Viviane started visiting our home when Albertine was living with Uli and me. Viviane worked in the same seamstress shop as Albertine, and she lived just down the street from us.

When we first met, Viviane was pregnant with her second child. A few weeks before she was to give birth, she went to another town to stay with her husband’s family. About three months later, she returned with a little girl.

Viviane once complained to me how boring it was to nurse so I gave her a couple of Christian booklets to read while she was nursing. We talked a bit about the booklets, but at the time my French wasn’t all that hot and my religious vocabulary was rather small.

Ladies here often bring girls from their villages to live with them, help with the housework, and care for children. When Viviane began working again, she found a five-year-old girl to help her with the baby. Normally, helpers aren’t that young, but Viviane couldn’t find anyone else. Viviane would take both the baby and the girl with her to the seamstress shop, and the girl would entertain the baby. In the evenings when she got off work, she would come visit Albertine and me.

In February of 2001, Albertine graduated, married, and left. Uli left for furlough and I was by myself so Viviane came almost every day to keep me company. We would sit on the cool cement floor in my 100° living room and talk and play with the baby. Some days I would walk her home, and we would spend time there while she did laundry.

After I left on furlough, I lost track of Viviane for almost a year. When I returned, I learned she had moved to her husband’s village. Later, I heard she had moved back to Natitingou but lived way out of town, and I couldn’t find anyone to show me the way.

Finally, Viviane came back to work in the seamstress shop, and I was able to see her again. She was pregnant again, and I was able to visit with her only a few times before she returned to her husband’s parents’ home to give birth. On one of our visits, I gave Viviane a Steps to Christ and invited her to visit our church. She was interested but never visited the church. She was depending on her mother-on-law to help her give birth, so she didn’t want to anger her.
When Viviane returned to Natitingou, I started visiting with her again. I felt I had a good enough relationship with her to invite her to study the Bible with me. I also felt my French was finally up to the challenge. Most importantly, I felt God asking me, “How long are you going to wait?”

In December, we started Bible studies by reading the Christmas story. Viviane is very busy, but she is willing to take an hour to study each Sunday when she is home. She has found another girl to help her with housework. This girl is about 15 and is a big help. Since Viviane works from early morning until night six days a week, her Sundays are usually pretty full, but she has committed an hour each week to study with me. We have only missed two Sundays so far—one when she had to travel and one I had to travel.

Please keep Viviane in your prayers. She doesn’t yet know much about Christianity, but she is serious about studying. Please pray that God will keep her strong through Satan’s attacks and that she will listen to the Holy Spirit’s calling. Pray that she will leave all the things of Satan—the sacrifices, good luck charms, ceremonies, etc. and turn completely to God.

God has richly blessed me in doing this since I am writing the Bible studies as I go along. Most studies that do exist do not deal with the problems here and are too westernized.

Thanks for your continued prayers for Viviane.

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