Hello again from Dakar,
Senegal. It’s been a few days since our last
blog. That is primarily because in the
last 10 days we had electric power outages lasting from 6-12 hours. We would have electricity in the morning for
a few hours then it would be off until late afternoon, then on until 7-8 pm,
then off until somewhere around midnight to 3:00 am. It is challenging trying to see and do
ministry on these hot, humid days with no fans much less sleep well at night (don’t
even think about air conditioning)! In
addition to traveling and seeing/doing ministry, we also helped with the
preparation and cleanup after meals, try to wash clothes while we had power (
one day our water was off), etc. All
this factored into our time issues and not keeping up with our blogging in a
timely manner. It was rumored that there
wasn’t enough fuel to run the electric generators for Dakar.
Praises though because for the last 2 days (and nights) we have had
electricity. I can run my laptop and recharge batteries, etc. We are seeing first hand some of the issues
that the missionaries here have to deal with.
Their faithfulness is inspiring.
As a team we are working through the “shock” of all of this and I
believe handling it fairly well. Our
“comfort zones” have been wiped out but God is faithful.
During the last part of our first week, we continued having
language lessons in Wolof in the morning then going to look at various
ministries. We saw a boutique run by one
of our missionaries, they sell various items and have a library with Christian
books, bibles and literature upstairs.
On Friday the 21st, we traveled to Thies and had lunch with our
missionary there, Mary Yuille. She has
served over 30 years and is retiring soon.
We fellowshipped with another short term team from Gordon
College in Massachusetts. Then off to Diourbel to spend a weekend at
rented house and observe ministries happening in the nearby villages. Diourbel is a small city east of Dakar in the interior of Senegal.
Saturday morning, the 22nd, we traveled to Touba
to the take a tour of the mosque located there.
It is one of the major centers for one of the five sects of Islam found
in Senegal. On Fridays our tour guide told us that
upwards of 10,000 people come to worship there.
Please pray that God would break the spiritual darkness in this
place. That afternoon, we traveled out
to the villages of the Serere people. We
visited three villages and spoke to the pastors of the village churches located
there. These nationals are going out and
witnessing and winning some the people to Christ. After seeing the spiritual blindness in
Touba, it was a blessing to hear of the ministry these men have and of the
times God has blocked resistance to their ministry by local Islamic
leaders. Please pray for the ministry of
these pastors to the Serere people and that God would send finances/help so
they can continue to spread the gospel.
Sunday morning, the 23rd, we went back to one of
the villages for church service. It was
translated for us by the pastor’s brother who spoke 3 languages (French,
English, and Serer). I even got an
opportunity to speak a few words! The
rest of the day we spent back at our center in Diourbel relaxing. Our missionaries there, Marilyn Escher and
Mary Ann Lattin (both with over 30 years of service) came over to visit. They had a question and answer session with
us about being a missionary. It was
wonderful to hear them share the wisdom and insights God has given them over
the years. Another reason we were there
was to move all the furniture and stuff out of that house we stayed in for Mary
Ann on Monday.
All last week from Tuesday the 28th through
yesterday the 29th we ran a Kids Club in the morning and a VBS in
the afternoon. We assisted Steve and
Laura Newkirk run a Kids Club at their house in the mornings. Laura had canvassed her local neighborhood
asking the parents she knew to let their kids come. Since all but one of these families are
person (one being Catholic), we had a prayer walk asking God to touch
hearts. He answered! We had 30 kids, which was all the Newkirk’s
yard could handle, come out. A friend of
theirs, Phillipe, came over from Thies to lead the activities and do the bible
study segment as the kids spoke only French or Wolof. One of our team, Jeremiah, got to share his
testimony with Phillipe translating. We
had charge of the crafts and helped with the games. As the week went on , the kids really warmed
up to us and they were a delight to play with.
Please pray for Steve and Laura as the now have the job of following up
with the parents of these kids as doors have been opened.
(A sidelight to this Kids” Club is that we took a taxis to
and from the Grudda’s house to the Newkirks’ house. It was an “experience” as our drivers
navigated in and out and around traffic, goat herds and whatever was blocking
the roads! It seems I can’t get away
from road construction no matter where in the world I go.)
In the afternoons we ran a VBS for the MK’s here at the
Grudda’s house. We had about 7-8 kids. The team organized and setup the whole
thing. Again, I believe that God blessed
our efforts. Please pray for these young
hearts to continue to be tender to God and that they would grow strong in him.
Well, I know it’s a long read but we have seen how God has
been working in many different ways despite resistance so I wanted to fill you
in. Please pray that we will continue to
have power for our last week here.
Blessings.