Waterford Mennonite Church, in Goshen, Indiana, and Benin Bible Institute, in Cotonou, Benin, have learned about being part of the global body of Christ through a 22-year relationship. The partners were eager to share what they have learned from each other at the Mennonite Church USA convention in North Carolina but were prevented from doing so, due to a looming travel ban that included Benin.
Benin Bible Institute (BBI), a Mennonite Mission Network partner, and Waterford Mennonite Church (WMC) have been part of one another’s ministries for 22 years. A highlight of this partnership is the annual visit between the faculty and staff of the Bible school, in Cotonou, Benin, and members of the congregation, in Goshen, Indiana. One year, a Beninese delegation travels to the United States — and to another partner congregation, St. Jacobs Mennonite Church in Ontario, Canada — and the following year, Waterford representatives travel to Benin.
Cindy Voth, WMC’s lead pastor, said that the BBI-WMC partnership reminds the congregation that it is part of Christ’s global body. “It helps keep us in a posture of curiosity and learning. … It gives us a fuller understanding of who God is and what it means to faithfully follow Jesus,” she said.
This year, WMC was eager to share at the Mennonite Church USA national convention, Follow Jesus ’25, about this partnership and the rich learning the congregation has received through it, by sponsoring a seminar featuring two BBI board members, Jocelyne Ahoga and Germain Dossou.
Ahoga, the architect who designed the BBI building, is also a marriage and family therapist, who is completing her doctorate. Dossou, the chair of the BBI board, is an agronomist, who works with an organization that assists women farmers throughout Benin.
In mid-June, less than a month, before the beginning of Follow Jesus ’25, the U.S. government threatened a travel ban on 36 new countries, in addition to the 12 countries previously banned. Benin was on the second list. Although Ahoga and Dossou had visas and all the proper documentation, WMC decided that they didn’t want to risk the chance that their Beninese guests might be detained and questioned when they entered the country.
Since the broader Mennonite church couldn’t benefit from Ahoga and Dossou’s seminar at the national convention, Mission Network offers this article and video with some highlights of cross-cultural exchange within the global body of Christ, recorded in 2024, when Ahoga and Dossou visited North America.
Partnership gives a fuller understanding of who God is
Voth describes WMC as a large and healthy congregation that needs to be reminded that Christ’s body is much larger than their church alone. She said that the congregation’s partnership with BBI helps keep members in a posture of curiosity and learning. Two decades of relationships have built trust that allows the partners to be vulnerable with each other.
“Our relationship with BBI gives us a fuller understanding of who God is and what it means to faithfully follow Jesus,” Voth said.
Partnership expands biblical knowledge to benefit Christian communities and society
The Beninese representatives report that WMC’s spiritual and material support of BBI, which has led to more than 1,000 church leaders from about 70 denominations being trained, is the most commonly mentioned benefit of the partnership.
Since its beginning, BBI has benefited from strong leaders because of the quality of its program. BBI’s professors help church leaders gain a fuller picture of who God is and what God wants from believers, said Ahoga.
BBI teaches at several levels, beginning with a basic understanding of the Bible, a program that is available to lay people, as well as church leaders, which “helps Christians root themselves more deeply in God’s word, which transforms them,” Ahoga said.
She also mentioned that BBI shares its gifts beyond the national borders of Benin. Church leaders from other countries come to study, and evangelists and mission workers take what they learned at BBI beyond the country’s borders.
In addition to strengthening Christian communities, BBI blesses the societies around them, said Dossou.
“We try to help church leaders be faithful to the call that God has given them for their ministry in congregations, but BBI also benefits society, in that biblical principles make for a more just and peaceful community, where love reigns,” Dossou said.
Partnership encourages deeper understanding of biblical texts
“The exchange visits allow us to enter into each other’s spaces,” Voth said. “We invite each other to share gifts and theology and life with each other.”
During their September 2024 visit, both Ahoga and Dossou preached sermons in WMC’s 13-week series on peace. Voth said that from their different contexts and experiences, Ahoga and Dossou brought deeper levels of understanding to the texts for the congregation.
Partnership critiques Western fixation with time
Voth said that WMC tends to be rigid about time limits, allowing the clock to determine the worship structure. “There is a breath of fresh air when our Beninese brothers and sisters come to help us think about how we can relax our attitudes toward worship,” Voth said.
Partnership introduces embodied worship
Beninese brothers and sisters bring the gift of embodied worship. They encourage WMC members use their bodies in dancing praise to God. Voth said she delights in watching people in their 70s and 80s find the freedom to incorporate their bodies in worshipping the God who made them.
Partnership creates space for informal conversations
Along with structured interactions, like worship services and Bible studies, the BBI-WMC partnership creates space for informal, invaluable conversations that neither BBI nor WMC could have planned. Voth mentioned the partners having long conversations about how their cultures engage in premarital counseling or rituals about death and dying. Conversations like these help church leaders from both cultures think about why they do things in a certain way.
“We evaluate: Is this still the best way? Or are there ways that we could be more faithful in living our calling,” Voth said.
Partnership helps children and youth build positive relationships with Christ’s global body
Nearly every child at WMC who understands the concept of maps can point to the country of Benin. Over meals that are shared in homes, children get the opportunity to ask questions about life in a different part of the world. Beninese children get to learn about what WMC kids do and vice versa.
Voth said, “In a society that feels so divisive and polarized, … this partnership throws out those divisions and says, ‘How can we claim that we are all part of this beautiful global family of God?’”
Invitation to broaden family of God through new partners
Dossou said that, as president of BBI’s board of directors, he extends an invitation to other congregations and individuals to join in the blessing of this partnership, which has enabled BBI to make such an impact on Benin’s Christian community and the societies around them.
