I am sitting in a cybercafe in Conakry.  There is no power so the cafe is running a generator.  In fact, we only have six to twelve hours of electricity a day.  Our refrigerator can barely keep stuff cold.  There is no washing machine, so Billie does the laundry by hand.  When it’s dry, we have to let it sit for three days before we wear it so all the fly eggs hatch and die first instead of burrowing into our skin.  We have no fans, even though it is quite hot and humid.  We live in a house compound with an African couple, a short-term missionary from Canada, two dogs, two cats, three kittens, and a few toads and lizards.  We must filter all water before we drink it.  When we travel, we go by taxi.  The taxis here carry six passengers at a time.  All these things make life very interesting and a bit difficult at times.  Still, we are enjoying ourselves because we are right where God wants us doing what he wants us to do.  The next time we are in the U.S., life will seem quite boring by comparison.  What a joy it is to serve the Lord!

We’re here! Last Thursday, we flew from Dakar to Conakry. God answered many prayers along the way. For example, at the airport we were limited to about 75 pounds of checked baggage, each. Well, we showed up with more like 200 pounds each of checked luggage and probably another 60 pounds each of carry-ons (including a guitar). Thankfully, we were traveling with a group of boarding school students who were returning to Guinea from Dakar to be with their families during spring break. We checked all our baggage in together as a group. Some of the students had less than the limit, and it must have balanced out in the end. We transported everything we own in Africa to Guinea with no baggage fees and no delays. All our luggage arrived on time and in one piece (with only a few minor items stolen in transit)! We also made it through customs with no problems. We are especially thankful for the missionaries who met us at the airport and helped us get all our stuff to our temporary home. We are renting the house of a missionary who is on home assignment. One missionary in particular has helped us go shopping and made sure we had dinner four nights in a row. God is so good! We feel his support on all sides. I know we are right where he wants us.

Tomorrow, at 9:30 a.m. we are leaving Senegal. It is sad in many ways. Once more, we have to say goodbye to our friends and head to a new country to begin again. I think about my friend, ‘Boaz’, who also happens to be our landlord. He has been so helpful all along. Even yesterday, he took me all over the city to help me buy another suitcase and a bag for our video camera. There are also the two Chinese friends I made while tutoring them in English at the Chinese embassy. One Sunday they invited us to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We had fun sampling ‘Senegalese’ Chinese food. There are also the friends I made at the university. Perhaps those I will miss the most, however, are our fellow workers here. They have been like a family to us. We spent holiday meals together, Monday night football (recorded via satellite and watched on Tuesday night), trips to the beach, and so much more. This year is filled with happy memories. Through it all, so many people have stood behind us in prayer, encouragement, and support. Thank you all for all you have done for us! May God reward you for what you have done in ways we cannot. His reward is the best of all.

The past few mornings I have heard the first call to prayer at 4:50 a.m. My thoughts are drawn to the thousands of Muslims who faithfully rouse themselves from quiet slumber to begin their day with prayer. It is cool outside and darkness covers the city because the sun has not yet begun to shine. They wash, unroll their prayer rugs and face toward Mecca. They pray to a god who neither hears them nor cares for them. He is, in fact, no god at all. Please pray for these Muslims as they live and work in darkness where the Son has yet to shine.

It’s official.  We want to thank our gracious and understanding Pioneers leadership for granting us permission to move on to the next step in God’s plan for our life and ministry.  We will be leaving Dakar, Senegal, and moving to Conakry, Guinea, on March 22.  We need your prayers now more than ever.  Please pray for our safety as we travel and for a smooth transition to a new city.  Pray also that our teammates, Eugene and Djenabou would be able to raise the money they need to buy plane tickets to get back to Guinea from Ghana.  The recent events in Guinea left them stuck in Ghana when their plane tickets expired while they were waiting for the strife in Guinea to die down.

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The streets of Dakar are eerily quiet today. Hundreds of thousands of people have left the city to make the annual pilgrimmage to Touba, the holy city of the Mouride Islamic Brotherhood. The pilgrimmage, known as the Grand Magal, attracts up to two million people. Thus, the city of Dakar is left mostly empty. I have mixed feelings as I drive around. On the one hand, it is nice to get where I want to go without sitting in diesel fume choked traffic jams. On the other hand, I know that a few hundred miles away, millions of people are going to great effort and expense to show their devotion to a religion which will only lead them down a blind path. Please take some time today to pray that these pilgrims would find the true way, Jesus Christ.

It was January 2005. Billie and I were in Orlando, Florida, at our missions agency headquarters. At that time, we felt some very clear direction from the Lord about where we should go as missionaries. The answer was Guinea by way of Senegal. I felt like we’d had a revelation. We pressed ahead.

Fast forward two years. It was now January 2007, and we were living in Dakar, Senegal, nearing the end of our French studies. We were just two months away from moving to Guinea. Then, we watched the news unfold. The unions in Guinea called an unlimited, general strike. The country basically shut down. There were demands for the president to make many major changes. Initially, he signed a concession and work resumed. One of the demands was that he appoint a new prime minister. Unfortunately, he chose to appoint one of his close associates to the position, and the country exploded in violence. Our prospects of moving to Guinea looked bleak as demonstrators were shot and killed, stores and homes were pillaged, and vehicles were burned in the streets. The death toll mounted and the president declared a state of siege. He put the military in charge and ordered them to restore peace. For days, we waited to see what would happen next. Finally, on February 23, the dam broke. The national assembly refused the president’s request to extend martial law. International pressure could no longer be ignored. The president aquiesced and agreed to appoint a different prime minister. On Monday, February 26, he followed through on his pledge and there was dancing in the streets of Guinea. The strike was over. Peace was restored.

Who could have imagined two years ago when we began this journey toward Guinea that the very month we planned to move there would be the month after such upheaval? God knew. I believe he put us on track to arrive in this bruised and wounded country at just the right time. He has prepared the way for us. It makes me get chills to think about the way God’s invisible hand has sculpted these events. How has God been sculpting the events of your life? Do you have any stories of how God has made circumstances in your life work out just right?

I was sitting in class a few weeks ago talking to ‘Anna’ during the mid-morning break. I’ve tried to take every opportunity I could to share Bible truths with her since class started in November. Aboubacar joins us. Conversation turns toward French language study. We all agree it’s hard work and time consuming. Aboubacar turns to me and very seriously says, “When it comes to learning, whether you’re an adult or a small lizard, it’s difficult!” I’m not sure why, but I thought that was hysterical. Indeed, sometimes language learning does make you feel like a small lizard!

While our formal French studies are now complete, informal French language learning will continue for years. It’s true, ‘learning is difficult,’ but God gives wisdom to those who ask for it (James 1:5)… even to small lizards like us.