Current Update & Prayer Needs:

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