From a seed to many shoots
Ministries grow from carful cultivation.
By Sara Alvarez
When Steve Wiebe-Johnson, Mennonite Mission Network’s director for Africa, talks about the ministries in Benin, he likes to talk about peanuts.
When properly cared for, a peanut plant will multiply through an underground root system that produces new plants.
The Benin Bible Institute is like these plants; professors and instructors at the institute know how to cultivate a good harvest. With this care, students return to their home communities where they sink their roots. And the education and values they learned from Benin Bible Institute spread throughout the nation.
This issue of Beyond accompanies Missio Dei 23: 3-D Gospel in Benin, which commemorates nearly half a century of partnership. These photos and stories show how these ministries have affected people’s lives.
Augustin Ahoga, Groupes Bibliques Universitaires’ director for French-speaking Africa, shares why he appreciated working with the Mennonites when he helped found Benin Bible Institute.
Paulin Bossou, co-director of La Casa Grande, explains how connections made at Benin Bible Institute inspired him to dedicate his life to serve his community through La Casa Grande, a ministry for children in difficult situations.
Lynda Hollinger-Janzen describes how her faith was strengthened by the people she worked with when she served as a mission worker from 1985 to 2000 in Benin.
This ministry that Mennonite Mission Network supported from the beginning, when Beninese leaders asked them to come, has educated community leaders for 30 years.
The reach of the original plant goes far beyond where it was first sown.