Saying Goodbye

Friday was our last day with the Talibe boys, and believe you me I was not prepared for just how difficult it would be to say goodbye. I confess there were many days I didn't want to be at Le Centre Talibe. The fact that so few of the boys spoke French made it hard to be there sometimes; I regularly wondered if our work was of any value at all. One of our biggest prayers for the Talibe boys had been that they would truly know and feel the love of God through our actions and words. But it wasn't until Friday that I realized God truly had been answering that prayer...

Before we left, we did a short Open Air for the boys; it was our final chance to remind them that God loves them and to encourage them to accept Jesus into their lives. Once the Open Air concluded, we took time to snap some last minute photos.

After the impromptu photoshoot, it was time for the boys to eat (they eat bowl dishes in groups of 7-8 per bowl). 

As I went around to each circle and said goodbye, my eyes welled up with tears. The reality that I would most likely never see them again had hit me. After we had packed up our props and walked out of the center compound, we found Bakari, one of the older, tougher boys, standing there trying to hold back tears. When he saw that several of us were crying, he began to weep. We embraced him and wept with him.

Then a group of 5 to 6 other Talibe boys took the props out of our hands and escorted us on the 15 minute walk home. I was so humbled by this simple act of gratitude and was a puddle of tears most of the walk home. Once we arrived at our compound we said our final goodbyes and as they walked away, I saw Amadou, another one of the older boys, wiping away tears with his shirt. I prayed, "Thank you, God. These boys know that they are loved."

That very same night we were showing a movie about Jesus in the streets of Lyndiane, and a bunch of the Talibe boys showed up for it. It turns out several of them approached Tabea after the film, and sheepishly expressed interest in accepting Jesus into their lives! In fact, one of them (the son of a marabout!) told Tabea he had already accepted Christ and has secretly been reading the Bible she had given him last year.

Wow! Praise God for being the ultimate barrier breaker and for answering our prayers. By his grace we have made a difference, and God will carry on the good work he has started. 

May God bless these sweet boys. A piece of my heart will always be with them.

Open Airs and Eloubalire

I haven't given up on blogging, I promise! 

The past several weeks we have continued to work at Le Centre Talibe, and to do Open Airs in different villages within Ziguinchor. The picture below of Peter and me is from what we call the Jesus sketch.

We also had the privilege of spending a weekend on the island of Eloubalire, which was so fun! The trip itself involved an hour car ride from Ziguinchor to Enampor and a 30 minute boat ride from Enampor to Eloubalire. We had arranged to leave Zig at 4:00...and after about an hour and a half of waiting, a rather unexpected form of transportation arrived.

When I stepped outside our compound and saw that pickup truck waiting for us, I burst out laughing. I don't know why, but I was so tickled to ride in that thing. It's the little things in life, ya know?

The long wait for the pickup truck made it possible for us to be on the water at sunset, which was such a treat!

The island (middle left of the picture above) has a population of 200 people with only two Christians. The other 198 residents, although many of them know about Jesus, do not trust in him as their Savior and are extremely involved in witchcraft.

The purpose of our trip to Eloubalire was twofold: to spend time with Matar and Conakry (the two Christians who live on the island) and to share the love of Jesus with the residents. Saturday night we did an Open Air inside the island elementary school, which went really well. Afterwards, we took our little stereo outside, cranked up In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle (in French), and danced with the island kids as the sun slowly set over the island. Definitely one of my favorite Senegalese memories to date!

The children of Eloubalire were such a joy; they were friendly, fun to be around, and made us feel so welcome.

We fell in love with Eloubalire and long for the people there to turn to Jesus. Many of the residents would like to trust in Christ, but are afraid of giving up witchcraft and losing the respect of their family members. If you happen to think of it, please pray that God would help the people of Eloubalire to overcome their fears and to turn to Christ for salvation.

Only three weeks left here in Africa! My team and I can get weary and perhaps just a wee bit sick of each other at times. Please pray that God would help us stay unified, love one another, and honor God in all we do. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).