michelle in mali

What'd you do today?

2011-12-12T13:26:00.001-06:00

What did I do today, you ask? Well, while spending the day with our Story Crafter, I modeled for a photo shoot and shot a commercial for a Chinese health practice being run by Sierra Leonian refugees living in Mali. I think.

Testers

2011-12-12T13:07:00.003-06:00

Each Story must be "tested" a minimum of two times. This involves going to a Sunny house and getting a group to sit down and listen to the Story, retell it, and answer a bunch of questions that we have about it. The questions are to ensure that the story has been appropriately contextualized while maintaining absolute Scriptural integrity (not comprehension questions). Finding willing testers has proven to be fairly difficult since we live in the capital where there is a lower concentration of Sunny people. And the families seem to be busier here in the city than in the village, which makes it tricky to try to get people to give you a couple hours of their day. We did locate some women who were willing to be testing groups...it ended up that the main women who did this for us were straight from our village and in the city for medical reasons. They'd been here for months and months and we were excited that not only would they be hearing the Stories, but that they would be returning to our home village where they could possibly and hopefully re-tell the Stories. Well, after a short time, both of these women ended up moving back to the village, leaving us virtually tester-less.

In the meantime, some colleagues met a Sunny woman who told them that she'd had a dream that white people were coming to tell her about Jesus! So we began testing our Stories with her. She seemed really hungry for the Word. And she helped us a lot. And then we found out that she's going to be visiting another country for a few months. We are trying to do as much with her as we can (for her and for us), but she's extremely busy and it's been difficult to be able to spend as much time with her as is needed.

So our biggest need right now is to find testing groups. To give you a point of reference, we have more testing sessions that need to happen than we have days left in Mali. We've been brainstorming ways to get all of these testing sessions done and it looks like we may be heading out to a village or two. We really need to be able to do multiple testing sessions a day and the only way we can really do this is by going to a Sunny village. So please be praying for that!

Milestone

2011-12-12T12:35:00.001-06:00

My teammate, Sarah, returned to America at the end of her term in mid-October. I knew I would miss her, but it's just crazy when you spend literally 24/7 with a person for 18 months straight. It took a few days before I could convince myself that she wasn't coming back.

Well, when Sarah left, it provided a good milestone for Abby and I to take a step back from our work, evaluate where we're at, pray about our next steps, and strategize for the next few months (our terms end at the end of January). Long story short, Abby and I felt God leading us to make some (ridiculously lofty) goals to finish our Story Set. As we discussed tasks and due dates, I just stared at her as I had this internal conversation with God. I told Him that I knew He was wanting us to set these goals, but that they were ridiculous and impossible. Why don't we set some more...logical...goals? More realistic. God promptly reminded me that if we set Abby & Michelle sized goals then Abby & Michelle would get the glory. He also reminded me that He created logic. Not discovered, not defined, but created it. And therefore exists outside of it and is not bound by its limitations. So, we set the God-given, God-sized, ridiculously lofty, and humanly impossible goals. And guess what...He has already been meeting those goals. Abby and I both felt like God never promised that we would definitely finish...but we KNOW that He has told us to try with everything we've got.

Sharks

2011-12-12T12:16:00.001-06:00

I went straight from Kenya to Cape Town. It was, wow, just wow...probably the coolest place I've ever been. One day, we went out on a boat to go cage diving with some great white sharks. I was really, really, really looking forward to the awesomeness of it. But I was really, really, really not looking forward to having to wear a wetsuit, you know, in front of people and what-not. Well, I just geared myself up and decided it wasn't going to be a big deal and I just wouldn't be embarrassed about it.

So after we got out to where the sharks were, they started calling for people who wanted to go down in the cage first. My friends and I, of course, volunteered. So we had to go to a little area on the boat to get "fitted" for a wetsuit. This "fitting" consisted of some guy looking you up and down and then yelling at another guy what color (size) to get for you. I was thinking to myself, "Oh, good, at least it's colors and not sizes, so nobody will really know what size I am. (even though they can still see me)." So I just stood there while he looked at me straight-on and he hollers out something to the effect of, "Okay, I need a blue"...and then I make a half-turn...and he looks about halfway down and yells out, "Oooh...nope...better make it an orange!" Awesome.

So we move to the center of the (not all that large) boat, where everybody can see us, and put our wetsuits on. Really, I should re-phrase...we got put into our wetsuits. So I wait my turn and then the guy comes to help me get mine on. It was ridiculous. While he was trying to shimmy the legs on, he literally picked me up all the way off the ground. Then, he needed to get the sleeves on me. Apparently he usually has people hold onto this bar overhead so he can shimmy the sleeves down. Well...I had to do a little hop to reach the bar...and he thought that was pretty funny. So he starts giggling. Then I start giggling. Then my friends start giggling. Then...most of the people who could see what was going on start giggling. Good thing I wasn't already embarrassed about the whole wetsuit thing anyway.

Then, they start putting us in the cage and I was the first person to go in. And, well, I kind of started to freak out. Not because of the sharks, but because I am apparently claustrophobic. I was shoved into that wetsuit and the hood was pulled up tight and I had a mask covering my entire face except for my mouth. There was about a foot of air between the top of the ocean and the top of the cage. And I just started freaking out feeling like I couldn't breathe. BUT I eventually got it under control...and then it was fantastic. The water wasn't very clear that day so a shark had to be pretty much touching the cage before you could see it, but we got to see a TON of them. I think most of them were about 12 feet long...maybe 15...I don't know. It was probably one of my most favorite days ever. And one of my very favorite places ever.

Cape Town

Cape Agulhas, the southiest point in Africa, where the two oceans meet

Just a cool little sign at the southwestiest point of Africa

Intense penguin moment

seal!

yummers

What a slacker!/Why We Do What We Do

2011-12-12T11:47:00.000-06:00

First of all...holy moley...I have been such a slacker and I know it! I have a (fairly) good reason, though. Our internet was completely turned off for a few weeks and we had to switch. Our current internet is sketchy at best and we get charged by how much we use it...so...here we are. But I'm going to do my best to play catch-up a little bit. Thank you for your patience/understanding/willingness to keep up with me even when I drop the ball!

A while back, I had the opportunity to go meet a team in Kenya. Two members of the team were from my church. I seriously cannot even begin to express how wonderful it was to see Brett (my pastor/former boss/friend) and Patti (my friend/prayer partner)! They encouraged me, prayed for me, asked me lots of questions, and listened to me talk incessantly. And it came at the perfect time...I needed a shot in the arm to come back home and sprint out these last few months of my term before it's time to head back to America.

While in Kenya, we went to distribute food to some villages out in the bush. We were able to participate in their indigenous worship services...always an incredible experience. As I sat there (and then stood there, and then "danced" there), I just got really overwhelmed with one question: When will it be the Sunny people's turn to worship Jesus? We know one Sunny believer, so we've never experienced a worship service where the music, prayer, and message were in Sunny. When we're with Nick (the one believer), he will pray in Sunny and it always moves me to tears. Anyway, as I sat there, I started struggling with feelings of jealousy that we (most likely) will never get to experience that. And then I was reminded that people have been working with this particular people group in Kenya for decades and they are just now seeing the fruit of their work. And it had to start somewhere. Back at Easter, I had a similar experience in Mali where a village had a handful of believers that had sprung up after the people had listened to a Story Set (like the one we're working on). So....allllll that to say...it is always good to be reminded of why we do what we do.

"Doing Sport"

2011-09-03T11:07:00.002-05:00

I love exercising in public in Mali. Actually, they call it "doing sport," which I find hilarious. I love it because everybody is always outside, so you walk by a TON of people, and they're all very encouraging. For some reason, they think it is fantastic when the white girl comes out in a moo-moo to do sport. Like, old men will stand up off their chairs and give you two thumbs up and walk for a little while with you, yelling, "Bien marche! Bien marche!"...which I roughly translate as "Good walking! Good walking!" I mean, they're literally cheering you on as you do sport...what's not to love?

Yesterday, as I was doing sport an old man started cheering for me and I couldn't think of how to say "thank you" in any other language but Sunny. So I said it and he repeated it and immediately launched into the whole string of Sunny greetings with me. He was both shocked and ecstatic that the white girl doing sport in a moo-moo spoke Sunny.

Then I passed by our friend, I'll call him Kobe. He speaks English really, really well. Actually, we spent an entire evening one time where he asked me what all of these different words and phrases that came "from the street" meant. Oddly enough, I knew most of the answers. He asked if I was "from the street" in America. I told him yes. We also spent a long time talking about the NBA...this is why I call him Kobe, after his favorite player. I tried to convince him about Dirk, but he was unimpressed since Dirk is both white and not originally from America. (He's kind of infatuated with American culture)

Anyway, I passed him while doing sport yesterday, so I had to stop and chat. He asked if I was doing sport to get slim. I told him yes. I told him I was also going to stop eating as much rice. He said, "Yeah, girl, you gotta stop eating rice and just eat hamburgers!" I told him hamburgers were part of the problem also. Then he told me I needed to play basketball with him if I wanted to get slim. Actually...they all thought I was kind of silly for wanting to get slim. One of his friends that I didn't know said, "Everything looks alright just the way it is, from what I can tell!" How sweet :)

Then Kobe noticed my iPod and said, "Oh, you listen to music while you do sport. What are you listening to?" I told him Usher...which made him and all his friends REALLY excited. He asked what song so I let him hear. They all got really excited and Kobe yells, "We gonna tear it up in da club to that song!" Okay, Kobe.

Entertained in Casablanca

2011-09-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

Well I finally made it on a plane out of Paris and arrived at my next stop, Casablanca. I stayed here for 7 hours...7 really entertaining hours. First of all, I'm not sure if you're familiar with the "Can I have your number" skit from MadTV, but I totally had the West African version of it happen to me. He liked to say my name "Me-chelle." And then once he found out where my next stop was, he kept saying, "Oh Me-chelle, Me-chelle goin' to Bamako." He also said things like, "You got a husband? Is he rich? Is he in America? Is he in Bamako? You got a baby?" When I said that I did not have a husband, he definitely said he would come to Bamako and marry me and since neither of us had a baby, maybe we could have one together. I declined. At one point, he said, "Come. Now I buy you perfume," and proceeded to get out 150 euros. I said no, but the lady next to me really thought I should jump right on that opportunity. Then he walked into the duty-free store and picked up a bottle of Chanel perfume and went to the counter. I really had to work hard to convince him that I didn't want it. I evaded him for most of the day, but right before he got on his flight he made sure he gave me a pack of gum.

My favorite part of my Casablanca layover was a girl I'll call Hannah. During the afternoon, the terminal got really hot because it was all windows and the sun was coming directly in them. So I went and found a random hallway to sit in. I was just chilling on the ground when a girl (who ends up being from Senegal) comes breezing by. We'd been on the same flight from Paris, but I didn't think she spoke English because when she'd asked me something in French, I'd answered her in English...and that was the end of that. But she says to me (in GREAT English), "Hey, do you know where the restaurant is? You were in Paris with me. I need to find the restaurant. Have you eaten? Come. We'll go to the restaurant together." I've got nothing else to do for the next 6 hours or so, so I hopped up and went with her. Well it turns out that she'd already eaten, but the airline had given her a voucher for a meal because of something that had happened with her flight. So she just grabbed me off the floor and took me to the restaurant and used the voucher to get me lunch! This is why I LOVE West Africans.

We sat in the restaurant and talked for about an hour. The highlight of that time was when she said she loved Alicia Keys and I said I did too. We looked at each other in silence for about 2 seconds, then simultaneously busted out singing "I keep on fallin' iiiiiinnnn love with youuuuu." We weren't quiet about it either. And we sang a good chunk of the song. Again, this is why I LOVE West Africans.

Then we headed back out to the gates and sat and talked for a while. I even had the opportunity to tell her a story from the Bible. She was talking about how she doesn't want to get married at all, unless it's to a very good man. She's not very impressed with the men in her culture and the way they view women. So I asked her what a "very good man" would be. After naming several characteristics which reminded me of Jesus, I told her the story of the woman at the well. We talked a lot about Jesus and religion and prayer and everything.

Then Hannah left and I headed to my gate (after being intercepted by the first guy so he could give me some gum). Then I got on a plane and went home. Finally.

Stuck in Paris

2011-09-03T10:26:00.001-05:00

It sounds pretty glamorous, right? I mean, if "Stuck in Paris" was the title of a book or a movie, you'd expect that some incredibly attractive Frenchman would sweep the stuck heroine of the story off her feet and they'd spend the next couple of days seeing everything there was to see in Paris and sitting in bistros. But, as it turns out, attractive Frenchman aren't all that interested in sweeping girls who have been sleeping on the airport floor while wearing a skirt and Chacos and who haven't bathed in a few days off their feet. Here's what happened.

Upon arriving at the Athens airport at 4:45 am, I found out that my 7 am flight had been delayed until 2:10 pm. This usually wouldn't be THAT big of a deal. But. In order to save a few hundred dollars, I booked my flights from here to Paris and from Paris to Athens completely separately. So, the airline getting me from Athens to Madrid to Paris would only take care of me as far as Paris. But because of the 7 hour delay, they had to put me on a different flight from Madrid to Paris...which of course made me miss my next flight by a couple of hours.

So I get in to Paris at about 10 pm and immediately go to information to find out where the ticket counter is for my next airline. I walk to the next terminal to find all ticket counters closed. The lady at that terminal's information counter told me that they wouldn't open back up until 6 am the next morning. She then pretty much made me feel like an idiot for not having a paper from the original airline stating that my flight was 7 hours delayed, even though when I asked what I needed to do and what they could do for me the answer was nothing. At this point I've realized that I'm going to be spending the night in the airport. Before heading to the area where people are allowed to stay during the night, I took a detour to the bathroom for a little cry (which I never do...seriously) then headed out to find somewhere to sit. All of the chairs had arms on them, so there wasn't really any way to do anything but sit straight up in them. At one point I tried laying on the ground with my suitcase as a pillow. It was FREEZING, so I dug a jacket and a scarf out of my suitcase. I still couldn't fall asleep, but I just laid there anyway.

The next morning I went to the ticket counter at 6 am. The man there told me that my ticket was not "changeable" so I'd have to buy a completely new ticket home, but since the other airline's flight had been delayed for that long of a time, they were REQUIRED to do something to help me. So I walked back to the other terminal. There, the at-fault-airline's counter lady told me that I needed to fill out a complaint form then go buy a new ticket from the other airline's counter, then bring the receipt and the complaint form back...and the cost of the new ticket should be reimbursed. I wanted more of a guarantee, but I just had to get home somehow. At this point my feet are literally bleeding and so swollen that I can't wear all the straps of my Chacos (remember that last night of walking all over Athens in strappy sandals?), so I took the shuttle. I was the only one on it waiting for it to leave when a man got on who turned out to be FROM MALI and who spoke SUNNY!!! That was a little bright spot in my day. So I bought a new ticket home (with money I had not planned on spending) and took the receipt and my complaint form back to the other terminal again. The next available flight home wasn't until 1 pm...the following day. So upon realizing that I would be spending one entire day, another entire night, and half of another day in the airport, I started trying to talk both airlines into paying for a place for me to stay...nobody would. (Here's where there was another detour to the bathroom for a little cry)

Now, I know what you're thinking...you were in Paris for 2 days and never left the airport? That is correct. Because I didn't want to spend one more euro than I had to, plus I was by myself, plus I was exhausted and afraid I'd get lost, plus my feet were bleeding. But mostly the money thing. So I settled in to a routine of wandering the terminal, filling up my Nalgene in the bathroom, and sitting at the McDonald's (which had free wifi AND tables with plugs to charge things). By now I was so tired (remember...no sleep on the ferry...then a 3-hour nap...then no sleep the night before I left...then the night at the airport) that I would fall asleep sitting straight up and wake up to find myself facing the person sitting next to me with my mouth wide open...and maybe a little drool. This happened more than a couple of times.

So yeah...no Frenchmen sweeping me off my feet.

Vacation in GREECE!

2011-09-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

When I was at orientation, a lot of my friends doing the same thing I'm doing started making plans to vacation together during our terms and we soon began discussing Greece. Since then we've all been saving up and making plans...and saving up some more...and we finally went in August! And it was absolutely incredible.

While I was packing I was completely diligent to make sure that I could get everything in my carry-on and that all my liquids and gels were acceptable, in the proper containers, and in that little quart-size Ziploc bag. I measured and re-measured the suitcase and I was okay for both airlines' requirements. Well, I made it throught the airport in Bamako. No surprise there...smile a lot and speak a little Bambara and you pretty much get what you want because Malians are fantastic :) Made it through Casablanca with no problems whatsoever. Now the toughy...Paris. But I made it all the way through customs with no problem. Well, actually it was too heavy, but I took my Bible and a pair of jeans out and put them in my "personal item" (purse) and we were back on track. THEN I'm about to set my foot on the airplane in Paris and the lady at the door makes me put my bag in that little cage that it has to fit in. Again, I had measured and re-measured my bag according to the measurements on the websites, but it wouldn't go in that little cage. So she took my bag. I put up no fight because she didn't speak much English and I don't speak much French or Spanish. I thought about pulling a Meet the Parents and telling her that the only way she was getting my bag would be if she pried it out of my dead, lifeless fingers...but I didn't. And instead of telling me I could get it in Madrid (my next stop) she told me I could get it in Athens (my final destination). At that point I pretty much knew I wouldn't be seeing my bag again for a while because that flight was a little delayed, making my layover in Madrid uncomfortably short.

And I was right. I arrived in Athens bagless, but still excited! The airline gave me a little toiletry bag (including a pair of undies made out of that gauzy, papery, bio-degradable stuff...bonus). So I wore the same clothes for a few days and a couple of the girls helped me out one day with other stuff to wear and I took my clothes to the laundromat. (I also bought some undies, but a store was hard to find and there weren't many English speakers around that day...made for some interesting pantomiming). And then after a few days my bag came! Just in time to go to Santorini.

The first full day we explored Athens. We went to the Acropolis of course and found some places to drink coffee and eat good food.

Acropolis!

Early the next morning we boarded a tour bus and headed up-country to Meteora. It was beautiful. There were all of these rock formations and on top of them monasteries had been built. We got to visit a couple of them...it was quite a hike. This was one of my favorite things we did because it was about 5 hours outside of Athens so I felt like I really got to see more of the country. Plus the bus-ride made for some great opportunities to get to talk to everybody and catch up.

You can kind of see the monastery on top.

We spent one night in Meteora then got back on the tour bus to Athens so that we could catch a flight to Santorini (this is when my bag and I were reunited!). I cannot even tell you how fabulous Santorini is. We did so much on that island, but we never felt rushed and we all always felt so relaxed. We went to the beach almost every day, ate a ton of great Greek food, drank a lot of coffee, found an awesome place to watch the sunset every night, climbed the volcano, and jumped off of cliffs into the unbelievably blue water. My FAVORITE thing we did was renting ATV's and driving them all over the island. We drove up to the highest point and back down and just went all over exploring. So much fun.

Here's one of the places we watched the sunset.

Korby, me, and Elizabeth at my favorite restaurant.

Everybody else was trying to decide what to do for dinner, but Elizabeth and I were having a photo shoot.

One day we got on a boat that looked like a pirate ship and went out to the volcano and to the hot springs. To get from the docks to the part of town where we were staying, you pretty much have to take a cable car or a donkey. So we took cable cars down and donkeys back up. I mean, you could walk, but at this point I was trying to see how many different modes of transportation I could accumulate. Plane, bus, tour bus, taxi, subway, cable car, boat, ferry, ATV, donkey, tiny car...not too shabby.

Donkey trip back up the hill.

We stayed in Santorini for several days then we (begrudgingly) went back to Athens for one last day before everybody started catching their flights home. We took a ferry...and it was CRAZY! As soon as the gates opened, people started sprinting toward the ferry. Everybody was shoving people out of their way and trying to get to that boat as fast as possible. Not a good sign. What do these people know that we don't? Well what they knew was that they were going to take up 3 seats so that they could lay down and sleep during the trip! We had originally planned to take a different ferry, but it ended up not being available so we were on one that left at 2 am. There were NO seats left by the time we got on, so we literally sat in stairwells and hallways of the little hotel-ish room area. I can never sleep on planes or in cars or in any situation like this, so I didn't even try. I figured I'd just decide to stay up the whole time instead of getting frustrated that I couldn't sleep. So a few of us sat and played cards then we wandered outside to the deck. This ended up being a great idea because we just talked all night and saw a truly glorious sunrise...complete with dolphins jumping out of the water as we weaved through the Greek islands.

We arrived back in Athens the next morning, but couldn't check in to our hostel until later so we left our bags in the little storage area and set out to find breakfast (and coffee!). I realized that my flight left at 7 am the next morning...which meant I had to be at the airport at 5 am...which meant I'd have to leave the hostel at 4 am. So a plan was soon devised to take naps in the afternoon and go out that night and just hang out as much as we could before everyone left (we really like each other). I took a 3-hour nap and got up to go out to dinner. We ate dinner and then walked all over Athens. Now, most of the girls are used to wearing nothing but Chacos and we all had on different shoes so our feet were killing us. Then we went back to the hostel. I tried to sleep a little before I had to catch a taxi to the airport, but you know how when you're nervous that you're going to sleep through something, you can't sleep? So I just laid there. Then I got up and headed to the airport at 4 am. And that's where the rest of the adventure begins...

Milk

2011-07-31T10:20:00.003-05:00

At orientation, we were told not to drink the milk here or we would die. I don't really know how true that is, but they had stories about people being medically evacuated out, so we took it to heart. So for over a year we drank shelf milk or powdered milk. Then some of our colleagues started pasteurizing their own milk, so we did too.

On Saturday mornings, the milk man shows up on his bicycle. Our duplex-mates, another family, and the three of us all get milk...6 liters each. We take our pitchers and bowls outside and the milk man pours our allotted milk into our containers. Then we bring them inside. We filter them through a strainer first to get out any dirt or cow hair that might have floated in. Then we put the milk into a double broiler and heat it to about 170 degrees and hold it there for 15 seconds. Then we put the milk into fridge-friendly containers (usually old mayonnaise jars) and cool the milk down as fast as possible in ice water in the sink. Then it all goes into the fridge and we wait until it's cold enough to drink. I didn't even know how much I missed the real thing until I had it again!

When we first get out one of the jars, we have to scrape the cream off the top. The first time is the easiest because it's really thick and clings to the spatula. It's still hard to get it all off though. Sometimes there's not much cream at the top and it looks pretty harmless, so I'll just shake it up because I know it'll be difficult and time-consuming to get it all off. This can be regretful because later on, the milk will be lumpier faster and not all that appetizing.

Well last week our team had the opportunity to get away for a few days. One morning, we split up and spent about 3 hours with the Lord. One of the things that I pray constantly is that I will decrease and that God will increase. I started to think about how even though I pray that, I still find myself trying to increase. My attitude still says that I am so selfish. The way that I let things bother me says that I still think that this is somehow about me. No matter how much I pray for God to increase in my life, my attitude, my ministry, Michelle keeps rising to the surface. And when it's really obvious and huge and easier to get rid of, I allow God to scrape it off. But when it's more subtle--hideable--I tend to just shake it back down. But it's still there...which means it will resurface, it's inevitable. And it's not harmless. It turns into an attitude that permeates everything, every relationship, every word, every action...making it lumpy and un-appetizing.

God reminded me that part of the growing process is pruning. If there's something in my life that needs to go, I can't just let it sit there. And I may think it's doing nothing...just sitting there because I know it'll hurt to cut it away. But really it's keeping everything else from growing. I'm so thankful that God is willing to teach us these things! And I'm so thankful for cold, fresh milk.

Nuts & Bolts

2011-07-31T08:24:00.004-05:00

Usually in my email updates and blogs, I mention bits and pieces of my actual job and the storying process, but a few people have showed an interest in knowing how exactly it all goes down. So I've decided to write a blog explaining the nuts and bolts of the storying process, starting at the beginning of my term. Read if you're interested...if not, no hard feelings.

First Six Months

When I first arrived in Mali last April, I was told that my full-time job was to learn the Sunny language and culture. We lived in the village (Yosemite) 5 days a week and came into a small town (G-Vegas) 2 days a week to rest up, run errands, etc. Every day in the village, I would go meet with a language helper (Jenny) to get new vocabulary and the rest of the day I'd go visit people and practice talking. To learn the culture, we did and still do two simple things: observe & mimic. Our primary goal was to become Sunny women (right down to our new Sunny names), but we were careful to only do this with cultural aspects of life...not religious. It's one of the best compliments ever when somebody looks at you or hears you or watches the way you do something or asks your name and says, "You are a Sunny woman!"

The Why

Well...because the Bible is not available in the Sunny people's heart language yet. And even if it was, none of them could/would read it. They are an oral people group. For centuries, they have passed down information orally. All of their history and traditions are taught to the generations through story-telling. This is how they teach and how they learn and they are awesome at it. So, when we know that we have the most important message they will ever hear, why wouldn't we present it the way they will receive it? Someday, the Bible will be available to them in their heart language, and someday they will want to read it, but for now this is the best way for them to have the opportunity to hear the gospel.

Pre-Story Set

After spending time with our people, we began thinking on a redemptive theme for our Story Set and which Stories would best support and illuminate that theme. The reason we go about it this way is because every people group is different and we want them to hear the full gospel in a way that will most resonate with them. Now, the gospel doesn't change and it's the Holy Spirit that reveals it to people, but we want to make sure that we're doing our part for the truth to sink in as quickly as possible. And if that is more likely to happen, for example, by emphasizing the sacrificial aspect of salvation, then Stories that show God's purposes of sacrifice are likely to be included.

We spent several months praying for direction and wisdom, observing our people, speaking with colleagues, and talking to each other to decide on a redemptive theme that would most speak to the Sunny people. We settled on "Jesus is the Only Way." Our people are very (VERY) conservatively M. Every single day, we watch them get up from what they are doing, go wash themselves, retrieve their prayer beads, lay out their prayer mats, turn East, and go through the recited prayers. They make the atoning sacrifices. They make the prescribed statements about Allah and His prophet. They attend Qu-ran:c school. They loyally walk the M Road daily. It breaks our hearts to see them walk a road that we know will not take them where they want to go. So we knew that pointing them onto the Jesus Road...the Only Way to God...would speak to them. Even their terminology speaks to this...the phrase "Jesus Road" and "M Road" comes from them, not us.

We purposely chose Old Testament stories that would point to Jesus as the Only Way to redemption...the way that God Himself provided. And we chose New Testament stories that verify that Jesus is exactly who God says He is...the Son of God, the Promised Savior. The actual Story Set list took several days to compose and is still in the works, but right now there's a list of about 30-33 Stories that will most likely be included in the final Story Set that will be recorded onto cassette tapes for distribution to our people.

The People

NICK: This is our story crafter. He speaks Sunny and English (and about 12 other languages). He is a believer, but is not very open about it yet. He wants very much to become open about his faith, but is praying for wisdom on how to do that because his ultimate goal is to be a catalyst for the Sunny people as a whole coming to faith in Jesus. He knows a lot about Sunny culture and has traveled quite a bit around the country, so we included him quite a bit while we were choosing Stories to include in our set.

BRIAN: This is our back-translator. He is not a believer, but is actively seeking. He speaks English and hears Sunny, but does not speak it all that well. He also speaks Bambara and French. I'll explain the back-translating process more below.

TESTING GROUP/TESTERS: This is how we describe a group of women on whom we test our story once it has been recorded and back-translated. They can be found at a few different houses that we have spent the last several months building relationship with.

ABBY/SOKONA: This is one of my teammates. Her term technically started 3 months ahead of mine, but she plans to extend 3 months so that our terms will both end in January. She has the mind of a steel-trap and can remember vocabulary that I don't even remember learning! She's from Georgia.

SARAH/MAGOU: This is my other teammate. She and Abby were college roommates and they started their terms at the same time. She can hear the Sunny language like crazy. These women will get to talking insanely fast, but Mags will still know what they're talking about! She's from South Carolina.

JUDY/NAFI: This is our supervisor. She is passionate about making the Word of God available to oral people groups and has supervised several teams like mine who were creating oral Story Sets in various languages. She's from Kentucky.

The Process

1. Abby will gather several resources...different versions of the Bible, our storying training book, a translator's program on the computer, etc...and craft the Story (in English). She will include any questions we need to address with Nick, any Key Terms, as well as reasons she chose to word something a certain way, or include/exclude a certain part of the story. This goes into a Word document.

2. Sarah and I will gather all of the resources Abby used and revise the story. We write down any concerns, add our own questions for Nick and/or Abby, and do any editing that needs to occur.

3. Abby schedules a Crafting Session with Nick and gets everything ready for it.

4. Abby and I meet with Nick to craft the Story. We tell it to him orally (in English) and then he verbalizes any immediate concerns or suggestions he has. We ask him all of our questions and tell him the non-negotiables of the story...meaning...if he wants to change something for the sake of contextualization, we have certain things that cannot be changed in order to maintain the integrity of the Word of God based on research with Bible translation. Then he reads the story for himself a few times to familiarize himself with it even though he already knows it. We make any changes that need to be made, then we record him telling the story (in Sunny) on one of our voice recorders.

5. Then I get the story ready for the Back-Translation session. I type up a new Word document that has any questions that we have for Brian. I list out all of the Key Terms so that we can make sure we have the right Sunny words for them. (Example of a Key Term: Adam) Then I call Brian and set up a time to meet for the session.

6. Abby and Sarah go meet with Brian. They take the voice recorder and some speakers and play the Story all the way through for him. Then they will play it again one line at a time. As he translates the line from Sunny back into English (hence the term back-translation), Abby will type the English version into another Word document. They will make sure that all the questions are answered and that all of the Key Terms are understood and translated. We do this step because even though the Story was crafted in English, once it changes into Sunny it's worded differently. And even though we speak some Sunny, we still need a Sunny person to tell us exactly what it says word-for-word. The reason this has to be a different person than the crafter is because the crafter knows what he's trying to say and would tend to just translate it back the way he wants it to sound. Here's an example from our Story of Abraham sacrificing Isaac: The line, "When they were near to the place of sacrifice Isaac asked his father, 'I know that we have the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb?'" becomes this in Sunny, "While they were getting closer to the place, Isaac said, 'Now I am seeing fire and I’m seeing firewood, but the sheep we are going to kill…I’m not seeing that.'" This step just ensures that even though the wording may change because of the way Sunny people speak, the meaning of the text is still communicated and understood.

7. Then Abby will create an Excel document. Each line of the story will be inserted into a row in its English form. Under each line there is a place to list the Anchor (scripture reference...every line MUST have an Anchor), any Key Terms found in that line, a place to include any notes to explain how and why that line is crafted the way it is, a place to list Testing Questions and Answers, and a place for Nafi to add any notes/suggestions.

8. Sarah and I will go through the Excel document and come up with as many Testing Questions as we can to make sure that the Story is being understood by Sunny people in the way it should be according to the original intent of the Bible. We also put any information that has already been obtained into a Key Terms tab and a Cultural Notes tab of the Excel document. We list all questions onto a piece of paper for the Testing Session and schedule a time to go meet with a Testing Group.

9. Abby and Sarah will go to one the houses that we have built relationships with to test the Story. They will play it through a full time and ask if they understood the language in the Story. Then they will lay it through line by line and ask the questions corresponding to that line. They'll also make sure that the Key Terms are correct and understood. Most of the time, the testers will offer more information on the Key Terms according to their own culture because most of the Old Testament stories are already known by our people. At the end of the session, the girls will ask somebody from the testing group to retell the story. This shows us if the story is memorable and easy to understand. If an important part of the story is left out in the re-telling, we know that we might need to emphasize it differently or that maybe it wasn't understood very well or that maybe the story is too long. The entire session is recorded in Sunny and English.

10. I will listen to the recording and enter the Testing Answers into the Excel document. I will also add all Crafting Notes, Key Term Notes, and Cultural Notes into the appropriate places. I'll go through all of the tabs and do any editing that needs to be done in order for the document to be ready for submission to Nafi.

11. Abby will email the document to Nafi and wait for her to email back with any changes that need to be made or more Testing Questions that need to be asked.

12. All necessary changes are made and the document is ready to be re-submitted to Nafi. Then...hopefully...we have an approved Story! Just FYI, we currently have 16 of the Stories somewhere in the process. We split up the tasks so that we could be more efficient in our work and we also believe the work is of higher quality because of this. God really put the 3 of us together in a way that we each enjoy and thrive in doing different parts of the process. It's been amazing to watch Him work in our team. We switch off sometimes as needed, but the way I've listed it is true most of the time for now.

13. Eventually we will begin the process of making the final recordings that will be put onto cassettes for distribution, but I don't know what that looks like yet.

Whoa. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading!

All Downhill

2011-06-03T08:26:00.007-05:00

Rain is one of the things I miss the most about America. And heat has been one of the hardest things to get used to in Mali. Which means that I pretty much adore rainy season out here. It's short and sweet...and still hot...and a lot more humid...but it RAINS...and for a few glorious hours afterwards it feels fantastic outside.

Rainy season also means that your electricity goes out a lot more. And the other day, the 3 of us were sitting at our kitchen table working on some stuff and the electricity kept going out. We were getting a little agitated because we needed the internet...and most importantly, a fan. But then it would come back on and we'd celebrate briefly. Then it went off for a longer while...but THIS time we noticed that it was all dreary-looking outside...and the wind was kind of picking up. We ran outside and sat on our porch and waited...while everyone else on our street packed up everything to run inside. I know...crazy white girls. It got crazy windy and then slowly...one by one...giant cold raindrops started falling. Then the wind picked up and the rain came faster. The kind that makes you suck all your air in real fast when it hits you because you were just sitting in a 100 degree living room and now you're being pelted by cold rain. We stayed until we were soaked through and couldn't stand the cold any longer. I bet it got down to 80 degrees out there! Rainy days are ALWAYS good days...even if you do get the truck stuck in the mud :)

A Different Easter

2011-05-18T09:57:00.002-05:00

Ever since I was little, I have LOVED Easter. I admit...it mostly had to do with gift-giving bunnies, dyed eggs, plastic-grass-filled baskets, and purple Easter dresses. I loved that one Saturday afternoon when my mom would spread a newspaper out over the kitchen table and put out coffee mugs filled with vinegar, one for each colored tablet that came in the egg-dyeing kit. Did anyone else always want to eat those tablets? They looked like my Flintstone vitamins, which I loved. One by one I'd drop the tablets into the mugs and watch the beautiful colors appear. And then I'd get that little wire egg-lowering-and-raising device and start coloring the carton full of eggs.

As I got older, I began to more deeply understand the significance of Easter. It's about our risen Savior. I would attentively listen to my Sunday School teachers deliver the story I knew well. I would read the passages of Scripture which tell the story I knew well and I would celebrate with the other people at church over God's perfect redemption plan and His power over death. But...Easter Sunday still had a lot to do with getting to wear a new dress.

Then as I began serving on staff at a church, Easter took on some different meanings and I didn't even realize it. It became about making sure I had Sunday's lesson planned perfectly for all the kids that would be visiting for the first time. It became about planning parties and egg hunts and making sure there were enough snacks. It became about having a back-up plan if we ran out of chairs. Now...all of these things are perfectly fine...it's just that sometimes I allowed these things to become more important to me than our risen Savior. I let the stress of busy-ness steal my joy...and that is not perfectly fine.

This year was different. My teammates were on vacation, my supervisor was out of town, and we had a company Easter celebration on the Saturday before. I decided to go spend Easter with some friends in a town about 3 hours from here, called K-Town. Our Jman friend, Scott, and 5 guy volunteers are serving out there. They spend weekends in K-Town, but spend most of their time in various villages outside of K-Town. The main one is called the Dunes.

Here's the story...to the best of my knowledge...of the Dunes. Several years ago there were 2 Jgirls doing the same thing that my teammates and I are doing. They crafted a chronological Bible story set into the language of the Dunes. They recorded the Stories and distributed the tapes. They never got to see any of these people choose the Jesus Road. BUT after they left, the power of God's Word reached a handful of these people and resonated within their hearts as the truth that it is. So Scott encourages and equips this handful of believers in the village. He has modeled and taught Christian living and leadership and is essentially training one of the men to be the pastor of this village church.

Saturday night, when I arrived in the village, I got to meet everybody, got settled in, set up my tent, and took my bucket bath (I was a little out of practice, but I realized I REALLY missed being in the village). Once everybody was gathered together, Nya (the leader of the group) began to lead us in the Lord's Supper, and it was absolutely, hands-down, my favorite experience since I've been in Africa. There was no table at the front of a sanctuary holding all the platters of bread and juice. There were no deacons spanning the pews to pass out the elements. No little cups. No crackers. I wasn't sure how it would go. By the time we all congregated, it was completely dark outside. There were about a dozen of us, sitting wherever we could find a place, crowded around a flashlight in the middle of the African bush.

The guys had brought in some bread from K-Town and Nya proceeded to make the juice. We used a drink mix called Jolly Jus in cola flavor. One packet of this stuff makes 2 liters of juice...Nya used 2 packets for 1.5 liters. It was pretty stout. Then Nya read the passage of the Lord's Supper from a Bambara Bible and then spoke about it in his own language. Scott translated a little for me. I couldn't even tell you what all Nya said, but it was the most powerful Lord's Supper experience I've ever had. Maybe it was because I knew so little of what was being said. Maybe it was because there was little to look at besides a flashlight. Maybe it was because I knew that this was the first time this group of believers had ever taken part in this ordinance together. Whatever it was, I've never been so aware of what the original Lord's Supper must have been like. I've never been so aware of how important it is for us to partake in it in remembrance of our Savior. And I've never felt so connected to fellow believers...even though we don't speak the same language.

Then Nya gave each of us half a loaf of bread and a (pretty big) cup full of Jolly Jus. As he individually handed the elements to each of us, he said what they represented and why we do what we were doing. Again...pretty powerful. And then we all ate and drank. Then we sang!

The next day, I put on my best tie-dye and we all just hung out together in celebration. Scott would read Scripture passages of the weekend's events. I went with two of the guys to visit their village. Went and met some more people in the Dunes. Unbraided a little girl's hair and let some other little girls braid mine. Watched Scott kill dinner. All in all a great day. Then everybody met back up to eat together. We had chicken and pasta...one of my favorites! I shared a bowl with two of the African men (this usually would never happen, but I was a guest and it was Easter). In our bowl was the chicken's entire head, some giant organ, and a big beautiful piece of white meat. The head was closest to me, but as I was looking at it, figuring out my attack mode, one of the men flicked it toward himself, the organ toward the other guy, and the white meat at ME! Happy Easter!

Later that night, we gathered again. Nya read from the Bambara Bible and then spoke for a short time. And then we all sang again. We sang lots and lots of songs in various languages. I think some were Bambara, some were the Dunes language, and some in English. It was just a great weekend...definitely the best time I've had in Mali, and probably the best Easter ever. It was so encouraging to get what one of the guys called "a glimpse into our future." Abby, Sarah, & I are working furiously to finish a Story set in the Sunny language, but we know that we will most likely not get to see the fruit of it. Although we try to strike up spiritual conversations whenever we can, we probably won't get to lead a Sunny person to Christ, or watch a Sunny person's face as the Truth clicks. But Scott and the guys were very convinced and very encouraging that a few years down the road, a group of Sunny believers will also be having the Lord's Supper for the first time.

Do you know "Toto?"

2011-04-03T07:44:00.005-05:00

I've spoken of him in my email updates, but not on my blog...so let me quickly introduce you to one of our best friends, "Brian." He's also our back-translator for Stories. We call him Brian because one day we were driving around in the truck and he saw one of our cassette tapes with Brian Adams on it. And all of a sudden he breaks out with, "Look into my eyes....and you will seeee...whaat you mean toooo meeeee...." Before we knew it, we were belting out Brian Adams' chart-topping Robin Hood soundtrack hit, "Everything I Do." So that's Brian.

Brian's family has a farm on the outskirts of town, so we told him we'd like to go visit. He told us to be at his house at 8 am one Sunday morning. We arrived and he sat us down to eat breakfast while he got things ready for the day's outing. He was running around with a backpack, putting things in it. He went into a room and yelled at me, "Niame', do you all eat chocolate?!" I said that Magou and I do, but Sokona can't. He looked a little distraught and said, "Oh no, I don't have American peanut butter." Turns out he was preparing chocolate sandwiches for a snack. So we stopped by our house on the way out and picked up some American peanut butter for Sokona. And the chocolate was homemade. And delicious.

When we got to the farm, we noticed that there were some tiny little baby goats. Super tiny. The chickens were bigger than them. So we went over and picked them up and carried them around. Noticing that we were enjoying the animals, Brian says, "Do you know 'Toto?'" I say, "Like the little dog??" He says, "YES! Like the little dog. We have a lot of those. Do you want to see them?" Well of course we do, Brian. So we venture out to a little field where we see a small penned-off area. I'm expecting to see a bunch of yelpy little dogs in there, but instead we see a bunch of huge turtles. I think to myself, "Oh, looky there...they have turtles too. Well, where are all the dogs?" It took me a few minutes to realize that "toto" is Malian English for "turtle." The turtles were great fun, though. One was so big that even with Brian standing on it, it could still walk around!

We spent the rest of the day walking around the farm, stopping to inspect different plants and what-not. We stopped by the well to pull up water for the sheep. Brian was pretty impressed with our well skills. Every so often Brian would lead us in a song. He showed us the different types of mango trees. He had us taste different fruits that we'd never seen before...it was a great field trip. Then he took us down to a creek. We tried to catch tadpoles and minnows. He's an artist, so he got some mud from the creek and sculpted a cow out of it. Then he gave us some mud and helped us make some animals too. I made a toto.

There's another story from this day...but it's slightly inappropriate, so I'll tell you when it's not on the world wide web.

Pictures from the day:

Baby goats.

Brian on a toto.

Weird orange koosh ball flowers than hung from a tree.

Catching tadpoles.

Dogon Country

2011-04-03T06:36:00.003-05:00

One of the guys that works here with another people group had 5 more guys join him as volunteers for the semester. They call themselves Cinco de Mali...so the original guy started calling himself The Big Tamale...and we three girls are now known as The Chimichangas. It's ridiculous, I know.

So after the guys had a week of training, Nafi took us all up to Dogon Country to do things like climb mountains, scale cliffs, and look at 1000's of years old human bones in caves. It looks a lot like the Grand Canyon, but the Dogon people build their houses into the side of these cliffs. So you'd be standing down in the canyon looking up, and at first you didn't really notice it, but when you looked closely, you'd see an entire village carved into the side of a cliff. I don't care who you are, that's pretty cool. You should really Google some images. So we climbed up and down those cliffs, visiting the people and taking lots of pictures.

One of the places we stayed had a pond next to it with dozens of crocodiles. We were pretty fascinated by them. Everybody was just standing there watching them when on the other side of the pond, Sarah and some of the boys started freaking out. Apparently this baby crocodile was just floating there, minding its own business, when one of the giant ones came up behind it and chomped down. I'm not gonna lie, at first I just figured that it was the mama trying to get its baby away from all the human folk. But sure enough, about 10 minutes later, the giant crocodile emerged from the water with the baby in its mouth and just started chowing down. The translator said that it is bad news for the goats and sheep when the crocodiles resort to eating their own young.

We also hiked up a cliff to these "Telem graves." Again, you should Google it. It was one of the more tricky hiking maneuvers we had to do, but once we got up there it was worth it. There were all of these carved out areas in the cliff and then the people had built little rooms. Dead bodies would be lifted up on a pulley and left in these graves. There were human bones all over the place and our guide said they were thousands of years old. It was pretty crazy. And kind of crunchy.

Here are some pictures:

Kind of blurry, but here's a room of bones.

Cliff houses.

Crocodiles!

Nafi & the Chimichangas.

It's Always Sunny in Mali

2011-04-03T05:51:00.004-05:00

In February we had the opportunity to travel to another area of the country for a Sunny festival. We left on Valentine's Day for an 8ish hour drive...a good part of it being on a pretty bad road. So we packed up our freshly baked heart-shaped sugar cookies and newly created all-love-song playlist and loaded up in the truck. I was getting over strep at the time, but that didn't stop us from singing so loud to our awesome playlist that we were all pretty hoarse by the time we arrived.

The first day was a parade at the soccer stadium. Seating in the shade was limited so we all split up. I sat next to this little old man. There were hunters in the para

de and every so often they would shoot off a gun for no real reason at all. Every single time I would jump halfway out of my seat and the little old man would laugh and say, "Hahaha...you're scared!!!" Every. Time. He also thought I spoke French (since I'm white) so he kept translating the Sunny speeches into French for me. I didn't correct him, I kind of liked the attention.

We got to meet a TON of Sunny people from several different countries so we learned a little bit about other dialects. It was pretty cool. We also got to meet some different people who work with other organizations. Some of them are even not from America, so we got to brush up on our British accents. Always a good time.

Here's a couple of pics from the parade:

New Year's Campout

2011-01-12T08:07:00.003-06:00

For New Years weekend, all of the personnel in Mali went on a campout. It was SO MUCH FUN. One of the couples who works for the company lives in a house on a large amount of land. So we all headed down there for the weekend. When we arrived, Nafi was stirring the biggest pot of chili I've ever seen over the fire. We set up our tents and hung out until dinner time. There were 4 holes in the ground for bathrooms and each of them had a straw wall around it. There were also 2 showers set up in the same way for bucket baths. We had a fabulous time sitting around the campfire getting to know everybody and having a blast. At midnight we walked over to a huge tree where somebody had set up a ball to drop. It was one of those big rubber balls with a handle on it, covered in Christmas lights, and hoisted up with a rope. Everyone counted down as the ball dropped and we rung in the new year. Then, someone started singing and before we knew it everyone was belting out "Don't Stop Believing." As good a New Year's song as any I think.

That night we FROZE. We were pretty far south where it's quite a bit cooler than it is here. I was wearing 3 layers of clothing, and a sheet in a sleeping bag in my tent and I was still freezing. 60 degrees just doesn't feel like it used to. The next morning we slept in, ate breakfast, sat around talking, played games and just hung out. And...I even won the Texas Hold 'Em game...don't worry, we weren't playing for money. Thank you, Randy Dane and Trent Vest for teaching me how to play about 7 New Years Days ago. That evening we watched The Rookie projected onto the side of the house. Man that movie made me homesick. I may or may not have burst into tears when it showed the Ballpark in Arlington...I don't even like baseball. Then we went to bed and headed back to town the next morning. I'd never been camping before I came here...turns out I like it!

Joyeux Noel

2011-01-12T07:40:00.004-06:00

I love Christmas. And I was a little curious to see how spending Christmas in Africa would be. I really missed the cold weather, but other than that it was pretty darn festive. We felt SO loved by friends & family back in America and we really enjoyed our time with friends & family here in Africa. Abby, Sarah, and I woke up Christmas morning and started it off with delicious hot beverages. Then we opened all the presents under our tree...and there were tons from parents, churches, and friends back in America! We had agreed on a 10,000cfa limit (about $20) for presents for each other and we had so much fun picking stuff out for each other and trying to be sneaky about it...which is pretty difficult when you spend 24 hours a day with a person. Then we got dressed and loaded up our food to go to the Thompson's house. We also loaded up a bunch of presents that a church had sent for all of the personnel who would be here on Christmas day. At the Thompson's we ate, opened presents, and had a good ol' time. Then the 3 of us went to Nafi's and exchanged presents with her and Rita. Then the 3 of us came home, put on our pajamas, got in the big bed, watched Glee...and...since it was Christmas...we even turned the air conditioner on...watch out.

Caroling Caroling Thru the Sand

2011-01-12T07:25:00.002-06:00

On Christmas Eve, the 3 of us, Nafi, and Rita went out caroling to our friends' and family's homes. We had told them that we were coming by to greet, but that we couldn't stay long because we had lots of households to greet. They understand Christmas (Noel) here to some degree, but we used this opportunity to tell them why we celebrate and that we wanted to celebrate with them because that's what we would do with our families and they are our African families. We would arrive at a house, sit down and talk for a bit, tell them why we'd come and why we celebrate, and then sing for them. I'm not gonna lie...at first I thought the singing part would be kind of awkward. I mean, we were singing in English. I'd imagined us just sitting there singing while they all stared at us then looked at each other like, "Whaaaaat...this is so weird." But they didn't! As soon as we started singing their faces lit up and they would immediately start clapping along...in perfect beat, of course, because they're awesome. And sometimes they'd even start dancing. Such a good time. We even stopped at MacParadise for burgers (they're the best in town) and dates (the kind you eat).

Thanksgiving

2011-01-12T07:10:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving Day was amazing. We went over to Nafi's house along with all of the other personnel in town. When we got there, Nafi forced us to make sure the pecan pie (see above) was good enough to serve. It was. Everything was there. A volunteer team had brought over turkeys from America and we made all the fixin's. Our team's contribution was deviled eggs, a pumpkin roll, and cherry dump cake. We ate, cleaned up, and played games with everybody. But the best part was that when everybody left, the 3 of us and Nafi & Rita stayed up finishing the last season of LOST until about 2 o'clock in the morning. All in all, a great day in Africa.

Man, they know how to party...

2011-01-12T05:34:00.003-06:00

Tabaski is the biggest holiday for the people here. While it is an M holiday, it has become much like Christmas in the sense that many people celebrate it more for the fun and festivities than for the spiritual reasons behind it. As we asked our friends & family about the holiday, we found that we were told various things regarding its purpose. Basically the head of the family acquires a sacrificial animal...here they mostly use rams. The ram is then sacrificed in commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son before God provided a ram in the son's place. (Just FYI...most people here say that the son was Ishmael, not Isaac.) The sacrifice is also for the atonement of the family's sins. Then the people have a big party and eat all the meat.

Holidays are always tricky here. We don't want our presence at our family's party to make it appear that we are in agreement with the purpose behind it. And we certainly don't want it to appear that we believe the dead ram we're eating is in any way atoning for our sins. We know that our sins have already been covered by the blood of Jesus...and He is alive...pretty awesome. BUT relationship is everything here. And we see these celebrations as an opportunity to share our beliefs. And it helps us to better understand what our family is searching for from God. So, we went to our family's party. The household that we visited had five (five!) rams...about $1000 of meat. Our people group is one of the more wealthy people groups here, so they really do it up right for this stuff. There was a ridiculous amount of meat being eaten and one heck of a dance party...that pretty much sums it up: meat & dancing.

As soon as we pulled out of our house, we saw rams being killed across the street. There was blood everywhere, rams laying strewn about with their heads half-detached, and rams in the process of being cut up. It's really kind of gory. When we showed up at our family's house, everybody was sitting in the courtyard cutting meat up. Women were doing some kind of loopy thing to the intestines to make them look braided...I guess they take up less room in the pot that way. We sat around talking before we ate the snack (which would qualify as a giant meal any other time). It was meat (ribs for the most part) that had some kind of delicious seasoning on it and had been grilled. Then we sat for a little while longer and drank sodas (a special treat!). Then the dancing began...all the girls and young women were in this one tiny little room with music blaring and booties shaking. So fun. Then we ate the meal....tons and tons and tons of meat that had been boiled in this stewish type sauce on top of rice. We were so full. Nafi had left earlier and they sent her home with about a 10-lb. bag of meat...it was crazy.

There will be more pictures on Facebook, but up there is one of me, our supervisor Nafi, our Aunt Bea, and Abby.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2010-11-20T14:42:00.002-06:00

I know it’s a little early for this post, but if you know me you know that I’ve been listening to Christmas music for weeks now anyway, so really a Christmas blog shouldn’t surprise you that much. One night earlier this week Abby, Sarah, and I decorated for Christmas. Our duplex-mates are going to be in America for the holidays, so guess who gets to borrow all their stuff including a Christmas tree! We had so much fun putting everything up. The thermometer in our house said it was 96 degrees and we were sweating pretty profusely, but at least it was starting to LOOK like Christmas even if it didn’t so much FEEL like it yet :)

AND oh my goodness. Yesterday I picked up my Christmas “package” from my church family at Bear Creek Community Church in Cresson, Texas. I say “package” in quotation marks because this sucker was, in fact, an enormous trunk full of fantasticness. When the men at the airport found the trunk, they weren’t sure if it was mine (and neither was I) because some of the numbers and my name had rubbed off, so they opened it up and I think the air freight handlers were pretty jealous. As Abby said, “That is one big box of happiness.” It was absolutely FULL of American food/candy/coffee, health & beauty products (you should see all this nail polish), journals, jewelry, Christmas music (yay!), Christmas decorations, and more stuff than I ever could have imagined. And check out this awesomeness…it had a ton of WRAPPED Christmas presents so now we have presents under our tree! Thank you so much, Bear Creek family. I love you and miss you so much that there are tears in my eyes right now.

A Heart-Breaking Couple of Days

2010-11-20T14:41:00.001-06:00

A volunteer team came in a couple weeks ago to do some dental clinics. The team consisted of 2 dentists, a pastor and his wife, and 3 more women to assist the dentists and do whatever else needed doing. We did one clinic in the big city for the Sunny people and another people group we call the “Hidden” people, but before that we headed out to the bush.

One of the women who came over with the group is Mrs. B; she’s a nurse and she served with our company for 33 years in another West African country. In the first village, on our first clinic day, she went around to different huts to see if anyone needed some basic wound care. She came across a woman I’ll call “Becka.” She was lying in a dark room by herself. Becka is literally missing half of her face because it is rotting away. When you look at her right side you can see bone, teeth, and tongue. And her right eyeball is gone. Abby said that when she first walked into the hut she immediately thought a dead animal was in there because of the way it smelled. Mrs. B and a couple others took her to a bush clinic where they were told that nothing could be done there and to go to the hospital in the nearest town. So they went to the hospital in the nearest town (where we were staying) and were told that she must go to the capital (which is 4 hours away) to get the treatment she needs. Mrs. B and Nafi (my supervisor) both said that Becka’s face is the worst thing they’ve ever seen in Africa…and they have a combined 47 years of experience living here. It was a miracle that she was even still alive.

Abby, Sarah, and I were heading back into the city the next day so we and Nafi decided that the best course of action would be for us to bring Becka, her mother, and her uncle with us. Nafi came to our room to discuss what the next day or two might look like. The girl and her family don’t speak Sunny and we don’t speak French or Bambara so somebody was lined up to translate at the hospital between us, the family, and the doctors. By taking them to the hospital, we were wordlessly assuming all responsibility for this woman, including finances, so we discussed how that would work and what we should say. Nafi told us how to get to a couple of the different places we may need, how to be assertive if the hospitals refused care…just a lot of different things that we hadn’t yet experienced. She even told us it was okay if we needed to pull the truck over and throw up because of the smell. There were a couple of contingency plans discussed, then Nafi said, “If she dies in the truck, this is what you need to do…” I hadn’t seen Becka yet. I knew it was bad. I knew she was dying, but I didn’t really know.

So the next morning we picked up Becka, her mother, and her uncle. The Lord is so good. The hours flew by, the smell seemed dulled, and we arrived in the capital. We spent the rest of the day driving around to various hospitals and clinics until we were finally told where we needed to be. The clinic was closed on the weekend so we made plans to go first thing Monday morning. Before leaving, our translator shared the gospel with Becka and her mom and prayed for them. Then we drove them to the house of some family they had in town, gave them some money for food and transportation over the weekend, and left.

At this point, we’d been told that Becka had a disease called NOMA and that the clinic in town was run by a non-governmental organization who would perform all the treatment at no cost. We looked up as much as we could about this disease and looked at various images online…none of which compared to Becka. We read about the predisposing factors for NOMA, all of which are prevalent in an African village. We learned that most victims of this disease are children, even though Becka is just a couple of years younger than I am. And we learned that the survival rate for this disease is almost non-existent. We were pretty down…but not defeated, knowing that we serve the Great Physician.

We picked the family up on Monday morning and headed to the clinic. After waiting a while (long enough for Abby & I to go put oil in our truck), we were told to go to another branch of the clinic. So we got in our truck, our translators got in their truck, and we all followed a man on a moto to the other place. We were seen by the doctor that some co-workers had already told us about (they have experience with this disease and a little boy they know). He took her to an examination room and then brought our translator, Abby, Sarah, and me into his office. He began talking to Mrs. L (our translator) in French. Some things he had said had obviously surprised her…and even disappointed her. After they finished their conversation, she told us that the doctor said he knew Becka. He said she’d been in to see him 4 months before and that the treatment plan had been laid out for her already. Her family already knew that the treatment would be a long process and that it would all be at no cost. Then he said what I didn’t see coming: that she has AIDS. She’d been told at the previous visit that she would need to take anti-virals in order to even get her body strong enough to be treated for NOMA. We asked if she’d been taking them so he went to ask her and found out that she had not. It was such a gut-punch. I know this sounds horrible, but all of a sudden it seemed pointless to try to treat the skin disease when she was dying of AIDS. And it seemed pointless to try to get her the treatment she needs when, for whatever reason, she hadn’t been complying with what had already been prescribed.

We were told that their transportation back to their family’s house in the capital would be provided and that we could leave. We met up with Nafi and the rest of the team coming in from the bush for lunch. After a small debriefing, we were able to once again see how God is at work. The last couple of hours had been frustrating and disappointing, but it doesn’t change the fact that God has a plan…a perfect plan, with perfect timing. God is really up to something in the people group of Becka and her family. He has raised up new believers, sent more workers, and given a hunger for His Word and a curiosity in His Son. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Becka, but we know that it will be for His glory. She is currently undergoing treatment at the clinic for AIDS to get her strong enough to move to another clinic closer to her village where she can stay and be treated for NOMA. Please pray for her. Pray for her body and pray that the words of the gospel that she has now heard will take root in her heart so that she can be a testimony to her family and others in her village.

New Digs

2010-11-20T14:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, so we are all nice and settled in our new home in the big city. After the relocation, we lived at the company’s guest house for about 2 ½ months. Even though all 3 of us (and all of our stuff) were crammed into one room, it was really pretty fun. We got to meet volunteer teams who came over from America and it was always encouraging to share with them what we’re here for and learn more about them and their home churches. PLUS they’d leave us their leftovers…hello Starbucks and bacon!

At the end of October we moved into a more permanent residence and it is really, really great. It’s a nice place and it immediately felt like home. Each of us has our own room, there’s 2 bathrooms, a nice living/dining room area, and a kitchen. And because a lot of people were moving back to America right before we moved in, we inherited a TON of stuff…food, cabinets, armoires, more cabinets…a coffeemaker…and a microwave!

The best part is that it’s a duplex and we share it with another family who works for the same company. The couple is about my age and they have a 1-year-old son…who is SO STINKING CUTE. They are amazing…they have us over to eat, play games, or just hang out. And one day all 6 of us piled into the truck and went downtown to the big market to shop, listening to Christmas music the whole time. It felt like a family outing. We are so thankful for them and a new place to live!

More on the boiled goat stomach...

2010-10-15T05:43:00.001-05:00

One day we went to Little Yosemite to visit Beatrice, our mayor's aunt. We had to be at language at 1pm, so we started trying to leave a little after 11am, knowing that they would probably try to feed us. Well, they did. They called us into a little room where Sarah, Beatrice, and I sat down on the floor. Another woman brought in two covered bowls and a covered plate. Even though all of them were covered Sarah and I knew that there being 3 different dishes (instead of only 2) would be bad news.

Well the first cover came off the bowl of rice. No surprise there, we have rice for lunch every day. The second cover came off the bowl of peanut sauce. Another non-surprise. We braced ourselves for what we knew was coming...the third removed cover revealed a huge plate of meat. It was worse than usual. Usually the "meat" still has at least a little bit of what you would think of as being "meat." This time it was all organs and intestines. I could identify the heart, liver, stomach, small intestines, maybe a kidney or two, and then there were various other unidentifiable parts...it was kind of like dissection day in high school biology. We poured the peanut sauce over the rice and Beatrice asked if we wanted some meat. We said, "Sure! A little," which is our standard answer for anything because a "little" to them still ends up being a lot. So she put a little bit of meat on the rice and we ate it. We thought we were in the clear! We finished off the rice and sauce and then Beatrice moved the bowl we'd eaten from out of the way. We really thought we were in the clear! But then she grabbed the (still huge) plate of meat and put it in the middle. She took one little part of the heart then said she was full and backed away from the plate. We ate several bites then said we were full. No luck. She told us to keep eating. At this point I really was full so I tried again. She told me to keep eating. I asked her, "One more bite?" This usually worked on H-Mama. She said okay. I took my one more bite, I even made sure it was a big one, and said, "Okay, I'm full." She said to keep eating. I said, "You said one more bite!" She said, "I know. So take one more bite...until it's gone." So we finished off the plate...completely riceless...we should have had her put all of it on the rice and sauce to take away from the texture and taste a little bit. Then when we walked out of the room I saw the goat's head, legs/hooves, and empty skin in a bloody pile on the ground...at least it was fresh. It's okay, they think our food is weird too. Somebody told me that they had asked a group of African translators what the weirdest food they'd ever eaten when being out on a trip with a group of Americans was. I believe almost unanimously they answered, "Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."

We think these situations are pretty funny...and sometimes nauseating...but it really shows how insanely hospitable these people are. They rarely let us visit without making sure they feed us in some way and they want you to stay for as long as you possibly can. They love it when we help them do things...mostly because we're not as good at it and they get a pretty good laugh. And they love just sitting with us even when we've exhausted our language and can't think of much else to say. And you don't even have to know people before you visit them. They immediately welcome you in like you're their long lost niece or something.

The other day I was talking to a Bambara man and he asked me my name. When I told him he said, "Oh, you're a Sunny woman!" I said that I was and that the Sunny people are good. He agreed with me and said that the Sunny people are very good because they are always helping each other. I know it seems kind of silly, but I really am proud to be one them.

We found her!

2010-10-15T05:38:00.002-05:00

A few months ago, before we came to the city, our mayor's aunt from Yosemite had come to the city because she'd been really sick. We had taken her to the hospital in G-Vegas before, but even that wasn't helping so they finally just sent her here. Well a few weeks ago we found her! She is staying at our mayor's brother's compound so when we went it was like a Little Yosemite. Everybody who lives there is either from our village and is just staying here for a while or grew up in our village. It was so nice to be reunited with friends and family. PLUS, Little Yosemite is right down the street from a fake McDonald's...it's called MacParadise. We haven't tried it yet, but it's got to be good...or at least better than boiled goat stomach :)

Language, Language, and More Language

2010-10-15T04:48:00.003-05:00

One of the best things about coming to the big city is that we have been able to meet with an actual language teacher...I'll call her Alicia. She is a Sunny woman who speaks...that we know of...5 languages, including even a little bit of English (and Bambara, French, Russian, and of course Sunny...I told you Africans are geniuses). Her actual job is teaching Russian at the public high school, so she really knows how to teach language. We started going to her to learn enough Bambara to get around in this city and then our supervisor said we could continue with her for Sunny for a while.

So we've been going to Alicia for 2 hours a day 5 days a week and it has pretty much revolutionized my language learning. Out in the village we had gotten most of our vocabulary. By pointing, acting out, and any other means we could use we had figured out most nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs...at least the stuff that gets used on a regular basis. The more difficult aspect had been putting sentences together correctly. It is difficult to communicate to a non-English-speaking person who has never once taught anybody a language that you want her to teach you how to put sentences together and speak above the preschool level...in a language that is nothing like English. We would try to get syntax from listening to them speaking to each other (because they would usually speak to us at the level they knew we could understand), but usually they would get to talking so fast that it was still hard to pick out how they had said something.

In the first few weeks, Alicia taught us the things that we'd been trying to figure out for months. Things that we would think we had figured out and then we'd hear it used in a completely contradicting way later. It could be pretty frustrating, but by the time Alicia had explained it we could look back on the things we'd heard in the village and more pieces of the puzzle started falling into place. It's still been fairly crazy because English is her weakest language and she will readily tell you that she doesn't understand English grammar at all...which means that she does most of her explaining in French and some even in Bambara. And we're still learning everything orally...so no writing anything down or seeing anything written down...just us and our voice recorders, but I am so, so, SO thankful for the time we've had with Alicia and the opportunity to get some of this stuff figured out.

Sam

2010-09-05T08:30:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, Abby and I went to our tailor's shop in G-Vegas to drop off some fabric. Our tailor, Sam, speaks English pretty well so we're able to talk to him about a lot of stuff and he helps us out a lot. On this particular day, we talked about the health of children in Mali and how so many of them die from malaria. Then we talked about how the government is trying to improve that by supplying mosquito nets to pregnant women when they go to a doctor's appointment and when they give birth to the child. BUT many of the women never step foot in a doctor's office because they live out in the bush and don't even know the importance of this.

So then Sam started talking about how it is the husband's job to make sure that his wife is getting the treatment she needs. We camped out here for a while, but this basically let to a long conversation about marriage and what his faith teaches versus what we as Jesus-followers believe. We talked and talked and talked about the Bible and how it is the Word of God and that we regard it as absolute truth. He was very open to talking about this and we discussed the many similarities between his faith and our faith. We also discussed some of the differences. We never even brought up the idea of conversion, but he kept saying over and over how difficult it would be to convert because he has just believed his way all of his life because he was born in Africa. And he told us that we believed the way we did because we were born in a western country. But then he said that we were not like other "Christians" (most Africans refer to any westerner as a Christian). He said none of the others that he had met talked about Jesus...and that that's all we talked about! We told him it's because we chose to follow Jesus...nobody made that decision for us. As Abby and I were driving home, we were just in awe. God had totally taken over the conversation, giving us the words to say and keeping us from saying what didn't need to be. We don't know how God will use that conversation, but we know that He will.

Please pray for Sam. He did not come right out and say it, but I truly believe that he has at least considered the idea of following the Jesus Road because he spoke of the difficulty of conversion so often without any prompting from us whatsoever. And while it would be incredibly difficult for a man like Sam to follow Jesus, God can do anything.

Moving

2010-09-05T08:14:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, my team made the decision to relocate for a while due to some security concerns in West Africa. No specific threats were made to our team, but we want to be proactive. We are still in the same country, but in a big city...not our tiny desert town. We are extremely homesick for our village, our family, and our friends, but we know that God is leading us in this direction...at least for the time being. So right now, this is my home. And just as God was moving in BIG ways in the desert, He is moving in BIG ways here. I mean, He's that big.

The Remodel

2010-08-24T14:12:00.004-05:00

After moving into our new hut we decided that we did, in fact, need to have our own bathroom...the white girls just need the freedom to do things like "use toilet paper," you know? So we asked H-Mama if she minded if we put in a bathroom (the hut technically belongs to her). She didn't mind...I mean we're totally upping the resell value on that thing. And there's already a place outside for it...just no hole. So we talked to the mayor about how to go about installing a new bathroom. He said he'd talk to the digging guy for us and start after it stopped raining for a day or two.

Well, when we came back from the weekend, there was a HUGE pile of dirt outside the wall and a new hole! They told us we couldn't use it yet because they had to put cement down on the ground around it. Fine by me...I want no part of falling in that hole. So they rounded up a donkey cart to go get the cement and put the cement in. They even put a couple of cinder blocks down on either side of the hole for us to stand on...very fancy. It was Quikrete so we had to water it a couple of times, but then it was ready to go! So we got a complete bathroom remodel...all for about $30. The Ghetto Dragon is really coming together nicely.

I needed to be reminded...

2010-07-18T18:23:00.003-05:00

A lot of crazy things have happened this week. To sum up, the best part of our week was getting stuck in the mud. A lot of random things just seemed to be piling up and to be honest I was pretty frustrated by the weekend. I was doing my Bible study this morning…I’m working through Romans and one of the verses I studied today was Romans 1:17, which cross-referenced Hebrews 10:38-39 which says:

“But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.” Yikes. The phrase "shrink back" made me cringe a little. He reminded me that part of being one of His is walking by faith and not certainty and that when opposition comes, that’s our opportunity to cling to Him and face it head-on.

Evicted

2010-07-18T18:23:00.001-05:00

The day after we got stuck in the mud on the other road, we decided to take our normal road out to Yosemite. Well, part of that road was completely under water also so we off-roaded again…being even more cautious this time. We found a part where the stream of water narrowed out, built a little makeshift bridge out of sticks and drove right across. When we got to Yosemite, we went to visit our family and soon found out that we were going to have to move out of our hut and into a different one. Now I know it’s just a mud-hut, but it was OUR mud-hut and it had become home. There are very few things in our lives that are consistent and that hut was one of those things. Needless to say we were pretty sad, and feeling kind of homeless, but we needed to make sure our family didn’t know that so we kept smiling and said it was okay. H-Mama was actually pretty riled up that her children were being evicted. Actually everyone, including the mayor, was pretty riled up except for the woman evicting us. Our hut actually belongs to one of the women in the compound who has kind of been known to start trouble before. She decided that she needed it for her daughter-in-law who had been staying with her…which is totally fine and it’s her hut to do with what she needs. Our new hut is not nearly as nice and it doesn’t have its own bathroom hole, but it DOES have some graffiti on the front door which is, of course, a plus. It may or may not say “Ghetto Dragon.”

The Psalm I was supposed to read that night was chapter 23. Following other amazing promises and bits of truth, the chapter finishes with, “And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Mud

2010-07-18T18:19:00.000-05:00

Since it’s been raining more and more the roads are becoming worse and worse since they’re just made of sand and dirt. We decided that we needed to have some alternative routes in our back pocket. So, Sarah and I went out looking for different routes to our village (Yosemite) the other day. We got out the GPS and headed down one of the roads that we knew from traveling to the Ram Village, veering off onto different trails that seemed to be leading to Yosemite. When we’d see a part of the road that seemed iffy, we’d get out of the truck and go check it out. We totally felt like trailblazers and it was really kind of a nice adrenaline rush tearing through the desert in search of new things. Well, we got to this one part of the trail that was underwater, so we got out and went poking around to the side to see if anything looked crossable. We decided to try veering off to the left, cutting it through some thorn trees and back onto the road where it was back above water. So off we went…and soon we stopped. Turns out mud is super tricky. We got out to survey the damage and the two front tires were stuck in the mud…the left one almost completely buried.

We stared at the mess for a while and decided that we needed to dig out the tire and throw some sticks down behind it and try to back out. We started out just bent over, shoveling mud out with our hands, but it soon got low enough that both of us were down on all fours, legs sinking in, clearing as much mud out from under the truck as we could (and we both had on some of our nicer outfits). We had just gotten a pretty good area cleared and had begun putting sticks down when an African man walked up…I’ll call him Saul. He wanted to know where we were going and where we were headed. When we told him, he of course thought we were crazy for trying to take the mobile (pronounced mobilly) on that road. Well, SOMEhow, even though a very, very, very small percentage of them have vehicles, African are absolute geniuses when it comes to getting them unstuck…and they also love helping out the white girls…double bonus. Saul told us to dig out more mud and that we needed more sticks and rocks. Then he jumped right in to help us; he dug some, he walked around tearing branches off of trees, he went out in search of rocks (we were in a fairly rockless area). So we tried again and it didn’t work, but almost…the truck just needed to be lifted so we could get sticks to go UNDER the front left tire. So we jacked it up, shoved some sticks under there, and backed right on out…a mere 2 hours after getting stuck. Saul celebrated by stuffing a hollowed-out bone with what I will call “tobacco” and smoking it.

It was an awesome day. We had a lot of fun, but God showed Himself to us in some really big ways that day. First of all…there was absolutely NO reason for Saul to be out where our truck was. He wasn’t traveling anywhere, he wasn’t a shepherd out there with his flock, and his village was a pretty good distance from where we were. We really think that he saw us driving by his hut and immediately came looking for us, knowing that we’d get stuck. Also, when I thought that we should try jacking the truck up, I kind of gave up on the idea because how in the world would we jack the truck up without the jack just going straight down into the mud. In my mind I imagined what we would need to be able to use the jack…a fairly wide, really thick block of wood. But all that was out there was thorn bush branches. When I went to the back of the truck to fold the seat down and grab the jack, the first thing I laid eyes on was the very block of wood I had just imagined in my head. I’m sure it’s always been there, but I probably wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t already seen it in my mind. And Sarah had a similar experience as well.

We headed back to G-Vegas incredulous at the fact that we had still had a really good day. As we began sharing some of our personal experiences with each other, it became even clearer that God had been the one helping us the entire time. I can’t even put into words everything that He did for us that day and how thankful Sarah and I both were. He never promised that we wouldn’t get stuck in the mud, but He does promise that He won’t leave us when we do. Sounds good to me.

Three things you should know about me:

2010-07-04T19:27:00.005-05:00

1) I love a good injury, BUT
2) I'm terrified of something bad happening to my teeth...especially while I'm here, and
3) This whole "sleeping in a tent" thing is totally new to me.

A couple of weeks ago when we were out in the village it got pretty windy one night. I was laying in my tent, enjoying the breeze and trying to fall asleep when a huge gust of wind came through. It lifted my tent up and started to blow over so I reached my hand up and hit the side to push it back down. That's when my 6 lb. Maglight came plummeting from the gear loft 3 feet above my head and nailed me in the mouth.

I sat up and held my hands up to my mouth and they immediately pooled with blood. It hit me so hard that everything was kind of numb. I really thought my front left tooth had been knocked out! I was looking for it because I couldn't tell if it was still in there or not. It was crazy! Sarah climbed in my tent, looked at my face, assured me that my tooth was still there, and got me some toilet paper for all the blood. It was our first night out for the week so some of our water bottles were still frozen and she made me hold one to my face. My upper lip immediately looked like I had put a marble inside it. And the inside was gushing blood.

We took these pictures the next day. My gum ended up turning black and a chunk of it came off...which renewed the fear of my tooth falling out...it never did. And for the next day or two my top lip got so big it was hard to talk and eat...but pretty funny to look at.

And I don't put my flashlight in the gear loft anymore.

I have (finally) posted some other pictures on Facebook. They load much quicker on there than here, but we still don't have good enough internet in the desert to post pics from there. Thanks for keeping up with my adventures and praying for me!

One Struggly Day

2010-06-14T04:45:00.002-05:00

This entry was also in my May update, but I just wanted to make sure everyone knew how faithful God has been to teach me, guide me, hold me up...and just be here.

Total dependence seems to be what God is teaching me so far in Africa. Every single day I tell Him that I can’t and every single day He reminds me that He can. It is the most comforting and reassuring thought and I am so thankful that I can rest in knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s true. Even knowing that, though, I still struggle a lot. One particularly struggly day during my time with God, I started off by telling Him all of the things that are so hard. He promptly reminded me that that’s HOW He’s teaching me total dependence on Him.

Then I read some Scripture. I don’t even remember what passage it was, but it spoke to me and I was thanking God for the truth of His Word, which got me to thinking about how amazing His Word really is. THEN I got really overwhelmed and stressed out by the fact that in just a few short months, Abby, Sarah, and I will basically BE the Bible to the Sunny people. They won’t have a copy of it in their language and even if they did, the vast majority of them wouldn’t be able to read it. God sent us here to proclaim His Truth with our mouths. It’s such an enormous privilege, but it also bears enormous responsibility! Like I said, I’d gotten pretty overwhelmed and asked God how in the WORLD we were going to do that effectively, in a crazy language, and most importantly…without compromising one single bit of His Word. And He said…that's WHY I’m teaching you total dependence on Me. And that’s why He’s God and I’m not.

Dinner Party

2010-06-14T04:43:00.000-05:00

Our volunteer teammate is going back to America in a couple of weeks and so she wanted to prepare dinner for our tailor, Sam, and his family here in G-Vegas. The plan had been in the works for a few weeks, but it was finally decided that we would bring dinner to his family’s house this past Saturday evening. She wanted to make “American” food, so we took noodles, tomato sauce, and beef (not ground beef like you’d usually find with spaghetti, but beef tips). This involved 2 big almost-overflowing pots of sauce with meat and 1 big definitely-overflowing pot of noodles…transporting it was interesting, but I was driving so I was lucky enough not to have an insanely hot pot of tomato sauce sitting on my lap while driving down a road made entirely of sand and rocks.

Well, when you’re the only white people in town, apparently it’s a big deal when you’re coming over to dinner and bringing real, live, American food. When we arrived, Sam and his entire family (wife, mother, father, sisters, nieces…everybody) was, as always, extremely gracious and hospitable to us. Sam has a nice house and the room we were in had a tile floor and they had been burning incense. There were cushions set up against the walls on one side of the room, blankets on the floor in the middle, and plastic lawn chairs set up on the other side of the room…those were for us. They even have a TV so we sat in our lawn chairs and watched the World Cup!

The reason we realized this was a pretty big deal, though, is because Sam had invited a photographer friend over to document the evening. Seriously…we tried to offer him food…he wasn’t there to eat, only to take pictures. So throughout the evening, we would pose for pictures with the family…but especially with the food. They really wanted pictures of that food.

Also, one of the guys who works for Sam, Ian, came over and he is also our friend. A couple weeks ago, Sam had gone down to one of the little boutiques (convenience-type store) in the market and asked the clerk what the white girls always buy. The answer: Cokes. So Ian had picked up 4 Cokes on his way to dinner! Again I was lucky because I was sitting by Abby, who is allergic to caffeine. We didn’t want to turn down a gift so we worked a little system out where we both set our bottles on the floor between us and Abby pretended to drink out of one while I really drank out of both of them. I really took one for the team.

Then it was time to eat. It was a little confusing trying to figure out which platters to put everything on because there were several groups of us (remember…we sit on the floor and all eat with our hands out of the same bowl). There was a men’s circle and two women’s circles so we dished it up the best way we knew how. And we think they liked it, but they may have just been being nice.

The Chicken Man

2010-06-14T04:39:00.001-05:00

There are no restaurants in G-Vegas, but in the market there is the Egg Bar and the Chicken Man. The Egg Bar is actually a table behind which a man makes egg sandwiches and sells them. The Chicken Man sets up on the corner and has a table of pre-prepared food which he sells. The girls named him the Chicken Man because he apparently makes really good chicken, but the one time I had gone to him we had beef brochettes (like a shish kebob).

Our supervisor and a volunteer team had been traveling all over the country on a vision trip to see what area their church might like to invest in and continue to come to in the future. They were taking a rest stop for the night in G-Vegas so our supervisor asked us to set it up with the Chicken Man to cater dinner for us at our house. We went down there and talked to him telling him that we’d like brochettes and fries for 11 people and what day and time and everything.

Our supervisor and the volunteer team arrived and the Chicken Man got to our house with bowls and platters of food. We set everything up on the table, paid him, he left, and we dug in. Well, when we took the cover off of the beef bowl I thought to myself that the meat didn’t look quite right. But at this point, I’m used to “meat” actually being various intestinal material and valves so it didn’t really bother me that much. Then another girl who is a Journeyman here and had been traveling with the group asked me what kind of meat it was. I told her it was beef, but asked if she thought it might be something different. She said she did think that and one of the translators that had been traveling with the group told us that it was sheep. Oh, okay, that must be why it doesn’t look so beefish.

Well, I got my plate and started eating it. It tasted a little bit different, but felt a lotta bit different. Just when I was thinking that it might be liver, my supervisor asked the other translator if it was liver. I started to confirm that that’s what I thought too, but my supervisor told me not to let the volunteers know that that’s what we thought because they seemed to be enjoying it and might freak out. Then the first translator, who told us it was sheep, told us that it was actually sheep HEART!

It really wasn’t that bad, but we couldn’t believe that we had this poor volunteer team from America come to our house in the middle of their exhausting trip all over Mali when it’s 140 degrees outside and they were probably looking forward to a somewhat normal meal…and we served them SHEEP HEART. And it was a HUGE bowl of sheep heart. A lot of sheep had to die for that meal. The fries were good, though.

Rain!

2010-06-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well I do believe that we are officially transitioning into the rainy season. Last Monday night, we were in the village when a really bad dust storm kicked up, which has usually been indicative of rain. We’d seen a little bit of rain here and there, but on Monday it really poured! It was sprinkling off and on all evening, but we kind of thought it would stop by bedtime because that’s what it had always done before. I had already set up my cot and mosquito net on the porch because that’s a little bit cooler to sleep in during hot season than my tent. Our hut and our porch both have roofs made out of sticks and grass, but the porch roof is looser and lets rain through. It turns out that when the rain comes through that roof, it turns to mud because everything up there is so dirty. Well, by the time we walked from H-Mama’s to our hut, my pillow, sheet, and Thermarest were COVERED in muddy rain. I have a tent with a rain fly so Abby & Sarah helped me set that up (theirs was already set up…it just had to be moved). It was absolutely the craziest bedtime we’ve had in Africa.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but our hut is made out of mud (mixed with animal poop), including the porch floor, so the ground was all muddy and puddly, but we still had to set the tents up because that was the best option. Also, it was CRAZY windy, so the 3 of us are trying to lay down a mat on the ground to protect my tent, get out the poles which are knocking into everything, attach my tent to them, AND put on the rain fly, all while the wind is going nuts and we’re being pelted with muddy rain. AND it was completely dark outside so we’re doing all of this and trying to hold flashlights at the same time. BUT I’m not going to complain because it was pretty fantastic to sleep in a much lower temperature to the sound of rain on my tent.

All I have to say is thank GOODNESS Ethan made me practice setting up my tent…complete with the rain fly…as SOON as he, Emily, and I got back from buying it. He even timed me. I think it helped. It’s like Monday night was the moment I’d been preparing for all along, like the Olympics of tent pitching.

Ram Village

2010-06-05T14:17:00.002-05:00

There’s a village that we visit every so often called the Ram Village…named that because after taking a medical team there (before I got here), the village gave them a ram to show their appreciation. They are SO generous and hospitable and we have tried to maintain a relationship with them…especially because it is also a Sunny village. Maybe someday we will be able to tell them stories from God’s Word in Sunny or it would be really amazing if personnel could even be stationed there someday.

So, in order to continue our relationship with the Ram Village, we went out there Thursday afternoon and spent the night. Here are a few tidbits from our travels:

The last time we went there, there was a large group of us and they fed us a REALLY nice lunch. We wanted to show our appreciation to them so on our way out there we stopped at the market and picked up some noodles, mangoes, and a couple of (live) chickens. I was driving so I stayed with the truck and all of our stuff that was in the back. It was pretty hilarious to see Abby walking up out of the market carrying a rooster and a hen upside down by their tied-together feet. We had brought a cardboard box to transport them in. Most people just sling them over the handlebars of their motorbikes, but we didn’t really have that option.

We headed toward the Ram Village and when we pulled off the paved road we tried to put the truck in 4WD because the sand gets pretty deep driving out there. Well the gear shift was bogged and wouldn’t budge so we had to stay in 2WD. It was one wild ride. You can’t stop in sand or you’ll get stuck and most of the time the faster you’re moving the less chance you have of getting stuck. Of course this also means that the truck is a little more difficult to control because you’re just flying along, trying to stay on the tracks, avoid rocks that could very easily pop a tire, and keep the thorn tree contact to a scrape and not a full-blown plowing over. And then all of a sudden the sand ends and turns into giant rocks, but you’re still going pretty fast and so you’re just bumping all over the place. So we were fishtailing all the way through the desert. I’m not gonna lie, it’s actually pretty fun, but there were more than a couple of times that we were worried the chickens were gonna fly out, or get knocked out, or even die. So when we got to the village, Sarah ran around back to look in the box. Abby and I asked if they were still alive and Sarah said, “Yeah they’re alive…and one even laid an egg!” Abby thought she was joking. I thought she was being serious, but was still shocked to look in the box and see 2 live chickens and an egg. I’m pretty sure my driving has never had that effect before.

We then found the “second mayor,” I’ll call him Bach, and greeted him. We continued making our way through the village greeting the appropriate people and sitting on their mats with them. We ended up having lunch at Bach’s home. I can’t even tell you how generous and hospitable these people are. They don’t have much, but they always offer you their very best. When you are their guest your comfort, safety, and needs are their highest priority. We spent the entire day with Bach’s family, occasionally venturing out with him to greet others.

Not knowing exactly what they would want to do with us, we had brought our tents and everything for sleeping. Bach’s family ended up setting out a piece of foam and a fuzzy blanket on the ground in their inner porch for us to sleep on. Again, they offered us their very best. So even though we’re used to sleeping in our tents where we are protected from all of Africa’s favorite night creatures, we couldn’t turn down our host’s generous offering.

WELL, the night creatures were in rare form that night. We walked in and I spotted a decent-sized spider on the wall above where our heads would be. After Abby and I stared him down for a good 10 minutes, Sarah came in and tried to smush him…he was quick, though, so he escaped, but off of the porch nonetheless. Then we went to the bathroom a few huts over and came back to one of the giant scorpion spider monsters ON OUR BED! Sarah killed it, but I knew it would be a long night after that. We lay down and I heard something crawling so I shined my flashlight and it was a beetle. I’m not particularly scared of beetles or anything, but I don’t want it crawling on my face while I’m sleeping, you know? So I smashed the heck out of that with my flip-flop. We laid back down and about 2 minutes later I heard something crawling on the wall by our heads. I shined my light and it was a giant cockroach. So I smashed the heck out of that with my flip-flop, too. All 3 of us were pretty on-edge at this point. Once, Sarah’s foot accidentally touched mine and I about came out of my skin. I finally laid back down and even fell asleep for a little while, but was mostly awake for the rest of the night. And we discussed it the next morning and we’re all pretty sure that there was a bat hanging out in the little wall opening about 4 feet from our heads.

We woke up and had breakfast with Bach’s family. As usual, they offered their very best. Later in the morning, during tea, an English-speaking man had come by to visit. Through him, Bach told us that other people come to the village, but they have business to take care of or specific things to talk about and then leave. He said that we came even though we can’t talk very much…that we came just to be with them…and that was good. He knew through our broken Sunny and nonverbal behavior that we just want to show them that we care for them. Worth the spider-filled, sleep-deprived night? Absolutely.

Some things never change...

2010-05-24T07:18:00.001-05:00

Okay, let me set this up for you. For breakfast we eat this porridge-like substance out of a big bowl with these “spoons” that are more like ladles. Usually the bowl of food is sitting inside another bigger bowl of water…either to keep it hot, or cool it off; I’m not really sure which. For breakfast—and breakfast only—we sit on these little stools that are about 6” off the ground and all gather around the one big bowl.

This stuff we’re eating can be kind of tricky. It’s kind of a lumpy goo and when you dip your ladle in, you have to wipe the bottom of it on the side of the bowl to get all the goo off. Well the other day we were eating and I was trying to see if I’d gotten all the goo off my spoon. For some reason, instead of holding it up and looking under, I tried to tip it over enough to see the bottom. So, of course, large amounts of lumpy goo went all over my skirt (typical). We all kind of laughed at me, including H-Mama. But then H-Mama proceeded to take the food bowl out of the water bowl, lean forward and grab my skirt, pull me off my stool, and plunge my skirt (with me still in it) right into the water bowl where she scrubbed off all the goo, wrung it out, and snapped it all smoothly back into place (definitely, definitely not typical).

So it’s good to know that some things never change…like me spilling stuff all over myself…but some things do…like my village mom washing my skirt immediately after it happened in the breakfast water bowl. Oh, Africa.

Language Learning and Saturday Night Live

2010-05-24T07:17:00.000-05:00

In the system we’re using to learn language, you’re not allowed to speak for the first 3 weeks or so. All you do is listen—for the new and different sounds, for the rhythm of the language, for the differences between words. This is so that when you do start speaking your accent is much better than it would be if you tried to start talking immediately. It’s difficult because the people want you to repeat the Sunny words after them. And you want to repeat them also…it’s instinct. But I’m super intrigued by the system and having a really good accent. Once I do start talking (this week!) it’ll be a lot about mimicking what I’ve been hearing. Almost like trying to do a really good impersonation of a Sunny person. So…all that to say that I’ve been pretending that my dream of being an SNL cast member has come true and I’ve been spending the last 3 weeks preparing to do a new long-term character…like maybe a political persona. I think it’s helped.

The Malaria

2010-05-24T07:16:00.000-05:00

Two Fridays ago I just started feeling really ridiculously tired. I kept having to lie down; sitting wasn’t even enough. I just chalked it up to the heat because it can really take it out of you. I just told Sarah that I was really tired and didn’t feel right. We headed out to the village the following Tuesday and I just kept wearing out really easily and feeling extremely weak. We’d walk to a friend’s compound or something and I would HAVE to lie down on the mat. And I’d fall asleep pretty much every time I did. Again, figured it was the heat. Well then I started feeling achy and running a low fever, but I never had any of the digestive issues that usually accompany malaria. We came back in to G-Vegas on Friday and took my temperature again. It wasn’t that high, but I told Sarah I wanted to go ahead and get a test done so we could rule it out. I’m glad we did because the test was positive. So I started the 3-day treatment and pretty much did nothing but lay around this weekend. Today (Monday) is the first day I’ve felt somewhat normal…I’m still taking it fairly easy...but tomorrow I should be good to head back out to the village.

Mystery Solved

2010-05-17T10:05:00.000-05:00

I called Bear Creek yesterday afternoon because I just wanted to hear some voices. When I was talking to Michael, our youth minister/karate guy/resident Star Wars expert/guy who knows a little bit about everything, he told me that the giant poop is coming from our frogs. It makes sense because we have tons of frogs all the time. He even described the poop to me. So, mystery solved.

A Week of Firsts

2010-05-17T10:01:00.000-05:00

I went to my first African concert last week! When we got to the village, everyone was asking us if we were going to go to the concert. I didn’t really know you could have a concert in a village in the middle of the bush, but it turns out you can. Jenny ended up inviting us to sit with her in some “reserved seats.” She told us to meet her at her house at 7 pm, but our family’s dinner ended a little late so we didn’t make it to her house until about 7:30 pm. Well, we ended up hanging out there until after 9 when we finally left for the concert. And it turns out the “reserved seats” were chairs that we took ourselves…don’t worry, the children carried them for all of us. Well when we got to the concert it was chaos like I’ve never seen before. There were even these guards with whips standing at the entrance. And yes, they did use the whips on some people…I was actually a little scared, but I just kept smiling my big white girl smile and making sure I stuck close to Jenny. Once we got inside, which was really still outside, we set our chairs down and sat in them. Every once in a while some guys would come tell us to scoot back and we would. Then the concert started and all I could tell was that he kept singing people’s last names over and over again. The awesome part was that he kept singing my last name the most because it’s a really big Sunny name. People were walking up to the stage to pay him to say their last name…it’s a pretty big deal. It was just so funny to see the different ways they do things over here. There was no rhyme or reason to the way they got people in the doors…well except for the whips, of course…or the way people were seated inside. And the music itself is insane, not at all what I expected. We left early because the village wears you right the heck out and the concert went on until 1 am. The music was so loud that you could hear it very, very clearly back at our hut, but I of course listened to my iPod and drowned it out.

Last week, I ate my very first innards. I’ve found that once I get the intestine/whatever it is in my mouth, I just hold it there with my tongue away from it so that I kind of forget about it…you know, kind of try to trick my gag reflex. Then maybe I sing a little song or laugh at H-Mama or something. Then I swallow it whole. You don’t want any part of chewing that.

We went to the gardens last week for my first time. Until the hot season hit the girls went pretty much every morning, but now there’s not much that will grow so we haven’t gone as much. The women all go and drop buckets down into the wells (which are pretty much dried up right now), dump the water into other buckets and tell us where to carry them and what to water. It’s pretty hard work, but the water spills out of the bucket a little bit and cools you off.

Well, it finally happened. Until last night, my African experience has been relatively spider and scorpion free…nothing too scary anyway. I can handle lizards, frogs and rodents, but spiders really terrify me. Last night there were these 2 HUGE spider scorpion monsters on our porch in G-Vegas. I promptly ran back inside and stood on a chair while Denise and Sarah attacked them with shoes. Our house isn’t exactly sealed off to the outside world either, so it took a while for me to fall asleep.

New Poop...

2010-05-09T18:03:00.000-05:00

…these are the 2 words I yelled when I walked into my bedroom for the first time after being out of town for 8 days. As you know, we have been having problems with mice. We did catch one with a trap, though! It took several tries because apparently the traps aren’t that sensitive and we kept finding empty traps with the food missing…but we finally got one!!! We tricked it by putting jelly on the trap. Sarah figured that with bread, it was pretty easy to snatch without setting the trap off. But with jelly, the mouse would have to stand there and lick it for a while…meaning more of a chance for that sucker to snap. I know…we’re becoming critter-catching geniuses. And I know what you’re thinking: cheese is the obvious mousetrap bait. But cheese is REALLY expensive here and we refuse to waste it on mice.

Well, what I found on my bedroom floor today was poop we’ve never seen before. And, unfortunately, it was much larger than the mouse poop we’ve been spotting. The only other critters we’ve seen in the house are lizards and frogs…neither of which could poop this big. I mean, it wasn’t giant or anything, but significantly larger than the mouse poop. Sooooo, we’re afraid we’ve got some rather large rats on our hands. I went around my room kicking everything that was on the floor. I mean there’s not that many places they could be hiding. Then I swept the two little pooplets out of my room and swept the rest of the house. Then I went back into my room and there was ANOTHER NEW POOP…right in my doorway. It’s as if the mystery pooper is just trying to taunt me.

I am really sorry for you that my life has taken a turn that necessitates blogging about animal poop. I promise not to dwell here, but you should know that I will probably update you on the identity of the mystery pooper and whether or not we catch him.

Nice Grill

2010-05-09T18:02:00.000-05:00

What do girls from Texas do when they move to Africa and every meal has to be made from scratch? Build a grill. I’m serious; I’m going to build a grill for our yard. I’m not really sure exactly how I’ll do it (suggestions are welcomed), but I’ve already purchased some parts. We’ve been in the capital all week for training and since there are grocery stores in the capital, we always go stock up when we’re there. Well I’ve been talking a big talk about my little building project so I decided to do a little perusing while we were at the store to see what kind of materials might come together to result in a nice little charcoal grill.

I found the perfect thing! It’s a metal grid and the tag even says “grill” on it. Actually there are 2 grid pieces and they have handles on them. I think you’re supposed to put your food between them and then hold the whole contraption over a fire. Each piece is probably 16”x18” so I’ve got the makings of a pretty nice grill. Between the grill I build and the kiddie pool Abby & Sarah set up last week we should be having a sweet Fourth of July party.

And for realsies…suggestions for building this thing are welcomed. Rocks and sand are the most immediately available resources, but I can hunt some stuff down if you’ve got ideas.

Team Retreat

2010-05-09T18:01:00.000-05:00

Our Desert Triangle team is part of another larger team called the Oral Peoples Strategy Team. There are 2 other girls who are partners and then 1 guy who’s on his own. All of us live similarly to each other: spend most of the time in a village ministering to that people group and a couple of days a week at a home in a little bit bigger of a town. Each of the people groups we are working with is oral…meaning there is not really a written language and/or the vast majority of people do not read or write. This means that the best way to get our message across is through storying, which is a really awesome process that I’m learning more about.

Well our big team, along with our supervisor, had training in the capital all week, but first our supervisor took us on a team retreat. The place was amazing. We stayed in little huts that weren’t really huts (in the sense that they had electricity and running water). They were the cutest little bungalows! And there was a POOL! And it was all next to a LAKE! And everybody staying at this place ate all their meals in this cabana looking thing…it felt like something out of a movie, real tropical-like. The temperature was nice and cool and we had a great time of just hanging out, playing hilarious games, worshipping together, and eating “normal” food.

Three Hours

2010-05-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

During one morning of our retreat, we had the opportunity to just spend time with God for 3 hours. I’ve gotten to do this twice before at training so I was really excited when I found out that’s what we’d be doing. And it was so good to just pour my heart out to Him. We talked about a lot of things…most of which had already been discussed…but He was faithful to show me some new things that I hadn’t paid attention to before.

I told Him that I’d never been more uncomfortable in my life because it’s in almost every aspect: physical, mental, and emotional. But spiritually I’ve never felt stronger. I told Him that I felt like I was turning a corner with the whole “culture shock” thing, but that I still struggled almost every single day. As I told Him about each of my struggles, He answered me with a question: When have you EVER clung to me this tightly? And then I told Him that if struggling every single day was the only way He could get me to cling to Him this tightly every single day then that was okay. Then I asked Him to help me mean what I said.

As hard as this past few weeks has been, I wouldn’t trade any of it for the closeness to God I’ve experienced. I am desperate for His Word, desperate for prayer…desperate for Him. He has given me great comfort and peace in knowing that He called me here. And He doesn’t do things for no reason, which means He is at work here and all I have to do is be with Him and obey, joining Him in that work. God is so good.

Eating for Jesus

2010-05-09T17:58:00.000-05:00

Whenever you eat in the village, you never really know what you’re gonna get. Most of the time it’s pretty good, but it can be a little iffy when meat is involved. My first meat experience really surprised me. I usually have no problem eating weird stuff…I mean, hello, I can’t turn down a dare. But when you’re already hot and feeling a little queasy, it becomes a little more difficult. Thankfully, my teammates are awesome and when the pile of meat was dropped into the middle of the bowl, they flicked the “good” meat to my side. I mean, they are really awesome because this meat-flicking meant that Sarah ate what we think was a heart and Abby ate what was either part of an intestine or some sort of valve. I owe them one.

Water Bottles

2010-05-06T17:09:00.004-05:00

So this post is just about the fact that my life now seems to revolve around water bottles. At our house in G-Vegas, we have 2 stainless steel drum water filters. I don't know how much they hold, but they're big. And our lives consist of constantly refilling the filters, filling up about 30 old 1.5 liter water bottles, putting some in the fridge, putting some in the freezer, and making sure we have a cooler full of them whenever we go anywhere. I thought moving to Africa would be moving to a simpler life...nope! It is so high-maintenance to live here. We literally plan things around and according to the water bottles.

In other water-related news...I finally tried brushing my teeth with the faucet water and guess what, no digestive repercussions...so far so good, anyway.

White Girl Parade

2010-04-28T19:12:00.000-05:00

One of the most convenient things about being the only white people in town is that you can never get lost. We were in the village the other day and I had gone to meet with Jenny for a language lesson while the girls went to greet another family. When I finished my lesson, the girls were not back at our hut or in our compound, so I started walking…we live in a pretty big village. I greeted people as I passed by and they greeted me back and then started pointing. I realized that they knew I was looking for my friends. Where else can you wander around and people know exactly who you’re looking for and where they are? AND without speaking the same language? The village is pretty amazing that way. Well, it turns out the girls were wound way back through several compounds and pathways, but every time I passed by somebody they would greet me and point until finally I found them.

And, ANYtime we go ANYwhere, it never fails that a band of children will surround us and follow us. I mean seriously, like 15 kids following us around. And they all want to shake or slap your hand and carry your water bottle. In my head I call it the White Girl Parade.

Also, I like that everybody knows your name. It’s like Cheers.

Well, of course there was dancing.

2010-04-28T19:11:00.001-05:00

I went to Jenny’s home on Monday for my first language lesson. I took some drawings of people and animals to work on some basic vocabulary and then we worked on some basic verbs…you know…sit, stand, walk, run, lay down, sleep, jump…stuff like that. To get those, I acted them out, then practiced having Jenny say one and I would do what she said. There were a couple of ladies sitting out under her porch with us and they were having a good ol’ time making me run and jump around the yard and pretend to be asleep. When we were done they were all clapping for me and I was clapping for myself, and then the clapping sort of turned into dancing…which was, of course, awesome.

I’m pretty pleased that during my very first language lesson, I not only learned the Sunny word for “dance,” but learned it because it spontaneously happened in celebration of my verb comprehension. We’re going to a wedding in a couple of weeks and I do believe there will be dancing. They’re gonna love the floor-slap.

Nighttime, My iPod, and Staff Lunch

2010-04-28T19:10:00.001-05:00

At first, I really struggled with nighttime. Turns out it’s pretty difficult to fall asleep when you’re completely soaked with sweat…pretty gross, I know. But NOW I actually really like the nights. During times I can’t sleep, I take advantage of it and read my Bible or pray. I’ve also been listening to my iPod that Bear Creek gave me all the way through the night…and a lot of times it’s the only reason I can fall asleep with all the donkey noises, critters trying to get in my tent, and calls to prayer.

AND my iPod has videos on it, so that keeps me entertained during the wee village hours also. During my plane rides over here I watched the video Bear Creek made for me with families offering words of encouragement and support. It was amazing and just what I needed for the journey over! I skipped over one lengthy part in the middle, though, because I was having a hard time hearing it over the engine noise. One sleepless night, I remembered that I still had it to watch. It was a Bear Creek staff lunch…

One day while I was in Virginia, they set the video camera up in my usual spot at the table and went about a normal lunch…even asking me questions every now and then. (I know…it’s really sweet how much they miss me.) Anyway, it was so nice to get away from my sweaty tent and feel normal for a little while. Those guys are like my brothers and not getting to work with them anymore is one of the hardest parts of being in Africa. Even though it was just a normal lunch…they even managed to somehow pick on me…it reminded me of how they have walked with me through this entire process and of how many lunches we have sat in that very kitchen and talked about this very moment. Oddly enough, that staff lunch was just what I needed that night and God used it to comfort me and remind me that He called me to this and He is here, equipping me. Then I played some Bejeweled Blitz.

Getting the Oil Changed

2010-04-25T12:23:00.000-05:00

The oil in our truck needed to be changed, so we asked our tailor…I’ll call him Sam…where we should go to get this done. Sam speaks some English and he makes all of our clothes for us. He has been very helpful to the girls and he takes good care of us. He said that he would call a mechanic and take us there on Saturday morning at 10. So this morning, Abby and I drove up to the market to meet Sam at his shop. He jumped in the truck with us and took us to the mechanic. Now, the mechanic shop looked like an American junkyard. There were cars and trucks all over the place in no apparent order. Men were standing everywhere. Old parts, bottles of oil, trash, lots and lots of grease, and various other articles were strewn all across the yard. I really wish you could’ve seen it. It was awesome and I loved it.

We all got out and I greeted them, which is the only thing I can do in the language. They started trying to say more to me and I just shook my head, made the universal “I don’t know shoulder shrug” and we all had a good laugh. They just appreciate the attempt. Sam started talking to one of the dozen or so guys/mechanics standing there who said I needed to move the truck around. So I jumped back behind the wheel and he jumped in the backseat and we figured out a system of various hand motions and noises to communicate where I needed to drive while Sam and Abby waited for us to pull back around. We got to the right spot and got out of the truck while 5 guys began the process of changing our oil. They set a bench out for Sam, Abby, and I to sit on while we waited. We ended up not having enough oil so another man who owns a shop sold us some of his. Then we paid 5,000 francs for the oil and the oil change (about $10 USD). I asked for a receipt and the man who sold us the oil said he would give us a receipt for all of it, but it was at his shop on another street. So Sam, Abby, the oil man, and I piled in the truck, drove to his shop, and got a receipt.

I just really love Africans. They are so helpful and so nice and so hospitable. My favorite thing is that when you’re driving they help you park without hitting the stacked piles of oil cans and then they help you back out while dodging donkeys, sheep, and motos. And they make mundane things like getting your oil changed an adventure. Sometimes these adventures can be extremely frustrating, but today it was just kind of entertaining and fun.

The Mouse in the House

2010-04-25T12:22:00.002-05:00

One night, there were 5 girls staying in our house because our supervisor and another girl brought Abby up to G-Vegas. The first 2 nights after they got to G-Vegas, our supervisor, Sarah, and I had gone to Yosemite to spend 2 nights there. So it was just Abby and the other girl sleeping in our house in G-Vegas. Well, in the middle of the night, one of the girls woke up when she felt something running across her. She grabbed her flashlight and saw that it was…as you probably guessed from the title of this post…a mouse.

The next night, after we returned from Yosemite, we were all hanging out and I walked into Sarah’s room and saw a tail disappearing over a suitcase that was sitting on the floor in the corner. And then I saw 2 mice run under Sarah’s bed. I, of course, shrieked a little then went and told the girls. We came back in and the mice ran to another corner behind Sarah’s armoire. Those mice are sneaky and quick little boogers though, and they can squeeze through almost any opening. So we corralled them into the corner (behind the armoire) to make sure they couldn’t get out. We set a bucket up so that when we scared them out of the corner into the corral, we could trap them in the bucket and throw them outside.

Well, again, mice are sneaky and quick and they escaped from us into a different corner a couple of times. But we got them back into the armoire corner…until one of them made its grand escape out of the room. So we were down to one mouse…and we knew where he was…it was just a matter of catching him. I took the bucket to see if I could trap him when he ran out. One of the other girls started poking the broom back in the corner to scare him out…and when he came running out I got him!!! Well…mostly. I didn’t get him all the way in the bucket, but I had his tail and one of his back legs pinned. At this point, we were at a loss because lifting up on the bucket would release him and none of us wanted to grab him with our hands. Then my supervisor came in, took one look at what was going on, ripped off her flip-flop, and proceeded to literally beat the mouse to death while I held him down.

Traumatizing as it was, I’m not really scared of the mice anymore! We still have some so we went down to the market and bought some traps because the whole process of hunting, corralling, trapping, and killing the mouse took a LOT of effort…and about 2 hours.

I live in Africa!

2010-04-25T12:19:00.001-05:00

After maneuvering my way through 5 different time zones and 4 different airports in 3 different continents, my 4 giant pieces of luggage and I landed safely in Africa! I stayed in the capital, where my supervisor lives, for a week of orientation before heading up to the desert to meet my 2 more permanent homes. It is about a 6-hour drive from the capital to “G-Vegas,” the name my teammates have given the town where our house is. The town is small, but has most of what we would need. The house is great! There are 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. The kitchen has everything (except a dishwasher). There is even an air conditioner in one of the bedrooms, but we won’t use it much because it can be pretty pricey to run. I do have access to internet, but it is dial-up and a little sketchy, so just know that posting pictures will be difficult :)

On Monday, I got to go to “Yosemite,” the name my teammates have given our village. It is about a 40-minute drive through the desert, which is awesome! Driving through it feels like you’re on a Land Rover commercial or something! There are rocks and riverbeds, giant thorn bushes, shepherds with their flocks, donkey carts, and lots of sand. It is so much fun to drive our 17-year old truck out there! Yosemite is amazing. The people are SOOO welcoming and love having us there. We live in our own mud hut, which is part of a family’s compound. Upon arriving at Yosemite, we went to the mayor’s family’s compound so that I could be given my African name. The mayor was out of town, so his wife named me. It was so much fun…everybody was gathered around the mat where we were sitting and when she named me Nyame (NYAH-may), everyone clapped and all the little kids started yelling my name and wanting to shake my hand. She gave me the same last name as the mayor’s family and started pointing around to everyone in the compound saying the last name, then to me, and told me that we are one. I almost started crying…but that would have been bad, so I locked it up.

Every day, we walk across to the hut where our village “mom” is…I’ll call her H-Mama. We help cook meals in a pot over a fire then we all eat out of the same bowl with our hands. I’m actually not as good at eating with my hands as I thought I’d be…it’s kind of difficult! We help around the hut as much as we can and go out to “greet” people. Greeting people is a HUGE deal here. We go to the mayor’s compound a lot and to a few other families’ compounds which Abby & Sarah have made friends with. One of the ladies, I’ll call her Jenny, has already offered to be my language helper…which is awesome because I didn’t know how long it would take me to find somebody!

I hope this gave you a little bit of an idea of what my life will look like. It has already been an adventure and I really can’t wait to see more of what God is doing!

I'm out.

2010-04-09T01:06:00.006-05:00

Well tomorrow is the big day...actually it's after midnight, so TODAY is the big day! I will say goodbye to the USA for 2 years and take this adventure overseas...finally! While part of me feels like this all happened so fast, most of me feels like I've been waiting for this my whole life. I am definitely feeling the weight of this responsibility and privilege, but I know that my absolute, very first, number one, top priority every single day is to simply cling to the One who called me to do this. A good friend of mine...we'll call her Emsy-Pants...shared a good word with me the other day in a card and I've been kind of latched on to it ever since:

I Thessalonians 5:24

"The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

So. As I'm finishing up my packing, weighing bags, double-checking documents, and wondering what in the world my new home will be like, I am comforted immensely by that simple sentence found in Paul's letter to the Thessalonian church. And last week, another good friend...we'll call her Kristin...also reminded me that He's got it under control with this verse:

Ephesians 2:10

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do."

It blows my mind a little bit to think about how He's already been at work...in me and in the people He's sending me to. He knows what's going to happen. He knows the best strategy. Again, all I've got to do is cling to Him and obey.

It has been a HUGE encouragement to know that many of you are praying for me...please continue to do so! Pray that I make it to Africa (via Atlanta & Paris) without any major snags. And pray that my first few days (and the rest of my days) are not so crazy that I neglect my first priority. The next time I write will be from the desert!!!!

"...and wait in expectation."

2010-03-30T23:35:00.004-05:00

FPO is over and I am back in Texas for 2 weeks. It was an amazing, relaxing, refreshing, challenging, and fun-filled couple of months in Virginia. I met a lot of fantastic people, sat under some fantastic teaching, and drank some fantastic hot chocolate. We sat, read, acted out hand motions, watched funny videos, played a lot of games, and had meaningful conversations. We learned to cook, explored Washington DC, and went out for burgers every Monday. It was a good time.

God taught me a lot over the past 8 weeks...about Him, about myself, about this task. My first priority every day is to be with Him, sitting at His feet and clinging for dear life. There are many lessons that He seems to be teaching me right now...some repeats, some new. It all comes back to the simplicity of increasing my faith.

A few weeks ago, all the Journeymen got together for a time of prayer and it was a really powerful time. I just kept thinking, "God, we're talking to You right now as if nothing's impossible. We're asking for some really big stuff here." And God reminded me that--well--He's God. And nothing is impossible. And He can do bigger things than I could ever ask or even imagine.

So the verse I've been camping out on is:

Psalm 5:3

"In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and

wait in expectation."

God has absolutely been showing me that I need to pray big and wait expectantly. It's amazing how in every testimony, every story we heard at FPO of the awesome things God is doing all over the world, the common denominator comes back every time: prayer. I want to not only lay my requests before Him, but to learn to "wait in expectation."

The Awesomeness That is My Affinity Group

2010-03-29T23:32:00.007-05:00

At FPO (Field Personnel Orientation), they divide us up into affinity groups. An affinity group is a "people group," not necessarily a region. So, you may be going to Europe, but it's to work with South American immigrants...so you would actually be in the American Peoples affinity group. I am in the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity group. All ten of us will be working with Sub-Saharan African people groups...but one couple is actually going to Europe. Kind of confusing, I know.

Anyway...once they have divided us up into affinity groups, they then divide us into small groups, but our affinity group was small enough that we were all in one group the whole time. These are the people I spent most of my time with. We had Sunday morning worship together...or "quad church," various meetings, fellowships, and assignments, and after two weeks, we started meeting for "quad church" on Tuesday-Friday, as well as Sunday. We prayed together, praised together, and dug into the Word together. We also laughed together...a LOT.

One of our assignments was to prepare 2 meals completely from scratch (the African way). We did this on a Sunday, starting at 8 am. By 2 pm (or maybe closer to 3), we had prepared and eaten breakfast, met for church, prepared and eaten lunch, and cleaned up. We had pancakes, syrup, and omelets for breakfast (I was on omelet duty)...all homemade. And chicken, japatis, mango rice, and fruit for lunch...all homemade. It took forever, but we had a blast doing it. We also learned how to cook actual African food together at a local church, and went to an Ethiopian restaurant. And one time we went out for Indian because apparently there's lots of Indian food in Africa...fine by me!

One week of FPO was Affinity Week and we had all of our sessions with our group. Prior to that week, we had to read a book called Foreign to Familiar, a very quick and easy-to-understand read. Each of us was assigned a chapter to teach the rest of the group in a creative way. There were several hilarious and entertaining approaches, but one guy wrote a song for his chapter. And then we, of course, decided that a music video needed to be made. I tried and tried to upload it here, but I guess it's too big. I will be happy to show anyone I run into on my iPod, though.

So these nine people are pretty amazing. They love the Lord and follow hard after Him. They are smart, talented, and gifted. And I really can't even tell you how much fun we had together. I can't wait to hear more from each of their adventures and find out how God has used them in big ways.

All 10 of us on the day of commissioning.

This book united us at the beginning and became a launching pad for many good times and inside jokes. Each of us now has a copy. Holy...Holla....Hola.

These are the 4 Journeymen of the group. Ridiculously fun people.

A Day in DC

2010-03-29T22:33:00.012-05:00

One day, a bunch of us decided to go into Washington DC for a day of exploring and fun. We hit some of the main attractions, rode the metro, walked a lot, ate at some fun restaurants, visited a museum or two, and just had a good time doing whatever we wanted. We had a lot of fun just walking around and talking. And the metro stations make you feel like you're in the future! I don't have any pictures of that, though.

Megan, me, Elizabeth, and Ann with Abe

It was a beautiful day...breezy & brisk, but beautiful!

Anson, Korby, and Michael at the Singapore Bistro I think it was called?

And the other side of the table: Sara Beth, Lindsay, Kayla, and me.

Anson, me, and Ann at one of the 2 coffee houses we went to.

Ain't No Party Like A Valentine's Day Dance Party...Hey...Ho.

2010-03-08T20:36:00.018-06:00

Soooo, it's been a while since I blogged. Time for a little catch-up.

Some fun things have happened, starting with Valentine's Day. Seriously, it was hysterical. First of all, that Saturday night, a few of us went down to Carytown to a Thai restaurant and they gave us carnations which was super exciting. Then we went to an ice cream place...also fun because they had spinny chairs.

The real party was Sunday evening though. There were roses, construction paper valentines, chocolate, choreography, and dance partying. And you know I love a good dance party.

Here is the choreographed portion of the evening:

Training: Week 2

2010-02-11T18:40:00.012-06:00

On Sunday, we spent the afternoon playing in the snow...so fun! On the way to the giant hill (which the pictures do not do justice), a minor snowball fight broke out. We had to stop, though, because they weren't so much nice, fluffy "snowballs" as they were hard, painful "ice chunks."

Then we got to the (giant & steep) hill, but there were no sleds! Well, my genius of a roommate decided to try sledding down on her jacket, which was kind of slick. It worked beautifully even though it kind of looked like a diaper. Eventually a legitimate sled disc showed up, but the best of all was a huge inner tube! And as if sledding wasn't just fun, it's also a pretty good workout (did I mention the hill was giant AND steep?)

I'm having the time of my life...it's a lot like camp and we all know how much I love camp. I've gotten to know some really great, fun, godly, and hilarious people and we're all in the same boat. I've learned SO MUCH more than I even thought possible and I absolutely cannot WAIT to get overseas. I'm also learning a lot about how much I need to grow in my faith and how much closer my walk with God needs to be. I listened to Brett's sermon from Malachi on the refiner's fire and launderer's soap the other day and then my quiet time was in 2 Timothy 3 talking about how a man must cleanse himself in order to be used as an instrument for noble purposes and prepared to do any good work. I want that!!! I want so badly to be...just...wildly effective for the kingdom, ready to be used by God for WHATEVER He chooses. And God's showing me that I've got some cleaning up to do first...but His glory is completely worth it.

And now, for some pictures:

Training: Week 1

2010-02-02T17:39:00.009-06:00

Well, I've been in Virginia for a full week and so far it has been pretty incredible...complete with about 17 inches of snow! I have learned countless new things every day, but the highlight of my week was a "personal spiritual retreat." On Friday, they scheduled 3 hours (!) for us to just be quiet and spend time with God. We could go anywhere on campus and do whatever we wanted to do in order to accomplish that quality time. I went to my room, turned on iTunes, got my Bible, a commentary, a notebook, and a pen and just started pouring my heart out. I think the key part of this time...for me, anyway...is that with 3 hours, you really have time to listen. And God had lots to say. Pretty cool.

Also...and if you know me well, you think this is funny...I'm on the Library Team. I barely even know how to use a library. Emsy-Pants and I decided that they must have heard about the sizable donation I made to the library at seminary in the form of overdue fees. The duties are: reshelving books (I get to work in the kids' libary...score!), setting up weekly book displays for whatever the theme is that week, and distributing free books from awesome speakers (free books are always fantastic). All in all it's a pretty sweet gig.

There is so, so, SO much to do and learn (including a whole, new, crazy language), but I am beyond excited for what the next 7 weeks hold. I am growing more and more eager by the minute to get to Africa and start putting some of these things into practice, but I know my time here will be of more value than I probably even realize.

And now for some pictures:

My quad. There are 4 apartments. I share an apartment with another girl, and the quad with a young couple and their 2 little girls, and another couple.

My bedroom

Saturday morning snow from the safety of my kitchen.

After lunch photo shoot.

More photo shoot.

Bear Creek

2010-01-19T19:29:00.012-06:00

This past Sunday was my last time to be at my church for a long time. It was the day that I had been looking forward to and dreading for months, if that makes sense. I knew that it would be a great time of prayer and support, but I also knew how sad it would make me. It was a very encouraging time and I am so glad that Bear Creek is partnering with me in this endeavor. It will be such a blessing to know that my church will be praying for me as I prepare to go and as I am there.

I passed off my camera to Kelly Haynes that morning so that he could take pictures of the kids since I'm not in there anymore. He got a lot of good ones...here are a few:

At the end of the service, Brett called me up to the front. He said things that made me cry then had me open a gift from the church. It's an iPod Touch!! He said that the best part was yet to come because people will be recording messages for me (and maybe some hilarious videos too) so that I can download them and watch them when I need to hear some encouraging words and that people are praying for me. This is probably the most perfect thing I could have gotten from my church!

He then had everybody gather around me to pray over me and commission me for missionary service. The best part was that he had the kids come down first so that they'd be the closest to me. Those kids are just the best! After the prayer...and I really, really love this...Lion King music came on! And everybody laughed. I'm not sure that that's what's going on in this picture or not, but I like to think that it is.

Going...and Leaving

2010-01-13T23:24:00.004-06:00

For the past year or so I've been SO enamored with the idea of going to Africa, of embarking on a new adventure. Throughout the application process I would daydream about all of the exciting things I might get to do, see, and be a part of. The possibility of not getting to go made the idea of going even more desirable. I continued to walk through the application process, hoping that the door would not close. I clung to God, his Word, and the peace that comes with obedience. After turning everything in (on time!), I waited. I waited for that email that would invite me to an interview conference...and it came! Then I waited for a letter in the mail that would give me a job assignment...and it came! And then the enthralling idea of going turned into the reality of leaving.

Leaving is hard work. There are so many things that need to be done, responsibilities that need to be turned over, and preparations that need to be made. As a top-notch procrastinator, it's hard to realize that, "Oh, it turns out I'm NOT going to get to that later because I'll be living in AFRICA." And that's pretty much the easy part of leaving. The hardest part is, of course, leaving your people.

I leave for training in 11 days. And while I am still excited beyond words to GO, I am right smack in the middle of being pretty sad that I am about to LEAVE. I have had a fantastic few weeks of spending time with amazing friends and family and that time has been so valuable to me. I have been so encouraged by people's words, prayers, and support. I love talking with the people I love about my upcoming adventure. And I love knowing that no matter what I am leaving behind, God is with me and I will continue to chase after Him!

Currently singing (belting out in my car): From the Inside Out (Hillsong United)

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out