Healing 2 The Nations International ~ Dr. Claudia R. Wintoch ~ Blog May 2011

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Colorado Springs

What an interesting three days in this town where our office is now located, and where I have one board member. The board member/pastor was out of town, and I only got to see him tonight - though not to talk to him. It was their mid-week service, and he preached.

My two days - Mon and Tue - were filled with office work, trying to get things done. I also enjoyed time with my friend Carolyn who I was staying with. Yesterday we watched a great movie at home; I was too tired to go anywhere. Thank God for friends. I was able to unburden myself and find a listening ear.

Time was way to short, as it's off to California tomorrow.

Professional Pictures

When the publisher wanted a picture for my book from me, no picture seemed good enough. I was just glad they accepted one in the end. They told me to have professional pictures taken, and I never forgot that.

On Sunday I overheard Carolyn's family talking about a great photographer in town, and I wondered, whether I could have my picture taken. Sure, it was short notice; sure, the book is already out, but to my amazement it worked out.

And so I had an appointment today. I put on three different outfits (and just one of my new ones), and she took about 30 pictures. Half of them were taken with my book. The book seemed to be the star of the show!

To see all the pictures, click here:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150205546698405.333082.550303404&l=37852430ea

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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Preaching In Colorado Springs

I woke up just before my alarm went off at 6:30 am. I was actually feeling a bit hungry (finally!) and made myself and sandwich and some tea. I spent some time with God and finished packing. At 7:45 am I said good-bye to my friends. My stay had been way too short!

I had over 2 hours of driving ahead of me. It was a little bit rainy, but not for long. The weather improved as I got closer to Colorado Springs; the tiredness increased as well. I was listening to my sermon that I was about to preach for the first hour, and was worshiping God for the second. I arrived at the church just before 10 am - tired but ready to rock!

There were a few people there getting things ready for the service. I set up my materials on the table in the back, and gave my flash drive to the tech guy. I was hoping for our secretary to show up soon so we could set up the books, and so I could give her some instructions for after the service. I only saw her once the service had started, and it was good to see her and her husband again.

The pastor and his family was out of town which is why I was asked to fill in. I missed seeing them there, though. And because it's a long weekend with Monday being a holiday, quite a few people were out of town.

After a short little speech the worship leader started leading worship; there were quite a few songs I didn't know, and I was missing the real intimate heart-to-heart songs. Then they did the offering, and then it was my turn.

I gave a short introduction, and then I showed my video presentation. After the presentation, I gave an update on what's going on in Mali. Then it was time to preach.

The piano player came back up, and I started praying, and then going straight into my message, starting with sharing an encounter with God I had. The people were really quiet, but I felt it was going well.

At the end I prayed again and asked anyone who wanted prayer forward. Somebody else closed the service, and I prayed for a few people. I enjoyed talking with a few people, and several came up to me to tell me how blessed they were by my message.

I was thankful that our secretary was selling books in the meantime. We sold 10 copies this morning.

My adrenaline was still up, I guess, and so I wasn't tired yet. I was thankful that one lady from the church had invited me out for lunch. So I followed her and her family to Panera's bread, where we had a nice lunch and time of fellowship. Then I said my good-byes.

By that time - at 2:30 pm - the tiredness suddenly hit me. Still, I needed to pass by Walmart to get a few things. I got most things, paid, and when I arrived at the car, I noticed that one item was missins :-(. I was too tired to go back in and try to recover it.

I had another half-hour to drive to my friend's house where I'd be staying the next few nights. I was extremely tired and glad when I finally arrived. My friend's family was just arriving as well for the Memorial Day family gathering. They were so kind to help get my stuff up to my room - including two boxes of my books that I need to sign.

I was told that dinner was only about 40 minutes away. That wasn't much time! I lay down for 30 minutes, and just that short time made a huge difference and helped me get through the rest of the day.

At 4 pm I went downstairs to join everybody else. They were grilling beautiful meat. I had met some family members before, and I had a good time catching up. The weather was pretty nice, though it was very windy.

Later in the day I was able to connect to the internet and catch up a little bit, and really enjoy a FAST internet connection. At one point I had some good talking time with Carolyn. Back in my room, I somehow got a second wind and suddenly it was midnight before I went to bed.

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Saturday, May 28, 2011

First Day In Colorado

During the night I woke up repeatedly, feeling nauseous at times. At 6:30 am I woke up to stay up; I had slept 11 hours. However, I got tired again pretty quickly, and so, after an hour of being up, I went back to sleep and slept another 3 hours.

I then went down to join my host who was having breakfast with her friend. However, I could not stand the thought of eating anything. I ended up eating some yogurt with raspberries, though.

After a shower and a little sandwich later in the day, we decided to go out and run some errands. I was still not feeling very well and was wondering whether I was up to it. Then my friend told me God had spoken to her to buy me new clothes. I was excited! When I packed in Mali, I couldn't find a few of my favorite pieces of clothing, wondering where they were, and I haven't had new clothes in a while, and it was really time. Awesome God!

So we went to two shops, and at the second, we found some beautiful stuff. I had never heard of the store before (Dressbarn), but I loved it. I found 3 beautiful dresses - and my friend helped me greatly advising me. I'm not someone who enjoys clothes-shopping, so I was glad she was with me.

Linda liked one dress in particular and added some accessories to it. I was ready to dress up! If you go to tomorrow's post, you can see that dress there. I need to take pictures of the other two dresses as well. I was excited when we left the store.

Next we went to the beauty salon so I could get a manicure/pedicure - the second ever in my life. I had a littlem, cute pattern put on a few nails. I was amazed when Linda invited me to that beauty treatment as well! What a blessing! Now I'm ready to go face the (Western) world! :-)

I was pretty tired and glad when we got home. The rest of the day was spent talking and on the computer, packing and preparing for the service in the morning. I didn't want to stay up late and went to bed at 10:30 pm.

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Friday, May 27, 2011

From Paris To Colorado

As you can imagine, I was very tired when we arrived in Paris. I got off and made my way to my connecting gate in a different terminal. I went through security once again, and went to the frequent flyer lounge. I asked the lady there to move me up in my second plane to Salt Lake City. She said I should come back at 8 am so she could call Delta, as they had blocked many seats and there was nothing she could do before.

So I found a seat, got some tea, and connected to the internet, also had a little nap, and returned to the counter at 8 am. A different lady was there - and she simply changed my seat from 41 to 23. Yeah! Still, there is no way I'll make my connection with only 70 minutes and having to go through customs and immigration. If my last trip was any indication, they'll pull me aside at customs again because I'm coming from Africa.

I spoke to my Mom and my brother on the phone - as is my custom when I travel through Paris - and just before 10 am I left the lounge to go to my gate. Arriving at the gate, they kept changing the boarding time to later, telling us the pilot was stuck in traffic. Great! Finally they did let us get on.

The plane left 40 minutes after scheduled time. I was sitting in the middle of economy class, and I was not happy when I saw that there weren't individual screens in the seats - for a 11-hour flight! The overhead screens were not easy to see from my location. I was sure glad I had a book to read with me. In fact, these past 3 weeks I've read 6 Terri Blackstock books - you just can't put them down once you start reading. And so I was kind of annoyed when I finished the book hours before we landed in Salt Lake City. I had not planned on finishing it before ever getting to the US!

Unfortunately, I knew the first movie they showed. I did not know the second movie, but at that point I was getting so tired I just had to stop watching it and take a nap. After all, I've hardly slept in the plane from Mali last night. Unfortunately I knew movies #3 and #4 as well. After finishing my book, and using up my computer's battery, I still had a few hours to go, and I was bored. I love flying, but this was my longest flight ever, and I couldn't wait for it to be over.

The food was okay, but not great. I miss traveling with Air France! Fact is, you never know in advance whether it's Air France or Delta who operates the flight, as they work together. Flying Delta overseas has not been a good experience yet. We served a meal in the beginning, had the opportunity to buy snacks in between, and were served a slice of pizza and ice-cream before landing. Could it be any more unhealthy? Honestly, my stomach did not all this food, as it's not used to it anymore, but what do you do? I did not have any food with me, and I was hungry. I found myself wishing I had brought one of my precious protein bars with me - but I buy them in the US to have them in Mali.

When I travel overseas, my nose always starts running like crazy, and this time was no exception. I don't know what it is - the dry air or something I'm allergic to... thankfully they have tissues in the bathrooms, but they're so rough that it doesn't take long for my nose to be all red. Every time I went to the bathroom, I filled my pockets with tissues to last me until the next time I'd go.

We were scheduled to arrive at 3:10 pm local time, and the pilot was able to make up some time so that we only had a 1-hour delay. Which left 1 hour for me to catch my connection. Impossible!

Thank God I wasn't in the last row of the plane - I could not have caught my connection. As I walked off the plane, I started walking as fast as possible, overtaking one person after another. As we got to immigration, I was amazed. There was a long line of people in the "US citizen" line, and just one person in the "non US citizen" line. Wow. Normally it's the other way around. Soon, there was a long line behind me. The power-walking had paid off.

The officer was nice, and quick, and not curious. Once through, the conveyor belt for our luggage had not even started yet. There were only two belts in total. You can tell, this is a small airport, which is actually an advantage for arriving internationally.

My bag needed a while to get out, but it had made it. In the past, I've been stopped at customs because I live in Africa, but this time I just walked through. Had I been stopped, I would not have made it.

Next I had to put my bag back on the conveyor belt. Now, because of all the security, I had my belt in my carry-on bag, and as I was walking really fast, I could feel my pants sliding. Plus, I had put on my loosest underpants, and they were sliding too. I hoped to make it to the conveyor belt, but before I did, they were slipping down. I quickly stopped to pull them up. If anyone looked at me at that moment...

Next I had to go through security (again) - including the scanner - and then it was time to find out what gate I had to go to. Normally my gate is always the furthest away possible - it's amazing - but this time it was the first gate in that terminal. Praise God! I was amazed when I got there half an hour before scheduled departure, and they had not even started boarding yet.

It was a small plane, and I had a window seat for the one-hour ride. So I took advantage of getting a nap in. As we descended into Denver, there was a lot of turbulence and the flight attendant was funny when she said she'd come through to pick up trash, and "if I fall, catch me".

We arrived in Denver pretty much on time at 4:45 pm. I felt pretty miserably. When I got to the baggage claim area, my bag was already making rounds. I picked it up, and made my way to the rental agency bus that would take me to my car. Everything went smoothly. I got off, located the car, and went straight to it, loading my stuff in and setting up my GPS, choosing my friends' house as destination. It was a 75 min ride.

There was a lot of traffic in Denver as it was rush hour, but I soon left Denver behind me, driving north to Denver. While I was driving, the tiredness became really intense, plus I felt rather bad. I had been feeling nauseous from time to time on this trip. I was SO GLAD when I finally arrived at my friends's house at 6:30 pm. My trip had lasted a total of just over 28 hours.

My friends could see how exhausted I was. They invited me to join them for dinner, eating steak, and I had some meat, "perogui" and salad. However, I don't think I shouldn't have eaten that much with my stomach already upset.

I talked with my friends for a while, but I really could not go on and just had to go to bed. So it was 7:30 pm when I hit the hay.

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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Off To Cold Colorado

These past few weeks of heat have been tough, with the power going out every night (with a few exceptions). But as I look at the weather in Colorado, I can tell that I'm going to be cold very soon; probably as soon as on the plane anyway.

This is a very short trip compared to my usual trips, just over two weeks long. But it's all the more intense with two conferences and lots of driving. Also, I'm gonna hit the road running when I arrive in Colorado. This Sunday I'm preaching in Colorado Springs - you're invited - and I'll be selling and signing my book after the service.

Tonight I'm leaving Bamako, flying overnight to Paris, then taking a plane to Salt Lake City. That's an 11-hour flight. As I checked in online, I discovered that I was sitting in the last row. As a frequent flyer, I have no idea how THAT happened. The plane is full, and there is nothing I can do about it.

Which means there is no way I'm gonna get my connection in SLC. Already, I only had 70 minutes, and I have to go through immigration and customs. Then I'm taking a plane to Denver, where I get a rental car to drive to Greeley. Looks like I'll be arriving pretty late, even local time-wise.

I'll appreciate your prayers for all my luggage to arrive, for a safe trip, and for strength and grace. Sunday morning I'm gonna drive a few hours down to Colorado Springs to preach. So it's gonna be quite a weekend.

[LATER] We did our family meeting earlier so that I could still do it before leaving. At the end the kids surrounded me and prayed for my trip. Then I prayed for them, and said my good-byes. I hurried to get everything packed up, said good-bye to my cat, and handed my key over to Christian. Then Christian, Paul and I left to drive to the airport. I just hate leaving! As much as I hate coming back. It's the transition that is hard.

At the airport, they quickly dropped me off before the police complained. Thankfully this trip is only 2+ weeks. Soon I'll be reunited with my Malian family.

I was surprised at how few people were at the airport. Check-in at the business counter was quick. I headed through immigration and security and went to the frequent flyer lounge. It was 9 pm when I got there, with the plane scheduled to leave at 10:45 pm. I was reading my book, when they suddenly announced at 9:25 pm that boarding was starting. That's definitely the earliest boarding compared to every other airport, at 80 minutes before departure.

However, as much security as there is, they do need the time. When I lined up, there were few people, but a few minutes later the line was long. They check your passport about 10 times in Bamako, and your carry-on luggage a few times as well. Tonight they were very nice, though, and spoke Bambara with me. They seemed more laid back tonight.

I think I made it onto the first bus going to the plane - which was in walking distance by the way. All the bus had to do was turn right in as tight a circle as he could, and we had arrived! I was the third person to walk up the staircase into the plane

I had a good seat in the third row of economy class; a Malian man joined me there later. The plane was pretty full. I was thankful for a TIME magazine, and finished it before we even took off.

We left on time, and I picked one movie to watch; it was okay but not great. I enjoyed my Air France meal (I always love it), finished the movie, and then tried to get some sleep. At 3 am Malian time they already woke everyone up again and served an old croissant and tea & coffee. An hour later we arrived in Paris.

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Construction Progress

It's been great to see construction making progress, but even greater to have Yakou (Ray) here to oversee the process and prevent errors and bad quality work. He's already made a big difference.

We've sat down with our construction manager Kossi to discuss things and had a great time where I learned much I had not known before - thanks to Yakou's curiosity and questions.

They've done most of the plumbing and wiring now, and have been plastering the wall on the inside and outside, which is gonna take another 10 days or so. Next they're gonna put in the bars outside the windows, then lay the tiles, then paint, then put the plugs and switches in. So if the remaining money came in now, I'd be able to move in July at the latest. Wouldn't that be great!

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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Prodigal Returns

Great was my surprise when I looked outside this morning, and there I saw my prodigal son Daouda (11) who I've been praying for these past 4 months, and for whom my heart was breaking, wondering where he was and what he was doing. Daouda ran away after having done something really bad, and the street kids telling him that we would beat him up for it. I don't understand how Daouda could believe such a thing, but he did, and ran away, leaving town so that we could not find him again.

But we've been looking and heard that he was back in town, and did everything we could to find him. Last night he was coming our way, and our boys returning home from evening school saw him, and took him along, back home. He spent the night in the dining hall with the street kids, and this morning I got to see him and hug and hold my little boy. He looks so fragile, and has gone through a lot of suffering in his life because of his stuttering problem. I can't wait to show him the movie "The King's Speech" to encourage them.

So it's a day of joy because the son who was lost has been found and restored to the family!

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Monday, May 23, 2011

Daily Life

A few daily life pictures with commentaries:

Dinner time! Eating out of one bowl with your hand (or spoon). Looks like the Americans are settling in really well!

Julie with nearly-3-year-old Jonathan, and Mimi with 6-year-old Sarata.

The kids get a vitamin in the morning, and one at night. Christian (who's only with us for another 3 weeks) distributes the vitamins.

The Americans hiking up the hill to the north of our base, with our street kids accompanying them.

Yakou at work - trying to repair the generator, and adding distilled water to our battery bank to bring the level up again.

For the past few days the mechanic has been working on our bus to get it to run again - putting in a new battery and repairing the damage done by rats.

Construction is moving along for now. They've been plastering the inside and outside walls of house #3.

Current picture of house #2 and the whole base from the top of the hill.

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Saturday, May 21, 2011

Mimi Preaching

This morning it started raining, meaning that our batteries were not charged with solar energy at all and resulting in the power never coming on. Not a good situation.

At 3 pm we had our weekly service, and it was Mimi's turn to preach. She did a great job! But first Paul led a time of Bambara praise, then I gave a little offering speech talking about today being the day of Jesus's return, and what if He did come back. Then Mimi came up, and she didn't give them more than they could handle, preaching for 35 minutes (including double translation).

In the evening we had our first team meeting for ALL adult team members, not just the core team, and it was good.

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Friday, May 20, 2011

This Past Week

Another week has gone by. These past few days the heat has been going up again, the power going out at night, and the kitchen noise is still there early morning being another factor to keep me from sleeping. This week I've noticed more the fatigue from the heat and lack of sleep.

Still, Yakou, Kossi and I went downtown on Tuesday to go to a construction store and pick out some things for my house under construction. We drove all the way downtown where I don't usually drive because it's too crazy. I was thankful for the miracle of getting a parking spot right in front of the store. It was hard enough getting out of it afterwards.

There was a good selection of tiles to choose from, and it wasn't that easy. I've been wanting to pain my walls different than just white, but in the end I went back to white, not trusting the Malians to get the color identical every time they mix it together. Instead I picked out some great tiles, and got really excited imagining how everything would look like. You're gonna love it and wanna come to Mali right away! ;-)

We also talked about the water heater, and somebody in the store pointed us to a nearby shop where they have solar heaters. Our solar installation missionary Anco had actually told us that a solar heater would be best. When we got to the store, they had a solar heater right there. I had never seen anything like it. It really seems like the best option since an electric heater needs more energy than we have, but in terms of buying it, it's much more expensive.

What else happened this week? Today we had our weekly prayer meeting. As every week, I had to repeat myself in terms of getting things ready; they just never do. I then led worship for an hour, and really went into His presence, and hardly anyone else did. That broke my heart once again. Coming from a revival background, it breaks my heart to see the children not able to worship or connect with God and totally oblivious to His presence and disinterested in meeting with Him. I just wished I wasn't the one at the piano, so I could model for them how to worship and pray.

At one point I asked God to speak to us, to open our eyes to see, and ears to hear. After a while I asked them to share what God had spoken. No one single person had heard anything from God. That discouraged me even more. In the past we've had times when half the people - kids and adults - would share pictures, visions and words. I'm at a loss at how to stir them to more hunger for God. I think we need to be watching my DVDs where God is moving again.

However, our sound system has been broken, and the guy who had it these past 3 weeks couldn't repair it. Today I was given the name of another person, and I hope it will get fixed soon. Because of it, we can't do our weekly movie nights right now, plus my voice is not loud which is hard when I lead worship.

The literacy class for street children is going well, though we're down to 4 children doing it - not very much. Some quit, some I had to tell to quit because they couldn't keep up. I also teach the Americans Bambara, but quite a few classes fell victim to schedule changes, and to the birthday party yesterday.

A few daily life pictures:

Kids getting onto the truck to go to school at 7 am. Since Yakou has the license necessary to drive our little bus, we bought a car battery, and the mechanic has come to make it run again. He told us that rats have caused some damage inside. The bus has been sitting in our courtyard for the past 6 months.

Every morning Christian works with Hama - that's Hama's "school". He's now working on improving Hama's motoric skills, as well as mental skills (like learning colors and numbers).

Lunch time! Two big tables put together, and everyone fits around it to have lunch eating out of 2-3 bowls.

Every night - after the Bible story for the street children - we gather in the living room for our family meeting. I look at who did and did not their chores, they say their memorized verses, and they get to put stickers into sticker books (from the Austrian grocery stores BILLA and SPAR - picture above). In the end I lay hands on each one of them and pray over them. Then we hug each other, and they go to bed.

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Three More Birthdays

After celebrating three birthdays last Saturday, we celebrated 3 more today (though there were 4 birthdays, but Marie-Madeleine wasn't here). Paul turned 23 yesterday, Fousseni turned 20 yesterday, and not-yet-resident Daouda turns 11 on Sunday.

I made a chocolate cake again (baking mix), and put all the candles on. This picture shows me lighting the candles, while the birthday "kids" had to wait outside.

I then called them in, and we sang Happy Birthday a few times for them before they blew out the candles.

Then I cut up the cake and distributed it to everyone. There was plenty for everyone.

Then it was time to hand out the gifts, and one after another gave them what they had prepared.

I gave Daouda traditional Malian festive clothes, and Paul a coupon for a honeymoon week in Senegal, promising him I'd do everything in my power to make it possible. As you can tell in this picture, he was pretty happy!

As always, the party was over after half an hour, and I was able to start teaching the street kids to read and write their language.

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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Birthday Meal & Swimming

Paul, most kids and the Americans headed out to the village of Goro to do ministry right after breakfast. The rest of us got ready for a special birthday outing - 5 birthday 'kids' and Christian. Fousseni (turning 19) and Abdias (now 18) - both non-resident kids currently - showed up on time; of course they wouldn't want to miss this special day, even more so not being resident any more.

At 11 am we piled into the car - Sarata (now 6), Hama (soon 10), Fousseni, Abdias, Christian and myself - and headed across town to my (formerly) favorite restaurant. I was glad there was less traffic than I had expected.

The restaurant was nearly empty as we sat down, and it stayed that way. We read our menus and picked our choices. Not everyone was that happy with their food, including me. They didn't have what I usually eat there, and so I ended up taking a T-bone steak. It was tough - this picture shows Abdias getting the remaining meat off the bone.

But the dessert is the best in town. Christian had his banana split as always, while the rest of us had great milkshakes.

We were full as we left and made our way to the nearby hotel with the swimming pool. This was the first time we went there on a weekend, since it's more expensive. However, a free drink is included, so in the end it's the same price. The kids were sure happy to get TWO drinks on one day when it's such a rare thing.

It was an overcast day, which was actually nice for swimming (though not for gaining electricity; the power went out at 11 pm for the second day in a row). We all jumped right in, and the kids stayed in the water for most of the time.

My favorite moment of the day was when I got to talk to Fousseni and Abdias who are two of the three original kids I took in 5 years ago. Since they're not resident any more, I don't get to see or talk to them that often. I was glad to see that Fousseni is ready to move on, and he was excited when I told him about the new children's center and said he wanted to be one of the leaders there.

We had a great few hours at the swimming pool, having fun together. At 5 pm we packed our stuff and got back into the car to head home, all across town again.

We were downtown, crossing a street, when a policeman clearly told me to stop. Great! I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. He asked for the papers and driver's licence, he looked at them, gave them back, and said good-bye. What was the point?

Back home I could tell I was totally exhausted. I sure needed a break! I was so tired, that I kept the family meeting to a minimum, doing only what was absolutely essential. After the meeting, I turned my computer off early, but then made the mistake of reading a great book in bed, and reading on, and on, and on, and on... The power went out around 11 pm, the second day in a row. Oh great.

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Birthday Sleepover

Since it's Sarata's (6) and my (38) birthday today, I decided to let Sarata sleep over. So last night, the kids were watching a movie, and I told Sarata that she could come over any time she's tired. So she came after a while, and I set up the mattress for her. I still had some work to do in the office, but finished up as quickly as possible. She waited for me.

So I lied down as well, and we talked for a while. She didn't seem tired any more. Then she ended up drawing a picture for me, while I was reading a book. Finally she just fell asleep, and I kept reading.

In the morning, she woke up pretty early, but I was extremely tired. It had been a very hot night, and I had stayed up reading for a long time. But once a little girl is up, you have no choice. She was lying next to me for a while, until she got too bored. So I had to get up as well.

I made breakfast for us - simple bacon and eggs and bread - and we sat down to eat it. She enjoyed it all. Then I got one of her gifts out to give it to her already. She was very excited about that. It was a set of special, festive clothes, and she loved them, and put them on for the service in the afternoon.

The other picture shows my desk, with my cat curled up right there.

After breakfast and receiving her gift, Sarata went outside to join the other kids to play.

Weekly Service

Before our service, we took new family pictures. One of all those of us living on the base, and one of all the sponsored kids that were present.

At three o'clock we started our service. Earlier in the day I had Paul dictate the words for the Bambara songs he'd sing to me, so I could put them into the computer for projection. This was the first time we projected the Bambara words, and it was about time! It's Jérémie's job to do the projection, and he's doing a great job.

It's so cute to watch little 14-month-old Casimir dance during praise & worship time, and this picture shows him together with 3-year-old Jonathan. I also made a little video clip that I still have to upload to YouTube.

After Paul leading Bambara praise, I led French worship, did the offering, and then I handed it over to Paul to preach. And he did for 50 minutes, translating himself, preaching in both French and Bambara. Good job, Paul!

It was an opportunity for me to sit with the children and watch them more than when I preach myself. None of them fell asleep - maybe except our driver.

Birthday Celebration

After the service, we got things ready for our little birthday party. It's Sarata's and my birthday today, and Elisabeth's on Monday, so we celebrated the three of us. Quite a few more birthdays are coming up this next week. I baked a cake yesterday, and put the icing on today. After the service, I put on the finishing touches, writing Sarata's name and putting the candles on.

I had asked Mimi to make another cake, as we were more people than usual, and she made some beautiful banana bread (that I didn't get to taste) and put some candles on there as well.

I put the birthday table cloth on the two tables, called everyone together, lit the candles, and then switched to the receiving end. Everyone sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and then we blew out the candles.

Then I started cutting up and distributing the cake, and Mimi did the same with hers. They were gone in no time at all!

Then it was time for the gift distribution. I tried to keep everything under control, but that was hard with so many people. The thing is that only those who give gifts get a drink, and I didn't have enough drinks for everyone. Some went empty-handed, others had to share, and I tried to keep track, which is hard with 30 to 40 people.

Most of the gifts consisted of mangoes, apples and buiscits, with some exceptions. I was happy to get what I've wanted for years and specifically asked for - dumbbells. They were heavier than I had asked (they didn't have 3kg ones), so my first workout with them will be interesting. Paul's fiancée Rokia gave me chocolate mousse, one of my favorite desserts, that she bought at the nearby restaurant.

Sarata received a big package from her sponsors who I saw on my last trip. It contained beautiful clothes that she was very excited about, and she had to try them all on right away.

Then the party was over, Elisabeth and everyone from our old neighborhood was taken back home, and I was exhausted and glad to retreat to my house. The kids were happy to watch a move again - the book of Acts.

Tired or not, birthday or not, there was an upsetting incident at night. And birthday or not, the power went out before it was 11 pm.

Construction

It's been great to see construction moving forward. They've been plastering the walls inside and out, and putting wiring and plumbing in. I'm SO blessed to have Ray around, keeping them to a higher standard of quality in work, and discovering mistakes at an early stage so they can be rectified.

A few new pictures of the house perspectives you know from earlier pictures, and a new pictures of all three houses from the water tower:

And this one's a new perspective - the living room and kitchen:

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Good & Not Good Stuff

Time is flying by, as I'm busier than I've been in a while. I teach the street kids to read and write every day, which is fun but tiring. I also teach a marriage class twice a week, and do private marriage preparation with Paul & Rokia twice a week. We also do TPM sessions specifically with one boy right now. And yesterday I did the first Bambara class with our new American team members so they can learn the language.

So I was glad for quieter afternoon when everyone went to the village of Dara for ministry. I'm backed up with office work, having a hard time getting to it time-wise and energy-wise (the power still goes out every night causing insufficient sleep).

When they returned today, I was not happy. Our 18-year-old Joseph got his driver's license last week, and so I gave permission for him to drive from the main road to the village. However, when they returned, he also drove from the main road to our base - and drove right into our wall, since it's tight to park on our base. Metal deformed, the tire blown. One of my greatest desires is for my boys and my team to actually listen to what I'm saying and do it, rather than do what's best in their eyes. Sigh.

This morning Yakou, Kossi and I went around the construction site to discuss all kinds of things. Right now they're putting in the wires, plumbing, and are plastering the walls. I'm glad Yakou (Ray) is here to oversee the work. There's enough issues to deal with.

Yesterday the generator returned - but it's not working. It's only producing just above 100 V instead of 220 V, and so we'll have to continue living with the power going off every night.

For weeks I was wondering whether my trip to the US in June was happening or not. All the doors were closing. Now it's happening after all, but it's much shorter and fewer locations - Colorado Springs, Pasadena, and Las Vegas. I hope I made the right decision, and the trip is worth doing. I'm planning on visiting one church that promised to raise the remaining money to finish our third building by the end of May. I'm praying it's gonna happen.

I'm off to teach the street kids now!

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Sunday, May 8, 2011

Missionary Service & Accident

Every night the power goes out, and naturally that does have an effect on you when you're never sleeping well. We have to hold out another month before Anco comes to install the additional solar panels and equipment, and I'm counting the days. Having re-started several of our previous activities, I'm busier than before, plus the tiredness and heat... and I'm still doing amazingly fine. I enjoy life, love all that's going on, and am doing great, losing the weight from the last trip, and even exercising when the power is on. I'm not fretting over the lack of electricity - it doesn't help anyway - but have adjusted to that new routine (thankfully I only had to wait till 3 pm for the power to come on one single time).

All that sad, today - kind of my day off - I was just extremely tired and exhausted. As if all the tiredness of the week accumulated and decided to come out today. I was glad I had a day at home - and then I remembered that I did have to leave home tonight, and I wasn't excited about it.

We had decided to go to the missionary service, so we could introduce our new team members and they could meet some other missionaries. We left home at 5:30 pm and just about made it in time. That service is taking place all the way downtown in the oldest evangelical church in town. I was surprised at how few people there were - and there weren't any more coming. The service usually lasts one hour, but it was a little bit longer. It's a rather conversative service, very different from what I'm used to.

Out of my friends, only one couple was there, and I enjoyed talking to them after the service. We also talked to a few other people. Then we walked to the car to drive home. I backed up, and suddenly heard a clash. I had hit another car. I had not seen anything behind me (it was dark). I pulled the car to the side of the road, got out and looked at the other car. It had a little dent on the corner. As for our car, the glass was broken at the corner.

I'm just amazed, because 'for some reason', this afternoon I had thought it would be good to bring some business cards with me, 'just in case'. I haven't carried any on me forever. But now I was able to pull one out, and wrote a little message on it. By the time I was done, the car's owner had shown up. It was an older, educated, very friendly guy who owned that Mercedes. I apologized, gave him my car, asked for his, and told him we'd take care of it. Then I said good-bye, and we drove home. I was amazed at how calm I was, and barely upset since there was nothing that could be done about it anyway.

[Back home, Paul called the guy right away. It turned out he was the president of the islamic party, and a presidential candidate at the last elections! On Monday Paul met with him, told him he was a pastor, I was a pastor, and I was here to serve the Malian people. Paul asked him whether he'd treat a Muslim cleric the way he intended to treat us. That convinced him. We paid only $10 to take care of his damage, and on Tuesday we repaired ours - as well for $10. Praise God! If that's not the hand of God!]

I was glad when we were home. We did the family meeting, and then I retreated. I felt like it was much later than it actually was.

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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Weekly Service

What a day! As every night, the power went out. However, with rainy season approaching, the sky was overcast all day, and because of that, very little energy came in through the solar panels. We kept waiting and waiting for the power to come on, but to no avail.

And so I got a lot of the things done that don't need electricity and were waiting to get done anyway. Still, I was hot, and had some preparations for the service to do that did need electricity.

At 2 pm we started getting things ready, and at 2:30 pm we all prayed before the service. I set up the computer and projector, having faith the power would come on by the time the service started. During prayer time I asked someone with faith to pray for that, and Paul did. Exactly at 3 pm - the time the service starts - the power came back on!

Paul started off leading us in a time of Bambara praise. Many people had not shown up yet; more came later some didn't show at all. After him, it was my time to lead a time of French worship - including projecting the songs! Jérémie is away at his dance camp this weekend, and so Christian took his place at the computer.

I then introduced our new American family members, and let them each say a few words. I had also asked them to give a financial testimony, and Mimi did. After offering and announcements, it was my turn to preach.

Now, I had never intended to preach my "Europe message" here in Mali, believing they were not ready to receive it. However, at the prayer meeting on Thursday I had felt I should. And so I did. As always, a third of people fell asleep, and the rest didn't seem very interested. I told Paul later that's exactly why I don't preach messages like this in Mali. He answered that it was the most amazing message he'd heard all year, and that they DID need these messages. Well, if he was the only one edified, it was worth it.

After the service, Saloum took Elisabeth and all the others from our old neighborhood back home, while we waited for his return. We just had that car fixed once again, but this time we took it to a new mechanic that was recommended to us, and at least he was very fast. Once this car returned, we gave him the other car right away to fix as well. That's why we had only one car.

The car returned, us 5 white people got in, as well as Joseph who was the "kid of the week" to get to go to the supermarket and restaurant with us. I did a little detour to show them where the church was started and where we lived the first few years.

We had a good time at the restaurant. with the Americans having to study the French menu to understand what was on it. Most of us enjoyed our food. From there we went to the supermarket, where we spent quite some time. It was getting late, and I was pretty tired.

We didn't return home empty-handed but besides our purchases, we had 4 street kids with us that wanted to spend the night at our base. One of the boys recognized us downtown, and so him and his three friends came along.

It was nearly 9 pm when we returned home, and we did our family meeting right away. The power already went out at 11 pm, before I was even in bed. Sigh.

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Friday, May 6, 2011

Marriage Class

Last Tuesday we started our marriage class, and today was the second session. We had a few more people than the first time, so that was great, including Mimi & Yakou who read the chapter in advance so they could join in the discussion, which is wonderful. We had a good time together.

I was most excited when Paul told me after the class that he's now excited about these marriage classes, while he didn't want to do them at all in advance. He admitted that he was gonna do just the first class and then decide, but now he loves them.

Since we fried our sound system on Thursday, we couldn't do our weekly movie night tonight. I didn't mind having a quieter day, honestly. And I still had the street kid literacy class to teach.

Our new family members went downtown in the morning to do some shopping and experienced the craziness of the many people and cars all trying to move forward in some direction. They returned exhausted as expected. And the power continues to go out at night, which doesn't help either, but since their apartment is upstairs, it gets cooled down better with the free airflow.

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Weekly Prayer Meeting

This afternoon we had our weekly prayer meeting, and we had more people than ever before. Not only our new American family members, but also quite a few street children that joined us.

I had made the new song projection program work, and Jérémie operated it. So for one hour we worshipped God and prayed. We all surrounded our new family members and prayed a welcoming prayer of blessings over them.

We also proclaimed salvation over Mali, praying for our nation. I felt that God wanted to impart His heart for the lost in Mali, and asked those who wanted that to come forward. Not one person responded, which was sad.

All in all, we had a decent meeting, introducing our new ones to our French worship songs they probably knew in English.

Americans' Arrival

It was actually a VERY busy day today after a short night. The Americans actually arrived early, before 1 am, and they came out at 1:30 am with all their luggage. It was good to see them. They had A LOT of luggage that we piled on the back of our truck, and Paul sat with it in the back to make sure nothing was falling off. At 2 am we arrived home, and I showed them to their apartment. Amazingly, the power did not go off last night.

Lots Of Activities

Now that we've started up quite a few activities again, I felt like running from meeting to meeting today (and the heat is making that harder). Paul and I did a TPM session with one of our boys that took an hour. Then I met with Paul & Rokia privately to do their first marriage preparation session. Then we had the prayer meeting, and then I tought the street kids to read and write their language. In between I did office work. After the literacy class, it was time for the nightly meeting with the street kids, and then our family meeting - the first for the Americans.

I was exhausted but happy by the time we were done, and went to my office to do some more work, before heading to bed. Today it was pretty hot as well because of the humidity, and I don't expect the power to hold out until morning.

These are a few pictures from a few days ago - our Austrian visitor teaching Jérémi some rhythms on the drum set, and the weekly visit to Dara to do a service there.

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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Preparations & 'New' Activities

Today was the last day without our new American family members as they're arriving late tonight. And so we were busy with our last preparations so that their apartment would be nice and ready. We moved some furniture from elsewhere so they'd have at least something to start with. I think it looks pretty nice now!

Paul (nearly 23) and Rokia (nearly 19) are getting married on January 7, 2012, and they're inviting everyone to come and honor them with their presence. Paul is in fact impatient to get married now, since they've been together for years.

But for now, they have a few months of preparations ahead of them. We now have marriage classes going 4 afternoons per week! Two afternoons a public class for everyone in church who wants to, and two afternoons where I meet with Paul & Rokia in private. We had the first public class yesterday, and it went much better than I had anticipated. I was surprised that people actually discussed the questions, which is not that easy for them. Unfortunately we did not have one complete married couple present; I'm looking forward to the Americans joining the group, and maybe that will encourage others to come to the class as well. The first private meeting with the soon-to-be-married is tomorrow.

For a while we've wanted to start up our literacy class for the street children again, but again and again they would not show up in time. Today we finally had the first class again, and it went well, though some kids have NEVER been to school, while others have done a few years at school already, so they're on different levels. Jérémie was my assistant today.

Monday night it rained really hard for the first time, and I was amazed that it still rained Tuesday morning. It's way too early for that much rain, but it was nice that it cooled down things somewhat. However, rain means no sunshine and therefore no electricity. And so the power was out for 9 hours yesterday and only came back on at noon. Today it came back on pretty early as the sun was shining. It's annoying that the power goes out every night now, and the guys are unable to repair the generator. Today, it was EXTREMELY hot as all the water evaporated. I already feel pity for the Americans who'll arrive to find it not only very hot but with no electricity to use the fans.

These pictures show you how my cat sleeps in the heat - stretch it all out as much as possible!

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Monday, May 2, 2011

Busy Day

As every night now, the power went out and left us suffering from the heat without even fans. We found out later that they don't seem to be able to repair our generator; Kossi is going to take it elsewhere to see if it can be fixed. So no hope of sleep all night any time soon. I'm now becoming an early-riser by necessity. I simply got up this morning after the power went out, even before the sun came up, and spent undisturbed time with God. Later I did get so tired and lay down again for a little while.

These are the last few days before our new family members from America arrive, and we're working on everything getting ready. However, today was a public holiday since May 1st was on a Sunday - go figure. Still, Kossi came over but didn't do much. He needs the generator to be able to weld. Hopefully we can get the rest done tomorrow.

And my cat Sweety gave me quite a big scare. She's learned how to tear the mosquito net out of the window frame so she can leave the house. She only does it with one specific window and so I close that window every night. This morning I opened it, but then I lay back down to sleep, and when I got up again, she was gone. Not a good thing! I asked Joseph to look for her, and when he found her, she ran out of fear, and he lost her out of sight. I joined the search then, but we were all unsuccessful to find her. Some suggested she might have left the base altogether, but I could not imagine that. Still, as the hours went by, I got more and more worried. It was hot, and she needed food and water. Joseph went to the neighbors but nobody had seen her.

At 2 pm - over 5 hours since she left - I decided to do another search, and found her hidden in the darkest corner on our construction site. I used food to lure her out and grabbed her and returned her home. I was so glad to have her back!

Today our Christian carpenter also finally delivered my new wardrobe, and it was a lot of work putting it in and moving all my stuff. Then we tried to get my previous wardrobe up to the new apartment, but it didn't fit through the staircase. Tomorrow Kossi is gonna get it up from the outside, over the wall. Hopefully it works. I'd like to give our new family members the best living conditions possible to start with.

I had planned to start up with the literacy class for the street kids again today, but none of them was there at that time. So I did a TPM session with Joseph instead, with Paul as an interpreter.

And then it started raining really hard. The first real rain, and it's only May 2nd. Rainy season officially starts only in a month, but rains do come in May. I hope it cooled down enough for me to be able to sleep tonight, even once the power goes out. However, the house is very hot, and tends to stay hot even when it's nice outside.

Tomorrow is another very busy day with lots of things to get done. I'd better get some sleep.

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Sunday, May 1, 2011

Birthdays

We had two birthdays to celebrate - Karim's 15th, and Abdias (who is now non-resident) turned 18 a few days ago. I made the first cake in my new oven - unfortunately electric. It worked out well.

People don't celebrate birthdays in Mali, as most don't know when they were born, but our kids love it. It doesn't last long, though. We sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY, give the cake, eat the cake, hand out gifts, each one gets a drink, and the party is over.

In the morning Paul, the kids, and our visitors went to Goro for the bi-weekly service. Unfortunately when they arrived they were told that someone was supposed to call Paul and tell him not to come since there was a wedding going on. They still prayed for a few people, but it's still disappointing when you drive for 4 hours total.

While they were in the village, Christian, Karim and I went downtown to the supermarket and had lunch at the restaurant; that's what Karim wanted for his birthday. We had a good time.