Samba and Sas

Unpacking and repacking has been a theme of mine the past few weeks and will continue. I just returned this afternoon from a village where I met a girl name Samba Anis who is seventeen years old and has had an infection on her leg for the past two years and because of this can no longer attend school. The pastor who I was staying with wanted me to visit her so I could take a picture of her wound---they said it looked better today because she had cleaned it but yesterday puss streamed out when she unwrapped her skirt. Three main sores which look like holes to me are scattered around her upper leg. I took the pictures and then we prayed for her healing. She has refused to see a Muslim Marabout and perform sacrifices to spirits, but has not yet been taken to the hospital for treatment. It hard to image sores like this go untreated for so long when you are used to going to the doctor for minor ills if they last more than a couple of days much less a couple of years.

I went out on Thursday to start a learning conversation group with a village 2 km from the pastor's house. We started with a lesson on household budgets and examining the income and expenses of their community. We had the session under a neem tree beside a group of huts and a tree where villagers perform sacrifices and offerings to spirits. As we discussed the expenses, we brought up the ones that may need to be cut back such as appeasing spirits. For every phrase I said the pastor spoke for five minutes explaining the concept into Seereer. He told animated stories to explain ideas and it was a beautiful picture of a Western learning tool adapted to a village context. Hopeful these learning conversations will continue to be a great way for the pastor and the village to better understand their financial limits and constraints and discover ways to improve them.

Weekend Village Trip

Under a thatched roof in a mud brick house with flashlights and a kerosene candle sat a handful of members of the community --- Muslims and Christians who live in a small village a few hours southeast of the capital city. When I asked them what they liked about their community they said relationships and the unity. Is that the first thing people in the States would say?

Many different organizations have worked in this area and come to them asking them if they would like funding for projects and they said they are not interested in forming a savings group or receiving credit. When they have received loans in the past they said that is hard to pay them back in the time allowed and end up losing out in the long run because they end up having to sell an asset to pay back the loan. However, they are interested in training --- learning how to manage their finances and understanding what to do with their money. They said they have never received training, only finances.

I spent the weekend in a neighboring, larger village with a presbyterian pastor and his family. They started a church last April and have a consistent attendance of fifty people each Sunday who meet under a white tent in front of his house. The stories of God's work in the lives of members of his church are amazing testimonies of God's grace--- I met the mother of a member who had tried to have her daughter killed for becoming a Christian and now herself has come to faith in Jesus.

I had other meetings over the weekend to discuss how I could serve the ladies in the church and encourage them through economic development training. We discussed different options of starting a group to save money, studying basic financial principals and looking into livelihood training such as dying fabric or sewing classes. Some of the ladies have never received formal education and are eager to learn how to better use their resources.

Pray for these ladies that they may be encouraged in their faith and through learning what it means to be stewards of God's creation. Please ask God to give me wisdom and direction as I plan and serve this church and community. It means I will be traveling more and need discernment in knowing how to be a good resource of my time and energy. May God be glorified through this project.

Thanks for all of your faithful support!

Highlights

After having my parents with me all the time for ten days, I feel a little lost without them tonight in my quiet apartment listening to the baahing of the neighborhood sheep. Their visit was a great opportunity for me to take a break from my work and spend time showing them all the different aspects of my life in West Africa.

Parents in Town

My dad and mom arrived Saturday night to visit me for the week, and so far we have had two days packed full of activities---attending a Seereer Bible dedication ceremony, visiting our national churches' training center, eating ceeb u jen (national dish of fish and rice), stopping in on a literacy class and learning how to pound millet. Actually, all the new sights made them forget my birthday yesterday but at least I had a couple of friends send me a Happy Birthday text message. oh well...

Weekend Reflections

On Friday most Muslims celebrated Tabaski by killing a sheep in commemoration of the sacrifice of Abraham --- I say most because some performed the sacrifice on Thursday based on the sighting of the new moon. This was my first time to watch a sheep be sacrificed and it was interesting to watch how submissive it acted before its death. The father of the house performs the act with the assistance of his sons while the women and younger children prepare the onion sauce and grill the fresh meat. I have never seen as much meat as I saw on Friday, even a street lady I passed by had a large metal bowl full of meat others had given to her. The family below me killed two large sheep and spent a few hours skinning and chopping up the meat. I hadn't thought about how much work is involved, it's actually not a very restful day. A couple of my neighbors gave me meat and one piece of meat still had sheep hair on it. I decided to put the meat in my freezer for later...wish I appreciated fresh meat more...

Later in the day after the main meal, children get all dressed up in new clothes and visit neighbors. (My camera is broken so I don't have pics right now, but will have some later from my 35mm.) Not just neighbor kids asked me for money but random kids on the street. In some ways it is no different from any other day, just more accepted on Tabaski and they are dressed up. One of my friends told me she walked by two ladies with tied scarves stretched across a walkway and as she was about to walk past the ladies tightened the scarves for her to have to step over. They wanted her to pay a toll for walking by, but she didn't know and kept walking. I'm not sure the origin of this but it's common on Tabaski.

I spent the rest of Friday and a good portion of Saturday at a sleep over with girls, around my age, from the evangelical church near my house. More than anything it brought to the surface my personal and cultural disposition, such as not loving sleep overs the way I use to when I was younger. I wasn't anticipating the event to go until 2 in the afternoon on Saturday and was ready to leave soon after I woke up. I get restless easily if I have to stay in the same place for a while and don't feel like I can leave. Partly, I was not always interested in what was happening, for example when we had a discussion time on Proverbs 31 and focused primarily on the importance of keeping a house orderly when we get married. I'm going to try to continue to be involved at some level with this group and hopeful learn ways I can connect with these girls...

I've been reflecting lately on how much I miss the holiday season and how it's hard for me to get into the joy of the season here. Here, it is more a day event, than a whole month. It's interesting because even Muslims celebrate it by doing something special with their family. It's depressing though because the Christmas that has been imported is of a jolie Père Noël and his winter wonderland which has no connection to the local context of the Sahel. I hope this Christmas season has been special for you with it centered on the celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Savior. Merry Christmas! Joyeux Noël!

Immanuel - God with us.

I had a Christmas party tonight with a few of my friends on the street; it turned out to be a true celebration of God's work in our lives. Despite language barriers, I read them the story of Matthew's account of Jesus' birth in Wolof (I didn't really understand what I was reading but they helped me with the pronunciation) and thankfully a couple of them were familiar with the story. After we talked about God giving His Son to live among men, Aissatou said to me that God brought me here to be friends with them. She said that it gave pleasure to God that we were friends and then she broke out in a song about God giving us each other as friends. It was a beautiful expression of her gratitude and reminder for me that is at work among us.

Christmas Cookies and Photo Booth

Are you serious?

More than once this week, I posed the question, Are you serious? Certain social encounters really throw me off like when you meet a friend for lunch and, as soon as you sit down, a man you do not know tells you to scoot over so he can sit at the same table. No, neither you nor your friend invited him to sit down much less know him. As you're trying to talk he interrupts to ask if you could speak French, because he cannot understand what you are saying. He tells you it as if you were speaking Chinese... When this happens the day after two guys expect you to pick up their tap after going out for a drink with a group of friends, even though they were the ones who invited themselves to come along, it begins to wear on you. And then your French teacher asks to end class early so he can go to the grocery store, even though it will still be open after class... sometimes it's just hard to understand. From others, you experience generosity and kindness that makes you feel a part of a family and gives you a sense of belonging such as cooking lunch with a friend, receiving a beautiful necklace from a beggar, and laughing with neighbors as they teach you a foot game.

December - strike, package bureaucracy, and Tabaski

This morning I walked past my sixteen-year-old neighbor sitting in a plastic chair on the sidewalk talking to a friend and stopped to ask why he was not in school. He informed me, with a smile, that the students decided to go on strict so they could get out of school earlier for Tabaski. Now starting today, instead of Tuesday, their school is on break until after the first of the year.

Small packages are the way to go because if you receive a large package you have to pick it up from the package office. I went to the package post office with a friend to pick up her package and we had to go through ten steps to get her package. First we gave the man in front her package slip, then we walked back to an office and had a man give us another slip, then another man stamped the slip, followed by someone else taking us to the package room who then found and opened the box up for us. He decided how much the box was worth and gave a price for the fee which was then negotiated. After my friend went and paid the fee and then took the slip to another who stamped it verifying she paid and then she received a slip to pay another small tax. Finally, when this was all done the man at the front who we originally talked to went and brought the package from the back to hand to us. It was a good thing we were the only ones there at the time.

The streets near my house resemble a barn, filled with sheep and hay, in preparation for the Muslim holiday next week (either the 20th or 21st depending on the moon). Besides the winter wonderland of Santa decorations at the near by bakery, an occasional street vendor with a Christmas tree or santa toy, and a few stores carrying Christmas decorations, life continues with not much attention to the festivity of the Christmas season. Despite this, you can pray that God would give opportunities for me to share with others the reason for Christmas and why it is significant.

Beautiful Days

Over the weekend the heat subdued and now the days are beautiful with temperatures in the 70's and 80's with a cool ocean breeze. I understand now why everyone leaves during the hot season, because the cool season is very pleasant. Not really any exciting news to share today but am happy to be in West Africa and thankful for God's amazing love in my life. The pics are from this past weekend along the coast near my house.

Riots

Yesterday the buses stopped, the downtown stores closed and the vendors protested against the actions of the government to stop their informal market. In the late afternoon, as I rode through the streets of downtown, I saw the remains of the riots --- the piles of ashes from the burning of tires and the trucks of the gendarmerie standing guard on the corners. Today again the manifestation continued, the people restless with the lack of opportunity to survive as the cost of living continues to augment. The government announced today the reopening of certain street areas to appease the rioters.

Sudden Changes

Part of what makes an African city, Africa, is all of the street vendors selling you everything from perfume to shoes to kleenexes. These income generating activities are not registered with the government but make up a large percentage of the income in West Africa. Wednesday night the President abruptly stopped these informal livelihoods and sent the police and army to clear the streets of the capital. No longer can the women in my neighborhood camp out and beg on the street and no longer can my friend sell bags of juice and yogurt outside the gate of the high-school. Why did this happen? I am not sure there is a good answer to explain ridding citizens of their hope to scrap by in life.

chicken feet, second wife...

You realize you are an American when it's bizare to...

buy a chicken and find two feet (nails included) carefully tucked inside

or

eat lunch at your neighbor's house and have the husband kindly tell you in front of his wife that he would be happy to take you as his second wife. He explains that it's not good for you to be single at 23 and that you should already be having kids. (Don't worry I'm holding out...)

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.