This year, the AFM furloughing missionary retreat was held at Glacier View Ranch, an Adventist camp in Colorado. Before I arrived, I asked a friend to see whether she could arrange a speaking appointment for me in a local church while I was there. She made an appointment with the Lamar Seventh-day Adventist Church.
It worked out that our drive to the church would take us by the little town where my dad grew up. I told my dad, and he emailed me a bunch of old pictures to use as a guide.

As we drove through the town, I was sitting in the back seat with my computer on my lap looking at the pictures and out the window, trying to decipher which homes had belonged to various relatives. We were able to find our way to the old family homestead. The road was overgrown with tall grass, but we followed the landmarks my dad told me about. We finally found the old house after tromping through a small, muddy swamp.

It was fun to see the town my family came from and gain a little more insight into my family history.

As a missionary to the Ottammari in Benin, it is part of my job to research the roots of my people group. It is important to understand their background so I can better understand their attitudes and perspectives. As I learn more about them, I’m gaining tools I can use to present the gospel to them in ways they will resonate with all the way down to their roots. If I only scratch the surface of their daily lives, I won’t ever reach their hearts. If they are to take the information of God and allow it to become a life-changing thing in them, I must deliver it to their roots.

Just as it is important for me to understand my family history and be aware of weaknesses where Satan might attack me, it is important that the Ottammari understand their past. Maybe their father or grandfather made a pact with Satan that is bringing trouble into their lives. They need to cut those satanic lines of connection by the power of Jesus Christ.

On the Ottammari Project, we are preparing to launch a deep cultural study. Maybe you have read other missionaries’ accounts of preparing cultural scrapbooks. As we study the Ottammari people’s past and present, we will gain understanding of how best to communicate to them that God is eager to save them from their past and present. Christ came to destroy the works of Satan, and we are to proclaim freedom to the captives by the power of His name. He has won this war. He is the victor!

We have deep roots in Jesus Christ. He has a wonderful inheritance for us in heaven. Though we lost our right to it, Christ came that we might again find our inheritance.

It was very interesting for me to search out the past of my family. It is challenging and fascinating to search out the legacy of my friends in Benin. But it is most rewarding to search out the inheritance that is ours in Christ Jesus. Take time to search out yours.

• Twitter