When we first left for Africa, we spent ages saying goodbye to people, family, friends, people at church… the list went on and each goodbye was harder than the last. Little did I realise that this was only a prelude to a life in which I’d spend a lot of my time saying goodbye to good friends. People we grew to know and love in Ivory Coast would return to their home countries and eventually we had a whole new set of goodbyes to go through when we returned to England after twelve years.
Rob and Lois Baker have just been going through the same thing as they say Bye-Bye Benin after four years there.
Goodbye Benin friends
Goodbye zemidjans
Goodbye Fon speaking
Goodbye home of amazing polyrhythms
Goodbye Land Rover driving on dirt roads
Goodbye dramatic thunderstorms
Goodbye Fulani cheese and lush, juicy mangos
Goodbye bustling, colourful markets
Goodbye sunshine
Goodbye Cotonou
Goodbye Benin
It can get difficult, all this goodbye-saying. But, Jesus knew about it and already promised blessing to his followers who left family and friends to follow him (Mark 10:28-39)
Then Peter began to speak up. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
“Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property, for my sake and for the Good News, will receive now in return a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and property—along with persecution. And in the world to come that person will have eternal life”.
That’s worth a few goodbyes!
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