Boniface was one of our first converts in the village of Kouaba. When our local evangelists started work in this village, his mom invited them to hold meetings in her courtyard. Boniface was very interested and eventually got baptized. A few years later, we purchased land and built a chapel about two miles away from his family’s home. Since he is physically disabled and walks with crutches, Jean, our local evangelist, would pick him up on his motorcycle to attend church Sabbath mornings. On Wednesday and Friday nights, a group continued to meet in his family’s house for worship and prayer.
At the beginning of this year, Boniface’s health deteriorated. For a while, he was bedridden and unable to move. Jean regularly visited him, and our team lifted him up in prayer. After several months, he could sit up and at least somewhat participate in family life again. His children would help him get up to sit in the courtyard. But he was depressed and discouraged. Unable to attend any church meetings, his faith also weakened.
One Sabbath, as we visited the group in Kouaba, Toussaint accompanied Jean to pray with Boniface after church service. They arrived in the middle of an ugly fight between Boniface, his wife and his mom. After listening for a while, they calmed the situation and prayed with the family. But it was evident that the real problem lay much deeper. The family struggled to make ends meet. Last year’s harvest was gone, and this year’s harvest was not ready yet. Finding enough food to feed everybody was difficult, and Boniface couldn’t contribute to the family income. Everybody was frustrated, and Boniface felt useless and rejected.
In our next team meeting, we discussed the issue and different options to alleviate the situation. When it comes to helping people, I always listen to my Beninese team members, who best know how to help without harming. Everybody agreed that the immediate need was food, so we filled a sack with corn (cornmeal is the staple food in Benin) and sent it to Boniface. The next need was spiritual. We decided to give him one of our solar-powered MP3 players to listen to the audio Bible, songs and stories any time he wanted.
Finally, Toussaint set out to find a tricycle, the Beninese equivalent of a wheelchair, so that Boniface would be mobile to some extent. After several weeks of searching, negotiating prices and working with welders and bicycle mechanics, the hand-crank tricycle was ready. As I write, the tricycle is being delivered to Kouaba. We hope that it will enable Boniface to attend church again.
Please pray for peace to come back into the hearts of Boniface and his family. Pray for his faith to be revived and that he will again find joy in his walk (or tricycle ride) with God.
