Prayer Needs for Benin - November 10, 2025 Praises:
Praises to God for the recent mission trip from Grace Chapel Church in Colorado to Benin. Josue reported the trip went very well. Most of the time was spent at the church plant construction site, digging for the foundation. The team worked from Monday to Saturday, with the ladies on the team going to God's Grace for Kids Hevie on Thursday and Friday to spend time with the students. Crusades took place on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. The plan was to use the soccer field for outreach, because it is well located in the village. At the last minute, the team was told they couldn't use it. So instead, outreach was held in front of the church plant construction site. Praise God 6 people gave their lives to Christ! While there weren't as many people attending as was expected, Hevie villagers told the team they could hear the message from their homes. There remains a lot of fear of persecution and rejection in the village, and so people are afraid to attend these gatherings. It's possible more than 6 accepted Christ, it may have been done in their own homes! The final day in Hevie, the team had the opportunity to pray over people. They were very happy for what was accomplished and were happy to be put to work. Previous church plants have been constructed using wood, with walls and everything premade before mission teams arrive. This time, the church is being made from bricks and concrete, which will last much longer! But it also takes longer to do. While the bricks were premade before the team's arrival, everything else has been done with them there, and continues to be worked on now. The team asked why machinery is not used - for one, it's more expensive, and two, doing work by hand gives people jobs. So in Benin, the reality is more work is done by hand.
Dieu Donne is doing much better since his episodes of dizziness and passing out. His MRI showed nothing abnormal. He currently is waiting for some final test results. Josue wonders if the symptoms could have been caused by stress - Dieu Donne works very hard for God's Grace for Kids and Josue's ministry team, plus he and his wife have 3 girls at home (2 are nieces and are teenagers, plus their own young daughter). We are grateful Dieu Donne has been feeling better and pray this continues! God's Grace for Kids schools are doing very well. The Cotonou site students started swimming lessons last week, which they were very excited about! Hope Dressing school currently has 10 students - 3 of which are planning to do testing in December so they can move on to opening their own businesses. The remaining 7 students will do another year, hopefully with more students being recruited into the program. The Electrical school has 5 students, all of them will complete another year before testing, after which, if they are successful, they can move on to apprenticeships.
Politically nothing has changed for the upcoming April national elections. Municipally, yesterday it was reported the opposition party has been rejected again and are unable to participate in the elections, which will also be in April. Benin people are not happy as it is no longer feeling like a democractic system, and feeling more as a dictatorship.
Pray for:
*David, who is in charge at the farm, recently lost his mother-in-law. The burial will take place on Saturday. Lizette, who is a cook at God's Grace Cotonou lost her father. Neither of these parents were Christians. Please keep David and Lizette in your prayers during this difficult time. *Pray for peace to remain in Benin during these uncertain political times. *For God to provide for the continued construction of the Hevie church plant. A total of $25,000 is needed for completion, with about $5000 provided thus far. *Josue's upcoming speaking engagements: He will be travelling to Cote D'Ivoire at the end of November to speak at a conference organized by the churches. He was invited to speak at a pastor conference in Bohicon December 11-13 with 100 people expected to attend. And he is speaking at a conference in Cotonou December 14-16. *Pray for those in Hevie who gave their lives to Christ during the evening Crusades. May they grow strong in their faith, and may those who heard the message but didn't attend come to accept Jesus and be bold to step out for Him.
Upcoming Mission Trips: There are a few mission trips currently being planned. If you are interested in more information, please contact Pam and Mandy at truthunleashedbenin@gmail.com See Trip Schedules for dates
Prayer Needs for Benin - October 29, 2025 Praises:
The team from Grace Chapel in Colorado arrived in Benin this past Sunday! On Monday they travelled to Hevie to work on the construction of the new church. 12 people from the United States, along with 1 person from Nigeria, are on this team. A team from Benin prepped the site ahead of time, so the mission team would be able to start upon their arrival. A well was dug, many bricks made by hand, and the water collection system was constructed. The goal is for this team to help lay the foundation for the church so contruction can continue after they leave.Tomorrow (Thursday) the evening crusades start. We pray for many people to come, hear the Word of God, and accept Jesus as their Saviour!
The ministry team is thriving! The pastors completed the 3 weeks of prayer and fasting, during which they gave an account to God for the past year, and were opened to what God has for them in the upcoming year. They were also able to spend time with their families and their congregations. About 100 people from the team came together in Cotonou on Friday, praying from midnight to 5am. Saturday they spent time talking together, for all the site leaders to know what the ministry is about and share what God has been doing, and what they are being led towards. The pastoral team is planning to gather in December, a time of celebration to the Lord for what He has done and glorify Him. They will plan together for next year, and then at each site, the pastors will spend time with their own teams to develop these plans.
Dieu Donne is doing much better, praise the Lord! He had an MRI, which didn't reveal anything concerning. While he is still feeling tired and dizzy sometimes, he returned to work last week. He will be having blood tests done to see if the doctor can determine the cause of these symptoms. The students at Hope Sewing School are eager to move forward to new projects. The teachers are looking to recruit new students and start a new program in January. God's Grace Hevie expected 30 students to start this year. They currently have about 23 attending. Things are going very well. God's Grace Cotonou students just completed their first assessment of the year. The students and teachers are looking forward to starting new lessons in November. Prisca and her team are planning field trips for the students....they can travel in the new van! Boxes of Grow Shoes and reading glasses were sent to Benin with the Grace Chapel team. We are excited to hear how these are received with the students and villagers. Thank you to everyone who donated, and we will share photos once we receive them.
*Health for the ministry team, doors to be open for Gospel sharing, and for the upcoming evening crusades to be fruitful - that villagers will hear the Gospel and come to Christ. *The political situation in Benin - The opposition party selected their representatives, however they don't have enough people in parliament, so they are out of the election. The ruling party is behind the creation of 2 other groups, so there are additional names on the ballot, but this is only for the election to "look good", and there isn't only a single name listed. Pray for political stability, as Josue does not know what will happen. They do not want there to be unrest leading to a rebellion. Josue was approched to sway people to vote for the ruling party, as a way to get the church to validate what they are doing. Many people will go along with whatever the church says, which is why the rulers want church support. Josue refused as the church doesn't want to be involved, especially because the ruling party supports idol worship, which the church is opposed to. Please pray for this delicate situation. *Continue to pray for Dieu Donne, that answers may come from his tests.