10/17/09

SENEGAL MISSION

October 2009

This is my team report.  But so much transpired that I want each member of the team to tell their own powerful and unique story.  This report highlights my insights, thoughts, and feelings.

Our journey to West Africa began with a call for Janice, Paige and I.  We started this trip hearing His present tense voice and walking where He led.  He prepared us for the journey.  I know He delighted in our facial expressions, reactions, and outright surprise when we saw His plan revealed in perfection.  He had so many adventures in store for each of us.  His personal, intimate love, and attention to every minute detail never ceased to amaze us.

We departed New Orleans at 1:00pm on Monday, stopped at Washington Dulles International Airport for two hours, and then continued on to Dakar, West Africa.  We arrived a little before 6:00am Tuesday morning. Ibrahiima, a faithful friend, met us at the airport, walked us to the ATM to exchange currency, helped us purchase our SIMMs card (phone number), and minutes, essential tools that we would need to communicate.

We then walked to our SEPT-PASS (vehicle that can carry seven passengers) where our luggage was put in place on the top and covered to protect it from all the dust and dirt attempting to attack it.  Ibrahiima accompanied us to help us procure extra cold water for the long trip.  He then bid us farewell, and we began our long trip to Kolda.

The first few hours of the trip was downtime because we were sleep deprived.  Approximately three hours into our journey, we stopped and picked up a friend, Amy.  She and her daughter (7 yrs. old) traveled the rest of the way with us.  She led us in singing many songs that pointed our driver to Jesus.  One of the songs was, "God is so Good".  We sang it in Pulaar so he understood the message.  We crossed the border and then took the ferry across the Gambia River.  When we departed the ferry, we found a place that prepared this delicious egg and onion sandwich which we all loved and became a staple for the rest of our mission.  We loaded up again in our SEPT-PASS and continued on to Kolda.  The entire trip took ten-plus hours.  After arriving, we checked into our hotel.  It consisted of a 3 bedroom hut which thankfully had air-conditioning.  We learned a valuable lesson on our last trip and used it very sparingly.  We wanted to avoid it freezing-up and then roasting for the rest of the night.

Michelle expressed great pleasure that we were able to get there on our own.  We went out to eat together.  As usual, we were really hungry.  The restaurant only had one dish, rice with some chicken, vegetable and potatoes, that night.  It was real good.

Every day a breakfast, outside our hut, we studied a new Bible Story.  We practiced telling the story and discussing situations when and how we might use it.  It helped to prepare us for the day.  We had several opportunities to share the stories that we had prepared.

Paige spent the morning going through orientation with Michelle.  Janice and I went to market and purchased food for the day.  We arrived at Michelle's with the food that Linda would prepare later for lunch...fish, rice, veggies and several great seasonings.  It was delicious.

After shopping, Janice departed for language class and so our mission work began.  We had lunch together.  Later, it was my turn to go to language class while Janice and Paige went prayer walking.  After class, I visited with Jenabu, who I call my little sister, and invited her family to the party at the hotel the next Sunday afternoon.  She was very excited.  Later, she accepted and let me know she would bring her husband and son.

Later that afternoon, I returned to the hotel.  While sitting and waiting for Janice and Paige to return, a woman named Olga started a conversation with me.  I explained that we were in Senegal to share God's Word.  She displayed her excitement on her face.  She explained that she recently became a Christian and enjoyed studying Gd's Word.  She asked if we might talk for a while.  (What a question!  Little did she know!)  She asked numerous questions.  Somehow, I opened my mouth and God elped fill in the blanks.  I invited her to dinner with us that evening because she was so hungry....to know more about God.  She gladly accepted.

At dinner we found a vendor who prepared egg and potato sandwiches, some even had meat.  We returned to Michelle's to eat and continued sharing as Olga continued askingquestions.  We were all so excited to with her the truths from God's Word.  I personally thnk this was a kiss from God for His girls...to demonstrate to us that He knows the desires of our hearts.

Olga joined us for breakfast the next day as we prepared to go to Lummo in our village.

Lummo...means the day people from all nearby areas bring their goods to sell...much like our street fair in Picayung.  After breakfast and Story Studying, and goodbyes to Olga, Janice and I went to market to buy beef filets to make Chicken fried steak for Michelle's specially requested meal.  We got all we needed for mashed potatoes an we even had biscuits.  Buying fresh hanging meat was a new experience for us.  They wrapped it in clean (dusted off) cement paper taken from used bags.  I kept telling them no bones, no fat, just filets, but to no avail ... yummy.

Later we departed for our village.  It takes approximately 30 minutes to get there.  It was busy with people hustling about from all over the area...setting up shops and selling their goods.  Ummu, a young lady we met on our last mission trip, accompanied us to her compound.  She showed us where we would return the next Monday evening and pitch our tent.  Later, we walked through the market and distributed cassette tapes.  We felt so welcomed.  The people called out our names and wanted us to come visit them.  It surprised us that many people remembered us from our previous visit.  I was amazed everytime I heart my name.  (Tida! Tida!...my African name is Tida Balde).  We greeted everyone and never tired of talking with them.

We rturned in time to cook for Michelle her special meal.  Janice and Paige team cooked while I communicated with our church family...trying to let them know what was happening.  Janice and Paige prepared a superb meal which spoke volumes to Michelle about commitment to her and her mission work in Africa.

Early Friday morning, Michelle departed for Dakar to met the new missionary family.  We were on our own.  Janice and Paige went to Lummo with Amy.  I went to language class.  I truly love the Pulaar language.  It provides me an opportunity to make a fool of myself and still feel the love and acceptance which makes it all worthwhile.  They always laughed with me and never at me.  It draws me closer to them and that is what really matters.

Janice and Paige were thrilled to see God at work.  As they walked they shared stories.  Janice shared "Creation to Christ" to an English speaking man.  She was slightly nervous and yet thrilled at the same time.  God helped her do a wonderful job and used her in a mighty way.  She would later be able to present the man with a Pulaar Bible.

As they returned to the taxi, Amy's brother was waiting for them.  He shocked them by asking if they would visit the local prison.  Amy was stunned...our missionaries had regularly requested entry into the prisons for the past three years.  The answer was always NO!  God really shook the prison dors open.  Praise the Lord!  To their delight the ladies were invited back.  They were just beside themselves with all that God had done right before their eyes.  They could not realize how BIG this new inroad would become...keep reading...

We called Michell with the terific news and explained all that happened.  She radiated her excitement.  Now we needed to find out if they would let us share the Good News of Jesus...BOLDLY...

We toured the women's prison on Saturday.  We witnessed their many needs,  We told them that we wanted to share the stories of Jesus...to meet spiritual needs.  They said, "Yes, absolutely."  During the tour we were encouraged to take pictures so we could show others their many needs.  We met with the ladies in their kitchen area...where they still cook with charcoal.  The rooms where they slept were extremely small.  They have no privacy.  Their beds were all pushed together on th floor.  We learned many names and listened to many of their stories.  We spoke to more officials and we were invited back again, this time to speak with the senior officials.  We decided to wait for Michelle for our next visit.  As we were walking home from the prison, a lady cried out, Tida, Tida.  Amy said Faye, this lady is calling you.  I turned around and greeted her.  In her hand she held the cassette explaining our mission to tell the Good News.  We had given it to her the day before, when she was selling her goods at Lummo.  Please pray for her.

Janice went to class while Paige and I went to the Finch's new home.  We made their beds, put flowers on the table, and left Scriptures around the house for them to find and be encouraged.  They would see their home for the first time on Sunday after the long 10 plus hour trip from Dakar.

Amy took us out to her village to introduce us to her mother.  We were able to prayer walk through several villages, and talk with people.  NOTE: This is where I shared "The Creation to Christ" story for the very first time on our original visit to Senegal.  We made it home before dark and found our table and cook for our usual meal of eggs and potatoes.

Sunday began with worship.  We sang praise, studied God's Word, and prepared our hearts for the rest of the day.  The guests, several families, would be arriving around 3:00pm.  We needed to work fast to make sure everything was ready...making pizza dough, the sauce, grating the cheese, slicing apples, preparing the honey, peanut butter, and candy dishes.  We gathered the crochet materials together and went to meet and greet our guests.  They were not used to being th "Guests of Honor".  It took a moment for them to realize that all of this was for them.  They quickly relaxed and everyone had a fantastic afternoon...full of fun.  We let our guests sample the food, gave them bottled water to drink, and slowly worked on the parents allow the kids in the swim pool.

After a few quick lessons, we encouraged them to start crocheting their rugs.  They learned quickly.  They purt their own personalities in the rugs and just had a super time.

I decided to get in the water with the kids, yes in my dress, to help assure the moms that we would not let their children drown.  Since none of the knew how to swim, including the parents, they clung to the side and then began venturing out into the almost knee high water.  They had a delightful time just being in the cool water.  They stayed for three hours until the kids were properly shrivelled up.  We walked them out to their taxi and thanked them again for being our guests.  The time we spent together opened the doors that will be used to break down walls...of all our differences.  Our prayer is that they saw Jesus in each of us.

Okay, now it's time to greet our new missionaries on the field.  We made macaroni and cheese.  Michelle made them her world famous taco soup...and, oh my, was it good!  It had been a very long journey for them and all were exhausted.  We loved meeting the Finch's and welcoming them to Kolda.

We turned in after a wonderful day.

Monday morning started with a day at language class.  We read John 10 together several times.  I often find reading Pulaar easier than speaking it...and it eventually helps me as I speak.

After class, I joined the others and we headed out to our Village with all our camping supplies.  Amy, our interpreter, went with us.  A precious saint of God.  He uses her mightily.  We met and greeted everyone in sight.  We went into several compounds just to talk and meet their families.  We were introduced to one of the Chiefs and his family.  God continued His blessings on us as we walked among His people.  We had our usual egg and onion sandwich on French bread.  We really liked it.

PERSONAL NOTE: You know how much I love coffee...BUT I've always hated sugar in my coffee....WELL, they make it with lots and lots of sugar...and God changed my tastebuds.  I actually liked it, bot won't try it at homes.  It was really sweet, perhaps the energy is what I needed.

PERSONAL STORY:  We trekked  deep into thefields of Africa to find a village that we now call home. We met the leader of the village and all his family.  They made us feel so comfortable there.  As we sat around and talked, several young girls (you know that girls will be girls) asked to do a single corn row of my hair.  I said sure.  They did it, and it looked different to me.  Yet to them it was beautiful.  They asked to do yet another and another and another until my entire head was braided.  I prayed over those hands.  I prayed that they would some day be lifted to God in praise for His Son who forgives all our sins.  I didn't cover those beautiful braids as we returned to the compound where we would pitch our tent.  The ladies came out and said, ado wadi (you are beautiful).  They didn't say it before...so I knew that they really loved the braids.  I felt like one of them.  I thanked God for asking me to let my hair grow.  It mattered to the young girls and women of the village.  It blessed me too!

It was getting late so we ate at a place on the road.  They provide benches and you just sit down and order what they have.  The choice was eggs and onions or a bean sandwich.  You guessed it...we ordered the eggs and onions and a glass of the sugar-coffee....mmmmm...

We went back to our compound and waited.  We taught crocheting as we sat under the tree...and yet another seed was planted as we left them with the ability to crochet a rug or chair cushion out of old rags.

ADVENTURE STORY:  As darkness approached, Michelle arrived with the tent supplies.  It was a breeze to assemble the tents.  We just spread the material out on the ground, inserted the poles, and pushed them up.  The tent was our cozy, wonderful hotel for the night...we thought.  The tent had a zip up door, vented windows and room for all of us comfortably inside.  We used most of our energy blowing up the swim floats so we wouldn't have to sleep on the hard ground.

The younger, more energetic ladies stayed up and talked, but Janice and I went right to sleep early (before 10:00pm).  It was a good thing because aruond 2:00am the wind began to howl.  We all sat straight up and of course the tent followed...So we had to lay back down.  We had taken the cover off the top of the thent to allow more air inside, but now we realized it had to go back on because the rain would soon foolow th wind.  A very loud clap of thunder announced its arrival.  Janice and Paige heroically got out and recovered the tent quickly, returning back inside just before the rain began.  We found ourselves in a tent, under a huge mang tree in the midst of a thunderstorm and in perfect peace.  We enjoyed the rain, stayed dry and slept so soundly as we enjoyed the cool breeze that was a gift from God (thanks for your prayers).  Oh, did I mention that we had a tent fan that hung from the ceiling of the tent?  Our biggest treat was the cooling that came from God, Himself, smiling down on His girls.

Early the next morning we were out for sugar-coffee and our favorite egg and onion sandwich.  We sat and talked with others from the area.  They would sit with us, and we truly enjoyed just being there with the people.  We were able to leave a Bible/New Testament in Pulaar with these people.

We greeted others along the road and then ventured back to say good bye to our newest village.  We had grown so close and our hearts ached to see them again in the near future.  It was at this time that they invited us to become part of their family...to stay with them when we returned...and they would even feed us.  They requested that we pray for them, and we did.  They, in turn, prayed for us and we said our goodbyes.  Several young men led us back to the road and we departed leaving a part of ourselves with them.  They are most precious in His sight.

We said goodbye to our host family.  They asked us to come again and we will.  God has opened so many doors.

Returning back to Michelle's apartment, it wat time to get ready and host the Finch's for dinner.  We cooked spaghetti and garlic bread athis time.  It tasted great.  We just loved getting to know our new Missionary family, (Rich andLisa) and their children (William and Mariama).

Wednesday morning came suddenly.  It was already time to start debriefing.  Our trip home started the next day.  We had a great time sharing with Michelle all that happened.  We had a quck lunch, and then Janice departed for language class.  Paige and I went to meet George, Buddy's friend.  Buddy sent him a jar of pure honey, another potential mission opportunity.

Paige and I stopped by the home of the taxi driver with whom we had built a relationship over the last three trips to Senegal.  He has proven to be very responsible and faithful.  We went to see him, his wife and precious baby who was only two months old last October.  When I met her in May she had grown and now she is walking.  She has developed a truly precious personality.  I love this family.

We had to go back and pack.  We would leave at 5:00am the next morning or as soon after our luggage was properly loaded.  We had our final breakfast and real coffee at the hotel.  Thank You God...This was the first time we had coffee before that long trip.  We arrived some ten plus hours later in the afternoon...just in time to go have dinner and relax a few minutes.

The next morning I went shopping for a few valuable treasures to bring back to my girls in AWANA.  They prayed for us during the trip...They are studying hard to learn God's Word, and I am very proud of them.  After eating lunch our driver took us back to do our final packing.  We headed out to the airport later that evening.

I love the way our Lord expanded our vision into His vision.  He is faithful to open the doors, divide the waters, break down barrieres, and give enlightenment.  I could never ask for or imagine anything more.  God revealed His Power to us.  Something that is difficult to put into words.  The truth is and always has been...His plan was perfect.

Thank you so much for all the prayers and notes of support...They meant so much to us each day...

Love Faye

P.S.  God personally kissed each one of us.  Janice was able to tell Creation to Christ, Paige was able to speak to a believer who spokd Arabic and I was able to disciple a believer.  We knew He was there with us and it was great.