[Originally written around Thanksgiving, but posted late due to "technical difficulties"]
Hello everyone!
Well, it's already happened. With the first of November came the onset of dry season. It's been 2 1/2 weeks and we haven't even seen a gray cloud. It's hard to believe, but it is supposed to be like this for the next few months. Fortunately the temperature hasn't increased much and it has actually decreased overnight. We had to put the blankets on our bed and start wearing our warmer pajamas. It's still pretty chilly when we wake up in the morning so we bundle up for the walk to school. We're amazed at how much the temperature can fluctuate every day. We don't have a thermometer, but we guess that it gets down to about 40 over night and up to about 90 during the afternoons. Most of the villagers in Bilingkoro got a case of the sniffles, but they've been in good spirits and we think the chilly weather has cooled some of their hot tempers since the arguing suddenly ceased:) It's nice to have jacket weather when we know you're all getting out your warmer clothes too.
Our students have still been much healthier than those first few weeks and we ask for your continued prayer. We actually had a student get seriously ill last week. When they found her in the middle of the night she could not even speak or raise up her arms. They thought at that point that she would not even survive, but after a few days in the hospital she was back and good as new. Also, the wife of the new Sambouya pastor, Rachel, had an appendectomy which is unpleasant in the U.S., but very risky in these hospitals. She came out of it fine though and is now back at home resting up. We praise God for the answered prayers that everyone is back here at TMICA and well!
Here's an interesting fact. You can fit two live, adult oxen and four men in one compact car. It sounds like an old fashioned college prank, but we've witnessed this ourselves. When we were in Faranah at the marketplace we saw a car trying to get up a hill with all of the above. They had somehow stuffed one cow into the open trunk, one cow was strapped to the roof of the car, and the men were pushing and driving the car. I'd like to see more of these real world scenarios taught in our engineering schools.
Personal safety and animal rights aren't issues here. While walking to and from school, we frequently see cars crammed with people inside, on the bumper, and on top of them, along with bags and other things on the car's roof. We're always afraid someone's going to fall off, but it's more important to them that they get a ride than worry about falling off. They seem to number around 15-20 passengers per car, but they drive too fast for us to count.
Major cultural differences seem few, but there are a few minor ones that we have run in to...We gave an older woman a ride from our village to Sambouya and she had no idea how to open a car door from the outside or the inside. Cars are a rarity in the cities, but pretty non-existent in the villages. Teaching our students using American text books has provided us with some interesting teaching moments. Topics include surfing, mailboxes, ice skates (slightly ironic), stop lights and stop signs, baseball, fire trucks, lawn mowers (lawns are dirt), ovens, and so on. Imagine trying to explain these things to someone that's never seen or heard of them before. They don't always believe us, and when we try to explain things, it does make Americans
sound a little strange. Riding a board on waves!? Che!?
We attended a funeral in Bilingkoro a few weeks ago. By chance it was a Saturday and we happened to be around. One of the village men came to our door and told us that someone had died and we should go. We already guessed it was a funeral from the beating drum and the wailing women, but we've heard/seen so many strange things we didn't want to be presumptuous. We put on nice clothes and went out and discovered that there were hundreds of people, mostly visitors. The funeral is nothing at all like our funerals and so it was interesting to attend. They had set up a large awning where the men gathered to sit or stand or talk. (It was nice for me to be in the shade;) The women stay outside and generally sing songs of mourning and wail, so Carol sat with the women. She watched as the women came together in groups from their respective villages wailing and singing funeral songs.
The body was wrapped in cloth and lay in the deceased's house. In the house 10-12 Muslim men sat around reciting prayers from the Koran. I went in for a bit and said my own prayer. Many of the men were carrying money which they sometimes gave to people or pocketed. There were two men standing in the middle shouting things that I did not understand, but they seemed to bein charge. We stayed for about an hour and then we were told that this could go on all day and decided to head to Sambouya.
All of us are still doing very well. Jeje is now confident enough with her English to teach art on her own and even moved to her own classroom. It's very nice for Carol and I to get the break a few times a week. Pastor's family is doing great also. We got to have dinner with them and some other missionaries from the area last weekend. It was nice to have some other adults, and Americans, to chat with.
We're still eating well. We had some of the mac and cheese that my mother sent to us and right now the ladies are trying their hands at making some fried chicken! Carol has mastered French fries and somehow the ladies still make many traditional Korean foods as well. We keep saying that we'll start dieting at the beginning of every month, but so far that keeps getting pushed back...
We said last time that we'd write about some TMICA history. We are so indebted to all the people who came here before us. By no means are we living in luxury, but we definitely have some comforts that we never could have anticipated. And having students who already know how to line up and sit quietly and do their homework and hold their pencils is a blessing we cannot measure. TMICA (Teachus Mission International Christian Academy) opened three years ago. Pastor Joshua, his family, and many supporters planned, raised funds, and built a school that can currently house about 120 students plus staff. The timeline on which all of this happened is so small that nothing less than the hand of God at work could explain it. The continuing vision is to educate these students all the way through college. In addition to the school, TM is also devoted to starting churches and making disciples/disciplers. Benjamin, a native Guinean who has been discipled by Pastor for nearly 3 years just took over the responsibility of preaching the church services in Sambouya. Pastor and his family are relocating to a nearby village to begin their second church in February.
TM is also in the process of beginning a new ministry in Cambodia which broke ground in June and made TMICA truly international. There are 1,581 peoples in the world who have no access to the gospel and TM's vision is to reach all of them.
On a final note, we saw our first real snake a few nights ago. We've seen a couple babies, no bigger than a pencil, but we were walking home at night and came upon it in the road. Fortunately we noticed it before we stepped on it and it slithered away. People here have been killed by them before so you have to take them seriously. This one wasn't huge, only about 3 feet long, but it was as thick around as your upper arm. The villagers that we told afterward warned us about the grave dangers of walking at night and insisted that we take the motos at night.
There's a couple of big events coming up that we would appreciate your prayer for. Urbana is a ginormous Christian gathering that happens every three years and this year it is in St. Louis. TM will have a booth and some representatives there to share our ministry and recruit teachers and missionaries. Please pray that God would use this event to help expand the TM ministry and provide teachers for years to come. Secondly, a group of men and women will be coming from California for M4E in January. They will come to see and learn about village life and the work that is being done at
TMICA.
Thank you for your prayers. We know that God is answering them and we feel blessed everyday because of it.
Love,
Shannon and Carol
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Village Life
Inike everyone,
We hope that all of you are well! We think of you all often and pray that God is transforming your lives. Here in Guinea where we don't have access to certain needs, it gives God the opportunity answer our prayers in a big way. This past week, many of our children were very sick. Some had malaria, another had worms, and others had the stomach flu. They had fevers that were 102 and 103 on a regular basis, and we were concerned for them. Some of our children were on malaria medicine prescribed by the doctor that comes to our center weekly. He is the father of one of our children,
Alexis. However, since this is Africa, typically children are all given chloroquin. So as we prayed before we went to bed, Shannon and I asked God to completely heal our children. At that point, I was so frustrated at my inability to help them. The next morning, when Pastor Joshua asked the children during chapel time if any of them felt sick, everyone said that they were healthy. They have been healthy through the end of this week as well, which is really a miracle since we have typically been sending 2-3 students home sick every day. We praise God for answering our prayers and thank you so much for your prayers as well. Please continue to pray for their health!
This past Tuesday, the villagers celebrated the end of Ramadan. Typically, they sacrifice goats each year to atone for their sins that year. Then have a large feast after their forty days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. A "dj" comes into large villages where they have a celebration with music and dancing. Sarah sahmonim, Jeje, and I went on Tuesday into Sambouya to say hello during the festivities. Everyone from nearby villages was there, because it's one of the larger villages around here. I said hello to many people from Bilingkoro, the village Shannon and I live in about 15 minutes away by foot. As usual, about 30 or so children followed us around and stood by us. Many women and girls had their hair braided and some even wore makeup, probably made from things found here. At the end of Ramadan, many people buy new clothes and other things for themselves and their children, so we saw many people with new earrings and clothing.
We said earlier that we would share more about village life. First we usually go home after dinner because we eat with Jeje. On a side note, we have a bat that somehow got into the guesthouse, where Jeje stays. We haven't been able to get rid of it for two nights because it flies up into the cracks. Now I really know what a bat looks and flies like now. Shannon almost caught it with a large cloth, but it flew out from under it. I'm hoping that we can humanely get rid of it, but I'm not sure if we can. Oh my goodness, there are two. As I'm writing this e-mail, two just appeared from nowhere inside the house. Shannon grabbed the broom and hit them. I think he's gotten tired of trying to throw cloth on them to catch them. We're too busy screaming and trying to avoid it to do anything. One landed on an umbrella after he hit it. He put a bag over it and threw it outside. The other flew into a small room after he hit it but it's nowhere to be seen. We went back outside and we think the other one was just stunned and flew away.
Anyways, most of the time we travel by moto, but occasionally by foot or car. On the way home, Shannon usually leads the way and blocks most of the spider webs we encounter. There's always the frogs, ant colonies, and animal dung to avoid as well. It's interesting though to hear all the night sounds as we go home. When we get home we walk around the village and greet villagers. Usually, people invite us to sit on a bench or small stool. The other night we sat with a young woman named Kuta. She always wants me to touch her belly because she's due anytime soon. All the women in Bilingkoro wonder why I'm not pregnant, because it's rare for us to see women who aren't pregnant here. Making babies is valued in this culture, so I get teased every so often about my apparent lack of baby making abilities.
Another interesting thing about village life is how much you stick out when you're a tubab, or white person. People ask you, "Did you bring me a gift?" and children always ask us for candy. We've been asked for the clothes we're wearing and the flashlight we carry numerous times. In fact, my bandana and our flashlight almost got taken away from us by people who we thought were just looking at them when they asked to see it.
But, it's fun to sit and talk with people too. The people are good company and usually try to teach us a little Maninka. On certain nights when the sky is clear, you can even see shooting stars. Even when the moon isn't full, it's still bright enough to walk without a flashlight on clear nights. The children sometimes follow us around and try to teach us songs. So far, we've learned one that goes, "N Barete Ekana Wee kay Fom ba kay" which means something like, "You will not do it, I will do it." The other song is "Segaram po, segaram pa", and the second part changes. It doesn't really mean anything but it's some song that Mohammed sang.
In our village, although this is never toward us, the people can be verbally aggressive. We often wake up/go to bed hearing people yelling at each other about various things. We recorded one particularly loud fight one morning and had Pastor Joshua translate it for us. He said the women were arguing about some illness, but it was hard for him to tell what they were saying. Typically, we hear women arguing with each other. Pastor said that sometimes the arguments are between wives, since polygamy is practiced here. When we first arrived, we were bothered by the yelling and hesitant to leave the house, but it's become commonplace. We even walk around now outside while people are fighting, and once in a while I try to ask someone what people are fighting about.
One nice story about village life: One of the older ladies that lives very close to us asked Shannon one morning if she could have a ride to Sambouya for medicine for her head. People around here know that they can go to Pastor's house for some medical needs. We had some Tylenol around and so we just gave her a pill. The next morning when we walked outside our front door, she was finishing hoeing the weeds around our front yard as a thank you to us. She told us that her head was much better and we were touched by her kindness back to us.
We ask that you please continue to pray about our passport situation for Jeje and I, especially Jeje. Please also pray for perseverance because sometimes it's easy to get discouraged here. We are doing very well and it's hard to believe it's already been two months. At the same time, it feels like we've been here forever. We don't really miss material things or comforts, but we do miss all of you. God bless!
Love,
Shannon and Carol
We hope that all of you are well! We think of you all often and pray that God is transforming your lives. Here in Guinea where we don't have access to certain needs, it gives God the opportunity answer our prayers in a big way. This past week, many of our children were very sick. Some had malaria, another had worms, and others had the stomach flu. They had fevers that were 102 and 103 on a regular basis, and we were concerned for them. Some of our children were on malaria medicine prescribed by the doctor that comes to our center weekly. He is the father of one of our children,
Alexis. However, since this is Africa, typically children are all given chloroquin. So as we prayed before we went to bed, Shannon and I asked God to completely heal our children. At that point, I was so frustrated at my inability to help them. The next morning, when Pastor Joshua asked the children during chapel time if any of them felt sick, everyone said that they were healthy. They have been healthy through the end of this week as well, which is really a miracle since we have typically been sending 2-3 students home sick every day. We praise God for answering our prayers and thank you so much for your prayers as well. Please continue to pray for their health!
This past Tuesday, the villagers celebrated the end of Ramadan. Typically, they sacrifice goats each year to atone for their sins that year. Then have a large feast after their forty days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. A "dj" comes into large villages where they have a celebration with music and dancing. Sarah sahmonim, Jeje, and I went on Tuesday into Sambouya to say hello during the festivities. Everyone from nearby villages was there, because it's one of the larger villages around here. I said hello to many people from Bilingkoro, the village Shannon and I live in about 15 minutes away by foot. As usual, about 30 or so children followed us around and stood by us. Many women and girls had their hair braided and some even wore makeup, probably made from things found here. At the end of Ramadan, many people buy new clothes and other things for themselves and their children, so we saw many people with new earrings and clothing.
We said earlier that we would share more about village life. First we usually go home after dinner because we eat with Jeje. On a side note, we have a bat that somehow got into the guesthouse, where Jeje stays. We haven't been able to get rid of it for two nights because it flies up into the cracks. Now I really know what a bat looks and flies like now. Shannon almost caught it with a large cloth, but it flew out from under it. I'm hoping that we can humanely get rid of it, but I'm not sure if we can. Oh my goodness, there are two. As I'm writing this e-mail, two just appeared from nowhere inside the house. Shannon grabbed the broom and hit them. I think he's gotten tired of trying to throw cloth on them to catch them. We're too busy screaming and trying to avoid it to do anything. One landed on an umbrella after he hit it. He put a bag over it and threw it outside. The other flew into a small room after he hit it but it's nowhere to be seen. We went back outside and we think the other one was just stunned and flew away.
Anyways, most of the time we travel by moto, but occasionally by foot or car. On the way home, Shannon usually leads the way and blocks most of the spider webs we encounter. There's always the frogs, ant colonies, and animal dung to avoid as well. It's interesting though to hear all the night sounds as we go home. When we get home we walk around the village and greet villagers. Usually, people invite us to sit on a bench or small stool. The other night we sat with a young woman named Kuta. She always wants me to touch her belly because she's due anytime soon. All the women in Bilingkoro wonder why I'm not pregnant, because it's rare for us to see women who aren't pregnant here. Making babies is valued in this culture, so I get teased every so often about my apparent lack of baby making abilities.
Another interesting thing about village life is how much you stick out when you're a tubab, or white person. People ask you, "Did you bring me a gift?" and children always ask us for candy. We've been asked for the clothes we're wearing and the flashlight we carry numerous times. In fact, my bandana and our flashlight almost got taken away from us by people who we thought were just looking at them when they asked to see it.
But, it's fun to sit and talk with people too. The people are good company and usually try to teach us a little Maninka. On certain nights when the sky is clear, you can even see shooting stars. Even when the moon isn't full, it's still bright enough to walk without a flashlight on clear nights. The children sometimes follow us around and try to teach us songs. So far, we've learned one that goes, "N Barete Ekana Wee kay Fom ba kay" which means something like, "You will not do it, I will do it." The other song is "Segaram po, segaram pa", and the second part changes. It doesn't really mean anything but it's some song that Mohammed sang.
In our village, although this is never toward us, the people can be verbally aggressive. We often wake up/go to bed hearing people yelling at each other about various things. We recorded one particularly loud fight one morning and had Pastor Joshua translate it for us. He said the women were arguing about some illness, but it was hard for him to tell what they were saying. Typically, we hear women arguing with each other. Pastor said that sometimes the arguments are between wives, since polygamy is practiced here. When we first arrived, we were bothered by the yelling and hesitant to leave the house, but it's become commonplace. We even walk around now outside while people are fighting, and once in a while I try to ask someone what people are fighting about.
One nice story about village life: One of the older ladies that lives very close to us asked Shannon one morning if she could have a ride to Sambouya for medicine for her head. People around here know that they can go to Pastor's house for some medical needs. We had some Tylenol around and so we just gave her a pill. The next morning when we walked outside our front door, she was finishing hoeing the weeds around our front yard as a thank you to us. She told us that her head was much better and we were touched by her kindness back to us.
We ask that you please continue to pray about our passport situation for Jeje and I, especially Jeje. Please also pray for perseverance because sometimes it's easy to get discouraged here. We are doing very well and it's hard to believe it's already been two months. At the same time, it feels like we've been here forever. We don't really miss material things or comforts, but we do miss all of you. God bless!
Love,
Shannon and Carol
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Luggage Arrives
We received our other three bags last night!!! Praise God that we got them and everything was still in them! It was like Christmas, only better. We're enjoying being able to wear our own underwear again, although we were so grateful for all the ways Pastor and his fam provided the stuff we needed when we didn't have anything. It's really a miracle that the rest of our bags even came, and we thank you so much for your prayers!
We hope all is well back at home and we miss you all.
P.S. - As we walked back to our village the other day, we said hello to a woman who had a mouse sliced open in her hand. Thank goodness she gave us her other hand to shake. She was about to cook it for dinner. Mmmmmm
We hope all is well back at home and we miss you all.
P.S. - As we walked back to our village the other day, we said hello to a woman who had a mouse sliced open in her hand. Thank goodness she gave us her other hand to shake. She was about to cook it for dinner. Mmmmmm
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
4th Week of School
We're midway through our 4th week of school and things are still looking good! We're still healthy, united and in good spirits. We even got a chance to call home this past weekend and talk for a few minutes, although when people tried to call us using phone cards we couldn't hear anyone on the other end. We'll have to figure out why that is happening. They're building a larger cell tower in Farranah which is only 5km from here so hopefully we'll even have good reception soon!
Pastor tested positive on Sunday for malaria, but it hasn't really slowed him down too much yet. We think he's had it so many times that he just knows how to deal with it. We both had a bit of a cold/sore throat early this week but we're pretty much back to normal now. JeJe's leg seems to be pretty well healed and she has no trouble walking around campus, so praise God for that answered prayer!
The kids seem to get sick quite often. Each of us sends about 4-5 kids home too sick to stay in class each week. Mostly they get fevers, some malaria some just illness, but some of them seem to linger and pop up again every couple of days. If you could please pray for the health of our students that would be a big blessing for us and them!
Now that we've been here for a few weeks and we've really gotten to see what M4 missions is and it's purpose we can really compare it to our expectations before we came. M4 for those who don't know, is the 1,581 different tribes, villages and peoples still left in the world who still have no accessibility to the gospel whatsoever. The goal of M4 missions is to reach every one of those places, share the gospel and make disciples. Pastor Joshua was given the vision of the school to go along with his ministry and so he built the school here in Sambouya near his first "church." I use quotes only because it is nothing like the buildings we're used to. It is round and open air under a straw roof, just like meeting places in other
villages, so that it can be easily duplicated by the villagers.
Right now our focus is mostly on teaching, but as we get more into the school year we're hoping to spend more time in Bilingkoro, learning the language and trying to share Christ with our neighbors. Right now the task seems very large, but we're still hopeful that it will all be done.
Pastor tested positive on Sunday for malaria, but it hasn't really slowed him down too much yet. We think he's had it so many times that he just knows how to deal with it. We both had a bit of a cold/sore throat early this week but we're pretty much back to normal now. JeJe's leg seems to be pretty well healed and she has no trouble walking around campus, so praise God for that answered prayer!
The kids seem to get sick quite often. Each of us sends about 4-5 kids home too sick to stay in class each week. Mostly they get fevers, some malaria some just illness, but some of them seem to linger and pop up again every couple of days. If you could please pray for the health of our students that would be a big blessing for us and them!
Now that we've been here for a few weeks and we've really gotten to see what M4 missions is and it's purpose we can really compare it to our expectations before we came. M4 for those who don't know, is the 1,581 different tribes, villages and peoples still left in the world who still have no accessibility to the gospel whatsoever. The goal of M4 missions is to reach every one of those places, share the gospel and make disciples. Pastor Joshua was given the vision of the school to go along with his ministry and so he built the school here in Sambouya near his first "church." I use quotes only because it is nothing like the buildings we're used to. It is round and open air under a straw roof, just like meeting places in other
villages, so that it can be easily duplicated by the villagers.
Right now our focus is mostly on teaching, but as we get more into the school year we're hoping to spend more time in Bilingkoro, learning the language and trying to share Christ with our neighbors. Right now the task seems very large, but we're still hopeful that it will all be done.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Lost Passports
Carol and JeJe's passports have been lost. Someone was going to take them to get the visas and they left them in the taxi. They are working on trying to track them down in Conakry, but we could use some prayer from everyone. We have copies of Carol's and it probably wouldn't be too hard to replace it through the embassy here, but there's no Korean embassy so JeJe might have some problems if they are not found.
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