Under Neem Trees

Under the Neem tree the children sat quietly as we, myself, a missionary family, two interns and the pastor, approached the area where they gather for church. Despite the language barrier it was beautiful to worship God with my African brothers and sisters who on the surface live worlds apart from me, but share a common bond in Christ. After church we spent the afternoon with a Muslim family who just lost their ten-year-old son to a tumor. Lamine had been flown to the US for surgery, but despite all the medical efforts the tumor took his life. I never met Lamine, but heard all about his humor and joyful outlook from my colleague who visited him almost everyday when he was in the hospital. We came today to share in their sorrow and let them know our love for their family. Pray that the Gospel might touch their whole family (estimate of 20+ people were there today) and that they might believe this verse, "Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die (JN 11: 25)." Do you believe this?

The Plateau

I've reached the phase of my experience here where not much is new or exciting and things just continue at a slow rate. In the same day or even morning, I can love being in Africa, sitting in my apartment studying or talking with a neighbor, but then the heat of the day comes or I find the vendors and the beggars on the street taxing and I wonder if I belong in this country. Little things continue to encourage my time, like last Saturday working with a group from the church in my community cleaning up a garden and having a neighbor touched by the initiative and act of service. I'm discovering the facets of life in the developing world, those who have means live a good life and those who don't scrap by to find food to eat. Injustice and inequality shows itself in sad conditions, as a boy on the street tells you if you don't give him 20 cents he will be beaten that night by his religious leader. You have to be careful who you trust, because even among locals they cheat each other just to advance a little step in life. Maybe in North America we don't walk down the street facing injustice in the way we do in Africa, but regardless we are all faced with little and big decisions to stand for justice and show compassion to our neighbor. I am learning these acts are little but require faithfulness to make them grow.

Korite

Today ended the month long fasting of Ramadan and all my neighbors were out early sweeping their houses and preparing for the days events. The men go to the mosque early in the morning while the women stay home to prepare the breakfast, typically lait caitya (porridge). The men, all dressed in their new traditional clothes, return to ask for pardon from each of their neighbors. The main meal of chicken is served in the afternoon followed by attya tea, dessert and a local fruit drink. Once the meal is finished the kids, dressed in their new outfits, visit all of the neighbors and ask for money (similar to trick-or-treat).

The following pictures are of the family below me and neigborhood kids.

Literacy Project

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalms 1:2

‘Literacy is at the heart of
Sustainable Development’
-Kofi Annan

National Church Literacy Project

In Sub Saharan Africa the adult (15 yrs.+) literacy rate is 59.3% but in this region of West Africa only 39% of adults can read and write. The rate is even lower for women (29.2%) who have a major impact on the overall well-being of their household (World Bank 2005).

How does this impact the national church? Illiteracy is one of the major obstacles for the establishment and growth of a vibrant church. When church members cannot read it limits the opportunities for personal spiritual development, impacting the whole community.

Two years ago the national church and MTW team addressed this issue by starting a literacy program as a means of equipping church members and ministering to their communities. Nine literacy teachers have been trained, providing a new skill and work for individuals in the church, and last year 150 individuals were enrolled in 10 classes in 7 locations. For some of these individuals it was the first time they had ever held a pencil and attended a class, thus for some illiteracy was quite an obstacle to overcome.

Twenty-five students have completed the two course program and can now read and write. Fifty people will go on this year to the second course, while others will repeat the first year and more will start. The classes meet three times a week during the dry season (January to June), and each course covers half of their 32 letter alphabet. It costs 50 USD per student per six month course.

Gifts to this Project can be sent to

MTW
P. O. Box 116284
Atlanta, GA 30368

Memo: SEN literacy project #94953

I took out a soccer ball, frisbee, and whiffle ball and bat for the church kids and everyone loved playing with all them. Thanks Grace DC for sending them over!

The pastor's wife and daughters

Children waiting for church to begin (the church was primarily made up of women and children)
Passing the Time

Aminata (the wife of the assistant pastor) and I in front of their outdoor kitchen

Village Stay

I have a new found appreciation for village life and what "developing world" means concretely, as well as a bigger picture of the church. I returned today from a week stay with a pastor and his family in a rural, millet agriculture based village a couple hours from the capital city. Honestly, it was harder on me than I imagined partly because my expectations did not meet reality, partly because of limited communication, and partly because of a loss of control over my environment. The objective of my stay was cultural and language learning and to look for opportunities for me to serve the churches in the region. In many ways a week sufficed to evaluate where I stood in my cultural learning and learn areas I can pursue to aid the churches. The hardest part for me was the lack of activity and slowness of life, and the highlights were playing whiffle ball with the pastor's daughters, finally being able to pronounce the "ƭ" sound in their mother tongue, cooking fish and rice over an open fire, and learning that they would be interested in having me help with micro-economic training.

Right now we are in the rainy season and I expected everyone to be working in the fields from sun up to sun down with a break in the afternoon, but I was wrong. Generally, it is the men (in the village I stayed in) who cultivate the millet, peanuts, and beans, and the women who grow the rice, but right now they are not working in their fields all day long but waiting for the harvest to ripen. Some of the morning and late afternoon the men spent in the fields and tending to the larger animals, but quite a bit of time was spent sitting under a tree passing the time amongst each other. You find people sitting around in the city but it is more magnified in the countryside. A typical day for the women consisted of rising as the sun came up (around 7 am), sweeping the house and yard and preparing for breakfast. Each morning I ate cere (millet couscous) with either water or milk (they bought the milk especially for me) and sometimes fish. After breakfast the women would look after the children, visit a neighbor, or go to grind their millet into flour. By mid morning they began to prepare lunch, usually a rice and fish meal with some vegetables. The preparation and cooking took some time and the lunch was served around 2 p.m.. After lunch one of the men would make attaya tea (green tea served in three rounds) while events of the day were discussed stretched out on a mat under a shaded tree. The women and young girls would play a dice game, take a nap or braid each other's hair. As the day began to cool off the men would go back to tending the animals or the field, and the women would pound millet, fetch water from the well, or perform other house work and then begin preparations for dinner. As it was getting dark the men would bring in the the animals and everyone would get cleaned up for the evening. Each night we watched the news (powered by solar energy), ate a dinner of cere, and sat outside looking at the stars before heading to bed. On Thursday night we had a time of prayer for the national church and mission and on Saturday night we had a Bible study using the shorter catechism. Although I did not understand what was being said I was able to witness the family's love for God and pursuit to know Him more. The trade language I have been studying is not their maternal language and I understood 5-10% of the verbal communication during my stay. I came back early due to sinus and allergy problems but plan to go back for another stay in the future.

Last Night

Some moments in time take a life of their own and leave you in wonder of what is taking place. Last night was one of those nights with the cloudless sky scattered with faint stars and the heat of the day gone til the morning. On the path to meet a savings and loan group of street women I passed by walls protecting beautiful houses with elaborate doors and guards sitting outside keeping watch or snoozing. As I followed Dkior, one of the members, with her paint bucket full of clothes and treasures and cardboard mat in hand, I asked myself what I am I doing, not in the sense of doubt but in seeing God's hand directing me to places that aren't clear yet and encouraging me to continue to hang onto His promises. Little by little I learn the language of these women and little by little they save their money from their work. It's a process that I don't know where it will end up or where it will take us. Will they be able to understand the full picture of God's love for them in sending His Son to die for them? Or will they just know a girl who invested a little time and money into giving them hope for the now? Pray that I would be able to speak truth into their lives in a way that transforms their lives for the now and the not yet.

Two Amazing Stories

Today I heard two incredible testimonies of God's power at work in West Africa that are worth reading when you have the time. A baptism of twenty new believers will be held this Sunday. All is well for me expect a sheep ate my clothes today...

Marie's Story

Each spring the town seers (people who claim to see into the future and/or to have supernatural powers) have a special ceremony and describe what the upcoming rainy season will be like. This spring, one of their predictions was that a girl would be bitten by a poisonous snake. Unless the girl then came to see them with lots of money and gifts, she would surely die; however, even if she did come, there would be no guarantee that she would live. The seers also said that the girl would be of a lighter shade of skin color and would help with taking care of a church.

A few weeks later, Marie, who was recently converted through the ministry of church-planter Paul, went on an outreach activity with the church youth group. On the way back, she was bitten in the leg by a poisonous snake. As news spread that she had been bitten, everyone realized that she was the girl in the seers' prediction. Not only is Marie's skin shade lighter than average, she also regularly swept the room her church meets in.

Marie's family wanted to take her to the seers and also to a witch doctor, but she refused, saying that she trusted in God to heal her. Paul and the other Christians prayed fervently for her. Her leg began to swell until it was a few times its normal size.

The whole extended family put a lot of pressure on Marie and on her church family, saying that if they didn't take her to the seers and witch doctor and she died, they would hold the church accountable for her death.

Meanwhile, the health agent at a small local health center run by a Christian organization was trying to come up with the means to purchase an antidote to the poison. The one necessary injection costs more than $200, a huge sum for the local people, especially since they haven't yet brought in this year's harvest.

Humanly speaking, Marie should have been dead after two or three days. Five days after she was bitten, she was still alive. The health agent was able to purchase the antidote and gave it to her. She recovered quickly and completely and took her comprehensive high school final exams two weeks later. She passed the difficult exams, and her story has become well known all over the area.

-------------------------

Adama's Story

Adama is a 17-year-old girl who gave her life to Christ a few months ago through the ministry of church-planter Paul. Her family was very upset and took her by force into the capital city to the home of a well-known marabout (Muslim religious leader), since the family follows that marabout.

At the home of the marabout, Adama accused him of hiding the truth from his disciples, since Jesus is the only way to salvation. The marabout gave a loud shriek and his disciples were so enraged that some began attacking her, with the intention of killing her. The marabout said not to do it there, but to take her to an isolated beach near the city.

Meanwhile, the driver of the taxi that the family had taken from their village to the capital had been waiting the whole time since he had been hired for the return trip. The driver saw how events were unfolding and had compassion on Adama. He managed somehow to talk to her privately and told her to sit in the middle of the back seat on the way to the beach. Her father would be in front, with two of the marabout's disciples in the back, one on each side of her. The driver told her to wait until her father and the other two men had gotten out, and then he would speed off with her. The plan worked perfectly, and Adama's life was spared.

The taxi driver took Adama back to the city and dropped her off. She had been to the city once before and found her way to the home of friends she had visited there. Then she called Paul, recounted the events and asked for help. Paul told her to leave and and come out to his house.

Paul and another church leader went with Adama to see the sous-prefect, the local government authority. They explained about the attempt on her life, and Adama said that she wanted to remain with the Christians and not go back to her family. The sous-prefect agreed to this. Adama was taken to stay with a pastor's family in a large city.

Adama's family tried to find out where she was. They contacted the local authorities and tried to accuse the church people of abducting her. However, because of the visit to the sous-prefect, those charges were not accepted. Church-planter Paul assured the family that she was safe and being well taken care of.

Adama's mother in particular was insistent on seeing her. After discussion between Paul, Adama and her host family, it was decided that Paul would take Adama's mother to visit her. Before coming, her mother went to a witch doctor and got a special poison in powder form that she intended to try to slip into Adama's food or drink. However, the mother forgot the powder on the horse cart she took on her way from her village to the main road.

Adama's mother found her daughter in very different circumstances than she had expected. Adama was obviously happy, living in a comfortable house with a kind family who was treating her well. The pastor's wife and Adama spent time talking with Adama's mother, and she ended up sobbing, regretting bitterly that she had tried to have spells put on Adama and wanted to see her dead, even to the point of planning to kill her herself. Adama's mother has now become a believer and has requested to be baptized this Sunday.

Ramadan

I'm sitting listening to the chants of Muslim prayers on the first night of Ramadan but like everynight still hearing my neighbor across the street scraping the side of his pot of roasted peanuts. My previous unreflected expectations prompt me to pursue more knowledge of this new season I have awaken to today.

Expert from A Christian's Response to Islam by William M. Miller

"It is as though a person in the dim light of dawn should look at a distant building. He sees the building, he perceives there is only one building, but he is unable to tell whether it is a residence or a factory. He is sure it only has one story, and is built of brick. But when he comes nearer, and views the building in the clear light of day, he realises that it is built of stone, not of brick, and instead of having only one story it has three. He now knows the building as it really is. When a Muslim looks toward God in the imperfect light of Qur'anic revelation and his own reason, he sees God's power and will, but does not see God's love. He sees God's unity, but he does not see that he is Trinity in unity. Such true knowledge of God is possible only when one sees God in his Son Jesus Christ."

Small Things

Lately, I have seen God work in my life in small but beautiful ways which have graciously reminded me of how He loves and cares for me even when I am miles from home. This afternoon I was homesick and was pleasantly surprised by the kids who live below me who had decided to bring me dinner. I am still not sure if I missed something, but I'm taking it face value. They generously bought me a pizza, charwama, candy, apple, banana, water and soda. It was perfect timing in brightening up my day and giving me friends to enjoy some time together.

Football

Most every boy, here, plays football and every neighborhood has a team for each age category including adults. Last night I went with one of my landlord's sons to watch our neighborhood team (Zone B) play against the precinct next to us. It was a great game and fun to take part in a community event. We won 1-0. The little boy running in front of the team is another one of my landlord's sons. He is the team mascot.

Slightly Different St. Louis

This weekend I went with a friend up to St. Louis to get a change of scenery and breath of fresh air. St. Louis is the historical capital of Senegal from the French colonial days and now is a city run down with dilapitated buildings which tell the story of a different era.

Tresses

Two Sundays ago I decided to experience the African hair style of tresses (braids). My neighbor Satou had mentioned to me she did them often for girls in the neighborhood so I decided to try it out. It took a couple of hours and my head hurt by the end from all the pulling. My hair was so tightly braided I had trouble going to sleep the first night. It took me a few days to get use to them, but now I love the low maitenance of my hair. We'll see how long I keep them.

I told Rhadijah to take a few pictures of the process and from the pic you can see how much she enjoyed herself.

The World in My Room

After quite a few calls to the phone company and a couple of trips to the computer store, I have internet set up in my apartment. I haven't had consistent access to the web for close to a month, so you can imagine I am quite content. From now on if you want to shoot me an e-mail or skype me, I should be able to reply in a more timely manner.
Soo...what is going on in my life...
Today I finished my first section of beginner Wolof and will start my next 25 hours on Thursday. I've enjoyed learning the language so far and find it easier to practice and hear than French. Rhadijah, the little girl below me, comes by everyday to help me along with it.

Rue 39: Les Enfants

Village Church Women



Church Neighborhood Outreach: Literacy Party

It's been a long time...

It's been way too long since I last updated you on my life in West Africa, and I could tell you all of my excuses but I'll just leave it at this, moving into my apartment took far more work and time than I had imagined and still could use some touches to make it a little more like home. I've been in it for almost two weeks and have enjoyed getting to know all my neighbors. I try to write down all their names so I can remember them when I see them the next time, but still have a ways to go in calling them the right ones... I started my Wolof classes two days ago and enjoy trying out my new words with anyone I meet. It's a great time of year to learn the language because all the kids are out on vacation. Last Saturday, they invited me to go to the beach with them and I spent most of the time chasing after a frisbee. It was great, except later in the day I was stung by a sea urchin. I had no idea they are poisonous, but after having a swollen foot for a few days I would advise to stay away from black prickly objects in the sea.

I've been wrestling alot about what it means to live in a developing country and effectively serve the people. I haven't discovered any profound answers, but I am learning it is in loving your neighbor. Please continue to pray for wisdom and direction.

Yes, I do miss home. I miss blending in when I walk down the street, being near to friends and family, and breathing in clean air; at the same time, each day God's grace and love for me has been sufficient and His Word has been my resting place.

Another Week Flys By

I can't believe it's Friday again and another week has quickly passed. This week has been packed with visitors, walking through flooded streets, meetings, French classes, getting my apartment ready, and trying to get enough rest. I left the missionary guesthouse on Tuesday and was sad to say goodbye to what has been my home for the past month. It was such a gift for me to be there and meet many different missionaries from all over the world. I'm continuing to learn and be amazed in how God uses fallen people in bringing forth His kingdom. I'm staying at a teammates' house until I make my official move.

This week my landlord told me that I could move in on Wednesday because our contract started at midnight Tuesday. Due to a few minor details, like the kitchen still under construction, I've decided to wait a few more days. I going to start moving some things this weekend, but will settle in next week. I'm going out to the villages this weekend and don't mind waiting a little longer.

Last night I stopped by to talk to the group of ladies I met last week. A guy was walking by and stopped to help one of the ladies talk to me, since I do not speak Wolof. He was kind enough to talk with me and these ladies for a while, and interestingly enough he is studying microfinance at the university. He is willing to work with me some in helping these women. I'm encouraged to see the people God is bringing into my life. Please pray for wisdom as I continue to develop relationships with these women and learn how I can best serve them. Pray that they would see more than just aid, but that they would understand the Gospel and be transformed by it. Please pray for the guy who wants to help me out that God would work in his life and that I would have an opportunity to share my faith with him.

Other areas I would appreciate prayer...

My relationships with my landlord and my neighbors

Relationships with the churches I'll be working with, particularly for unity among the missionaries and church leaders

Focus and discipline in my language studies; ability to be able to communicate well with others

My relationship with God; for rest and refreshment in His Word,so that I will know Him more and be able to share His truth with others

Protection against Satan and his schemes

If you've read all of this, thanks. Your partnership in this work is immensely felt and appreciated.

Ciao

Hope and Inequality

Tonight, I went out to buy some vegetables but arrived too late. The women had already left their stands and the neighborhood grocery store was closed. I had my mind set on a salad, so I decided to buy a carry out salad from the restaurant across the street. The salad cost me the equivalent of 6 US dollars and could have bought me a weeks worth of vegetables for myself. I didn't feel like that was a good use of my money, but at the same time I wanted something healthy. Anyways, on my way back I met a group of women sitting on the sidewalk. A few of them had buckets with onions and other miscellaneous items, it was too dark for me to tell exactly what they had with them. One of them pointed at my salad and asked me for help. We started talking, in my broken French and few words of Wolof, and I began to learn their story. They come into the city, almost everyday, from the outskirts of Dakar to find help for their families. They go around asking for aid or trying to find work. Evidently, I do not fully understand their lives or specific situations, but it made me realize the difficulty people have here just to provide food for their family. I told them I wanted to help them and am going to meet them again next week. Lately, I've been thinking and praying that God would bring women into my life to serve. I don't know if I'll see these women again or how much I'll be able to encourage them. I feel inadequate in my knowledge of the system here and the potential resources available to them. Despite this, I believe God has placed them in my life and would ask for prayer and guidance as I think about how best to serve them. Yesterday, when I was overwhelmed with gifts from home, I was sweetly reminded of the many people who are partnering with me in this ministry. Thank you!