How I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour:

For most of my life I thought I was a Christian. My parents sat me down one day when I was about eight years old and they had me say the "sinner's prayer" so that I could go to heaven. I distinctly remember that afternoon, however, I don't believe I was genuinely saved until the age of twenty.

At the age of twenty, thinking I was a Christian, I decided to go to a Christian college. On October 2, 1996 I was genuinely born again. A dynamic and spirit filled evangelist preached two days in chapel. The particular day that I got saved, he preached from John chapter 21.

I went back to my room after chapel, knowing I was not saved. I got on my knees, crying heavily over my sins, and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save me. I trusted in the Gospel, how that Christ died on the cross, shedding His precious blood for the remission of my sins, was buried, and bodily rose from the grave three days later. I asked God to save me and I believe I was saved that day.

One year later, the Lord called me to preach and gave me the following passage for my calling:

Ephesians 3:7, "Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power."

In the Spring of 2002, I attended a missions conference at a fundamental Baptist church in Albany, NY. For the 2002 Missions Conference, they had a missionary represent their work to Bénin, West Africa. I believe that the Lord used them and, more foundationally, His Word in my devotions that week, to call me to Bénin. The remainder of this testimony will share how I know that the Lord is calling me to Bénin.

My Call To Bénin, West Africa:

1) March 31st, 2002 - The missionary to Bénin, West Africa, presented their work at the conference. There were three main points that the Lord used to stir me (all of these may seem general, and they are, but, the Lord pin-pointed Bénin to me later that week). A) A need for pastors of churches in Bénin, B) French speaking people (I have had a burden for the French speaking people for quite some time now), and C) A need to teach indigenous men in a Bible institute so that they will plant/pastor churches in Bénin (and I imagine throughout French speaking Africa and the world).

2) April 3rd, 2002 - Realization that God has stirred my heart about Africa three times now - First with missionaries to South Africa, second with missionaries going to Botswana, and now, third with missionaries to Bénin.

3) April 3rd, 2002 - Reading in my devotions, in 2 Corinthians, God stirred my heart with A) II Cor. 1:8-10, B) II Cor. 4:11, and C) II Cor. 5:15. All of these passages emphasize death and the sure hope of the resurrection.

As I was having my devotions April 3rd, I read:

II Cor. 1:8-10, "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us."

When I read that, I was stirred, but I only had the thought that I would include these verses in an e-mail when I wrote to Karyn and her fiancé Dan Hassman, who are now married and are going to the field of Bénin, and Ken and Debbie Haley, who are already there. I thought, "What a powerful passage of encouragement to missionaries ministering in a place ridden with physical and spiritual death!"

As I continued in II Corinthians, another verse took hold of my heart:

II Cor. 4:11, "For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh."

This verse is the first one that the Lord used to STRIKE me in the heart in a more personal way and was used to call me to Bénin. I had struggled with the idea of going to Africa because of all of the disease, malaria, and violence. When I read this verse, the Lord's calling to Bénin came into my heart and mind. The Lord stamped Bénin on my heart and mind, that I am to go to this place and be a missionary.

Yet continuing to read in the book of II Corinthians, I came to:

II Cor. 5:15, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again."

I have loved this verse for a long time. But, now, the Lord used it to call me to Bénin. It sealed my call. Why? I simply feared going to this place. But, I cannot live unto myself, but unto Him, which died for me and rose again!

I could not have orchestrated these verses. I could not have put them together and at such a time as this. There is an unmistakable theme in my call: Going to a place full of death to bring the SURE HOPE of salvation by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins by His shed blood.

Calling to Bénin Confirmed by the Lord:

November 11, 2002 - I went to another Missions Conference at a fundamental independent Baptist church in Broadalbin, NY. Dan and Karyn gave their presentation of missions to Bénin there that evening.

Right after their presentation, the Mission Conference's key note speaker went to the pulpit to give his message. He paused for a moment and said that he was going to give his message, but that as he watched the presentation (the exact same one that I had seen in March!), the Lord laid on his heart three passages.

He opened to II Corinthians and read from the SAME passages that the Lord had used to call me, in chapters 1, 4, AND 5! My heart LEAPED inside and I sensed the presence of the Lord, confirming again my call! Please pray for me as I seek to follow Him and His will!

The Republic of Bénin:

Original Name: Dahomey
Independence From France: 1960
Name Changed to Bénin: 1975
Socialist State: 1974 - 1989
Free Elections Re-established: 1991
Capital: Porto-Novo
Official Language: French
Additional Languages: Approximately 50 Tribal Languages
Official Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine Franc (XOF)
Total Land Area: 43,140 sq. mi
Population: 6.1 million
Climate: Semiarid & Tropical
Major industries: Textiles, Cotton, Beverages, Construction Materials, Petroleum, Palm Products
Major Trading Partners: Brazil, Portugal, and France
Religions: Animism (Voodoo) (70%), Muslim (15%), Christian (15%)

Statistical Information Obtained From: Lonely Planet & GeographyIQ

(Use of statistical information from these sites is not an endorsement of the sites or any affiliations.)

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