The Wolof Story

spontaneous ministry day

2009-08-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today was a ministry day that I've been waiting on for a year and a half. Before I get to tell all about it, I pause to give God the praise, glory, and honor for his patience. And I praise him that I was, for once, open enough to be led.

In February, a group of Hispanic pastors (American citizens) visited Senegal on a vision trip, hoping to find ways they can be used in ministry here in spreading the Gospel to the people of Senegal. I have stayed in contact with one of them, who returned for his third trip to Senegal just last week.

This morning, out of the blue, he gave me a call to say that he was in Theis, and if I had time would I come over to visit and greet his new friends? I said, of course! Just give me an hour and I'll be there. This is West Africa for you, you tentatively keep your schedule open for plans like this. I typically go out in the mornings and in the afternoons, though I never know exactly where I'm going when I go out. This turned out to be my 'afternoon' trip for the day.

When I got to Theis, I greeted his new friends. The men and women are Spanish-speaking Christian ministers living here and ministering to the people. They have translators that they are discipling as new believers-translators who speak fluent Spanish, English, French, Wolof, and probably some other ethnic languages of the people groups here in Senegal. This group is also ministering to people through computer classes, and also reaching out to Talibe boys-boys that follow the teachings of a Muslim religious leader. These boys learn Arabic lessons during the mornings, beg for alms for much of the day, and sit at the feet of their teacher as he tells them stories from the Koran. They start teaching these boys at a very young age. The group of Hispanic pastors also brought some items to share in ministry-music to share songs, and medicines for the people, and I'm sure other things, too.

Already I was blown away by meeting so many Christian believers. To think, I am speaking to a Wolof speaker who tells me that he wants to be an evangelist-in his words-a preacher of the Word of God! Praise the Lord!! You have to understand, I have never, never met a Senegalese man with Christian faith! And I wanted to pick his brain, to sit and talk with him, ask about his past, his family, and when he came to know Christ. I hope for that day in the next couple of weeks, but today time did not allow. I also think I was shocked at what I was seeing.

This afternoon we all loaded up in 2 vehicles to visit a village this team has been working in every day this week. After greeting the people of the village, we all sat under a tree in chairs and on mats, and began to sing praise songs in Wolof and Spanish. I knew 2 of these Wolof songs, but of course did not know the Spanish that we were singing, nor the other 5-10 songs they played. But I'd clap my hands and praise God while they were singing their hearts out.

It was about then that my friend called me over and said, "Brother Roy, do you think you can share with this group what God has on your heart for 10-15 minutes?" Translation-Roy, do you think you can preach God's Word in Wolof for 10-15 minutes? Preach? In Wolof? Go back to that part where I've never met a Wolof speaker who professed to be a Christian. I've gone 18 months without giving a formal message before a group of people, much less in a foreign language.

God is so good, so perfect in his timing. And he has been preparing me for this moment for 18 months. It just so happens that I am carrying my Wolof Bible with me in my car for times that I have the opportunity to share during my afternoon visits. And I did have a thought that I wanted to share. It didn't have 3 points and a poem/joke, but I did take one point (worry) and applied it to our lives. I read Matt. 6:25-34 to them, and talked about how God does not want us to worry. He feeds the birds, and think how much more he will give to us, whom he created to be just like him. He knows the hairs on our head, of course he knows what we think and what is on our heart and in our mind. And I went further to say that for us as followers of Jesus, we know that we don't have to worry. We know there is coming a day when Jesus returns. When he returns, he's going to take us with him to live in heaven with his Father. God does not want us to worry. He wants to give to us daily. Let him know what you need, and talk to him daily from your heart.

I was overwhelmed. Those simple thoughts flowed so well together. Looking back I regret not saying a few things-this is why I prepare sermons/thoughts on paper in order to remember the points I wish to articulate. Next time I get to share this with people, I'll bring out a few of those illustrations that came to mind later. But wow! I shared a devotional thought (I wouldn't call it a formal sermon) in Wolof!!! Also, I wasn't the only one who shared, another member of this group shared another devotional thought, and a third member wrapped up both our thoughts in his closing and prayer time.

Now God is telling me, "see, wasn't that easy? Now do this every afternoon in your village visits." It was surprisingly easy. It did not bother me that I was speaking before a group of strangers. I even had the presence of mind to ask if they were understanding my Wolof clearly. They said they were, and they must have been for the translator commented shortly after that my Wolof was clear.

Actually, since the translator made that comment, the Hispanic team that visits this village invited me back to share more with the people. I will pray about that opportunity. It will be so nice to be around a fellowship of believers more often than I currently am. However, and maybe this is Satan casting doubts in my mind, it is out of my ministry zone. I think 2-3 times a month is not a problem, and promised the group that I would stay in touch with them, and share God's Word with our friends.

We ended the visit by sharing a very late (5pm) meal together, and closed in singing some of the same praise songs before we departed. The people danced and played drums as we praised one last time, and we joined together to pray before leaving. This is my vision for what a Wolof Christian church would look like: Believers together, joining in singing praise songs in their heart language, and 2-3 of their own people presenting the Word of God for them to apply to their lives. I would have loved seeing more open dialogue after the devotional thoughts were shared as the third person spoke. To me that would have enforced the thought that they did understand God's Word to their lives for today. But for today let me escape my Western, Baptist worship mindset and allow God to speak to their hearts as he speaks.

This was a very rewarding day! Thank you, Lord, for using me as your tool today! Thank you, Lord, for letting me see your Wolof people worship you!

a busy saturday...and bonus cubs news

2009-08-02T07:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the opportunity to go and visit one of my best friends here in his village. I took chicken for us to have rice and chicken for lunch. It was a treat. And I had planned to share a Bible story to the people of the village, however many were working in the fields. Those that did stay around the house took afternoon naps. And my good friend is fighting Malaria, so he wasn't feeling well enough to join us had we talked. I was disappointed not to be able to take the chance to share when I had planned to be in the village for a full day, but I know that I'll get another opportunity soon to do this again. It won't be with a meal like we had! But there will be a chance to talk again soon.

(bonus Cubs report)
See what happens for the cubs when they decide to put Soriano down in the order? They move into first place in the Central!!! And Soriano, now that he's out of his hitting slump, sees for himself that he has the opportunity to drive in more people lower in the order. I'm glad he's happy, he is a very important piece of our offense.
This made me laugh this morning. The Cubs are playing the Marlins in FL this weekend. late in their game Saturday, third baseman Aramis Ramirez got hit in the side by a pitch and had to leave the game. We're short on 3rd basemen, so the guy playing second had to move over to third, and Soriano came in to play second base. Soriano played second for many years for the yankees and rangers, so he has experience there, just not recent experience. The column added that many Cubs position players had to switch positions to make their defense work in the 10th inning, including Soriano who played 3 positions and switched positions during the inning. Why did he switch positions? "To lessen the chance of the ball being hit to him," says Lou! Love it!!

Another Cubs Win! day. Though this one did sting. Our ace Zambrano went out with his back. It must have been bothering him all day, he did not have any control. Ramirez is probably day to day after being hit in the side with that pitch. And our bullpen blew a 6 run lead, and a 3 run lead with 2 outs in the 9th. But I'll take the win. We need to collect them. The cubs have 3 days off the next 2 months. I'll say that again...the cubs team has a total of 3 days off for the rest of the year. I hope Lou's able to manage some rest in for the players the rest of the way. It's going to be a battle to the finish.

August plans

2009-07-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of resting up and setting goals for my ministry these next 3 months. It's hard to believe that I only have 3 months to go before my 2 year term is complete. This time has certainly opened my eyes to ministry and missions.

One thing I have come to learn is that I am called, like all Christians, to share Christ. I can do nothing on my own to bring people to Christ, but by opening my mouth God can choose to draw people to himself. Prayer is a powerful weapon we have as Christians, and the more I pray for my Wolof friends, the more my heart yearns for them to know Jesus as their Savior. My goal is going to be to do more praying while I am here. That's something that I can continue even after I leave here.

Another thing that I plan to do is to share in 2 of the villages that I am close to. I hope to spend 2-3 days a week visiting these areas and sharing stories to the people there. Even if I have to read the stories, my goal is going to be to present the gospel to these people so they will hear about God and about his Son, Jesus.

These 3 months are going to fly by. During my quiet times lately God has revealed to me my pride in being too dependent in many occasions. I have learned that I can do a lot of things on my own, but I do need encouragement and teaching from others. It helps to have good teachers so that the life lessons I learn are not always learned the hard way. I've made that mistake too many times! I am still struggling some days in feeling lonely, and hope to keep myself busy enough that the time continues to roll by.

So as I think about these next few months I hope to stay encouraged to work, and that I will walk in God's will as I share to my Wolof friends. Thanks to each of you for your prayers and petitions on my behalf in ministry here.

Team Poquoson

2009-07-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

It sure has been a busy summer, but a great summer in ministry and one that I'm sure not to forget for a long time. Our 3rd and final group of the summer came to work with us here, and we had a wonderful time getting to know each other and sharing the gospel with people we came in contact with.

Team Poquoson was a group of mostly highschool kids and adult chaperones who came to share with the kids who speak English here. They were challenged by the sights and sounds here. I think they were mostly able to sleep through the daily call to prayers, but the animal noises, bugs, and the heat brought out the discomforts in many.

In ministry as missionaries we often begin by telling everyone to be flexible during the journey, because there's no telling when we will have to change plans. This came to be true early on. Our ladies were planning on sharing Bible stories in a nearby village. On the day this began, the people of the village decided they no longer wanted to hear these stories, and asked us not to share any longer. So the ladies said their goodbyes, and we looked for other opportunities of ministry.

The funny trick about ministering with English speakers in town is that nearly all of the highschool students are young men that speak well enough to carry on a conversation. The women, in being culturally appropriate, really had noone they could hang out with and carry on a conversation with. They were persistent in their daily prayer walks around town, but I'm sure they wanted to do more.

Another rough point happened when a man passed away who lived next door to Pat and Elliott. This created a 3 day time of mourning for the entire block, and further handcuffed what the group could do in ministry. We had to be quiet and respectful of the family, and many of their friends who came over daily were not coming over for respect of the family.

Despite this, the group continued to go and visit their friends. They were able to get out, visit their friends at their houses, and do more prayer walking. God truly opened doors through their outgoing spirits. They met several families that we have yet to meet here, sharing pictures, sharing stories, and introducing the gospel to these families. I think they made enough power bands to share with most every person they came in contact with, and even learned how to say the Wolof words to describe the colors of the power band and what the colors represented. I was very overwhelmed how God used their efforts. Now I look forward to continuing these relationships over the next few weeks.

I'm going to miss this group. Having them come again was like having old friends over. Us guys had a wonderful time talking at night, hanging out, prayer walking together, and just catching back up. Meeting the newer ones in the group and hearing their stories was wonderful, too. I look forward to getting the chance to greet them again soon.

prayer with a purpose

2009-07-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

In planning a vacation, do you typically a) decide to go somewhere last minute, and whatever sounds like a fun time you do spur of the moment, or b) have to plan days, months in advance what to do, where to go, and budget accordingly? I'm in the B group. This weekend I tried to do the A group stuff, but I just didn't have a good time going with the flow. I give it up to those that can do things spur of the moment, I just can't do it!

That's much of my frustration these days. I do like clear direction, lists, direct supervision, and even pats on the back when a job is completed and well done. I've developed my time here as best I can to give me those times of approval. Some days I will only accomplish "see a friend" but know that because I spent time with that person, it was a day that I planted a seed about my faith.

By faith we know that God can move mountains. And we commit ourselves to be his hands and feet wherever we go. Prayer can and does open hearts and minds, and leads us to work through our faith.

The challenge is of course the work. And lately the work that my teammates have planned seem to be destroyed. I'll quote those that I know: unable to direct VBS camp in a village, forbidden to do basketball clinic, not given permission to do medical clinic. All those have in common these things: they happened this last month, to our Wolof team, and all were encouraged by those of authority just prior to the time the work was to begin.

The work, the best made plans, has seemingly fallen through. You can only imagine the disappointment that I feel. Yes, I know the first step in being a worker of God is to be flexible (if I had a nickel every time I've heard or said that myself). But I'm starting to test my elasticity these days. Elasticity measures the flexibility of an object. If it is elastic, it can be stretched and after tension releases it comes back to it's original shape. A rubber band is often thought of in this way as being very elastic. My elasticity is being tested, how will I bounce back form this? I'm not sure that I'm ready to make new plans in work. I'm not sure that I have my optimistic frame of mind when we break the huddle of the next plan.

So I'm brought back to prayer. And prayer with a purpose. My purpose in writing this is to inform you how you can pray for our Wolof team and for missions as a whole. This is my prayer today:

"God, you know the hearts of these people. You call them to yourself just as you died to all people. Lord, I admit that I am just a child, your child, who does not understand all of your ways. My desire, Lord, is that one day the Wolof people will come to know you. I know many are working among them today who may also be like me and feel discouraged. Open my eyes, Lord, and help me to listen to your calling upon my life. Allow me to be better molded and used by you today and these next 4 months to be your servant for the Wolof. Encourage others like me to continue in their work that you have ordained in their lives to do. May this be pleasing to your sight. Amen"

You all know that I don't like to sound discouraged. And I don't intend to be. My elasticity is going to test well, I am still very optimistic. It takes time to work among Mslim believers. Please pray for our next team. They arrive this week and will be here for 2 weeks. I look forward to working with them and will write you stories about their trip after they have visited. Until then!

free time!!

2009-07-01T14:10:00.000-07:00

You gotta love it when your supervisor tells you to "get some rest" for a period of 2 weeks. You see what the work load was for us during the month of June. Volunteer teams are great, and I love having them come. They are such an encouragement as well as an inspiration for us the workers living here. But many long days and laughter add up to short nights and much energy spent. I've taken the last week to rest up for our last group who comes so that I may be strong for them. And I can't let these kids out energize me!

So what have I done? Sleep? Not really. It's 100 degrees in my house at night these days. I just can't seem to get it cooled after the sun shines on the house all day long. What I have done, though, is read. I'm on book #3. I read a James Bond book and I read a John Grisham book already. This book that I am on now is the Borne Identity. It's been a surprisingly good book. For those of you who never have read the book but seen the movie, it's NOTHING like the movie. Honestly the only similarity is the 2 characters and that Borne has no memory of who he really is. Everything else is so much better! There's more action, more twists, and of course more detail. I highly recommend this book.

I've also gone to Dakar to spend the day at Goree Island. You can read more about Goree here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gor%C3%A9e
The short story is that it was once a slave trading site where ships would come and take slaves to the Americas (both north and south). They have a slave house that is open for touring. It's amazing how small the quarters were for the people to sleep. And it reminds the tourists that those slaves who didn't die during the voyage arrived weak and malnourished. Goree is a very popular tourist site in Senegal with many sellers offering paintings, jewelry, cloth, and musical instruments to would-be buyers. They have a few museums there (I really enjoyed seeing the museum today) a school, a few government buildings, and many other attractions. Mom and George, I apologize for not taking you guys to see this. From what I saw the first time I visited, it wasn't worth the trip. Today after getting to see it, I was more aware of all that it offered.

I've also got good intentions to still do a few visits with neighbors and friends. I haven't visited much so far this week (just 2 villages), but I do want to get out tomorrow and friday to see some good friends here in Mekhe. One person wants me to play the guitar for him and his family. When all this is done, Saturday I'm taking a weekend vacation to Saly, our beach not too far away. I will go there with the intent to read, swim, and listen to the NASCAR race online.

So that's what's been going on these last few weeks. I do feel rested up and don't want to overdo it before the next group comes. I'll be ready for them!!

july newsletter

2009-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! I hope this finds each of you enjoying your summer together-relaxing by the pool, mowing grass, sleeping late, and beating the heat. I always enjoy the summertime, though it seems that's the time I'm the most busy. Busy is good, and I'd like to tell you briefly what my summer has held for me so far.

Elliott, Pat, and myself have hosted 2 volunteer groups this summer. The 2nd week of June my friend Karen and her mom, Janice, came and visited for a week. They came to share stories and walk for the Wolof. We had a good time catching up and visiting with friends. We got to see the high school english club perform, we visited the mayor and had a great visit with his speech writer. And we visited several villages with the intent to share stories and build relationships in each village. Unfortunately we didn't get the opportunity to share a story, however, relationships were built and I know God will ordain a future time for stories to be shared in those villages. Please pray for these villages and the people who live here that God will speak to their hearts through future stories. May they be curious about knowing who He is. Incidently, that's my personal assignment for the next 4 months. I do plan to get out to these 2 areas at least once every week with the intent to share a story to the people.

The next group that came was from Fayetteville, NC!!! Small world we live in. There were people from a church actually in Linden who have known Elliott and Pat for over 25 years!! And they were able to come and plan a 3 day medical clinic in a village close by. Unfortunately we weren't able to do the medical work that we had planned, but it didn't stop us from visiting villages, walking for the Wolof, and having a good time together. I think the biggest praise in this manner was the ministering that this group of 3 was able to do for Elliott and Pat. I could tell from looking at them during the week how uplifted they both were. Please pray for Elliott and Pat as they continue their work among the Wolof. I can attest to how dry the work is here. And you've seen from these 2 examples how darkness can stop the best made plans so work cannot be done. Elliott is in the states right now visiting his father who is recovering from an operation. Pray for the healing of his dad and for the separation he and Pat are having to face. Be strong, guys!

Bet you thought our summer was over? Not quite. We still have one final group coming. They arrive next week and will spend 2 exciting weeks working with high school kids here. This group has been here before, and will continue building relationships with friends they already know as well as visiting new kids they may meet. Please pray for Justin and his group of 10 who will come and work with highschool students. Pray that they will have energy and enthusiam to play soccer, dance, and share stories that impact these students' lives.

Thanks for the empty hands held high in prayer. I love each of you!

Team 2

2009-06-25T17:12:00.000-07:00

From Jun 15-23 our team hosted a team of 3 volunteers from Fayetteville, NC, who came here for a medical volunteer assistance trip. We unfortunately were not able to do any health care work in villages as originally planned, but we had a wonderful time getting to know each other. We spent the week prayer walking over ministry here, we visited a few villages close by, and did some general ministry meeting friends.

I had a great time playing games and getting to know these people. They were fun to be around. I'm often teased around here, and enjoy the good humor that comes from that. But to see their passion for wanting to help others was truly remarkable. I'm grateful they were able to come, and despite our first plans not to have worked out, grateful that they were able to minister to Pat and Elliott. These are long time friends of the Nichols, and I know it warmed their hearts to see them come and visit for this week.

Now I am going to rest up in preparation for our next group which arrives in 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to some relaxing time. I plan to spend a few days in villages saying hi to friends. I have a friend who has shown incredible interest in hearing stories, and this will be an area that I will concentrate in the next weeks and months ahead. I'll probably do some reading in my spare time, too.

Vol. group 1

2009-06-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

This past week was a really fun week. Karen and Janice came to visit and work as a mother-daughter volunteer group with the Wolof people. We had plans to keep them busy during the week sharing about their stories from home and hoping to get the chance to share Bible stories. Here's some of the highlights of the week:

Saturday they arrived safe and sound. I picked them up from the airport and we headed up the highway to Ngaye. We were invited to join the local high school's English Club's end of year performance. Though it was supposed to start at 10, it started after 12 and ended after 3:30. It was a long performance. A few minor complaints were that yes it started way too late to drag so far after lunch time. And while a few of the cultural lessons were important to teach, the actors were too risque in telling the story. I was embarrassed for my guests.

We spent the rest of the weekend resting up, and we had a worship service Sunday morning together. We did go for a walk in the market, greeting people and seeing some of the sights around Ngaye.

Monday morning we visited the market, did some prayer walking around the neighborhood, and after lunch visited a village. Unfortunately this village had experienced a death, so it was not appropriate to stay. We greeted the family that I am friends with, and I promised to return when I could visit at a better time.

Tuesday everyone met at my house to prayer walk around my neighborhood. We saw the school, greeted some of my neighbors, and prayed for some of the mosques and religious teachers in the area. I let them greet 2 of my neighbors and see inside the compounds. They entertained us as we talked, and we left to go back for lunch. After lunch we left to go and visit village #2 for the week. This village houses one of my best friends here, and they were very excited when we arrived. We greeted the people, had some great conversations, saw a lot of pictures. Pat had a good spiritual conversation with a man there, a man that I have often talked to about spiritual things, too. Karen got to talk in French to some of the people. It was a very warm visit.

And Wednesday Karen and Janice went to the market in Ngaye to get some fabric to make outfits when they return home. We all did our last morning of prayer walking, seeing a house that is home to some of the talibe boys that are learning from the religious leaders and begging during the day around the town to earn their keep. As we walked we also prayed for the neighborhood, the people working, for food to be plentiful and for a good rainy season for the crops this year. We had an invitation to visit the mayor of Ngaye this morning, and visited with him and 2 of his co-workers. It was a brief meeting about what Janice and Karen do in the states, and them telling us of some of the cultural lessons and foods in Senegal.

The afternoon saw us visit village #3. This village just had a new baby! Just this day the baby was born-the father was my good friend that introduced me to the village, and he was away getting a birth certificate. We got to share about work in America, and they talked about the work they do in the village. After talking, we spend 30 minutes playing soccer with the kids. Karen and Janice presented balls for the children, and we left to happy faces.

Unfortunately we didn't get to share any stories during the week. With just women in the group we were conciencious of being culturally appropriate. Women cannot teach men, and cannot really teach children without direct permission. We asked in villages 2 and 3, but it just wasn't appropriate to teach.

But I feel that we were able to make some great connections. Visiting the English club, the mayor, and the 2 good visits in the villages, I thought it was a pretty successful week. I really wish we had been able to share stories this week. I continue to pray that God will use these contacts that we made this week to draw the people to himself. Maybe something could have been said so that they are more receptive in the future in hearing stories from God's Word.

June ministry update

2009-06-02T06:44:00.000-07:00

This year really has gone by fast. And with that I know my time left here is going to continue to zoom by. So I know to be intentional about what I do and who I speak with as my time winds down.

I'll first share briefly about my 3 neighbors. I have 3 separate people whom I'm beginning to develop good relationships with. One is a welder that lives in front of me. He is always asking about my guitar and inviting me over to his house for evening tea. I have been a few times and talked with his parents as well as him, just sharing casual conversation. It has dawned on me that I should tell him more about my guitar and why I have it. I brought it to lead worship songs, and he'd be delighted to hear that I use it when I sing to God.

A young man who lives in a village close by but stays 2 houses down from me and I have been talking a lot lately about a lot of things. One day I noticed that he wasn't getting ready for their friday prayer time-which is the most sacred time to pray for Muslims. I'd be similar to a devoted Christian not going to church on Sunday morning. So I asked him, "aren't you going to go and pray." he replied, "no I want to be a follower of Jesus, like you." Well, this floored me. And I wondered what level he was speaking on. Does he see me as a lazy believer, never seeing me pray and thinking that it must be easy to be a follower of Jesus? Or was he serious? I haven't had a moment alone with him to ask more as he's been away since that weekend, but in weeks to come I do plan to speak to him more about my faith.

Another neighbor who lives just next door and I have been talking a lot this week and the week before. He visited 2 separate villages with me and fell in love with some of the girls in those villages! He also has heard me share briefly about my faith to these people, and yet he still enjoys hanging around. So my work hasn't scared him away. I plan to develop this relationship so that he truly hears the gospel message and can choose for himself whom he will serve.

On that note, I plan to spend some time with each of these people this month and next. My other goal is to work in 2 separate areas sharing stories in villages that I come to. I would like for the people that I visit to know the God I serve, hear the gospel message, and hear it clearly enough to choose who they will serve. I pray that God will motivate me to share-this is going to be a big task. But I am confident that by his grace he can use me to speak to these people.

We have volunteer teams coming this month that will also assist in sharing stories to these villages. One group is coming for story telling and prayer walking June 5-12. Another group comes the 15-22 to do a medical clinic. Please lift these groups up in your prayers. And please pray for me to continue sharing about our risen Lord!

busy but fun day

2009-05-24T13:31:00.000-07:00

My! What a fun day I was able to share with friends on Saturday this weekend. I had planned to spend the day in Dakar with my friend, Yvette, and this is how the day unfolded.

The week before I had taken my vehicle in for service to Dakar, and was given a substitute truck to drive while it was in the shop. So Saturday I went first thing in the morning to Dakar to trade vehicles. I left a little later than I wanted, about 8 am, and arrived in Dakar just after 11. A 3 hour drive for 75 miles is never fun. Between construction, slow moving tractor trailer trucks, and vehicles breaking down traffic is often slow along this highway. You learn to just be patient while driving, but there's a bit of aggression you also have to use while driving or else you'll never get into Dakar.

Once I arrived I talked briefly with Arnett and Crystal E, missionary friends who work in Mali. They're in town to have a baby! Hopefully for Crystal, butterbean will arrive tomorrow, Monday. I know she's ready to be able to sleep in more than 1 position, and ready to be a new mom!

Then I took my vehicle (which is running pretty well now!) and drove to Yvette's where we spent some time yaking, went out for lunch, went shopping briefly, and back to her house to watch a movie. Yvette's got a video projector she uses in her college ministry, so we got to see the movie Miracle on the wall-much like a movie theater. We even had brownies!! I enjoyed the movie, even though I had seen it several times. I really enjoyed seeing her happiness as it brought back many high school video memories she had of shooting the mid-level professionals that played in her town. She couldn't sit still!

After the movie was over, I said goodbye (sniff sniff). She's leaving to go back to the states in 2 weeks. One of the drawbacks in the life of a missionary is that so many people that are special to you in your life come and go. Missionaries are always on the go and have families in multiple cities, states, and even countries. I've learned that it's always hard for me to leave and have to say goodbye to my friends. But thanks to technology today goodbyes don't have to last so long. Anyone is a phone call away.

So, after leaving Yvette's place (that could be a song), I went to pick up mega voices from my team member, Stan. A mega voice is a solar powered recorder that has Wolof stories on it. So rather than spend time sharing stories with people who sometimes are afraid of what a crowd may say if the individual is interested in hearing more stories about Jesus, the missionary can lend this mega voice to an individual so he/she can hear stories on their own time. It's a good ministry tool. I'm going to ask to use a few as well as I begin to concentrate my work in 2 areas.

I enjoyed my brief chat with Stan. He's a lot like me in that he loves sports. I also like hearing how his ministry is going in Dakar. After leaving his house I started back home. But while going home, I dropped by another missionary friend's house, Jason. Jason has a volunteer team this week and next. I got there just after they finished showing a movie and eating supper, and got to chat briefly with them. It was nice to see them and catch up with Jason, see his family, and have a few more laughs with everyone.

This shows that yes I can have busy days. I enjoy being around people and catching up with their stories. It's interesting to know I can hear people's stories in 2 languages now-however I'll always prefer using English. Yet this is why I've learned Wolof, to be able to share stories about my true love, Jesus, in the heart language of the Wolof people. Continue to pray for me that I can take life stories that are fun and interesting and also share the life stories of Jesus to my Wolof friends. Only 5 months left of ministry here, and I want these months to be as effective as possible so that God's Word may be known to the Wolof people.

Sports Report

2009-05-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a report about sports, so for something a little different, here are some thoughts I have lately while keeping track of the 3 big sports going on in America.

My Chicago Cubs.
I don't care how much you do or don't know about baseball. The simple fact is the team that scores the most runs wins every time. Doesn't matter how you score 'em, long as they cross the plate that's all that matters. Consider these stats by the cubs as of May 20.

They are a respectable 21-17. I had my doubts about this team earlier, but since writing about it to a few of my friends they have since played pretty well. However, in games that they score 3 runs or fewer, they are an astounding 0-14. I'll say that again, they haven't won a single game when scoring 3 runs or fewer. And they've played nearly 40 of em! This isn't an accident folks, the teams need to score runs. In games they do score 4 or more runs, they are a very good 21-3.

Where does run production begin? Why, at the leadoff spot, of course. Mr. Alfonso Soriano, please take the stand. Can you tell us, please, sir, how it is that in games that your team has lost, you have the following stats: 13hits in 64 at bats for a .203 average. You've scored a total of 8 runs in the 16 of those games you've played, you have 2 of your 12 home runs and only 3 rbi's, while striking out a whopping 17 times. I make it my mission, sir, to have you in a spot within the lineup that suits your power production. I'm tired of you babying your fans and your team with this me-first attitude-literally seeing as how you cry to your manager any time he doesn't have you in the leadoff spot. You make $17 million dollars during an economic crisis playing a sport that probably half of America would gladly play for free. Please, sir, for the better good of the team, hit third and protect Derrick Lee-especially while our horse Ramirez is out with a shoulder.

My 2 cents on Michael Vick
Michael Vick did an awful thing, as many of you know, by getting into illegal dog fighting and killing the dogs that were not performing well. He was incarcerated for 22 months and served his time. It remains to be seen if he will play another down in the NFL again.

What he did was terrible. While I personally don't think what he did was punishable by a prison sentence--I'm more mad at drivers who drive under the influence. I think they should be locked up, then maybe there'd be less drunk drivers killing innocent people--that can't be taken away from him. It's not like he was killing Benji. The dogs he killed were attack dogs that sat alone in the dark all day long and only got out to chase a squirell tail while running on a treadmill in training to fight other dogs. To me his only crime was running this illegal dog fighting operation. Before you jump over me after I've said that, know that I'm a huge dog lover, as I've had dogs all my life.

Now that he has been freed, he will begin his life afresh (read very big sarcastic asteriks there). IF he gets a chance to sign with an NFL team-John Clayton of ESPN seems to report that just the mention of a team that MIGHT be interested in giving Vick a chance responds to his assumptions with nasty phone calls and hate mail-he'll have to compete for a backup job. Lots of owners I'm afraid already have a preceived notion they will never give this man a second chance. We don't even know what he's learned from these chain of events.

However, none of this probably matters in the first place. I believe that he will never regain the game speed and efficiency needed to run a team on the NFL level. Look at college quarterbacks who begin to learn a new system. It takes them a lot of time to do so. Many learn for the first year before even attempting a pass in a game. And many good college quarterbacks never succeed at the NFL level. Vick has been 2 years removed from a very fast game and will be trying to play arguably the hardest position to play based on speed of the game, timing, and instincts. It's going to be awful hard to get that back.

My 2 cent opinion is this: Michael Vick served a great sentence for a horrendous offense. His time is served and he will never get back those 2 years that he missed with the speed, practice, and timing of the NFL. I personally don't see him ever becoming a legitimate NFL quarterback again, even if he is given a chance. I am sad about this, because I was a fan of his. Vick is a very exciting runner with a cannon for a left arm. Talent like that comes along once in 10 years, and it is a shame we didn't get to see his full potential. Vick, best of luck to you as you start afresh. I hope you're given a second chance on life and that you use it wisely.

Basketball:
LeBron or Kobe?
This is the interesting debate that is going on now. I'm not sure why, there's no question LeBron talent-wise is hands down the best NBA player today-and perhaps the greatest talent we've ever seen. Kobe, on the other hand, is on the down spiral of his career. He's logged over 1100 games plus about 150 post season games. Knees start to wear down once that # games played is greater than 1000. But he is still a very legitimate threat to take over a game at any time.

All players have strengths and weaknesses. Kobe's weakness is that he's a me-first player. Late into his career (and while being surrounded by better talent) he has learned how to be a better team player. However, he still wants to get his. You'll see him quit occasionally (game 3 vs Houston in this year's playoffs) when he is not involved offensively as if to tell everyone, "see, this is what this team is without me." Don't get me wrong, I love to watch Kobe play. He's a relentless defender, and I do like his cocky attitude. I think anyone who is great at sports ought to have a little cockiness to attach to it.

LeBron, on the other hand, is still coming into his own after 5 years in the league. The kid's only 24 years old. He can play any position 2-5 offensively and defensively. He constantly draws double and triple teams. His dunks are often viewed as highlight films, and every teenager imagines being him when on the court. At 24 he's being hyped as the best player to ever play the game. However, he has one glaring weakness that I've never read printed nor ever heard debated how this may affect his career. He is a below average free throw shooter. Granted, he still has years to improve on this part of his game. I read once where Michael Jordan told his college coach Dean Smith that it took him 8 years before he felt he could hit a free throw at any stage of the game. Kobe hits his free throws. LeBron will go 6-10 in a one point game and miss 3 in the 4th quarter of that game. LeBron, you want to be great? Spend a little less time on those 40 foot jump shots and a little more time on that 15 foot set shot. With your potential you should be shooting 20 free throws or more a game.

Today I would rank Kobe ahead of LeBron. Kobe has 3 rings, although he was the 2nd best player on those teams. When/if he gets a ring while being the star of his team, he'll climb even further up the ladder. LeBron's not quite there yet. He's never won a conference final, let alone an NBA championship. Let's see where the dominoes fall, but as of today this sports fan puts Kobe on top of this debate. I hope we get to see these 2 warriors compete against each other in the NBA finals this year.

And with that, the sports report rests. Comments?

light week

2009-05-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hi all! This last week was one to sorta forget. I don't know why I was down. Perhaps everyone has a rough week no matter what they're doing. I did stay up several nights listening to ball games, so lack of sleep may have made for the tough week, too.

Anyway, I did have a really good weekend. I visited my neighbors on Saturday. One neighbor was having a gamu celebration. I stopped by briefly to listen to some of the music they were playing, and I had tea with everyone. And I visited 2 other neighbors as well briefly.
Today I had a good time visiting 2 families on the other side of town. It had been awhile since I had seen these families so I told some brief stories about my family and about things I have done lately around town and in the villages I work in. It was a good Wolof speaking day for me, and I enjoy the extra confidence that gives me to communicate with others.

Tonight I am again listening to a basketball game before going to bed. It's awful late and I have a big day tomorrow, so I hope that I'll have energy to get through it. Thanks again for your prayers. I'm encouraged that this is going to be a good week, and I'm looking forward to its beginning.

random list

2009-05-11T18:16:00.000-07:00

there's a popular 'top 5' lists going on now on facebook. I'm for some reason not big on those lists, but for some reason feel like making some myself. What makes this interesting is that I will end up posting this under 'notes' on facebook so more people can read it. Please comment if you'd like me to post more top 5 subjects. I'm going from the top of my head on this, and creativity isn't my strong suit!

books I'm in the process of reading or are next on the list:
-Arabian Nights (these are really good tales, if anyone's a novel reader)
-Picture of Dorian Grey
-James Bond
-the strange case of dr. jekyll and mr. hyde
-Bible (always on the list)

Places to visit:
-Cairo, Egypt
-Brazil
-India
-Israel
-London

Places I've been but want to go back:
-Washington, DC
-NYC
-Charleston, SC
-Savannah, GA
-(blank)

Things I do on any given day in Senegal:
-walk to the market
-visit my neighbors
-drink hot tea
-text and speak Wolof with my friends
-spend 3+ hours on the computer because there's nothing else to do at nights

CDs I listen to:
-Toby Mac portable sounds
-Aerosmith's greatest hits
-Elton John's greatest hits
-Billy Joel's greatest hits
-Rescue-the difference

websites I visit:
-my 2 email sites
-wral for news from NC
-espn
-facebook
-google or wikipedia to answer burning questions

meals I cook for myself:
-spaghetti
-chili and rice
-hamburgers/hotdogs and fries
-chicken of some sort
-pork chops

sports teams I root for:
-Chicago Cubs
-NC State athletics
-Boston Celtics
-Carolina Panthers
-(blank)

cute story

2009-05-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Let me share a cute story that happened last week.

I was going into a village to meet a friend I haven't seen in awhile. He's a farmer, and lately has been 'rooting' his fields. They do this chore by hand with a hoe on a long stick, so it takes a lot of time to plow the field, put the piles together, and burn the piles. I haven't seen my friend in probably 2 months of visits, though I have spoken to others in his compound.

Today as I went I noticed quite a few changes. They have a new sewing boutique and are training some new workers there, including someone from my friend's compound. And interestingly enough, the boutique is there in this compound. So I spent time talking with the new workers and admiring their work so far. Then I talked with others as well.

It was getting time for me to leave, and I told everyone that I needed to go home because darkness was coming. But sure as I said that, those in the compound said, "no, wait, your friend's coming." So I waited, and sure enough, he came 10 minutes later. And while he showered up I waited outside under a tree.

Here's the interesting part. While I was waiting, I had 4 girls about 10 years old come up to me and ask about me being a Christian. So I shared briefly about my faith in Jesus, and that because I believe in him I believe that when I die I will go to heaven and live with him. They were fascinated, and wondered if I would drive my car when I go to heaven! So I laughed and said, no, I believe that when I die, Jesus will take me immediately to heaven. Then they asked about my prayer habits, how many times I pray, what I pray, how I pray. They wondered if I pray ritually like they do. Muslims bow prostrate when they pray, reciting a verse from the Koran as they do. I said, no, I simply close my eyes and say a simple prayer. And I did pray in Wolof how I would normally pray. I said something like, "Thank you, God, for this day, for my family who lives in America, and for my friends who live here in this village. I ask that you give them peace today. Amen."

At that time, my friend called me into his room, so I excused myself and went to meet him. The kids followed me in his room and after introductions were made they went back to asking more about my faith and praying. But my friend interrupted them and said, "we don't talk about that in here." I looked at him and said quietly that it's ok to me if they do, but his look back indicated that he was not ok with the conversation. So quickly the kids filed out of the room and I didn't get to say goodbye to them.

I am disheartened that this story ended this way. But I am very encouraged that the little influence I have had with this village and family has caused these kids to want to know more. I earnestly pray that they will continue to be hungry for truth from God's Word, and that they will find answers to their questions. I hope that I can talk more with them, too.

may's news

2009-05-09T18:05:00.001-07:00

This year is really rolling along! I find it so hard to believe that the time is going so fast. It reminds me that each day is important and that I need to take advantage of each opportunity to share with others. Lately I have simply taken the idea that I’m here to simply be a friend to those that I know. That concept has helped me to understand that I don’t have to share stories about Jesus everywhere I go. I can’t control when others come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but I can be a friend to those that I come in contact with. I enjoy being a friend and find it satisfying to be able to share more when the opportunity presents itself.

With that being said, I’m spending my days and weeks balancing my time with friends in the villages and here in Mekhe. 2-3 days a week I’ll go out to visit in a village. I have 4 that I go to regularly. When I visit, we typically have casual conversation while drinking tea. I’ve also been able to go and greet everyone in these villages when I do go. That takes awhile sometimes! Or when I’m visiting my friends in my neighborhood we simply talk together about the week, about family, and about life in Senegal. So many people want to go to America here that American culture and life constantly comes up in conversation. I share simple stories about my life growing up, and remind my friends that the life they have here is very good.

Pray for me as I continue these conversations with my friends. I enjoy talking with them all. Pray that I will find the energy to speak Wolof and venture out daily, and also pray that these conversations would lead to a time that I can share spiritual truth. Also, please pray for our Wolof team, that God will continue to use our efforts and show himself to our friends here in Senegal.

so I waited...

2009-04-28T17:12:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days that you just have to laugh at what goes on around you. Although it wasn't enjoyable during this time, looking back later today I did have to laugh as I share the story.

Sunday as I hung out with a friend, I met one of his friends who is a mechanic. He told me anytime I had problems with my car I could take it to him and he would be happy to fix it. And I asked him if he could fix an air conditioner. My a/c is not cold anymore, and if I could get it fixed it'd probably be cheaper than my business office doing it in Dakar. So I planned to take it to him today. Well, after 3 hours of waiting, they finally came to me and told me that they needed to get some gas (I'm assuming this is freon) to charge it. He says he can fix it tomorrow. I'll take it to him again tomorrow afternoon and try this again.

During the time I did get to talk with a friend for awhile. We had a good talk catching up. It had been awhile since I had seen him. He's a national missionary living here in Ngaye. Since he's done a lot of traveling lately we had just missed each other lately. So it was nice to catch up on ministry stories, asking about family, and about some computer stories he had lately. I like listening to him talk-his Wolof is very clear. When I hear him speak I understand very well. Today was a good understanding day in Wolof, especially during this conversation.

Ok, back to more funny waiting. I decided that I was tired and wanted to try a new restaurant in a nearby town. I see this "restaurant-fast food" sign on the highway each time I pass through, and I wanted to see how the food was. Fast food here simply means hamburgers, fries, and sandwiches. It doesn't necessarily mean fast service. So I knew that going there, and I also knew that I arrived a little early. But what happened is not normal. When I arrived I greeted everyone and sat down to talk to everyone. During the conversation I did say that I had come for lunch and wanted to have a sandwich. 20 minutes later noone had brought me a menu or said anything about lunch coming. So I went to buy something and said that I'll eat when I get back. I returned, again asked for a sandwich, and again sat down and talked. While we all talked there were 3 of the workers busy cutting up potatoes for french fries. After another 30 minutes, I say that I'm going for a quick walk and will come back. I come back 2 minutes later, again go up to a lady, and say, "Ma'am, can you cook me a hamburger? I want to eat, I am hungry." "ok, it's coming," she promised. I never saw her for the next 40 minutes. Finally after waiting for a full hour and a half, I decide this is not worth it, and stand up to leave. I say goodbye to everyone. They didn't even ask or offer that lunch was coming-which is an oddity in this culture. I can't visit anyone here in town during the day without them asking me to stay for lunch or for supper. So I will never go back to this restaurant. I got back home, fixed a peanut butter sandwich, and took a nap. I was exhausted after all this waiting today.

just friends

2009-04-26T15:42:00.000-07:00

I think it has taken me until this month perhaps just to get comfortable with my role here as a missionary. Yes, that weighs heavy on me because it shows that I am not a fast learner. That'd be a good characteristic to have. Maybe I can find ways to improve on that. However, now that I've learned what my role can be here, I can own up to that more and define it with purpose. And that purpose is simply to be a friend to others here. There's other things that I can add to these relationships when the time comes. But my main objective with people is to be their friend.

So you may ask what I've been doing with my time? Well, I'm continually adapting to this culture, and I'm gaining friends by talking to new people each week. But my intent was to be sharing at some point with these contacts, and trying to schedule when appropriate times to share will be. Now, I'm just letting myself be more natual in the opportunities that are presented. I can't control opportunities, but one thing I can do is simply be a friend to others.

With that in mind, this month I've opened myself up to simply going out and visiting with friends that I am close to. Several of my neighbors call me over to visit or come and sit at my house themselves. I've enjoyed these visits so much. Within the visits I'm just being myself-joking with them, asking about their family, their day, their work or what they learn in school. And if the conversations drift to talking about God we will comfortably talk about that.

Now that I've said that, I do claim this as a victory despite it taking so long to get here. I do hope to stay comfortable in this role with those around me. And I hope that spiritually I will be strong enough to know when good times come available to stretch these friendships into sharing about my Father. Right now though, despite knowing that my friends are lost and have no knowledge of Jesus as their Savior, I wish to simply be a person that points to Jesus. I pray that one day they may come to know him. When that day comes, to God be the glory!!

quickie

2009-04-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

I am uneasy thinking about this with 6 months still to go in my term, but I have ordered and received confirmation on tickets back home. In thinking about my 2 years going by as fast as it seems and that I still wish that I could do so much more than I have done here, it's tough to think about going home already. I have many friends here whom I love. The day I leave will be very tough to say goodbye. However, I will enjoy so much getting reaquainted with so many of my friends and church family from home.

Since I'm sure you're wondering, I'll tell you that I will arrive home Nov. 3. More info to come at a later time!

new team mate

2009-04-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Our Wolof team is welcoming a new worker to Dhara this week. Bertha V., a masters missionary from Houston, Texas, will begin her ministry in Dhara after spending the last 6 months learning Wolof in Dakar. Bertha is an extrodinary person to meet, and you quickly know from talking with her that she loves her family, loves Jesus, and wants to see you make yourself better. I wish her well as she transitions to Dhara to begin ministering to the Wolof in the area there.

This week I had the opportunity to ride to her apartment to help set things up. Elliott, Pat, and myself all went up together to see what final touches needed to be made before she arrived. We'll do some final preparations when we all go with Bertha later this week to make her home as comfortable as possible. She may still have a few things she'd like to do that she can ask her new friends and her land lord to do for her. Her house is really lovely.

I will say that I enjoyed the trip up to Dhara to see the house. With my construction interests and servant heart, I love the chance to do things like this. It was a good way to get away for a day and do something a little different, too.

Remember Bertha in your prayers as she begins making new friends and settling into her new home! :)

Easter

2009-04-13T16:51:00.000-07:00

Things around here lately have been basically the same. I am starting to meet new neighbors but overall the conversations remain the same. So I was glad for Easter week to come! I really needed a break in the schedule as I could tell I was getting in a rut.

So I planned to take a weekend break to Dakar. Come to find out our missionary family had planned to have a egg hunt, games, and lunch together. We met and did this. Everyone brought something to share-some brought cake, desserts, fixins for hamburgers, drinks, chips, and people brought eggs for hiding and for the egg toss.

The games were a blast. We played red rover, duck duck goose, tug of war, we had an egg toss, and also hid eggs for the kids.

I'll first tell about the egg hunt. The kids divided into 3 group levels. Toddlers below 3 found eggs hidden in the grass and small shrubs. The 4-7 year olds found eggs hidden a little better-in tire swings, inside shrubs and flowers, and some more obvious hiding places. And then a lot of the adult men got to hide for the teenagers. I was a part of this hiding team, and we had a blast challenging them. We must have hid 30 eggs 6 feet off the ground or higher. I'm sure they thought they'd be finding eggs in the grass when the came out. But nope, we challenged them! I think I hid ten eggs 15 feet or so in a tree. It took them awhile but they did find them all once they learned what we did. They climbed every tree after finding the first few.

Lunch was really good. The host dad cooked hamburgers for everyone. We had baked beans, potato salad, and a few desserts for our meal. And the afternoon the adults got together for tug of war, and we sat around talking as well.

Oh, yes, the egg toss. That was interesting to be a part of and watch! My egg ended up hitting a tree. Some of the others did really well. And these eggs, though they weren't hard boiled, seemed to be pretty tough eggs! many of them hit the ground several times before breaking. And others broke in people's hands as they caught them.

It really was a super time together. I'm so glad we were able to do this.

Vol. group from Mississippi

2009-03-27T07:14:00.000-07:00

When I was applying to be a missionary, one thing that I really looked forward to was the future opportunity to work alongside church partners and volunteer groups who would come on the mission field to assist in sharing the gospel. Serving others is a passion of mine, and I've always loved guiding others in service.

That being said, I had another wonderful experience with our volunteer group that came this past week. This was a church group of 5 adult men and women from Mississippi. Some colleagues here in Senegal attend this church, and they came to visit this family. While in Senegal for 2 weeks, they were able to spend 4 days with Elliott, Pat and me.

The group arrived Monday morning. After breakfast Elliott talked about the culture here in the villages to prepare them for sights and sounds they would experience. Most mornings we broke up into prayer walking groups of 3 and walked over the village here to pray for the people and for God to begin working. Monday they also were able to experience our market.

Most afternoons we spent time in villages. The women visited with Pat in some villages her and Elliott are working in. Elliott and I took the men to villages and visited with the men of these villages. We also were able to let the teenage children of our colleagues visit the local highschool and french club to speak with the students.

There's always the challenge in this culture of finding friends when they are not busy. When visiting one village, our friend the village chief was busy with a water leak in the town. While grateful that he did take time to talk with us and open his home to our guests, we were sensitive to his schedule and left a bit sooner than we planned. Also, when I was prayer walking with my group, I was hoping to introduce some of my friends and made plans to do so. However, when arriving, we were not able to find 3 of these friends to talk with. As missionaries and guests in the culture we do have to be flexible in organizing our time with friends.

But with challenges there are often rewards as well to celebrate.
*Pat and her group of women were able to share the story of Ruth in its entirety to 2 separate villages.
*My prayer walking team and I shared about the concept of the trinity to one of my good friends. This friend is a student of the Islamic faith. We often have conversations like this where I try to relate my faith to him. I told him that God and Jesus are equal, even though we consider them to be Father-Son. It's like my friend here. I know him by his American name, while you know him by his Senegalese name. He's still the same person. Jesus is God, but came to earth as a man. It's very difficult to understand; however you see Jesus as a great prophet. He claimed to be God's Son. You should accept his words as truth if you know he is a good prophet. He then wanted me to read some books he had about his faith, and I told him I would read them if he would read the New Testament in Wolof that I would give him. So I pray that he will read this and consider it's message.
*My prayer walking team was also able to share a story with a religious leader and his 2 friends as well. We told these men the story of Lazarus. Unfortunately one man walked away during the story, so we stopped. But we did say a prayer for these men, and prayed in Jesus' name.

This group was a wonderful group. I certainly appreciated their prayers for me in my personal life, my ministry, and my future. I was very encouraged by their presence. I was also very intrigued to see the culture through their eyes. As they recognized the severe darkness here in Ngay Mekhe, I am deeply reminded of the work that is before us. I know God is bigger than this, but I know that I am not capable of even waking up in the mornings without him. As this group has come, it has allowed me to focus on my goals for my ministry. When I came, I did think that I could lead some of my closest friends to Christ. Although I pray for that to happen, I have come to realize that it does take years of ministry to lead a Muslim believer to know truth. Now I wish simply to be a man of Christ to the Wolof people. When they see me, I want them to know that I am a follower of Christ, and that I have come so that they may hear about Jesus my Savior and Lord. May God grant us perseverance to continue sharing with the Wolof people.

elections

2009-03-20T17:00:00.000-07:00

This week we have had campaigns all week long. In David H's opinion, this is more fun than elections in America. I guess I can't really argue with that too much, though it is quite different. On Sunday this week (3/22) people will elect mayors and the positions similar to a regional seat for the next 2 years. So this week especially has been a time of campaigning for these who want the office.

At least it's only been a week of this, but wow has this been a loud week around here. When people hold meetings, they meet from 7 pm until sometimes 1 or 2 in the morning. These meetings typically have loud speakers, singers, dancers, and people to play drums as they dance and celebrate. Then the speaker will get up around 8 or 9 to speak about what is on his mind, changes he will plan to make and things he will immediately do, and then asks the people for their support financially. I've seen these meetings get started. Between 500-1000 people in the neighborhood will come and listen. Many leave very excited about the changes that will perhaps be made.

I drove through a village town not far from here today. They were campaigning in town and the whole village was drawn to it. I would bet 4,000 people were walking along the street and gathering as it started. Many were already wearing the t-shirts that were given away to gain support. It does seem like the people enjoy these meetings.

But here are some of the drawbacks:
-First of all, the noise. It's tough to sleep when these meetings are going on til 1 am and are 30 feet from your bedroom.
-Next, we'll mention the idea of being a politician. They're all the same. They think they have a new idea, they want to do something a new way, but in the end they eat the money of the people. Politicians here want to do what everyone before them wanted to do: bring power, telephone, and water to all the people-even people in the villages. They also talk about lowering food prices. But they don't talk about improving education or health care, which should be their top priorities.
-and finally, the idea that the promises the politicans are making are things that they may not follow through on.

I do pray that this time of electing new local leaders will be a peaceful event. I will be sure to enjoy observing this on Sunday.

my week in review

2009-03-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

This has been a busy week around here for me. I took time each day to go out into the villages and visit friends there. This led to some very good conversations as we shared pictures, took pictures together, shared stories, and talked about my faith and some of the prophets of the Old Testament. I'm always so happy to be able to share moments like this with my friends, and sharing the pictures that I have of my family seemed to be a great way to break the ice with my new friends in these village towns. And not only did I prepare to share pictures, but I also prepared to share a story from God's Word during these visits.

The story that I am sharing now talks about the faith Abraham had in God. As I tell the story of Abraham, I conclude by sharing about my faith in God and Jesus as his Son. So far I have had some very good conversations with my friends regarding Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I have gone over the hurdle of just being friends with people it seems to them knowing that I am a follower of Jesus and that I have come to share stories about the prophets and about Jesus with the people. When I introduce myself to a new person in the group, before I can add much to my story, someone shares that "he's a follower of Jesus." I see this as a distinguishing characteristic that my friends know about me, and I proudly hold on to that reputation. When people see me and tell me "you're a good person," and think of me as "a follower of Jesus," I give God the glory that I can be like Christ to my friends. Continue to pray for their hearts to be opened by God's Spirit as he speaks through me in these stories.

Ooo, also, I'd like to let you know that my supervisors-Elliott and Pat-along with myself, will be hosting a volunteer team next week. Please also pray for their safety in traveling and the work that they will be doing next week. I think we will be visiting villages and doing prayer walks during the 4 days they are here.

synopsis of work

2009-03-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone! I thought I'd take a chance just to let you know some of the work that I'm doing. I'm doing this simply to help refocus prayer efforts more specifically on the friends and sharing that I am doing these days.

In my neighborhood, I am currently spending time with 3 families, a teacher, and 2 boutique workers. I'd like to begin sharing stories with these families, but I do notice that it seems to be most difficult to find the men of the house home. Most men work here in the village. Maybe this will lead to me doing a large group sharing time on Sunday afternoons 2x a month in my neighborhood, and I can specifically invite this group of people for this.

In the villages I have visited with 7 villages. I have one friend in a village that has introduced me to 4 of these. There are two neighbors that have introduced me to the village they were born in. This relationship with them has led to these villages being opened to me. I hope that soon I will get the opportunity to share with these people, too.

In the market of Ngay Mekhe, I have several friends that I am speaking with consistently as well. I spend time with a construction worker and his crew, a welder, a boutique worker, and my tailor.

These are all very close friends that I have, and I would say that I see each of these people at least every other week, usually more often than that. Some of our talks last only 30 minutes, other conversations can last up to 3 hours. Please continue to pray for me to stay encouraged in sharing stories with these people. The relationships are there and obviously I have a lot of people I can be sharing with. I hope that I'm able to take these friendships and enjoy the time I have with each person. Thanks for your prayers :)

Gamu

2009-03-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

This is a new word for the day: Gamu. So, out of curiosity, who knows what a Gamu is?
a)a Senegalese food dish
b) a hairy lizard that bobs its head up and down
c)a celebration
d)what people call the temperature when it's 120 degrees.

Three weeks ago, I wouldn't have known the answer either. A Gamu is a celebration. It's a once a year thing where people get together to celebrate the birth of Muhammad. During this time they eat and eat and eat and eat, they share stories about the year that passed and catch up with family members that they have not seen in awhile. And then they take time to reflect on what Muhammad and the prophets had spoken to all people.

Today I went to a Gamu. It was in a good size town but 15 miles (yes, 15) into the bush. We arrived with goodies for helping prepare lunch. And we took time to greet many people in the village.

Lately I have spent a lot of time with my homeowner and his family. They had wanted to go and celebrate the Gamu here, and I reluctancly agreed. For one, I'm still a little hesitant in celebrating Islamic festivities. And 2, I knew that there would be a billion people on the road today. When the roads are busy, it's best to stay in town. People are not good drivers here, and if something happens and you're stranded, it's a tough spot to be in. But all this aside, I did agree to go, and so we went.

We left at 12 and got there about 1. After greeting the friends and families we knew, we made our way around the village. I got 3 lunch meals-which is normal at these celebrations. Every family makes a ton of food and if you visit you're expected to eat with the family. So I ate (sparingly) each time. We ate one of my favorite meals, rice and beef (cebu yap-pronounce the 'c' sound like the ch consonant sound). One of the families was having a wedding celebration today, and we celebrated with the family during the afternoon. After lunch, the people in the bedroom we were all in sang songs and danced. I even got down and boogied (yes I just said boogied, I'll never do it again) 2 or 3 times. I wouldn't call it dancing, whatever it was I did. There were a ton of people in the 12 ft x 12 ft bedroom-at least 40. Least it wasn't too hot today. And after eating and drinking, we made our way back around greeting people again as we left to go home.

It was a long day today being in the village. But I was grateful for the time spent with my friends and my new friends in this village. My highlight that I have to share was probably 2 things. One was getting to dance and sing and the response I got from that. Everyone loved it and laughed really hard. And the other highlight was talking to a man before we left. When he found out I could speak Wolof, he asked me what I thought of the Gamu today and what I learned. That's the best question anyone can ask after any experience, by the way. So I opened up to him, reviewing all I did during the day and putting into words what I understood the celebration to signify. When I said that a Gamu is a time to review all the prophets have spoken, he said, ok, tell me, what story did you review? And this is EXACTLY why I had come to this town. You can't ask for a better invitation to share a story. All this work to prepare stories in Wolof and to share creation to cross, is in preparation for these times.

I asked permission to share a story, and this man agreed to let me speak. So I did, I opened up and shared with him the creation story as I have learned it, speaking loud enough for all 30 people in the room to hear. And after talking about Adam and Eve and their sin, and being kicked out of the Garden of Eden, I said, you know, God is a just God. And he is merciful. Adam and Eve saw that they cannot choose to satisfy themselves. Today, you and I cannot choose to satisfy ourselves. When we do not choose God, we sin. But God sent a Savior to the world to give us life again. His name is Jesus. And if we believe in Jesus, we can have life again. And I left it at that.

My 2 friends continued to talk about the story in more sophiticated Wolof than I can speak with the men in the room while I prayed silently for the words to be clear and the conversation to speak truth. My friends have heard this story several times, and I was confident they could talk about what I wanted to say. And I did interject a few more thoughts as well. But this was a great 15 minute highlight of the day.

Now I'm exhausted and I think my bed and a new James Bond book is calling me. Thanks again for your continued prayers. Last week was a tough week with missed appointments and unclear words. I do hope this is the start to a wonderful week of sharing this week.

our new AGS

2009-03-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to Dakar for a meeting with our new Affinity Group Strategist (AGS), Tim Clearley, along with his wife, Charlotte. I was first very happy to find that they are very ordinary people, very humble people who realize the challenge and enormosity of the job they have before them. Tim will be the lead strategist for all of Sub-Saharian Africa. It will be his job as we move forward to see that the advancement of the gospel is efficient and effective. My prayers go out to him and Charlotte as they transition into this assignment.

Tim is an NC State grad! Right then and there he had my love! He is also very passionate for lost people. I know that will drive him in this new position.

Tim and Charlotte are traveling to various places in West Africa to greet many of the missionaries working here. Through these meetings he is telling his testimony and introducing some of the new ideas that his team is currently working on. Through the meeting yesterday I was able to hear his story and hear him tell of the plans they are continuing to work on. And I was excited to be a part of this meeting. Being the lowest member of the totem pole, I often would not get called in on something like this in other businesses. I thought our gathering was very productive yesterday.

So Tim and Charlotte, you have my prayers as you continue to set goals and meet deadlines, as you travel and as you learn some of the challenges we do face in sharing the gospel here in Africa. Along with you, our #1 goal is that all peoples, tribes, nations, and tongues will hear and know of Jesus as the Savior and Messiah.

prayer drive

2009-02-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

Today Elliott and I went out for an adventure! 2 Saturdays each month we try to make time for a prayer drive to villages on the outskirts of Mekhe. Today was a day for that.

Our drive today took us into the wilderness! I've always enjoyed exploring new places, and seeing new places was fun today. I'm constantly amazed when exploring new places that a) the agricultural fields rarely change much, and b) there are some people living in villages that are really in the middle of nowhere.

Today we didn't stop and greet anyone. However, we did pray for each village we drove through. I am not sure if we would even be able to find the villages again, but God did speak to me today through this prayer drive. For me, I'm eager to get out and greet the people as I see a new village. I have to remember, though, that our strategy in doing these prayer drives is to first let God do the work before us in preparing these villages for our visits. So we first pray without contact. After prayer and encouraging churches to pray with us for these villages and the people, we will begin to contact the people. We'll introduce ourselves, probably beginning next month, and then over the next several months we will begin meeting with the men of the village and ask permission to share stories with them from God's Word.

I mentioned that God spoke to me today. What I felt convicted of was to have patience in reaching the people here. God is an infinite God. He knows these people, knows all about them. He knows where they live when we might not be able to find them again! And he knows their hearts. When I would like to jump out of the truck, introduce myself, and share a story from God's Word, I have to remember that I am a minister of God. God will work in his time. When God appoints it, the Wolof will come to know him. It won't happen before his Spirit endwells in their hearts and there's nothing I can do to expediate that. So I pray that in God's time-whether it be myself, Elliott, or missionaries that come behind us-these people in these villages will come to receive Christ as their Savior. Thank you for praying with me.

2 busy days

2009-02-20T13:15:00.000-08:00

I am getting back into my routine of visiting with friends and neighbors. I do love the volunteer groups that come, and I'm enjoying challenging myself to learn even more Wolof by listening. Some days I do pick up a lot of the words I hear, and other days I feel like I'm not hearing as well as I should be. I think being tired has a little to do with that, but if I am able to pace myself I know that I'm going to grow so quickly in my Wolof these next few weeks.

If the next few weeks are anything like the last 2 days, I'll be a fluent speaker by the time my term is up! There is so much to share about what I have done lately. So I'll try to be brief but detailed, and detailed but fun. So here goes!

Yesterday started out with a trip to the post office. After that I visited with a shop keeper for an hour. We teased each other like always. I was able to challenge him to a wrestling match at the end of March! We'll see if he remembers but I'll look forward to wrestling him-win or lose.

Then I visited with my welder friend for a few hours. During this visit we were alone enough so that I could talk to him a little more about my beliefs. We talked about Adam and Eve, their fall from sin and being kicked out of Eden. We talked about Cain and Abel and the sin Cain did. And we talked about Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son. I purposely wanted to get to that point, and then I'll backtrack a little to talk about how God promises to bless Abraham by making him the father of nations. So the things I said today I hope to share with several people during the next 2-3 weeks. I need to continue to work on it so that it comes out clearly, but despite the pauses from him working and from me stumbling on words it went pretty good. We had good discussion from it.

There I was also able to talk to some of the guys about having multiple wives. I shared with them first that God made Adam one wife, Eve. God knows that Man needs Woman, and one woman was good. And then I teased them. In their culture it is a sign of wealth to have multiple wives. But I told them, if I work the same job you're working, and I have one wife, you have 4, and I have 5 kids but you have 20, it may look like I have less money, but I would have more money in my pocket. So if you have one wife, people may think you don't have money, but you do. The mindset of the people here is amazing. They have absolutely no common sense. They think by having 4 wives they will be rich, and it's not the case.

During the afternoon I went to a village I am close to and visited. Together my friend and I went to 2 other smaller villages to visit his family and friends. We had a good time catching up, though I was a little quiet. And greeting so many people I didn't have the opportunity to say much else. But it was good to get back into the village and touch base. I was able to talk briefly about my family's trip, about our other guests we have had, and that my work was starting again. That was basically my conversation to 30 or so different people.

Today a good friend invited me to his village to spend the day. I remembered that he wanted me to come for a celebration, but I didn't realize it was an Ngente (baby naming ceremony). I didn't get to participate in the festivities, but I did get to talk with my friend's family for the day, eat lunch, and even rest.

The highlight of the day was getting to talk to this one person for over an hour. As we walked out of the village area we saw where a room by itself is going to be built. So we gathered to watch the work for 2 hours. While sitting there this person talked to me about his faith. I talked to him about the prophets, he was aware of their names. I talked to him about Adam and Eve and their sin, he was aware. I talked to him about Jesus coming and only through faith in him can we go to heaven, and he was aware of that. He talked for most of the time, telling me about learning in school-learning how to pray, learning about the prophets. We compared what we do when we pray. He even mentioned that Jesus is coming back. I know Muslims believe this, but I have yet to hear one mention it here. The only difference is that he believes as a Muslim he has faith in Jesus. He doesn't. One difference in our prayers, in his words, is that I pray to Jesus while he prays to Muhammad for God to hear our prayers. I enjoyed very much talking to him. Wow, his Wolof was clear! I wish I could talk 1/4 as good as he was, and even communicate to him that I was understanding most every word he spoke. But I did walk away saddened that I could not change his heart. I know that I will see him again, and do pray for words to speak that may spur him to think more of putting his faith in Jesus.

I did enjoy the conversations I had with the men of this village. I was exhausted by the end of the day, though. Now I am looking forward to reading and turning in before another big day tomorrow.

gone are the kittens

2009-02-18T15:39:00.000-08:00

I apparently don't have much luck keeping kittens around. It's not a problem for me since I have no place to keep a cat. I'm also allergic to them, so I can't keep them inside. But I do like animals and like to see them taken care of.

I just realized this week that I had a mom cat who was nursing 4 kittens in my garage. I knew she had the litter somewhere, as I saw her walking back and forth quite often. When I found them, I was careful not to disturb them. But then today they had been moved. There's no telling where they are now. Hopefully they are safe.

Pets in general are looked at differently here. Dogs especially are seen as 'dirty'-almost what Americans would consider a rat. Pets are not taken care of. People have farm animals for eggs, milk, and food. But people do not keep pets simply to keep pets. Cats and dogs are usually wild here, so it is hard to approach them.

So, wherever the cat and kittens are, they are not here. Hopefully they are safe and they grow up to find food.

Another note to add....those that have been a little disappointed in my lack of posts lately will enjoy this week. I have a busy rest of the week coming up, and hopefully I'll get to post interesting stories each day. stay tuned!

group from Arkansas

2009-02-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

My team hosted a group recently from Arkansas. These were 2 Spanish-speaking pastors (who also speak English) that were coming for a vision trip to Senegal. After seeing the work that we are involved in, they will report back to their respective churches about the experience, and prayerfully consider future trips. And we pray with them that God will open doors for them to be involved in ministry here in Senegal.

I'd like to tell a little about their trip here and what we did together. Because of the magal to Touba we were not able to show them all that we are involved in. Our villages were vacant last week with everyone in Touba. But we did talk about possibilities of ministry. We shared with them ideas of how effective ministry can begin. Specifically we talked about starting a computer business, and used this platform as an example. Rather than setting up computers for people to come and learn about the technology, then 5 years later begin to share the gospel with those that are still involved, we can do both simultaneously. We can begin with the idea that if you want to learn about computers, you will also learn about Jesus. If it turns off people who no longer are interested in learning about computers, that's ok. But our focus is on sharing Christ-not teaching computers. And that needs to be the focus from the beginning.

We had a chance to learn about their families and their ministry through the time we spent together with these 2 pastors. They also were able to learn what brought us here to Senegal and how we first were interested in missions. I really enjoyed playing basketball with them. We played both days they were here. We also went for a walk in the market area, and they visited a family that lives here, saw my house, ate some very good rice and beef for lunch, and did some shopping.

I was very impressed with their willingness to share with others that they met. When we went shopping, for example, one prayed with the seller of goods. I was deeply touched by his desire to introduce God to this man and wanting to pray for him. That convicted me that I should pray with my friends more than I do. Certainly I pray for them, but I haven't taken the opportunity to pray with them recently.

This was a very good group of men. I hope that they are able to come back soon, and at the very least that our paths cross again. Thanks for lifting them in prayer as well.

culture learning! magal to Touba

2009-02-14T14:44:00.000-08:00

This week Ngay was busy! We have a road that goes through the 3 largest towns in Senegal, and 4 of the 5 largest. So it’s not uncommon to see traffic on this road. However, this week we saw traffic especially heavy. The reason being was the annual magal to Touba. This is a time that many Muslims get to go and pay homage to their leader. And with no further ado, here is Professor Roy to explain more about these pilgrimages.

Thank you, thank you! Yes, what an amazing history this has become. I am amazed at the amount of people that you see traveling the road to Touba each year. And my curiosity gets the best of me in these situations. So I wanted to, as best I can, talk about the what, why, and how of this celebration. I’m borrowing a few things from wikipedia, and thank the writers for collecting these facts.

First, let’s review what we know about the Islamic faith. Muslims are followers of Muhammad, who believe in God, Allah, as the one true God. They do not believe in the Trinity, therefore do not believe in salvation through faith in Jesus. They believe one can only get to heaven by doing good works and earning favor with God. And they do these good works called the 5 pillars.

-God is supreme. God alone is worthy of worship; and Muhammad is his messenger.
-5 daily ritual prayers. Often you see Muslims praying 5 times daily. To do this, they have a series of bows they perform as they recite verses from the Koran and face east toward Mecca.
-giving of alms. Muslims often will give to the poor and less fortunate.
-fasting during the month of Rhamadan.
-the hajj or annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

The hajj is what we’ll focus most of our attention on during this lesson. In Mecca, pilgrims will arrive at the mosque, circle the Kaaba (a cube-like structure in the center) 7 times counter clockwise, kiss the black stone (believed to be the last remaining part of the mosque originally built by Abraham), drink water from the Zamzan well (this was discovered by Hagar when she went searching for water for her son, Ishmael), and run between the hills nearby (where Hagar performed her search). After this they will throw stones to signify stoning the devil, and then sacrifice a lamb symbolic of the sacrifice that Abraham made with Issac (whom they think was Ishmael).

But those of you that study geography know that Mecca is not in Africa, and certainly not in Senegal. So how on earth can the hajj be in a city 2 hours from where I live? Great question! To answer that, we have to go a little deeper.

Senegal has 4 brotherhoods of Muslim believers. Each one is unique in it's strict beliefs, but they all adhere to the 5 pillars of the Islamic faith. The brotherhoods are:
-the Xaadir, founded in Baghdad
-the Tijaniyyah, founded in Morocco (Tijan for short)
-the Layene, which are centered in Dakar, Senegal’s capital city (pronounced like ‘lion’)
-and the Mourides, whom are the richest and have the most Senegalese followers.

The Mourides are the ones who call Touba their home. They have a very nice mosque there, and have their hajj this weekend, the 15th. I’m not sure why of all dates they celebrate this time of the year. That will be homework for me for later!

The Mouride brotherhood allows the pilgrimage to Touba to take the place of the pilgrimage to Mecca for those that cannot afford such a trip. As close as the city is to Mekhe, nearly everyone in the city takes the trip to give alms to the leader of the mosque, pray, and offer a sacrifice.

I am very amazed at the architectural structure of the large mosques in the world. Mosques have a varying number of minarets. These are those tall tower-like objects within the mosques that you seen around. I am sure that all large mosques have at least one. I see some smaller mosques without any. Originally these were designed to be able to look over all the city. The call to prayer urging followers to come to the mosque to pray was first uttered atop this structure; today the call to prayer is uttered on speakers. It is usually the tallest structure in the city. The tallest known minaret is in Casablanca, at over 210 meters! That’s a 70 story building’s height! The grand mosque in Mecca has 9 minarets. The grand mosque in Touba has 5. The minaret also provides natural air flow. As the domes are heated inside the mosque, the hot air rises and is released through the openings of the minaret.

Often times you’ll find the wealth of the city is poured into beautifying these mosques. When you get a chance, have a look at some of the pictures of mosques from around the world.

I found this interesting: In Mecca they have the huge mosque there, the Masjid al-Haram. Inside that mosque is a large square called a Kaaba. This Kaaba, it is said, was first built by angels, then Adam, and finally it was built anew by Abraham and his son (by Hagar) Ishmael. Legend has it that Hagar and Ishmael searched for water in this area and found the spring that still has abundant water in the area. Muslims see this site as very holy. When Muslims pray, they face this Kaaba. The 4 corners of the Kaaba are pretty close to the 4 cardinal directions on a compass. Inside contains Arabic script of the Koran.

Hopefully you found this information interesting. There’s certainly more to know, and perhaps this whets your appetite. Questions, comments, please write!

sports fun

2009-02-08T15:52:00.000-08:00

As many know, I am a big sports fan. Even though I am here in Africa, I have had opportunities to enjoy watching some big games.

Last week for the superbowl, Elliott and I had our very own super bowl party. Using his computer we streamed the superbowl from a site and were able to watch the game and the commercials! It was really neat. I told Elliott later that's probably the most attention that I have ever paid to a super bowl. Usually I was at parties where I couldn't hear all the commentators were saying, or with youth at parties and was in other rooms more than I was watching the game. The game was clear on the TV and you couldn't have asked for a more competitive game.

The only problem was our feed was blocked with less than 2 minutes to go. So we missed the go ahead score by Arizona. We got the feed back in time to see a replay, then lost the feed completely as Pittsburgh was driving in the last minute. Oh well. We saw 58 minutes of a great game nearly uninterrupted, and we had a good time with our own superbowl party in Senegal!

Then tonight Elliott hooked up his computer again to watch his Lakers play Cleveland. You should have seen his eyes as he thought about doing it. I saw them glimmer as we were eating supper. He cleaned off a table tray without saying what he was going to do. But the rest of us knew what he was up to, and we all joined together to watch the game and relax tonight. Sports are something that both Elliott and I share a passion for, and it is wonderful to relax and keep up with our favorite things from back home like this. I just wanted to share a special memory.

volunteer group

2009-02-08T01:46:00.000-08:00

What an amazing but busy week this has been for me. I hope that I will remember this week more for what we have done rather than the running around and lack of sleep that I have gotten. It has truly been worth it to see this team come in and get some hands on experience in the culture and sharing the gospel with those that they meet.

Let's tell briefly about the team. It's a team of Texans, so picture 2 cowboys and a sweet hearted young woman working together here in Mekhe. We have done prayer walking each morning and village visiting during the afternoons. During the prayer walks we also will get to meet others in the neighborhood and we take the opportunity to ask if we can pray for them and their family. Usually they say they respect our religion and bless us. Occasionally we'll hear a need the family has and we'll pray for God to provide.

This team has had incredible energy. I have enjoyed seeing them relate to others in the villages we visit, and their energy and enthusiasm has greatly benefited them in getting to spend time with others. They visited one village while I was away, and we all went to another village to talk and visit.

Then all day yesterday we visited a village not too far from Mekhe. I was very overwhelmed by the hospitalitity of the people, even though I was expecting it. They set up a table of honor for us to come and sit by. All the people of the village came dressed in some of their best clothes and listened as the team of volunteers said where they were from, a little about their family and their work, and that they were glad to be there.

After the time of sharing we got down and boogied! Some of the ladies of the village danced as 3 people played pots for drums. I'll look to find a video on youtube that can perhaps demonstate the dances. Everyone had a blast with this. Even an elderly woman got out and danced.

We then went to the school in the village and greeted the headmaster and a teacher who was there. They told the team of the school and what a typical day was like. And then we ate lunch, talked with the kids and some adults, spent the afternoon with the village chief and his wife and sister, drank hot tea, ate peanuts, and ended the day. I thought overall it was a wonderful day in the village.

During this time one of the team members shared the creation story with the village chief. This village chief does speak English, but he is a Muslim. And the intent with this friendship of village to volunteer group is to introduce the gospel to each one in the village. Please pray that God would be working through these volunteers to reach the people there. And pray that God will provide for this volunteer group resources and others who are interested in coming.

another visit

2009-02-01T01:31:00.000-08:00

My good friend, Dan came over to visit this week. I was really excited by him coming. Together we visited a few of my close friends in town. He met my welder, my construction worker, my homeowner, and a good friend in town who owns a boutique. We also went by to see a hotel in town, to buy some things and see the market, and we visited a village close by. So we were busy bees for the 2 days he was here. Wow, I didn’t realize that I was visiting that many people during my days.

By the way, that village that we visited, one man asked that the next time I come back he would like to hear a story about God. I was delighted to hear that, and promised him to tell a story next time I come. So God is opening up some doors in these villages and with these people! Go God!

Dan and I did get to talk about things going on in our lives, too. I liked having him around. It made me wish that I had a roommate living here and working with me in ministry. Dan is married with 2 kids and lives in Dakar. He works with our business in the financial office.

Parents' visit

2009-02-01T01:30:00.000-08:00

Hooray for loving parents! It was so nice for them to come and to visit. We had a great time catching up, playing cards, watching movies, and spending time together. And each day during the day we went out visiting my friends and neighbors. Mom and George got to experience a lot of the culture here in West Africa. I think they were mostly surprised by the development here. George, like me, could have sat in the hardware stores or with the welders all day long watching them work. And I think Mom was impressed with my cooking, too!

We had the chance, too, to see some sights around Senegal. We went to an English speaking international church of Dakar for 2 services. We saw a game park of animals in Theis, a bird park in St. Louis, and a ritzy tourist beach at Saly. They got to do some souvenir shopping as well. So all in all, we had a very good time together. I was so glad they were able to come and experience a little of what my daily life is like.

changes!

2009-01-22T17:12:00.000-08:00

Change, who likes that? I don't even like to carry change in my pocket! And though going through a change takes work and patience, in the end hopefully we're better for it.

For any of my co-workers reading this, have no fear, this isn't about our changes. This note is about my personal changes :)

So just to give everyone an idea of what I am specifically doing in my work these days, these 'changes' are taking place and reflect my daily and weekly work.
-now that my language work is complete and my vacation time is behind me, I am committing to intensive ministry at least 5 days a week. 3 of those days will be work in Mekhe, the town I live in. And 2 of those days will be out in villages visiting people and sharing with them.

-I'm going to start being more intentional about sharing a bible story, truth, or working in teachable moments in my visits. So that's going to be a prayer request for me throughout each day, that I can comfortably work those moments in to each day.

-my biggest problem in all that I do is motivation. I'm just not motivated to learn stories, especially working on my own, and especially in a foreign language. This is a change I'm still working on, and will take any advice others have. But I'm starting to think that I should change my study schedule. I'm much more alert in the evenings, and could learn stories by practicing reading the stories with my guard until I'm comfortable doing it on my own. I have been doing this on some nights when I read my Wolof New Testament, sharing with him what I read and talking about what it means-even getting clarity for a word I don't know.

-and also the weather is changing! it's been COLD! ok, so not as cold as the states, but I'm wearing long sleeves throughout much of the day. It's been in the low 80's for highs, and down to 60 at nights. I guess I've been living in 110 degree heat too long.

-and after 2 weeks with my parents, I am changing back to having a house to myself. Now that I'm about used to having company and the fun we've had together, it will be back to normal routine for me.

So with these changes in mind, please lift up motivation for me to study, and motivation for me take these 5 days of ministry to share with others. The months are ticking off, and I want to be a steady worker for the time I have here, so I can feel like I am making a difference in the lives of my friends. Thanks for your prayers and for the accountability!

Vacation news-sightseeing

2008-12-21T06:19:00.000-08:00

One of the highlights of the vacation was the sight seeing that I would get to do. Switzerland is a very old country, and I was looking forward to learning a little about it's history.

As I was going to Interlaken, I took the time to go to Luzern, a train stop along the way. It was recommended to me that if I had 30 minutes to go and see the foot bridge there and take in the art work on the bridge. So I planned to do that. I actually met an American woman who was doing the same thing, and together we enjoyed the winter market, the foot bridge, and the view of the lake there. We had a great conversation for the 2 hours, talking about our careers and talking about Switzerland. The foot bridge was cool. It had over 150 different mural paintings overhead which told stories of kings, battles, and the history of the town.

On my free day in Interlaken, I had an interesting barefoot language learning opportunity. As I was finishing up a nice lunch, a family with young children were sitting in front of me. The daughter, 6, was drawing on the back of the paper place mat while the son, 3, was running around the restaurant. As the mom chased her son, I went up to the girl to see what she was doing. She had drawn her family, the sun, a flower, and trees. So I asked her what each of these were, and she told me. Then I drew a similar picture of my family in the town, and from that picture she told me the German words for mountain, cloud, sun, train, river, mom, and dad. Of course some things are tough to communicate, as barefoot language learning will teach anyone, but I thought this was a good start. Roger Haun would be proud of me for taking this initive on my vacation. :) I did want to learn to greet people in German while on the trip, and I was able to after several days.

Of course while I was in Interlaken I was skiing. I did find an animal park up a mountain, and saw some cute mountain goats and a beautiful overlook of the city. I also saw the downtown district-which had some old catholic churches, one methodist church, a courthouse, and a lot of old buildings. They had some nice shopping areas and restaurants, which I explored in the evenings. And, George, they even had a real casino in the town.

In Zurich I took my time to explore various places. Saturday when I arrived I was tired and wanted to rest a bit. So I checked into my hotel and after a light nap decided to go exploring. My exploring led me to an adventure. I found news of a winter market in a nearby town that I could get to by train. I decided this would be my evening entertainment, and went there for 3 hours to look around. These markets are like any holiday fair-winter crafts, food, etc. In Switzerland you'll find the fondue as well. By the way, I'm obviously not European-I do not like the smell of that cheese. But I couldn't help but to think of my cousin Kriss, knowing she loves cheese and thinking she'd be in heaven there. A highlight at this market was finding a beautiful rug of a hand stitched angel. I didn't see the price for the rug, but I'd bet anything it was > $1500. I asked if I could take a picture of it, but my batteries were too cold to get the camera to work.

My Sunday exploring took me into the heart of Zurich. I went to a church service at 10, and then hit a few museums in the afternoon. They had a 1/3 marathon during the day, which made getting around the town difficult. I was able to see all I wanted to see, and had a good time touring the city. I wanted to get the chance to catch a guided tour, but found out that in december they go every other weekend. I happened to be there at the off weekend.

I'll write a note about the church service. It was a light service. As it was in German, i didn't understand anything, but I observed. They started promptly at 10 with the usher locking the main door at that time. Late guests could come in by using a side door entrace and sit in the balcony. The service opened with a liturgy reading, 2 hymns, what seemed like announcements, which I was surprised by, and then the first prayer of the service 30 minutes into the service. After the prayer they had the children's christmas program, which was cute. The kids were wooded creatures who seem to notice something going on. Two of them played instruments, and played them very well for their ages. I did find myself laughing at their hyperness, noone could sit still and several waved at their parents during the play. But it was cute. As the play ended, the leader stood up again, led in 2 verses of the last hymn, and dismissed us with no prayer. An offering was collected as we walked out the doors.

On Monday I took the day to go to the zoo. The zoo was a fun time, though some of the animals were missing in action. Even my cold weather friendly otters were cuddled close together. The lions were huddled together, the tiger I was hoping to see was gone. It was sorta funny seeing the elephants slip on the ice as they walked in their pen. They had a lot of penguins who were enjoying the weather and the swimming conditions. I did get to see some shy sea lions, flamingos, dart frogs, and a few birds. There were some elk, sheep, goats, cows, and various other farm animals there, too. The highlight of the zoo, though, was the climate controlled rainforest they had on display. The rainforest was basically an enclosed greenhouse which regulated its temperature. It wanted to be about 90 degrees F, but this day it was closer to 75. That's a lot of heat when outside it's 30, so I wasn't surprised 75 was all they could do. I saw some monkeys in the rainforest. There was a nice waterfall, lots of plants and vegetation, and quite a few birds. I was looking hard for a lizard or two, but never saw one. It was a good trip.

And I was hoping my new friend, Jennifer, could come with me to the zoo. She was packing to go back to the states later in the week, but we did meet for breakfast that morning. Our conversation was a great highlight and closing to the trip, as I got to debrief a bit about my adventures. We also talked greatly about our world view understanding and how to possibly contribute to the human needs that are so rampant in the world today.

These were my adventures in Zurich. So much to share, as you can tell. I hope this whetted your appetite to know how the trip was. If you have any questions or want more details, please email me and let me know.

Vacation news-skiing!

2008-12-21T05:59:00.000-08:00

My purpose for this vacation was a skiing get-away. I was really excited to get the chance to ski the Alps, and not sure that I quite understood how unique a chance this was until I got on the mountains. The scenery and conditions were unbelievable, and any pictures that I show do not do Grindelwald justice. I'll mention a few of the highlights.

I took my time Tuesday to scout the area, learn how the transportation system works, and get acclimated to the cold weather by staying outside for most of the day. By Wednesday I was ready to go. I heard on the news the weather was going to be pretty bad Wednesday, so I didn't rush to get up the mountain. I was finally on the slopes around 10 I think, and found my way up to a top at 11. There I found that I couldn't see at all! I had no idea where I was going. I couldn't even see the quad lift that I had just gotten off of, which was probably 30 feet above my head. Unlike mountains in NC which have some visible vegetation on the edge of the ski slope, these mountains were covered with the same layer of snow-so you couldn't tell the difference between the path and what wasn't the path. But I braved myself and began. As I started down the slope, I said, ok, I just have to stay between the markers. Then I realized my dilemma: I can't see the markers! The only thing left for me to do was to ski toward the right until I saw the right marker, then steer left looking for the one on the left, and do that as I traversed down the mountain. I got off the trail once not realizing the path turned. And then I caught up with a group of beginners, and we helped each other down the mountain. I braved the trip a second time before going home feeling somewhat defeated by the thick snowcloud from the day. It certainly isn't fun skiing in a cloud when you can't see 50 feet in front of you.

The next day was a bit better day. It was still snowing, but visibility was maybe 300 feet. I could see 3-4 markers ahead of me, but I still had to stop oftentimes to judge what I had to do next, where turns were in the path, and how steep the hill was. I battled this problem by staying on the same 2 paths all day, basically memorizing the turns and traverses until I was comfortable skiing them.

Friday was a perfect day for skiing. You could see the horizon, so seeing was not a problem. And I tore it up this day! I had such a good time. I had my ski legs, I knew some trails and had an idea where some were higher up the mountain. And I used that to tie trails together. After doing that, I started making my own trails down the mountain, connecting trails, skiing in fresh snow and just skiing the entire mountain. It was a great day for skiing. The only complaint I had from the day was the grooming. For some strange reason they wanted to groom fresh powder. The grooming leaves a light layer of water on the top of the snow, which turns to ice. Ice is never fun to ski on, and the more it is skied on the thicker it gets. At the base of the mountain and at a sharp turn in 2 trails it was especially rough. It was a good time for skiing, though, and I got my fill. I was exhausted Friday evening. But I was so glad that I got to ski.

Vacation News-transportation

2008-12-21T05:34:00.000-08:00

I had a great time vacationing in Switzerland, and hope to tell a little about it with you. I'll start with the travel arrangements. I asked a travel agency in Florida to help with the trip, and planned the trip with their assistance. I was going to arrive in Zurich at lunchtime on Monday and then have the afternoon to get to Interlaken where my hotel was. Well, this day was a fun travel day. I didn't sleep much the previous night from being so excited, and the flights were during the morning hours when I sleep light. Between connecting flights, I had one hour to get from one plane to the next. Knowing that, I half expected my luggage not to make it all the way, so I packed extra clothes in my carry on to tie me over. I'm glad I did that, because I didn't see my clothes until Wednesday night. It worked out, though.

I'll tell you a little about public transport in Switzerland. I took trains everywhere I went, basically. To get to Interlaken, I had to take 3 separate trains to get there. I had a pass which allowed me to get from the airport to any destination and back within a month, so I was able to use this pass to come to Interlaken and then get back to the city. I can read maps pretty well no matter where I'm at, so figuring out the right train and the time schedule didn't take much studying. And I actually gave myself some time to visit a town along the way.

Transportation while I was skiing was interesting as well. My lift ticket included transportation to the lift, which I didn't realize at first. But here's what I had to do. I had to walk from my hotel to a bus stop to catch a bus to take me to the train depot. From there I'd take from 1-3 trains, depending on where I wanted to go, to get to the lift. These lifts would take you to the base of the mountain where you could ski to a quad lift to begin skiing. So maybe I'm painting an adequate picture that I'd catch a bus to catch a train to catch a train to get on a bus to catch a lift to catch another lift to get on a lift to start skiing. This process usually took 2 hours, so I had to remember that as I was coming down, too. I didn't want to get caught out there after dark (4:30) when the schedules would change. So I timed it that I could ski from about 9:30 until 4 comfortably. And I ate a good breakfast, usually skipped lunch, and then had a big supper while skiing to utilize all the time I could with skiing.

What is some other transportation news? Oh! Here's a good one. I saw a sign coming in on the train that anyone caught without a validated ticket would be fined, and then if it happened a 2nd time they would be fined more and possibly given a trial. But I never saw people inside of Zurich (the large town) be asked for their tickets. I wondered if they did check tickets. I found out on Monday that they do! There was a random stop that our tram was at. Five ticket agents boarded the tram to ask passengers for their tickets. I proudly showed mine and watched as I counted 6 people escourted off the tram to pay a fine through their computer scanner, which scanned credit cards. People using public transportation without paying for tickets is a problem in Zurich. There weren't 15 people on the tram, and for 33% of our population to be traveling without a ticket spells a problem.

I was overall very impressed with the transportation in Switzerland. If I lived there I would not own a car. You can go anywhere you want to go in high class comfort on the trains, trams, and buses. This is what I would wish the States would be able to adopt. It would take years and billions of dollars to grow, but once it was established, there would be minimal problems. The trains are electric, so there are no pollutants coming from them. Also, it's very relaxing to read a book, talk with a neighbor, or look at scenery while you're riding.

i'm back

2008-12-19T05:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to write a note to say that I have returned from my vacation. Since I've been back, the adjustment has been somewhat difficult. Tuesday there was no power at my house. Wed-Thurs there was no water, and Thursday and today I've had flu-like symptoms. All of that makes for a tough transition. But thankfully I am getting a little more energy and slowly getting my house back in order.

I'll post a few stories about my adventure later this weekend, so please keep checking in. Thanks for your prayers for my ministry and for the vacation. I love each of you!

paper trail of trip

2008-12-05T12:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I am taking a ski vacation to Europe next week. I am very excited about going, though I will be going by myself. So I wanted to let you know my agenda, and as a wise person reminded me, "it is always good to leave an agenda when you go on an overseas trip."

So here's some of the details.
flight schedule:
1 TP 210 08DEC DKR to LIS SS1 255A 650A
2 TP 920 08DEC LIS to ZRH SS1 750A 1140A
3 TP 927 15DEC ZRH to LIS SS1 655P 845P
4 TP 209 15DEC LIS to DKR SS1 945P 155A

I will arrive in Zurich on Dec. 8th at 11:30 and take the Golden Pass train to Interlaken, where I will stay monday-friday night. I'll be skiing wed-fri in Interlaken. In interlaken I will be staying at the Chalet Hotel.

Saturday I plan to take the same Golden Pass train back to Zurich and spend the remaining 2 nights sight seeing around Zurich before coming back to Dakar Monday evening. I have reservations for the Fly Away hotel in Zurich.

So that's the specifics of the trip. It looks like I'll get some really good weather. Snow is forecasted for the ski days, and sunshine is forecasted for the days in Zurich. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and share them.

Please pray for safe and timely travel. This will be my first time catching a train by myself, and although I have it figured out, I do hope that it is running smooth. They are changing the train times next weekend, so hopefully the schedules haven't changed much.

opps! forgot a story!

2008-12-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

In writing my prayer update, I realized that I forgot to include a story from last month. Since I'm suggesting that details of all the stories I mention are in the blog, it'd be good to include this one!

One Saturday in November, my supervisor Elliott and I both went out into our surrounding community to do what he termed a 'prayer drive.' I'll give him credit for that, but I like that term. We were and will continue to drive the community with the purpose of mapping some of the nearby Wolof villages and hope to one day begin reaching into these villages. We'll probably try to do this 2x each month.

During this drive in November, we decided to take a turn off the road we were on to do some exploring. The road dead ended into a village. Seeing some men sitting together on mats under a tree, we got out and greeted them. After a few minutes they introduced the village chief to us, and he and Elliott had a nice conversation together. It turns out the village chief speaks very good English. He had been to NYC for 7 years and drove a taxi.

We talked briefly about the life they live in the village-school, work, farming, family. We also indicated to him that we would like to return and visit-even share stories and bring more friends to help assist them, if possible. He said that would be good and would look forward to talking again. So I am sure that Elliott and I will continue to work in this village. Please lift them up in your prayers. There is no doubt that God led us to this village as we would never expect to randomly find one village in the middle of nowhere on our first visit to have an English-speaking Wolof village chief who would be willing to work with Christian Americans in his village. Praise God for opening this door!

ReNew Conference

2008-12-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

Our region allows for a time that first term workers can get together to discuss areas in ministry that we have struggled with as well as areas we found were successful. This conference met this week. We discussed:
-the importance of covenants with supervisors, having them, how to stay accountable to them, now to make them more relevant to our ministry
-relationships with believers, non-believers, team mates, those in authority over us, and even relationships with family and with ourselves.
-exit strategy, such as how to prepare for when the time is right to move on from a setting as well as how to finish strong.
-cpm, which is a church planting movement. We are beginning to try and adopt a method of church planting that worked very well in Asia. This was presented in a very nice overview and gave us a good model for thinking about how to do effective entry, presentation, discipleship, church formation, and leadership training.

I felt this conference was good for me. It gave me a chance to listen as others talked through their struggles that I could relate with. They could put into words what I was unable to express at various times. Because of this, I see some ways that I can grow as an individual and a team member in my ministry. I also realized some areas that I can improve on. One is communication or being able to express myself. I would like to express to others when I am struggling and why. Maybe I need to even learn how to realize this within myself. I have often been a loner but I usually have a friend that I can talk to from time to time at church in which I bounce ideas off of. Here I have missed a relationship like that.
I’m grateful for this conference and for being able to draw close to those that came this week. I’ll miss our fellowship time we had, but always have email to keep in touch with them when I need to. We were very open during this time together, which helps draw out these areas that I can continue to develop in my personal life.

Thanksgiving Meal

2008-12-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

I came to Dakar for my thanksgiving day celebration. Here in Dakar there are a lot of Missionaries, so we had a good gathering of people. I think we had about 50 who came. Most everyone either brought a covered dish, dessert, or drinks. I made my family’s now world famous corn pudding casserole. It turned out pretty good, if I say so myself-and I heard this remark from others. My favorite dish-sweet potato casserole-was there. And we had plenty of turkey and ham which was donated by Cracker Barrel. Thank you, Cracker Barrel. I’ll make it up to you when I’m in the states!
After the meal we had a devotion time as well as time for singing. Then we fellowshipped by talking in groups, playing card games, and watching college football from earlier this season. The kids played outside or watched a movie themselves. So we had a great afternoon together.

Thanksgiving sharing

2008-12-03T11:59:00.000-08:00

During my quiet time before the week of thanksgiving I had the idea to share my thanksgiving tradition with my close friends in Mekhe. So I took the morning to write personal notes that said, “God has given us a lot to be thankful for. He has given us health, life, love, and family. I thank God for you, my friend.” Along with that I wrote out John 3:16. All of this was on the simple note that I would plan to give each of my close friends.
I was able to share with many. There were some that I shared with one-on-one. There were some that I shared with as a group setting. And there were some that I had just met that day that wanted to know what I was doing. So these three dynamics I was able to experience as I shared.
Not only that, but as I shared, I used the opportunity to introduce the Gospel. Through each of these conversations I talked about God’s love for each of us. I could tell them that we have sinned and because of our sin we cannot have a relationship with God. But God comes to us to start the relationship over, and he came to us as Jesus. Jesus wants us to have faith in him so that we will always have a relationship with him. And this was my elementary gospel presentation.
It had some victories. I had one woman who heard this as I shared with her family. She said she wanted to become a Christian! So I will follow up with that when I return to town. I was able to see a few friends that I have not seen in awhile, and because of this letter and these words our friendship became more positive/was restored.
I also had some defeats. I felt that in a few situations I could have visited longer, and wished for more time. I shared a lot. I gave out 20 notes in 2 days. I also did not get the chance to see everyone that I wanted to see. And I had the chance to see a big defeat. In sharing with one of my friends in the market, he asked me to leave his shop. He did not want to hear the message of Jesus because he was a Muslim.
In spite of the defeats I was grateful for the sharing opportunities. This was very successful in organizing something to say, and gave me an idea of what volunteer teams can come and do in Mekhe. They can easily write a prayer letter and go to various shops or gatherings of people to talk about prayer, then offer to pray for those people. Or if the group comes at a particular holiday such as Easter or Christmas could discuss the significance of that season with others.

burnt out

2008-11-17T18:05:00.000-08:00

A hard blog to write because of my independent nature. But I have been quite burnt out and apathetic lately. I am thinking it's a bit of many things. I have heard various news at home that has been discouraging and makes me want to be home. I many times wish that I had a hobby to do here and not happy with the lack of things to do here. And I miss friends and miss working with my hands. Those things I've struggled with since I have been here, and they simply aren't going away. For that reason I am still having my reservations about my calling to be a missionary. I think today wasn't necessarily a 'ticket' day (a day that I wish I could go home), but it was a day that I would choose to be a 2 year missionary than a 3 year missionary. Days like this I need to hold tighter to what God is doing here than the things that have me unhappy. But just a word of my struggles.

definitely a God-thing

2008-11-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Since my language class completed, I have been anxious to get into the sharing process of my ministry. For awhile I have been sharing with neighbors and friends in town, but I am mostly looking forward to riding the street a bit and visiting neighboring villages. Now I am beginning to do that on my own.

Today I chose a town on the road just north of here that I would go and visit. I planned to walk around and visit some sellers and introduce myself to the people in town. I was also going to see where the conversations led and just talk briefly about myself, my family, and Jesus.

Well, along the drive, I saw a person asking for a ride. So i stopped and told him to get in. When he did, I told him that I was only going to Kelle, and he said that was where he lived. I was like, wow! And then told him what I wanted to do there, where i lived, and what I did for my work. He then said that I could visit at his house and see his friends. So I was blown away. I had a way into the village! This was certainly a God-thing!

And we had a good chat for an hour or so with his friends. His family was out in the fields farming, but he invited me back to talk more on Sunday. So I will go again to meet with him, and prepare to share a story with him as well as questions to ask. Please be in prayer for this new contact. I am truly blown away at the chance of this happening, and look forward to where it may go. This person actually knew that Jesus is God's Son. Noone states that when I ask if they know of Jesus.

late language update

2008-11-13T17:17:00.000-08:00

I failed to write much in my blog before my trip to Dakar. So you're getting lots of updates this week!

I wanted to write and tell you how my language evaluation went. It went ok, as ok can be expected. I was up the entire night before following the election, and that may have had a bit to do with my speech. I talked fine and used words well. But one thing I have been trying to practice is slowing my speech down, which I can do when I am fully alert. However, for just talkng in general, I talk fast and I don't concentrate on slowing my tongue down.

I received the same evaluation that I received in June, a level 2. A level 2 is what i am required to get. Yea, I, too, wonder why I kept going. Now I have evidence that this last 3 months was not effective, and I was pleading that for awhile. In ways it was hurtful, and in ways it was helpful for me in my language growth. I was able to review and use my language with an instructor. I do wish that he had told me when I was making mistakes.

My teacher critiqued me on the evaluation about some mistakes in pronoun usage that I had no idea I was making. And he told me that I was talking too fast-first time he has said that, but I have heard it from others. He talks fast too, so I was surprised he wrote that. The evaluation did show some good things. Teacher was impressed with my vocab, that was something I was most concerned about. The evaluation also showed me some things about my personality that I can still change and work toward improving. And I'm always up to being critiqued so that I can become a better person for everyone. Yes, I felt that the evaluation was low and a bit unfair. But I'm no longer thinking about that. It is what it is.

So that's the update. Language class is over! I have been asked to continue reviewing my notes as well as a learners book I have. So I will continue doing that. But thanks so much for the prayers that you have offered for my language.

Why is a fire truck red?

2008-11-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

A fire truck has 4 wheels and 8 people riding.
four plus 8 equals 12
a ruler has 12 inches
queen elizabeth is a ruler
queen elizabeth sailed the 7 seas
the 7 seas have fish
fish have fins
the finnish hate russians
Russians are red
a fire engine is always rushin
therefore, a fire engine is RED.

Glad I could clear that up :)

stepping into America

2008-11-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

One thing that I haven't been able to express well enough is the changes one can see when they come to Africa. Close your eyes (ok, hard to do that AND read-so close one eye!) and imagine a world without Walmart. Then imagine a world with no major grocery stores or department stores. Take away multiple roads leading to the same place, and you have an idea of what it's like here to drive and shop.

We do have stores, but they are much smaller than you would imagine. In Mekhe I have tons of boutiques. However, a boutique has in stock about what your own pantry would contain. Anything frozen, you can't find it in Mekhe. Cheese, milk, you can't find. So I go to supermarkets 2x a month to do most of my major grocery shopping. There's a good supermarket in Theis that has cereal, snack items such as cookies, chips, crackers, and candy bars. It has frozen foods, canned foods, sliced bread (I can get french bread in Mekhe), milk and cheese. So I have found a way to get the things I want, I just have to drive 30 miles to do so.

Well, in Dakar they have some stores that are a little nicer. The supermarket in Theis is maybe half of Carrols IGA in Stedman for those of you familiar with that store. Stores in Dakar that I shop at would be compariable to Carrols. Keep that in your mind as you read what I found...

When I was in Dakar earlier this week, my business facilitator told me there was a new grocery store that opened up. Knowing the direction he was saying, I took 2 others with me who needed to do some shopping. When I walked into the store, I felt like I was walking in America! The store is huge! It would be a superwalmart, I'm not kidding! Maybe half the size of superwalmart, but all the same items. A toy aisle! A candy isle! An isle devoted completely to baby needs, toiletries and such. An entire butcher section that really would be similar to any major grocery store. Many, many choices of the same item. And it seemed like they were still stocking things. I was utterly shocked! I'd be ok seeing that in the states, I think. But seeing that here really amazed me. It was a very nice place. And the prices weren't bad, which was surprising.

So I wanted to share my American experience. Senegal is really developing before my eyes. I can't imagine what the next 5 years will entail.

International Baptist Church of Dakar

2008-11-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

The IBC church of Dakar, an English-speaking congregation, celebrated its 25 year anniversary service this weekend. I was happy to be able to go and participate in the service, and wanted to write briefly what it was like.

First, know that there are not many churches in Senegal. There are several catholic churches, but very few protestant churches. I think they mentioned 6-7 other church bodies which were invited to attend the celebration. These other churches, I believe, speak French.

So we had the service. It began at 4pm and lasted awhile. I think we left shortly after 8. They had a typical service, but with alloted time to celebrate and read the history of the church, letters from people congratulating them on the occasion, and several people who spoke about their testimony from being members of the church. The pastor recognized many of the staff, workers, former pastor, guest pastors, missionaries, and other lay people who have helped shape the church to be what it is today.

We had a guest speaker come and lead in worship as he spoke on Ps 23 and God being our Shepherd. And we had some time for special music and praise and worship as well. Then toward the end of the service there was a collection offering for the building fund. They have outgrown their facilities and are planning to purchase and build a new sanctuary.

One specific thing that I remember now was that at the end of the message, the pastor prophecized that the church would grow two-fold by the time he is able to come again. That hit me rather strangely, but then I felt myself praying with him that his prophecy would come about. I see the potential for the church to reach out to the community in many ways. There are people in the congregation who do not speak local languages and could use assistance in getting work, education, and resources to live and grow in Dakar. I can see the church beginning to reach into the community with evangelism and teaching workshops, music, food, games, etc. I continue to pray that the church and its members will be a light for Jesus to the community.

more sharing news

2008-11-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

I had one of those WOW moments last week when I was sharing. I have gotten to know my home owner and his family quite well, and go over to their house 2x a week to talk. Well, last week I was just beginning to learn creation to cross in Wolof, and we were talking about my language class being completed, my stories I am learning, and about Jesus. So as we were eating, one of the guys asked me point blank, "so how do you become a Christian?"

I'll let that sink in for a bit. It took me 2 days for that to really sink in. When he first said it, I honestly had that numb reaction, like, oh, this is just another question for him to understand me and understand the Christian religion. Also know that I ask them questions like this all the time, such as "what do you pray, why do you pray 5 times a day, when you die, do you know that you will go to heaven?" I want to understand Islam through their eyes. And I was guessing at first that this was where he was headed.

But to be honest, I have thought for awhile that this man may be a seeker. We usually have good conversations and if I stumble on words, he will say my sentence more clearly for me. So this family and this particular person certainly has potential! Please please pray with me as I continue to share with him. After we ate, I shared with him the creation story and the fall of Adam and Eve. Then I used that to introduce Jesus as the perfect sacrifice of all our sins. Then we talked briefly about that. It will take more time and more sharing, and I am going to take this slow. However, this was a great victory for Jesus, and I give him the praise for this story!

2 house guests

2008-10-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

My Wolof team was hosting a couple for 2 weeks, Brian and Kara Cloud. They are residents of Oklahoma and are considering becoming missionaries one day. With this in mind, they wanted to see what life was like in Senegal and with our Wolof team. So they came and saw a lot of what we do in our ministry. After seeing what the life is like in the city (Dakar), they wanted to see what life was like in a village environment.

I agreed to host them for the 2 days. There were here for 48 hours from Monday-Wednesday. Knowing they were coming, I set up my schedule to host them and show them a bit of what I normally do during my time.

When they first came, we met in town and drove over to my house. It's not a long drive, but having never been here, Jeff and Risa (Wolof team members) wouldn't know how to get here. We got their bags in the house and chatted while I finished cooking lunch. Lunch was good-I did a chicken casserole, green beans, and homemade mac & cheese. After lunch we continued talking until Jeff and Risa had to go. They were staying in a town 2 hours north to do some scouting for houses.

I let Brian and Kara rest in the early afternoon before we went to the market. On the way to the market we met several of my friends and talked briefly to them. We observed some of the buying and selling in the market, and I explained a little of how the market works. It's a weekly market full of people who come from villages near by to buy and sell what they have. Some women will spend all week sewing in order to sell at the market. I always enjoy visiting the market to see how many people are coming and to see the action of buying and selling. There's not much else to do in Mekhe, so this is my window shopping!

After spending the evening in the market, we returned home to cook and eat supper. We had spaghetti, sauce, and a medley of peas, carrots, and potatoes. I should have done bread, too, wasn't thinking about bread. Then I chatted with my guard and introduced Kara and Brian to him. I continued chatting while they went to sleep.

Tuesday morning I had planned for the early morning to be free for quiet time while my maid cleaned the house. When she finished, we went out together to see the junior high school and my neighborhood. I had hoped to do some more visits with my neighbors, but Brian wasn't feeling well from the heat. So we did walk around and walked over to the school. The school headmaster had misunderstood me. I told him last week I had guests coming who wanted to see the school to compare it to schools in America. He was thinking they may be here to help out with finances, as they explained a lot of the difficulties the school was having in starting up. I know that it's tough having 80 kids in one classroom, that the desks and windows are broken, and the classrooms are in a bit of a mess. But they do have resources and could easily do something about the conditions. There are men who would come and clean the grounds for 5 dollars a day, which is half a child's registration cost. They could even ask the kids to do it, and I'm sure the kids would do it for free. I would have cleaned for 30 minutes with my friends when I was 12 if asked. We were asked to help and I wasn't expecting that. So I explained again that we were just curious to see the school and thanked him for his time. Classes should have started last week, but they're still trying to improve the school. The teachers are meeting and throwing ideas around, but I would be surprised if anything is done about the conditions.

We had lunch at my neighbor's house. They cooked rice, onion sauce, and fish for us. It was delicious, it's one of my favorite dishes here. After lunch I brought them back here to rest before going out to the village. At the village we were able to observe the slower paced life of Senegal. There the women were entertaining the kids and talking amongst each other. They also were gathering in the fields and brought home the millet that they had harvested for the animals to eat.

That evening we came back and talked for awhile with Elliott and my guard. Then I offered them sandwiches and leftovers for supper and we went to bed.

I did enjoy my time with Brian and Kara. We had good conversations and I learned a lot about what they hope to do in future ministry. I'm glad they are seeking and hope God will direct their lives from here on out. I'm especially grateful to all of you who prayed for our time together. My language seemed to grow this week tremendously. The food was good, and the visits went well. I enjoy hosting guests and will look forward to more opportuities in the future to host people here.

There's a mouse in the house!

2008-10-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has seen a mouse in their house in the country knows that it's tough to get them out. Try catching one without a trap! These critters are fast! Well, I knew I had one in the house and that he was staying in my kitchen. The droppings were a sure sign, and try as I might, I couldn't find where he was hiding.

Well, yesterday he came out of hiding and ran under my feet. And I thought, yay, he's out of the kitchen. So I immediately closed the kitchen door so he couldn't go back in there. And then I set a trap to help catch him. He was behind my book case, so after getting the books out and got the bookcase closer to a corner, I had my broom in hand and was ready to get him in a box. Well, wouldn't you know he escaped from the box and ran into my bedroom!

Why I didn't close my bedroom door I don't know. Call me stupid, I should have! Now I'll get 20 comments from people saying, "nice story, Stupid!" hehe, all for love, I'm sure. So, at least I have him confined to one room now. The next trick is to get him in the open so I can catch or kill him. After about 2 hours and 100 sneezes (dust is rough on my allergies) I had him. I killed him and put him in my burn pile where the neighborhood tom cat enjoyed a nice late supper. Then I spent the evening spring cleaning my house from the mess I made. Well, at least I spent my Thursday doing 2 things that needed to be done. It's good to spring clean everything at least once a year. My house is so small and the dust is worse here than Fay, NC, so I should probably do this more often. But my kitchen is good as new, my living room is spotless again, and my bedroom is especially clean. In a way it felt like a wasted day, I had several things I wanted to do on Thursday. However, catching the mouse and spring cleaning were things that I needed to accomplish. Thank goodness that drama is over!

Language update

2008-10-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you that have been faithful to pray for my language progression, thank you! Communicating here is a daily chore, and I'm realizing now that I may never be as adequate a speaker as I would like. I thought that given 3 extra months of Wolof study would make me a much better speaker. And I know it only helped, but I am ready for a change!
After class today, I'm down to only 5 classes to go. Seems hard to believe that the time is already approaching for me to really begin my ministry here.
So I figured I'd reflect a little on what I do want to do in my ministry.
-I am still going out and saying hi to my friends. I have a welder, carpenter, farmer, and seller of goods that I would like to visit at least once a week. That sounds like a lot, but those are relationships that I want to continue working on.
-I am in the process of greeting my neighbors. I could do this for a year and not meet all my neighbors in the block. But I have a goal to sit and talk with one new neighbor a week. I'll do that until I feel that I've met with most of them.
-I do prayer walks around my neighborhood. I pray for the people, the kids, and the lives that they are living. I also pray for openness to share with them and for them to be interested in hearing stories.
-I will be sharing 2 stories a month starting in November. I'm praying for a specific place to share these stories. Maybe near the school at my house would be a good place.
-It seems Elliott and I will begin going to villages to share initially with the people of the villages. We'll be doing some survey work to get into these villages-finding out their needs, praying on their behalf, and sharing stories.
-And I want to go to my school once a week to talk with an English class for an hour. School starts next week, so I will go and find out if this is possible.

Sounds like a lot? It is. I like to have plans and I'll see how much of this I can tackle. A lot of this I can do in the same days. I am looking forward to using my Wolof. Simply talking with people is going to make my language improve dramatically. And I believe the new responsibilities in work will give me energy to accomplish most of this. Encourage me to persevere, and ask me how I'm doing with these goals. I look forward to reporting how things are going.

An Ngente

2008-10-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

I crashed a party last week! It was a baby naming ceremony (ngente). The family are neighbors of mine, and I greet them often. When I was walking through the neighborhood I noticed the tent. The kids started calling my name, asking me to come, so I did. I did want to know more about the baby naming ceremonies.
First I went and greeted everyone, and I specifically asked for the father to greet and congratulate him. Then I made myself comfy, sitting with some other guys my age under the tent. We talked for a good while. About 2 they brought what I thought was lunch, but instead was porridge (lah). It didn't look too appetizing, but was surprisingly delicious. It's millet served with milk for a sauce, and it was fairly thick. They'd put a lot of sugar in it, too.
After the porridge we had the first cup of tea and talked for a good while. I left at 4 before the main dish was served. But I had a good time talking with people. I was even able to share what I do with a few of the men, and one man seemed especially interested in hearing more. I'd like to go back and visit with him, to see how interested he may be in hearing stories.

Balance??

2008-10-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

At Camp Caraway they have a ropes course off in the woods. This course helps build team togetherness, helping teenage boys learn to work together to accomplish goals. I remember one specific balancing bridge that was pretty difficult. The way this bridge works is this: it is basically a raft on air attached by a central axis point. I think the axis runs the length of the raft at the center. The goal is for all the boys on the team to stand on the raft at the same time without it touching the ground. It's a challenge because the boys have to distribute their weight evenly, moving forward or backwards to accomplish this. It's pretty complicated, but they enjoy the challenge.

That's sort of the trick that I'm learning here in Senegal. I tell you, some days this life is simply not for me. I love working with my hands and feet. I love giving of myself to others. And I love my family and friends. These are all things that I gave up in order to come here. Being here for close to a year now I'm starting to see how I miss those things by the feelings I go through on particular days. Some days I'm lonely. Some days I'm bored to death. And other days I'm not sure what I am. But having thought about why I struggle in balancing things here, this has been my conclusion. It is apparent to me that I have yet to learn how to give God these things in my life. I'm open to suggestions!

Typically what I find that works for me is that if I make myself go out and visit with people, the self worry and doubt go away. Maybe not completely, but the visits do help. Today I went to a carpenter friend and got to help build these bread boxes for 3 hours. That's a love of mine and I truly enjoyed doing that. I'll have to see if I can maybe help him a few days a week now and begin a close relationship with him.

But please continue to pray for me and balance. I do want to make a difference here, and I want this to be a successful 3 year journey for me. After 3 years who knows where God will have me. I want to be able to give him my all while I am here, and I want him to mold me to be the man he has in mind for me to be.

Job shadowed

2008-10-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Something pretty cool happened this week for me. I was asked by my business office if I could be job shadowed for a day by our short term mobilizer. Now initially I'm thinking, woah, they specifically want to job shadow me??? I remember in high school going to engineering firms asking to shadow their workers to see what they do during the day. So I'm thinking to myself, who am I that I have the experience to show someone what I do during the day-I'm still learning what I do during the day!
But we set up the time to meet together. I was going to entertain him, Alan Garnett, from 10-3. And I had nothing planned in stone! That's our life, we live by the seat of our pants. I had ideas, and prayed that God work work them out.
When we met, we drove over to my old neighborhood and visited with my apartment owner. He's a wonderful man and just showered me with compliments to my guest. I was humbled as I translated. I like him to, and told him how welcomed I always will feel there, that he is like a father to me, and though my home is in Mekhe, my heart lives here with his family. And along with this we had a good talk in catching up together. It had been a few months since I had seen him.
From there we walked my neighborhood together. I showed him some of the boutique stands that we buy things from, comparing them to all that we have to shop from in Mekhe. That was to give him an idea of what our town is like. We also talked a bit about the different strategies in rural ministry verses urban ministry. And I also mentioned that in the morning the visits are short because people are working. It's cooler and they're able to work more. But in the afternoon the visits are easier and longer. We can sit and talk over tea while lunch settles and people rest from the heat of the day. So typically I do most of my visits during the afternoons with my closest friends.
We also met one of my closer friends in the neighborhood, too. He heard us coming by and ran out to greet us. He speaks English as well as I speak Wolof. We talked a lot of his life and compared the life in Senegal to the life in America. He told my guest about his family, his house, and we shot the breeze about other things. These were 2 very good visits. I could not have asked for better visits.
After this I asked Alan if he would mind running errands with me. I could entertain him longer and these were things I had to get done while I was in Dakar. He was actually thankful and encouraging to me for asking. I appreciated him being flexible, but he reminded me that I have to wear many hats as a missionary. I'm not only a missionary, but a friend, a son, a cleaner, and a cook, and all of this is a part of our lives. So when he goes back to the states he can also share with future short term applicants this part of the life in Senegal as well as the sharing part of being a missionary.
So this day was a very productive day. I took the chance to specifically praise God for giving us such a great day together. I hope Alan enjoyed it as much as I did.

mis communication

2008-09-26T14:10:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate to be mis-quoted? This happens to me on occasion, and I sometimes wonder how things can be so distorted. Maybe I do have a tendancy to miss communicate what I want to say, but I can't imagine it's this bad.

One thing that happened this week was that my teacher spoke about our class sessions with my supervisor. He spoke that I don't accept criticism well to the point that I will make up my own rules in the language. This could not be further from the truth. He speaks quickly and will often correct my sentence structure or choice of words before I finish my sentence, which frustrates me to no end! So I had asked him not to correct me, that I want to be able to correct myself. He speaks very good English and I thought I had communicated that sufficiently to him in Wolof. Since we have spoken about it in English and he has a better understanding of where I stand.

Another thing that was mis-communicated was a conversation I had with a family I have befriended here. They are national missionaries and I'll go to visit them occasionally. One such occasion the husband wasn't there, but the daughter and child were, and we had a good discussion for maybe 2 hours over tea.
Later, Elliott dropped by himself, and heard from her that I had visited. Taking the time to ask about my progress in the language, he asked for her input. She reported that when we were talking about besap trees, she asked if there were fruit trees in America. She said I then started talking about McCain's children. Well this wasn't true. I didn't understand the question she posed to me, and maybe after a brief pause asked what she thought of McCain's running mate? Each time I've visited they bring up politics, and at the time I was interested in what she had to say.

So I've communicated that these are problems with Elliott. He thinks I need to slow down, take my time in speaking. I on the other hand think these are vocabulary issues, and would be normal in anyone's beginning of a foreign language study. Hopefully they are simply misunderstandings and do not happen much in the future. It did, however, make for a rough week. Thanks be to God that it has been resolved.

Tisbaar Prayer

2008-09-26T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today I took the chance to do some cultural learning. I wasn't sure how well I would be received, but I wanted to take the chance to observe the Friday afternoon (Tisbaar) prayer.

Each day, at precicely 2pm, a call to prayer is uttered and people will flock to the mosque to pray. Men line up side by side in rows within the mosque, women and children pray behind the men. All the people are facing east and will do a series of bows while they pray. There is a person who utters the "call to prayer" and then the Iman will lead the prayer time as each person mimics him. For awhile now I have wanted to observe this in action, and finally got up the nerve to try.

Here's the thing. I've been a part of this service before in America. There's a large mosque near NC State campus that I have visited at least 3 times. No, I'm not thinking of converting, I'm just curious, and 2 of those were for a class assignment. We had a lab class on the other side of the road from this mosque so I was there for several different classes. So I have seen this before, but in a different culture knowing that I was accepted as an outsider. Here in Mekhe, the culture is obviously different and I did want to be respectful of their worship time.

I went early so I would be able to observe beforehand. I saw a group of kids at the well selling water, and started a conversation with them. I figured they would be able to tell me if it would be ok to sit and observe, and they seemed to indicate it would be. So I stayed.

Here's the reason the Friday prayer is a little different from all the others. I'm not sure why Friday is their day, but they feel that if more people can come together and pray at the same time, God will hear one of those prayers uttered because that person has done enough good works to gain God's favor. How heart wretching! How hopeless! And like many small villages, all the small businesses shut down for the Friday afternoon prayer time. Everyone in the city goes to the larger mosques to pray as one.

So I did get to see this in practice. People came in flocks. Some early, some later than I thought they would. But as the 2pm call was uttered many people came at once. There were probably 150 people there at this mosque. I was expecting a thousand. I was actually surprised to see people taking naps when I walked home from the mosque, but I believed those people to be women and out of towners who were traveling and were away from their home.

I didn't have a problem sitting and staying near the mosque. The people seemed to accept that I want to understand the culture here, and no harsh eye glares or words were uttered. In fact I was greeted before and after the prayer time by men, so I do not think they thought negatively of this.

So this was my weekly cultural lesson. I enjoyed it, though it shows the vast lostness of the people here and the work we have to do.

who are you named for?

2008-09-19T05:15:00.001-07:00

In America we really don't think much about who we are named for. Most parents pick names from a book that sounds unique or has a particular meaning, or maybe they give a child the name of a close friend. Some parents do give the honor of the firstborn son the name of his father. I was named for my father, and while I like my name and the honor of the comparison to Dad, I never really cared for being called "little Roy" as a child! Try telling a 12 year old boy that he's 'little,' he doesn't want to hear it!
Well, here in Senegal, the person you are named for is very important. When a baby is born, there is a celebration on the 8th day of it's life to celebrate the child's birth. At this ceremony (ngente), gifts are brought for the family. Mothers give the mother clothes, cloth, food, milk or various other items she can use, while fathers and men give the father money. The family serves a big lunch for everyone that comes, and after lunch there is the ceremony. I want to go to one to see all that is involved. I hear it is at the ceremony that the person the child will be named for (turandoo) has the highest seat of honor. S/he will be served first, s/he will present the child to the family, and will become a person of great influence to the child, much like we would consider a G0d-parent to be, I think. During the life of the child, the turandoo and child will exchange gifts and mentor/be mentored. So the turandoo is an important person to the person.
Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to meet my turandoo. Some missionary friends introduced me to the owner of their house, who asked me for my Senegalese name. When I told him I didn't have one, he gave me the name of one of his friends. If I had met this person, I could have formed a close relationship with him.
So this is an example of culture here in Senegal that I wanted you to be aware of. Just a bit of random information. Hope you enjoyed!

some struggles

2008-09-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

I do enjoy the work that I do here in Senegal, and in Mekhe. Lately the weather has been nice. Some days it has been hot, other days fairly mild. It is like a summer in NC during August, and when I was coming I expected much hotter, more extreme conditions. So I really can't complain about the life here.
But what I have been struggling with lately is putting my passionate foot forward. It took so long for language classes to get started, so it seems like I have been learning Wolof for a year now since I have lived here nearly 10 months and worked as a missionary for a year. But I've only had 5 months of classes. They weren't kidding when they told me I would be a life learner as a missionary.
But I'm ready to share with people. Yet after Wolof class, I sometimes feel so tired that I just want to rest. So a struggle at times has been to even go and visit with my neighbors and friends. This is the season of Ramadan, and I'm always greeted with the question "how is the fasting?" When I answer that question, I tell them that I'm not a Muslim, that I am a follower of Christ, so I am not fasting during this season. Earlier this month I was struggling just to say this. But I have noticed the more I say it the easier it comes. I think that is true with most things that I have learned. I simply have to practice it repeatedly in order to learn it. This was a struggle, but now it's coming around.
But my struggle lately has been my passion. It's here, but it's tired! Lately I have been reading a lot about the politics that are going on in America. Deep down I have always wanted to work in conservation, and now that conservation seems to be the wave of the future in career choices, I'm itching to find a job that will pave the way for the future. It would be something I know I would enjoy. I don't get to work with my hands here, and since I see my hands as one of God's greatest gifts to me, often times I wonder how I can use them here. Maybe I am supposed to be doing something else? When I think this way, I realize that satan is reminding me of what I love, but I should be focusing more on who I love.
Another minor battle has been these blisters on my feet. They aren't healing because as I walk I keep breaking the scabs. This is keeping me from exercising like I wish I could, and I do miss the exercises that I grew into the habit of doing.
So I have been battling a little this month with my interests and things that I want to do. I still wish that I could find a balance between these. I enjoy the time I have to talk with friends and neighbors, but gee, if I could work in a lab developing methods of conservation as well, I'd be more satisfied with my work. Maybe this is where God is teaching me that it's not about me, and it's all about his will for my life. I still have a lot to learn. I know that I am stubborn at times. But I know that God is faithful and he will bring me through these struggles. I pray that my joy will remain complete despite them.

Team Meeting

2008-09-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

This week was a slightly different week for me. Our Wolof team meets periodically to discuss events, keep our tasks up to date, and relate ministry items with each other. Usually we meet 4 times a year.
This meeting lasted 2 days and we mostly discussed strategies for reaching the Wolof people. We talked about volunteer groups, partnering churches, current things that we are all involved in, as well as other things less exciting. It was an effective 2 day meeting, though I think we were all exhausted at the end of it.
Whenever I am in Dakar, I try to see a few of my many friends. I was able to enjoy time with the Reynolds and the Foremans, and I got to spend time each night I was there with the 2 evening guards whom I made friends with while I was in language learning several months ago. I was hoping to go by and see my 'dad' PJ but after not sleeping well the night before, I missed that opportunity. I'll be in town for a day next week, and maybe I can get there early enough to catch him before he goes off to work. I'll try. I want to update him with things and hear how he is doing.
While writing this post, I'll ask for a prayer request. Please pray for my feet to begin to heal. Since June there has been blister after blister on them which limit my mobility. I've wanted to play soccer, walk the streets, and enjoy my neighborhood. But when I don't sleep well for my feet throbbing, when I'm getting ingrown toenails that I've never gotten before, or when I can barely walk around my house I am beginning to realize that this is probably spiritual warfare that I am dealing with. Please pray with me that this will go away quickly so I can feel more effective in my ministry.
Thanks so much for reading and for your prayers.

the latest sharing news

2008-09-07T17:12:00.000-07:00

These are my latest opportunities of sharing with my friends. These stories feature:
-me!
-my weekly guard
-Mr. T, my welding friend
-and the adult children of my home owner.

and ACTION:

I've had some good conversations with my guard, with the youth at the house of my homeowner, and with the metal worker and his helpers on their relationship with God. I'll start with my guard. He's seen a More than Dreams DVD testimony-a true story about a Muslim who converted to Christianity, and he was asking questions after the dvd. They put a lot of emphasis on dreams here, and if Jesus speaks to them in a dream, they do seek him from others. I've shared with him some. I have asked him about his prayer beeds. He says he has to pray 1947 times a day! And I asked him what he's praying that much. He's saying 'forgive me' that many times...that's his prayer. His pastor (sereen) told him to do that. I'm working with him, and we'll continue to talk.

The homeowner and his family I have had some success with them. A month or so ago I was eating lunch with them, and went with one of the boys to his bedroom to have tea. While he was making tea and waiting for the water to boil he said his afternoon prayers. He read them aloud, but I noticed how fast he was reading. And I asked him why he rushed through the prayers? Was he praying what was on his heart? I was honestly curious. And he showed me his prayer book and that he's to pray through it daily, reading in Arabic. I asked him what it read, and he said he didn't know, just that he was to pray through it. So I shared that when I pray to God I pray what is on my heart, and I pray from my heart. Written prayers are ok, but I know that God loves me enough to want to hear from my heart. And when I pray, I talk to God with importance.
He seemed to understand that. We've talked since, and he's been with me when I've talked with others in his family, and he seems to be echoing what I try to say to his brothers and sisters. When they were asking questions and I would try to explain my answers, he'd speak more eloquently than I was able to. I'm going to have to start telling them stories, and maybe I have found someone that can be a helper.

The welder and his helpers have been much the same as the homeowner's kids. The welder wants to hear stories, and I am trying to build my relationship with him as well as simply tell truth now when I get the chance. He's helped me by asking his helpers not to talk so firm when they talk with me. I don't mind the firmness as much as they speak so fast and are so close to me when they talk (6 inches from my nose) that he helps me to tell them that we can learn from each other, and to have a conversation about our faith in God.
So that's where I am with those relationships. Please keep us in your prayers. Some days I feel like I'm close in getting them to understand, and other days it's as if I have to start over. I do care a lot about these individuals, and would love to see their hearts change.

An adventurous day...sometimes a typical day.

2008-09-07T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you about my adventerous day this week. It was a thursday, like any typical thursday (ok, I'll stop with the Dragnet cameo). After studying Wolof I went out to work in the yard. I have a lamp that I wanted to replace, and some weeds I was going to get up. So after pulling the weeds I worked on the lamp. The lamp was too high for me to reach standing on a chair, and since I don't have a ladder I decided it was best to stand on the tailgate of my truck to hang the light. But when I went to start my truck, it wouldn't start.

I noticed when I turned the key to warm the glow plug I notice the gas needle didn't move-it stayed on empty. It didn't even move up to empty. First time it has not registered, it registered 3/4 of a tank last time I drove it on Sunday. But I wasn't concerned, needles go bad all the time. The truck fired up when I first cranked it, then stalled out. Old truck, been sitting for a week, I wasn't concerned about the stall. And cranked it again. This time, it wouldn't turn over. So I'm thinking the battery, and call my supervisor over to jump me with his truck. Well he comes over and says "you're not getting any gas" and I tell him again about the gas needle. He says, wow, somebody got you. But you can't cyphen every drop of gas from a tank, surely it will register something. And it did turn over, I have to think it's something else. But he suggested we fill a gas tank and put some gas in. After doing that, and pumping the fuel pump, it cranked. So now I'm thinking, yes, somebody did steal my gas and I'll need to go and get some more. My tank holds 40 liters and I was going to buy 20. However (this is the weird part), the tank only held 10 liters, 1/4 of the tank. So there was gas in the truck the whole time. It's never gone bad like that before, never even had a problem cranking. Anyway, got it running again and drove for 30 minutes to warm up the engine. I haven't driven it out of Mekhe since my trip to go shopping 2 or 3 weeks ago. Anyway, now I'll have to keep a close eye on my trip odometer to fill up with gas regularly. And I'm guessing I'll be driving my truck a little more regularly so this doesn't happen again. Least I know how to fix it now.

After that, I did use the truck to fix the lamp. I'll tell you about houses here. Everything is cement-cement walls, cement foundation, cement roofs. Typically they'll put rebarb in the walls as they pour the concrete to make the walls firm. However, the cement on my house is very soft. The last light I hung was very easy to hang. This one, I found the concrete to be quite firm. I was hanging it outside my guard's room-he has a separate building from my house but in my yard. I had some of the neighborhood kids hanging around with me and we talked while I worked on my truck and while I fixed the lamp. 2 of them were saying that I needed to buy some nails to punch into the cement. So I went with them to a hardware store to buy some. And we came back and I was able to hang the lamp, no problems. That was fun working with the kids. I gave them candy for helping.

Then with the work around the house finished, I went for a walk in the market. I saw my welder friend, my shop keeper friend, picked up my shirt I had made, and got a haircut. I had never met the man who cut my hair before. He is Nigerian-didn't know we had any Nigerians in town-and wanted to speak English with me. So I was ok with that. The haircut is a little short-I'd been letting my hair grow out for the last 5 months. My hair grows really slow, and the top is thinner than the sides. I don't like long hair on the side of my head, but don't mind combing the top. I have a military haircut now :) And that's ok with me, this is the way I always cut my hair in college.

So after my adventurous day, I came home, talked with my guard-we also watched XMen. I ate supper, exercised, and went to bed. And that's been a typical day for me this week...I'll study in the mornings, go out after lunch time and visit. I am trying to be respectful of the people during their fast and not even buy food during the day here. Everyone is fasting, in fact it's the first thing they'll ask me when they greet me. I'm having to say that as my testimony quite a lot this week, and I'm grateful for the opportunities to share my faith in Jesus as the only way to gain salvation. Of course they put their faith in the works they do. It's sad how they are caught up in the religion.

West African Cardboard Testimonies

2008-09-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

these are testimonies of fellow missionaries here in West Africa. The signs relate to the lives the missionaries left behind to serve in West Africa. Take a look, I hope they touch your heart.

The cat...didn't come back (warning, sad story)

2008-09-04T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've told a few of you that I had a cat living in the yard lately. The mom cat had her litter in a brush pile I had in the side of the yard. Later in the month I noticed one kitten and the mom still hanging around the yard. They began to spend a lot of time here. I was ok with it, but told myself, "just don't feed the cat." The kitten began to grow. I enjoyed watching it play with crickets at night in the yard, and try to climb the tree. I'd shew it away when it tried climbing my front porch screen.
Well one day I was cleaning around the yard and walked up close to the cats. The mom hissed (wild cat, she always does that), and immediately started coughing. And I thought, oh no, she's sick while she's nursing. So my heavy heart decided to put some milk out for her. After an hour or so she was curious enough to try it, and drank probably 4 ounces-quite a bit. And as I put out the milk I was telling myself, 'now I'm attached.'
The next day, I'm driving my vehicle to Elliott's for church, and as I pack my things in the truck, the cats are on the truck. So I shooed them away. Then I start my vehicle and begin to back out of the garage. Keep in mind that this is a diesel truck with a loud engine. Well, the kitten came back, and yep, went right to the curious spot of the moving tire. Only the wrong side apparently. As I looked over the hood of my truck I could see it struggle for it's last breath-I'm not even sure what I ran over, maybe it's head. I wanted to cry, and I wanted to say some inappropriate words-I was mad and sad at the same time. So I buried the kitten. Mom cat saw the whole thing. After the burial she was looking all over for her kitten. Her kitten never came back. She was very sad for 3 days.
So that's the story of the cat. I'm not a cat fan, never have been. But I do have a soft spot for all animals (except snakes). I won't attach myself to cats because if I do I feed the neighborhood. It's the same reason I don't give money or loan money to anyone. I figured I would nurse the cat to health, and then no longer feed it, but I did get attached. I miss the kitten.

Ramadan

2008-09-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

Starting September 2nd Muslims here and around the world begin Ramadan, a month long fast where each person will not eat or drink during daylight hours. This is a chance for them to try and please their God by giving up food and water. The people will go about their normal routine during the day, and then at the end of the day have a big meal with family. During the day they are typically somber and typically on edge in their conversations. By the end of the day many are complaining of being hungry and tired.
-please pray for times to share during this month. Each day as I venture out the first thing people will ask is, "are you fasting?" I am able to share that as a follower of Jesus I do fast, but I am not fasting for this month. Pray for me to be bold as I continue to find other words to say about my faith relating to fasting.
-pray for the hearts of the people. When they are asking each person daily "are you fasting" they are going against Jesus' teaching of fasting in secret and only letting God know. They are trying to do good works rather than serving God with their hearts.
-pray for the health of the people. It is hot this month, and it is still raining. Besides the germs that are predominant this time of year, also remember the people as they go without food and water during the day, yet still work in the fields and in their mechanic shops. Hard labor is especially tough when you are dehydrated. Pray that they will rest when they can, and they will be smart about taking their time as they work.

Trip to Abidjan

2008-08-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

We recently had our annual meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. There all the missionaries in West Africa got together to discuss various strategies for effective entry, effective discipleship and church planting. We had time for worship and time to get together as teams to discuss other matters of ministry. Overall it was a great time to be encouraged by meeting other missionaries, hearing their stories, and sharing a little about my work with others.
Some highlights of the week include getting to meet many of the other journeymen. There are various teams of journey girls who live in remote parts of West Africa and work together to tell stories. These ladies are my heroes. They live in extreme conditions for several weeks at the time, teaching lessons in the native tongue of the people. I live in a village, but the living conditions are nothing like what these ladies deal with every day. And it was great to get to hear how they are making the stories come to life to their people.
I also enjoyed time with Erik, my other fellow journeyman. Erik's quite the character, and being around him always lifts my spirits. We got to talk about his classes and we discussed most nights what we talked about in large group that day.
One day all the single journey guys and girls went to the beach. I really enjoyed the trip to the beach-to wade in the dirty water, to throw frisbee, and collect sand dollars. We also had a nice lunch and had a good day together to rest. The only problem was that after the day in the sun I was so exhausted that I missed the next morning's session.
Another highlight was playing pool with Elliot, my supervisor. We have been talking about playing pool for awhile now. Finally we found a table to play on-although it was not a good table at all. The cushions were falling apart, the sticks did not have good tips, and the pockets were falling apart. But despite the conditions we were competitive and had a good time. Yea, I beat him bad one day. The next day he beat me. We're going to have to find another place to play here in Senegal.
I really enjoyed meeting all the missionaries that I came across in Abidjan. I made some friends that will last a liftetime and look forward to renewing those relationships when it is possible. My prayers are with you all!

Prayer Answered!

2008-07-16T04:27:00.000-07:00

I had a huge prayer answered a few weeks ago. A friend of mine here in Mekhe who is a Wolof welder was talking with me as I introduced to him my guests. He met Justin, a youth pastor, and asked him what he did for work. I translated that he taught the Bible to youth. And my friend excitedly proclaimed, “can you teach me? I want to learn.” I was absolutely floored! So eagerly we set up a time to meet and tell stories.

The day we met, I translated the story of creation as well as the story of Adam and Eve and their sin. We talked specifically on the idea that Adam and Eve sinned just like everyone sins, we mentioned that God required a sacrifice from a living animal to pay for that sin-an innocent animal had to die. And we discussed that our relationship with God was broken because of that sin since Adam and Eve could not go back to the garden. It was a good lesson, and I will share more with my friend.
This was a great start into sharing with my friend. I look forward to going to his house and continuing to build this relationship with him. He has been given a Wolof New Testament Bible to have and read when he can. And although he has pushed aside the Word when his friends are around (which is what any Muslim would do culturally), privately he is eager to hear more stories. He knew these stories well, and was saying them to us in Wolof better than I could say them in Wolof. I do pray that together we may continue to share the truth about Jesus.

New Happenings

2008-07-16T04:26:00.000-07:00

Now that we are done with the volunteer teams here for the summer, you may be wondering just what I am going to be doing with the time I have. Well, I’ll try to give you a little summary of what I would like to do with my time here in Mekhe. But before I do, here’s the plans for the next few weeks.

-We have a regional workshop to attend in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire at the end of the month. I will be attending this to gain insight on effective entry and effective presentation of the gospel. I’ll also get to meet other missionaries from West Africa and begin to hear their stories.

-I have highspeed internet! So I will hope to keep in touch better with family and friends once I catch up on the work that I have been missing here. With the internet maybe I’ll even catch a cubs game on the radio. And I look forward to exercising to Adventures in Odyssey, and hearing a few sermons as well.

-After the regional workshop, I will begin Wolof classes again. These classes will be 3 days a week for 3 hours each day. This will give me time to not only grow in my Wolof, but I will have off days to begin working on telling stories and doing ministry in Mekhe. So I’m very excited about continuing language study, and for the chance that it will give me to ask questions as I go.

I know that seems like a lot, but I do like to stay busy. I don’t think this is too much to chew on, and once I get into a rhythm I should be able to get this done each day. I believe this will also make me look forward to resting on the weekends. I’ll keep you updated how the schedule is working.

a day of rest!

2008-07-16T04:25:00.001-07:00

I was awful tired one day, and I didn’t realize it. With the work that we had all been doing the last few weeks, I was getting 5-6 hours of sleep each night. Usually when I am tired and I’m not active I can fall asleep no problem. And I started taking light naps in the afternoons. Elliott would even pick on me for taking naps, which I didn’t mind but I did try to stay away so that he wouldn’t have anything to say to me. But one day, I took a nap for 2 hours before lunch. After the nap I felt even worse, so I thought to myself, “Oh no! I’m getting sick.” So after lunch I took a nap to see if it would make me feel better. After that nap I went with 2 of the boys to visit a friend of ours, and I couldn’t hold my head up during the visit. After bringing them back to Elliott’s house, I went home to go to bed, and slept for 12 hours. I felt much better after the rest and was back to my old self. So after sleeping for 17 hours in one day, I was caught up with the sleep I needed. I guess my body will shut itself down to catch up on much needed sleep.

The Second Group

2008-07-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

The second group that we had here working with us as volunteers came all the way from Poquoson Baptist Church in Virginia. Like the first group, this group had the chance to work with the high school students here in Mekhe. They played games-usually basketball-and taught the Senegalese students a few American games—such as Uno, football (American style), and some other card games. They also shared dances that each prepared. There was a group of 3 boys here in Mekhe that dance together and performed for us, and the Poquoson group prepared dances to share as well. It turned out to be quite a fun time for all involved.

With this second group we also learned to laugh at ourselves. Many days we said things that seemed to come out wrong-me included! Some of those sayings that you just had to be there to see the humor. And we learned a lot about ourselves and what makes us different from others. We realized that we all have gifts we can take to the throne, and God can use them in a special way. I am glad that even as I am 28 I am still learning things about myself so that I may work better with others.

Which would you rather have??

2008-06-28T09:09:00.002-07:00

Over the last week the guys at my house created a number of games. One game we came up with was “you know you’ve been in Africa too long when…” and we’d complete the sentence. One way we were reminded of being in Africa was the water cutting off each day. Fortunately it would come on at night so we could get showers, but in the morning we wouldn’t have any water. When I realized the pattern, I stayed up filling water bottles with the filter so we would have drinking water for the next day. And I’d be the last to take a shower and go to bed. But the lack of water got me to think-what would I rather have, water or power?
In Dakar there has been terrible power outages lately. I am not sure if it is from the change in temperature and more people are running fans, or if there is a shortage of power available. At any rate, when the power is cut off, people here cannot work. Seamstresses cannot sew, factories cannot produce goods, computers cannot work-in short, life is at a stand still for the 5-6 hours that there is no power. The water just this week has become an issue as well. I understand that there was a main water line cut in Dakar, and apparently all the water in various cities is being sent to Dakar to alleviate the shortage. But it doesn’t help us in the other cities. We sacrifice all our water so they may have some. Just a reminder of being in Africa.
Now, to answer the question-which would I rather have? Without a doubt, I’d rather have water than power. I can do everything I need to do at my house without power. I can cook on my gas stove, I can flush and shower (the water powers itself when it is on), and I can read during the day or go out and talk to friends. No power at night makes for a boring evening, but I can still talk to my guard until I’m sleepy enough to lay down. But if I don’t have water, I cannot shower, I cannot cook (unless I use bottled water-which I will keep on hand), and I can’t refresh myself. I do have a reserve tank of water that I can store and run through my lines in my house, but it is a weaker pressure and does not make it to the kitchen. Also, I used to really enjoy the power outages that we had at home during a thunder storm. But if I’m without one or the other for an extended time, I’d rather not have power than not have water.

No Rest for the Weary

2008-06-28T09:09:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has small kids, or who has ever been a youth minister can relate to being tired after a camp, or being tired in general from caring for children. And this is not to say that I am complaining about being tired, I am just surprised at how tired I was. While the Hickory Grove group was here, I slept most nights for 5 hours-1:30-6:30. Occasionally I would get a few more winks, but some nights I also got less. I’m one of those people that can handle 5 hours of sleep, as long as I’m active and working. If I’m idle, that makes it tough.
Anyway, this week I was able to get some much needed rest. All I had on my agenda was to clean my house, cook for myself, visit 2 friends, order my internet for my house, and rest, rest, rest. Although it was a very hot week, I was surprised that even though I would sleep in til 8am, I could still get a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, and yet still fall asleep at night. A few days I was extremely tired-maybe I slept too much! But some days I could not keep my eyes opened when I was reading. It’s been awhile since I have been that exhausted. I was grateful for this week to recuperate, and now I am ready for the next group to come.

The Hickory Grove Group

2008-06-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

This group was a church youth group from Charlotte, NC, who came to do ministry work with the youth at the highschool in Mekhe. They were a large group for Mekhe, 15 people came! But what an amazing and outgoing group. Not only did they learn greetings, they took initiative during each day of the week to speak with friends they were making, or even strangers on the road.
This group also braved the elements of Mekhe. Each day we had to battle for running water, which is not fun in a house of 7 guys. And they braved the 110 degree heat of Senegal. I was very pleased with their work.
They even came up with a new nickname for me, Biv or Bivster. It comes from the acronym for learning the colors of the rainbow. It’s still growing on me, but this group earned the right to call me bivster. It was/is cute.
What was their schedule like during the day? Well, they would get up, shower, and eat breakfast, and be ready to go by 9am. From 9-1 we usually did whatever we could, whether prayer walking, visiting friends, or for a couple of days we visited the school and spoke in the classroom with the kids. After lunch we would rest until 4 or 5, when we would really get going with visiting friends at the school. We would play soccer or basketball until dark, then eat supper and have debrief time until 10:30. And after the dust settled, the guys would go back to my place and we’d turn in for bed around 12.
I think that this group got to share with 12-15 different students, which is amazing! We did a really big outreach in showing the chronicles of narnia on a projector outside my house. Several of the Senegalese students were able to ask questions after the movie, and from the responses they did seem to get the message behind the story.
My take home message from this group is to never think that I have to work before sharing the gospel message with those around me. This group took it upon themselves to go straight for the gospel message with the students-sharing their faith, sharing who they believe Jesus is and what it means to be a Christian. I have been waiting to share—waiting to be more comfortable in Wolof, waiting to share the right stories before going to the Cross. Now I know that I don’t necessarily have to wait. I can share right away, and let God’s Spirit do the work.

Language Learning

2008-06-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

It was a fast 3 months of language learning in Dakar. I didn’t think that I would ever get a chance to start learning Wolof for all the struggles that I had in finding a teacher, and then even when I came here to Dakar the teacher missed 3 days in 2 weeks-and this is a teacher who has the reputation to never miss a class. But thankfully it worked out and I received a strong 2 for my language evaluation. I believe I still need to work on improving my Wolof, but I wanted so desperately to stay in Mekhe to begin my ministry there. It is hard to minister in 2 places at once, and with time already ticking away, I was not happy about the thought of having to come back to Dakar after our volunteer groups leave in July.
Well, praise God, he answered both of those requests. Not only do I get to stay in Mekhe, I get to continue learning Wolof while living there and working in ministry. Here’s the schedule. For 3 days a week I will have class 9-12. For the afternoons I will study and cook and rest, as well as visit when I have the time. And for 2 days a week I will have the chance to begin ministry in Mekhe. I have set a goal to actually do ministry for one day a week, and the other day I will be working on learning one story a week in Wolof. I’ll probably translate it on paper and begin reading it aloud to myself to learn the vocabulary words. I don’t have to say it the same each time, but I do want to hit the main points in each story I share.
God is good and I am go grateful that he answered this request. I admit to being angry when I thought I would have to come back to Dakar in August. Then I had an amazing peace about the situation shortly after. This week, as Elliott and I had a chance to discuss the future, he told me this was available and I jumped for joy. Praise God for answering prayer.

Giving a Bible

2008-06-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

I had the chance to meet with a friend last week. It was a follow up visit from a few weeks past. This family is Pulaar, and although they speak Wolof, their heart language is Pulaar, a very different African language. I was given a Pulaar New Testament to give to this family, so I went to present this gift to them. Immediately after arriving and greeting the family, they asked about my gift. So I explained that it was a New Testament, and was written stories about Jesus-who he is and how he loves people. And so she began to read, and smile, and read and smile even more. She was laughing as she read, never once stopping although her family was not as thrilled as she was. I promised her that I would return in a week to talk about what she had read. And I will plan to go to share creation to the cross stories as well. I hope that I am able to find her again to talk. It would be great for this woman to tell her neighborhood about the exciting stories of Jesus and who he really is. I pray that eventually God will reveal himself to her, and she will believe.

Soccer game

2008-05-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to start a blog for some time to help tell stories as they occur. So with no further ado, let's start this blog off with a bang.
Yesterday was the epic champions league match up between Chelsea and Man U. For anyone not in America, time stood still while this game was played. I have been talking about this game for weeks with my teacher, and with him being a big Chelsea fan, me more of a Man U. fan (who hasn't heard of them-right? So I've rooted for them in soccer for several years).
Well, before the game started, I needed to find a place to watch it. And after running into some new friends who are neighbors here, I was able to go back to their house and watch the game. A good story to share, before the game started, I was telling them about myself, and said that I was a missionary here to tell stories about God. One guy spoke up, tell us a story! So I began by sharing my testimony, and that I believe Jesus to be God's Son, and that I trust in him. Well this set him off, as Muslims do not believe God can have a Son. But they did invite me back to share more stories, and I plan to next week. I hope to prepare some stories from the Old Testament that will introduce them to God's love and power over all things.
The game was great, absolutely wonderful soccer. I don't like when championships come down to penalty kicks. Any Chelsea fan should be proud, because they played better than Manchester did. And that's coming from a Man U. fan, albeit I am unbiased. In all sports I call it as I see it, even if it were my Cubs.
I was thrilled to make some friends with this family, and I hope to continue this relationship for the next 3 weeks. It is always going to be hard to say goodbye to friends in Dakar once I do leave shortly, but I have still got to have friends. And I am glad that I am received by them.