More from Cotonou, Benin

Hello Everyone,

Adrienne, Prosper, Sonja, and I enjoyed a much needed day off at the pool/beach the Monday after we got back to Cotonou. The sky was cloudy, which sometimes we frown upon, but it was nice to have a relief from the hot sun. Also, the sand on the beach didn't burn our feet like the time before. The beach was very relaxing. We also treated ourselves to ice cream and a crêpe. The waves were really strong, but I enjoyed wading in a bit in spite of that. We took motos back to our apartment and I have a huge bruise still--I think it is a combination of the waves and the extremely uncomfortable moto ride.

We have turbo turtle, our car and driver, from Tueday to Friday. During the week, we did door to door ministry. The president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Benin calls it "evangelizing," but the people we are visiting are already Christians. He just encourages them to be Lutheran, as the Lutheran Church is pretty new here. They are working on building several churches here in Cotonou, so he has been inviting people to them. We go to various neighborhoods and villages in and around Cotonou. We sing families a few songs, tell them about Youth Encounter, asks for prayer requests, pray for them, and encourage them in their faith. Most of the time, we have a guide who shows us where to go and translates into the local language, Fon.


On Saturday, we walked to a church to meet with the church choir. We were surprized to learn that it was a children's choir. We taught them some songs in English and some songs in French. They taught us some songs in Fon. It was a really fun time and the kids had a lot of energy. On Sunday, we walked to church, where we did a few songs and met with the choir for awhile again. It was nice to have Communion; it was our first time to have it in Benin--and only our second time having it in Africa. I appreciate the fact that I am beginning to understand more and more French during the church services, but that doesn't mean I can speak it. I realized that I understand a lot more of the sermon if I have a French Bible in front of me. However, since we haven't been interacting with people too much because we aren't with host homes, it has been tough for me to pick up much French.

This past week has been rather difficult for us at one time or another. After all, we are always worried about costing YE too much money, we never know our schedule (even though we have a schedule), over half of our programming is cancelled, we are constantly around each other, and we rarely get to contact our friends and family. Because of this, we have all been sick at one time or another. Mostly, just more of the diarrhoea/stomach issues. Also, we all struggle with the heat and humidity. When we went door to door, often two people would stay back so they could rest or be near the bathroom. Thankfully, the door to door wasn't too many songs, so it was easy to do it with fewer people.

At our apartment, we have enjoyed many delicious meals cooked by Adrienne. She does a great job, with a limited amount of food on a tight budget. We have at French toast, eggs, spaghetti, rice, potatoes, bread, and many pineapples. I will definitely miss her cooking!!

Sunday evening, we went out to eat!! It was Prosper's birthday!! I won't mention how old he is--but it is old! We celebrated by having a treat your team meal--a larger meal that YE pays for every once in awhile when people are craving more food. We were going to have Chinesse, but it was too expensive, so we at a place with Americanish food. I split a pizza, a double cheeseburger, and French fries with Adrienne. It was so delicious!! We all enjoyed being spoiled. We all got a 1/2 liter of ice cream. It tasted so good. When I got back to the apartment, my family called. Sadly, I only talked to them for a short time before the connection was lost. It is tough not being able to call people as I wish. It has really taught me to rely on my teammates.


This past Monday, we enjoyed another day off. This time we went on our team outing to Ganvié, a village on stilts. It was interesting to see how people lived in the stilt village. There are 27,000 people living in the village 2 meters above water. Read my last blog to see why they were built. We enjoyed seeing how they fish. It was disturbing to see people swimming in the same water that they go to the bathroom in. We travelled 8 km to Ganvié on a wooden boat with a motor. We stopped at three touristy places there. It was a two hour ride. It was very relaxing and the breeze was nice.

This week we will be doing more door to door ministry as well as a few programs. Next Monday, we will go to Togo!


Peace,

Tiffany