Take a shower every two to four days

Learn to take a shower with less than a liter of water

Flush the toilet every third use

Use a wash and rinse tub for doing dishes: do not leave the water running. Use dirty water to flush the toilet or water plants

Use just two or three squares of toilet paper

Turn the water off when brushing your teeth

Only use one light per person in the house

Turn lights off when you leave a room

Open the blinds and curtains, and use as little electricity during the day as possible

Unplug appliances when not in use

Line dry your clothing

Grocery shop once every five to six months

Do not buy sweets and junk food

Do not eat out more than once a month

Always eat leftovers

Grow your own garden

Learn to prepare from-scratch meals

Only buy one Christmas or birthday gift per recipient. Spend less than $10 a person

Get rid of your cable bill: Sell your television

Do not go to movie theaters, borrow DVDs from others

Downgrade your $10 latte to an at home, instant coffee

Reuse plastic Ziploc bags until they have holes in them

Have a wardrobe that consists of only what you can fit in one, small closet

Borrow items from friends and neighbors instead of buying new

When possible, walk or ride your bike instead of driving

Live with less: make things do or do without

I wrote the following poem for a Christmas Eve service at our church.  Some people suggested I share it, so enjoy!

‘Twas the Night before Christmas . . . in Guinea

‘Twas the night before Christmas, in our Guinea hometown

Without even a trace of snow on the ground;

The weather was warm and the foliage was green,

And a layer of dust gave the land a red sheen;

The Guinean children were all snug in their beds,

While visions of rice and sauce danced in their heads;

My wife, Billie, and I in our bed were asleep,

Resting as well as we could in the heat,

When from the mosque speaker arose such a clatter,

The first call to prayer was the cause of the chatter.

I got to my feet and I walked to the door,

and stepped out in the dark for ‘twas yet early morn.

The darkness around me was black as could be;

The town where we live had no power you see.

Still in the darkness some people I saw,

Praying as taught by their Muslim law.

Before very long, the sun rose in the sky,

Granting its light and its warmth to our eyes.

I stepped out of our yard into the dirt road,

And greeted our neighbors outside their abode.

On jaaraama, on jaaraama, they heard me say

Which translated in English, means “you be praised”

It’s the typical greeting a person will say

When meeting a friend or going on his way.

The neighbors greeted me, too, with big smiles on their faces,

And then hurried off to their respective workplaces.

With heartbreak I realized as I went on my way,

For them Christmas day was just any old day.

They don’t know the story of how long ago,

The Savior left heaven for earth far below.

He was born in a stable beneath a bright star,

And the wise men, they came bearing gifts from afar.

He never sinned once, He performed mighty deeds,

He was nailed to a cross, he died between thieves.

He was placed in a tomb, but didn’t there stay,

He arose from the dead upon the third day.

He offers us life and forgiveness from sin

If only we’ll trust, put our faith in him.

And this is the message the people don’t know,

In that faraway land that has never seen snow.

The Guinean people must hear our witness,

Cause that’s the great need in a land with no Christmas.

The year 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of Guinea’s independence from France.  In honor of the occasion, our colleague, Eugene, wrote the following that I wish to share:

“We prefer liberty in poverty to slavery in riches.” On these words the Republic of Guinea fought for and gained independence from colonial rule. During the next five decades true liberty has proven elusive as political, socioeconomic, and religious (spiritual) poverty gnawed at the very fabric of individual and national life.  (more…)

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

Jesus Christ is the foundation of our life and ministry.  He is THE Firm Foundation.  Still, we do not take for granted the sacrifices and investments made by those missionaries who have gone before us.  In this picture, you can see the foundation of the hut that once belonged to Harry Watkins, the first missionary to this region of Guinea.  He served in Guinea beginning early in the first half of the twentieth century.  The legacy of his work lingers to this day.  His hut may be gone, but the foundation he laid remains, not merely in the ground, but in the hearts and lives of the descendants of those he impacted.

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.

Time and again, God has proven himself faithful to answer prayer. With that record, you would think our first instinct in every situation would be to lift it to the Lord in prayer. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Over a month ago, our neighborhood was once again plunged into darkness when thieves stole several important power lines (for the second time in six months). The electric company is not quick to make repairs here, and we knew better than to expect electricity any time soon. In the meantime, we made do with cold showers (no hot water heaters) and limited solar and battery power to charge our computers.

Then, last Thursday, I sent out an update to our prayer partners. In it, I asked for prayer that the power would be restored in our neighborhood. The very next day the repair work began! By Monday night, we had city power once again.

Don’t ever doubt the power of prayer. God listens, and he answers. Why don’t you take a moment and lift up your problems to the Lord right now?

It rained last Sunday night. When it rains in Guinea, the water pounds on the tin roofs so hard you can’t hear a screamed conversation at the dinner table. The storm began with winds blowing so fiercely that David wondered aloud if the roof was tied on sufficiently. It was.

Ironically, I slept so soundly that night I didn’t know the storm raged for hours. Apparently our guard slept deeply too.

In the morning David found someone had climbed our fence, hacked off, and stolen a ten foot section of our garden hose. In the intensity of the storm, we didn’t hear anyone climbing the wall or walking on the stones in the courtyard.

But why would someone want our old garden hose? That was the hose we stretched across the road to the neighbor’s house every week to share our water. Without our water they have to draw water from a well ever day. That’s a lot of work for a huge family like theirs.

Georgia and I thought about it all day. Why would someone steal our garden hose? Georgia was the first to check a hunch and notice chipped paint around the small door to the gas tank on our SUV. With gas prices at $7 per gallon, stealing large quantities of gas from a vehicle like ours could feed a family for a long time.

Thankfully our gas tank door locks, and after what appeared to be two attempts, the thief discovered he wasn’t getting gas that easily. Unfortunately, a locked door wasn’t enough to deter him.

Next the thief crawled under the car and hacked off the fuel line to our gas tank. Then, using our garden hose he tried to drain the auxiliary gas tank into large, empty, oil containers to be sold later on the black market.

We praise God that our second, auxiliary gas tank was empty because we had just returned from a trip to Conakry. In the end, the thief only got away with our garden hose and little or no gasoline. The fuel line cost about $5 to fix. Now we’ll have to get a metal guard welded to the bottom of our car, covering the fuel line to deter future theft.

We praise God for His protection, that nothing else was stolen or damaged, and that no one was personally threatened.

After reading a helpful book on church planting, I was prompted to post a sign above my desk. The sign reads: How many Fulbe will hear the Gospel today? Every time I see it, it reminds me why we are here in Guinea. We are here to glorify God by sharing the Gospel with the Fulbe people. Everything we do must contribute to that goal. Reflecting on this question has given me a renewed zeal for language study and helped me gain a sharper focus in ministry here.

Maybe you should post a similar sign somewhere you will see it often. How many ______ will hear the Gospel today? You can fill in the blank with whoever you want, be it friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow citizens, children, family members, etc. Then, make it your goal to help as many of these people as possible hear the Gospel today.