Current Update & Prayer Needs:
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Prayer Needs for Benin - May 26, 2025
Praises:
Josue’s team presented a wonderful outreach in the Pobe area last week! About 200 pastors, church leaders and collaborators met for 4 days for encouragement, prayer, and teachings from across the area. Wed, Thurs, and Fri eve crusade outreaches were shared. The first night was smaller in numbers, but the last two drew more than 1,000 each night. Over 200 accepted Christ! All of these new believers are encouraged to attend the evangelical church closest to them, rather than any particular affiliation or even one of Josue’s churches, so that it will be convenient and they will truly develop community in Christ in their village.
*Exciting news for Isaac: he has completed his second semester at Collin College with a 3.8 GPA! His only problem turned out to be a misunderstanding of exam dates: he did well on the first half of an exam, but did not know he had to return later for a second day of the test, and did not show. He talked to the professor, who was not able to “change the expectation!” Otherwise he would have had a 4.0 for this semester as well! He will continue with classes this summer as well as start a job: he will be interning with the maintenance department on campus maybe working as much as 20 hours per week, and should be able to continue this position in the fall! He is being coached by Dad, that when the first paycheck comes, to give it back to the Lord as a First Fruits offering, for all the blessings he has received in this past year!
*Glory will also be working on an internship that her school will help her arrange, to get hands on experience in food management during the month of July!
Pray for:
*May 31 will bring 2 opportunities for Josue to speak: 1200 young people are expected to gather for a meeting in the morning, followed by 100 people in the afternoon that represent the elite business community from all across Cotonou. Josue met with the director of Wycliffe about 4 years ago, who began the dream of this meeting; Josue is very excited that it is coming together! Wycliffe is currently translating the New Testament into 2 more local languages. Josue is also praying that there will be interest in this group to begin a new Rotary Club!
*God’s Grace students are finishing their last week of school classes, as the year end exams begin next week. Sixth Graders begin three days of testing on Monday; the 9th graders will have three days the following week. These are the critical government exams that a student must pass to be offered more education rather than sidelined. The school is praying to maintain their 100% pass rate for both classes! All other grades will be testing as well; last year every student moved forward into the next grade! Graduation will be held on June 14. Pray for all 250 students to move forward in their education!!!
*New rural school plans are well underway! The current staff will not be asked to transfer schools; hiring has begun for a complete new staff for the new school. There will be many planning days before the new school opens and much opportunity to develop a school “climate” expectations with the new staff members so they will be ready to open mid-September alongside God’s Grace! The administrative plates of Prisca and Dieu Donne are full!
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Constuction team(s) forming!
Grace Chapel Church in CO is forming a team to go to Benin Oct 26. -Nov. 4, 2025. Please pray with us that their team of 15 people fills and bonds well to make this construction trip a success! They plan to build a church in the village of Hevie, about 1-1.5 hours out of Cotonou. This is where Josue is also desiring to start a rural school, replicating God's Grace, in an area that has no education opportunities for its children.
If any of you receiving this are interested in going, please contact Pam! If this trip fills, then may God provide for a second one to go, to build even more than the church! Please go to www.truthunleashedministries.org for trip costs and preparation plans.
If you cannot go, but can help fund these projects, please let God direct your contribution! He is the Miracle Provider that will bring all of this together!
Please pray and see if God is asking you to step into this opportunity! You will never regret following His will for your life! And pray throughout the process of these teams preparing, that He will bring all of the details together for very successful projects to be accomplished! May many people in the village and surrounding area be drawn to Christ as they see Him at work through these efforts to bless them! |
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Please keep praying for the BIG three:
1. Building permit: paper work to be found and granted so expansion of God's Grace Campus can occur by fall, 2025!
2. Glory's adoption paperwork to be found and granted, so Glory can legally be a member of the Akoawanou family!
3. Visa appointment to be made, so that Josue and Prisca can come to the US again very soon!!! |
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Message from Pam:
Praying for a miracle to heal me! I arrived at Oasis of Hope Hospital in Tijuana, MX on May 19 and started treatments the next day! They have had huge success battling cancer holistically since 1963! During the three week stay, my body will be detoxified, refueled and given treatments to kill my tumor! I will come home for 3 months on supplements and return for 9 more days. The doctors at OOH will continue to support me for the next 5 years, staying in close contact!
I will continue to post on Caring Bridge as possible if you would like more details! Thank you for every prayer you have lifted up for me: God is answering! And huge thank you to Deb for coming with me to be my companion: she has been very helpful and supportive!
I must move forward with a succession plan for all that Truth Unleashed Ministries does to support Hope for Youth Foundation, Josue's non-profit in Benin. I am blessed that some of my duties for secretarial/treasury work for TUM have been spoken for!!! But there are still more, if you are interested and available! May God grow and increase this ministry as more people are in leadership roles!!!
Thank you so much for all that you are doing for TUM and all that God will equip you to do in the future, as He has me! In God's economy, everyone's talents are needed!
It has truly been my blessing to serve Josue's ministry in so many ways over the years! It is my desire to make sure that Truth Unleashed support continues and increases as the ministry continues to grow in Benin!! May God bless and direct you as you pray and consider this opportunity!
In love, Pam
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Prayer Needs for Benin - May 12, 2025
Praises:
*Josue’s time with the church in Bohicon, about 2 hours from Cotonou, was a very good connection! The friendship begun about 6 years ago when this church joined under the umbrella of Josue’s Bethel church network continues to develop. During the two day visit, Josue empowered them in their purposes in ministry! Josue passed the Farm in Toffo, but did not have time to stop. The family living there is doing their best to make a living! They now harvest palm nuts for oil, getting help from neighbors when needed. The banana tree “fence” is growing solid. These grow without being watered as there is still no well on this property. Josue has found a contact that might try again to drill in June as they think they can get to water.
*Permission has been received from the government to add 11 th Grade to God’s Grace next fall! May God move the mountains to grant the building permit to expand the campus to the property next door—space is needed!
Pray for:
*outreach in Pobe this week. Josue will lead the program this week for pastors and church leaders: may it draw 500 from the surrounding area. A second program in the evenings may draw 1000 for each of 5 evenings to hear the Gospel!!! Pray for hearts to be open to God’s message! May His love draw each person who hears to Him! Praises: the mayor of Pobe is a Christian and has been very supportive of this effort! The church here is now pastored by Sourou, a youth who came to faith in his nearby village of Banigbe, in 2010, during Josue’s first church plant event that lasted for a week! The church is doing very well; Sourou is married and has two children.
*Students at God’s Grace are preparing for year-end exams in June. May each student do his/her best and all succeed, to uphold the 100% pass rate that has been in place since this school began in 2012!
*Pastors up north are on fire to go out to the jihadist areas, to share the Gospel! It is very clear: the message of Jesus is the way to combat further attacks! They desire to have 20 churches in this area eventually!
*continue to pray for the country of Benin: the government has yet to make a statement regarding these attacks; people continue to live in fear, not knowing what the future holds!
*Pastor Emmanuel’s family has turned some corners: they are doing much better now as they continue to miss their husband and father greatly! They remain well surrounded by support and are getting back on track in their lives!
* a construction team is forming at Grace Chapel Church in CO. Their plans include building a church for Josue in the area of Hevie, where he also wants to start one of his rural schools. The trip is planned for Oct. 26-Nov 4, 2025.
Prayer Needs for Benin April 18,2025
Praises:
*Josue and his team of pastors are sharing the Gospel in so many ways this weekend! Pray for their willingness to continue to go out on fire for the Lord, and be about His work! Josue will be preaching the sermon for the Glo Church, which has grown to 70 members; speaking to 800 about the Resurrection in the afternoon with Pastor Christianime; about 500 are expected on Easter Monday. All of these events will be inviting friends to attend!
*Eleventh Grade application has passed, with encouragement that God’s Grace is really doing a great job!!! Conversation about lack of space led to sharing that no building permit has been granted: the representatives said they would LOOK the application for it!!! PRAY it can be found, with Glory’s adoption paperwork attached, and both will be granted!!!
*May the Akowanou family be blessed with some good family time, to pray and to hear the kids share about their witness!
Pray for:
*all new believers from the outreaches across the country to be disciple well and to grow solid in their faith
*students at God’s Grace are preparing for end of year exams. Another “white” practice exam has been given; may the results show appropriate growth for all 6 th graders, especially three who have scored lower. May the 100% pass rate be upheld for the 6 th grade class! If this test is not passed, students are offered no more academic education.
*Josue’s trip to Cote d’Ivoire this week: pray for travel mercies! May his trainings be very encouraging and impactful for the leaders and Board members in this growing area for YFCI! He will also be exploring church planting in this country! (Josue branched into Togo to plant churches in 2022: connections were made with people who really wanted to help. There are now 12 churches in Togo, under Josue’s umbrella!!!) Josue is considering satellite services so that he can teach across the Bethel Network one time per month!
*Church plants/rural schools: village of Hevie, 1.5 hours outside of Cotonou, not far from the Farm; this may also become the location of a rural school! Another church plant is planned for Allada--a very dark city in the heart of the country! Another rural school is planned for the Parakou area: there were 35 pastors in this area, now there are 52!
*Josue is dreaming BIG with projects across his ministry:
*2-3 mission trips /year: people must come and see for themselves to truly connect with all this ministry is about!
*school expansions: more locations; grow the technical school to have more sections—carpentry and beautician sections have been on hold, looking for directors!
*Yemi is doing a fabulous job directing Hope Dressing: the one graduate has continued on to improve her skills and help! Yemi is recruiting new students: Josue is asking her to think BIG—20 students at least! They have a shop front on the street to sell their goods. They are doing so well: paying the rent for their portion of the building plus utilities. When a special design for a dress is requested, Yemi contacts a designer who helps create the pattern…Hope Dressing can also cover this cost!!! The hygiene kits that were sent with the Dream Team last summer are being distributed with education! Also the T-shirts that the Dream Team transported are becoming dresses!
*Paulin has led the Electrical School so well: the first house he acquired for the class to wire is all complete and well done! He has found a second house for the boys to continue learning on and practice their skills! His wife and 5 month old baby girl are doing well!
*Benin: to remain peaceful!!! Nothing has been said yet about the attacks several months back, and nothing has been said regarding the election campaign for the President in 2026!
*The Akowanous have all adjusted well to Isaac being a student here in the Dallas area! They are praying that God will provide a funds for Gedeon to join his brother for the summer! He is a citizen by birth…so all he needs is a plane ticket and would fly by himself! He has learned English throughout school and started into Spanish last year! May Josue and Prisca be blessed as well with a phone call, to set up an appointment for their US Visas!!!
Prayer Needs for Benin April 6, 2025
Praises:
The goal has been reached: funds have come in for Josue to buy the much needed van!!! Praise the Lord!!!
God’s Grace will take their 2 week break around Easter, and return to finish strong with end of year testing! The 11th grade visit has occurred by government officials: may God’s Grace be granted this grade, to begin in Sept. 2025!
The Guest Houses are now renting on the Farm fairly often, as retreat weekends for couples. Olivier has not completed his restaurant yet on the adjoining property, but is still very successful in his catering business.
David, a graduate of the Farm School, has come back to work on the Farm and teach the students!
Pray for:
*Emmanuel’s family: the burial went well, but so difficult emotionally for all to say goodbye to a dear husband, father, friend, and pastor. His wife is starting back to work this week; son Joel is doing well getting back on track; daughter Dona is still really struggling with her dad being gone! May her studies this semester be completed timely!
*Pastors to each get a medical checkup starting in April
*Church plants for this year—Calavi area and Allada for sure, maybe more
*Josue has much to prepare for Easter: speaking at Glodoto Church on Easter, to youth at Cotonou Church in the afternoon, and to youth in the village of Tori on Monday.
*Josue will travel to Cote d’Ivoire in three weeks to train leaders of YFC and encourage their Board
*Upcoming outreach in Pobe in May: churches and leaders across the area will be invited to push for revival! All need to PRAY so God will answer! The meeting will probably be under tents to have enough space for everyone!
*Churches to be more committed to the urgent work ahead; may they fully realize how little time is left to bring people the Gospel message and sense the need to strive for the finish line! There is no time to waste!
*Peace, stability and security throughout Benin after the jihadist attacks; the government has still not shared anything with the people about these attacks!
*Plans to continue moving forward to create a second God’s Grace in a rural area in the fall of 2025!
*The Big Three:
*The appointment to be made for Josue and Prisca to meet with the American Embassy to get US visas!
*Adoption papers to be finalized for Glory to be an official member of the Akowanou family!
*The building permit to be granted to expand the campus of God’s Grace to house the High School classes