In 2007, an evangelical Christian man named Fidel Noutehou arrived here in Natitingou to take a job at the mayor’s office. He is from southern Benin and comes from a Christian family. I met him for the first time at the home of a mutual Adventist friend.
Fidel is a gifted man with a passion for souls. About a year after moving here, he felt God calling him to become a fulltime evangelist. Over the next few years, he planted a church in Natitingou. He would regularly borrow books from me on a broad range of topics to learn more about guiding and growing his church. Books on health, Ellen White’s writings, or any other Christian topic, he read them all and was conscientious about returning them—an uncommon trait here.
In December 2013, Fidel’s Adventist friend and I felt the need to have special prayer that Fidel would become a Seventh-day Adventist. So, during the 10 days of prayer set aside by the Adventist world church, we prayed every night for Fidel. A week into our praying, the Holy Spirit convicted Fidel’s heart, and he was baptized into the Adventist church a short time later.
In February 2014, God gave Fidel a dream telling him that I was to be his wife. He had a hard time accepting the dream, and he wrestled with God in prayer. A month later, he received another dream with the same message. Still, he still didn’t say anything to me. Sometime later he had another dream telling him that he and I were supposed to work together to gather God’s lost sheep.
After arguing with God that I would certainly refuse, Fidel finally got up the courage to ask me to marry him. I promptly said no. But after much prayer and talking with trusted friends, I felt God convicting me that He had chosen Fidel for me. My friend, Colette, also had several dreams about us, confirming that this was indeed God’s will. God has been leading the whole time, and all we can do is praise and thank Him for His wonderful works in our lives.
Before our wedding, Fidel spent 21 days fasting and praying for every aspect of our marriage. On October 17, we were married here in Benin in a small ceremony.
As we begin ministering together to the Otammari people, we ask your prayers that God will continue to guide us and bless our efforts for Him. Step by step, He has led us and given us assurance that this is His will and that He is in control. We can only praise His name and move forward on our knees to do His work.
