In our last days here in Senegal we visited The Center orphanage run by Christian nationals who have come to faith in Jesus. The children at the orphanage have miraculous stories of how they got to the orphanage from the streets or terrible home situations. Now they can hear the gospel message and see it lived out in the lives of the workers.

While there we met the national pastor who spearheaded the dream for this place. He has a vision  for one of the buildings to be a Bible school where they will train nationals to go out and evangelize all of Africa reaching up into other person countries.

Later in the day we went to Lac Rose or The Pink Lake. It is a lake harvested for its salt. You can't sink in this pink colored lake but you float on top similar to the Dea Sea.

Thursday and Friday we were in downtown Dakar. It was our first time in downtown and the vendors swarmed all around us because we stood out  as if we had a sign on our backs that said "TOURIST!" Even for those of us who like to haggle with street vendors it turned out not to be the best of experiences because of their aggressiveness to get us to look at and buy their products.

Larry took a picture of the Presidential Palace and was approached by the guard with the intension of taking his camera. We found out people have taken videos of this country and culture with promises of financial help which never materialized. The guard was satisfied when he found out Larry was taking a picture and not a video.

On Saturday we took a taxi to the ferry going to Goree Island. We are now experienced at negotiating fare for our taxi rides around town. Goree Island is one of the major tourist attractions in Dakar. It is the port where the Africans were brought in chains and taken to the Americas and elsewhere to be slaves. It was very sobering to see the slave house where the slaves were kept in mass in small cells before the journey. Only the strongest were put on the ships because they were best able to survive the 10-12 week journey. We found out that a slave was given a last name common to the country where he or she was being sent. For some of us it was a time of somber reflection.

On Sunday morning we attending the missionary spiritual retreat and heard a stirring message out of 2 Cor. 1:8-11. We and the missioanries were encouraged because we learned that God allows adversity in our lives so that we might not trust in ourselves but in Him, the One who raises the dead! He who delivers us from peril will continue to deliver us. Because of this, we have hope and can deliver a message of hope to those who are suffering.

The rest of the day we prepared to return to the states. The students talked about how much they have grown since the hardships of the first week when everyone was ready to go home to learning how to deal with the conditions, becoming more flexible, and seeing God at work in lives.

We are on our way home now but please continue to be in prayer for the work of the missionaries and their work in Senegal. Pray that God will break down spiritual strongholds in this country.

Blessings to you all.

The team helped move furniture to establish another dorm for girls at  Dakar Academy. We also received a tour of the academy by dorm parents Bill and Nancy McComb. They gave us an overview of living as dorm parents to 12 high school girls!

We visited and received an overview of International Theological Evangelical Seminary by Alice Statler. She took us to tour the new temporary location where classes will be held and the new library.

The team watched a documentary titled Transformations by The Sentinel Group.  It was about how prayer transformed communities on three continents! Have you ever heard of prayer mapping?  I'm looking forward to sharing this prayer focus with our home church for our community.

On our first fun day we visited Bandia Game Reserve in Dakar, however, no lions or zebras!  There were giraffes, water buffalo, impala, wart hogs, and rhinos etc.  We toured the park in a big truck and occasionally were able to get out and take picture.

Afternoon at the beach at N’Gaparou with lots of sun, sand, powerful ocean waves, and beautiful blue sky and puffy clouds!

Today was our first day of relaxation after two full weeks of ministry.  A good time was had by all!

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 21^st,  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 22^nd, 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 23^rd, 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 28^th through yesterday the 29^th 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.

 

Asalaa Malekum! This is Amy from the Senegal WILL team. That first phrase is a greeting in Wolof, the language of Senegal which we have been studying for the past two days and will continue the rest of the week.

The past two days have been quite the advernture as we try to get settled into the new places, sights, sounds etc of Senegal. Yesterday, Monday, we started with language study and then watched a lengthy video on religion in Senegal. We were able to better understand the what and why the people believe. We then headed over to Dan and Esther Penney's house, other WorldVenture missionaries in Dakar. There we watched even more movies, this time about the Penneys themselves and also basic info about WorldVenture and why it sends many missionaries to Senegal. The rest of the day was pretty quiet, until the Hamptons came over and told us about our ministry for tomorrow.

And then tomorrow came. We once again did language study and then headed over to the Hamptons' place to work with them at the Talibe ministry. The Talibe's are a large group of young boys whose parents send them to a school to study religion. During this time, they are forced to beg for money which works out nicely for the Senegalese people as giving is one of the religious cultural norms. The boys live in an environment that is not ideal for children. Some of the boys come to the Hampton's house to take a shower, eat, get basic medical attention and just play. God has done some amazing things through this ministry including reaching many religious teachers through watching the Jesus Video. Jeremiah, Sheila and Myself played with the kids while Ashley and Karlee helped with medical care. It was a good day to get out and play with the kids. It was neat to see how much these boys just wanted to play with us and the toys.

After we left, we ate our first real Senegalese meal. We went upstairs and ate on the floor out of a community bowl. We all would sort of section off a part of the food and eat it with our hands. When we were done, we licked our hands, excused ourselves and washed them. It was definately a new experience! The lady who ate with us then talked to us for a while about Senegalese culture. It was really interesting to see how it is so different from America culture and all we are used to.

Well...that has been our life for the past 2 days. Please pray for us as we continue to minister and be ministered to!

Hello,
 My name is Karlee and I am one of the members of the W.I.L.L. team. Well, after many hours of training in Denver, we finally left for our final destination -- Dakar, Senegal.  We flew for about 18 hours total.  It was very long and exhausting, but I am sure it will be well worth it.  We are all very tired and worn out from all the excitement of the past few days.  As the days progress, we will write more to let you know how our trip is coming along.  For now, we are all very tired and want to go to bed.  Tomorrow we will write more about the events of today and tomorrow!
 
Thanks again for your prayers!
Karlee

Hi All:

I'm lbj and I work in mobilization/recruitment for WorldVenture.  I want to welcome you to the Senegal WILL team blog. 

You may be asking just what is a WILL team??  Good question!  The term, W.I.L.L. is actually an anacronym that stands for: What It Looks Like.  The purpose of WorldVenture WILL teams are to give the participants a short term mission opportunity to see and experience what our long term missionaries go through in their ministry for the Lord.  We go and serve as a team (hence the team part of the name).  This is not a short term experience for the sake of doing something "spiritual" and coming back to feel good about ourselves.  Additionally, there are other ministries that do short term trips and do them well.  For us, it is a short term experience with a long term view.  This means WorldVenture wants the participants to go with the idea of listening to God to see if He is calling them to serve Him in some type of mid term or long term cross-cultural ministry.

I am excited to see what God is going to do on this venture.  My team consists of 5 students from Cedarville Bible College.  After 2 days of training, we will be leaving on July 15th from Denver for 3 weeks in Senegal, Africa.  Our home base will be in the capital city of Dakar.  It is a city of about 2.5 million people--talk about being in the big city!  While there, we'll be under the care of missionaries Bill & Dianne Grudda.  They are our short-term mission coordinators for the WorldVenture fields in West Africa (and good people too).  We expect to be looking at and helping out  in some of the ministries in Dakar and the surrounding area.  As I'm writing and talking about it, I'm getting even more excited.

Prayer request:
That God will reveal Himself to our team in a special way.

Here is our team:
Larry (lbj) / Shelia (my friend-wife) / Matt / Amy / Ashley / Karlee / Jeremiah

That's all for now, more to come --lbj.