December 26 was David’s 30th birthday. We planned to get together with our colleagues at 8 p.m. for cake, cookies, prayer, and worship. At 7:30, after the buffet was set and the cookies were just coming out of the oven, a co-worker called to cancel. They had already baked a birthday cake for David when they remembered it was the first night of a country-wide 8 p.m. curfew. The wife quickly brought the cake to us, returning to her own home minutes before eight o’clock.

Just a few minutes after 8, gunfire could be heard all around our home. David quickly ran in from the office, bringing the computer with him. We turned on our two way radios so we could be in contact with our colleagues, turned off all our solar lights so we wouldn’t draw unnecessary attention to our home, locked all the outside doors and retreated to our bedroom on the back side of the house, the furthest room from the street. We prayed that a stray bullet wouldn’t hit us, our car, or our solar panels.

As we waited for the gunfire to stop, we watched a recently borrowed movie. About half way through, an extremely loud bang came from the office building that sits just beside our bedroom. “What was that?” I asked. David paused the movie, turned, with wide eyes and said, “I don’t know, and I’m not going to look.”

At about 11 p.m. the shooting stopped and David was able to go to the office to call his mom for a birthday chat. He opened the office door and saw that a stray bullet had come through the tin roof and landed beside his office chair.

It was later reported that soldiers were firing into the air to both to honor the late president, and to celebrate the fact that the new president is a military man.

We were thankful there was no serious damage to anyone or anything, and we were able to reschedule David’s party for the next day.

Last Tuesday at the invitation of ‘John’, our home owner, we visited Gar, a village we had never before been to. Gar sits just outside our city and is only a few minutes away by car.

When we entered John’s family compound, we were welcomed by all and immediately given a platter of freshly roasted goat and sheep. I always pray that God will do two things when I find myself in situations like that: 1. That God will help me to swallow the food I eat, and not throw it back up and 2. That I won’t get Montezuma’s revenge from eating raw and undercooked foods. (more…)

In August I ordered 100 small, wooden, hand carved spoons from Amadou; a basket, spoon, and shoe vendor in the market.  I gave him a prototype and told him he could choose a design to burn on the handles.  I intend to glue a magnet to the back of each spoon and give them to friends to hang on their fridges as a reminder to pray for us.

When we returned from our travels in late October, I went to the market to pick up the spoons.  Since David had never met Amadou, he came with me.  When we arrived at his booth, Amadou greeted us warmly, sliding over on his small bench so we could sit down.  He was very happy to meet David and pulled out two tiny spoons he had carved with our initials on them; ‘B’ for Bella and ‘D’ for Daawuuda, our Fulbe names.  They were really nice gifts that he took a lot of time making.  As is culturally appropriate, we thanked him profusely and began counting out our 100 wooden spoons from a bag he retrieved from far under his dark booth.

As I began to count, Amadou gave David another gift; a hand woven, grass trivet that read “Daouda love Bela.”  Again we exclaimed how kind it was of him to make such a wonderful gift for us.  It really was touching.  I continued counting.

Before David had time to hand me the trivet, Amadou pulled out the nicest pair of goat skin and tire- tread- soled shoes I have ever seen.  Amadou said the shoes were a gift for me.  David exclaimed, “Wow!  You’re giving us a lot of gifts today!”  Amadou explained that the last time he saw me; he looked at my feet and wanted to make me a pair of shoes.  I tried them on.  Of course, they were a perfect fit.

I was so very blessed by his no-strings-attached generosity.  Amadou generously gave out of his talents to show his appreciation of our friendship.  I wondered what we had to offer him.  I didn’t buy any gifts in either France or Ghana to share with friends like Amadou.  What could we give that would match his extravagance?  When I returned home, I wrapped a Pular New Testament.  I’ll give it to him the next time I go the market.  I’m sure Amadou’s gifts to us cost far more than our gift to him, but ours has an eternal value to which no pair of shoes can compare.

For the past week, we have been in the country of Ghana.  We came to Ghana for a Pioneers Area Conference with other Pioneers missionaries from West Africa.  We have had a wonderful time here.

Ghana is a wonderful country.  The influence of Christianity is very strong here.  On Sunday, we went to a church that had a huge sanctuary.  In all their services, they probably have close to five thousand people who attend.  Ghanaian Christianity is very vibrant and lively.  The influence of Christianity is strong in the community.  As you drive down the road, you see that many businesses have Christian names.  For example, you might find “The Lord is My Shepherd Hair Salon,” “In Jesus Name Car Parts,”  “The Glory of the Lord Shop,”  and many more like that.  It is quite a refreshing change from our life in Guinea, a country that is nearly completely Muslim.

One day this week, we went on a trip to the city of Cape Coast.  There we visited a national park.  The park had a pathway built through the canopy of the trees high above the ground.  We walked on suspension bridges from treetop to treetop.  After that, we toured Cape Coast Castle.  It was an important center for the slave trade in Ghana.  It was sad to see the cells where slaves were kept as they were waiting to get on boats to North America.

During the conference, we met many other Pioneers missionaries.  We had teaching sessions dealing with various missions topics.  We learned a great deal.  We will be staying in Ghana a few more days and hope to see more of the capital, Accra.

I believe prayer is important.  I believe it impacts ministries, changes lives and is an essential part of our relationship with God.

We frequently post and update praises and prayer requests on our website.  Here are all of our pending prayer requests for this year.  Would you invest in our lives and ministries by bringing these requests to the Lord on our behalf?

September 29, 2008

• Pray for us as we travel home tomorrow
• Pray for us as we will be traveling a great deal the next two weeks
• Pray for us as we apply for entry visas for Ghana.  We are to fly there the second week of October
• Pray for our 2009 calendar project.  There is a paper shortage in Guinea that may create printing problems.
• There is also a cooking gas and toilet paper shortage in Guinea.  Pray that the needs for these items will be met.

September 25, 2008

• Pray that we will return home from vacation rested and ready to face the 5 month journey ahead of us before returning to the States in March for our home assignment.

August 30, 2008

• Pray for the Muslim world as Ramadan begins on Monday, September 1
• Pray for the safety of our house and car when we travel

July 16, 2008

• Pray for our financial support level as we will lose a large financial supporter this fall

July 10, 2008

• Pray for David as he works on a translation project.
• Pray for our neighbors who come in contact with Billie through our garden.

June 27, 2008

• Pray for language learning
• Pray for a neighbor girl who is thought to be demon possessed
• Pray for God to reveal His role for us in reaching the Fulbe for Christ
• Pray for unity and a passion for evangelism among local believers
• Pray for extra time and energy to complete administrative and personal tasks

June 9, 2008

• Pray for Georgia as she continues French language studies in the US

May 26, 2008

• Pray for our language study
• Pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon our lives and our ministries

April 29, 2008

• Pray against further theft of items in our home and car. Last week someone broke into our compound at night, during a rain storm, cut the fuel line on our car and tried to steal gas.
• Pray for Georgia as she has still not recovered from a fall on ice before she left the States
• Pray for David as he sets up all the solar/electrical equipment for our homes and office

April 6, 2008

• Pray for energy to complete all that we have to do each day

March 26, 2008

• Pray that we would be energetic and productive in language study and ministry.
• Pray for God to send more long-term team members to join our team.
• Pray for the ongoing translation work of Scripture and Bible lessons into Pular.

February 8, 2008

• Pray for opportunities to share despite growing opposition to our message
• Pray against the escalating spiritual attacks on us and our colleagues

January 16, 2008

• Pray as we continue to learn Pular
• Pray for us as we seek opportunities to share Bible stories with Mr. B. We plan to share the story of the Wise Men with him this week.
• Pray for wisdom and discernment as we live and work in this spiritually oppressed place

This Monday, September 1st, marks the start of Ramadan.  It is for the duration of this month that Muslims around the globe are called to observe one of the 5 pillars of their faith by fasting from sunup to sundown as a means of tipping the scales of judgment towards favor with God.  Most Muslims believe that it was during the month of Ramadan that the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospels, and the Qur’an were all sent from heaven.  Though the exact day of the month is disputed, most Muslims believe that the anniversary of the night during which the Prophet Muhammad began to receive the Qur’an from the angel Gabriel is a night of special power.  The Prophet Muhammad taught that Ramadan is a season during which the gates of heaven are open and the gates of hell closed.

Historians tell us that the Christians with whom Muhammad had contact prayed 6 times a day.  It is believed that this practice so profoundly impacted the Prophet Muhammad that he prescribed daily prayer as essential for all followers of Allah.  Pray that our lives might once again be ‘prayer-shaped’ enough to change the destiny of Muslims around the world!

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

On our way to the capital two weeks ago to drop Georgia off at the airport, we stopped for a picnic lunch at the Bridal Falls. These are two of the few falls that can be directly accessed by SUV. We parked at the base, enjoyed the view and our sandwiches, and bought a few wooden sculptures from a local artisan.

People all over the world are struggling right now with increased food and fuel prices.  We are hit by the rising prices as well, but the hardship for our neighbors is far greater.  Today, I went out to buy some fuel.  First, I stopped at the gas station.  I bought 114 liters of diesel.  That is about 30 gallons.  That wasn’t quite enough to completely fill both tanks on our vehicle.  The cost?  800,000 Guinea Francs which is about $180.  Next, I drove into town to buy propane gas for our refrigerator.  (It cools the food by burning the gas; I could explain how, but I don’t want to get off topic.)  I bought enough gas to run the fridge for one month.  Cost?  210,000 Guinea Francs - about $47.  The next time you feel the pinch in your pocket book when you are at the gas pump or paying the bills, take a moment to pray for the people in Guinea and around the world who are hit even harder by rising food and fuel prices.