For 27 years, you stood beside me, and later my husband Fidel, in the work God called us to in Benin, West Africa.
Some of you were with me when I started working with the Otammari people in Benin in 1999, where I learned their culture and how to present the gospel in a culturally relevant way. To win the hearts and trust of the people and to lead them to Christ, I focused on friendship evangelism, medical care and health education. I also first met and worked for many years with fellow AFM missionary Ulrike Baur.
During that time, Fidel learned and conducted evangelism in another denomination under his uncle’s mentorship. In 2007, God brought Fidel to Natitingou, where he met our project team. For seven years, Fidel would come and borrow books from me, our only contact.
In late 2013, God convicted Fidel of the Sabbath truth, and he joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Over the next seven months, God impressed us that we were to be married and become partners in the work. In 2014, we wed and moved to the Pendjari region of Benin to start a new AFM project.
We moved into a small village outside of Tanguieta, where God led us to establish a farm and an agricultural ministry. Our work also included planting churches, developing Adventurer and Pathfinder clubs and mentoring local leaders from the various village church groups.
Throughout this time, your prayers, encouragement and financial support were a steady testimony of faithfulness, enabling us to share the gospel in villages and communities where hope was scarce. Children received education, families were strengthened, and communities experienced the love of Christ in tangible ways. Many were delivered from the chains of darkness and brought into the light and hope found in Jesus Christ. Your partnership helped water every seed planted, and the fruit of that investment continues to grow. We planted six church groups in two of the larger people groups and one church group in the main town near Tanguieta.
With heavy hearts, and for personal reasons, we have returned to the United States. As a result, the Pendjari Project has officially closed. While this season of ministry in our lives is over, we trust God to carry forward what He began in ways we may not yet be able to see. Perhaps only in heaven will we fully understand the eternal impact of what God has accomplished through our shared ministry in this part of Benin.
Our gratitude for you and our fellowship in Christ remain, and we echo Paul’s words: “I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3). We pray that the Lord will bless you abundantly for your labor of love.
Please continue to pray for AFM missionaries around the world who are giving their lives to carry the gospel into increasingly challenging places. We invite you to prayerfully consider supporting their work, particularly during these tough economic times—Suzy and Fidel Baldwin-Noutehou.
