Safely Home

Thanks for all your prayers! I made it home safely and without a hitch. A wonderfully smooth ending to "an awfully big adventure" (Quote from the film Hook). Glory to God!

The End or the Beginning?

The week of February 24 we took a break from life in Ziguinchor and stayed in Bourofaye—a quiet village just north of the Guinea Bissau border. We really enjoyed the tranquility of Bourofaye: no mosque prayer calls, no loud music playing in the streets, and no mice in our bedrooms.

Our time in Bourofaye was VERY low-key (a little too low-key for my liking). During the day we went exploring, read, took naps, played cards, etc. In the afternoons we did Open Airs in various villages near where we were staying. We made the most of our lack of Internet and electricity by playing flashlight tag and enjoying bonfires and stargazing almost every night. Folks, never have I ever done me better stargazing than in Bourofaye. God is so amazing!

The week of March 3 (last week), we said our final goodbyes to our friends in Zig, cleaned the homestead, packed, and took a very choppy ferry ride from Zig to Dakar.

And tonight, my friends, tonight I begin my journey home. Due to visa issues Anna, Alex, Peter, and I will not be returning to St. Paul for debriefing, but instead have rescheduled our flights home. I'd love your prayers for our travels. Please pray for safety and God's favor, especially while we're in transit in the Marseille airport, that we wouldn't run into any trouble with customs.

We've been an emotional bunch of late; home is sounding preeeety good, but we don't want to be parted from each other. During our grand adventure God has taught us about himself and given us so many amazing experiences which have shaped the way we view life. Now God's sending us out to share his truth and our experiences with others. Parting ways seems like the end to our adventure, but really, it's a beautiful beginning. 

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).

Welcome to Ziguinchor

So maybe you'd like to hear a little more about where I'm living? Okay, I'll tell you!

The Homestead: We're staying in a WEC guest house which, from what I can understand, rarely gets used (apart from when the JEM Saint Paul group comes to visit several months out of each year). We live in a walled-in compound on a plot of maybe one to two acres of land. The compound consists of three buildings (the house we're staying in and two office buildings for WEC staff). I share a little bitty room with Sophie and...some mice.

Water/Plumbing: We have running water, two showers with coldish water, and three toilets. We drink filtered water.

Ziguinchor Roads: Some are paved and have cement trenches on either side for burning trash, but more often than not the roads are unpaved, with trash-filled ditches, like the one you see here.

Senegalese Bowl Dish: As I've mentioned before, we eat bowl dishes for lunch everyday.

One of my favorite bowl dishes is called Mafe: peanut sauce and cravettes served over rice. Delish.

Aminals: Yes, aminals. I can't tell you just how many goats we see on a daily basis. In fact, on the way home from church today we saw a baby goat on the side of the road, which had literally JUST been born. Sheep, chickens, and pigs also roam freely. Everywhere.

Kids: So, so, so many kids running and playing in the streets. The picture below was taken while we helped out with a Christian kids club one Saturday afternoon. 

So many new sights and sounds, yet I'm still very eager to get back home. I know I'll look back on this time and wish I had treasured it more. I'm desperate for the Lord's sustaining strength!

So far...

Daily Schedule in Ziguinchor

7:30 Breakfast
 8:00 Team Time (Bible Study/Prayer)
9:00 Leave for the Talibe Center
9:15-1:30 Talibe Center (Play and hangout with the Talibe boys and teach Bible/French lessons)
2:00 Lunch
4:00 Open Airs (We perform skits and preach in different neighborhoods) or Door to Doors (We split up into groups of 3-4 and go door to door and ask people if they're interested in learning about Jesus).
7:00 Dinner
8:00 Practice Open Air Skits/Free Time/Lena's Workout Class 
(Yes, I have opportunities to teach group exercise, even in Senegal!)

Sundays and Wednesdays are our days off, and so far, going to the local pool is proving to be our favorite pass time. Posts with pictures will be forthcoming!

Adventures in Senegal

The ferry ride from Dakar to Ziguinchor went really well! Fortunately Mark booked rooms with bunk beds our team, so that we could sleep comfortably through the night. The boat rocked me into a solid eight or so hours of sleep, and when I awoke the next morning I went up on deck to watch the sun rise over the Casamance River!

       And now it is high time I share what my team and I will be doing here in Senegal! One of our primary goals is to love on and care for the talibe boys in this area. Talibe boys range in age from 4-18 and have been handed over by their parents to a marabout, or Islamic leader, who raises them and teaches them the Quran. 

  Talibe boys spend hours everyday learning the Quran in Arabic (a language they do not understand) and begging for money on the streets on behalf of the marabout. They live in poor conditions, are poorly fed, and in some cases are beaten by their marabout when they do not collect enough money. 

Four or five mornings each week we will be working in Le Centre Talibe, founded by a Christian, Wayne Lawthei, who wanted to create a bit of a refuge for these boys. It’s open five days a week from about 10am-2pm, and it’s a place where the boys can play soccer, take showers, wash their clothes, and eat a warm meal. My team and I will play soccer and foosball with them, hang out/get to know them, and teach them French and Bible stories. Ultimately we are there to love them and share Jesus' love with them!

The language barrier is already presenting issues. Some of the talibe boys speak French, but most of them speak tribal languages (Wolof being the most common). We’re all trying our best to learn a bit of Wolof, while using French when we can.

As for our afternoons/evenings we will be going to one of the local high schools twice a week to help out with an English speaking club. We will also be doing “open airs” in the streets. Open airs consist of skits, preaching, and sharing personal stories of how Jesus has changed our lives. We will also be working in other areas, but I'm not entirely sure what that will look like yet.

So. Here I am in Africa. Crazy. The first two days here were really fun. Everything was new, different, interesting, and exciting. But day three came, and I crashed. The dirt, the language barrier, and other aspects of the culture were getting to me. To complicate things more, I'm not very good at just chillin' and living in the moment. My family will attest that even on vacation I count down the days till we return home, because I want to move on to whatever’s next in life. So being here in Senegal, where everything’s new and different and harder than what I’m used to, provides an even greater challenge to living in the moment. But I believe that’s one really important thing God wants to teach me here—the ability to be happy moment by moment, day by day, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. And that's possible because of Jesus Christ! Paul says in Phillipians 4:11, "I have learned in every situation I am to be content" and then in Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." God has called me here, he has brought me here, he has good work for me to do here, he will sustain me, and he will be faithful. I'm gonna fight hard to remember that and to enjoy living in the moment!