jouer au football... HA!

I feel like I haven't stopped all week! I just finished VBS, which was a blast. I love playing with the kids. I now can't go to bed without having a VBS song playing through my head. "Jesus gives us the power to be brave... AHA!" Can you tell we did a power lab VBS.

We ended the week with Friday night youth group and ended up having Senegalese tea and watching a movie. We were all pretty zonked. I'm sure the kids parents loved us giving them "atire." Which has SO much sugar and caffeine in it. I'm thinking about taking some with me home for when I have finals.

Saturday morning the youth group and the VBS group all went to a orphanage near Dakar and shared the gospel by using the wordless book on a soccer ball (yellow stands for heaven, red stands for sin etc). Then we played soccer with the kids. These kids are incredible even the little toddlers play soccer. I how ever struggle as is to keep my feet coordinated, add the fact that the field is a giant desert and I'm done. I can't imagine seeing some of these kids on a grass soccer field, they'd be AMAZING!

I managed to find a friend and she was precious! She really just wanted to be held and I managed to get a few smiles out of her. After asking her name several times and only getting a nod, I contemplated naming her something myself. I mean they give me names, why not the other way around. . . Her name ended up being Prudence.

We planned on playing soccer, eating, and then being back by 4. Ya right! We were definitely on Senegalese time. We didn't even have lunch until 3:30 and it takes 2 hours to get home. It was fun eating lunch with them. All the sudden I looked around the room and there are lots of little circles of people, the food comes out on a big plate and your circle digs in. THANKFULLY, we they gave us "toubabs" spoons and we didn't have to use are hands.

Today, I'm heading off to Bourifaye, a British boarding school, where I'll be there until the 9th. I find it a little ironic that I'm spending the fourth of July with the people that we got our independence from. Funny how that works out.

Dusty books and wet children

Every year I do VBS I forget how worn out I get. It's always fun though, especially this year. I get to be in charge of games. I've managed not to get overheated or dehydrated so far. I just find myself saying everyday, "I'm so glad it only goes until noon."

Most of the kids that come to the vbs are missionary kids and a few are embassy kids. It's been fun getting to know them and talking to different parents. I also work with the youth group (since most of their parents "volunteered" them to help). Overall it's been a fun week. A lot of wet games. I almost felt like I was getting sick when I walked from being outside in the very hot sun to the super air-conditioned room. It's the first time I've had to work a jacket this whole trip!

Once VBS was finished yesterday, we ran over to the SIL center. The guys were going fishing and Annieo and her friend were getting their hair braided (which took a LONG time). I think they still have headaches. I FINALLY managed to get everything done in the Educational Resource Center. I'd started about 3 weeks ago adding more books and then trying to figure out where to put them in the library. It was a bigger job then I thought and I quickly figured out why no one really wanted to do it.

After shelving and reshelving and moving around books to multiple shelves I finally got it looking half way decent. I'll be happy if I never have to work with the dewy decimal system or see a dusty book again. At least I get to leave it looking nice and put together and don't have to be here and watch it get all unorganized again!

I ended up catching a taxi with my friend Marinna and finally made it home through the ridiculous traffic (once again I found myself wishing I had a moped). When I got home and took a shower it was only eight o'clock and I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open and walking straight. I ended up skipping dinner and going to bed early. Didn't wake up this morning until 8 am. I feel great NOW!

Time's a changing

I've been sitting with Laurie looking at the calender and realized that my days here are slowly drifting away. I'm praying that I'm not letting them slip away. This trip has been as much about me and my spiritual walk as it has been about serving.

I've hit the time in my trip where things are starting to look differently. I've been working with the same ministries and groups since I've been here. I've loved it but being a short timer there is only so much that you can do before you really need to commit to longer. It's hard to watch some of the ministries going on because, I want to jump in and be apart. I have to remind myself that I'm here to help and listen to the Lord.

Wednesday, I said good-bye to all of my friends at the deaf school. It was a sad but a sweet time. I got to know many of them really well. I wish I could see what God does and where he takes them.

Friday, was the first night of Remix. Remix is a time for the youth group kids of the missionaries around to get together and have some fun. There isn't much for kids to do here during the summer and it can get boring pretty quickly if none of your friends are here. There also aren't any backyards to go play in.

I volunteered myself to make desserts for the night. Cooking here isn't exactly the same as cooking at home. Maybe it is and I just don't know that much about cooking. . . baking really. I ended up making brownies and chocolate chip blondies. Which sounds great except doubling the recipe requires doubling the time as well. I had to stick them back in and wait and wait and wait. I was a little late. The kids liked them and ate most so I guess it was fine. I'm just working on fine-tuning my cooking skills. I'll get it don't you worry.

Next week VBS starts. It's held at DA and most the kids come from missionary families. It should be fun. I'm in charge of the games. I don't really have a clue of what exactly is going on. I'm just trying to go with the flow... They tell me to "be flexible." I laugh and say "God and I are working on that." The truth is God's working on that A LOT with me here. It's been... fun.. =)

Keep me in your prayers next week. I get to be outside all week running the games. I've got to remember lots of water and short sleeves, I don't really want a farmer's tan.

Pastor and Me

A sweet moment

This Sunday was the first Sunday I've had the chance to go to a Senegalese church. We've been going to the church at the school but since there is no more school there is no more church there. The pastor who I work for with the Talibe invited me several times last week to come to his church especially on June 15th. I wanted to make sure I made it to his church and he was so delighted when we arrived. The church is nothing like I expected and even more than what I hoped for!

The church is about the size of a small bedroom or garage. When we got there the pastor came out and meet Laurie and I welcoming us in and seated us. We then jumped right into to their service. there were about 26 people there. He packed out the house =). We had a some worship lead by Diboku's son on the djembe, who is only 10 and did a FANTASTIC job. I even recognized a few songs even though the words were in French. After a while it really didn't matter.

Nothing could compare to the hearts of these people. You could see it on their faces that they were in love with the Lord. Forget church politics, forget numbers, forget pc, and shout out to the Lord! Religion here isn't a part of life it is life. If you're Muslim you live it out and you hold your faith in such high regard. These Christians are living their Christian faith out the only way they know how to live any faith out, with everything they have.

They had a time of prayer and it wasn't this deacon coming up to pray, it was simply these children (all of them) pouring out their hearts to their Abba. The noise was TREMENDOUS! I can't tell you how many languages there were and couldn't even tell you if they were praying in their language or praying in tongues. I don't know how these people live there daily lives, I know their culture still has great influence on their faith but, their celebration of it was so amazing to be a part of.

I know there is a time and place for everything. There are things in the states I love about church and miss dearly. There are things here that I see and know better because of my "education" that I probably wouldn't condone. The point is we're all going to make mistakes but are we walking to glorify God or ourselves? I only want to do things that are going to be fruitful in the kingdom of heaven.

To hear Pastor talk about how important suffering is in our daily walk and to realize that God is not taking delight in our suffering but sees it's importance. How suffering creates dependence on the Lord, permits us to remember him, and helps us to become more like Jesus, to hear all this and then look at these people's lives and realize the size of their faith verses their circumstance. . .

"God visits you every morning because you are precious and important to Him. He says 'Whatever the difficulty, my beloved, you must preserver."
-Pastor Diboku

I was also welcomed into the church as a sister and they very willingly prayed a blessing over me. They prayed for the sick and prayed for the needy. They enjoy community with each other. They had "church." My definition of church will never be the same. We ended by Diboku asking me to pray the final prayer and were sent out!

That was a sweet moment!

An African Celebration

Monday, I got to celebrate my 21st birthday with the Klaas family. It was really a fun day. I woke up to balloons in my room and a great breakfast. Then we headed over to Terrou-bi which is actually a hotel/casino. We spent most of the day by the pool and had a great lunch. It was very relaxing and fun to be with the family. However, I did get a bit burned. We ended the day with a few birthday presents, one of which was sparkling red wine. Champagne is not the easiest to find here. I even managed to get a phone call in to some of the family. I'm not sure if it made it better or made me miss them more.

I've found more of a place at the deaf school. I was walking there later then normal and I past a food stand where some of the kids go to lunch and one girl stopped me and invited me to have lunch with them. One thing here that is impossible is to deny someone who is offering you food. No matter what, eat it! Wasn't bad I think it was some form of spaghetti on French bread.

My favorite time at the deaf school is break time, when I get to just enjoy the kids. Hopefully, I can catch on to most of their jokes. The kids are just precious. I do know that teaching school is not the most desirable thing for me, but through this I've been able to get to know them better and this has been worth it. It's so rewarding to see these kids actually understand what they are doing. You can see how proud of themselves they are. That I do appreciate.

Wednesday was an extra hot day here and one of my friends who works with the Talibe (The Talibe and the deaf school are in the same building) offered me a ride home. I was wearing a dress.... He was driving a motor bike. Somehow I managed, without loosing any dignity. I also politely asked Jean-Paul not to kill me, realizing this was a realistic possibility. He very sweetly laughed and said "I won't go fast" and I'm still alive. It was kind of fun actually. I think if I ever moved here I'd have to invest in one of those.

Another thing Laurie is helping with is the DA library for the summer. Since the librarian is out of the country for the summer we get to be the summer librarians for a couple hours once a week. I feel like I'm fulfilling a secret desire I had as a kid being a librarian. It's a great reminder of being a kid when I see all the kids come to the desk with huge stacks of books so excited about checking them out themselves.

Today, I started the girls Bible study. There are only 4 of us total. I think it's going to be great just us. We started in the ice cream shop and I'm hoping to get the key to the library where it will be quiet and they have a/c!

Please pray for the girls Bible study as it comes together. I'm really wanting to impart into them the foundational things every young lady should hear as she grows up.

I've stayed very healthy on this whole trip praise God, but I have noticed that I have been getting extremely tired especially on the days I have to walk to the deaf school which is about 2 miles in heat. I think I may be getting dehydrated and not realizing it.

I plan on going to sleep a happy woman. It's the first day since Monday I've taken a shower that wasn't from a bucket!

Birthday celebration!




These are my kids for the math class I've been teaching.

Me a teacher?

I have to say my definition of what a missionary does has been completely changed because of this trip. I have done things from catalog a library for homeschooling families, tutor ASL, set up art shows, teach math and try to figure out how the French divide, clean wounds, feed boys, and simply be present. Ministry here is so similar to ministry anywhere else. It is all about relationship. It takes time here just as much as it takes time back home.

Wednesday I started working with some of the older kids in math. Let me just paint this picture. I'm in a very small classroom with five wonderful kids who desperately need help in math. They would be considered high school age but work level I'd probably put them in 6th grade. I'm sent in to help them improve their skills to pass a "graduation" test. Problem number 1, they are all deaf. Problem number 2, they read in French. Problem number 3, I haven't done this math in a long time. Problem number 4, the French have come up with some whacked out way to do division.

The first day was quiet amusing. I do sign and most of the signs are the same except they have been altered to fit the French language. Also, there isn't much reading in French but I do have to brush up on my numbers. Trying to remember the French numbers as well as the sign for that number and making sure the number they are giving me is the correct number causes for a pretty exhausting day. We do somehow press through and I'm praying that they learn something and that God protects them if I mess up and they don't learn my mistakes as correct.

The second day teaching was much better. I made them all make a multiplication table and once the figured out what it was it went smoothly. Some of them really don't understand the concept of multiplication and you can't do division until you get multiplication. Education here is something very hard not to get frustrated with and so is language barriers.

Please keep these deaf children in your prayers. I'm not really sure what will happen to them after they finish school. One guy is 27 and still in school. They very much have their own community within the walls of the school but, outside of that I'm not really sure what happens.

Taxi 2

I'm sorry forgot to put the picture up.