Christine's prayer

Thank you for your prayers!

Finally, here I am ready to send this letter, long promised to you.

As many of you are aware, we have not been home much this fall. Ben and I are so thankful that the Lord, in His providence, has allowed us to be in North America and virtually free of ministry responsibility these last months so we could be available to support our families in their respective crises.

Ben’s dear sister, Nella, went ‘home’ to be with her Lord on November 15th less than two months after being diagnosed with aggressive terminal cancer. Again we are so thankful that Ben was free to travel to northern Saskatchewan to spend two weeks with his sister and other members of his family, before returning with his mother to New Jersey where they shared the news of Nella’s parting and were able to comfort each other in their grief until after the funeral.

Meanwhile, on November 1st, I received news that my father had been hospitalized with head injuries, after falling while on one of his daily walks. Three weeks later, still unable to walk, or feed himself, it is clear that he will not be able to return home, so we are having to make arrangements for his extended care. Again, I am so grateful that I have been able to join my siblings in supporting my parents through this difficult time.

Now that life is settling down a bit, let me share with you what is on our hearts. Sorry, that in spite of much editing, it is still a long read!
-----------------------

My visit to Benin in August had a profound impact on my life, renewing a sincere desire to walk intimately with the Lord in response to His leading. Thank you so much to those who prayed along with my travels and visit.

After a brief time at home in Houghton, Ben and I were able to spend four weeks in retreat this fall. This was a time set apart seeking renewal of health, refreshment of spirit and seeking the Lord’s will for direction in our future ministry. Thank you again to those that prayed for us at that time.

How can I share with you the deep sense of calling that Ben and I have had following my August trip and after spending that time in retreat this fall?

How can I communicate to you the depth of relationships I experienced as I visited, listened and prayed with Beninese colleagues, pastors, students?

O how I wish you could have seen the looks on the faces of the students and pastors whom we have had the privilege to help train in the Word of God… looks of joyful greeting, embraces of deep affection, repeated words of hope that we might yet return to help them mature in their understanding of God’s word.

The Cry from Benin

As I visited many of the senior church leaders in the north of Benin I would hear this same message: “Now we know that you have not forgotten us. You have come to share in our grief.”

Some of these men and women know us better than our own family…better than even our closest friends here in North America…they know our weaknesses and our strengths. We have lived and learned together for over 14-years.

Deeply concerned, but not at all surprised on hearing of Ben’s burnout, they have committed themselves to pray that the Lord will bring healing and renew our strength. They knew how hard Ben laboured to learn their culture, their language…the hours he dedicated to preparing new courses, translating them into French and Baatonu, then labouring together with his students to be sure that the courses would be understood… often barely in time to have them ready to teach for class, then… often later, getting them ready for publication so they could be used by pastors in their local churches.

The fruit of teaching

“...the things which you have heard from me… these entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” 2 Timothy 2:2 NASB

A number of those students that Ben worked with most closely are now teaching these courses to the new students. A labour not in vain… yet over and over again I heard pastors and students expressing their longing to learn more. “Is he coming back? Will he prepare more courses for us so we can be better equipped to nurture the people in our churches?”
------------------------
If only you could have seen the expression of glee in the face of senior student, Pierre. (He’s the one in the white trousers.)

Pierre, single at the time, came to the Bible school in 1992 and studied for two years during our first term in Benin. He was unable to return to the school to complete his training until this last year… twelve years, one wife and three children later.

After sitting in on a dynamic Islamics class taught by one of Ben’s former students using Ben’s course materials, Pierre came up to me just beaming from ear to ear. “You have no idea how excited and amazed I am that I am able to study here again. I am learning so much…none of these courses were available to us when I was here 12 years ago. Tell Martin’s father how much joy I have to be learning these things.” The whole two weeks that I was at the school I never saw that smile leave his face.
------------------------
While sharing a meal together, senior evangelist/pastor Simon Lafia expressed to me how deeply grateful he was for the training the younger pastors have had at the school. “I am impressed how many of those young pastors are able to feed their flocks. Their sermons have more depth to them than many of those trained in higher level schools and they are respected when they contribute at the regional church meetings.”

The fruit of partnership

Sitting quietly in the home of pastor Darius’ wife, after expressing our condolences on the passing of this dear Baatonu church leader, I was surprised when his widow thanked me for the help we had been giving toward the support of two Bible school grads who had been assigned to evangelize and plant churches in an isolated area.

People from these Baatonu villages had been listening to the SIM/UEEB radio broadcasts and had asked if the church would send someone to teach them God’s Word. (Moise & Therese in this photo.)

While wondering how she knew about this, I dropped my eyes to the floor (a cultural expression of humility and respect) and quietly acknowledged her thanks. It was not until later that I learned that she was thanking us on behalf of the Baatonou Women’s Fellowship who had pledged themselves to carry the other half of the support of one of these evangelists. We were in partnership! At that time, they had actually contributed more than we had.

Humbled, I looked for the soonest opportunity to visit her again, to return the greeting of thanks and to express my joy that we were able to share in this important ministry together.

The pleading letters

Two days before I left, the letters started to come. The students had been coming asking for our postal address. Somehow it didn’t dawn on them that the address really wasn’t necessary since I would be delivering their letters to Ben in person.

“Please, would you write Martin’s father’s address on this envelope?” I wrote it several times, and then they copied it from each other. Lightweight manila coloured small envelopes…the kind we quickly recognize as being most available in the local market…Ben would know right away where they were coming from.
-----------------------
Three weeks later, sitting by the fireplace in a secluded cottage within view of Lake Michigan, the wind howling outside, we opened the first letter. We opened just one a day.

I read aloud in Baatonu, Ben correcting my pronunciation. Some envelopes included student family photos… there have been more children born since we left… three, during the two weeks I stayed at the Bible School. I held one little one only an hour after he was born…has it really been two years since I’ve held a baby?

Oh, yes, the letters… the familiar affectionate greetings and blessings, mentioning everyone by name. Martin first, of course, since he is the only son, and then the girl’s names, which they too can never spell!

Included in some of the letters were selected Scripture texts… three of those letters, from different pastors, all had the same text: Hebrew 6:10 -12 NIV

“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. *(NLT ...in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true). We do not want you to become lazy (NLB …spiritually dull or indifferent), but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

The message was clear… as they pled with us to return to our original calling to help them grow in the faith. Letter after letter appealed to ‘Martin’s Papa’, as they call him affectionately, to come back and teach more courses; not a single graduate pastor or student asked for anything financial: just for ‘the whole counsel of God’.

O Lord, how should Ben and I respond?

Again, sitting by the fireside in the cottage on Lake Michigan, Bible in hand, as I was reading in Thessalonians, these words jumped off the page into my heart. Replacing the name ‘Timothy’ with my own name, the passage reads:

Now Timothy (read: Christine) has just returned, bringing the good news that your faith and love are as strong as ever. (She) reports that you remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you.
So we have been greatly comforted, dear friends, in all of our own crushing troubles and suffering, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life, knowing you remain strong in the Lord.

How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy in the presence of God. Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may still be missing in your faith. May God himself, our Father, and our Lord Jesus make it possible for us to come to you very soon!

And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else just as
our love overflows toward you.

As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy when you stand before God our Father on that day when our Lord Jesus comes with all those who belong to him. I Thessalonians 3: 6 -13 (NLT)

Sharing this passage with Ben, we both agreed that we couldn’t have said it better. These words from Scripture express exactly what we would want to say in reply to these letters. They capture just how we feel and confirm our renewed sense of urgency to continue in what the Lord called us to do: working with students and pastors to build up their faith in our Lord and their confidence in His Word.

Are we sure we are needed? Cannot the Baatonu pastors just look after themselves from now on?

Well, we are certainly encouraged that our former students in Benin are faithfully taking what they have learned to nurture their churches, some of them even capable of passing on their training to younger students. However, we know of very few Baatonu colleagues who are, at this time, capable of taking these students and pastors further in advanced training in God’s Word and these men are already stretched to their limits in other responsibilities.

Does their help then depend on us? Ben would say: ‘Not at all; it depends entirely on the Lord… on those the Lord calls to labour together, whether out of the UEEB churches, or missionaries. Yet the call is pounding on our hearts: prepare yourselves to be co-workers again on behalf of the Baatonu believers in this Islam-saturated yet still open field’.

The Lord has given us the privilege to have worked along side of these men and women, studying their culture and learning their language for over 14-years. During that time, the Lord has knit our hearts together, living through shared experiences of both joy and suffering. Who else will respond to their cry for further training at this time?

What about here in North America?

The Lord has opened up to us an exciting door of mission ministry at Houghton College. There are many students here also eager to have someone confirm to them that they can put their confidence in the Word of God and to encourage them to put their entire trust in our Lord. Ben has thoroughly enjoyed working with the team of faculty in the Intercultural Studies Department of the college, helping to establish an Islamic Study Concentration, teaching two of the 6 courses offered. The interest in Islamic studies has been remarkable here in Houghton; the Lord is touching many of the students to consider full-time service in ministry towards Muslims.

We need your prayers!

In God’s eyes, the Baatonu of northern Benin are just as valuable as the most highly educated American.

Please pray with us and our Baatonu brothers and sisters, that the Lord would open up a door for us to return to Benin to “co-labour with them to fill up anything that may still be missing in their faith.”

Pray also that we would know how this could best compliment the ministry opportunity we have here at Houghton. Our heart’s desire is to spend the first part of each year involved with a teaching, mentoring ministry here at Houghton, as well as preparing new course materials that would be ready to teach in Benin during the latter half of the year.

There are many things that would have to be in place for us to proceed with this renewed vision of ministry. We long to rebuild for Benin. Our call to return there is as strong as when we first went out. Our prayers are for full restoration, full support, and full confidence that our college kids can handle us being away 6-months at a time. Please pray with us as we make preparations, waiting and watching to see if the Lord confirms this direction with His provision.

Christine Hegeman, for us both.