Rush to get back to Africa

This is the time of year when everyone is rushing to get ready for school again. Fred is headed back to West Africa with a team on September 7th. He will be accompanied by his brother, Bob Davis, Nephew, Charlie Harrison, and Bill Chapel, who has been with Fred a number of times in the last few years. We would really appreciate it if you would hold them all up in prayer. When they return to the States, they plan to bring the twins home from Benin to Doug & Becky & family.

Pray for Fred and Team in Africa
September:
7th - Fly to Africa
9-13 – Bible School Mali
14 – Churches
16th – Travel to Bla – plan seminar
17th – Travel to Bobo-Dioulasso & Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
18th – Travel to Tamale, Ghana
19th – Scout out / Prayer Tamale
20th – 12 hour bus ride to Accra
21th – Churches in Accra Bill flies home
22-26 – Bible School Accra
28th – Graduation Accra Bible School
29-30 – Lome, Togo – Live at V.B.S.
October:
1st – Go to Cotonou, Benin
2-5 – Parakou, Benin – V.B.S.’s and church – Title to the land?
6-10 – Bible School, Cotonou, Benin
12th – Churches
13th – Orphanage
14th – Fly with the twins to America
Prayer:
All the traveling – Planes, Cars, & Buses
Health for all for the whole trip
Divine trimming and connections
Finances for this trip and old debt
To receive the Title for the land in Parakou to build an Orphanage and more
For all the papers for the Twins to come with us to their new family and home in the USA

Video Bible School Report

Pastor Aldous from Accra, Ghana, wrote, “Happy to hear of your coming and also for the graduation which I and my other colleagues are eagerly awaiting. I'm learning and enjoying the {Video} Bible school very very well. As a matter of fact, this Bible School is the best thing to have ever happened to me in ministry and I will like to specially thank you, Pastor Geoff {Bretches – Church at the Crossroads in New Hampshire} and everybody that contributed to making this worthy investment in us.”
That’s a special “Thank You” to you, our supporters!

Fred’s brother, Robert, has helped us for many years and duplicating the DVD Video Bible Schools is one way he has helped. He recently purchased this high-speed machine to help make them. He is now with us more full-time basis.

The Ups and the Downs in Benin

Debby went back to Benin the end of June with a team of 4, Becky Flitcroft, Becky Ingole, Emily Ingole and Marilee White. Their purpose was 3 fold, to visit churches, check on the orphanage, and to bring back the twins that are being adopted by Debby’s cousin Becky Flitcroft and her husband, Doug. The trip was difficult from the very beginning. Becky Flitcroft lost some of her luggage on the flights over and Debby became sick with bronchitis on the first day. Then they were unable to get necessary paperwork done because the courts went on strike in Benin. Each time when it seemed like they’d get their papers and the twins could fly, it wouldn’t happen. Finally they had to come back to the States without the twins. They were able to speak at several churches, do a women’s seminar and traveled up to Parakou, and back, where they held 3 nights of meetings with Pastor Augustin.

We appreciate all of your prayers for that trip. The strike that prevented them from bringing the girls back is still in progress. They were assured that as soon as the strike is over the girls will be given the proper documents. We are hopeful that Fred and his team will be able to bring them to the States in October. At this time the unofficial word is that the strike may end any day or it may go on into October. Please pray with us that it will end soon and the girls will get all their papers.

Thank You!!!!!!

We want to thank our supporters for all that you do. We want to thank our prayer partners for your faithful prayers for us and our ministry. Below is thanks coming to you from 4 of our African friends that you are helping to sustain.

Pulcheire from the orphanage in Benin wrote to say:
Greetings from Benin. How are you?
We received the 1.100.56 USD sent for the orphanage.
Thank you very much for that you are doing for orphanage.
Thank you for sending the support.
We hereby thank all the donors may Lord bless them all.
WE LOVE YOU


Dieudonne from Abidjan, Ivory Coast wrote to say:
DEAR FRED
I am sending you greetings from Abidjan.
I really appreciate what you are doing.
I thank you very much for the money.
May the LORD continue to keep and protect you in the NAME of JESUS.
Extend my greetings to Mummy Debby.
I love you all. By Blessed.
(Note: You may remember, he was an interpreter for us in Abidjan at the Bible School and has had 2 strokes and can barely stand, use his arms or be understood when he talks – pray for his healing.)

Augustin in Benin wrote to say:
Hello Dad,

I was so excited to hear from you. I always give thanks to the Lord for having you as the right mentor I needed. I am proud of you and Mama. Thank you for all you have done for us, the church, Parakou and Benin.
(Note: We took him some equipment – like the new printer you see in the picture and we always preach at his church and do conferences with him.)

Albert and Aldous from the Video Bible School in Accra, Ghana wrote to say:
Albert - Pastor Fred - The first week of the Video Bible School has been very encouraging and inspiring. The attendance of majority of the students was excellent and they all took their home studies very seriously. Their understanding level has also not been bad at all. In a nut shell I will say week one of the VBS has been wonderful though there may be one or two minor lapses which we dealt with without any difficulty. The only unexpected problem we encountered was on friday with the TV. In the course of the afternoon session, the lights (power) was constantly going off and on and so in the process affected the TV. So we've taken it to the repairer and he working on it so we don’t yet know the cost but he promised it will be ready before Sunday.
THANK YOU.
(Note: The TV has been repaired and the school has continued.)
Aldous - Pastor Fred - I'm happy you're ok with the bible school so far and we're believing God that things will move on smoothly till we graduate. I'm also happy you're doing fine back there in the states. My regards to Debby and Mary Louis. Thank you and hope to hear from you. STAY BLESSED


So, Debby and I wanted to say a special, “Thank you.” We could not begin to do all we do with out you! Also we wanted you to be able to read some of the, “Thank you” emails that we receive, that really are for you.

What does VBS Mean to You?

VBS to many American churches means Vacation Bible School = a 1 or 2 week church event in the summer for teaching the Bible to children. But for us VBS means Video Bible School = recorded teaching for use in other countries. Not every Christian Worker in the world has the possibility of attending a real, live, Bible School. It is reported that less than 10% of the estimated 2 million church leaders in the developing nations have had any formal ministry training! The workers need training. VBS is, “the Bible School that comes to you.” Any church can have it’s own Bible School when it has these DVD’s. And we want to make these teachings available in the languages of tribal people that perhaps don’t read or write any major world language, like English or French, because they are the ones to take the gospel into the unreached villages.

The VBS at the church in Accra, Ghana was suppose to start a few years ago, but it just never got going. Pastor Geoff Bretches and I have been teaching there and wanted to see this Video Bible School get going. After I taught there the first of April, we dedicated the VBS. After I traveled on, they continued the school with the videos. At this point this school in Accra, Ghana has been going for a month, and we have received a good report of how they are doing.

Here is a picture of me teaching them how to print, copy and assemble the booklets that accompany the videos. I had to buy that printer there in Ghana for them and it is a used, refurbished notebook computer that my brother Bob Davis supplied for them. In many cases we supply computers and printers as well as DVD players to accompany the video discs.

Please pray for this VBS in Ghana and the others. We have just sent the 8th set of discs to Ivory Coast. We have placed 17 in Benin, 3 in Senegal, 2 in Togo, 3 in Mali and 1 in Burkina Faso. We have sent 1 to Nigeria, 1 to Central Africa Republic and 3 to Congo. Visit our website dedicated to the Video Bible School at http://spiritandwordvbs.com/ or go to our regular website http://www.davismission.com/ and click on the Spirit and Word Video Bible School button under our picture.

One of the Sundays we were in Accra, I (Fred) preached about forgiveness and reconciliation and I shared a story from my own life. At the end of the service I prayed for those who responded to the message. Tuesday after that, when I was teaching Bible School, Pastor Aldous, (he is the first person on the left in the above picture) who interprets English into Ga for the students who don’t hear American English very well, didn’t make it to class. He showed up as we ended the class - 3 ½ hours late. As I took him aside and began to speak to him, he shared why he was late. Early that morning his dad called him and his brother and asked them to come immediately to meet him. (Of course when a person suddenly calls all the children around, this usually means the person is about to die and you have to go right then.) Aldous went on to share with me that his father was not dying, but wanted to ask forgiveness and make reconciliation with his sons. This was an incredible miracle and an answer to the prayer I prayed for Aldous and the others on Sunday morning. Praise the Lord!

Thank you for your prayers and support for this tremendous ministry.

Nearly a Brawl

Debby and I had planed to spend the week of March 24-30 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, but once again it just didn’t happen. (Acts 16:6-7) Because of the adoption of the twins in Benin, we had to spend more time there. The judges were on strike in Benin, but on March 25th we were finally able to meet with the judge.

Picture of a taxi in Ghana. Not all bush taxis are as well marked or in as good of condition as this one – but it’s an example of what a “bush” taxi looks like in Ghana. Most are old Peugeot 504 or 505 wagons in the francophone countries we work in.

On March 27th we made the trip from Cotonou, Benin to Accra, Ghana. As usual we used a “bush” taxi. This is a car and driver that takes you a distance – city to city. In this case it is Cotonou, Benin to Lome, Togo. Then you cross the border into Ghana and take a different bush taxi on to Accra. I have done this trip countless times with seldom any problem. (Last year we did have a taxi break down on a hot, nearly deserted road.) This year almost every time had some complications. This last time was no exception. My African pastors most times don’t like us traveling by ourselves because of things that can happen. The US embassy warns us to avoid large angry crowds. (I nearly got caught in one in Abidjan in 2000 and had to drive through some stuff to get out quick.)

This time Bill Chapel, Debby and I loaded our stuff and ourselves into the taxi and started off from Cotonou, Benin. Well after we left the driver had to get his friend and give him a ride to Ouidah – not something normal. He didn’t have to go into Ouidah, but just dropped the guy on the side of the road. The driver got back in and was about to start the car when a motorcycle carrying a women with her goods to sell, lost the smaller basket from the top of her head into the road along side our car. Her papayas were immediately smashed by the traffic and Debby turned to tell me what had happened just outside her window.

The Taxi driver said in French, “They hit us.” He got out to talk to the motorcycle driver and his friend grabbed the motorcycle driver and tried to start a fight. It appeared that at any moment fists would fly – but thank God, they didn’t. There was a lot of shouting and an angry crowd began to gather. We gave it a some time and then I stepped out of the car and tried to get the driver to leave it and take us on to Lome – it didn’t work. We waited in the car a while longer. Again I braved the crowd and stepped out into the fray and tried to settle the thing. We determined that the only person that had suffered real loss was the woman that lost her goods into the road. So I gave the driver money to give her – she only screamed and cried more. Someone said the driver himself needed to give something to her himself because his friend and him had really ruffed her up in the tussle with the motorcycle driver.

Back in the car and with no progress, Debby did what had helped in a number of our on the road “hold ups” over the last few weeks, she began to sing, “We’ve come this far by faith…” Now we had been praying and all – but this thing seems to work, so Bill and I joined in. The crowd started to settle down. We stopped singing and praying and it started up again. So we sang again. Finally the driver reached in the window, got some coins, gave them to the lady. Then he was able to get in the car and we headed down the road. Thank you so much for your continued prayers for us.

We stopped for a quick visit with the pastor in Lome that we call the “Bishop.” Then we went through the border checks into Ghana and got another bush taxi. About sunset we arrived at the Baptist Guesthouse in Accra, safe and sound. Then we had to follow my tradition – have a good supper – Popaye’s Chicken. This is not the Popeye’s Chicken you find in America – this is a Ghanaian chicken chain and it’s the best chicken anytime, anywhere. Maybe some day I can take you there.

We really want to Thank You So Much for praying for us!

The Twins

Here is a picture of “Uncle” Fred at the orphanage with the twin girls on his lap. Debby’s cousin, Becky and her husband, are trying to adopt them. Please be praying that this all works out and that it can be an avenue for other of the children to be adopted by loving families in the USA and Canada.

These 2 girls are twins – but not identical as you can see. The one on the left was born “Ella” and on the right is “Estella.” Ella is bigger and is the introvert that holds on to Pulcherie’s (the director of the orphanage) skirt all the time. Estella, on the other hand is the classical extrovert. You see the smile on her face and she loves to sing and be the center of attention.

Their mother was very sick and the father was not around when they were very small. Grandma (the mom’s mom) brought them to the orphanage shortly after it opened, because she couldn’t care for them. Their mother died shortly after that.

On Friday, March 28th they were 4 years old. Debby and I took them to a restaurant in Cotonou for their first Birthday Party. They ate with plates and silverware and drank from cups with straws. There was a play area with slides, things to ride on and the like. They were all smiles and giggles.

This is one of the little side / extra things that Debby and I are involved in with our teaching ministry in Africa. It is a joy to see these girls get adopted. It is a joy when you go to the orphanage and see the children with smiles and singing.

Thanks for sending us and supporting us.

Missing Second Testimony from Parakou Meetings

When you see the pictures in the blogs from Africa, you may notice that there are no pictures of me (Fred). That is because I am the one taking the pictures most time. Really, I was there… really. So, here is a picture of me at the meetings in Parakou at the church of Pastor Augustin that Debby took.

You may have noticed on the blog titled “Parakou Testimonies – March, 17-21” that only 1 of the 2 testimonies of Debby was there. Here is the other story.

After I (Debby) finished speaking on forgiveness, I saw a remarkable sight. From the far right I saw a young woman, in her mid twenties, come crawling across the room on her hands and knees. She crawled right up to an elderly woman and placed her head in the lap of the older lady. The pastor next to me started to cry. He asked me if I understood what was happening. I said no. I didn't know the significance of this act. He said let me tell you the story.

This was a mother and daughter and several years ago the daughter had run away leaving the family in disgrace. She was angry with her mother for some unknown reason and refused to speak to her. She had threatened to kill the mother by poisoning and other means. The mother, stricken with grief had, just the day before, come forward for prayer. She was forgiving her daughter and asking God to bring her home. It was the next day that I saw the young woman crawling on her hands and knees.

The whole church saw this as a miracle of God's mercy and grace. The young woman sobbed and sobbed, crying to her mom, "Please forgive me …please forgive me. I am so sorry."

The next day, the mother stood before the church and said, "I never dreamed God would do such a wonderful thing for me. I never dreamed, that the great God of the universe would come and do such a thing just for me."

Isn't God good?

Land in Parakou, Benin

This is an incredible miracle.

In February, we saw Pastor Augustin in Parakou for a few days on our trip from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, down to Cotonou, Benin. He told me (Fred) that an important man in the town, Mr. S., who has been a Christian a long time and has a large amount of land, had a dream around the first of the year. In the dream he was giving some of his land to the work of the Lord, if I remember the dream correctly.

Soon after that, on a Sunday in February, Bill Hoffman went up to Parakou with Augustin to preach in Augustin’s church. (This was on the weekend when we had the team in Cotonou.) At Mr. S.’s house Bill shared about our desire to build an orphanage and talked about the building plans he has been working on. Bill said that our desire was that the land could have enough space for the boys to have a soccer field and land to plant and grow food for the orphanage. This touched him and he said that he wanted to give a large amount of his land for us to do that in Parakou – 10 hectors. (1 Hector = 2.47105 Acres so that means more than 24.7 acres.)

Before we left Parakou on Good Friday morning, March 21st, we went to visit the land. This is the picture you see. Parakou is in the Northern, dry part of Benin. It is not all the way to the Sahara desert by a long shot, but it not in the South in the jungle area either. It is perhaps what we would call the beginning of the Sahel. Here is what impressed me about the land, it has water and is good, fertile land! This man is not just giving something useless to the Lord – he wants to give the best. He has Mango trees on his farm there as well as Cashew nut trees and Eucalyptus trees. It has 2 ponds – the smaller one is in the picture and in rainy season it has a nice flowing stream. The electric and phone lines are nearby. You can almost see the coconut palm trees in this picture. You do see Bill Chapel, Augustin and 2 of the man’s sons.

Debby and I have never been able to raise any money for buildings in Africa. This would mean the beginning of a whole new phase for our ministry here. Bill and Cathy Hoffman have a real heart for the orphans and Bill is a builder who loves missions work. We believe Bill is God’s man for this job! It will involve lots of money to build – but we believe that, “where God guides He provides.” After the orphanage is built we still will have space to build a residential Bible School and conference center. So, please pray about this with us. Mr. S. will be making out the title for the land for us in the very near future and then we will see what God will do.

Parakou Testimonies – March, 17-21

Bill Chapel and I (Fred) had a Prophetic Seminar, Tuesday – Thursday morning in Parakou Benin. Those that came loved it and said we needed to do again in a bigger place and all the churches needed to hear the teaching. This is the third time I have done the seminar and the other two places, Cotonou, Benin in March, 2007 and Lome, Togo, March 6-8, the people said the same thing.

The picture is of Debby praying for people at Augustin’s church.

Debby had 2 wonderful testimonies from the evening meetings she did in Parakou. She did a church revival at Augustin’s church, February 5-7, while I had a Christian Worker’s seminar in the morning. She did a second church revival there while Bill and I did the Prophetic seminar.

Tuesday (March 11th after we returned to Cotonou) Pastor Augustin came and told Debby one of the woman of his church had called with a wonderful testimony. When Debby was at the church in February she spoke on forgiveness. After the service Augustin asked her if she would pray for a woman who had been unable to have a baby. The young woman had come forward saying that she really wanted to get pregnant but had been unable for more than 5 years. After Debby prayed for her, they talked about problems she had with her husband. Debby told her she had to just forgive him. She said she would. She called Pastor Augustin to tell him that she was pregnant and was praising God. She had forgiven her husband and God had opened her womb. Praise the Lord!

Benin - Teaching

Debby praying at the end of class. Week of March 10-14. This is in Cotonou, Benin. It is the Bible School of Pastor Nazaire, called “Source de Vie.”


I (Fred) was teaching at the church Bible School of Pastor Mathias in another part of the city.

I went Sunday after church, March 9th, from Lome, Togo to Accra, Ghana with Pastor Geoff of N.H. Monday morning he started Bible School in Accra. I picked up Bill Chapel, from Debby’s dad’s church in Salamanca, NY, at the airport. The 2 of us headed back to Lome, Togo, picked up Debby and traveled on to Cotonou, Benin in time for us both to teach our evening classes.

Tuesday, Debby had morning class. In the afternoon, Pulcherie, from the Orphanage, brought the twin girls to us at the Baptist Guesthouse. “Uncle Fred” had fun playing with them – first ever time on a swing and tricycle ride. About the time they left, I (Fred) got sick. I had to send Bill to teach my class on 1 Corinthians that evening. Thank God, Bill was there. I had to do the same thing the next night being sick all-day and worse in the evening. There was no power and Bill had to teach by candlelight. We were to go to Parakou on Saturday, but I changed it to going on Monday, because I was sick, so I could get feeling better first.

Monday, March 17th we went to Parakou. I did good on the trip but come evening, I was terrible nauseated again. Bill and I did the morning seminar about Prophecy and I felt a little better. I began to email to ask people to pray. Friday morning we left Parakou and come back to Cotonou and I woke up healed. Praise the Lord. I woke without pain and when I got up and moved around, no pain. It felt wonderful! Thank you for praying. I’ll do another blog on Parakou with 2 testimonies that Debby received.

Before leaving Parakou, we went to see the land that is being donated to our ministry. That’ll be the next blog.

Saturday Bill and I went off to one of Nazaire’s village churches. They said it was a 45 minute drive – ended up like an hour and 45. It was up a lot of dirt road. The sky was dark and rained a little (I was thinking of similar times in Benin when we went off to a village up dirt roads and it rained and we got stuck). It was my first time to that village. The pastor was a student that asked me to come and I had said, “Yes,” last year.
Easter Sunday Debby went to the biggest 4 square church in Cotonou. Bill and I went to Nazaire’s big central church in Cotonou.

Vogonville, Togo

Here is the picture from the Leader's Seminar in Vogon region in Togo. This was the first ever Leader’s Seminar done in this town. They loved it and begged us to come again so that they could invite even more Pastors. Next time they want the seminar, morning and evening and for more days. So, we are planning that for 2009.

Busy three weeks

Well it has been a busy last 3 weeks here. Friday the 8th of Feb. I traveled from Benin to Ghana to receive our team of 8 that arrived Saturday evening. This included our daughter, Marie-Louise, friends Bill and Cathy Hoffman and Cathy’s son, Tim Wright, and our niece Hannah Davis. With us here in Africa for the first time was, Tina Davis our daughter-in-law, and two nurses, Emily Ingole, daughter of a pastor friend in Ohio, and Michele Harter. We slept that night in Accra, Ghana at the S.I.M. Guesthouse.

Sunday it was off to Cotonou, Benin. Everyone was up and ready to go by 8 am as planned, but the minibus didn’t arrive. Finally it showed at 9:30. We packed, bought gas and were off around 10:15. We arrived at the border with Togo around 1:00 pm – late and the minibus that was to meet us and take us on to Benin, had given up and left. So, our good friend and interpreter, Pastor Augustin, set off to get us another one. It took him well over an hour to get another one. We were in the sun in the heat of the day – no fun! By the time we did the border formalities into Togo and the out of Togo and into Benin, the sun was going down. By the time we got to the Baptist Guesthouse in Cotonou, the sun was well down. Debby came out to greet us with a big smile.

The first week the women did 2 three-day women’s seminars. Monday – Wednesday was in Se a small town – nearly 2 hours away. Then Thursday – Saturday was in another small town, Tori, about an hour away. I taught Bible School Monday – Thursday for Pastor Mathias in Cotonou – doing live teaching at a Video Bible School. Bill Hoffman was off at night preaching at village churches.

The second week was equally as busy. Sunday we were all off to different churches. Bill went 5 hours North to Parakou for the weekend to be with Pastor Augustin at his church. Then Monday – Friday I was teaching at Pastor Nazaire’s Bible School that we have been working with since 2002. Tuesday – Thursday most of the team went to “Exodus House” orphanage – less than an hour away. The nurses checked out all the children and girls. Cathy with others got the picture and name of each of them and the staff. Tina taught 3 nights at Pastor Mathias’s Video Bible School. Bill and others went off to village churches at night.

Then on Saturday, Feb. 24th was the trip back to Accra, Ghana. It was worse than the one 2 weeks earlier. The minibus didn’t show up to get loaded till 10:30. At the Togo Border we had to get visas for all 10 of us, but they only had 5 forms so we had to wait over an hour for the other 5. By the time we got to Lome, Togo everyone was overheated and tired. We saw some Orphan Children there and had a late lunch. Then we went over the border into Ghana.

We had too many people trying to “help” us at the border as usual. While Bill and I were in the office processing everyone’s passports the sun was going down. Our pastor in Lome was outside with the team. Our arrangement for the minibus in Ghana fell through, so we had to get one there and then. I was confident that Bill and I could get one. But, if you know how these borders are, you have a bunch of people trying to sell you things, others begging from you and then there is the press of the guys who want to “help” you – they generally cause you problems and then want money. The van they got was to small so I said “no” but they insisted as did the pastor, that we needed to use it. It was getting dark and so I relented. Big mistake. It was too small for us and our luggage. Hannah lay across the lap of 3 others to fit. The later it gets, the more police are on the road and that means more hassle. At a roadblock we discovered that the driver didn’t even have a license. So we spent an hour till he negotiated and paid his way out. Then the battery was dead and we had to push it to get started. Then he didn’t stop at another check point so they called ahead and had us stopped at the next – this time it took him around a half hour to negotiate and pay his way out. We got to the Baptist Guesthouse in Accra very late and tired.

Sunday morning we were all in church together with Pastor Albert. Sunday night, February 24, four of our “girls” left – Tina, Emily, Michele, and Hannah.

Last week, Feb. 25-29, I taught Bible School at the church each morning for 3 hours. At night we had service and the last 3 nights were a church crusade that Debby preached.

Sunday evening the 3rd of March, Bill and Cathy Hoffman with Marie-Louise, flew back to the USA. Monday, March 3, I got Geoff Bretches at the airport at 8:30 and we got the distance taxi to bring us to Lome, Togo. It was another one of those experiences. The first taxi kept overheating and stopping to add water. We changed to another and just a kilometer before the border, the tire blew.

The three of us are staying in Lome and going an hour each morning to Vogon to have a Leader’s Seminar. It is a small town that is the center for a number of villages. It is full of witchcraft and the churches are not united, but weak. By the grace of God, we can help bring the church leaders into a better unity. This is the first time ever, in the history of the world, that there has been a Leader’s seminar here. Just bringing the leaders together in one meeting is a step in the right direction. Thank you for praying for this.

We have 2 very interesting things going on with this trip. First of all, someone wants to donate land to us. Bill and Cathy have a great love for the orphans and street children. We are trying to help them. We are praying to build and orphanage for some of them. The land the man told Bill he wants to give is 10 hectors – more than 20 acres! That’s enough for an orphanage, soccer field and garden for them. Plus, we could build a residential Bible School / Conference center. Please join us in prayer for this.

The second interesting thing is, Debby’s cousin wrote and was in the middle of an adoption that has failed to work out. She wondered if we had twin girls at the orphanage here – we do. They are not identical twins and they will turn 4 years old in 2 weeks. So, if all the paperwork comes together, we will bring these 2 girls to the USA with us to their new Mom and Dad.

Well this is really a long one – sorry. I was trying to get certain pictures from the trip from the camera of one of the team to put with this, but never was able to get them.

THANK YOU so much for your prayers and finical report.

To go to our web page – it is http://www.davismission.com

We arrived safely in Parakou, Benin from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, just before sunset on Monday evening the 4th of February. Thank you for praying for us.

The first half of the trip we were spoiled. We were sent to the border in a nearly new air-conditioned 4-wheel drive. We just had to pay the 53,000 for fuel, 10,000 for the driver and 1,800 for the tools = total 64,800 (US$148).

At the border of Burkina I got out to processes out of the country with our passports. Wow was it hot – more than 100 degrees and the midday sun was scorching hot. At the border there was no Hamarttan but just a clear blue ski that let the sun shine through. There we met Pastor Augustin with a “Bush Taxi” ready for us. We moved our luggage into the taxi and drove some more kilometers to the Benin police where I took our passports to processes into Benin. Then a cold drink and toilet at a little hotel and on down the road we went.

The trip from the border to Parakou was a hot and dusty. The taxi did have soft seats but without a/c the air that blew through from outside was HOT! Once we started traveling up the mountain we came back into the dust of the Hamarttan, but this time with none of the coolness we had experienced in Ouagadougou. It was 58,000 for the taxi (about US$132.00) So it was about US$280 for the 2 of us for this trip – well under the $600 each for the plane flight to Cotonou. (Normally it is not so expensive, but gas is way up and the dollar is way down.)


The terrain on this trip is at first Sahel – semi desert – lots of dirt, little green, but some bushes. You see mud huts regularly. Now and then you see something like a Butte – like a mountain with the top cut off flat. Just after you cross over into Benin there is a wide, mostly stone, mountain. The picture shows it but you can’t tell how big it really is in the photo. You wind up a good road to the top. As you go up there are always groups of women going up the hill or down. These women with lots of things on their head go up and down, or is it down and up, every day.

Last you drive through some rolling mountains. This is still a semi-arid area with not a lot of green. You drive through some towns like Natitingou and Djougou – key cities of the North of Benin. (We hope to do some leader’s seminars there when we have the finances.)

Benin is a narrow country that bulges out at the top. The main highway is kind of like the small letter “y.” Parakou is where the 2 lines of the “y” meet. It is the beginning of the Muslim North of Benin. We have preached all up and down that letter “y” and done a number of seminars as far as Parakou, but not above. We came again to do seminars. Debby is doing a women’s seminar in the morning while I am doing a Christian Worker’s seminar. In the evening we have a church crusade.

We stay at a S.I.M. mission guesthouse. It was sure nice to have a "real" shower and wash away the dust. (Had been doing “bucket bath” in Ouagadougou.) This is also one of the mission guesthouses that prepare meals for you. There is a very nice Australian family here that runs the place. It is 10,000 / night for each of us and 4,550 for each of us for meals – so that’s US$66.00 for the 2 of us each day – much better price than hotel and restaurants.

Augustin took us to meet the Mayor the first morning. Eastern culture, like here in Africa, loves to receive strangers. We had a nice time to greet the mayor. He asked us if we could help bring an orphanage here for the orphaned and abandoned children. Pray with us about that. It’s not Debby and my mission, but we are glad to help out in these things and Bill and Cathy Hoffman want to do this kind of work.

Tomorrow – Friday we have a big “kick off” for another Video Bible School here – out 3rd in Parakou. Then at lunch time we travel on to Cotonou. Then Saturday morning I will leave Debby there and go through Togo to Accra, Ghana to receive the team of 8 that is coming. Sunday morning I will bring the team back with me to Cotonou. Starting Monday they will have 6 days of Women’s seminar in 2 small towns and I will be doing “live” teaching at one of our Video Bible Schools in the city.

Fred

Monday Travels

Well it’s time to leave Ouagadougou. We enjoyed our week teaching here. After preaching this morning, at lunch, the leaders said how much the students enjoyed our teaching. They also reminded us that they consider this an annual obligation for us to come teach. They also invited Debby to come do their big women’s conference.


You can see the picture of most of the students in the room.

Please be praying for our travel tomorrow morning at 8 am (3 am East Coast Time) we will set off to Parakou, Benin. It is just above the middle of the country and the beginning of the Muslim North of Benin. First it is a 4 ½ hour drive to the border. Than about an hour of border paper work. Then about 6 hour ride in a Bush taxi to Parakou. You also loose an hour at the border when you set your watch ahead one hour. So that will be a days worth.

Internet in Parakou is limited when I can get to the Internet Café. We will do a Christian Workers seminar every morning and a Church Crusade every evening. So it will be a busy few days.

On Friday we take the 6 hour bus ride on to Cotonou, Benin. Saturday I go on to Accra, Ghana to pick up the team of 8 – with suitcases. Each is bringing a suitcase of clothes and medicine donated for the orphanage. Sunday morning we all load up and cross Ghana, cross Togo and on to Benin to Cotonou. A whole day process.

Thank you so much for praying for us.

Fred

In Ouagadougou

Debby and I arrived here in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on Sunday, January 27th, in the late afternoon. We started the trip on Thursday at 11:30. It was a flight to Detroit then on to Amsterdam and finally arriving Friday evening in Accra, Ghana. No one met us at the airport, so we took a cab to the S.I.M. guesthouse.

Saturday morning we were up at 5 am to be at the bus station by 6 for our 7 am bus. No bus arrived. The 8 am bus didn’t show either. By 9 I was starting to look for something else. So off to another bus station and we found a bus going only as far as Kumassi – 1/3 the way – but it was something. Back at the first bus station, the bus showed at 10am so we got on that one and left by 11:15 for the 12 hour ride to Tamali, Ghana.

The seats were hard and some of the road was very, very bad. The bus didn’t have the promised a/c, but they refunded some money for that. We actually didn’t need the a/c because we are having a very strong “hamarttan.” This is a wind that blows down from the Northeast and kicks up a lot of dust. The wind is cool and the dust blocks the sun. In fact they have recorded record lows here. For us it is very funny to see the Africans in full winter dress, just because it gets down into the 70’s. But this year it got even lower down to 50 degrees. No a/c needed.

Sunday morning we were to get a taxi or bus on to Bolgatanga then a taxi to the border of Burkina. The taxi driver that picked us up at the hotel said he would take us all the way – yeah. So we paid him and in less than 4 hours we were at the border. Then an hour for processing out of Ghana and into Burkina. Then fight for a good price with the ‘Bush Taxi” – a very old Peugeot 505 wagon, and get in and go. In about 2 hours more we were in Ouagadougou. We made very good time! We stopped by a couple of banks to find a working ATM for international withdrawal, and got the local currency to pay the bush taxi and buy a few things, like bottled water.

Other than the bad start waiting for the bus to Tamali, Saturday morning, everything went pretty good. Thank you so much for praying for our travels.

There are always so many things to do to get ready to leave the US. Sorry I didn’t get anything up on the blog before we left – but I was so busy. Not only did I have to get Burkina visas for Deb and I, and a Benin visa for Deb, but we have 8 people coming over in a week and they needed Ghana and Benin visas. Doing the visas is a lot of work. Ghana, for an example requires 4 forms each hand written each with a photo. Most of the team did most of their paperwork, but we had to add some things to the forms, check them and write cover letters. Then you go to the post office and buy money orders and send it all by express mail with a prepaid return express mail envelope inside. Burkina raised their prices and was late and slow to send ours back, but when we got them we were pleasantly surprised to get 4 years visas instead of only 90 days. Yeah! Won’t have to do them again for a few years.


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Fred