Our December 2011 newsletter is now available to read online. Click the image below to access it. The newsletter is password protected. If you do not know the password and would like to read the newsletter, please click on the Contact page and request a password using the contact form.
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.
Last night and tonight Muslims in Guinea celebrate what they call the “Night of Power;” Islam’s most holy night. It marks the anniversary of the night Muslims believe the first verses of the Qur’an were revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad¹. Throughout this night, Muslims will pray and read the Qur’an, devoting their time to seeking visions from angels, and beseeching God for whatever they desire. Muslims believe it is on this night that God decides the fate of each person for the following year.
Please pray that God Himself will visit the Fulbe who are open to hearing the Truth of His word. Pray that their hearts will be ready to accept God’s Good News. God knows the plans he has for the Fulbe this year. Pray that this might be the year they accept the free gift of salvation He so willingly offers.
It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon and the girls are bouncing around, hollering in their beds napping. Rain is pouring down from a dark grey sky. I couldn’t have a conversation if I tried for all the water beating the tin roof. There is something wonderful about a West African rain storm. I love them. Love. Them. It rains about 17 feet in 6 months in Conakry; half that in Labe.
There are many great things about rainy season in Guinea. The sun isn’t so scorching, for starters. Everything turns green, and we have more electricity because of the hydro-electric dam.
And then, there are the not-so-great things about rainy season. Primarily the mold. It’s everywhere. Mold grows on everything from walls to clothing that doesn’t dry properly. It’s currently on our kitchen ceiling:
Our roof is leaking, and David can’t find where the water’s coming in. Bummer, since I just repainted it last Tuesday. David climbed up on the roof yesterday to plug the hole, but can’t find it. (He also came back with a tale about fighting off a giant spider… I’m not sure I believe him.) I have one ear listening for the ceiling to come crashing down from the weight of the pooling water. There’s also an animal living up there. It scurries around at night after the light’s been turned off. I sure hope he doesn’t come crashing into the kitchen too. Pray we find and can patch the leak before the rain ruins our ceiling!
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.
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.
In July, we were blessed with the opportunity to teach at a five-day English camp in a nearby town. Each day we taught three different levels of students, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Billie taught vocabulary, and I taught comprehension. The students also studied grammar, dialogue, and numbers. Perhaps the most important component, however, was the daily memory verse and Bible lesson. Throughout the week, the students memorized Psalm 23 and learned Bible stories from the life of King David. On at least two occasions, they heard the entire Gospel message of Jesus Christ and what he did for them. Students who successfully memorized the entire 23rd Psalm received a New Testament at the end of the week. The final day of the week, I shared my personal testimony and the Gospel message with the students. We ask you to pray that the Gospel would bear fruit in the lives of these students. Pray for the missionaries in their town who will continue to share the Gospel with them. Here are some photos from the week.
Our June 2011 newsletter is now available to read online. Click the image below to access it. The newsletter is password protected. If you do not know the password and would like to read the newsletter, please click on the Contact page and request a password using the contact form.
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.
