Derek Powell

Missionary to Benin
UEEB/SIM
BP 15

Parakou, Benin WEST AFRICA

Phone:011-229-610749

E-mail; simpar@intnet.bj

CMF INTERNATIONAL Praver Newsletter

February 1999

Small is the Gate and Narrow

is the Road ...
I was awakened this morning in the dim blue light
of 5 a.m., Arabic prayers resounding through the
dry air from three of four mosques close to my
house in Parakou. The prayers were loud and
disagreeable at such an hour; they bounced and
echoed off my bedroom walls. I tossed and turned
in my bed a little and went back to sleep....
Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, is
approaching its completion as I write. Each day,
Muslims fast from the first light of dawn until just
after dusk, when the sky is mostly dark. At night,
they gather together and feast. There are
approximately 200 mosques in Parakou, which has
a population of about 100,000. The Islam in West
Africa is quite different from that in the Middle
East, though. It is more of a folk religion (often the

and take our meals as well. We have come to fee!

at home here and realize that the place is a

blessing. We are just a short walk away from the
mission school, which we teach at three times a
week.

Nouveux Amis

Since moving to our new place, we have made

some new friends. One of them is Parfait, an

African who works on the grounds at the

compound. He comes over on Saturday mornings
and speaks French with us over coffee. Another
friend is Abraham, a Tuareg craftsman who lives in
Parakou. We met

Muslims mix in some of their traditional animistic

beliefs) and is not a: rigid as the Islam that is

typical of the land do :er to its beginnings.
I am impressed by their sheer discipline of prayers
at dawn, noon, afternoon, and dusk. But where do

these prayers go? Is there another god who shared

the Heavens with the Lord? Do these Muslims pray
to the same God that I pray to? (After all, the
Muslims believe that the books of Moses, the

Psalms of David, and the gospels are all divinely

revealed.) If we believe that the Bible is the Word
of God and not just a word of God, these questions
are not difficult to answer.

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and

the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me." John 14:6 This is an emphatic, bold statement
by our Lord. He leaves no room for doubting. He
doesn't say, "I am a way, a truth and a life." He is
incredibly bold with His claim in a way that only

housekeeper,

Ourfriend Abraham working on a

Odeille, who

chess set.

saves us a lot of

time by

the Son of God can be.

preparing us five meals a week and doing basic

household chores. This might sound odd for us to

So, if the Muslims are praying to God in a manner

have someone preparing meals for us and doing

housework, but in Parakou seemingly normal

that is not through Christ, then their ^proach is

everyday things feel as if they take forever:

ultimately hopeless. And this is why from time to

bargaining for vegetables ana fruit, handwashing

clothes, rinsing dishes with filtered water.

time when I hear the Arabic prayers carried

through the air, I wonder where those prayers are
going ... and what will become of the souls that

Odeille has allowed us to spend more time on work

utter them. And sometimes, I even wonder what

and less time on household activities. Finally, near

would become of my life if I honestly did care

about those who go to the mosques every dawn,

the beginning of December, Mike and I received a

new roommate, Andrew Penhey from New
Zealand. Andrew works with computers, and will
be here for a year as well. Andrew has helped to
make evenings and meals a bit more lively with his

noon, afternoon, and dusk....

A New House

added conversation.

During late November, Mike and I moved from the

mission's guesthouse in south Parakou to the

A Trip to Bemberke and Other Work

mission's school compound in north Parakou. The

house that we moved into is much more spacious
that the one that we were previously in, and is
more suitable to setting up studio space. It has a
nice screened-in back porch, where we often work

At the beginning of December, Mike and I went up

north to a town called Bemberke to visit the SIM

Mission Hospital. While there, we each received

several specific work assignments including

different types of posters for AIDS, charts for

reproduction education, and materials for

evangelists who share with the patients while they

are waiting to go into the hospital. Illustrations are
important for many of the materials at the hospital
because many patients come from the bush and are
nonliterate. We also received a good deal of work

for the Sante Villagoise, the village health team.

Mike and I have received enough work to keep us
busy for at least the next two months.

Closing Remarks and Prayer Requests

When I first arrived, I wondered then if I ever

would begin to feel at home here. Thanks to the

other missionaries here, my African friends, and
the passage of time, I am beginning to feel at
home. Mike and I are starting to produce work at a
decent pace as a result of this comfort with our
surroundings.

Noverdola, our French tutor, teaching us outside under a

mango tree.

Here are some prayer requests that I have:

Continued efficiency in our work. Now that
we've reached a suitable pace of production, we
want to keep it up
Depth of relationships with Africans. Because of
our lack of fluency, most of the relationships we
have go just a little beyond surface levels.

Continued progress in French. We are picking

up most of what is said to us now, but could still
be more fluid in our own speech.

Thank you so much for your continued prayer and

financial support, which is so vital to my work
here.

In Christ,

Derek Powell

"O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts i"

you." Psalm 84:12

Illustration for "The Prodigal Son"to be

usedfor Muslim tracts.

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Derek Powell
Missionary to Benin
UEEB/SIM
BP 15

Parakou, Benin WEST AFRICA

Phone: 011-229-610749

E-mail: simpar@inlnet.bj

CMP INTERNATIONAL Prayer Newsletter

May 1999
The following is a collection of thoughts and
observations, some of which borders on poetry.

They are portions taken from my notebook in which

I am recording my reactions to life in Benin. It is
probably not your average way to start a newsletter,
but as the French say, "La variete est I'epice de
vie." [Variety is the spice of life.]

The Africans often speak four

or five languages, and I have
enough trouble getting my tongue
to step out of its English home
into "La maison de Francais"

[the French house.]

We met a man from Libya the other

day at the train station. Or at

whip and crack goes the grass

of early December

least he had been there. He said

it was brittle and blonde

and he didn't like it that much.

and Is now red and reaching

transforming to soot and ash
being carried by the harmattan's
hot air somewhere above the plain.

He then bought an ox head to put

In a soup that he was going to

he had just gotten out of prison,

Little black boys are leading

blind Muslim beggars with bowls all
the day long. When I buy vegetables,
they come up to me silently and
give me a good stare. And I give
them a franc or two and go on my
way. Where do these children sleep
at night? do they play and go to
school? What do they do when their
old man dies? Do they feel free or
do they have not a clue as to what
to do or where to go?
Papayas and mangoes grow on
trees outside my window. Each
day they are a tiny bit fatter than
the day before. When they are
ripe, Parfait, the African that works
in our yard, picks them and knocks on our
door, "C'est pret manger. Bon appetit."
[Time to eat. Enjoy.]

serve to his friends.

There is a customs agent at the

southernmost Togo/Ghana border
that has a stick about a meter

long. Anything suspicious looking

in peoples' baggage, including the
loads that the Africans carry on
their heads, he gives a good,
solid whack.

I have seen a dead bull in the tmnk

week, but I had this assurance that this was one of

of a Peugeot taxi and two men and one

goat riding the same moped.

the reasons that I was over here. I felt the Lord's

Bargaining is an art In which

the medium is time. If you don't

hand strongly upon that week.

have time you cannot perform the art

The past month, I have been working intensively on

specific work for the Mission Hospital in
Bembereke. I have finished two series of posters for

as a master. I met a Peace Corps worker

the evangelists there. I also finished some

that said he could win any argument over

money using a story about a chicken and a moped.
Our friends Abdrahman and Abraham's home
town is less than 200 miles from Timbuktu

promotional material for the hospital, which will be

used to raise funds. I am presently in the middle of
completing some AIDS posters for the hospital. I
have been doing more of my work on computer as
of late. First, I do the sketches by hand, then I scan

A friend of theirs that was staying with

them onto a disk. I then take the disk and transfer

them was a part of the Islamic Jihad, which

meant that he was basically a Muslim missionary.

the image into Mike's computer, then manipulate it

I asked him who Jesus Christ was and he said

he was a propheTrrtold hirn that I believe

He is the Son of God. He said that that's

with a graphics program. When I have added text

and am happy with the image, I then print it out and
take the original to tTie printer in"town if'ifiultiple
copies are necessary.

impossible, because God doesn't have have a wife.

Le Travail[The Work]
The last months have brought a great deal of
satisfying work. Most notable would be a
seminar that Mike and I organized the last half of
January. We had nine men come from various areas
in Benin. The week-long seminar included various
exercises on drawing skills, ideas for church
projects, and ideas for supplementing their incomes
with artwork. There was a visible difference in the

drawing abilities from the beginning of the week to

the end of the week.

Of course, we had to teach in French. It was very

tiring mentally, and we couldn't say everything that
we wanted to say. But we found that God really
blessed us anyhow. We also shared African meals
with the men each evening, which really helped to
bond the group together. I found that I was sad to
see my "students" going at the end of the week.
This week was a definite source of praise and
accomplishment. I was worn out at the end of the

At the Parekou tram station, on the way to Cotonou.

Sojourns
The last month or so has found us on the road quite
a bit. Around the middle of February, we went to
southem Benin to got a feel for the lifestyle and
culture. We will be doing some illustrations for the
Fon literacy project, which was originally part of
CMF missionary Steve Allen's work. It is one of
the reasons that we were sent over here.

The Fon are a numerous people group around the

coast of Benin. In this culture, the voodoo religion
is incredibly strong. It is mistakenly believed by
many that voodoo is a product of Haiti, but the
truth is that it was carried over by slaves to the
Caribbean. Just driving around the south of Benin,
especially in the towns of Ouidah and Porto Novo,
it is not unusual to see fetishes and sacrificial

mounds next to houses and under trees. For years,

this has been a difficult area to establish missions
work in.

stay in our beloved Parakou and continue to chip

away at the illustration work that is set before us.

Closing Comments
As I am now well into the second half of my time
in Benin, I cannot help but think how those first six
months have changed me. I have had difficult days
here. I have had days full of new experiences. I
have missed my friends and family back at home. I
have made friends, and am developing relationships
with Africans. I have had long, tiring days after
which I have lain in my bed in the still of the night,
before falling asleep,just feeling completely alone
with God. Some nights it's just me and Him. And in
the silence something deep and great comes. It is
His love. "The Lord your God is with you, He is
mighty to save. He will take great delight in you.
He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over
you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17

Pray For:
Maturing relationships with Africans. As our
French is becoming more advanced, we can talk
about more things than the hot air and price of
vegetables. Pray that God would use us to show
Three artistS'lri'tralnlng at the mission school.

His love.

Continuing work for the hospital. We would like

to be done with our illustration work for the
We also went to a conference of Christian Church

hospital in another month or so. We seem to be

missionaries in Accra, Ghana. We had received an

making good progress now.

e-mail in which we were asked to present our art

materials during this short conference, so we

God's direction about another possible seminar. I

decided to take the opportunity. Our travel included

really want to do another seminar, but am unsure

a ten-hour train ride, four taxis, and a bus. Did I

at this point about where to go with the teaching.

forget to mention two border crossings and

customs? All of this was spread out over two days,
so it wasn't so bad.

God's direction for my future in general. As time

continues here, I am prayerfully considering what
the Lord would have me do next. I would

We traveled through Togo to get to Ghana. Ghana is

an English-speaking country, so it was nice to be
able to speak English to the Africans. Tim and
Twyla Bright were our gracious hosts. Tim is a
professor at Ghana Christian College. We were able
to stay with the Brights a few extra days and explore
Accra, a city of three million. Accra is developed
and clean by African standards, so it was nice to

appreciate it if you would join me in praying for

discemment for my next direction.
Thank you so much for your continuing prayer and
financial support. Your e-mail has
been very encouraging as well.
With Christ's Love,

check out the museum and market in town.

Needless to say, after our travels were finished, we

were a bit road weary. Traveling in Africa is not the

Derek

same as back in the US. It is much sweatier and

P.S. As I have fallen behind with getting my

dustier. It takes longer. Sometimes the taxi driver

stops and gets out to buy vegetables for himself

newsletter out, my incoming support has also fallen

behind. Your prayer and financial support are vital to
my ministry in Benin, every day. Thanks for your
faithfulness in your support commitment to this work.

(and, of course, he has to go through the bargaining

ritual). For the time being, we are very content to

Der^ Powell
Missionary
8203 W. 88th Street

Indianapolis, IN 46278
Phone: 317-873-5002

E-mail: tpmoney@aol.com

CMF INTERNATIONAL Prayer Newsletter

September 1999
"God is at home; we are in afar country."
Meister Eckhart

Writing on this afternoon of August 10, the rain has

broken and the sun has poked its golden head

through the rainy season's thick blanket of clouds.

With less than a month left in Parakou, my thoughts
have inevitably started to turn to home. It's as if my
thoughts were a flock of birds. They have already
begun migrating across West Africa, heading
toward the coast and calculating just how to cross

Fulani woman In the village of Tchachou.

the Atlantic.

When you stay somewhere foreign for a year, that

serves to sharpen your definition of home. There's
no doubt in my mind that Indianapolis is my home.
But, my guess is, that if you begin to stay away

longer than a year, then your definition of home

begins to fade, to grow fuzzy.
But what is the definition of "home"? I think my idea
of home has also become more definite as well this

year. Home is that place at the end of the path that is

full of familiarity. Home is where our hope leads us.
Home is that destination at the end of our days'

Me and Mohammed In the Sahara In Niger.

journey. Home is the place where our Beloved is.

too large to photocopy, all of our work had to be
"We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away
from the body and at home with the Lord."
2 Corinthians 5:8

done by hand. Mike and I are presently in the

middle of converting these pages into flip charts.
We will take them up to the Mission Hospital in
Bembereke when we are done with them.

Last-Minute Details
We have also been in the process of working with
The last couple of months have seen us steady at
work. A good portion of our time was spent making
a series of large reproduction charts to be used for
teaching in the villages. As the 15-page charts were

our artist friends, Zacharie and Jean. We have been

giving them some work from the hospital and local

health centers as well. We are trying to transition
them to the place where they can continue with the

type of work we are presently doing. Our hope is

that the hospital and health centers will come to
them with work after Mike and I are gone.
Our work is in its finishing stages. We are putting in
some last-minute details. It is one thing to fuid a

suitable closing point for work, but it's a bit more

difficult to fmd a "suitable" closing point for relation
ships that have steadily built over a year's worth of
time. People are like that ~ you can't send them to the
printer and be done with them. So, we are in the midst
of spending some last days with our African friends.

Prayer Requests
Pray with me for:
A smooth transition back^o life in the State.

Leading and guidance for employment at hoi.

Direction in further ministry pursuits.

Our friends Zacharie and Jean, that they would
continue to find illustration work.

Well ... this will be my last newsletter as a

missionary to Benin. What I would like to do is

visit with you when I return home to share photos,
stories, and some examples of the work I've
completed. I will be home on September 8 in
Indianapolis. I will use the remainder of September
and the first week of October for traveling to speak
with churches and supporters. Please reach me
through e-mail: <tpmoney@aol.com> or by phone:

Barlba men going to a feast.

made genuine sacrifices to contribute to the work in

Benin. You have been vital to making my time and
work in Benin successful. My hope is that I have
been a blessing and encouragement to you as well.
See you soon.

317-873-5002(leave a message).
Your brother in Christ,

I want to thank you again for your financial and

prayer support, and your letters and e-mziils of
encouragement. I know that many of you have

Derek Powell

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