"Man maay yoon wi, degg gi, ak dund gi" - Jesus

During the time that we have been here our primary focus has been on meeting people and developing relationships with them. We have also been able to do a few things to help out Josh and Julie and their ministry here. Over the past few years because of different circumstances it has been just one couple at a time here and that does not allow a lot of extra time for things like cleaning and painting and things. So it has been a lot of fun to be able to serve them in that way.

This past week we were hoping to just take one night and stay up all through the night and paint the church but that plan was scrapped and instead we took a couple hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning and repainted the inside it was a lot of fun. Don't take for granted being able to walk into Sherwin-Williams and point at a color and walk out with a perfectly blended, lump free can of paint! In the end we were able to get it finished and most of the paint cleaned off the floors too!

The whole group did a great job - Nate was especially deft with all of the edging. Travis did a lot of the work up on the ladder. Jen and Alyssa were stars with their cleaning skills...and there was lots to clean up! Kylie added the final touch with a phrase from John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth and the life."

It really was a lot of fun for us all and we are really pleased with the way it turned out (and hopefully they are too!)

Oh, and the one final story from the painting. We were just finishing up and so had taken the rollers and tarps and things outside so we could finish cleaning the inside. Then the talibae, who were our constant audience, decided it would be fun to play in the paint. (If you haven't heard about the Talibae we'll have to fill you in later, but just think a bunch of boys between 7-15 running around on the streets (i.e. lots of mischief!)). Nate noticed them starting to pick up the stuff and went out to stop them just in time to see one of the older ones grab a roller from the younger one and paint him a great big stripe from the back of his head across his face and down his chest. It was bad! So we spent a good twenty minutes trying to get him cleaned up without getting paint thinner in his eyes. He ended up leaving with a new shirt and a mask that left him looking a little bit like a reversed raccoon.  

(Not Pictured: Travis - he was meeting with someone)

Another week gone by!

Wow, so it has been a whole week since we've gotten on here to update you all on the trip. It's been an exciting time and lots has happened. It won't be long now till we are all back in the states and can share all the stories in person. It's just 9 days until we leave Senegal. The trip has been both long and short at the same time. Parts of it seem like a life time ago, and at other times it seems like we have just arrived.

This past week we have been able to spend time with many of our friends again. It has been interesting how "contacts" from the first week have now become friends, people we miss and can't wait to see again. The relationships are starting to grow deeper and we have had some deep conversations about who we are and what we believe. Continue to pray for our many friends.

It has been an adventure to find things to do together. The girls had a crazy day on Saturday getting their hair braided.It ended up being a 7 hour adventure to a few different houses, a couple trips around town, and an interesting lunch. It was a lot of fun and a good chance to spend more time with a friend. Our whole group went on Sunday to lunch at a friend's house. They were honored to have us in and treated us all so well and we left stuffed...and almost late for church that night.

Each day is another chance to spend time with a friend and continue to develop a relationship. Whether it is with a friend at the university, a student in English class, or the neighbor kids all of them are opportunities for us to show that there is a different kind of love that defines our lives. So we are praying that our actions will open up opportunities for us to share the greatest display of that love when our Savior died on the cross for people who had rebelled against him.

The sun makes me happy!

God is good!! Today was a very good day. God is good to encourage His children. We spent a good time this morning with our team hanging out and talking about what God has been teaching us. The body of Christ is such a blessed thing. To talk about what God is doing in our lives is so encouraging and reminds us how greatly God loves us. Then, we spent the afternoon at the beach. That was very nice! It was so hot out today, so to hang out in the water felt so good. We had a sand-castle building contest. Sadly, the boys won - who knew we had such great architects on our team? Then, we hurried back to make it in time for English class.
English class was smaller tonight, probably because the World Cup has finally started and people are settling in to watch the games. But, we had a lot of fun nonetheless. We played a variation of fruit-basket upset using emotive words instead of fruits. It made for some funny moments since we named people angry, sad, happy, and confused. Tonight was very encouraging for me, because every night we spend time just talking to the students after class since they all want to improve their conversational skills. I was talking to two high school boys and after we had talked about emotions for a while, they asked me about religion. It opened up such an awesome conversation about Jesus taking my place on the cross. It was so encouraging to me to be able to talk about everything that God has done for me and how I know that I am going to heaven. Please pray for these boys and two others that joined us halfway through. They were very interested and all took a New Testament with them. They told me they would read Romans and then come back and debate with me on Monday. Please pray that God would open their eyes. He is the only one that can show them that they need Him. Thank you all so much for your prayers for us!! God is working - in us and in those around us.

Red Light / Green Light - and White Teeth

This morning our group went to a pre-school and kindergarten that is right around the corner from Josh and Julie's house. We had heard about it from a man Seck, who Travis had met. He is an administrator for a number of area schools and has kids who attend this one. We went to a fair there on Saturday and gotten to spend a lot of time with the kids, and then today went back and taught some lessons in English. The kids were full of energy...but not very quick to pick up the lesson. Outside we taught them colors...I wonder if some of them were color blind because even in French they struggled with them. It reminded us a lot of working with kids in the states. But it was a lot of fun and we hope will continue to be a great open door for Josh and Julie into the future.

We also were able to pass out a bunch of toothbrushes, tooth paste and dental floss that was given to Josh and Julie. While they were on depuation a young girl heard about some of the needs that Senegalese people have and took it upon herself to do something to help them. So she and her Mom went to various dentist offices and collected supplies and sent them to Josh and Julie. We were able to give them to many of the kids at the school. Hopefully this will be an improvment in their dental hygiene.

Today was just another opportunity to develop a relationship that we trust will continue to bear fruit for the work far beyond the time we are here. The oppotunities we have had to build friendships and relationships have been awesome, but we are beginning to realize how short our time here will be. In less than three weeks we will have all returned to friends and family in America. We will be eating things besides rice and fish (Ceebu jen). We hope to continue interacting and communicating with our friends beyond this trip, but when we leave the work here will continue. So we are praying and hoping for ways to make this trip meaningful for the ministry here longterm. Ultimately, we recognize that we are striving to make our lives, each day, meaningful for eternity and so that gives urgency and importance to everything that we are doing here. Whether it is teaching English, sharing the Gospel, playing Skip-Bo, or eating Ceebu jen, it can all be important because it can be meaningful for eternity.

God is good!

The past few days I have been so overwhelmed by the greatness of our God, so I just wanted to take the next few minutes to brag on my God! It is crazy to me how often I forget that the God whom I read about in the Bible, the One who parted the red sea and who rose people from the dead has not changed and that I have the wonderful privelege to serve this same God. I really had no idea what to expect before coming to Senegal, but part of me wondered if we would really be able to share the Gospel with that many people seeing as we didn't know anyone here before coming and that we would only be here for a month. And yet... God has given me the privelege to clearly present the Gospel on three different occasions! The first week we were here we went to the university not knowing anyone to just try to meet people and make friends. We were able to meet several people and get to know them. The other day Jen and I spend the afternoon with a girl named Thioro. She is an English student at the university and she is very open and searching. I was able to go through the entire Gospel with her! Please pray that she would come to know the Lord as her Savior. Then on Saturday we went to a preschool to play games with the children during a carnival that they had going on. While I was there I met a French girl who is here with Projects Abroad. I was able to talk to her for a little while and I really wanted to share the Gospel with her, but I wasn't sure how to start. I just prayed that God would present an opportunity and the next thing I knew she was telling me about how she thought it was rather ironic that the girl with whom she is staying does her prayers in front of nudity on tv. And from that I was able to ask her several questions about what she thought about Islam in general and what she believed. After she told me a little about what she believed she looked at me and asked "So what do you believe?" I was able to go through the whole Gospel with her and she is really searching. God is good! Today Jen and I met with a girl from the university named Zeyna. She was randomly sitting on a bench one day while we were actually waiting to meet with Thioro, so we went over to her to meet her and got her number. We felt a little awkward about meeting with her when we'd only spoken to her for fifteen minutes, but once again God worked everything out amazingly. We talked to her for a while about just surface things and once again I really wanted to share the Gospel with her, but I wasn't sure how to bring it about. I was thinking maybe this could just be an initial visit to get to know her and maybe we could share the Gospel with her another time, but I prayed God would give us an opportunity. I asked her what she enjoyed doing and she answered reading and then continued to tell me that she is in the middle of reading the Bible, and that she is reading the Gospel of Matthew! What a smack in the face. She then proceeded to tell us that she thinks she likes Christianity better an Islam thbecause it is easier. I was able to just go through the whole Gospel with her and tried to explain to her the differences between Christianity and Islam. God is so good. We are planning on getting together with her again sometime soon to talk more about it. God is still alive and at work in people's lives. I've been able to share the Gospel three times and all three people I have been able to talk to have been extremely open and even searching. It was such a good reminder, that God really does not need me.. in the least! I feel so humbled that He chooses to use us! Thank you for your prayers! Please pray in particular for these three girls: Thioro, Marie, and Zeyna that we would be good witnesses of Jesus Christ and that they may come to know Christ as their personal Savior.

Tubaabs Forever (The First Journey)

One dark sultry evening three young, inexperienced, and completely white Tubaabs (the Senegalese word for whiteman) set out on a perilous journey. They had no idea what to expect of this journey, nor were they prepared for the danger that lay before them. They walked for miles in the scorching heat, attempting to traverse the relentless Sahara that had swallowed many a man alive. But their unwavering determination kept them from faltering.
Nate (the expert cultural adaptee, who was also Samba) looked across the dreary desert road at Travis (the group's bearded Arab, who was also Umar) just as an entire heard of sickly goats were almost obliterated by a very determined taxi driver that wouldn't have stopped for anybody who was not a paying customer. Andrew (who was also Aali) almost had a run-in with a very contentious horse that was more than tired of hauling cement bags on his already sagging shoulders. The three Tubaabs looked at each other in silent agreement and all knew that they were on the adventure of a lifetime.
Already they had conquered the Cheebu jen (although not without a fight and a few casualties!) and discovered the power of the great Attaya tea that grants life-long alertness and longevity of health (as long as you don't drink it too often as there is much sugar in it), but still they had yet to find the perfect Senegalese outfits that would fully integrate them into their new surroundings. Bravely they fought the warrior-like abilities of the Senegalese entrepreneurs. But sadly, they fell to the relentless and unwavering stamina of the salesman and accepted their untimely defeat. Andrew and Travis walked home that evening with their heads bowed in silent realization of being completely ripped off because of the whiteness of their skin. Nate, however, had a smirk of illusional superiority on his face, having decided not to let them take advantage of him as he put his excellent cultural adaptation abilities to good use.
Upon arrival at their humble abode however, the smirk on Nate's face quickly melted to a frown of utter detestable frustration. The water had been turned off. The three sand-worn, sun-beaten sojourners had no way of showering off the sweaty/sandy film that had coated their Tubaab skin. This fact was quickly realized, but just as quickly overshadowed by the reality of no flushable toilet (the writer will not comment on this any further).
The three Tubaabs concluded their water-less journey into a night of blissful and much needed sleep. The events of, not only the day, but also the entire week flooded their minds as they tried to make sense of this new place and the reality of their mission. God had already used the Tubaabs in a way that they wouldn't have planned themselves. They had already made many contacts with the students at the university and seen God work in many crazy ways to make the power of His gospel more real to them. Just the fact that God would even use a bunch of Tubaabs in a land filled with non-Tubaabs was mind boggling. But God is God, and the Tubaabs simply Tubaabs. So the Tubaabs were content to remain Tubaabs caught in a never ending maze of sand, but guided by an unfailing God who knows exactly where He is taking them.

Jen and Alyssa's happy contribution #1

Dear many many followers (ok I know there's only like 5 of you, but thanks for your devotion towards our humble group),

Jen and I have decided that it was high time we add a contribution to this wonderful blog Jeremy and Kylie have slaved away to create.

English classes have been going really well; we've had a very good turn-out each night. Kylie is an awesome teacher, and we are all grateful we don't have to teach as well, especially Andrew. At the end of each lesson, we break up into groups and just try to talk to people. We've had several opportunities to share the Gospel with contacts through this! Please continue to pray that we will be able to build relationships with our students and that we will be able to share the Gospel with them! Amidst our busy schedule (wolof lessons which we are failing miserably.., meetings with contacts, and English lessons in the evening), we have managed to spend quality time together as a team exploring Saint-Louis. We have also found a common bond in our love for skip-bo! I think we would enjoy it more, however, if our brothers, Andrew and Nate decided to stop cheating. While the family bonded this afternoon playing games, Travis calmly chilled in the pool for four hours. I have been surprised by the number of goats and the amount of sand here in Senegal. It's not the least bit uncommon to sit a random herd of goats or cows cross the road in the middle of town. Apparently someone owns them, but how they manage to keep track of their animals is beyond me. If ever missionaries were no longer allowed to freely come as such to Senegal, I think I would come as a business entrepreneur and sell all the goats. Learning to barter has also been an interesting process. As of now, I am fairly sure we have all been taken advantage of multiple times, if not every time. The last time we took a taxi, the driver demanded a certain price but before leaving informed us that the next time we took a taxi with someone else, the actual price was much lower. I wasn't sure whether to thank him for letting us know or be upset at him for ripping us off. And so we live and learn.

The team has been doing well at adapting to a new culture, and we all plan on wearing traditional Senegalese outfits on Sunday, minus Dad (Jeremy) and Nate who's hatred of cheebu jen (their national dish which we eat approximately 5 times a week) keeps him from integrating in other ways. Well that's all for now. More to come. perhaps.

peace out homies