Au Revoir PRICE FAMILY! Goodbye!

Less than an hour ago, I dropped the Price family off at the airport. It marks the end of a chapter…and the beginning of a new one for both of our families! It was May 2004 when the Price family first arrived in Benin (I wish I had a digital photo of the night they arrived). Here’s a photo from June 2004 as our two families walked to the Kaitemey church one Sunday morning. Wow, now look at the other picture (taken just a few hours ago)….everyone’s grown up! The picture focuses on the external changes, but we know and even celebrate all the interior transformation that has gone on! As we prayed together one final time, I felt compelled to thank God for every good experience, as well as each personal challenge. Through this divine blend of encounters, each of our lives in this strange land has been changed. The Prices leave Benin different than when they came. And we are certainly better people (I think) than we were several years ago!

As a matter of fact, it was actually the year 2002 when the Prices first expressed the desire the follow the call of God to Benin. Preparation and planning consumed the rest of ’02 and all of ’03 and it was ’04 when they first landed in Benin as a family. Historically for our family, the year 2002 was a difficult year. Looking back, the years previous had rocked our faith, shaken our emotions, and tested our inmost character. Candidly, it was the latter half of ’02 when our family was at its worst, our very lowest point. It’s hard to say for sure, but having worked alone for quite some time at that point, we found ourselves facing a difficult situation…a series of devastating losses had rendered us depressed, disheartened, and honestly pondering the reality of a future in Benin. “Could we really continue there…did we even want to?” It was a hard time! But it was in the midst of those darker days when the Prices stepped up and answered the call of God to abandon it all to join us in Benin. While it was almost 2 years before they physically touched down in this West African country, we can sincerely look back with gratitude for their receptivity to join God in what He was doing here. Had they not been obedient, I’m really not sure we would have been able to stay. Simply put (and don’t think it was ever “simple” for them), because they were obedient to a difficult call, we stuck it out and have witnessed much fruit since 2002. And every single day we remain among the Aja after tonight…well, it’s hard not to acknowledge that, at least in part, it is the obedience of the Price family in 2002 that encourages our continuation in this ministry. We praise God for the years of influence the Prices have had and will continue to have in our lives and in the lives of some really close Aja friends!

The Prices will arrive at DFW on Sunday, June 11th, at 7:53pm, United Airlines # 359.