About midnight on Monday Mr. B, our guard heard rustling at the gate. He went out to find a young man trying to climb over our wall. He chased the guy off and went to his room, leaving the light on so the guy would know he was still awake. The intruder decided he really wanted our laundry tubs, so he waited outside the gate for a while, jamming rocks under it in order to block the gate from opening outward.  He then climbed over the lowest part of the wall around our courtyard where there is no broken glass, razor wire, or rusted nails sticking out the top to deter burglars. He snatched every last one of our laundry tubs, all of our wooden clothespins brought from the US, and took off running. Mr. B heard the commotion and chased the thief all the way to the intersection before he gave up.

We do laundry by hand almost every day, so Tuesday morning David had to go to the market and buy all new laundry tubs and clothespins. Even though the clothes pins were very expensive, they were rusting after just one use. It’s things like this that get under my skin. I won’t say I’m angry… but I am put off. After the eternally important meeting we had Sunday afternoon, I knew something was going to happen, but it still gets at me. I prayed for protection for my family, but didn’t think to pray for our things. I have to keep reminding myself they are just that: things.

Of course it started raining. What I didn’t expect was for people to start arriving ten minutes early. That is not typical African behavior. One by one they entered the gate, wiped their feet on the towel by the door and chose a seat in the circle while liberally spreading warm greetings.

The small room in the annex of our courtyard wasn’t anything special. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling, and the paint on the walls was beginning to show its age. Still, everything was clean. And there was a tray with water, cups, and cookies. It seemed as though the environment was a total understatement. It didn’t come close to conveying the magnitude … the eternal significance … of the meeting that followed.

The girls and I walked over in the rain to introduce ourselves. We met some of the Christians in our town before, but not everyone. After a few minutes, I took the girls home and careened my neck out the window every few minutes to try to catch a glimpse of the deliberations. After about two hours, we heard familiar Fulbe praise and worship being sung to the Only True God.

It was amazing. In a tiny room in the middle of a random neighborhood, in a Muslim city, thousands of miles into the interior of Africa were a group of indigenous Christians singing to Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

Most beginnings are humble. We pray God will meet with our small group of believers and use them to plant a church that will reach the Fulbe of Guinea, West Africa with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

A few years ago, we introduced you to Mr. B. He and his daughter were featured in a video we complied and shared with supporters while on home assignment. Mr. B is primarily our guard; but he is a language helper, a community liaison, helps with the laundry, washes our floors once every week or two, and since he loves flowers he is our gardener too. We are extremely blessed to have him as part of our family, and he is completely trustworthy, a rare moral attribute in this part of the world.

Mr. B is about 72 years old. He isn’t exactly sure of the year he was born, but he knows he was born when the French governed Guinea. Mr. B is married to one wife and has seven children; the oldest an 18 year old boy and six girls. His youngest girls are a set of twins just two months older than ours.

Life is difficult in Guinea. If a Guinean lives past childhood, he or she may very well live to be elderly. Poor healthcare and inadequate education cause a 6.1% infant mortality rate in Guinea. Mr. B is privileged to have worked for expatriates who provided good medical care for him and his family for more than 20 years.

In early 2008, the Lord impressed upon my heart the need to be very proactive in sharing the Gospel and took every opportunity I could to share Bible truths with him. I wasn’t sure if I was saying goodbye to Mr. B for the last time when we left Guinea in 2009 for home assignment.

Thankfully, God enabled Mr. B to faithfully watch our house and tend our garden while we were in the States. But we can see the years starting to show on his wrinkled face. He moves more slowly, he often falls asleep in his chair on the porch in the hot afternoon shade, he is often ill, has carpal tunnel syndrome, and cataracts have taken most of his sight.

Tomorrow morning, David plans to take Mr. B to Sightsavers; “an international charity which works with partners to eliminate avoidable blindness and promote equality of opportunity for disabled people in the developing world.” Their initial appointment was more than a month ago. Mr. B was given eye drops to prepare his eyes for surgery, and told to return after Ramadan.

Will you pray for peace through the process, a successful surgery, and for salvation for Mr. B? We know that God is able to give him sight in more ways than one.

For your consideration:

Kesso: An Autobiography of a Peul Princess by Kesso Barry gives a glimpse into life in Guinea during a time of tumultuous transition from colonization to independence from France in 1958. Email me if you are interested in adding this to your winter reading list.

Ramadan is half over. I hope you have found time each day to pray for the 4 million Fulbe Muslims of Guinea, West Africa. If your memory is like mine, though, a reminder is always great! Here is a quick reference calendar with just one prayer point for each of the remaining days of Ramadan so you can join us in praying for the Fulbe people.

Ramadan Prayer Guide 2011

Monday marked the beginning of Ramadan in Guinea.  During this month, Muslims will fast from sunup to sundown every day.  They will attempt to be particularly pious as they seek God’s forgiveness for the deeds of the past year.  Please be in prayer for the Muslim world during the month of August.  Pray that God will help them find the TRUE way to holiness and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

Two weeks ago, Billie and the girls went to a village to stay with colleagues while David took Lisa back to Conakry to fly home. Lisa’s three weeks with us flew by. “I had a great time hanging out and seeing how international workers live,” she said. We are so very thankful that God provided a way for her to help us with the transition. We think a highlight of her stay was visiting an orphanage housing HIV/AIDS babies and infants.

While out in the village, Billie was able to brush up on burn care. She was also able to witness to two young men. While they did not make a decision for Christ, they did hear the Good News.

The girls are still sick, but we altered their diets, are taking greater care with food preparation, are keeping them inside a little more, and they seem to be doing better.  Please continue to pray for good health as they make the transition to life in West Africa. ” and Amelie is already spouting off her first words in Pular, “Okay,” “Goodbye,” and “Mom.”

In addition to sharing the gospel, we have hit the ground running with other projects.  We are trying to get our home in order before the Vice President of our mission agency visits in two short weeks. We also tried to fix the road in our neighborhood that had become a small lake. We say “tried” because the way to fill a pond is not, apparently, by filling it with four truckloads of dirt. That creates mud. Hindsight is 20/20, though, and next time we will order four truckloads of rock. Please pray the situation will give us opportunities to share about our hearts to help the Fulbe people.

David took our guard, Mr. Bah to visit Sight Savers.  He has cataracts and will have surgery in September, after Ramadan is over, to restore his vision. (More on Ramadan in a future post). Please pray that his surgery goes well and that his sight will be perfectly restored.

In related news, Mr. Bah’s family moved back to our hometown. We are excited for the girls to have playmates who can teach them Pular. (Billie hopes they can teach her Pular too!)

We spent the week in a village teaching English at an  English camp. Seeds were sown as David shared the gospel with each student in English and French.

While out in the village, the Guinean president survived an assassination attempt. Everything is calm in country, and we don’t expect any unrest. You can read more about this here and here.

Thank you for your prayers for us as we continue to make the transition to life in Africa with two toddlers, and for the Fulbe people who have yet to hear the Good News.

In less than two weeks, we will be landing in Guinea, Africa.  Our time in the U.S. is drawing to a close, and it is time to return to work in Guinea.  We are so excited to be going back to the land where God has called us to serve.  At the same time, it is sad to think that we will be saying goodbye to our beloved family and friends here.  Please keep us in prayer in the coming days as we finish storing, shipping, and packing in preparation for our departure.  Pray for safety on June 20 in particular as we fly to Guinea with our twin daughters, Amelie and Annika on our laps.  It will be a long journey for such little ones.  We will be in the air for a total of about sixteen hours with another twelve or so spent in airports or traveling to or from airports.

The past few weeks have been a flurry of activity.  One praise is that we were able to get a fantastic price on our plane tickets.  Another, is that we were able to ship more items to Guinea.  We will be especially thankful for a solar fridge and freezer that we were able to ship over.  Here are some other things we took for shipment recently.

Another big praise is that we will not be traveling alone.  Billie’s great friend and college roommate, Lisa, will be accompanying us.  Here presence will be a great help as we attempt to navigate airports and endure long hours in the airplane with two little ones.  She will also have the opportunity to get an idea of what we do in Guinea as we settle back into life there.  She will be with us about two weeks.  Please keep her in prayer as well.  Here is a picture of her.

Thank you for praying for Guinea today as Conde was sworn in as the first democratically elected president since the West African nation’s independence from France in 1958.  According to a France24.com press release, Conde has promised to reform the military, review mining contracts, and develop the nations infrastructure to bring running water and electricity to more homes.

Please pray for Conde and Guinean nationals during this time of transition.

New Era for Guinea

Pray for the people of Guinea today and tomorrow as leaders from the international community assemble in Conakry to witness Alpha Conde be sworn in as president. His presidency will end more than two and a half decades of military rule in the West African nation:

Guinea’s Alpha Conde to be sworn in on Tuesday

Our hearts were turned once again to Guinea as we heard of clashes between Christians and Muslims in the southeastern part of the country late last week. At least three people were killed and dozens more wounded as residents and soldiers alike clashed over religious disputes. Pray for peace and for the Gospel to prevail in this needy land.