazarene official website at www.nazarene.org.
Jesus told his listeners in Mark chapter 4 verse 11: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” This is a true story from another part of West Africa.
A woman named Dala works as a house maid. She had a secret to tell. Do you want to hear about her secret? Four months ago she became a Christian believer and attends the Church of the Nazarene. She now carries the secrets of the Kingdom, and the seeds of God’s Word, in her heart and life.
Every few days she goes to a local vendor to buy charcoal. This particular day the vendor asked Dala a question.
The vendor was a middle-aged and man devoted to his religious ideals. When he saw the cross on her necklace, he asked her to give it to him. She said, “Absolutely not! You will just take it and throw it away.” He asked her why she wore it. She began to share with him the Secrets of the Kingdom.
The charcoal vendor was just one of many people in this neighborhood trying to make a living. He was exhausted and grimy from the work of making and selling charcoal. He was usually ignored by most people, except Dala who could not keep the Divine secret hidden in her heart.
Every few days Dala would return to buy charcoal and the man said he wanted to know more about this Jesus. He always had more questions about her God, this prophet Jesus, and the meaning of the cross she wore around her neck. She did not go get her pastor to answer for her. Instead, she shared what she had been learning about God from His Word and from weekly sermons. Within a few weeks, the man received Jesus Christ as His Savior. He later told Dala’s pastor that whenever he had a question, Dala would respond with just what he needed to hear.
Dala found out through their roadside conversations over piles of charcoal that this man also knew much about his former religion. Now, after many weeks, Dala asked her pastor to help the man understand more about this Jesus who is found in the Bible and is now living in his heart.
Jesus told his listeners in Mark chapter 4 verse 11: “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you.” This is a true story from another part of West Africa.
A woman named Dala works as a house maid. She had a secret to tell. Do you want to hear about her secret? Four months ago she became a Christian believer and attends the Church of the Nazarene. She now carries the secrets of the Kingdom, and the seeds of God’s Word, in her heart and life.
Every few days she goes to a local vendor to buy charcoal. This particular day the vendor asked Dala a question.
The vendor was a middle-aged and man devoted to his religious ideals. When he saw the cross on her necklace, he asked her to give it to him. She said, “Absolutely not! You will just take it and throw it away.” He asked her why she wore it. She began to share with him the Secrets of the Kingdom.
The charcoal vendor was just one of many people in this neighborhood trying to make a living. He was exhausted and grimy from the work of making and selling charcoal. He was usually ignored by most people, except Dala who could not keep the Divine secret hidden in her heart.
Every few days Dala would return to buy charcoal and the man said he wanted to know more about this Jesus. He always had more questions about her God, this prophet Jesus, and the meaning of the cross she wore around her neck. She did not go get her pastor to answer for her. Instead, she shared what she had been learning about God from His Word and from weekly sermons. Within a few weeks, the man received Jesus Christ as His Savior. He later told Dala’s pastor that whenever he had a question, Dala would respond with just what he needed to hear.
Dala found out through their roadside conversations over piles of charcoal that this man also knew much about his former religion. Now, after many weeks, Dala asked her pastor to help the man understand more about this Jesus who is found in the Bible and is now living in his heart.
News about more new churches in Benin
Several Nazarene churches have begun fundraising for building campaigns. Fidjrosse church was built with Alabaster funds 18 months ago, except for walls and windows. Two weeks ago Moise the D.S. preached and they took an offering to complete the walls and windows. They needed 130.000f ($260) and they collected 200.000f ($400). That is huge boost and a real change in mindset for this young district. Also, two other churches in Segbeya and a recent church plant in Fifadji (both neighborhoods in Cotonou) have begun building campaigns.)
Yesterday Pasteur Clement of the Fidjrosse church preached about the need for people in his congregation to hear God’s call to go into all the world to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and even raise the dead. He said there may be people here this morning who God will call to other countries in Africa who need to hear about Jesus, such as South America, Europe, Asia, even the United States. He asked, “Are we ready to go? Are you ready to go? You may not go yourself but you need to be ready to support someone else who God might call.” Good stuff or what?
In September at least five new Nazarene churches have been planted in Benin: Calavi, Zogbo, Cocotomey, Gbodje, and Akplanka. Now, there are churches in every neighborhood leading out of Cotonou to the west and to the north. Three of these churches were planted by the Fifadji church that I mentioned above.
One of these churches sent a representative to Cotonou to meet with Moise. The man is a director of a private school for children in the area around Savalou. This man heard a Nazarene preacher in their village, and thought to himself, this preacher knows what he’s talking about and he’s obviously been well prepared. Moise told this layperson that that preacher doesn’t belong to the denomination any more. The man said, well, if he learned what he knows from the Church of the Nazarene, we’ll go with the Nazarenes. If we can, we’ll try to get this preacher back into Church of the Nazarene, too.”
On Saturday Sept 16, the southern part of the district held a Sunday School teacher training workshop. There were over 40 participants from various Nazarene churches. I should note that this conference was planned, organized, and led entirely by Beninese laypeople and pastors. Sure, Moise asked me for some input before the conference, but it was entirely their initiative and effort. That is awesome—less truly is more when it comes to missionary work.
Yesterday Pasteur Clement of the Fidjrosse church preached about the need for people in his congregation to hear God’s call to go into all the world to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and even raise the dead. He said there may be people here this morning who God will call to other countries in Africa who need to hear about Jesus, such as South America, Europe, Asia, even the United States. He asked, “Are we ready to go? Are you ready to go? You may not go yourself but you need to be ready to support someone else who God might call.” Good stuff or what?
In September at least five new Nazarene churches have been planted in Benin: Calavi, Zogbo, Cocotomey, Gbodje, and Akplanka. Now, there are churches in every neighborhood leading out of Cotonou to the west and to the north. Three of these churches were planted by the Fifadji church that I mentioned above.
One of these churches sent a representative to Cotonou to meet with Moise. The man is a director of a private school for children in the area around Savalou. This man heard a Nazarene preacher in their village, and thought to himself, this preacher knows what he’s talking about and he’s obviously been well prepared. Moise told this layperson that that preacher doesn’t belong to the denomination any more. The man said, well, if he learned what he knows from the Church of the Nazarene, we’ll go with the Nazarenes. If we can, we’ll try to get this preacher back into Church of the Nazarene, too.”
On Saturday Sept 16, the southern part of the district held a Sunday School teacher training workshop. There were over 40 participants from various Nazarene churches. I should note that this conference was planned, organized, and led entirely by Beninese laypeople and pastors. Sure, Moise asked me for some input before the conference, but it was entirely their initiative and effort. That is awesome—less truly is more when it comes to missionary work.
Family News
Last week Payton lost his first tooth. He said, “I think when kids lose their first tooth they become big. They’re not little kids any more.” He came up to me the next day and said, “Dad, you know what. Last night I woke up and Mommy has kneeling over my bed. She was holding my tooth, and she told me to go back to sleep. You know what? I think Mommy’s the tooth fairy.”
We have been reading aloud Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary, one of my favorite authors and characters when I read as a child. Lately, Parker has been reminding me of Ramona. He’s been acting his age this week—not impossible, just difficult. Kids are kids wherever they live. I am sure he’d say the same about his parents, too.
We have been reading aloud Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary, one of my favorite authors and characters when I read as a child. Lately, Parker has been reminding me of Ramona. He’s been acting his age this week—not impossible, just difficult. Kids are kids wherever they live. I am sure he’d say the same about his parents, too.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Treasured Island-- What I Discovered in Cape Verde-- Price Family Update--29 August 2006
Warning: VLE (Very Long E-mail)
Treasured Islands—What I Discovered in Cape Verde
An Abundance Without Boundaries
In 1656, Portuguese sailors landed on a few barren rocks jutting out of the ocean about 400 miles (640 km) west of continental Africa. They found no inhabitants except for a few birds, probably like the sailors, stopping to rest on a long journey home. In the hopeful fancy of early European travelers who tried to put the best image on their discoveries, they named this barren, uninhabited rock “Cabo Verde” or Cape Green. Today, Cape Verde is anything but barren.
This group of ten small islands comprises a modest country of 1550 square miles (4030 km2) of 450,000 citizens. Each island has its own unique culture, specialty foods, and landscape. One island is all sand and beach resorts (Sal), another is home to a volcano (Fogo), and on another is situated the hometown of my Regional Director (Brava). On maps used by ancient navigators, Cape Verde is greatly enlarged and right in the center of the world. Discovered by these ancient mariners, this country is a crossroads between four continents—Africa, Europe, South America, and North America. It is no surprise that there are more Cape Verdeans living on these other continents than on the islands. It should also be no surprise that the Church of the Nazarene in Cape Verde has planted the first churches in Senegal, France, Holland, and Portugal, as well as offered leaders to Brazil, Indonesia, New England and Kansas City in the United States.
Cape Verde has many leaders—lay and clergy—to offer the world who have excelled in ministry, government, business, finance, and education. After church service each night, I shook hands with the secretary of the leader of the National Assembly, the former minister of justice, bank leaders, business owners, Ph.Ds, embassy workers, etc., etc., etc. I spoke with many in English, since Portuguese is only one of the languages taught from early on in the government schools along with French, Spanish, and German. Just how easy is it for Cape Verdeans to move between languages? On the island of Sal, where there is an international airport and many vacation resorts, there is a church where 70% of weekly attendees do not speak Portuguese. Another example, I usually just found a random seat before each evening service. I waited, but it never took long for someone sit beside me. Every night but one the person next to me was able to give me the gist of what was said from the platform. Amazing.
Cape Verdeans are descendents of Europeans, Pan-Americans, Africans, and Asians, yet they do not belong to any of these places. Humanity has many shades and on these islands I saw them all. This once-barren island has produced an over-abundance of spiritual fruit that the sandy beaches and rocky seaside cliffs could not contain. After more than a century of its existence on Cape Verde, the Church of the Nazarene here has extended the influence of the Gospel and the optimism of the holiness message to five continents.
While I was there, church leaders received a phone call from a Cape Verdean in Norway who has planted the first Church of the Nazarene in this Scandinavian country whose boundaries extend into the Artic Circle. (I don’t think Kansas City knows about this yet, so do not say you heard it from me!) Is there any place these island people have not gone with the Gospel? I saw Lebanese and Chinese among many other nationalities that traverse these islands on their way to or from home. Did I mention that a spouse of a pastor who is also a local Sunday School leader calls Cuba her homeland? The route into many countries around the world, I believe, might just begin on these islands. Sure, we might have churches in some of these sensitive places, but where will their leaders be developed and nurtured? Maybe right there in Cape Verde.
An Old Church with Young Leaders
Early in the week, I asked the District Superintendent, David Araujo, if a Youth In Mission team had ever come to Cape Verde. Youth in Mission is a Nazarene-sponsored program founded in the late 60s that sends small teams of university students to points around the globe for five weeks every summer. He thought for a moment and said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I thought that was pretty incredible. I mean, how is that possible, since this part of the Church of the Nazarene is 105 years old? I started right then working on a plan to get a team there, not because Cape Verde needed them, but young leader-type, university students from North America needed to experience this place. On Thursday night, during the NYI (youth) service, I realized that Cape Verde didn’t need to host a YIM team as much as it needed to send out at least four teams. But, I can still gladly say there’s a YIM team going to Cape Verde next summer (if there’s enough student volunteers to fill up a team). By the way, the West Africa field will have three teams: one to Cape Verde, one to Senegal, and one to Benin-Togo.
This place is packed with young and talented leadership. Pastor Francisco Vaz, the NYI (youth) president, with his guitar strapped to his shoulder led a thirty-voice, swaying choir singing a song he wrote, “You’ve heard of John Lennon, You’ve heard of Bob Marley, Let me tell to you about Jesus Christ, He is greater than all of them, He is my Champion, He is your Champion, Because of Him I am a Champion.” How cool is that?!? The former NYI president, Orlando Crispim, translated this service for me in impeccable English. He is a layperson who works for an oil company there.
I think I counted six women among the 60 ordained or licensed ministers—a good start.
During reports from youth, Sunday School, and missions lay leaders, I think maybe 70-80% were 35 years old and younger. Many gave their reports without notes.
Another Orlando last-named Baptista led a worship band most nights that played incredibly cool, bluesy, jazzy versions of familiar hymns and choruses. One time I caught him playing a little classical guitar between day-time sessions. Almost every night I saw different people at different instruments, playing mostly without sheet music, but with a whole lot of natural talent.
What More I Learned
So, with all this talent and leadership there, you might be asking yourself, ‘So, why in the world was Matt there?’ I asked myself the same question several times that week. Officially, I was there to speak at the seminary graduation ceremony (I spoke from Mark 4) and conduct two days of seminars on holiness theology. Besides the official reasons, I came to the conclusion that I was there most of all to learn. I remember spending time with many people, including David and Eunice Araujo, Soccoro Fontes, Odette Pinheiro, Aderito Ferreira, Sergio Duarte, Orlando Crispim, Antonio Paulo Almeida (from Brockton, Mass.), Antonio Barbosa Andrade, Lottie Gay, Debbie Jefferson, Antero Fontes, Edelyze Ferreira, Sharnian Araujo, and mostly with Jorge and Manuella de Barros, who were presiding over the District Assembly. Jorge is from Cape Verde.
Jorge’s grandfather, General de Barros, was an island governor from Portugal who married an African woman. There’s a street in the capital Praia named after him. Jorge’s father was one of the pioneer Nazarene pastors on these islands. One day his father went to a seaside village to evangelize. The people in the village didn’t want to have anything to do with him. And, none of the hotels would offer him room. So, he went to the beach and lay down on the soft sand to sleep. Around midnight, some villagers came to bring him into their home—they couldn’t stand the thought of an old man sleeping under the stars. Did I mention I met the current pastor of the Nazarene church in that village now a small town? I also heard about the turbulent years prior to independence when Jorge was pastor in Praia and the church was persecuted by the former dictatorial government. From this week, I remember most strolling down the cobblestone streets of the Platô district surrounding Praia First Church, with Jorge holding my elbow and telling me stories of faith from his seven decades of experience. I soaked it up like a sponge, man. You can’t put a price on an education like that.
One day we were eating lunch in a restaurant. The owner-manager walked up and tapped Manuella on the shoulder. She said, ‘You probably don’t remember me, but I was one of your French students when I was in high school.’ They hugged and reminisced of that time forty years ago. This kind of thing happened several times that week to Jorge and Manuella. Jorge and Manuella left Cape Verde and moved to Kansas City in 1972 to head up Portuguese translation and literature production. I didn’t mention that I was just learning to walk about that time. During services, we’d sing hymns that either Jorge or Manuella translated from the English into Portuguese. Jorge’s travel schedule sends him all over the globe. We usually don’t recognize “apostles” as a ministry option in the Church of the Nazarene, but I think Jorge comes pretty close to a modern-day apostle, one who is sent to cross cultural and language barriers with the Gospel. Did I mention that Jorge was the Faith Promise (missions day) speaker at Sonya’s home church in Anderson, Indiana last April? That’s where I first met Jorge. Small world, huh?
What I Remember Most
I also remember the incredible tuna, fish cakes, cachupa (a traditional mixture of beans, rice,and potatoes), and the amazingly strong coffee from the island of Fogo, Also, mangling a mango at dinner almost as much as I mangled the local language Crioulo to the amusement of my table mates; and, the free finger food banquet given to the assembly by the restaurant hosting the daily meals. I remember the fact that I stayed in an amazing apartment overlooking the National Assembly building, the residence of a prominent US embassy worker, and the Atlantic Ocean. And, I remember the fact that the district paid all of my expenses except for travel to and from Praia. I left with many gifts, such as four sacks of that incredible Cape Verdean coffee and two tins of their delicious tuna, three good-looking shirts, hand-made wood work by the Cape Verdean pastor who planted the Nazarene church in France, and lots of memories.
I will wrap up this very long newsletter by quoting a novel by Orson Scott Card that I was reading during this trip. Valentine says to her younger brother Ender, “You are what you remember.” I hope that’s true for me after my short time among the amazing people of Cape Verde.
Treasured Islands—What I Discovered in Cape Verde
An Abundance Without Boundaries
In 1656, Portuguese sailors landed on a few barren rocks jutting out of the ocean about 400 miles (640 km) west of continental Africa. They found no inhabitants except for a few birds, probably like the sailors, stopping to rest on a long journey home. In the hopeful fancy of early European travelers who tried to put the best image on their discoveries, they named this barren, uninhabited rock “Cabo Verde” or Cape Green. Today, Cape Verde is anything but barren.
This group of ten small islands comprises a modest country of 1550 square miles (4030 km2) of 450,000 citizens. Each island has its own unique culture, specialty foods, and landscape. One island is all sand and beach resorts (Sal), another is home to a volcano (Fogo), and on another is situated the hometown of my Regional Director (Brava). On maps used by ancient navigators, Cape Verde is greatly enlarged and right in the center of the world. Discovered by these ancient mariners, this country is a crossroads between four continents—Africa, Europe, South America, and North America. It is no surprise that there are more Cape Verdeans living on these other continents than on the islands. It should also be no surprise that the Church of the Nazarene in Cape Verde has planted the first churches in Senegal, France, Holland, and Portugal, as well as offered leaders to Brazil, Indonesia, New England and Kansas City in the United States.
Cape Verde has many leaders—lay and clergy—to offer the world who have excelled in ministry, government, business, finance, and education. After church service each night, I shook hands with the secretary of the leader of the National Assembly, the former minister of justice, bank leaders, business owners, Ph.Ds, embassy workers, etc., etc., etc. I spoke with many in English, since Portuguese is only one of the languages taught from early on in the government schools along with French, Spanish, and German. Just how easy is it for Cape Verdeans to move between languages? On the island of Sal, where there is an international airport and many vacation resorts, there is a church where 70% of weekly attendees do not speak Portuguese. Another example, I usually just found a random seat before each evening service. I waited, but it never took long for someone sit beside me. Every night but one the person next to me was able to give me the gist of what was said from the platform. Amazing.
Cape Verdeans are descendents of Europeans, Pan-Americans, Africans, and Asians, yet they do not belong to any of these places. Humanity has many shades and on these islands I saw them all. This once-barren island has produced an over-abundance of spiritual fruit that the sandy beaches and rocky seaside cliffs could not contain. After more than a century of its existence on Cape Verde, the Church of the Nazarene here has extended the influence of the Gospel and the optimism of the holiness message to five continents.
While I was there, church leaders received a phone call from a Cape Verdean in Norway who has planted the first Church of the Nazarene in this Scandinavian country whose boundaries extend into the Artic Circle. (I don’t think Kansas City knows about this yet, so do not say you heard it from me!) Is there any place these island people have not gone with the Gospel? I saw Lebanese and Chinese among many other nationalities that traverse these islands on their way to or from home. Did I mention that a spouse of a pastor who is also a local Sunday School leader calls Cuba her homeland? The route into many countries around the world, I believe, might just begin on these islands. Sure, we might have churches in some of these sensitive places, but where will their leaders be developed and nurtured? Maybe right there in Cape Verde.
An Old Church with Young Leaders
Early in the week, I asked the District Superintendent, David Araujo, if a Youth In Mission team had ever come to Cape Verde. Youth in Mission is a Nazarene-sponsored program founded in the late 60s that sends small teams of university students to points around the globe for five weeks every summer. He thought for a moment and said, ‘No, I don’t think so.’ I thought that was pretty incredible. I mean, how is that possible, since this part of the Church of the Nazarene is 105 years old? I started right then working on a plan to get a team there, not because Cape Verde needed them, but young leader-type, university students from North America needed to experience this place. On Thursday night, during the NYI (youth) service, I realized that Cape Verde didn’t need to host a YIM team as much as it needed to send out at least four teams. But, I can still gladly say there’s a YIM team going to Cape Verde next summer (if there’s enough student volunteers to fill up a team). By the way, the West Africa field will have three teams: one to Cape Verde, one to Senegal, and one to Benin-Togo.
This place is packed with young and talented leadership. Pastor Francisco Vaz, the NYI (youth) president, with his guitar strapped to his shoulder led a thirty-voice, swaying choir singing a song he wrote, “You’ve heard of John Lennon, You’ve heard of Bob Marley, Let me tell to you about Jesus Christ, He is greater than all of them, He is my Champion, He is your Champion, Because of Him I am a Champion.” How cool is that?!? The former NYI president, Orlando Crispim, translated this service for me in impeccable English. He is a layperson who works for an oil company there.
I think I counted six women among the 60 ordained or licensed ministers—a good start.
During reports from youth, Sunday School, and missions lay leaders, I think maybe 70-80% were 35 years old and younger. Many gave their reports without notes.
Another Orlando last-named Baptista led a worship band most nights that played incredibly cool, bluesy, jazzy versions of familiar hymns and choruses. One time I caught him playing a little classical guitar between day-time sessions. Almost every night I saw different people at different instruments, playing mostly without sheet music, but with a whole lot of natural talent.
What More I Learned
So, with all this talent and leadership there, you might be asking yourself, ‘So, why in the world was Matt there?’ I asked myself the same question several times that week. Officially, I was there to speak at the seminary graduation ceremony (I spoke from Mark 4) and conduct two days of seminars on holiness theology. Besides the official reasons, I came to the conclusion that I was there most of all to learn. I remember spending time with many people, including David and Eunice Araujo, Soccoro Fontes, Odette Pinheiro, Aderito Ferreira, Sergio Duarte, Orlando Crispim, Antonio Paulo Almeida (from Brockton, Mass.), Antonio Barbosa Andrade, Lottie Gay, Debbie Jefferson, Antero Fontes, Edelyze Ferreira, Sharnian Araujo, and mostly with Jorge and Manuella de Barros, who were presiding over the District Assembly. Jorge is from Cape Verde.
Jorge’s grandfather, General de Barros, was an island governor from Portugal who married an African woman. There’s a street in the capital Praia named after him. Jorge’s father was one of the pioneer Nazarene pastors on these islands. One day his father went to a seaside village to evangelize. The people in the village didn’t want to have anything to do with him. And, none of the hotels would offer him room. So, he went to the beach and lay down on the soft sand to sleep. Around midnight, some villagers came to bring him into their home—they couldn’t stand the thought of an old man sleeping under the stars. Did I mention I met the current pastor of the Nazarene church in that village now a small town? I also heard about the turbulent years prior to independence when Jorge was pastor in Praia and the church was persecuted by the former dictatorial government. From this week, I remember most strolling down the cobblestone streets of the Platô district surrounding Praia First Church, with Jorge holding my elbow and telling me stories of faith from his seven decades of experience. I soaked it up like a sponge, man. You can’t put a price on an education like that.
One day we were eating lunch in a restaurant. The owner-manager walked up and tapped Manuella on the shoulder. She said, ‘You probably don’t remember me, but I was one of your French students when I was in high school.’ They hugged and reminisced of that time forty years ago. This kind of thing happened several times that week to Jorge and Manuella. Jorge and Manuella left Cape Verde and moved to Kansas City in 1972 to head up Portuguese translation and literature production. I didn’t mention that I was just learning to walk about that time. During services, we’d sing hymns that either Jorge or Manuella translated from the English into Portuguese. Jorge’s travel schedule sends him all over the globe. We usually don’t recognize “apostles” as a ministry option in the Church of the Nazarene, but I think Jorge comes pretty close to a modern-day apostle, one who is sent to cross cultural and language barriers with the Gospel. Did I mention that Jorge was the Faith Promise (missions day) speaker at Sonya’s home church in Anderson, Indiana last April? That’s where I first met Jorge. Small world, huh?
What I Remember Most
I also remember the incredible tuna, fish cakes, cachupa (a traditional mixture of beans, rice,and potatoes), and the amazingly strong coffee from the island of Fogo, Also, mangling a mango at dinner almost as much as I mangled the local language Crioulo to the amusement of my table mates; and, the free finger food banquet given to the assembly by the restaurant hosting the daily meals. I remember the fact that I stayed in an amazing apartment overlooking the National Assembly building, the residence of a prominent US embassy worker, and the Atlantic Ocean. And, I remember the fact that the district paid all of my expenses except for travel to and from Praia. I left with many gifts, such as four sacks of that incredible Cape Verdean coffee and two tins of their delicious tuna, three good-looking shirts, hand-made wood work by the Cape Verdean pastor who planted the Nazarene church in France, and lots of memories.
I will wrap up this very long newsletter by quoting a novel by Orson Scott Card that I was reading during this trip. Valentine says to her younger brother Ender, “You are what you remember.” I hope that’s true for me after my short time among the amazing people of Cape Verde.
Price Family Update 2 -- 26 August 2006
From Sonya:
Thank you for praying for Moise's family in Benin! This is a picture of Moise and Rosaline’s baby.
She is so very cute and sweet!Please continue to pray for Rosaline as she recovers from a hard labor and delivery.
The name? They don’t name their babies in this culture until they are a couple of weeks old because of the high [infant] mortality rate--so she doesn’t have a name yet, and that is normal.
Thank you for praying for Moise's family in Benin! This is a picture of Moise and Rosaline’s baby.
She is so very cute and sweet!Please continue to pray for Rosaline as she recovers from a hard labor and delivery.
The name? They don’t name their babies in this culture until they are a couple of weeks old because of the high [infant] mortality rate--so she doesn’t have a name yet, and that is normal.
Price Family Update -- 26 August 2006
It’s been an interesting week since I returned from my long trip to Cape Verde and Senegal.
When I arrived at home, I found out that Rosaline, Moise’s wife, had been staying at our house since last Monday—almost two weeks. She had been having false labor. Sonya took her to the doctor and then offered for her to stay at our place while the doctors determined why she was having contractions. Sonya took Rosaline to the doctor several times over the past week. The doctor said the baby could arrive at any time.
We’ve learned a lot about Rosaline and Benin, and Rosaline has learned a lot about us and Americans. It has been time and effort well spent. Finally, on Tuesday we had to go to Lome, Togo to renew my visa. We returned on Thursday evening and Rosaline came back over.
Yesterday Rosaline went to the doctor for a check-up. Last night she was pretty quiet. Then, last night around 2:30 a.m. it was time. Sonya took Rosaline to the clinic. Around 4:00 a.m. Sonya returned. Then, around 11:30 a.m. Sonya called. Rosaline gave birth to a little girl. Sonya called Moise and then me. No details yet, it literally occurred during the last half-hour.
Blessings from Benin,
Matt
When I arrived at home, I found out that Rosaline, Moise’s wife, had been staying at our house since last Monday—almost two weeks. She had been having false labor. Sonya took her to the doctor and then offered for her to stay at our place while the doctors determined why she was having contractions. Sonya took Rosaline to the doctor several times over the past week. The doctor said the baby could arrive at any time.
We’ve learned a lot about Rosaline and Benin, and Rosaline has learned a lot about us and Americans. It has been time and effort well spent. Finally, on Tuesday we had to go to Lome, Togo to renew my visa. We returned on Thursday evening and Rosaline came back over.
Yesterday Rosaline went to the doctor for a check-up. Last night she was pretty quiet. Then, last night around 2:30 a.m. it was time. Sonya took Rosaline to the clinic. Around 4:00 a.m. Sonya returned. Then, around 11:30 a.m. Sonya called. Rosaline gave birth to a little girl. Sonya called Moise and then me. No details yet, it literally occurred during the last half-hour.
Blessings from Benin,
Matt
Price Family Update -- 18 August 2006
Just show how it rain when it pours, here’s an E-mail from Sonya on Wednesday:
“Moise [the Benin D.S.] had to go north overnight because of what happened with the pastors there. I told him to send [his wife of almost one year] Rosaline [who is nine months pregnant] to me so she took a taxi and then a ZIMM (that’s a taxi moto!) to get [to our house]. She doesn't seem too bad, but I can tell she's having a hard time. Her back is hurting her and the baby's head seems to be over to her left side, not quite in the correct placement--I got to feel her tummy and I think the feet are over on her right side, up a little bit. If I understood correctly, she said she was starting to dilate, but I'm not sure if she or I understood that conversation or not.”
Before I left Senegal, one of the few places in Africa blessed with very fast Internet service, I talked to Sonya on a netphone service. She had been back and forth to the clinic where the doctors were observing Rosaline. Apparently, today the doctors said that an infection was causing the false labor. At least that’s the story for now.
Rosaline has been staying at our place since Monday or Tuesday night. Right now, they are at home and eating ice cream and graham cracker pie—not fair! But, I’ll be back there just after I send this E-mail.
Then, Mark L., the Field Strategy Coordinator and other leaders, including myself, received this follow-up E-mail today from Moise, the Benin D.S., about the happenings in northern Benin.
Just imagine the stress of what’s happening at home with your pregnant wife plus all of this. The following is translated from French:
“After the sickness from earlier this month that I survived and the pregnancy of my wife that has had so many complications, and now this, Satan wants to attack the Church of God on all sides.
“But, that’s talk instead of what has happened so that glorifies the Name of our God. In Tabota, the political chief was converted in one our our new church plants. In Ganvie, the chief fetischeur [witchdoctor], who followed the god Hevieoussou (the god of thunder) has given himself to Jesus Christ and aroused much anger among the other fetisheurs. The Nazarene church building was nearly ravaged in this place. In Fifajdi (a neighborhood in Cotonou) in a new church plant, an aged operator of a temple for fetish worship was converted and gave all of her house for the new Christian believers’ meeting. My friends, these testimonies are almost too much to believe possible without living here among them. I promise to write all of these testimonies solely for strengthening other Nazarenes and Christian believers in Africa and even around the world. This is what the Lord has done to have a divine revolution in Benin.
Now, to the follow-up concerning the situation in the north.
“In [the center of our work in northeast Benin], it’s a notable Muslim that closed firmly his Koran in order to follow Jesus in a nearby village. That’s when things started to go bad. I’ve seen the wounds and those dispossessed of their goods and their motos. Our main pastor in the area was one of the ones who offered a complaint to the police.”
[Let me summarize and paraphrase]: The local mayor is a Muslim and sided with those who injured the people and destroyed or stole property. He also refused to recognize our church in the area, although we presented the formal documents showing we are fully recognized by the country. He refused to acknowledge that any goods were damaged or stolen. He fully sided with those of his religious persuasion and against us.
“We then turned to the national authorities. We will have a meeting with them on Friday [today]. We will ask them to affirm that our church is recognized to operate throughout this country and that they help us recover the stolen motos and repair some of the damage. We also want fellow believers in this area to have a certain amount of protection as citizens of Benin.
“We ask that all pray for us that we seek and find justice in this situation . . . That God will be blessed!
“I will inform you of the situation in the hours to come . . .”
I just got off the phone with one of the pastors there. He said that the meeting today with the authorities has not been entirely cleared up the situation. And that Moise is on his way back and will meet with me tomorrow to discuss the whole situation. I assured the pastor that hundreds, and by now, even thousands of people around the world were praying for him and this situation.
Should I add that Moise sent a separate E-mail to say that seven churches were planted during the month of July? One of the churches planted in January has already planted two more. Right now, that’s an average of one church planted per week during 2006.
To top it all off we got a box full of PopTarts from a new friend in Florida.
I still hope to write that E-mail about Cape Verde soon.
Keep all of this in mind as you head into the weekend. Do not forget to pray it all out and toward God.
“Moise [the Benin D.S.] had to go north overnight because of what happened with the pastors there. I told him to send [his wife of almost one year] Rosaline [who is nine months pregnant] to me so she took a taxi and then a ZIMM (that’s a taxi moto!) to get [to our house]. She doesn't seem too bad, but I can tell she's having a hard time. Her back is hurting her and the baby's head seems to be over to her left side, not quite in the correct placement--I got to feel her tummy and I think the feet are over on her right side, up a little bit. If I understood correctly, she said she was starting to dilate, but I'm not sure if she or I understood that conversation or not.”
Before I left Senegal, one of the few places in Africa blessed with very fast Internet service, I talked to Sonya on a netphone service. She had been back and forth to the clinic where the doctors were observing Rosaline. Apparently, today the doctors said that an infection was causing the false labor. At least that’s the story for now.
Rosaline has been staying at our place since Monday or Tuesday night. Right now, they are at home and eating ice cream and graham cracker pie—not fair! But, I’ll be back there just after I send this E-mail.
Then, Mark L., the Field Strategy Coordinator and other leaders, including myself, received this follow-up E-mail today from Moise, the Benin D.S., about the happenings in northern Benin.
Just imagine the stress of what’s happening at home with your pregnant wife plus all of this. The following is translated from French:
“After the sickness from earlier this month that I survived and the pregnancy of my wife that has had so many complications, and now this, Satan wants to attack the Church of God on all sides.
“But, that’s talk instead of what has happened so that glorifies the Name of our God. In Tabota, the political chief was converted in one our our new church plants. In Ganvie, the chief fetischeur [witchdoctor], who followed the god Hevieoussou (the god of thunder) has given himself to Jesus Christ and aroused much anger among the other fetisheurs. The Nazarene church building was nearly ravaged in this place. In Fifajdi (a neighborhood in Cotonou) in a new church plant, an aged operator of a temple for fetish worship was converted and gave all of her house for the new Christian believers’ meeting. My friends, these testimonies are almost too much to believe possible without living here among them. I promise to write all of these testimonies solely for strengthening other Nazarenes and Christian believers in Africa and even around the world. This is what the Lord has done to have a divine revolution in Benin.
Now, to the follow-up concerning the situation in the north.
“In [the center of our work in northeast Benin], it’s a notable Muslim that closed firmly his Koran in order to follow Jesus in a nearby village. That’s when things started to go bad. I’ve seen the wounds and those dispossessed of their goods and their motos. Our main pastor in the area was one of the ones who offered a complaint to the police.”
[Let me summarize and paraphrase]: The local mayor is a Muslim and sided with those who injured the people and destroyed or stole property. He also refused to recognize our church in the area, although we presented the formal documents showing we are fully recognized by the country. He refused to acknowledge that any goods were damaged or stolen. He fully sided with those of his religious persuasion and against us.
“We then turned to the national authorities. We will have a meeting with them on Friday [today]. We will ask them to affirm that our church is recognized to operate throughout this country and that they help us recover the stolen motos and repair some of the damage. We also want fellow believers in this area to have a certain amount of protection as citizens of Benin.
“We ask that all pray for us that we seek and find justice in this situation . . . That God will be blessed!
“I will inform you of the situation in the hours to come . . .”
I just got off the phone with one of the pastors there. He said that the meeting today with the authorities has not been entirely cleared up the situation. And that Moise is on his way back and will meet with me tomorrow to discuss the whole situation. I assured the pastor that hundreds, and by now, even thousands of people around the world were praying for him and this situation.
Should I add that Moise sent a separate E-mail to say that seven churches were planted during the month of July? One of the churches planted in January has already planted two more. Right now, that’s an average of one church planted per week during 2006.
To top it all off we got a box full of PopTarts from a new friend in Florida.
I still hope to write that E-mail about Cape Verde soon.
Keep all of this in mind as you head into the weekend. Do not forget to pray it all out and toward God.
Price Family Update -- 15 August 2006
I just returned from an amazing visit in Cape Verde. I want to write all about that visit, but it will have to wait.
Reality strikes again. It requires your prayer in action for the young and growing church in Benin.
Here is an E-mail from a young leader in Benin. He has been in our home many times. We attended his wedding last summer. He is a dynamic preacher who can communicate in nine languages. And, we have been watching carefully the new work he has undertaken in one of the most difficult places in Benin.
I was copied in on the E-mail he just sent to Moise, our district superintendent, and translated it from French:
“Several weeks ago I met a Muslim named [name withheld] to whom I spoke about Jesus and through the Holy Spirit he came to believe in Him. This man invited me back to his home after many conversations.
“This past Friday I went to his village accompanied by two pastors. We evangelized all day Friday and Saturday. We were to spend the night in the village on Saturday to lead a worship service on Sunday morning. It was around 1:00 a.m. that we heard loud shouting and arguing outside. We looked out the window and saw around thirty individuals armed with machetes and sharp tools for digging. They were threatening our host to put us outside. If not they would destroy our host’s house. Having understood that this was a declaration of war, God helped us escape by a side window while abandoning our two motorcycles.
“We had walked quite a while before reaching the main road, where we alerted the local police. Unfortunately, it was too late, the house [belonging to our friend and new believer] was ravaged, our host and his family were in the hospital, and our motorcycles were gone. For the moment police are investigating, but they have no leads.”
Please pray for this young leader, his pastors, and his new friend in Christ. Not to mention, the men who created this havoc. I do not feel as if I can write his name, but volunteer teams to Benin have met this young leader and spent time with him. They know him personally.
For me, these are not headlines or stories about faraway places. It was difficult to see the screen through tears as I typed the translation. We do not live in a world where everyone agrees with us and who believe it is their obligation to silence the message we have of hope and new life. They spread fear through intimidation, we believe something else: “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). That’s my hope and my message. I hope I can be as courageous in living and proclaiming this message as these young heroes from Benin. They are my courage and my champions in the faith as they live at risk to their lives as Christ would. I only hope I can live up to their example.
Reality strikes again. It requires your prayer in action for the young and growing church in Benin.
Here is an E-mail from a young leader in Benin. He has been in our home many times. We attended his wedding last summer. He is a dynamic preacher who can communicate in nine languages. And, we have been watching carefully the new work he has undertaken in one of the most difficult places in Benin.
I was copied in on the E-mail he just sent to Moise, our district superintendent, and translated it from French:
“Several weeks ago I met a Muslim named [name withheld] to whom I spoke about Jesus and through the Holy Spirit he came to believe in Him. This man invited me back to his home after many conversations.
“This past Friday I went to his village accompanied by two pastors. We evangelized all day Friday and Saturday. We were to spend the night in the village on Saturday to lead a worship service on Sunday morning. It was around 1:00 a.m. that we heard loud shouting and arguing outside. We looked out the window and saw around thirty individuals armed with machetes and sharp tools for digging. They were threatening our host to put us outside. If not they would destroy our host’s house. Having understood that this was a declaration of war, God helped us escape by a side window while abandoning our two motorcycles.
“We had walked quite a while before reaching the main road, where we alerted the local police. Unfortunately, it was too late, the house [belonging to our friend and new believer] was ravaged, our host and his family were in the hospital, and our motorcycles were gone. For the moment police are investigating, but they have no leads.”
Please pray for this young leader, his pastors, and his new friend in Christ. Not to mention, the men who created this havoc. I do not feel as if I can write his name, but volunteer teams to Benin have met this young leader and spent time with him. They know him personally.
For me, these are not headlines or stories about faraway places. It was difficult to see the screen through tears as I typed the translation. We do not live in a world where everyone agrees with us and who believe it is their obligation to silence the message we have of hope and new life. They spread fear through intimidation, we believe something else: “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). That’s my hope and my message. I hope I can be as courageous in living and proclaiming this message as these young heroes from Benin. They are my courage and my champions in the faith as they live at risk to their lives as Christ would. I only hope I can live up to their example.
Price Family Update -- 31 July 2006
I know it has been a while since the last Price Family Update. I began the past month in South Africa and in a couple of hours I will be leaving for Senegal and Cape Verde for 17 days.
I spent a good three weeks with the family in Cotonou. The weather has been very mild and much cooler than the temperatures we are hearing about from the U.S. and Europe. What irony! In other important family news, I’m finally getting to the point where Parker and Payton do not beat me every time I play GameCube with them. But, my thumbs will probably get rusty during the next trip.
We are in the middle of summer break, but it doesn’t feel like it. The boys have a French tutor and Hooked on Phonics with Sonya every morning. Moise is back in Cotonou and healthy, so things have picked up for the local churches. Courses are being taught. In fact, we’ve gone from 22 students in Benin and Togo to over 70 students/pastors in the last year. We have a plan to train teachers of these students which should be starting in the next two months.
Things are moving. Pray that we will sell our old car. Pray that we can get teacher training classes started in the next two months. Pray that Moise will continue to heal. Pray that Rosaline his wife will have a smooth birth for their first child due this week. Pray that all of my travels go well. Pray that Sonya and the boys will be fine during my trip. Pray that my meetings and teaching sessions fulfill their purpose in Senegal and Cape Verde. Pray also for my cousin; he’s had quite a month, no need for details, just praise that things are looking up.
I’ll try to write from the road. Until then . . .
I spent a good three weeks with the family in Cotonou. The weather has been very mild and much cooler than the temperatures we are hearing about from the U.S. and Europe. What irony! In other important family news, I’m finally getting to the point where Parker and Payton do not beat me every time I play GameCube with them. But, my thumbs will probably get rusty during the next trip.
We are in the middle of summer break, but it doesn’t feel like it. The boys have a French tutor and Hooked on Phonics with Sonya every morning. Moise is back in Cotonou and healthy, so things have picked up for the local churches. Courses are being taught. In fact, we’ve gone from 22 students in Benin and Togo to over 70 students/pastors in the last year. We have a plan to train teachers of these students which should be starting in the next two months.
Things are moving. Pray that we will sell our old car. Pray that we can get teacher training classes started in the next two months. Pray that Moise will continue to heal. Pray that Rosaline his wife will have a smooth birth for their first child due this week. Pray that all of my travels go well. Pray that Sonya and the boys will be fine during my trip. Pray that my meetings and teaching sessions fulfill their purpose in Senegal and Cape Verde. Pray also for my cousin; he’s had quite a month, no need for details, just praise that things are looking up.
I’ll try to write from the road. Until then . . .
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Price Family Update--Cars, Kids, and Croissance
Things are wet in Cotonou.
Great Lakes Avenue turned into one big lake this past weekend. The water slowly drains into the soft sand, but until then, it’s about 18 inches of water covering mud et al. What makes it even more pleasant is the open sewers mix together with the puddles of rainwater. Nothing like the smell of raw sewage in the morning!
Fortunately, the road crews leveled off the other main dirt road, so we can easily pass through there for the first time in 18 months. If we had a car. Last Tuesday was the last time we will ever drive our four-door Corolla. We bounced our way down mini-dunes on Great Lakes Avenue and heard very bad, but brand-new, sounds emanating from under the hood. I was at a loss—we went straight to the mechanic instead of running our errands. The verdict—broken engine supports—you now, the parts that hold the engine in place, two of the three were broken! Broken! Well, the cost to repair even going the cheap route will be more than we want to spend. So, now, we’re still looking for a car, but we have no car while we are looking. On the bright side, it hasn’t rained during our trips to and from school or appointments. We’re on moto-taxis, so rain would just not be a good thing. On the brighter side, y’all must have been praying that we’d find something, because in the last twenty-four hours we have developed three strong leads on a new car.
Oh, I take that back about not raining while on moto-taxis. Sonya just walked into the Internet café dripping wet. She reports: “At least I’m dry from the waist up.” (Note: I just re-connected to the Internet, we had to disconnect when the power went out during the T-storms that just passed through.)
Cars
This morning I was waiting to meet the owner of one of those possible new cars. I was sitting at our latest favorite restaurant La Terenga, a Lebanese place. The owner saw me sitting there on the verenda reading, and offered me a free espresso. We know her and her husband well. Their son and Payton are in the same class at the French school. That just about made my day, especially when the owner of the car didn’t show up. But, while I was sitting there, another car for sale passed by--a better possibility than the one I was waiting to look at. I called the car owner I was waiting on. His kid had a school assembly that he’d forgotten about. How can I complain about that? So, tomorrow morning we look at all three new car possibilities—one owned by an American, another by a Lebanese, and another by a Korean. Hopefully, it will not be raining.
If you were wondering what I was reading when I got the free coffee—Organic Church by Neil Cole. What a great book, but don’t read it if you don’t want the rug pulled out from under your feet. Anything you might hold dear regarding how the Christian life is to be lived out might not last past the first two chapters. What do I mean? Well, what if your church’s vision statement was “Every Christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church building is a training center”? Or, what about this: “Lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple.” I really like this idea. I shudder to think what might be in store if the global Church took these words seriously. That means I like the direction this guy is going, but I’m not sure everyone will be happy with that direction.
Beninois Churches (La Croissance Continue)
The growth continues. Croissance means growth in French, and it’s pronounced like the world-famous pastry. Another six churches were planted in Cotonou last month, according to the D.S. Moise Toumoudagou. (too-moo-da-goo). Instead of giving the news myself, I’ll let Moise speak on his own behalf and for the tremendous work of God taking place on this district and in this country.
“Once again, I give all the thanks to God for he does not stop effectively using those who put their confidence in Him. My colleagues—pastors and zone coordinators—are still instruments that the Holy Spirit has used in the past few weeks. This time, there has been something happening all over the district of Benin.
“Six new churches have been planted in the last month.
1) Boukoumbe: a medium-sized village in northwest Benin.
2) Cobly: a small town near Tanguieta also in the northwest
3) Guema: a neighborhood of Parakou in the northeast.
4) Towe: a village near Bohicon in the center of Benin.
5) So-Tchanwe: a lake village in southern Benin near Ganvie.
6) Fidjrosse: a neighborhood of Cotonou.
“Pray therefore with us that the Lord could affirm these churches that will be joining the sixteen already planted during the past six months.”
That’s an average of one church planted every week since the beginning of the year.
Man. It’s hard to keep up, but that’s what we’ll do tomorrow, as we meet to figure out how to bring the new pastors up to speed.
The Kids
They both passed to the next grade. With Parker it was not certain. He took a week of exams (yes, he’s in the second grade) to determine if he could go on. He was strong in every subject but French. He worked with a tutor, a Muslim colleague of Sonya’s when she was at the British school. She helped bring up his French enough to pass the exams. His teacher at the French school told us that he did better than some of his classmates on parts of the tests, even though he missed five of ten months of school this year. She said he would have been right at the top if he hadn’t have missed any school. Payton passed easily from kindergarten to first grade. But, next year will be a shock for him. Of course, everyone thinks Parker and Payton are French until they meet Sonya and I.
Last weekend, Payton asked me, “Do you like clean or dirty?” I asked him where in the world he came up with that question. He said I should say dirty, since girls like clean and boys like dirty. Something he heard on Disney Kids back in the States. Just too funny.
Travel
At the end of the month, Sonya, the boys, and I head for Accra. They will stay there for ten days while I go to South Africa for educational meetings. Poor me. It will be my second winter this year, however. Sonya and the boys will get to visit with some good friends, the Wattons. Then, at the end of July I go to Cape Verde Islands for two weeks, again for educational meetings, youth seminars, most of the district assembly, and a chance to speak at the graduation ceremony at the modest Bible school there.
Prayer Points
--We’re gearing up for some major decisions regarding volunteer ministries and the teaching center for this area. We’ll be able to announce something in a couple of weeks.
--We’re just trying not to get too sick. Two of us have been rumbling in the stomach area during the past week.
--Moise has been very sick with the flu during the past week, and his wife is seven months pregnant, so let me just say, she isn’t feeling too good, either.
--Some missionaries we know are dealing with a bunch of stuff. We’ve had to say goodbye to quite a few in the last few weeks. Not fun.
--All the stuff we need to catch up on. There’s lots.
Great Lakes Avenue turned into one big lake this past weekend. The water slowly drains into the soft sand, but until then, it’s about 18 inches of water covering mud et al. What makes it even more pleasant is the open sewers mix together with the puddles of rainwater. Nothing like the smell of raw sewage in the morning!
Fortunately, the road crews leveled off the other main dirt road, so we can easily pass through there for the first time in 18 months. If we had a car. Last Tuesday was the last time we will ever drive our four-door Corolla. We bounced our way down mini-dunes on Great Lakes Avenue and heard very bad, but brand-new, sounds emanating from under the hood. I was at a loss—we went straight to the mechanic instead of running our errands. The verdict—broken engine supports—you now, the parts that hold the engine in place, two of the three were broken! Broken! Well, the cost to repair even going the cheap route will be more than we want to spend. So, now, we’re still looking for a car, but we have no car while we are looking. On the bright side, it hasn’t rained during our trips to and from school or appointments. We’re on moto-taxis, so rain would just not be a good thing. On the brighter side, y’all must have been praying that we’d find something, because in the last twenty-four hours we have developed three strong leads on a new car.
Oh, I take that back about not raining while on moto-taxis. Sonya just walked into the Internet café dripping wet. She reports: “At least I’m dry from the waist up.” (Note: I just re-connected to the Internet, we had to disconnect when the power went out during the T-storms that just passed through.)
Cars
This morning I was waiting to meet the owner of one of those possible new cars. I was sitting at our latest favorite restaurant La Terenga, a Lebanese place. The owner saw me sitting there on the verenda reading, and offered me a free espresso. We know her and her husband well. Their son and Payton are in the same class at the French school. That just about made my day, especially when the owner of the car didn’t show up. But, while I was sitting there, another car for sale passed by--a better possibility than the one I was waiting to look at. I called the car owner I was waiting on. His kid had a school assembly that he’d forgotten about. How can I complain about that? So, tomorrow morning we look at all three new car possibilities—one owned by an American, another by a Lebanese, and another by a Korean. Hopefully, it will not be raining.
If you were wondering what I was reading when I got the free coffee—Organic Church by Neil Cole. What a great book, but don’t read it if you don’t want the rug pulled out from under your feet. Anything you might hold dear regarding how the Christian life is to be lived out might not last past the first two chapters. What do I mean? Well, what if your church’s vision statement was “Every Christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church building is a training center”? Or, what about this: “Lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple.” I really like this idea. I shudder to think what might be in store if the global Church took these words seriously. That means I like the direction this guy is going, but I’m not sure everyone will be happy with that direction.
Beninois Churches (La Croissance Continue)
The growth continues. Croissance means growth in French, and it’s pronounced like the world-famous pastry. Another six churches were planted in Cotonou last month, according to the D.S. Moise Toumoudagou. (too-moo-da-goo). Instead of giving the news myself, I’ll let Moise speak on his own behalf and for the tremendous work of God taking place on this district and in this country.
“Once again, I give all the thanks to God for he does not stop effectively using those who put their confidence in Him. My colleagues—pastors and zone coordinators—are still instruments that the Holy Spirit has used in the past few weeks. This time, there has been something happening all over the district of Benin.
“Six new churches have been planted in the last month.
1) Boukoumbe: a medium-sized village in northwest Benin.
2) Cobly: a small town near Tanguieta also in the northwest
3) Guema: a neighborhood of Parakou in the northeast.
4) Towe: a village near Bohicon in the center of Benin.
5) So-Tchanwe: a lake village in southern Benin near Ganvie.
6) Fidjrosse: a neighborhood of Cotonou.
“Pray therefore with us that the Lord could affirm these churches that will be joining the sixteen already planted during the past six months.”
That’s an average of one church planted every week since the beginning of the year.
Man. It’s hard to keep up, but that’s what we’ll do tomorrow, as we meet to figure out how to bring the new pastors up to speed.
The Kids
They both passed to the next grade. With Parker it was not certain. He took a week of exams (yes, he’s in the second grade) to determine if he could go on. He was strong in every subject but French. He worked with a tutor, a Muslim colleague of Sonya’s when she was at the British school. She helped bring up his French enough to pass the exams. His teacher at the French school told us that he did better than some of his classmates on parts of the tests, even though he missed five of ten months of school this year. She said he would have been right at the top if he hadn’t have missed any school. Payton passed easily from kindergarten to first grade. But, next year will be a shock for him. Of course, everyone thinks Parker and Payton are French until they meet Sonya and I.
Last weekend, Payton asked me, “Do you like clean or dirty?” I asked him where in the world he came up with that question. He said I should say dirty, since girls like clean and boys like dirty. Something he heard on Disney Kids back in the States. Just too funny.
Travel
At the end of the month, Sonya, the boys, and I head for Accra. They will stay there for ten days while I go to South Africa for educational meetings. Poor me. It will be my second winter this year, however. Sonya and the boys will get to visit with some good friends, the Wattons. Then, at the end of July I go to Cape Verde Islands for two weeks, again for educational meetings, youth seminars, most of the district assembly, and a chance to speak at the graduation ceremony at the modest Bible school there.
Prayer Points
--We’re gearing up for some major decisions regarding volunteer ministries and the teaching center for this area. We’ll be able to announce something in a couple of weeks.
--We’re just trying not to get too sick. Two of us have been rumbling in the stomach area during the past week.
--Moise has been very sick with the flu during the past week, and his wife is seven months pregnant, so let me just say, she isn’t feeling too good, either.
--Some missionaries we know are dealing with a bunch of stuff. We’ve had to say goodbye to quite a few in the last few weeks. Not fun.
--All the stuff we need to catch up on. There’s lots.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Yee-ah! Steers opened today in Cotonou
We just ate lunch at Steers (hamburgers) and Debonair's Pizza. We used to eat at these places all the time in Abidjan and Johannesburg. They've been working on getting these restaurants open since the beginning of the year.
I never really liked Steers hamburgers before, too chunky with who knows what beef parts. But, the one today was good, really good. I've had Steers in Dakar, Abidjan, Accra, and Jo'burg, but today's was the best. Do I sound like a homer? Maybe.
The prices are steep around $7 to $9 for burger, fries, and coke. So, we can't go all the time, but just knowing it's there is a positive thing mentally.
I'm at the Internet cafe. There's a Chinese teenager sitting across from me humming "Let It Be" by the Beatles which is playing on the sound system here. There's a French guy on the other side of the table, and a Lebanese guy and a Beninois guy on the other side of the room. I can overhear conversations in about five languages, while burping South African burgers. Just another day in Cotonou.
I never really liked Steers hamburgers before, too chunky with who knows what beef parts. But, the one today was good, really good. I've had Steers in Dakar, Abidjan, Accra, and Jo'burg, but today's was the best. Do I sound like a homer? Maybe.
The prices are steep around $7 to $9 for burger, fries, and coke. So, we can't go all the time, but just knowing it's there is a positive thing mentally.
I'm at the Internet cafe. There's a Chinese teenager sitting across from me humming "Let It Be" by the Beatles which is playing on the sound system here. There's a French guy on the other side of the table, and a Lebanese guy and a Beninois guy on the other side of the room. I can overhear conversations in about five languages, while burping South African burgers. Just another day in Cotonou.
Friday, June 09, 2006
The Ministry of Showing Up--Price Family Update 09 June 2006
The MVNU team has left me much to think about.
I thought about how we entered a village in Togo. This “small” village has over 3,000 inhabitants and has many more Togolais who call this village their hometown.
I remember meeting with the chief. I remember how he repeated three or four times how glad he was that we came to see him. He had heard we were coming. He waited for us in the morning, then at noon. He was relieved when we arrived that afternoon. You see, it would have been embarrassing for him if we did not show up. He would have felt slighted, maybe even lost face among his people. But, instead, we honored him just by being there.
But there’s more to it. Cyrille, the regional missionary working in Togo, had paid a visit a couple of weeks before. Villagers get wary of strangers coming in and talking about planting churches. They are afraid of a wanna-be “big man” coming to town selling spiritual “snake oil” and then leaving town with the money offerings and leaving a trail of broken beginnings of people’s faith in something more to this life. Cyrille had told them that he was part of the Church of the Nazarene International. He did not come alone or only in his name, but in the name of Christ and a church family from around the world.
The village chief told us that day during our visit that Cyrille was true to his word. He believed him to be a man of truth, since we were evidence that the Church of the Nazarene is truly International. I added that when the Church of the Nazarene is finally planted in that village, it will be one of 16,000 churches spread around the globe. Alo-gebo, the name of that village in southern Togo, will be known and prayed for by hundreds even thousands of fellow believers around the globe. The chief smiled and his council applauded. And, you know that when we arrived in that place, we came as ambassadors for Christ, all because we showed up.
A week later, we visited Ouidah, the site of the Temple of Pythons, the sacred center of the voudun traditional religion. We did not pass out tracts or do a gospel puppet show or preach on the street corners shouting quotations of the Roman Road. Instead, we piled out of the bus and walked around the temple square, praying as we walked underneath the ancient tree filled with fruit bats, past the women selling chickens for traditional sacrifices, and among the half-dressed children.
We knelt down to look in the face of children, speak greetings in Fon to the women there, and pray. We saturated that place for a few minutes with the presence of Christ. We simply showed up. We stood together with Africans, not as ones who know more or have more, but as equals. By simply showing up. We stood in solidarity. We stood and shared a taste of the kingdom of God with them. By simply showing up. We arrived in the name of Christ. We went as Christ’s ambassadors. By simply showing up. We know an African pastor and African evangelistic team will be better at presenting the Gospel message and planting a church in Ouidah. We wanted to prepare the soil. By simply showing up.
I thought about how we entered a village in Togo. This “small” village has over 3,000 inhabitants and has many more Togolais who call this village their hometown.
I remember meeting with the chief. I remember how he repeated three or four times how glad he was that we came to see him. He had heard we were coming. He waited for us in the morning, then at noon. He was relieved when we arrived that afternoon. You see, it would have been embarrassing for him if we did not show up. He would have felt slighted, maybe even lost face among his people. But, instead, we honored him just by being there.
But there’s more to it. Cyrille, the regional missionary working in Togo, had paid a visit a couple of weeks before. Villagers get wary of strangers coming in and talking about planting churches. They are afraid of a wanna-be “big man” coming to town selling spiritual “snake oil” and then leaving town with the money offerings and leaving a trail of broken beginnings of people’s faith in something more to this life. Cyrille had told them that he was part of the Church of the Nazarene International. He did not come alone or only in his name, but in the name of Christ and a church family from around the world.
The village chief told us that day during our visit that Cyrille was true to his word. He believed him to be a man of truth, since we were evidence that the Church of the Nazarene is truly International. I added that when the Church of the Nazarene is finally planted in that village, it will be one of 16,000 churches spread around the globe. Alo-gebo, the name of that village in southern Togo, will be known and prayed for by hundreds even thousands of fellow believers around the globe. The chief smiled and his council applauded. And, you know that when we arrived in that place, we came as ambassadors for Christ, all because we showed up.
A week later, we visited Ouidah, the site of the Temple of Pythons, the sacred center of the voudun traditional religion. We did not pass out tracts or do a gospel puppet show or preach on the street corners shouting quotations of the Roman Road. Instead, we piled out of the bus and walked around the temple square, praying as we walked underneath the ancient tree filled with fruit bats, past the women selling chickens for traditional sacrifices, and among the half-dressed children.
We knelt down to look in the face of children, speak greetings in Fon to the women there, and pray. We saturated that place for a few minutes with the presence of Christ. We simply showed up. We stood together with Africans, not as ones who know more or have more, but as equals. By simply showing up. We stood in solidarity. We stood and shared a taste of the kingdom of God with them. By simply showing up. We arrived in the name of Christ. We went as Christ’s ambassadors. By simply showing up. We know an African pastor and African evangelistic team will be better at presenting the Gospel message and planting a church in Ouidah. We wanted to prepare the soil. By simply showing up.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Authority (Almost) Always Wins
Authority (Almost) Always Wins
Yesterday Sonya and I went to the post office to pick up a box. It was dated Dec 2005. We thought, oh no, someone sent us Christmas stuff. We hoped it wouldn’t cost much for storage. That’s right, the post office charges storage if you pick it up seven days after arrival. What would five months cost?
We found out there was not just one box but two. One from close friends in Kansas City and another one from our LINKS district from last year. They only charged $14 for storage, which I paid only because they were Christmas presents.
Then, after getting the boxes we have to take them to the douane (customs officer) dressed in military fatigues. He cut the boxes open and riffled through them. The items were obviously gifts. However, the value box on both boxes showed each box contained over $100 in value. So, he fiddled with a calculator and said I owed $114 in customs fees. I said I didn’t have that much. He said, how much could you pay. I said, $6. He laughed, and then realized I wasn’t smiling or joking. He turned and went to big boss’s office. He came out and tried to deal with me.
I said these were obviously gifts. I decided I would not pay anything. About that time Sonya walked in with Payton. She started to get upset. The customs officer said, please calm down, ma’am. He said, I’m not yelling in order to show respect in front of your children. I said, you could show respect to my kids by letting them have their Christmas presents. About that time, Sonya leaned down to Payton and asked him to try to cry (maybe I jest or maybe not).
The customs officer explained that all items are charged customs fees according to their value, whether they are gifts or not. Sonya said, this isn’t a car at the port, just some Legos and Poptarts. He said, if a car was sent as a gift, it would still have fees. I said, if you know someone who would like to send a car as a gift, please give them my address.
Sonya talked about how we’ve never paid customs fees, maybe things were not getting better in Benin, got mad, and walked away. I told the officer, We just returned to Benin three weeks ago, because we like Benin and we like the people here, but when stuff like this occurs, it makes me think “Ca ne va pas encore changer” The new president’s campaign slogan was “Ca va changer” (Things are going to change). Sonya came back and starting rattling away, most of it was in French. I threw up my hands and stormed away and even left the building. I was ready just to leave the stuff there.
As soon as I got to car, Sonya came walking out holding both boxes. She said, I’m not sure what happened, but one guy blinked at the other, and the customs officer shooed me away and said take them and go. So I did.
Sonya said, we just acted the way Africans do in similar situation, and the sad thing is, it just worked. We spent the next hour coming down off our adrenaline high. We were pretty wasted, just by going to the post office.
During this whole episode we did not get “angry” or berate anyone. We did show genuine frustration at the whole thing. We bickered long enough to get our stuff, I guess.
So, last night we had a Christmas party in June.
The moral of the story is: If you send us stuff, do not put a value of more than $20 on the box. And, pray for us and for the system that everyone who lives here has to endure in order to do the simplest tasks.
Yesterday Sonya and I went to the post office to pick up a box. It was dated Dec 2005. We thought, oh no, someone sent us Christmas stuff. We hoped it wouldn’t cost much for storage. That’s right, the post office charges storage if you pick it up seven days after arrival. What would five months cost?
We found out there was not just one box but two. One from close friends in Kansas City and another one from our LINKS district from last year. They only charged $14 for storage, which I paid only because they were Christmas presents.
Then, after getting the boxes we have to take them to the douane (customs officer) dressed in military fatigues. He cut the boxes open and riffled through them. The items were obviously gifts. However, the value box on both boxes showed each box contained over $100 in value. So, he fiddled with a calculator and said I owed $114 in customs fees. I said I didn’t have that much. He said, how much could you pay. I said, $6. He laughed, and then realized I wasn’t smiling or joking. He turned and went to big boss’s office. He came out and tried to deal with me.
I said these were obviously gifts. I decided I would not pay anything. About that time Sonya walked in with Payton. She started to get upset. The customs officer said, please calm down, ma’am. He said, I’m not yelling in order to show respect in front of your children. I said, you could show respect to my kids by letting them have their Christmas presents. About that time, Sonya leaned down to Payton and asked him to try to cry (maybe I jest or maybe not).
The customs officer explained that all items are charged customs fees according to their value, whether they are gifts or not. Sonya said, this isn’t a car at the port, just some Legos and Poptarts. He said, if a car was sent as a gift, it would still have fees. I said, if you know someone who would like to send a car as a gift, please give them my address.
Sonya talked about how we’ve never paid customs fees, maybe things were not getting better in Benin, got mad, and walked away. I told the officer, We just returned to Benin three weeks ago, because we like Benin and we like the people here, but when stuff like this occurs, it makes me think “Ca ne va pas encore changer” The new president’s campaign slogan was “Ca va changer” (Things are going to change). Sonya came back and starting rattling away, most of it was in French. I threw up my hands and stormed away and even left the building. I was ready just to leave the stuff there.
As soon as I got to car, Sonya came walking out holding both boxes. She said, I’m not sure what happened, but one guy blinked at the other, and the customs officer shooed me away and said take them and go. So I did.
Sonya said, we just acted the way Africans do in similar situation, and the sad thing is, it just worked. We spent the next hour coming down off our adrenaline high. We were pretty wasted, just by going to the post office.
During this whole episode we did not get “angry” or berate anyone. We did show genuine frustration at the whole thing. We bickered long enough to get our stuff, I guess.
So, last night we had a Christmas party in June.
The moral of the story is: If you send us stuff, do not put a value of more than $20 on the box. And, pray for us and for the system that everyone who lives here has to endure in order to do the simplest tasks.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
MVNU Team Departs
We put the team on the plane last night without a problem but with many tears. Moise, our D.S. in Benin, said he hoped many on the team heard a call from God to return to West Africa as missionaries. Cyrille, the ministry coordinator for this area, told the team that they had the best attitude and most energy of any team he'd ever been around. With that, Moise prayed for them and we all hugged and cried. They left for home in and around Ohio, and then I went home too.
Price Family Update -- MVNU Team Update
Okay, so it’s been a while since the last post. Here’s a brief overview of the MVNU Joining Hands trip to Benin and Togo
In a word—amazing.
We had a rooftop cookout and played games with MKs from three organizations; we sang worship songs with American, Irish, English, and Canadian ex-pats; we crossed an international border between Benin and Togo with 13 foreigners in tow with no problems; we sang songs on the roadside while we waited to cross a bridge closed due to a tipped over semi-trailer; we were pulled over at a police checkpoint just after dark outside Lome, when the backdoor of the bus slammed shut, someone said, “I think I just peed a little bit in my pants” and we did our best not to laugh out loud; we worshipped outdoors in Tsevie, Togo until it rained and then crammed into a small classroom to finish the service; we learned to sing French African worship choruses; we spoke Fon in the Dan Tokpa outdoor market while we saw the sights and smelled the smells; we prayed as we walked through the voodoo section; we walked across a trash heap to get on a boat to go to Ganvie where we saw the bright faces of young new Christians (children outnumbered adults two to one); we gave an African mama seven bucks so a baby could get treatment for a serious case of malaria; we bartered and bantered with merchants at the tourist market; we talked about all sorts of ethical problems and current events during our hours in the bus; we blew a tire at 60 miles an hour; we spent the day in Abomey with an American mom, her three month old daughter, and visiting mother; hopefully, we were a good witness to them since they are not believers; we saw baobab trees along the roadside; we saw a real live African king from Nigeria; we bought material and had African clothes made; we learned how to put on an African headdress; we learned what it’s like to break a foot in West Africa; we played football and exchanged E-mail addresses with teenagers in two different schools in Cotonou; we played video games with Parker and Payton (and taught them how to be good Jedis); we gave away toothbrushes and lollipops to children; we held, learned the names of, and played with the neighborhood kids; we watched them smile and laugh at us silly yovos; we can finish the song every kid can sing that goes, “Yovo, yovo, bon soir . . .”; we talked with, asked questions to, and prayed with the chief in a village Alo-Kebo where Cyrille is planting a new church; we did the Hokey Pokey with three hundred women and children in the same village; we watched a voudon priest give his life to Jesus Christ in a small Beninois village; we walked in prayer around the sacred square in Ouidah the voodoo capital where the Temple of Pythons is located; we ate Indian food in an African restaurant while the TV played a 50 Cent video; we also tried Thai food, French crepes, and Italian pizza made by people from those countries; we discovered Nutella; we played with the kids and talked with the people there and made them laugh; we were invited by Ignace, our driver, to his house and prayed with his family; we ate nasty good African food; we painted two large rooms and the stairwell in our house; we built a web site for the Price family; we watched Taylor when American Idol; we killed two rats and a dozen cockroaches in our garage; we locked ourselves out of our house, endured nights without electricity and days without water, munched on fishheads and French pastries, swam in the Atlantic Ocean, pulled in fish nets out of the ocean with local villagers, and drank the milk directly from coconut shells; we took boats, buses, and moto-taxis to places we never imagined.
And, now, we want to do it all over again.
Prayer Requests:
We stay healthy.
We take time to rest together as a family.
We get full phone service restored.
We go the whole week with water and electricity.
We find a new car (we're close).
We find the resources to have an NYI training session in Benin.
We find a teaching space for our pastor training course.
We continue to keep up with the churches and new pastors in Benin and Togo.
In a word—amazing.
We had a rooftop cookout and played games with MKs from three organizations; we sang worship songs with American, Irish, English, and Canadian ex-pats; we crossed an international border between Benin and Togo with 13 foreigners in tow with no problems; we sang songs on the roadside while we waited to cross a bridge closed due to a tipped over semi-trailer; we were pulled over at a police checkpoint just after dark outside Lome, when the backdoor of the bus slammed shut, someone said, “I think I just peed a little bit in my pants” and we did our best not to laugh out loud; we worshipped outdoors in Tsevie, Togo until it rained and then crammed into a small classroom to finish the service; we learned to sing French African worship choruses; we spoke Fon in the Dan Tokpa outdoor market while we saw the sights and smelled the smells; we prayed as we walked through the voodoo section; we walked across a trash heap to get on a boat to go to Ganvie where we saw the bright faces of young new Christians (children outnumbered adults two to one); we gave an African mama seven bucks so a baby could get treatment for a serious case of malaria; we bartered and bantered with merchants at the tourist market; we talked about all sorts of ethical problems and current events during our hours in the bus; we blew a tire at 60 miles an hour; we spent the day in Abomey with an American mom, her three month old daughter, and visiting mother; hopefully, we were a good witness to them since they are not believers; we saw baobab trees along the roadside; we saw a real live African king from Nigeria; we bought material and had African clothes made; we learned how to put on an African headdress; we learned what it’s like to break a foot in West Africa; we played football and exchanged E-mail addresses with teenagers in two different schools in Cotonou; we played video games with Parker and Payton (and taught them how to be good Jedis); we gave away toothbrushes and lollipops to children; we held, learned the names of, and played with the neighborhood kids; we watched them smile and laugh at us silly yovos; we can finish the song every kid can sing that goes, “Yovo, yovo, bon soir . . .”; we talked with, asked questions to, and prayed with the chief in a village Alo-Kebo where Cyrille is planting a new church; we did the Hokey Pokey with three hundred women and children in the same village; we watched a voudon priest give his life to Jesus Christ in a small Beninois village; we walked in prayer around the sacred square in Ouidah the voodoo capital where the Temple of Pythons is located; we ate Indian food in an African restaurant while the TV played a 50 Cent video; we also tried Thai food, French crepes, and Italian pizza made by people from those countries; we discovered Nutella; we played with the kids and talked with the people there and made them laugh; we were invited by Ignace, our driver, to his house and prayed with his family; we ate nasty good African food; we painted two large rooms and the stairwell in our house; we built a web site for the Price family; we watched Taylor when American Idol; we killed two rats and a dozen cockroaches in our garage; we locked ourselves out of our house, endured nights without electricity and days without water, munched on fishheads and French pastries, swam in the Atlantic Ocean, pulled in fish nets out of the ocean with local villagers, and drank the milk directly from coconut shells; we took boats, buses, and moto-taxis to places we never imagined.
And, now, we want to do it all over again.
Prayer Requests:
We stay healthy.
We take time to rest together as a family.
We get full phone service restored.
We go the whole week with water and electricity.
We find a new car (we're close).
We find the resources to have an NYI training session in Benin.
We find a teaching space for our pastor training course.
We continue to keep up with the churches and new pastors in Benin and Togo.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Fon is Fun
I'm sending this post as the team has a lesson in Fon, one of the 52 languages of Benin. They are working with Rob Baker, one of my friends from SIL-Wycliffe. He and his wife are pictured in a previous post.
If you want to learn more about Fon, go to this website Fon Is Fun made by a former Peace Corps volunteer to Benin.
If you want to learn more about Fon, go to this website Fon Is Fun made by a former Peace Corps volunteer to Benin.
Price Family Update--25 May 2006
The team had a decent first day. It was a holiday—Ascension. So, the city was a little less crazy today than usual.
We took them to the US Embassy to register where Ruth, our friend, gave us a new perspective on what it means to serve overseas. Her 21 years in Foreign Service have given her much wisdom. One of the topics we discussed was how the fear of “voudon” thwarts progress and development across the African continent. We talked at lunch about how they are not just Christian missionaries living as a witness overseas, but also Christian workers in many professions working outside the country of their birth.
We bought some cloth at Missebo market today. This “panier’ will be turned into colorful robes and shirts over the next few days but tailors and seamstresses. We haggled and bartered our prices. We found a wonderful female merchant, a “Mama,” who gave us a good price the first time. She got a lot of business today.
Taylor won, huh? That’s who my brother said would win.
We came back to the house and the team entertained the neighborhood kids for a couple of hours. Payton talked Matthew Johnston’s ear off about Transformers. Heard some interesting stories about life in French school. I hope Parker and Payton don’t have the same experience—three hours of homework every night and four-hour tests on Saturday. Ugh. It’s good for Matthew to be with our boys, I think he finds some kinship with our kids since he knows what it is like to grow up overseas.
The boys love having the team here. The students give them lots of needed attention. Parker was at Missebo with us. Someone wanted to barter for some cloth. Parker said, “Come on, I’ll talk them down for you.” Parker found an able opponent in Ryan. They were duking it out on Mario Karts tonight. Payton was chatting away with Joe, Liz, and Lauren at dinner tonight.
Just another day. Tomorrow, we take a step further into the culture.
We took them to the US Embassy to register where Ruth, our friend, gave us a new perspective on what it means to serve overseas. Her 21 years in Foreign Service have given her much wisdom. One of the topics we discussed was how the fear of “voudon” thwarts progress and development across the African continent. We talked at lunch about how they are not just Christian missionaries living as a witness overseas, but also Christian workers in many professions working outside the country of their birth.
We bought some cloth at Missebo market today. This “panier’ will be turned into colorful robes and shirts over the next few days but tailors and seamstresses. We haggled and bartered our prices. We found a wonderful female merchant, a “Mama,” who gave us a good price the first time. She got a lot of business today.
Taylor won, huh? That’s who my brother said would win.
We came back to the house and the team entertained the neighborhood kids for a couple of hours. Payton talked Matthew Johnston’s ear off about Transformers. Heard some interesting stories about life in French school. I hope Parker and Payton don’t have the same experience—three hours of homework every night and four-hour tests on Saturday. Ugh. It’s good for Matthew to be with our boys, I think he finds some kinship with our kids since he knows what it is like to grow up overseas.
The boys love having the team here. The students give them lots of needed attention. Parker was at Missebo with us. Someone wanted to barter for some cloth. Parker said, “Come on, I’ll talk them down for you.” Parker found an able opponent in Ryan. They were duking it out on Mario Karts tonight. Payton was chatting away with Joe, Liz, and Lauren at dinner tonight.
Just another day. Tomorrow, we take a step further into the culture.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Good Friend's Great Blog
Here's a link to Rob Baker's blog
Rob is highly entertaining and energetic and that personality comes through in the blog. He and wife Lois serve with SIL-Wycliffe as teachers at the English International School in Cotonou (that's where Sonya taught for a while during the last year and a half). Their service at the school helps SILers send their kids to the school at a reduced rate.
Here's a photo of Rob and Lois:
Rob is also very musically inclined to say the least. He is also an ethnomusicologist for SIL (that means he helps language groups write worship songs based on Scripture in their own language). Rob also leads worship for our English fellowship.
Lois is the calm in the midst of Rob's whirlwind. Very great couple to pass the time with. They have three kids about the same ages as Parker and Payton.
Also, if you ever wondered what the difference was between Cockney, Yorkshire, and Surrey accents in England--Rob's the go-to guy. I now know there is not a such a thing as a British accent, but hundreds of British accents--and Rob can do them all.
Cheers.
Rob is highly entertaining and energetic and that personality comes through in the blog. He and wife Lois serve with SIL-Wycliffe as teachers at the English International School in Cotonou (that's where Sonya taught for a while during the last year and a half). Their service at the school helps SILers send their kids to the school at a reduced rate.
Here's a photo of Rob and Lois:
Rob is also very musically inclined to say the least. He is also an ethnomusicologist for SIL (that means he helps language groups write worship songs based on Scripture in their own language). Rob also leads worship for our English fellowship.
Lois is the calm in the midst of Rob's whirlwind. Very great couple to pass the time with. They have three kids about the same ages as Parker and Payton.
Also, if you ever wondered what the difference was between Cockney, Yorkshire, and Surrey accents in England--Rob's the go-to guy. I now know there is not a such a thing as a British accent, but hundreds of British accents--and Rob can do them all.
Cheers.
Price Family Update -- 24 May 2006
A couple of stories about our arrival. When Parker and I arrived at our house, I noticed Parker was teary-eyed. I asked him, “What’s wrong?” He said, “Nothing, I’m just happy.” Then, two nights ago when we got Sonya and Payton back to the house, Payton said, “I can’t believe we’re back in Africa, I must be dreaming.”
Imagine the slugger who makes the game-winning homerun in the last game of the World Series. All of his teammates mob him when he reaches home plate. That’s what happened when Payton walked into his classroom at the French school yesterday. It kind of freaked him out, but his friends have been asking about him. Also, a similar thing happened to Parker at an ice cream place we often go to. One of the waiters (about 6’6”) swooped him off his feet and almost lifted him to the ceiling.
We’ve been scrambling to get things ready for the team. Most of everything is done, just lots of loose ends. My biggest concern is reliable transport. One of our biggest issues last year. We plan on visits to Lome, Abomey, Ke, Ganvie, and several neighborhoods in Cotonou.
At the same time, our car only starts 75% of the time and the car window won’t roll up as of last night (not a good thing to happen during rainy season). We have a strong lead on a Toyota RAV4 just waiting for the wire transfer.
Just heard a JESUS Film team might be coming in a few months. Pray for them as they gather participants and raise funds.
I know I’ve acclimated when Sonya says, “It’s so incredibly hot right now.” And, I think to myself that the temperature actually feels pretty cool (“frais” as they say here).
Another note: I love Tim Horton’s coffee, but the coffee on Air France is way better. Never thought I’d say that, but I just wrote it.
Prayer note: We’re looking at rental space for team accommodations and educational teaching space. Pray for us to make the best decision—we’ve got a couple of options.
Imagine the slugger who makes the game-winning homerun in the last game of the World Series. All of his teammates mob him when he reaches home plate. That’s what happened when Payton walked into his classroom at the French school yesterday. It kind of freaked him out, but his friends have been asking about him. Also, a similar thing happened to Parker at an ice cream place we often go to. One of the waiters (about 6’6”) swooped him off his feet and almost lifted him to the ceiling.
We’ve been scrambling to get things ready for the team. Most of everything is done, just lots of loose ends. My biggest concern is reliable transport. One of our biggest issues last year. We plan on visits to Lome, Abomey, Ke, Ganvie, and several neighborhoods in Cotonou.
At the same time, our car only starts 75% of the time and the car window won’t roll up as of last night (not a good thing to happen during rainy season). We have a strong lead on a Toyota RAV4 just waiting for the wire transfer.
Just heard a JESUS Film team might be coming in a few months. Pray for them as they gather participants and raise funds.
I know I’ve acclimated when Sonya says, “It’s so incredibly hot right now.” And, I think to myself that the temperature actually feels pretty cool (“frais” as they say here).
Another note: I love Tim Horton’s coffee, but the coffee on Air France is way better. Never thought I’d say that, but I just wrote it.
Prayer note: We’re looking at rental space for team accommodations and educational teaching space. Pray for us to make the best decision—we’ve got a couple of options.
Price Family Update--23 May 2006
Sonya and Payton arrived in Cotonou with no problems. The boys are at school. Sonya is running a couple of errands.
We’re looking forward to the team of university students and sponsors from Mount Vernon Nazarene University that will be arriving tomorrow night. Remember them as they are traveling and during their time here.
Their names are Amber, Jessica, Elizabeth, Cory, Lauren, Matthew, Lindsay, Ryan, Julianne, Kassandra, Mallorey, Joe, and Heather.
The fun never stops.
It’s been fun to be back into the swing of things in Benin.
We’re looking forward to the team of university students and sponsors from Mount Vernon Nazarene University that will be arriving tomorrow night. Remember them as they are traveling and during their time here.
Their names are Amber, Jessica, Elizabeth, Cory, Lauren, Matthew, Lindsay, Ryan, Julianne, Kassandra, Mallorey, Joe, and Heather.
The fun never stops.
It’s been fun to be back into the swing of things in Benin.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
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