Celebrating a birthday, anniversary, and life - Badalabougou, Mali
Badalabougou, Mali
Life is good in Bamako. The rains continue to come more frequently and everything is greening up and blooming in color. With the rains come cooler temps, which we are so grateful for. Along with the rains, however, come more frequent power outages, but that's life in the big city! Everything is growing so fast with the rain... even our hair! We had to play salon a couple weeks ago and do some major trimming to keep from going hippie.
We enjoyed another Sunday fellowship on the 19th at the Go Global Mali center. We met some new people there, including Lori, a middle aged woman from Texas who serves in Sikasso. Sikasso is Mali’s second largest city after Bamako with 250,000 residents, compared to the 1 ½ million who live in Bamako. Sikasso is the source of much of Mali’s agricultural products because of its location in the far south of Mali. It is also the birthplace of the C&MA mission in Mali dating back to 1923. The Roeddings tell me that three of the original missionaries to Mali died of Yellow Fever and are buried there, making it a place of historical significance to the mission in Mali. We also met a local woman named Cathi who works for CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) and is the coordinator of women's ministries for the country. She is also the Francophone-Africa representative for a Crusade curriculum for women called "The Significant Woman." This women's mentoring study contains lessons that "help you discover your uniqueness, how to grow in your intimate relationship with the Lord, how to integrate who God has created you to be and what His personal mission is for you." (cru.org) In August, she has the opportunity to attend a training session in Florida that will equip her to share this curriculum in her 16-country region. She has faithfully raised a portion of the $2,400 she needs in order to attend but is still short. Please pray about making an additional contribution through her international account on the website. Click on "Give," then enter their number: 2396370 (the direct link is https://give.cru.org/2396370 ). In order for Cathi to attend the training and secure her travel papers, she needs to have the funds in place by the second week in August. Cathi and her children also participate in the worship team at the local church we attend – you will see her leading worship in the videos that accompany this post.
When I wrote the last time, Ramadan had ended and we were in the midst of the Eid – the festival – specifically the one that marks the end of Ramadan. The following Monday, which was the 20th of July, we used English Cafe to discuss how everyone celebrated their weekend, knowing the majority of our students are Muslims, but also giving those of us Christians an opportunity to share how we spend our weekends. We were fortunate to have two guests from SIM Guinea as helpers, Mark and Rae Wilson, who are in Mali temporarily as Guinea continues to battle the Ebola outbreak there. Additionally, we had the support of Raquel Prentice, a summer Go Global worker from Ohio, and Natali Williams, an Assembly of God worker who supports the needs of Go Global, but also works with the street children in Bamako as her primary ministry. The exchange was interesting, and at times, entertaining. The importance of spending the weekend with family and community during the festival was central to each report shared by our Muslim students, which further centers around food and children. Funny thing – in the midst of this discussion, there was some quite open debate about music, particularly Malian rap, and its acceptance in Islam. Since it started taking over the discussion (and since we were quite unprepared to facilitate the topic), we opted to table it until the next Cafe. In fact, this last Monday, we spent nearly three hours on the subject of Malian rap with the last half hour focused on what parents can do in raising their children with such wide social influences made available by technology, such as the Internet and other media.
For those of you who are interested in the current status of Ebola and potential cures, check out this article on a new vaccine trial in Guinea that is reporting a 100% success rate: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/j ul/31/ebola-vaccine-trial-proves-100-su ccessful-in-guinea.
Jim turned 70 last week and since I’m doing the writing, I can boast about how blessed I am to have such a wonderful and willing husband by my side in the mission field. Since we had celebrated with friends and family before we left the USA, the day here was a bit lower key, but we celebrated, nonetheless. While he didn’t get a Snickers ice cream cake, he did get homemade carrot cake and a gift of fruit from Koro, our Bambara tutor. That particular day, the 22nd, was also the one year anniversary of JP and Judy Schultz’ transfer into the Bamako mission, so we had two reasons to celebrate the day.
One of our responsibilities at Go Global is Library duty. On the 24th, one of the level three male students by the name of Badura came into the Library to check into a book that would help him with his English. We reached for a book on the elementary reading shelf and came upon the story of Jonah, a prophet of both the Old Testament and recognized by Islam in the Qur’an (see 137 Al-Saffat, beginning at verse 139). Badura is a faithful attendee of the weekly Bible stories hosted by Lurinda Johnson, a co-worker at Go Global from Florida. After reading the story of Jonah, he recounted it for Jim and I in great detail, showing what he picked up from both the story and the accompanying pictures in the storybook. We shared with Badura how Jonah’s expulsion from the great fish after three days foretells Jesus’ resurrection after three days. He expressed excitement after learning this and exclaimed how he is beginning to understand more about Jesus. Praise the Lord for these workings of the Holy Spirit. According to Lurinda, Badura, who is a practicing Muslim, freely shares the Bible stores from Go Global with his family at home who are also practicing Muslims. Would you pray for Badura and his family, that they would continue to be open to the work of the Holy Spirit through Bible stories such as Jonah and others he has been reading and learning about at Go Global? Thank you!
Last Saturday, Jim and I decided to take a long walk to get some exercise and see more of the city of Bamako on the other side of the river. Even though it was a hot day, we enjoyed the breeze as we crossed the river. We then walked for a few more miles through the trading district in the city in pursuit of a restaurant we were hoping to find at the end of our journey. (You’ll see the crowded conditions of the trading center we walked through and particularly the muddy conditions that remain after a good rain.) At one point along our walk, we came upon a local man who was stamping ink designs onto the local fabric, who graciously allowed us to take a short clip of him doing his work on the fabric. I’d like to say that we made it to our destination on foot, but the heat got the best of us and we opted to complete the journey by taxi, not a moment too soon. Unfortunately, the Malian food restaurant we were heading to was not open yet and it would be another two hours before that would happen, so we opted for another restaurant close by to get a cold drink and an appetizer of beef carpaccio with fresh parmesan... Malian style. I do have to admit – it was really very good, but then again, it should be, it was in an Italian restaurant!
As we write this, there are only two weeks left of classes in this trimester. Actually, next week we’ll have our last formal classes for level 5.1 with an extra review date added in before the exam, which will be on the 11th of August. Final grades will be distributed on the 13th, when we will also take photos with our students and have an end of trimester party. Sunday, Raquel leaves Bamako to return to the USA and prepare for her return to school in her full-time teaching assignment. That will leave three of us in the house until Lurinda leaves in three weeks... and then there will be two... and then we’ll be on break for a month. We are looking forward to seeing more of the country of Mali while we have our break between the trimesters.
In closing, Scripture reminds us of how the Lord provides for our work wherever he sends us, regardless of how well equipped we think we are for a particular task, just as He did with Abraham, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. We may not think we are up capable of whatever He calls us to do, but when we trust in Him, He provisions and equips. Trust in Him!
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
And before you were born I consecrated you;
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations."
6 Then I said, “Alas, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth.”
7 But the Lord said to me,
“Do not say, 'I am a youth,’
Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,
And all that I command you, you shall speak.
8 “Do not be afraid of them,
For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 1:5-8 (NASB)