In Benin, dry season is construction season. Everywhere we go, we see workers mixing mud or concrete, making bricks and building walls.
Rich people build big houses of concrete bricks with tiled floors, glass windows and flat concrete roofs. Those who have limited resources build with mud bricks on a solid foundation of concrete bricks and support the structure with concrete corner pillars and lintels. They install metal windows and use corrugated sheet roofing. People who don’t have money use a building technique called “goalie masonry.” One person mixes mud with his feet and forms it into balls, which he throws to the mason. Like a goalie, the mason catches each ball of mud and puts it in place. These houses often have thatched roofs and a few small wooden or corrugated metal windows. Houses built this way are surprisingly solid if the builders mix the mud well and allow each course of mud to dry for a few days before adding the next course.
About a month ago, a childhood friend of Toussaint’s started building a mud house not far from ours. One day, Toussaint came back from the construction site shaking his head and saying, “The house is not going to survive even one rainy season.” Our friend is hurrying the building process because he wants to move his family out of the place he is currently renting. He also wants a big house but doesn’t want to spend much money on it. His mason told him a house that size shouldn’t be built without a concrete foundation, pillars and lintels, but our friend insisted. He had the money to buy cement, but he chose to spend it on another plot of land. The next rainy season will test his choices, and he may face catastrophe.
A strong foundation is important in child raising, too. Parents who spend time with their children and invest in their education give them a much better chance of success in life. On the other hand, children who grow up without the loving and correcting care of parents often end up weak, unprincipled and easily manipulated.
Unfortunately, most Otammari children grow up without much parental care. From their early teens or even younger, they are largely on their own. The most important years for influencing their development go by without any education in the home. Without supervision or advice, they have to figure out life by themselves. Often they learn the hard way. For little gifts and some attention, many girls end up becoming mistresses of older, often married men. Unwanted pregnancies end the school career of many girls, and abortion is rampant. Many boys drop out of school early as well since they prefer fast money over a good education. Others, following the example of many adults, cheat their way through entrance exams into jobs or technical schools. Good role models are hard to find.
This is where student missionaries come into the picture. Our Otammari Project hasn’t had student missionaries every year. We don’t have a school or a bush clinic to run, and we don’t have a remote church to support. But we do have a continuing need for French-speaking student-missionary young men to make friends with the young people in our community, minister to them and model what it means to be a Christian. It may sound insignificant, but this is extremely important to our youth. All our current team members are beyond the age of having peer influence on young people. Of course, we still strive to be good examples to them and give them advice and support. But they need someone closer to their age who experiences the same challenges and temptations—someone they can be friends with and confide in when they are struggling with something. Otammari youth need strong Adventists who can pray with them, direct them to the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy and accompany them on their walk with Christ.
Praise God for student missionaries!
**As I write this, we’re halfway through our stay in Germany. We have already visited five churches and have several more to go. Some churches we have visited for the first time; others we have been to several times to reconnect with old friends. We have also had appointments with small groups, a women’s group, a seniors’ club and a school. We always enjoy meeting people, although Toussaint struggles with his limited German. Fortunately, children don’t care much about languages, so he easily makes friends with them.
After preaching at one small church, we were shaking hands with everybody at the exit when an elderly lady handed me a used envelope, apologizing that she didn’t have a new one. I thanked her, hugged her and put the envelope in my pocket. Later, when I opened it, I found it contained 400 Euros (about $520)! This could easily have been half of her monthly pension!
We have been deeply moved by the kindness and generosity of all the people who have welcomed us into their churches and homes. May they be blessed as much as we are blessed by their love and support! Thank you to all!
—Ulrike Baur
