It has always been our dream to see young people from Britain answer the call for cross-cultural mission service, so it was a great privilege to be involved in commissioning a young couple from our local church on Sabbath, August 23.

Etienne and Carolyn Guenin are now serving the Dendi people in Benin with the Badé family. Their newsletters and blogs have been very descriptive of life in a new culture, and we hope they will inspire other young people from Europe to go on adventures with God.

The Guenins’ story is a wonderful answer to prayer that even got the attention of our town’s local newspaper. Prior to her courtship with Etienne, Carolyn started working with my sister on a church-planting project in the south of England and was a very valuable member of the team. Then Etienne came along, and plans began to change. Not long after they got engaged, Etienne expressed his willingness to work as a missionary in a foreign country. Carolyn’s eyes lit up at this suggestion, and in 2012 they started to ask God to provide an opportunity to do mission work. However, they didn’t want just any mission work: they wanted to go to a French-speaking country in Africa where they could both plant churches and use their skills in teaching and IT. They agreed not to search for posts until after their wedding, but they kept praying.

They were married in April, and Carolyn accepted a job as a personal assistant at the Trans-European Division offices, just 10 miles from where we live. Six months later, in October 2013, they decided to actively seek mission opportunities and began to dialog with us. They searched, but nothing seemed to fit their specific criteria.

Then in November 2013, as Carolyn was sorting through some mail for her boss, she flicked through an Adventist Frontiers magazine and came to the call page. It gave details about a project in Benin, which Carolyn soon learned was a French-speaking country. This met two of their criteria. She went to afmonline.org to find out more. She discovered this particular project wasn’t suitable as it was looking for people trained in healthcare, but while Carolyn was browsing the website she noticed another call for a different AFM project in Benin. It was seeking church planters who could work as English/IT teachers! Carolyn immediately emailed Etienne the link with a note: “Oh my dear… this looks perfect!” They could hardly believe how precisely God had answered their prayers.

There was just one hurdle: They soon learned the project was only looking for one individual, not two. But, as it is written, “Ask and you shall receive.” God blessed them once more, and within 24 hours AFM had amended the call so they both could go!
Please pray that God will pour out a mighty blessing on the unreached people of Benin through Etienne and Carol.

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